Thanks for all the continued support on this story! This chapter's a bit heavier on the fluff, but I think I'm still grounded. I want it to feel somewhat real even though it's purely for holiday happiness. Hope all of you are having a wonderful December!

Holiday Spirit

Chapter 4

Regina still held the baby monitor in her hand as she walked to the door. David found himself moving after her on autopilot, following as she left the room and made her way down the hall. It was only a few doors down before they heard the crying coming through more than just the monitor. Regina switched it off as she pushed open the door and they were greeted with the sight of a baby sitting up in his crib. He was turned their direction, red-raced and crying loudly. It didn't take more than a second for Regina to step into the room, setting the baby monitor on a dresser as she passed, heading straight for the crib.

As she drew closer, his cries softened, and his face began to return to its normal shade. He looked up at her through teary eyes and hiccupped a few last cries.

"Hello," she said softly as he pulled himself to his feet, holding tightly to the bars of his crib. "Were you feeling left out?" she cooed, reaching down and pulling him out. She braced him on her hip as she started to sway back and forth soothingly and he reached up with one of his hands to touch her face, smiling at her. "To be honest, we didn't even know you were here," she told him, smiling back, "but we do now."

David watched, somewhat in a daze, as Regina bounced the child on her hip, his tears completely dissipating. He'd seen Regina with Henry, but never with a small child, and he almost couldn't believe he was looking at the same woman known as the Evil Queen. Being in a coma, he'd missed seeing her with baby Henry, and he'd never imagined she'd be good with children. Even seeing her now, he had a hard time reconciling her with the woman he'd built her up to be in his head. He knew she loved Henry, but he'd been able to wall that off in his mind and ignore it. It wasn't as if he was looking for reasons to like Regina Mills. He tried to tolerate her for Henry's sake, but beyond that, he had no interest in associating with the woman who'd made his life a living hell from the moment he'd decided to be with Snow. Finding his voice – and his feet – he moved closer to look at the small child who was supposedly his.

"He's named after a dog?" was the question that escaped him. He heard how dumb he sounded, but he was still in shock.

"It must just be a nickname the other children gave him," Regina said, lifting the boy from her hip and holding him out in front of her. "Your name is Benjamin, isn't it?" she asked softly.

The boy giggled and gave the air a few bouncing kicks.

"I always thought if I somehow ever had another son, I'd name him Benjamin," she said.

With her back still to him, David gave Regina a strange look. It was odd seeing such an extreme maternal side to her. She placed him back on her hip, whispering softly to him as she swayed and studied him with a warmth in her expression he'd only seen a very select few times when she looked at Henry. It was like sunshine, and he couldn't quite look away from it.

"Mommy! Daddy! Come onnnn!"

Regina, nearly unfazed this time, softly traced the bridge of Benjamin's nose. "What do you think? Should we go see the tree?" When he giggled again, she nodded. "Good idea."

She turned toward David and stopped in her tracks – she'd almost completely forgotten his existence. Wiping the surprised expression from her face, she sidestepped him, ignoring the awkwardness of the moment.

David kept his distance as he followed along behind her. They descended the staircase, and he had a hard time taking his eyes off the child that was holding tightly to Regina. He was adorable – that much was undeniable. His eyes darted around the room as he gurgled happily, perfectly content now that he wasn't alone in his nursery.

When they rounded the wall to the living room, Izzy jumped forward.

"You have to close your eyes so Henry can turn on the lights."

Regina did as she was told. Sighing, David followed suit. He felt a tiny hand slip into his and pull him forward. "Daddy, come," a small voice commanded him, and he allowed himself to be led a few more steps into the room. "Next to mommy." He wasn't sure which child it was, but by the sound of it, it was most likely the boy – Oliver.

There were a few seconds filled with giggling and small shuffling feet, but then Izzy said, "Okay. You can open them now."

The pair opened their eyes and Regina immediately smiled. She recognized several of the decorations as ones that she and Henry had picked out together, but there were several new ones added to it. Mixed in with the ones Henry had made himself at school were many more that looked carefully put together by young hands. There were red, green, silver and gold ball ornaments brightly reflecting the white light strands wrapping around the tree, and a glittering green ribbon circled it from top to bottom, along with a thin gold-beaded garland. A simple but beautiful star topped it all, and even David was impressed with the sight.

Henry stood awkwardly next to the three grinning children as they waited for their parents to say something.

"It's gorgeous," Regina finally said. "It looks wonderful." Her eyes flitted down to where her elbow accidentally brushed against David's as she readjusted Benjamin on her hip.

