A/N- Well, here's the first part to the torrential road to recovery for our favorite ladies. It's not perfect, I'm sure, for that I apologize. I've been concentrating heavily on this story because of all the emotions, but my next update probably won't be for a week or so, so please enjoy this one! Review and Let me know what you guys think. It really fuels me!

A knock on the door let Snow know that David had finally come to see her. She opened the door and he stood there with his bag looking sad and broken. He pleaded with his eyes for her to let him in so they could talk. She stood there for a minute taking in his appearance, trying to remember to hold herself together. She nodded to him and stepped out of the doorway, allowing him to enter their home. He dropped his bag as she closed the door.

"Snow…I, I want to come home. It's time for you to let me come home," he said. It sounded more like surrender than a demand, and she took him into her arms and cried. He held her close and stroked her hair until her tears subsided. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I'm sorry I did it in the first place. I wish I had known who she was, who you were, so I wouldn't have done it." He felt her nod against his shoulder and tears fell from his eyes.

"Do you understand what I want from you, David?" Snow asked after pulling away from him.

"I do. But…what does that mean for Emma and Henry and the baby? How are we going to have them in our lives without Regina?"

"We'll still have family gets-together, but you and Regina aren't to be friends. You can't be with her alone, David. I couldn't bear it. Not right now." David nodded, sad at his loss of friendship, but saddened more by the hard time Regina was going through and the fact that, right now, she needed more people to lean on than she ever had. But still, he nodded.

Friday, the day of their first session with Archie, came and the women had spent each day that week at work and their evenings treading carefully. They barely spoke, as Regina was dealing with her thoughts on the situation and Emma was making it hard for her to think. The blonde walked around with regret and remorse filling her green eyes and Regina couldn't look at it. Because no matter what Regina had told Emma or Henry, no matter the fact that she had told Emma she would never be able to stop loving her, there were times when she wanted to. She desired the ability to turn off her feelings, but she had no such luck. If she wasn't pregnant and if she didn't have Henry, she would have ripped out her own heart just to make the pain go away.

She still felt an immense amount of appreciation for Emma's note and the notes that followed each morning since. Some of them were heartfelt apologies, a couple had anecdotes from when they were dating, but all of them had cute, cartoonish drawings of the two of them. She wanted to talk to Emma, no matter how much she was hurt, but she couldn't. She wanted everything she said about the situation—the betrayal—to be monitored, at least at first, in case it didn't work out. Henry was being extremely loyal to her, but she worried it was fleeting and she didn't want to be blamed if she and Emma couldn't fix their issues.

She hated sleeping alone; it was cold and lonely. She was soon to start her fourth month of pregnancy and woke up in the mornings slightly dizzy. She knew she needed to see a doctor, but she didn't want to go alone, so she had set an appointment for Monday, hoping that things would begin looking up a little after they laid their cards on the table with Archie.

She showered and dressed, thankful that she had realized that if she wore high-waist slacks there was enough extra give over her small baby bump, as opposed to the ones that buttoned in the area over her uterus. She was still small enough that she could only see an actual difference when she was undressed. After settling her hair against her shoulders, she headed downstairs to make breakfast.

Emma was in the kitchen waiting for the coffee she had brewed to finish. When her wife walked in, she watched the brunette gather ingredients from the fridge and make three omelets. When one was offered to her, Emma took it with a wide smile. They hadn't eaten breakfast together all week. The two sat together at the table, each stealing curious glances when the other wasn't watching. It wasn't long before Henry joined them and took a seat at the chair where the third omelet was sitting. He watched his mothers carefully through the rest of breakfast until Regina stood to clear her plate.

"Mom, sit down!" Henry told her harshly. She looked at him in shock, her brow furrowing.

"Henry, don't talk to your mom like that!" Emma scolded.

"At least I'm talking! We never used to be able to leave the table until everyone was done eating! We used to all talk to each other." He looked at his dark haired mother, who was sitting back down. "Mom, I'm mad at her, too, but you guys can't fix it if you don't talk to each other. Can you please just talk to each other?" he pleaded.

"Henry, sweetheart, we're going to talk to Archie today. We're going to get some things discussed, then hopefully things will be more familiar around here for you."

"You…you are? You're going to get help?"

"We are, dear. This is a rather complicated situation and we need help navigating where to go from where we are."

"Ok." He looked thoughtful for a moment before speaking again. "Will you guys tell me how it goes, without lying? I don't need to be protected you know."

"Sweetheart, we will tell you how it goes, but we're not going to share details. We know you don't need to be protected, but this is between your mother and me." He looked like he was going to protest, but she held her hand up and shook her head. "I know this effects you, but it's between us and we need to be the ones fixing it, ok?"

