I am back from Mexico and back in the minus thirty degree weather that is my home in Alberta, Canada! So not all that impressed lol! But I got two and a half chapters written for this story while I was away! So please enjoy this one and I'll go ride my horse ;) please leave a review!

Regina woke to soft warm kisses being placed slowly up her spine from the middle of her shoulder blades to her neck. The sensation had her shivering and smiling drowsily with a long slow hum as David's arm wound a little more snug around her middle, pulling her closer to him beneath the blankets while his other hand moved softly over her hip and side.

"Good morning," she greeted softly, her voice soft and raspy with her first sleepy words of the day. Her smile grew a little more when a soft kiss was placed at the base of her neck and shivers flew under her skin.

"Morning," he whispered and kissed the corner of her jaw. When she began to move he loosened his arms just enough to accommodate her motion and as soon as she settled his arm wound tight around her middle and his other hand began softly combing through her hair above her ear. He couldn't help the smile the curled his lips when she comfortably tangled her legs with his and nuzzled her forehead against his and her arms wrapped sleepily around his middle.

He loved waking up like this. It wasn't all that often these days that he woke up with her still in bed and it was even less that he woke up before she did and got the pleasure of softly waking her up. He loved her so much he could hardly stand it. Passion for her ran like fire through his blood but he dared not ruin such a perfect and quiet morning. He treasured this silence for he didn't get it as much as he used to now that things were falling apart in Storybrooke.

"I miss this," she whispered and softly pushed her nose against his.

"I was thinking the same thing," he whispered back and pushed his fingers through her hair above and behind her ear.

Regina hummed drowsily and moved her thumb over his back as she nuzzled the side of her head a little deeper in to the pillow they shared, "I need you to pick up Henry from school today."

"Sure. Does he need to be somewhere?"

"No. I just don't want him coming home alone with Greg out and about seeking him out."

David nodded and moved his thumb softly over her jaw and she let out a quiet contented sigh, "may I ask why the sudden caution?"

"It's not sudden, dear. I've been following Henry home from school since Greg was released from the hospital. I've simply been in another form so the man believes Henry is alone during that time."

David smiled and a soft breath of laughter pushed from his nose as his thumb moved over her cheekbone, "clever girl," he whispered and she smiled before he found her mouth and kissed her tenderly. Her lips were soft and sweet and smiling as he kissed her and she let herself be kissed. "I love you," he whispered and then kissed her smiling lips again, "very much."

"I love you too," she smiled and he kissed her again.

"I want to have lunch with you."

"It's a date," she smiled and despite her eyes still being closed, she knew he was grinning like a damn fool and that grin stayed in place when he kissed her again. A little harder and a little longer.

...

"Rumple."

"What can I do for you, dearie?" He chimed as he continued to write and her stilettos clicked softly against the wooden floor with each of her steps.

"I need to talk to you."

"Talk away then."

"I need your full attention," Regina clarified calmly as she watched him scribble upon his paper with a black fountain pen.

"Well I am a little busy at the moment."

"Then I will wait," she stated simply and turned off to the side so she could examine the collection of items in his shop.

Rumple let out a sigh through his nose and shook his head a little at her as he continued writing. He believed she would leave and come back later but after a few minutes of patient silence he realized she was serious and she wasn't going anywhere. So with another sigh he put his pen down and lifted his head so he could look at her and it was hardly a second later that she looked back at him, pulling her eyes from the mobile of glass unicorns.

"What is it you wish to discuss?"

"An incredibly serious and complicated matter."

"Is that so?"

"To be honest I am not entirely sure how you will react," she confessed and he raised his brow curiously, "I need you to listen to every word I say. I am going to start out small otherwise you would tune me if I were to cut right to the chase."

"I am not a child, Regina," he laughed out irritably but she remained dead serious. No amusement or game in those stunning dark eyes.

"This is important, Rumple."

Sobering quickly, Rumple nodded and straightened his posture a little with a deep breath and listened attentively when she opened her mouth to speak in that strong raspy voice that held a much kinder tone than what she had ever used with him before.

"As I am sure you are aware there are two more visitors to this town. Tamara and Neal. Tamara, I predict, will be as troublesome as Greg however that is entirely beside the point. It is her fiancé-and I use that term very loosely for I am certain she is playing him like a fiddle-that is important."

