Hey guys! I'm glad you all liked the last chapter – I hope this one doesn't disappoint! :)
I do not own OUAT.
A few nights ago…
"I can't believe you did that!"
"I know, I know. When I think of it now I don't know what I was thinking, or how I could have made such a decision."
Snow closed her eyes and crossed her arms, almost afraid to say anything she was actually thinking. Sometimes her opinions were not so generously accepted. "Maybe you weren't in your right mind," she offered as sternly as she could.
"What's that supposed to mean? What are you implying?"
"WhatI mean is that, perhaps there was something swaying your judgement…"
"No, no! This…this was all me." David ran his hands through his short hair, leaving one cupping the back of his neck. He looked…trapped. Like a child who had been caught in a lie.
"Well then I don't understand! At all!" Snow spat, letting her anger and incredulity get the better of her as her eyes opened hastily.
"It felt like the right thing to do; that's the only explanation I have. You weren't there, you didn't see how-"
"I wasn't there?" she repeated snappily. "Yes of course I wasn't there because I was frantically trying to find a way to get back home to my family! And the only slither of solace I could rest in was believing that you were taking good care of our grandson. This, this isn't what I expected. This isn't good, Charming."
The man's shoulders dropped, recognising that he was fighting a losing battle. If Snow were not so bewildered at what he had done she may have wrapped her arms around him in comfort. He looked so lost, so ashamed at his own behaviour. "How do you think she's going to take it?"
"Oh, she's not going to take it. Not at all. And she sure as hell will not be pleased with you when she finds out it was your doing that led to this."
"I thought as much."
There was no consolation to be found in his reply. Nothing there to appease the situation, or make it appear better than what it was. As far as she was concerned, nothing good was going to come out of it. "I have a bad feeling about this. I can't begin to imagine what will come from it. We can only hope that things will turn out okay."
David's ocean blue eyes were soft as they gazed upon her. "For the first time in a very long time, I feel like you don't mean those words."
"Maybe that's because I don't."
Present Day
In an instant the temperature in the room plummeted drastically. Only Regina could have that effect on something. Emma willed herself to move; to jump from the couch and protect her son from the Evil Queen. She just wanted to do anything she could, but she was glued to her seat, petrified as images of her dream flashed in her head like warning signals.
"Hello, Henry." Even her voice made the blonde's blood curdle. Anger welled from her core and began its travels through her veins. The more she thought about Regina and the fact that it was her who enacted the curse and dramatically changed the course of everyone's lives, the more furious she became in the knowledge that Henry had been with her for ten years. She didn't want her son to be around her, much less actually be her son.
And then there was the big question: why was she even here? More importantly, whose bright idea was it to unleash the monster on her without telling her? There was no way Regina would just show up without an invitation; there was nothing she hated more than spending time with the Charmings. Everybody knew that. No, there was something else going on here – something Emma wasn't told about.
"Come in," the boy said, pulling the door wide open. Regina did so promptly. Emma reluctantly turned her head to look at the visitor. Or intruder; it felt more like an intrusion.
Maybe she could just slink away without anybody knowing and not have to face…
"Miss Swan," Regina addressed in her usual distasteful manner, interlocking her fingers. Emma had no choice but to acknowledge with a solitary nod. She didn't really feel like talking. The mayor cleared her throat rather awkwardly and Henry gave her a look that only seemed to mean something to her. "I'm, eh…I'm glad to…" she exhaled sharply, "I'm glad to see that you and Mary Margaret made it home in one piece."
"You are?" the blonde quizzed, not believing a single word that came out of her mouth.
The brunette paused, as if trying to stop herself from saying something she couldn't take back. To that Emma could only smirk.
Regina broke the stare and turned her attention back to Henry who was, every now and then, sneaking a peek at the bag she was carrying that undoubtedly held his Christmas presents – and not subtly, she might add. Someone ought to teach that boy some spy skills. "How are you, Henry? How has your Christmas been so far?"
