Unexpected Situations

Chapter 4 Family Matters

-Regina's POV-

Emma drove us to my vault so we could start collecting all my books on magic. When she parked my car, I immediately felt her magic course through me as she exited the car to open my door. When she opened the door, she took my hand. I closed the door after I got out, and we walked toward the vault.

"Alright, what exactly are we looking for? What do these books look like?"

I opened the door, and we took the stairs one at a time. "We are looking for a red and black velour-covered book that explains magic bonds. We are also looking for a black leather-bound book discussing different types of magics and their strengths."

"Should be easy."

"No, it won't because I have books stored in three different areas. You and I will have to divide and conquer."

Emma exhaled when we reached the bottom level. "You know I have trouble transferring my magic to you."

"I took a nausea pill before we came down. Let go of my hand."

She let go, and so far so good.

"I'm okay for right now. I'll tell you if I need you, and you can help me search. It will just take us longer to go through all those books."

I took the right side, and Emma took the left. I opened a trunk and began searching book after book. I found green books, red books, orange books, blue books, and finally found leather-bound books. I was starting to feel weak but not nauseated.

"Emma."

"Yeah?"

"Could you come see for a minute?"

She got up and walked over to where I was. She knelt beside me and placed a hand on my shoulder. I sighed in relief, and she asked, "Nauseous?"

"No, I just felt weak. I am pulling the leather books so we can look through them."

I removed every black leather book I could find, and we sat down and began reading through them. I immediately tossed one book back into the trunk because it wasn't what I sought. I picked up another one. Emma tossed the book she had back into the trunk, hooked her arm through mine, picked up another book, and began reading.

"I think I found it."

I looked over to see what Emma was reading and began to speed-read. "That's it! Let's put all this back and look in the brown trunk over there."

We put everything back except the book in my lap then we got up and walked to the other trunk. I opened it up, and the book we sought was on top.

"Wow, that was easy." Emma pointed out as I picked it up and then closed the lid. "So, will we read these here or bring them home?"

"We'll bring them home. Right now, it's time to let Henry know he will be a big brother soon."

"I can't wait to see his face!"

I chuckled and replied as we walked up the stairs, "Neither can I."

-Emma's POV-

We arrived at my parent's apartment and knocked on the door. I immediately dropped Regina's hand and focused on transferring my magic to her. She sighed, letting me know she felt instant relief. The door opened up, and Henry was the one that greeted us.

"Mom! Ma!"

"Hey, kid!"

"Hi, sweetheart. Your grandparents are here?"

"Over here in the kitchen!"

Regina and I walked in and made our way into the kitchen. Snow immediately dropped what she was doing and hugged me, then Regina.

"How are you two doing? I know that you both have a lot going on right now."

Regina and I laughed, and Mom, Dad, and Henry looked at us strangely.

"Sorry, Mom. We…he…we didn't mean to bust out laughing on a serious question, but…"

"Emma is trying to say that a lot has happened since we last saw each other. We all need to sit down so Emma and I can catch you up on what happened last night."

We all walked into the living room. I couldn't keep sanctioning my magic to Regina any longer. I put my hand on her leg when we sat on the couch.

"I'm sorry, but I couldn't do it any longer."

She took my hand and squeezed it. "It's okay. It's time that they know what's going on."

Regina took a deep breath, exhaled, and began, "After the funeral, I got sick. I was ill enough to dehydrate and pass out. Emma came to check on me and found me on the floor in my bathroom. She brought me to the hospital, and I discovered why I was sick."

"What is it?" Dad asked, then Mom questioned, "What's wrong, Regina?"

Regina looked at me, and I said, "Tell them."

She exhaled and said, "I'm pregnant."

Henry's face lit up, and he ran to Regina and hugged her. "I'm finally getting a little brother or sister!"

"Congratulations, Regina!" Dad said. Mom added, "I'm sorry Robin won't be here to see his child."

Regina hung her head, and I explained, "About that. She's six weeks into the pregnancy. Six weeks ago, I became the Dark One, taking the darkness away from her. When I stuck the dagger into the dark magic, she conceived at that moment. Robin is not the baby's father. It's me. I'm the other parent. The baby is magical, and it's draining Regina's magic. Only my magic helps her feel better when I touch her."

Silence. Regina and I looked at each other, then at Henry, Mom, and Dad.

"Snow, David, Henry, please say something."

Henry was the first one to say something. "A baby created by magic. Cool!"