Glancing down at the contact as well, he crossed his arms, holding them out of the way. "Umm, yes. Great job," he added.

"I did this one," Ellie said proudly, pointing to a small glass ball toward the bottom of the tree. "And Oliver did this one." She pointed at one right next to it, and the boy nodded his head, grinning.

David almost didn't understand her as she slurred the words in her excitement and child speech. Emma had been gone from his life long before she'd ever spoken her first word, and he hadn't had much time around children as David Nolan, either. He felt awkward and out of place. These weren't his children, but they were, and he still couldn't wrap his head around it, so when Ellie walked right up to him and held up her arms, he didn't know quite what to do. He was a father – had been for twenty-eight years – but he'd never had the chance to be a dad.

Carefully, and feeling very unsure, he reached down and picked her up. Once she'd wrapped an arm around his neck, she leaned in, cupping her other hand around her mouth as she loudly whispered, "I made an orment for you!"

He pulled back to look at her, and suddenly he felt it; that immediate connection you feel with your child when you first find out about them – when you hold them in your arms and look into their eyes for the first time. Ellie was his. Regina had been right; more than just feeling it, he could see it now, too. She looked so much the way he had, and yet different. Her features were softer, her skin and hair a slightly darker shade, and when he looked into her eyes, he saw Regina, clear as day. But these eyes – rather than closing off to him and glinting with cold fury – blinked at him with bright innocence. He lost himself looking at her.

"Daddy!" she laughed. "You silly." She patted his face with her little hands and then reached out, stretching to point across the room. "Over there."

He blinked out of his stare, shaking his head a bit before looking back at her. "I am being silly, aren't I? Where's your ornament?" he asked, walking up to the tree.

"Here." She reached out, touching one of the silver glass ornaments. Up close, David could see that it had been painted with red glitter. There were squiggly lines all over it, along with the very rough shape of a smiley face. "It says, 'for daddy,' and I put our smiles."

"I love it," David told her. "How did you get it all the way up here? You didn't climb the tree, did you?" he teased.

She giggled. "Noooo. Henry did it!"

"I made Mommy one!" Oliver piped up. "But you hang it, Mommy." He carefully carried it over to her in both hands and held it up over his head in his palms.

Regina carefully picked the ornament up by its hanger.

"Red is for apples and blue is your favorite!" he said happily, and she smiled tearfully at the shiny red ornament covered in messy blue glitter.

"Thank you, Oliver," she said. She placed it opposite Ellie's and then bent down, sitting on her heels while still balancing the baby on her side. "Come here." She opened up her free arm and hugged the adorable boy as he pushed into her side. She kissed his forehead before she let go and pushed herself to her feet again.

"You already saw my ornament when I brought it home," Izzy said, "so I made you a picture instead."

She held up a large piece of paper and David took it from her, looking at the carefully drawn Christmas tree. There were seven roughly drawn figures standing next to it. "That's you and Mommy, and Mommy's holding Benji, and that's Henry and me and Ellie and Oliver," she explained, pointing out each person. "See?"

"I do." His eye caught on the scrawling writing across the bottom. It said, 'To: Mommy and Daddy, From: Isabella.'

"Isabella…" he said thoughtfully, and Regina took a step closer to look over at the drawing. "This is perfect."

"It looks just like us," Regina agreed as the girl beamed.

A ringing phone cut through the odd family moment, and after Regina and David seemed to have frozen, Isabella looked up at them. "Daddy, your phone is ringing."

"Yeah…I'd uhh…I'd better get that."

He set Ellie down on her feet and moved quickly to the source of the ringing; the kitchen. He found a phone on the counter; his phone, apparently. He didn't recognize it, but he definitely recognized the name flashing across the screen. "Emma?" he answered.

"David?"

"Yeah."

"Oh thank god!" she rushed. The next few sentences were jumbled together, and as he tried to decipher what she was saying, he looked up and met the eye of Regina, who stood alertly in the kitchen doorway, listening in.

"Emma, Emma, slow down, I can't understand a word you're saying."

There was a heavy breath on the other end, and then she started again, slowing down her words, though they were still infused with panic. "Something's going on, and I can't find Henry or Mary Margaret. Her cell's disconnected, and David…there's a…Neal's…I can't…ahh, this is impossible!" she yelled. "Can you just meet me?"

David nodded his head dumbly before realizing that she couldn't actually see him. "Of course. Where?"

"Granny's."

"I'll be there in ten minutes."

She didn't even give him an acknowledgment as she disconnected the call, and his stomach twisted into knots. What had happened to Snow?