HEY GUYS! SO THIS CHAPTER ISN'T UP AS SOON AS I WOULD HAVE LIKED (SORRY!), BUT IT DEFINITELY DIDN'T TAKE AS LONG AS THE LAST ONE. THANK YOU FOR READING AND REVIEWING. YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST READERS ANYONE COULD HAVE, AND I TRULY MEAN IT. I ASSUME YOU'VE ALL HEARD ABOUT THE POLL I MADE, LOL. AND THANKS FOR VOTING. IT'S REALLY HELPFUL, CAUSE NOW I KNOW WHAT MY MOST POPULAR STORIES ARE (SO THAT I CAN PAY MORE ATTENTION TO THEM). THIS ONE'S WINNING SO FAR! HAPPY READING!
DON'T OWN IT.
Emma looked at the three carts the family had against the wall.
"Uh, how are we going to fit all this stuff in the carriage?"
"Your mother is an expert packrat." James answered, and Snow huffed.
"And another question; when I go into labor, how is a carriage gonna be fast enough to get me to the hospital in time?" Everyone stared at her, incredulous expressions on their faces.
"Did she really just ask that?" The king whispered to Snow, leaning toward her.
"Emma, Honey, you won't be at a hospital." Snow said, reaching out to clasp her hand in her daughter's.
"What!? What do you mean, 'I won't be in a hospital'? I'm having a freaking baby!"
"Mom, you still haven't read the book, have you." Henry stated, not queried.
"Yes, I've read the book."
"Obviously not the part where you were born." The boy muttered.
"You read that!? Henry, that really… not appropriate." The blonde stuttered.
"It wasn't graphic, relax. Why would I want to read about…that… ew." He said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"Good response, Kid."
"Now, please don't panic. That'll do you and the baby no good. And like you said, you still have five more months. And by then, you'll be so ready to get her out." Snow said in an even, comforting tone.
"You do realize I pushed that one outta me, right?" Emma pointed to Henry. "So I have done this before. I'm not panicking. I'm being cautious."
"Can we stop talking about this?" Henry whined.
"I'm hoping we scare you into not knocking What's-her-name up." Emma said.
"Johanna. Her name's Johanna." The teenager corrected. "And you're lucky I'm smart and honest and good, cause nobody gave me the talk." At this, Emma's mouth fell open.
"I'll go check out. Snowing, let's go. Graham stay." The three left father and son (even if they weren't related biologically) standing there awkwardly.
"Well…" The sheriff spread his arms and gave a small shrug. "We can pretend we uh, talked…"
"That would be best." Henry said quickly.
"Yeah." She shifted his weight from foot to foot. "So… nice weather we're having."
"That was cruel, what you did to Graham back there." Snow said casually, placing toy after toy on the table for the cashier to ring up. One thing the dwarves had made sure of was that the shopping technology was up to par with Storybrooke's. Things were much easier.
"He can be useful sometimes." Emma ignored her mother's remark with a shrug.
"Now that I think about it, that is one way that having a son could be a downer." James said, his tone indicating that he was joking and not serious.
"I'd agree and say that girls are better, but I have a son, too."
"Your Hignesses." A commoner bowed. Emma rolled her eyes, and Snow gave her a stern look.
"Hello." James smiled. "How are you?"
"Good, thank you. And yourselves?"
"We're great." Snow beamed.
"I just wanted to congratulate the Princess on the baby." The man said. Only when her parents looked at her did Emma realize that the commoner was talking to her.
"Uh… thanks… you can call me Emma." She mumbled, her face turning pink.
"Have you and your Prince decided on a name yet?"
"Why does everyone ask that? No, we haven't. And before you ask, it's a girl. I'm gonna go find Henry and Graham. Men tend to get lost in stores." With that, Emma all but ran for dear life.
"Our apologies on her behalf." James said. "As you know, hormones are raging and Emma's not the best with, well this." He gestured around them. "I assure you, she's a very nice and amazing person once you get to know her."
