THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT. I PROMISE I'M TRYING TO GET THE CHAPTERS UP FAST. NOW THAT IT'S SUMMER I'LL HAVE MORE TIME.
DON'T OWN IT.
Graham laid in shock for a few minutes before getting up to find Emma. He carefully padded down the stairs and found her in the kitchen, nursing a hot chocolate that he suspected had something else in it.
"I'm sorry." He said, taking a seat next to her.
"It's fine." She said, though she still didn't look at him. "Just don't tell Henry. I don't want him to get hurt more than he has." Finally she turned her head, eyes teary.
"It's gonna be okay." Graham wrapped strong arms around her. "He doesn't need to know."
"He's going to ask again some day. I can't lie to him forever."
"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it." He said. She got up and began to pace.
"We need to have a plan in place. You know, something rehearsed that we can tell him that he'll believe."
"Emma, sit down." Graham grabbed her wrist, gently guiding her back to the stool.
"Just tell him it was an accident, but none of that matters now because you have him and wouldn't trade this for anything. That's if he even asks. He might just drop it." They hold in their laughter for all of two seconds before chuckling.
"I'm sorry, are we talking about Henry? He never lets anything go." Emma said. She seemed to forget about her hot cocoa-cocktail concoction. "Where were we before you got me angry?"
"I believe we were-" Graham didn't have time to finish before Emma's lips crash against his, almost knocking him off the stool. They wrap their arms around each other. Amazingly, they made up to their room without making too much noise.
"Wanna talk about the wedding?" He asked.
"No." She said breathlessly, placing desperate kisses on his lips. "All I want is you."
Everyone went through their usual routine in the morning; Snow made Henry breakfast, James went off to discuss plans with his army, and Graham and Emma came down around noon.
"Snow took me to see Regina today." Henry said, eyeing his parents. "What happened to you?"
"Coffee." Emma mumbled. Snow kept a smile to herself.
"I noticed your hot cocoa." She said, giving Emma a 'I know what you did' look. "It had some alcohol in it."
"Yeah, so?" Emma said after she had taken a long sip of coffee.
"You didn't finish it. You always finish drinks if they involve alcohol."
"Mary Margaret!" Emma hissed, then sighed. "Sorry. It's early and it's something she would say."
"It's hardly early." Snow commented dryly. "It's almost noon." With that, she left in search of her husband.
"I know it was something I said, but was it really that bad?"
Snow walked into the meeting room, earning herself a few nods.
"James, can I talk to you?"
"Uh, sure. Just a minute." He closed the door behind them. "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, it's fine. It's just… I'm pregnant." She said, trying to gauge his reaction.
"Wow… That's wonderful!" He beamed.
"What about Emma?"
"We're not trying to replace her anything. We weren't even trying. I see your point, though. I don't know what the best course of action is. We can't lie to her. I don't want to not tell her until we can't hide it cause I think that'll upset her… at the same time I don't want to tell her because I know how she'll feel." James talked out the dilemma.
"What are we going to do?" Snow asked.
"I guess… I guess we just have to tell her. Better sooner than later."
"Maybe we should wait till after their wedding. I want that to be perfect." She said.
"We need to do what's best for her and be responsible. I think we should tell her when you get home." She looked up at him with regret. "God we were so stupid."
"It'll be okay." He said. "And for the record, I'm thrilled."
"Me too." She smiled.
Snow was greeted by Emma when she got back to the main castle.
"I'm really sorry." The blonde said, offering her mother an apologetic face.
"It's fine. I'm sorry, too. I overreacted." Snow said.
"So where'd you go?" Emma asked, following Snow as she went to the kitchen to make their favorite drink. Inwardly, she cursed. Why did her daughter have to be a human lie detector?
"I went to see your father."
"About?"
"Just some stuff." Snow began searching for the chocolate, even though she knew perfectly well where it was.
"Mom." Emma placed a hand on her shoulder, forcing her to stop and look at her. It was times like these that Snow hated skirting around the truth, when Emma was trying so hard to act normal.
"Everything's fine, Emma. You sure have a thirst for knowledge today." She gave her a smile.
"See, now I know something's wrong. Is it about Regina?"
