Not quite two weeks later David was driving toward the mansion and he questioned if he'd ever make it there in one piece. The weather hadn't gotten any better and they were now looking at the most profound snowfall the town had ever seen. It was coming down too fast for David to really safely drive much further so he was happy when he managed to pull into Regina and Emma's driveway before the car totally gave out on him. He grabbed a few things out of the car and ran for the front door. The door opening and closing made Henry come downstairs to check on the noise. Emma had to be in the office that morning even though it was the weekend, so she had asked her father to go and stay with Regina and Henry until she could get home. Emma knew there was a chance the snow could make her drive home delayed by a few hours, but she hadn't counted on it being this bad. David got lucky that he made it to the house when he did because outside it was piling up fast. Henry helped his grandfather hang up his coats and just as David finally shed most of them off the lights in the house that had been on all went dark.
"Wonderful, the moisture and cold combined with the snow must have caused the power outage. Where's your mom?" Henry pointed down the hallway. "Sleeping. She ate breakfast this morning and seemed pretty tired so she went back to bed. Apollo is in there with her." David checked to see if the gas and water was still working and thankfully it was.
"Alright. Go upstairs and run hot water on all the taps to keep the pipes from freezing and I'll start fires in the fireplaces down here." Henry went back upstairs and David set to lighting a fire in the living room fireplace. Once he had it going Henry had returned from upstairs with a few extra flashlights and he threw on an extra sweatshirt to make up for the heat being out along with the electricity.
"David is that you." Regina's voice carried down the hallway.
"Yeah Regina it's me."
"Emma wouldn't by any chance be with you would she?" David knit his brow in confusion. Regina usually didn't ask for Emma unless she was really hard pressed for something, or something was wrong. David grabbed the matches and headed down the hallway with the intention of lighting a fire in the fireplace that had mostly gone unused in the make shift bedroom. When he walked in Regina was leaning against the headboard, propped up by pillows and Apollo was laying in Emma's spot.
"Emma's still at the office. She'll probably hunker down there and wait for the storm to pass. So it might be you, me and Henry here by ourselves tonight." David had his back to Regina as he lit the fire or he would've seen the look of pain that flashed across her face as she rubbed her belly. "It's not just going to be us." She muttered it under her breath so David only heard the soft whisper coming from behind him as he stood up from the fire.
"What was that?" That's when he saw it, the grimace on her face as she clenched her jaw.
"I said it's not just going to be us." David seemed to be a bit startled by the whole thing and stood perfectly still. "Are you absolutely sure?"
"David, I may not have ever given birth before, but I am 100% sure that this is happening." David walked over to the bed and Apollo had to sit up to allow him to get near Regina.
"But they're early."
"Damn it David I know that. Now I am going to need some help here and soon, now if you can manage to pick your jaw up off the floor I could use your help as I have no wish to scar Henry for life by requesting he help deliver his sisters." Regina barked at David and felt bad for doing so, but this hurt more than she realized. David finally seemed to snap into reality and stood up from the bed.
"Ok, let me go grab some things, I'll right back. Has your water broken yet?" Regina shook her head no and David nodded before he pulled out his phone only to realize it didn't have any reception. He left the room, almost sprinting and he yelled for Henry to come downstairs.
"Do you still have that walkie talkie from when Emma first came to town?" Henry looked confused. "Probably in the basement somewhere with my old stuff from my room. Why?"
David handed his grandson one of the flashlights and pushed him toward the door to the basement. "Go find it, now. We need to get ahold of Emma."
"Are you insane? It's like 10 degrees down there right now, now what is so important?"
"Your mom is in labor." Henry never looked more terrified in his life as he grabbed the flashlight and an extra jacket before running down the stairs to the basement. David grabbed the first aid kit from the kitchen along with an extra blanket from the living room before heading back to Regina.