"How so?"

"He is Henry's father," she pushed out uncomfortably and Rumple raised his brow in surprise.

"Really?"

"Yes."

"As surprising as that is, what does it have to do with me? Why is that so important."

"This Neal...also answers to another name. One I've heard you say only a handful of times when I wasn't supposed to."

His interest peaked, he nodded for her to continue and she shifted her weight and ran her hand through her hair as she took a long breath.

"Baelfire."

Rumple felt his heart stop at the sound of her voice and suddenly it was impossible to breathe. He did not believe he heard her correctly, "what did you just say?"

"Your son is in Storybrooke," she repeated with a nod and she couldn't quite tell if he was going to start screaming at her for playing games or start crying because she was telling the truth, "I convinced him to accompany me. He was not all that willing but he is standing outside the shop," she nodded as she pivoted a little so she could look at the door and Rumple would have a clear line of sight to it as well.

"All I have to do is open that door and he will walk in," she explained gently and when she looked back to Rumple she couldn't say she had seen him look more human.

"I don't believe you," he whispered and hated the way his voice threatened to shake.

"I wouldn't believe me either. But I have no reason to lie to you and I believe that things will be a whole lot easier to handle if the pair of you are reintroduced early on in the game," she nodded and then before she could hear the words that were ready to leave the imp's mouth, she moved her hand and the door to the shop opened, the little bell over the door jingling in the silence of the shop. And then there was a long pause but Neal did walk slowly through the door.

Rumple looked the man up and down and slowly tilted his head as he felt his chest tighten with the hope and fear that it really was him. When he was the same distance from him as Regina, Rumple slowly began walking around the counter toward him and his eyes never left him.

With a deep breath Neal stopped a couple feet from his father, a whole mess of emotions running amuck in his head and his heart, "you look exactly the same."

Rumple couldn't stop the smile that spread over his mouth as he shook his head, "you look much different."

...

The peace had not lasted. Regina knew it wouldn't as she knew rumple was a complicated man and figured his son would be no different. So she stood silently off to the side as the pair yelled and fought. She was listening but her mind was elsewhere. Her mind was on lunch with David and Emma's progress in magic. And then it was on Henry and pondering if he was having a good day and what homework he would have when he came home.

And then her full attention was stolen back by the fighting father and son when she was brought in to the conversation.

"Bae-"

"No, no, no, you don't get to argue. I know how you work, I knew you couldn't change-"

"Bae just let me-"

"Case in point," he motioned to Regina and her dark eyes steadily held his, "this woman. Now I was not in the Enchanted Forest during this particular area in your timeline but I am willing to bet on my life that before you she was a bright young woman, full of life, full of hope, full of love. But you manipulated her, you played with her, you moulded her in to a raging killing machine to do your bidding didn't you? You broke her, you twisted her mind and her soul so that she became as dark as you.

"I have seen her with her boy, that is not a woman who has only known evil and darkness her entire life. That is not a woman that should have the title of the Evil Queen. But she was just perfect for you wasn't she. Young, beautiful, naive, strong, clever, powerful, and an ability to feel deeper than most. Be it joy and love or pain and anger. She was perfect and you used her, you broke her and that in of itself shows me that you are no different than when you were crushing snails under your boot or letting me fall in to this world on my own."

"I am not that man anymore, Bae," he promised with a shake of his head and a smile that held not joy but Baelfire only turned and walked away, "Bae!" He called but was ignored, "Baelfire!" He called again and moved to run after him but was stopped quickly in his tracks by Regina's firm hand on his chest and he bellowed as the bell chimed over the door, "move Regina!"

"You go out there right now and you will only make things worse."

"Get out of my way," he growled through his teeth but she didn't so much as waver.

"You let me talk to him first. He will not listen to a word you say."

Neal huffed furiously as he stormed down the sidewalk. He wanted to hit something. Or scream. Both. "Hey!" He yelped, startled when a strong hand pulled him to the side in to an alley, "what the hell?!" He growled but then calmed down when he saw those big brown eyes looking back at him, "how'd you get out here so fast?"

Regina scoffed in disbelief and resisted the urge to smack him upside the head as her brow furrowed together, "what kind of a stupid question is that?!"

"I've been here all of twenty four hours! There hasn't been a single hint that magic exists in this town!"