"Yes." Sort of. Regina's the reason the curse was enacted, therefore why they were forced to give Emma up, and why she has abandonment issues and why she's so scared to tell her she's pregnant.
"Is she okay?" Good, Emma was buying it.
"Yes." Snow said, dumping a generous amount of cinnamon on top of the whipped cream.
"Then why do you seem anxious?"
"No reason." Snow said nonchalantly. She took off with her beverage to her room, leaving Emma with an unsettling feeling.
"Emma!" Henry came running into the room, breathless. "Emma!"
"Yeah, Henry?"
"Was it a dream?"
"Was what a dream?" He was already tugging at her, pulling her to the hospital wing.
"Is Regina really going to be okay?"
"Yup." Emma allows herself to be dragged by the boy. "Are we going to see her?"
"Yeah. I hope she's awake." Henry said eagerly. She did her best to conceal her jealousy. They walk all the way there without Emma saying another thing. She didn't need to, as Henry was a chatterbox. He fell silent when they enter Regina's room.
"Henry?" A small, sad smile brushed Regina's lips.
"Hi." Henry's curled upward slightly. "I'm glad you're okay." Emma stood awkwardly at the threshold, not sure if she should intrude.
"That makes two of us." Regina said. The small hope she begins to feel doesn't get betrayed on her face.
"Do you regret what you did?" There hope faded. Of course that was all he cared about.
"Henry…"
"I'm still mad at you. I mean, I think I was telling Emma this; when Daniel was killed, you lost your true love. When that happened to Snow, she got a bit psycho. She tried to kill you. And since you're a psychopath," Sometimes words fall out of his mouth before he has time to think them through, "I think you just need true love back."
"That can't happen." Regina ignored Henry's insult.
"What if Rumplestiltskin still has some bottled true love left? Or he could take Grandma and Grampa's hairs again-"
"Be quiet." Her voice is hard and powerful. "My true love is gone. No potion can ever change that, so forget about it. When can I get out of here?"
"I don't think that's gonna happen anytime soon, Regina." Emma fixed her with a glare. "I'll talk to Mr. Gold about that true love dilemma, and then we'll see about what we're going to do with you."
"Ms. Swan." Regina gave a curt nod, showing the annoyance they previously shared was still there.
"Can I leave my son here without worrying you'll give him a poison apple?" She smirked.
"I won't poison my son." With an eye roll, Emma left.
Emma trudged up to Rumplestiltskin's cell. "Hey, Gold. You in there?" She gave a quiet chuckle. "That was a stupid question. Of course you're in there."
"Emma." He said her name in the way he had when Snow first told him. He almost laughed at the irony; here was her daughter, the Savior, standing in much the same way she had, asking for information about the Queen.
"I need a favor." She said.
"Oh?"
"Do you still have some bottled true love?"
"You need it for Regina?"
"How'd you know?"
"I can predict the future." He gave a little squeal of delight.
"Yes."
"I'll need something in exchange." He said.
"Of course." She smirked. "What do you want?"
"Find my son."
"Uh…" A perplexed look crossed her face.
"You think it's a coincidence I made you the Savior, Miss Swan?" He grasped the bars of his cage. "I could've given you a little better of a life. Hardships, yes, but maybe you'd have had one foster parent raising you, at least. Because you were never given closure, you had the need to find your parents. You did, eventually, but let's not get to that yet. Finding people became what you do. Now, I need you to find my son."
"Slow down for a second." She began to pace. "You're telling me that you screwed my life up!"
"Well if I waited for you to come out of your mother's tummy 5 minutes later you wouldn't have had such a crappy life, now would you have? And what would that have accomplished? A content little girl wouldn't have been able to stand up to Regina and break the curse would she have? Bae is here somewhere, he came back with the rest of us. The curse breaking was the only way for me to ensure he would return from The Land Without Magic. I will give you what you need for Regina, but you have to find Bae first."
"If anything, you owe me!" Emma was fuming, putting her nose right up against his.
"You're copying your father right now. You have similar mannerisms to your parents." He kept calm.
"I'm not going to help you." She pulled back.
"If you don't, Regina will try to get Henry back. Besides, Emma, you know how important parents are to a child."
"Your son is an adult now."
"That never kept you from searching, did it?"
"I never knew mine." She folded her arms across her chest.