Regina and I laughed then Mom finally said, "So, what happens now?"

"What do you mean?" I asked. Regina added, "What happens now is Emma will stay with Henry and me until the baby is born. When the baby arrives, I'm leaving it up to Emma if she wants to continue living with us or return to her house. We will co-parent the baby like we do with Henry."

Dad finally said, "Emma, are you sure you're ready for all this?"

"Excuse me?" I asked, and Regina added, "What do you mean, is she ready for this? Ready or not, it's happening."

"I thought you two would have been excited that you will be grandparents again. I misjudged that one."

"Emma," Mom exhaled, then continued, "What your father wanted to say was, are you ready for all the reactions from the town? Yes, we are over the moon that we will be grandparents again! We're just concerned for you both."

Regina stood up. "I'm sorry that you both feel this way. Henry, let's go."

I noticed how she was holding onto the chair, so I got up and held her hand. She sighed in relief and mouthed, "Thank you," to me.

"Regina, Emma, please don't leave on bad terms."

"Mom, I thought you and Dad would have accepted this better than what you're showing us. I told Regina that she wouldn't face this alone, and I meant every word. No matter what shit is thrown our way, we'll get through it. Come on, kid, let's go."

"Emma, please, I'm sorry."

Regina turned to my Mom, and she said, "She is not the one you need to apologize to. You will always see me as your evil stepmother, the Evil Queen, and nothing more. I had done everything in my power to change into the person I was before I turned evil. I believe I did a pretty damn good job! I thought I would have had your support. Guess I was wrong."

We walked toward the door. I listened to little Neil crying as they pleaded for us not to leave. I opened the door, and I closed it behind us.

-Regina's POV-

I was silent the whole way back. I still couldn't believe how Snow and David reacted. I shouldn't be this surprised because of what I did to them in the past, but I hoped we were passed all that by now.

"Hey," I turned to face Emma, and she said, "It's going to be fine."

I exhaled, and Henry said, "Mom, can you see the baby right now, or is it still too early?"

I handed him the sonogram picture, and the smile on his face almost made me cry.

"Wow! This is so cool!"

"Well, big brother, what do you think? That's your little brother or sister."

"Ma, this is so great! I knew it would have been you to make my happy ending come true."

Emma and I shared a laugh then we arrived in the driveway. After Emma parked the car, we got out and went inside the house. I closed the door behind us, and Henry began to ramble.

"Can we pick out what room will be for the baby? I want him or her next to me! I'm ready for feedings, changing diapers…"

"Woah, kid, slow down!"

"Henry, come sit." We all sat on the couch, and I began, "I'm so glad you're excited about the baby. We just found out. Why don't we take this time to take it all in, then we can begin preparations, okay?"

He nodded, and Emma said, "Why don't we all change into our pajamas and figure out what we are having for supper?"

Henry bolted up the stairs, and Emma and I laughed.

"Hey," I looked at her, and she touched my stomach. I put my hand on hers, and she continued, "We're having a baby."

I shook my head and said, "If you would have asked me if I would have foreseen this, I'd tell you no."

"Well, I didn't think I would be having another baby. But, I'm glad that it's you that I'm experiencing this with."

What the hell is she trying to say? Why does that make me happy? She's my best friend and the mother of this baby that I'm carrying. I hope it's just the pregnancy throwing my hormones out of whack because I'm not ready for any relationship changes.

"Emma…"

Henry came down in his pajamas and asked, "Why aren't you two in your pajamas yet?"

Emma and I looked at each other, waved our hands, and our clothes changed into pajamas. Henry shook his head, and we laughed.

"Alright," Emma started, then asked, "What do you want for supper? Something quick? Breakfast food?"

"We haven't had a breakfast supper in a long time. Let's do that." I gave my opinion then Henry said, "Waffles, bacon, and scrambled eggs!"

I shook my head, and I stood up. "Let the chef go prep." There it is again. I felt weak, and Emma immediately took my hand.

"I hate feeling helpless," I said as we walked into the kitchen, and Emma sighed, "I'm sorry. It's my fault you feel this way."

"Will you stop apologizing!" I raised my voice as I grabbed the waffle iron. "It's not your fault! Did we plan this? No! For some strange reason, Fate allowed this to happen."

The waffle iron was slipping from my grasp. Emma immediately grabbed it and placed it on the counter. She was sanctioning her magic to me so we could tag team cooking.

Emma said, "I'll take care of the waffles if you want to do the scrambled eggs and bacon."