"It's been good. I got a lot of really cool stuff!"
"Well, now you'll get even better stuff," she conspired, leaning down to his level with a big smile. If Emma wasn't so hell-bent on keeping things as civil as possible for both her sake and Henry's she would have jumped up there and then and wiped that smug smile off her face. "Here you go," she said, handing Henry the bag, "I hope you like them."
"Thanks!" the boy exclaimed, taking the bag and immediately inspecting the wrapped gifts in wonder and awe. It didn't take long for him to start shredding the gift wrap and leaving the remains all over the floor.
"Regina," David said sternly – finally showing some initiative, "can I get you anything?" Now those were not the words Emma expected to hear; 'get out of my house and leave my family alone' or something along those lines was more in line with what she thought. Out of everyone, David hated Regina the most and was very verbal in expressing that opinion, so Emma was a little taken off-guard by his cordial attitude.
It's not that Emma didn't recognise Henry's need to see his…mother, she did, but she just wished it was at a time when she wasn't so vulnerable with herself; especially now with magic nestling inside of her ready to explode at any given time. Or preferably at a time when she didn't have to have face-to-face contact with her. Regina had taken a lot and given nothing back, so Emma wasn't exactly in a forgiving mood, despite it being the holiday season.
"I…would love one," the Evil Queen replied as politely as a robot could manage.
Emma watched as the woman sauntered over to the counter and took a seat. It looked so wrong, Regina being in the apartment. Like there was something else afoot. Scanning the room, Emma's eyes fell on her mother who was busy trying to look busy in her bedroom. Seeing her window of opportunity, she rose to her feet and made a dash across the room to meet her mother. If anyone was going to have any answers around here, it was her.
"I trust our agreement still stands even with the change in circumstances," Regina said, examining the contents of the mug David handed her.
"Agreement?" David scoffed. "We're not running a business, Regina."
She quirked her eyebrow. "Call it what you want, David, but I would hope that you know better than to back out of the deal we made."
He planted his two hands on the counter and leaned forward. His goal was to be intimidating but Regina's lack of movement, except for smiling, only fuelled his disdain. "Is that a threat? Because if it is, I promise you that our agreement will not hold."
"Emma doesn't know, does she? I figured that she would be particularly verbal on the matter. After all, it very much concerns her." David didn't answer. With a sigh he removed his hands from the counter and leaned back against the oven, crossing his arms. "I thought as much," she chided, taking the teeniest of sips of her beverage.
David felt the heat rise in his blood. He hated the way she just waltzed into their home and automatically made everyone feel inferior to her. She wasn't even Queen anymore and still she walked with the air of authority, pointing fingers and making accusations as if she possessed all the power in the universe. "I'm warning you, if you go even a minute over what we decided, that's it."
"That's what?"
"That's the end of me being nice to you."
"Oh, honey, you weren't nice to me before so surely that threat has no weight." She paused as if reining herself in. "But I appreciate what you have done and I'll stick to what we agreed."
"Trust me it's not for your benefit."
"I know it's not."
Just then, Henry barged over, his arms full of games and toys. "Thanks, Mom," he said, freeing an arm so he could give her a hug, "these are awesome. I can't wait to play with them."
"I'm glad you like them."
Regina averted her gaze back to David who softened his posture so that he looked less hostile. "Thank you, David."
"Just don't blow it," he warned, his glance shifting between mother and son, "for Henry's sake. And for your own."
From the corner of her eye, Snow could see her daughter charge across the room toward her, looking like she had an axe to grind. "This isn't going to be pretty," she mumbled to herself as she folded and refolded the same piece of clothing she had been holding for about five minutes.
"What is going on here?" Emma whispered hastily when she closed in on Snow.
"I'm folding," the brunette replied innocently, deciding to fold another sweater lying near her.
"I can see that. But that's not what I'm asking and you know it." Emma took a quick look behind her before sitting on the edge of the bed. "Why is Regina here?"
