A/N-This one is sort of a filler chapter, the next one I think is going to skip maybe a month's time. I wanted to get this up so we could have a super ONCE filled day! OMG GUYS ITS BACK TONIGHT! Anyway, please review :) They always make me smile so much to the point that I get funny looks from my husband because I'm smiling at my phone like a fool. Enjoy!

Emma stared at her mother, momentarily incapable of forming words. After a long minute of silence, she shook her head and began walking to the door.

"Emma," Snow called out weakly. Emma turned to face her.

"No." Her voice was weak, all the anger she had had been replaced with pain and more feelings of abandonment. "No. This was…this was too much. I don't know who you are, but when my mother gets back, tell her she has a lot to do to fix this." With that, she turned again to leave the apartment, walking back to the car and sliding into the driver's seat.

"Emma darling, are you alright?" Regina asked in a soothing voice. Emma didn't know how, but her wife could always tell exactly what was going through her head and her heart, and in that moment she was so very thankful for that. Regina pulled Emma into a hug; the blonde's head cradled against her chest, as she soothingly stroked blonde tresses with one hand and traced the length of the younger woman's spine with the other. "Shh…shh…it's going be alright, dear."

Emma's sobs broke out harder, soaking Regina's shirt, but the brunette wasn't bothered. Instead, while still holding Emma, she pulled out her cell phone and texted David that they were in front of his place and he needed to come.

When David arrived, Regina pulled Emma out of the car and into the backseat with her and David drove them home in their car. Emma fell asleep from the exhaustion that her tears had caused, and David carried her up to the master bedroom and laid her on top of the sheets. He was back down the stairs before Regina was even halfway up the walk, he jogged down to meet her and slid an arm around her waist. She let him help her to the door, but when they crossed the threshold into the house she broke away.

"You know…it wasn't even two full days in the hospital, and I've been home for an entire day, I'm quite alright to walk, dear."

"Emma would kill me if I let something happen to you while you were in my care."

"David, I am in no one's care."

"That's where we disagree, dear," he teased, using her term of endearment (or condescension, whichever suits the situation). "Regina, just let people take care of you sometimes, it doesn't make you weak."

"I…I understand that…now. But I sometimes still feel as though it does."

"I know. I can tell." He looked at her curiously for a minute as she set about to make him coffee and pulled out a bottle of water for herself. "Regina…what happened at my place?"

"I actually don't know, David. But…" she inhaled sharply, and continued, "I told Emma about Snow not wanting you to come to the hospital the other day."

"Regina, why? I would have taken care of it."

"I'm sorry, David. I didn't mean to betray your trust, you're very important to me…but, Emma's my wife, and I especially have to tell her something if it effects her. I didn't tell her you didn't want her to know...I said you left it to me to decide, just so you know."

"I know, I know you're right, it still pisses me off though. Not at you telling her, the whole situation." He looked at brown eyes that were burning with a layer of anger that was trying to hide beneath the surface. "How did it come up, anyway?"

"Well, and this is where you're in trouble my dear, she told me about the anonymous complaints."

"Right…I knew she would eventually."

"Don't you encourage her keeping things from me, David. Do you understand me?"

"I know, Regina. It was only meant to be for a day. I wanted to have Saturday to try to work it out and then you guys could have a pleasant Saturday dinner and then Emma and I wanted to discuss it with you Sunday, but then you were in the hospital. We didn't want to cause you anymore stress."

"And while that is a sweet sentiment, I need everyone to be honest with me, ok? I have trust issues as it is. If two of the three people I trust are walking around keeping things from me, I'm not sure what I'll do. Are we clear?"

"Yes, Regina. I'm sorry." He looked at her with his bright blue eyes so full of earnest and she smiled at him, chuckling lightly until a confused look crossed his face and she burst into a fit of laughter that wracked her body. She held the counter for support while he looked at her as though she was insane. "Ok, crazy person, what's going on in that head of yours?" David asked, waiting for her to stop laughing. When he saw that it would take a few moments, he sat there and waited for her outburst to subside.

Slowly she started breathing deeper and the melodious noise that her laughter created calmed and quieted. And she was just standing there, beaming at him before turning to pour him a cup of coffee.