"Do you want help with Regina or not?"
"Fine. I'll find Bae. I'll need some information first." She said.
By the time everyone got back, it was well past 4:00. James and Snow were cooking dinner when Emma came in.
"Is Henry back yet?"
"Yes, in one piece." James smiled.
"Thank God." She returned the smile. "Let me get changed and I'll be down to help." When she was out of sight, Snow gave shot a nervous look at James. When Emma got to the top, she heard the water running from the bathroom. "Graham?" She called.
"Yeah?" She was relieved when his accent floated through the door.
"You in the shower?"
"That depends. Are you coming?"
"No." She sighed. "I'm gonna get changed and help make dinner. Have you seen Henry?"
"Last I checked he was in his room." He turned off the water. "Do you need help changing?"
"No, it needs to be fast. You tend to hold things up." She said. "Maybe before bed." She went into their room and changed, then went back downstairs. "What are we making?" She asked.
"Chicken." Snow replied.
"That sounds easy enough. What can I do?"
"It'll be done in a few minutes. Just find Henry."
"O-okay." She tried to hide the disappointment from her voice. Her son was where she expected him to be. He was looking at the book again. "Haven't you memorized that?"
"No." He smiled.
"Did Regina do anything to you? You can tell me. If she did, I'll go down there and kick her ass." Emma said, returning the grin.
"No, she was fine. She really loves me." As an afterthought, he adds, "I think." Henry's obviously conflicted, so she takes a seat beside him, preparing for another heart-to-heart.
"You know what I think?"
"What?"
"I think, that it takes losing something to realize how much you love it." Emma said slowly. "When I brought you home 5 years ago, I was going to leave if I thought your mom loved you and cared for you. I asked her, and I'm pretty sure she lied. But, back then, there wasn't a chance she could lose you. Now, she did lose you, and she realizes how much she loves you."
"But I don't want her to love me! I have you!"
"It's okay to love her, Henry. I won't be offended." But she will.
"You're my real mom!"
"That's true." She has to be the calm one of the two, since he doesn't seem to want to calm down anytime soon. "But I want you to be happy."
"I won't be happy with her! I can't be!" Henry is almost hysterical.
"Henry, I'm not shipping you off to live with Regina. I'd never do that unless you wanted it."
"Good. Cause I don't wanna."
"Let's go down for dinner, 'kay?"
"Okay."
Graham's was already down there when they reached the bottom. Two places were sitting at their places.
"Smells good." Emma said.
"I hope it tastes better than it smells. I'm afraid Charming did something to it."
"I did not." James declared.
"I guess we're about to find out." Snow said, taking a bite. "Not bad." Everyone dug in.
"Snow, you are an amazing cook!" Graham gushed.
"Hey, hey, hey, what about me?" James asked.
"You too." They laughed.
"Tell me about what's going on with Regina." Emma said. She felt out of the loop.
"She's alive and expected to make a full recovery." Snow said.
"I know that. I mean, how are we going to deal with her?"
James sighed. "A little bird told me that you were talking with Rumplestiltskin as to how to restore her true love?"
"Yeah." Emma said, not fully realizing how big a deal bargaining with the imp was. "I just gotta find his son and I'll get some true love potion for Regina and then she won't be a psychopath anymore."
"That's a… bad idea." James said, trying to put it delicately.
"It'll be fine."
"Assuming your plan works –and no pressure, Darling- she'll have to be put under something like house arrest. We just can't risk it."
"And if it doesn't?" Henry asked
"Let's cross that bridge when we get to it." Snow said. When dinner was done, Henry said his goodnights and headed to bed. Graham also retired, telling Emma he'd see her in a few minutes.
"Emma, we need to talk to you." James said, grabbing his wife's hand.
"Am in trouble?" She joked. She finally seemed relaxed and accepting; Snow and James hated to ruin it. Although, there was always the chance she'd be thrilled about the pregnancy…
"Should you be?" Snow grinned despite her nervousness. For a flitting moment, she entertained the thought of waiting.
"No." Emma sat down next to her mother.
"We don't really know how to say this." James decided he should start.
"Please know that we didn't want this." Snow interjected. She put a hand on her daughter's leg, then takes the plunge. "I'm pregnant."