Much to Snow's surprise, the blonde didn't appear too angry, though her better judgement was virtually screaming at her not to believe everything put in front of her. Emma was the queen of bottling her emotions and her defence mechanism was an extremely sturdy set of walls erected around her heart, so who knew what went on in that mind of hers. "She's Henry's mother." That seemed like as good as answer as any – it was the truth.
"So? I am too, remember?"
"Oh, Emma. It's Christmas." Snow put down the sweater and took a hold of one of the blonde's hands. "And she's his family, too."
"I realize that but it's not like we're great friends with her. David is trying his best not to whip out his sword on her, you're in here folding dirty clothes, and I'm trying to keep my emotions in check so that I don't go all crazy sorceress and burn the whole place down to the ground which, I may add, is proving much harder than I thought. That woman just…gets under my skin, especially now when we know everything she's done. It completely baffles me as to why she was invited."
It was like Snow had locked up everything she understood about Emma's magic and threw away the key. Emma had to keep her emotions in check; she needed to remain calm.
That was going to be difficult.
"It's just that…I know she's his mom but she was here for him when we were away and, I don't know, I just really wanted to have him all to myself for a while. You know, to live in the same house as him and walk him to school and eat dinner with him. I guess that sounds really pathetic."
"No, no, of course it doesn't," Snow smiled, pushing back a lock of blonde hair off her daughter's face and understanding that feeling all too well. That was how she felt every second of every day. "Wanting to spend time with your child is one of the most natural things in the world." But the niggling feeling at the back of her mind and that all-consuming dread that lodged in the pit of her stomach was rearing its ugly head and she wasn't sure how long she could go on without telling Emma everything. She was angry at David for agreeing to it and frustrated that neither she, nor Emma, were involved in making the decision. But then, after some much needed time to think, she thought that it maybe wouldn't be so bad; that Emma would be more open to the idea.
But if this little discussion was anything to go by, she wasn't going to be.
"Emma, I-"
"Was that what you were trying to tell me earlier? Before Medusa showed up?"
"Partly," Snow gulped.
"The other part being…?" The blonde gestured for Snow to continue.
"We should probably rescue your father –"
"No, David is Prince Charming for crying out loud! I think he can hold down the fort for a little longer," she hissed. "Why won't you tell me what's going on? Why are you keeping a secret from me?"
Oh. That hurt.
"I thought we weren't going to keep secrets from each other."
"We're not, Emma."
"Then why are you so afraid to talk? Why is it so hard for you to tell me something?"
Snow could sense Emma's frustration growing with every word. "It's not bad, I promise. I mean, there's a million worse things I could think of…" Emma waited, clenching her jaw. Snow let out a sigh. "Regina's not here for a friendly visit. She's here for Henry."
"Because it's Christmas."
"No, well yes, but… what I mean is that she's here to take Henry," she explained in a hushed voice, keeping her eyes firmly fixed on her daughter. "Just for a little while," she tagged on immediately as she watched Emma's eyes widen and then contract severely.
"What do you mean? How long is a little while?"
"Just a couple of weeks."
"To live with Regina."
"Well yes, but it's not like you won't get to see him. You'll see him all the time; he just won't be sleeping here, that's all."
Emma's breath became rushed and determined as if she was desperately trying to suppress any kind of anger. "And why did no one tell me?" she growled through her teeth. "I'm his mother; I should have got first say in this! How did this happen?"
Snow shook her head, hoping that whatever she said wouldn't tip Emma over the edge. She'd been really emotional since they returned home and Snow had a feeling that her brush with death on a number of occasions had spiked her perspective on, well, everything. "David told Regina—"
"David? Who gave him the right to make a decision like that, huh? Who made him the boss?"