"So Regina…are you going to tell me what that was about or should I look into getting you hospitalized?"

"Oh shush, you," she teased, before smiling again to continue. "I was…my lecturing you and your sincere and apologetic look made me feel like I was scolding a child. And…even though you're my father-in-law, and I don't count my first marriage as any part of my life, I realized that I once would have been your stepmother-in-law. I apologize, it's just a strange thing to think about."

"Yeah…that's definitely weird to think about."

They talked in the kitchen for nearly an hour before they heard movement from upstairs signaling that Emma was awake. When the blonde finally padded into the kitchen, a pair of sky blue and a pair of chocolate brown eyes caught her.

"I didn't know you were going to stick around, dad. You should have woken me up," Emma said as she headed to the freshly brewed coffee and poured herself a cup.

"No big deal, Emma. I just wanted to ask what happened."

"I blew up at her about trying to tell you that you couldn't come be there for me. Then I asked her about the complaints and she admitted it was her."

"What?" asked both of the other people in the room.

"I mean…I suspected it but I didn't think your mother would really do something like that to you," Regina continued.

"Or to this family," David added. He gave a sound that sound half like a dry chuckle and half like a snort. "Well…looks like I need to go check with Granny about a room." He stood, pulling Emma into a hug and squeezed Regina's arm, just below her shoulder and began walking to the door.

"Dad…uh…you can stay here you know."

"No, I don't think that would be right this time around. You two need to take care of your marriage and I don't want to be in the way this time."

"David, that's…you're always welcome, don't be concerned about that right now. Family takes care of each other, you will come stay here," Regina urged.

"Regina, really, I'll be fine. Granny won't charge me much."

"Then at least let us help pay for the room, David. I'm your boss, I know your salary, it isn't enough to cover much time at the Inn."

"Regina, I'll be fine, I don't need help. I will take care of it," David insisted. Regina could tell she was pushing him too far, maybe hurting his ego.

"Well, alright then. But, breakfast is at 7, and dinner is at 6:30, you will be here everyday for both, there is no reason that you need to be eating greasy foods for every meal. Granny will give you lunch as your meal that is included with the room. If you're going to insist on not staying with us, the least we can do is make sure you're fed properly."

David smiled and nodded. "Thank you. I will see you guys for dinner then, tonight. Have a good afternoon."

When she heard the door close, Emma took a few steps closer to Regina and wrapped her warms loosely around her wife's waist. "Thank you for being so kind, Regina. I know he's your friend, but it was very sweet."

Regina offered a wide smile. "I think you offering to let him stay was sweet, especially since his being here was such an issue for you…before."

"Yes, well, I don't really have any right to touch you that way right now, anyway. Even if I did, I'm over it. We all have sexual pasts, and even if I call him dad, I do it more out of respect than anything else. He's really more like a brother figure, you know? He watches out for me, helps me out when I need it, he's there for me, but it's hard to actually see him as my father. I think I was just overthinking it when it was so new to me."

"Do you mean that?"

"Yeah, I really do. I get it, you're both like, ridiculously attractive people and if I were him, I obviously would have done the same thing. And it was, like, 5 years ago or whatever, so I'm over it."

Regina smiled weakly, wrapping her arms around Emma's neck and leaning in to kiss her slowly. When their lips met they melded together fitting perfectly, the way that they always had. Their kiss went from slow and sweet, a thank you from Regina to Emma, to burning and passionate, their tongues moving together at a fast and consistent pace, Emma's hands moved to tightly hold Regina's hips, while one tan hand tangled in messy blonde curls and the other moved down to Emma's breast, kneading it through the fabric. Emma moaned into the other woman's mouth and Regina pinched through the clothing, trying to grasp her nipple as her mouth moved down the blonde's neck.

"God, moms! That's gross!" Henry shouted, entering the kitchen and causing the women to rip apart from each other. "Seriously, you have a bedroom."

"Kid, it's just making out. Don't think that we don't know how much you and Grace make out all the time."

"First, mom was groping you, second, I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Regina, he's definitely yours. I can't even remember how many times you've said something like 'I have no idea what you're talking about' when you really did." Regina chuckled, and tried to smooth her clothes.