"We like to keep it that way," Regina snapped back with her hands on her hips as Neal rubbed his head.

"What do you want anyway? To go back in there and pretend everything is all fine and dandy? To hug it out? Because it's not happening!"

"Alright look! No your father is not the kindest man, yes he has ruined hundreds and undoubtedly thousands of lives, and yes he is a power hungry bastard, but do not so easily push aside his desire for a second chance."

"Why are you defending him?! You of all people should know better than anyone that he is incapable of change!"

"Do not misunderstand me. I have every reason under the sun to hate Rumplestiltskin! But he is also the only person who has always been there for me no matter what! He has been there when I was hurt and alone, I have seen him when he is human, I have seen him when he is kind, he is not lost and for you he will try harder than before. I know better than anyone how important it is and how precious it is to be given a second chance when you have done everything wrong. To be loved and to have a family is all he wants, it is all anyone wants. All he is asking you for is a chance to show you," she nodded once and held her ground as she stared right at him and he huffed out his nose as his eyes flicked back and forth between hers.

"You are telling me that despite all that that man has put you through, you are going to stand by him?"

"Do not say it like I am some kicked dog with false hope that its owner will one day see the light," she growled through her teeth with a slow shake of her head, "you know nothing about me. You do not know the horrors that man has helped me through, you do not know what dreams he took away so that I could sleep, you do not know what he has done for me. He may have broken me but he only broke me as much as he needed to. No more."

Still she held his furious eyes and couldn't help but feel a little sympathy for the confusion beneath the anger at being completely blindsided by this entire situation, "everyone deserves a second chance. Especially those who are believed to deserve it the least for those are the ones who need it the most."

...

"You cannot keep this secret from him forever, Emma."

"I know."

"I am serious, Miss Swan."

"I know."

"I will tell him myself if you refuse, I will not lie to him. If he asks me I will answer him without hesitation."

"Regina just-..." She shook her head and rubbed her hands over her face and held them in her hair as she took a deep breath, "I don't know how to tell him."

"The longer you wait, the worse it will get."

"You think I don't know that?"

"As incredibly thrilled as I may be about my son having the same blood as Rumplestiltskin, Henry deserves to know that this newcomer is in fact his father. If he finds out from anyone but you or me it will be-"

"A complete shit show. I know," she nodded and sighed as she played with the corner of the page of the old book she was studying, "but Neal doesn't know that Henry is his, he hasn't put the pieces together yet and as long as he doesn't know how old Henry is-"

"No."

"Regina-"

"No. You will not put this off, you will tell them both or I will. Now finish that spell or I shall set that awful red jacket on fire," she drawled as she lazily motioned at the leather jacket clothing the blonde.

Emma huffed out her nose and straightened her shoulders a once she was ready she focused on her magic and the way it flowed through her veins and then she began to manipulate it.

"Open your eyes. Close them again and I will skewer your hand to the table and move our focus to healing spells," Regina scolded and Emma's green eyes flashed open and focused on her hands. When the blonde's hands began to quiver with her effort, Regina nodded approvingly and slowly walked around the table with her arms folded over her chest and stopped next to Emma. "Focus it," she encouraged and Emma let out a slow breath as her magic began to glow between her hands, "more," she urged and the light grew brighter and the magic more concentrated, "focus it further."

"I ca-"

"Further," she demanded quietly and Emma let out another slow breath from her nose and pushed herself further. "More," she nodded and Emma's hands began to shake a little more, "concentrate. Control it," she instructed with a smooth voice as the power built up more and more between Emma's hands and the brightness of her saturated light magic caused them both to squint their eyes a little.

When the sweat started to bead around Emma's hairline, Regina smiled just a little and nodded, "good. Now stop feeding it and slowly, very very slowly, let it dissipate."

"How?"

"Relax," Regina nodded and placed a hand on Emma's shoulder, withdrawing it when the tension was released, "good. Now slowly let it go," she nodded once again and when she felt the hairs raise on the back of her neck and her arms, she rolled her head on her shoulders a little and cleared her throat to rid herself of the sensation and then chided lightly, "slower."

"Sorry," she breathed out quietly and redirected her magic just a little and watched as the little ball of light slowly grew smaller and simmer until it disappeared altogether and she could curl and uncurl her fingers with a deep breath.