"Emma that is no way to talk about your father," the brunette scolded. No matter what Emma thought, her father was a good man and did not deserve being scorned. "He was trying to do everything humanly possible to get us back home but he had to be realistic. He didn't know when we'd be back or even if we'd get back. Henry needed his mother and Regina was there for him, making him promises not to use magic and to be a better mother. Charming saw that she was really trying and so, he took a chance on her and told her that Henry could go back and live with her over the Christmas period. You can't blame him for putting Henry's needs first."
Emma turned her gaze to the floor, her hair shielding her face. "No I can't but I would have liked to have been consulted on what was going on. You guys can't just make decisions that regard my son without talking to me about it. I should have been told before she showed up here acting like she owned the place!"
"You haven't been yourself since we got back what with your…magic and learning how to live with that. And then there are those nightmares that you have been having that involve Regina. We just didn't want to push it."
"Oh and not telling me seemed like a better option?" She was less angry now; more understanding. At least Snow's heart could beat at a regular pace again. Seeing her daughter fretful and upset over something they had done was like having the wind knocked out of her.
"Of course not. We were just worried about you. I'm sorry." She reached out and placed her hands on her shoulders, lowering her head so that the blonde would make eye-contact with her.
"I just don't trust her."
"I know; me neither."
Emma decided to keep her feelings in check as both her and mother re-joined the festivities. Regina was as smug as ever, happily using any excuse she had to make Emma want to throw her out. But Henry was happy to spend time with her and if the kid seemed to think that she was reforming then maybe there was some truth in that. Emma, on the other hand, wouldn't believe it until she saw it with her own two eyes. Regina was a like a serpent – devious and slippery and no one should ever turn their backs on a serpent.
"Okay, Henry it's time to go. Why don't you gather your things and say goodbye," Regina ordered.
Emma didn't want to be apart from her kid. It was torturous being away from him when she was stuck in another world and though she was promised that she could still see him every day, her heart ached knowing that she was being separated from him yet again.
It wasn't fair.
She understood why David did it – even though he wasn't out of the doghouse just yet - but she couldn't shake the feeling that Regina would do anything in her well of power to keep Henry longer than agreed. After all, she wasn't called the Evil Queen for nothing.
"Two weeks. You got that?" Emma asserted as she stood right in front of the woman so she would have nowhere else to look except into her stern eyes. "Not a minute more."
"Empty threats are really no use to you Miss Swan."
"Who said my threats were empty?"
Regina narrowed her eyes, the beginnings of a smirk dancing on her lips. "I think it's time we put all that behind us and try to figure out a way of raising Henry that works in everyone's interest. It's not like he can stay in this cramped apartment with you forever; a young boy needs his own space to grow. He's not able to do that here. I think we all know he'd be much better off being back in his own room, among his own things, in his own house."
She knew it. She knew Regina would find a way to twist this little holiday she was so lucky to get in the first place into a battle for who can have Henry. There was no way they were going to keep this arrangement; there was always going to be contention between them. Who knew what Regina would do to get her way? She certainly had the resources to turn this into a full-on war.
Emma couldn't lose Henry. Not when she had just got him back.
"All ready," Henry chirped.
"Say goodbye to Miss Swan, Henry," Regina sneered, never taking her eyes off the blonde.
"He's not going with you." The words were out of her mouth before she even thought them.
"What?" Mary Margaret gasped in surprised from behind the counter.
"Emma-" David started…but couldn't finish.
"No. He's not going with her." She further closed the gap between them so that their noses were almost touching. "I don't know what your plan is Regina but I assure you that it's never going to happen."
"And I assure you, Miss Swan, that I have no idea what you're talking about."
No one was prepared for what happened next.
Yes I am going to leave it there! Sorry! I know a lot of you thought that Snow was pregnant and I had thought about doing that a while ago but the timeline would be totally messed up with that. Maybe another time I'll go down that route, but as of right now I haven't thought much about it. The Regina idea kinda just popped into my head a few weeks ago…so it's probably terrible! Ha I'm sorry if you don't like it…but I really hope you do!
Anyway, I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year and I hope you all enjoy the celebrations! :)
Oh, and if you have time, please review! Haha :)