"I'll be in my room."

"Hey kid, David is going to be over for breakfast and dinner for a while."

"Huh? Why?"

"Because he needs food."

"Ma, seriously, why?"

"He's leaving grandma for a little while, and uh…he doesn't want to stay here, so your mom demanded that he at least allows us to feed him. Just wanted to make sure you knew."

"Right. I'll be upstair," Henry answered, shaking his head.

David got to the apartment shortly after 5, when his shift was officially over. He didn't see Snow, at first, figuring she was in the bathroom or upstairs, so he quickly packed a bag of clothes he would need. He saw that the bathroom door was slightly ajar, so he checked and found it empty. After all of his toiletries were in his bag, he grabbed a picture of Snow, Emma, Henry and himself that was on his side of the nightstand and placed that between a couple of shirts. He heard sniffling from upstairs and walked halfway up the steps.

"Snow?" he called out. He waited several minutes on the stairs before she came to greet him.

"David, you're home," she stated with a small smile.

"Yeah, not for long. I'm…Snow, I'm going to go stay at the Inn for a while."

"What? Why?"

"You really crossed the line this time. You've been toeing it for a while with your hatred of Regina and your need to keep her out of our family despite the fact that she's our daughter-in-law. But putting in false complaints about our daughter and her wife and the neglect of their child? That was too much. I think…I think maybe you should talk to Archie to work through your anger." Snow was sitting on one of the steps sobbing into her hands.

"Charming, you can't leave me."

"I'm sorry, but I can't stay. You have a lot of making up to do."

"How long will you wait? I mean, I'm willing to start right now, but what if it takes a long time?"

"Then I'll be waiting." He crouched so they were at eye level and he took her face into his hands, making her look him in the eyes. "Snow, you've lost yourself, this isn't who you are. But you're my True Love, and that means everything, and it can survive anything. I'll always find you; I've said that more times than I can count, but I think this time you need to find yourself first. But I'll be here; I'll be waiting for you to be yourself again. I love you no matter what, but I can't support this type of behavior, so I need to leave until you prove that you're going to change." She nodded at him and he walked back down the stairs, grabbed his bag and walked out the door, leaving her alone to cry on the stairs.

"Emma…I need to talk to you about something," Regina hesitated. She was standing at the island in the kitchen chopping vegetables for their dinner and Emma was next to her peeling potatoes.

"What's up, babe?"

"I think that I might know why your mother is doing this."

"What? Why?"

"I think that she has finally reached her limits, literally, I suppose. The darkness in her heart, I think it might be taking over."

"You mean from a thousand years ago when she killed Cora?"

"Yes. And I don't appreciate the hyperbole, it doesn't seem like a long time to me."

"Sorry babe, please continue."

"Well, losing love, it can do a lot of things to you. I lost Daniel and I didn't have any black in my heart yet, but losing him is what started it all for me. Your mom thought she was losing David, and maybe the blackness in her heart just sort of fed off that anguish and began to consume her."

"Can that happen?"

"It can."

"I don't care, she still shouldn't have done it."

"No. No, she shouldn't have. But I should not have killed as many people as I have. If she's willing to fix it, and I think that your father walking away from her will make her, then I think you should let her try to redeem herself."

"Why are you defending her? I'm finally on your side about her, we both hate her, and now you're defending her!"

"Emma, darling," the brunette began, setting down her knife and turning to face the blonde. "I never hated your mother, actually I used to love her very much. And I'm not defending her actions; she has no excuse for what she is doing. But what I am saying is that we can prevent her from making things worse if we help her, if we allow her to work for redemption."

"I really, really need you to stop being so sensible, for just, like, one day, Regina."

"I'm sorry, my dear."

"Fine. Fine! I'll let her work for my forgiveness. But, she has a lot to do. You had to work super hard for everyone to begin to get over what you did, especially my parents and I was just over here, falling madly in love with you and they still put you through a million hoops. I mean, seriously, how many times did you save everyone's ass before they gave you the time of day?"

"Well, true, yes. But I hope we won't be having anymore life-threatening situations that may allow your mother to save us in an attempt to earn her redemption."