"Not bad," she rewarded and Emma breathed out a soft laugh with a shake of her head, "keep practicing and when you feel you have full control over your magic both in concentrating it and letting it die, show me."

"Will do," she nodded as she pulled her phone from her pocket and stood up.

"...what are you doing?"

"Well I can't very well unsuspiciously read the spell from a big ass book in front of Snow now can I? I'm taking a picture of it in case I need to refresh my memory later," she shrugged and halfheartedly bit back a laugh when she raised her eyes to see Regina staring at her with her head tilted and her expression the very image of unimpressed, "what? You have a better idea? Besides this way I don't have an excuse to not do it."

With a shake of her head and a deep breath Regina turned on her heels and walked out of the room with Emma following behind pushing her phone back in her pocket, "you cannot hide this from her forever."

"You're getting all worried for Snow's feelings now too?"

"I couldn't care less about that girl's feelings. As a matter of fact I am rather looking forward to the day you do tell her and she comes furiously knocking on my door. However I am more concerned for your sake."

"I'll be fine. I don't want her following my every move wondering if I'm coming to you to learn more or have her asking me a million questions or interrogate me about you and my magic. The longer I can keep her oblivious, the easier my life will be."

"Fair enough."

"Hey Regina..." She stopped and Regina stopped ahead of her and turned to face her, her expression relaxed and her eyebrows raised in a silent question, "thank you. For helping me with this and for keeping it a secret. It means a lot to me. More than you think."

Regina nodded once slowly with a small smile, "you're welcome."

...

Henry hurried out of the school with the crowd, not wishing to be out too early or too late so he was easy to single out. He had been nervous since he had seen Greg there. It was just a couple of times. But that didn't mean he wasn't always there and was just out of sight the rest of the times. He didn't like the man, he unnerved him. It made the walk to the bus seem to take forever.

And then he saw him. Henry felt his stomach drop when he spotted him standing on the pavement a few car lengths from the bus. He tried to be invisible, tried to duck in to the crowd of his classmates but he knew it wasn't enough and that Greg had already seen him. But then he saw that big brown pick up truck out of the corner of his eye and when he turned his head he saw David closing the driver's door with a friendly smile in his direction. Henry grinned and let out a relieved breath as his shoulders dropped and released their tension before he ran to him.

David hummed a soft laugh when Henry started running to him and he opened his arms a little which had Henry grinning a little more before he tackled him in a hug and held on tight. David simply hugged him back and kissed the top of his head while Henry gave a short and relieved laugh in to him.

"How did you know to come?"

"Oh as if your mother would ever let you come home alone with a man walking around plotting to take you from her," David smiled and Henry laughed softly as he released him from his hug and took a partial step back.

"That's true."

"Mhm."

"But she hasn't sent anyone before..."

"She always comes herself. But today she got caught up with Emma and their operation," he explained and Henry cocked his head in a question. And then as if on cue, a little black sparrow landed on Henry's shoulder causing the boy to flinch with a startled gasp. "See? Just running a little late," David chuckled and after a moment of pause to gather his thoughts, a wide grin spread over Henry's mouth as he looked at the bird on his shoulder.

"Mom?" He laughed lightly and the bird hopped a little closer and rubbed her head against his cheek which had him laughing a little more as he gently wrapped his hands around her little bird body and brought her in front of him. She cocked her head at him and Henry let out a delighted laugh before he kissed her beak and brought her to his chest, "I have the best parents ever," he grinned at David and David smiled right back.

"Whatcha got there?" Greg inquired curiously as he approached the man and boy with a polite smile.

"A bird," Henry answered simply and faked a welcoming smile as he moved a thumb over the back of his mother's bird neck, feeling much more relaxed and safe with her and David right close.

"Flew in to the window of my truck," David elaborated and Henry nodded in agreement, "I think it broke its wing. I am going to bring it home for Regina to take a look at. She has a soft spot and a skilled hand for these sort of things. Just had to pick Henry up first," he shrugged easily with a smile and Greg nodded.

"Is there nothing Madame Mayor can't do?" Greg teased lightly and David laughed quietly while Henry shrugged his shoulder.

"She's awful at video games," he offered and then laughed when her bird self pecked lightly at his finger, "but other than that no nothing I can think of."