Henry nodded and Emma walked out of the room. She knew this was her fault but it didn't feel good to be on the receiving end of his cold shoulder. She was about to walk up the stairs before she heard Regina's voice speaking again.

"Henry, I can't even begin to tell you how much I love your support and loyalty, you're a strong and sweet young man."

"But?" Henry asked, defiant as ever.

"But…Emma mad a very bad decision and while it hurt me a lot, she's still your mother, too."

"So?"

"So, go easy on her."

"Why are you sticking up for her? She hurt you!"

Emma leaned in closer and peeked around the corner as much as she could, interested in hearing Regina's reasoning as well.

"I know, dear. But, she's your mother nonetheless and you two used to be thick as thieves, best friends." She paused, seemingly searching for how to continue. "Listen, there's no resolution we've come to yet, but we aren't splitting up, I'm almost completely sure of that, and when we've worked through our issues, you're going to miss your relationship with her if you've let it fall apart and I wouldn't be a good mother if I encouraged that."

Henry groaned. "Why do you have to be so reasonable?"

Regina smiled sadly. "Someone has to be." She stood and gathered their dishes. "Now, go be a kid, you only have a few weeks left of summer."

Emma took that as an opportunity to go change since there was only half an hour left until their 11 am appointment.

When it was time to leave, the two women walked out of the house and Regina walked around to the driver's side of her Mercedes while Emma stood on the sidewalk, staring blankly until she heard Regina clear her throat and noticed the stern look adorning dark features.

"Do we…uh…do we take separate cars or ride together?" Emma questioned uneasily.

Regina rolled her eyes. "Just get in the damn car, Emma." Emma lowered her head and slid into the passenger seat. The ride to Archie's office was—thankfully—short. Emma opened the office door for her wife when they arrived and the women waited until Archie was ready for them. Several minutes filled with screaming silence passed until the pale therapist invited them into his small office. They sat on opposite ends of the couch across from Archie and he waited a few minutes in hopes that one of them would offer their reason for being there. When neither woman did so, he spoke.

"Mayor Mills, Sheriff Swan, are you here about Henry or do you need marriage counseling?"

Regina cleared her throat and looked at him. "Emma cheated on me." Her answer was the only place she knew to start.

"I see," he responded. "Emma, this is true?"

The blonde didn't look at him when she gave him a simple nod before her eyes misted over.

"Ok. Well Emma, did you have what you thought of as a reason, or did it happen on a whim?"

"I…I was angry, I got drunk, really, recklessly drunk and he was there. I was going to sleep with him, but something—or someone, rather, stopped me."

"You don't think you would have stopped yourself?"

"I…I don't know. I wish I could say that I would have, but I truly don't know. I didn't even remember most of what happened the next day, so I don't know how coherent I was."

"May I ask…is there a reason it was a man?"

"What?" both women asked.

"I'm curious, since you married a woman, but chose a man to be with that night, was there a reason for that?"

"No." Emma shook her head and deliberated a moment. "I didn't marry a woman, I married Regina."

"Pardon?" Regina asked incredulously, wanting an explanation.

"That came out wrong. I just mean that I didn't just decide one day that I wanted to be with a woman, it was Regina-specific. I chose Regina because she was who I fell in love with, I wasn't falling in love with her anatomy. She's the only person I want."

"Ok. We'll get to deeper reasons behind everything at a later date. Is there anything else you wish to bring to the table today?"

"She slept with my father," Emma whispered.

"I'm sorry?" Archie asked, searching for clarification.

"No. I slept with David Nolan, which I know is the same thing, but it was before the curse broke. And before I started dating Emma."

"I see. And is that what upset you, Emma?"

"Yes, but I think I was more upset that we've always had this really amazing connection, emotional and uh…physical. But now, even before I cheated, I couldn't…I guess I just couldn't get the thoughts of them out of my head whenever we would try to…uh…try to—"

"–have sex," Regina finished for her in a snapping tone. "She couldn't stop thinking about it when we would try to have sex."

"I can understand that. Now, Regina, Emma has done a lot of talking, why don't you tell me how you feel about Emma cheating on you?"

"I'm furious. I'm sad. I'm surprised, but then at the same time, not at all."

"What the hell does that mean, Regina?" Emma asked angrily.

"Everything I love dies, leaves or hurts me. It's my fault. I'll always be paying the price for all the magic I used, all the harm I've caused."

"It's not your fault," Emma soothed.

"It is. I shouldn't have lied. I shouldn't have been such a bad person before."