"No, obviously. But this is a lot for her to make up for." Regina nodded but didn't speak about it again, instead choosing a more pleasant topic to discuss.

"I have that checkup for the baby tomorrow."

"I know. I'm very excited…we'll get to see her!" Regina smiled lightly and without the full enthusiasm Emma had been expected, and the blonde took it the wrong way. "Oh…um…I don't…uh, you can go alone if you don't want me to go."

"Oh Emma, dear, that's not what has me upset. I'd love for you to come. I'm just worried that something will be wrong with her, since she was conceived by magic."

"Don't worry, babe, she'll be perfect." To prove her point, the blonde knelt down in front of Regina's stomach and kissed the slight swell. "Hi there, little baby. This is your mama, but I know you know that because your mom has the best voice I've ever heard in the whole world and I know you can tell the difference, even if you're just little." She risked a glance at the brunette's face and saw that her wife was smiling and blushing lightly, which she took as a good sign and so she continued. "Mommy and I can't wait for the months to pass so you'll get here. We have about 25 more weeks, which is way too long, but we gotta let you cook longer so that when you come out you'll be ready to take on the world. You're gonna be so strong and so beautiful, just like your brother is. He'll be the best big brother in the whole world. He's super awesome, takes after me." That earned her a teasing slap on the side of her head, which was the moment that Henry walked into the kitchen to get a drink.

"Come on!" he whined upon entering. "Can you two keep your wifely stuff confined to your bedroom, please?"

"Henry," Emma scolded. "I'm just talking to the baby."

"You know she's like, the size of an avocado or something, she doesn't know what you're saying." Regina was jarred by his accurate description.

"How do you know that, Henry?" Regina asked.

"Um…" he stumbled over his words, blushing. "I guess I looked it up."

"You did?" she beamed, tears in her eyes.

"Nothing to cry over mom, I just was wondering what the baby was like and didn't want to bring it up because I don't know if it's touchy or whatever."

"It's not, Henry. And even if it was, you can discuss anything you need to with us, no matter what. Especially, you know, sex or anything."

"Um, no, but thanks." He started to walk out of the kitchen, but Emma stopped him.

"Nope, kid, set the table. Grandpa will be here soon and dinner is almost done. It wouldn't kill you to spend some time with us, you've been gone almost everyday."

They had a pleasant dinner, avoiding the subject of Snow until after Henry had gone to play video games once they had finished dessert, and the three adults sat around the table discussing the situation.

"Emma, Regina, I need to tell you about what happened when I went to get my things today." Both women looked attentively at him, letting him know to go on. "Well, I left, but I feel I should let you guys know that I'm…I'll be waiting for her to make it up to you guys. She's going to have to work hard for it, but she's the only love I've ever had, and I can't completely give up on her." He finished his sentence sounding almost guilty for telling them that he wasn't leaving her permanently.

"Yeah, uh, Regina convinced me to let her work to make it up to us, too," Emma trilled. David looked stunned.

"You did?"

"To be fair, I told Emma that I think what Snow is doing could be the darkness in her heart finally taking a toll on her soul. I know this isn't who she is. She's saved me many times in the past, particularly when you ordered the arrows to execute me, David," Regina noted.

"Oh ho! Don't ask me to start defending my actions," he teased back. The pair shared a smile while Emma was staring at them, horrified.

"What? Seriously… I've been in Storybrooke like, 5 years and I've never heard that story? What the hell?"

"Later, darling," Regina uttered.

"Alright, well I will get out of your hair and go get some sleep. See you in the morning, you two have a good night," David spoke, walking to the door and waving them off as they offered to walk him out. Emma sat staring at the place setting at the table that was empty, and Regina knew what she was thinking.

"Sweetheart, she'll come back. Your mom will find her way back to being your mom and before we know it we'll be wishing she would back off again because she'll be so over the top about this baby when she comes to her senses."

"It just…sucks. I haven't even had them for very long and now…"

"She will come back. I promise. Even if it means I have to kick her ass to get it moving. Ok?"

Emma nodded sadly, but went about helping Regina clean up the kitchen.