"I remember, from in Storybrooke." The man smiled gently. "My name's Pete."
"Well, nice to meet you, Pete." Snow shook his hand.
"Your daughter saved my cat once. She was a very good sheriff. And I really love all that you're doing for all the realms, not just ours. It's nice not to have to worry about the Queen. Anyhoo, I should probably get going. I have my own son to get back to. His name's William. He's a lovely boy. Good day!" The man scurried off. James sighed happily, draping an arm around his wife.
"I really did miss the people." He said.
"Me, too." Snow agreed. From behind them, someone's voice they knew all too well greeted them. "Regina!" she smiled. "Hi."
"Hello, Snow. It's good to see you." The brunette returned the smile. Taking a leap of faith, the new queen wrapped her arms tightly around the taller woman. Surprisingly, Regina embraced her. "Congratulations on becoming a grandparent again. I would like to express my sentiments to Emma, as well. Do you know where she is?" James couldn't help but eye the woman suspiciously, but then decided that she had no reason to try to harm them. She had Daniel, and that's all she wanted.
"You just missed her, actually." James replied. "A man named Pete –he has a son named Wiliam– congratulated her, and she got overwhelmed. She's still adjusting, you know?"
"How come that doesn't surprise me." Regina said sarcastically, but with no ill will. She sounded amused. "I'll go look for her. Really it's nice to see you two. Daniel should be around here somewhere…" She craned her neck in a few different directions. "If you see him, Snow, he'd like to talk to you, I think. He only met you briefly when you were younger." Regina left after flashing another smile at the two, and started her search for the blonde. It didn't take her long to find her.
"Hiding out in the bathroom, Miss Swan? That's orginal."
"Shut up, Regina." Emma said. "What are you doing here?"
"Hey, I was being nice!" The brunette protested.
"I know." She sighed. "Sorry. Some random ass guy attacked me with questions about the baby."
"Speaking of which, congratulations." Regina leaned against the wall next to Emma, who stiffened. "At risk of being one of those people who attack you with questions, I won't ask the gender."
"The gender!?" Emma burst out laughing. "Wow, Regina, you really… you crack me up. She's a girl." The two shared a smile.
"I bet she'll be beautiful. Maybe she'll even look like you. The most Henry has from your gene pool –and thank Gods otherwise he'd have the IQ of a monkey– is your eyes."
"Henry is nothing like his biological father. And for all intents and purposes, Graham is his father." Emma said with conviction.
"So he… looks like Baelfire?"
"You heard about that?" The blonde's mouth hung open.
"Rumple wasn't too happy about his son having a baby." Regina explained. "As it turns out, I was the only person who would listen to his rants. He didn't want to upset Belle."
"Let me tell you something: that jackass did not have Henry. I did. And he sure as Hell wasn't there for Henry or for me, and he didn't even mean to make Henry." Emma's voice was rising in volume.
"Miss Swan–"
"Emma. Call me Emma."
"Fine… Emma… I never did ask how Henry was…"
"You don't want to know how he was conceived." Once again, Emma returned her gaze to across the room and away from Regina.
"Okay." If the former queen knew exactly what happened to her companion, she didn't let on. She let it drop. "Thank you."
"What?" Now it was Emma's turn to be bewildered.
"I never thanked you for giving me Henry. So thank you." The brunette said sincerely.
"Regina…" Emma whispered. "You don't have to… I am… I had no… –ugh, this is hard. I…" She really couldn't come up with the right words.
"It's quite alright, Dear." Regina chuckled. "I know what you're trying to say. How's Henry dealing with this?"
"Oh, the kid's ecstatic about being a big brother." Finally, something Emma could talk about without floundering around like a fish out of water.
"So… you don't think he'd mind if he got another sibling?" The brunette asked hesitantly.
"What? Regina, are you pregnant?"
OKAY, SORRY FOR THE KINDA BIG CLIFFY. HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS CHAPTER.