"God dammit Regina! Stop making yourself a whipping boy! You sitting there saying its your fault that I cheated is like saying your mom abused you because you were a bad kid! It's bullshit is what it is. This is my fault, my cross to bear, my reckoning to pay. You aren't at fault and the fact that you even think that makes me feel even shittier. I hate myself for doing this to you."

Regina remained silent while tears trailed over her cheeks and Emma breathed heavily, recovering from her outburst.

"Is there anything else you want to discuss before leaving today?" Archie asked, breaking the short silence.

"I need…I need Emma to not drink outside of the house for awhile. If I can't trust her to keep her pants on when she's drinking in public, I can't do this."

"Alright, anything else?"

I need her to not see Neal."

"Henry's father?" he asked, realization dawning on his face. "Ok, and Emma, what do you need from Regina?"

"I need her to talk to me. I want to fix our marriage, but being given the cold shoulder doesn't help."

"Anything else?"

"I need her to realize that this wasn't her fault, nor was it because of her. It's me, I'm a runner. I'm sort of cowardly when it comes to feelings and instead of staying home and dealing with it, I left and I made the biggest mistake—the stupidest decision—of my life. But I need her to stop blaming herself."

"Emma, Regina, I've seen your relationship from the beginning and I can see you have much love and passion and I really think you two can bounce back, as long as it's what you both want." After receiving a nod from both women, he continued. "I think that you should come Monday or Tuesday."

"Tuesday," Regina stated.

"Very well, and I think Friday, as well." Both women nodded again. "Before you leave, I want you each to tell the other why you want to fix your marriage. Emma, why don't you go first?"

"I…I want to make it up to you. I want to wake up everyday and show you how wonderfully perfect you are. I want to be there everyday for the rest of our lives to remind you that you are good enough to deserve better, to deserve everything." Regina cried harder and faster than she had been before Emma spoke. She looked into sea-green eyes and saw that they, too, were glistening with tears.

"And Regina, why don't you go, once you're ready." The brunette took a tissue from her purse and wiped her eyes and nose before clearing her throat.

"I never experienced this kind of love before you, Emma, and I don't want to let go of it. Aside from the way that this is hurting me, I have never felt so complete and that's because of this beautiful family that we are. You're the most beautiful, frustrating and childish woman I've ever known, but I can't see myself living a single day without you."

Emma stared into chocolate colored eyes, wanting to absorb the pain and emotion that was within their depths. She threw herself against Regina and hugged her tightly, wanting to never let go of her wife. After half a minute, she felt Regina wrap her arms around her back. It was the first time they had touched since the day after it had happened, the same day she had told Regina. The brunette cleared her throat after a minute and Emma moved off of her.

"I also wanted to share some news, but I didn't want to deal with the emotions it would bring without someone to bear witness," Regina stated.

"Is it bad?" Emma asked. Regina shook her head and Archie nodded, encouraging the brunette to share her news.

"We're having a girl," Regina whispered with a small smile. Archie looked surprised, not having known that they were having a baby, but Emma smiled widely.

"A girl? Oh, Gina, she'll be so beautiful. How did you find out?"

"Ruby could tell, I guess."

"Awe, we're gonna have a daughter," Emma whispered, her voice full of emotion.

The therapist cleared his throat. "I have homework for you two." Both women raised their eyebrows at his words "Have dinner together one night before our session on Tuesday, just the two of you. Go out, eat at home, it doesn't matter, but I want it to be just you two. And talk. The best way to move past things is to discuss them. Then we'll start Tuesday's session discussing your dinner." Both women nodded and they said their goodbyes.

Emma found herself smiling on the drive home. When they parked, she looked over to Regina and stared at the beauty her wife radiated, even when she had been crying for the better part of an hour. Regina looked over at Emma and tried to give a small smile, though it looked more like a grimace.

"I was hoping for a girl," Emma whispered.

"Really? I figured you would want a boy."

"I guess it didn't really matter too much to me, I just have this idea in my head of a girl with dark curls and green eyes and olive skin, my nose and your chin so she doesn't inherit my mom's chin. She'll have your mouth so no one can ever refuse the green puppy dog eyes with a pretty little pout."

"She'll be quite beautiful, even if she doesn't look like that," Regina responded, though now the image was in her head and she couldn't imagine her little girl looking any other way.

"Of course she will, her moms are like, the hottest babes in town," Emma offered, making Regina chuckle lightly. And it that moment, it was the most relaxed they had been around each other since the revelation about Regina and David came out. No, it wasn't perfect, and no, they hadn't gotten very much settled in their one session, but it was a start. And for them, that was all they ever really needed to begin with.