I nodded as I grabbed the eggs and bacon from the refrigerator. I placed them on the counter near the stove, grabbed the frying pan, placed it on the stove, and turned on the fire. Henry walked in with the storybook.

"I wrote again."

Emma and I turned around to look at him.

"What did you write, kiddo?"

I returned to scrambling eggs and decided to listen rather than read the page or pages he wrote.

"It's everything that's happened so far; Robin's funeral, Mom getting sick, you finding her and bringing her to the hospital, finding out about the baby, and everything that happened with Grandma and Grandpa. Why didn't you tell me the baby has gold magic?"

I decided to answer that question. "We don't know enough about it yet to explain it to you. Ma and I want to learn more about this magic before we say anything. What we do know, gold magic is powerful. Gold is terrified of it. The way he spoke, it destroys any dark entity."

Emma got up and whispered in my ear, "There's more. I'll explain later."

I nodded, took a deep breath, and finished the eggs. I scraped the eggs into a plate then I started on the bacon. Emma finished making the waffles and then walked to the refrigerator to grab the butter and maple syrup.

"Damn it! I'm sorry. I can't hold on much longer."

"It's okay. You're getting better. This is the longest you held out. I'm fine. I'll let you know when I need you."

I didn't even feel when she stopped. I had enough energy to cook the bacon, put it on a plate, and bring it to the table. We all sat down and fixed ourselves a plate. After eating supper and doing the dishes, Henry went to his room to play one of his games. Emma and I went to my bedroom.

"Regina, Henry wrote something about us."

I climbed into bed because I was feeling weak again. I fixed my pillows for me to sit up, and then I leaned into the pillows and closed my eyes. "Please tell me he's not trying to set us up."

"No, it's complicated."

I opened my eyes and patted next to me for her to get in. She got in and immediately took my hand. I sighed in relief and asked, "Do I want to know?"

"Yes, you do. He wrote that our friendship will be tested. I don't know what that means."

I thought for a while, and I summoned the two books. "Here. Read the one for the different types of magic, and I'll read the one on magical bonds."

We were quiet for a while. I finally got to the section I was looking for. The more I read, the more nauseous I felt. When two magical persons' magic interacts, it could create a powerful bond that could create life. If this occurs, the two magical persons have created a magic powerful enough to destroy darkness. This also bonds these two for life; soul mates.

"Regina, look."

I looked where Emma was pointing and began reading about the gold magic. Gold magic is the most powerful of all magic in existence. Gold magic is created by two magical soul mates who either consummated their love or used their magic in an act of love to save the other from harm. Life could be created through this act, and the child would have this magic. The parents will gain this magic through the course of the pregnancy and then will be able to use it after the baby is born. Gold magic destroys dark magic.

I bolted out of bed, ran into my bathroom, and reached the toilet just in time to throw up supper. Emma followed me into the bathroom, knelt beside me, and scratched my back.

"Now I understand why you said it's complicated. Is that what he wrote?"

"Yes."

I flushed the toilet, stood up, and brushed my teeth, getting the vomit breath out of my mouth. When I finished, I turned to Emma and leaned against the vanity.

"What are we going to do?" I asked. Emma replied, "Take it one day at a time. That's all we can do."

Here come the tears again. She embraced me and let me cry into her shoulder.

-Emma's POV-

I held her as she cried. Shit, what was wrong with what we had? Our magic decided to bond and create a baby. Now, we're bonded for life! Don't get me wrong; I am excited about the baby. It's the fear of the unknown with this soul mate thing. According to Tinker Bell, Robin was Regina's true love. I guess Fate decided to change her mind. Ugh, I hate seeing Regina like this. I hate feeling helpless.

"Come on. You need your rest."

I took her hand and brought her back into the bedroom. She climbed into bed, handed me the books, and I set them down on the nightstand. She moved the covers for me to get in. I got in, fixed the pillow, and laid down. We covered up and took her hand.

"Remember what I said earlier. I felt better when you hugged me."

"Yeah."

"Hold me."

What the hell? I don't understand her sometimes. At times, she's bright, cheery, and comical. Other times, she's biting my head off and not wanting to be anywhere near me. Very seldom she shows affection like this. I guess this is one of those times. I wrapped my arms around her pulling her close to me. Should I? Oh, what the hell!

I smirked. "Don't get any ideas now."

She hit my arm. "Ow! I was joking!"

She sighed and said, "I know."