"How long have you been in pain?" Regina tried to recall what time Emma left that morning and do some quick math. "Emma left at 7:00. They started at 7:30. I tried to move around and eat something, just thinking it was the false alarm pains I had been having, but they kept getting worse."
David eyes widened, "Regina it's noon. You've been in labor for 5 hours and never thought to call someone or at least tell Henry?"
"David, I may be incapacitated right now, but if you raise your voice to me again I'll punch you the second these girls are born. I was scared. My wife isn't here, she can't get here and at the moment I have my teenage son, my dog and my father in law in my house that has no power or heat, so maybe you could come up with a plan instead of pointing out my short comings." David told himself to swallow his sassy comments for the rest of this experience because Regina needed a punching bag and he was the only person around. He wrapped the blanket around her shoulders and started to rummage through the first aid kit to find the supplies he would need. He could hear Henry throwing things around the basement and swearing as he did so and for once Regina didn't scold his language because, well, she was swearing too.
"Look Regina, as much as I don't want to admit this, we might have to do this here. Even when the storm passes it'll be a while till the road is clear." Regina grabbed the bed sheets as another contraction hit her and she looked to David.
"They've been every 15 minutes. Every book we read said first pregnancies usually take longer to progress. Why are they coming this fast?" David almost smiled. "They are your children. They do things on their own schedule. Besides, you could've been in labor all night and not known it. Your pain tolerance is higher than most people's."
"Clearly." At that moment Henry finally came into the room panting, but holding the walkie talkie in his hand.
"You'll have to use the emergency generator that the fancy lantern has to charge it, but it should still work."
"Go get the latten and bring it here." Henry grabbed the large device from the hall closet and brought it into the bedroom. They played with the charger for a while before finally getting it to connect, but when it did David handed it to Henry.
"Change the station to 12 and keep talking into it and pray your mother answers the damn signal it gives off." Henry took the whole device into the living room and did as he was told, leaving David to move around the room trying to figure out what he should really be doing next. Regina and Apollo watched as he paced between the bed and the bathroom and Regina would have said something sassy, but then the things she had been hoping to prolong happened.
"David. David!" Finally the man looked up. "Not to disrupt your mental breakdown, but my water just broke so if we could address the matter at hand that would be wonderful."
"Henry, bring the damn thing in here." David yelled down the hall and Henry should up with it in hand. "I think I got her, but it cuts in and out."
"Emma!"
"Jesus, yes it's me. Sorry I got stuck here with the storm. Why all the shouting?"
"Regina's water just broke." There was a silence in the room and on the other end of the conversation before Emma could be heard swearing.
"Unless I shovel my way home I can't get out of here." David looked at Regina who seemed sad and in pain. "I thought Regina had taught you how to transport with magic."
"She was teaching me when she got pregnant and her magic got thrown off with the babies magic. I could try, but I'd likely end up about half way between here and home."
David thought for a moment and sighed. "Emma just try to get here if you can, otherwise stay there."
"But…"
"No Emma, I've got this handled, just stay somewhere safe please. Henry is going to charge this more and then we'll call you again ok?"
"Ok." It was all Emma could say and with that the line went dead. Henry plugged the device back in and let it charge more. David looked at Regina and Henry before grabbing the first aid kit.
"I assume you have a plan?"
David swallowed hard and nodded. "I'm going to deliver your daughters. Unless you have a better plan." Regina nodded her head and pushed the covers back.
"If we are going to do this I have to be out of this bed. The bathroom down here has a large tub and I trust you already had the hot water running to keep the pipes from freezing?"
"Henry set it up when I got here."
"Then run the water down here and let me get in it. But first get me one of Henry's tshirts."
"Why?"
"David, I realize that very soon you'll have your hands in a place I never wanted them to be, but I will not be naked in front of anyone but my wife. I would like to keep that level of dignity if it is all the same to you." David nodded and did as Regina asked and he almost had to laugh at this moment. After everything that had happened between them, Prince Charming was about to deliver the Evil Queen's twin daughters.