Chapter one
Emma Swan was not the type to panic, she had been through too much for that.
This perception of herself was shattered on her twenty-eighth birthday when she opened her door to a chipper ten-year-old. Meeting the baby who was apparently a real, formed person would have been enough if she wasn't then subjected to the enigma that was Storybrooke and its mayor.
Regina Mills was a frustrating (and hot) woman who she'd kept her cool around most of the time, other than one alcohol-fuelled night that she tried not to think about too often.
As her yellow bug cut a swath through the drizzling rain that day, she was in full-on panic mode, driving towards town hall.
She didn't think much of her bouts of dizziness or nausea, even if she had experienced them before, but it was not possible to ignore when she lived with someone like Mary Margaret.
Going to the hospital was the simplest solution until she found out that the symptoms were apparently occurring for precisely the same reason as when she was a teenager.
Dr Whale repeated the test a couple of times as she insisted that there was simply no way that she had not been with a man since Henry's father. The clear display of disbelief had her panic turn into rage so the appointment ended with an ultrasound that was undeniable.
She was already far enough along for a clear and strong heartbeat that had taken her breath away and had her returning to full on panic-mode.
Naturally, her mind had gone to the last person that she had been with no matter how ridiculous it was, so she fled from the hospital and was currently slamming her car door closed so that she could march into town hall.
Disregarding any protests from the mayor's secretary, she pushed through the door and into the office, putting a stop to whatever conversation was happening inside.
Sidney Glass turned away from his notebook, the truest look of consternation on his face that Emma had ever seen, but she didn't dwell on it for more than a second.
She was too busy moving her gaze over to the mayor who she was so sure was responsible for this in a way that her mind couldn't conjure an explanation for.
As always, Emma could see the split second in which she had thrown Regina Mills off, but the regal woman swiftly schooled her features and said, "Sheriff Swan, this is highly rude…"
"It's urgent," Emma replied, her voice sounding foreign to her somehow as if her mind wasn't sure what she was doing here, "More important than some interview."
Sidney took in a breath as if to launch into a rebuttal, but Regina held up her hand to stop him like she was actually intrigued by whatever this was. Emma often got the sense that the mayor was interested in her in some strange way as if she were the only one in town who ever did something unexpected and the conversation that was about to ensue would surely fit that description more than any of their others.
It was for this reason that the sheriff was itching for the reporter to get the hell out so that she could let it all out.
"If the sheriff has something urgent to discuss, it is only right that I drop everything for her," she said bitingly, though Emma didn't back down, "We'll pick this up later, Sidney."
Sidney scoffed but gathered his things as commanded, his eyes forming slits as he passed the intruder and exited the office.
Emma blew out his breath, watching Regina the whole time, who was still staring back at her with a spark of interest and mistrust. The woman was so infuriatingly put together while Emma felt as though she may burst into tears at any moment so it took her an extra moment to register the fact that they were now alone and close the door for some modicum of privacy.
Silence reigned for a few more seconds and Emma tried her best to mentally string together some words that wouldn't make her sound ridiculous, but she didn't have time to think of anything as Regina asked, "Are you here to waste my time?"
Emma swallowed hard and made to go over to take Sidney's seat, but halted.
She wasn't sure that she could handle being that close to the mayor, they'd effectively avoided each other unless they had Henry-issues to discuss for around six weeks.
Emma shoved her hands into her pockets and Regina rubbed at her temple, "What is it, Miss Swan? And why couldn't it have been done over the phone?"
"I'm pregnant," Emma blurted out.
Regina's eyes momentarily widened, before she recovered and set about organising the papers on her desk.
"If you're here to request maternity leave, I am not sure that it would qualify as an emergency. It appears that you have some time…" Regina said absently.
"I haven't slept with anyone except…" Emma replied, gesturing awkwardly towards the mayor.
Regina dropped the papers and finally gave her eye contact, "Given that Henry exists, I have to assume that you understand basic biology."
Emma clenched her jaw, this was exactly what she was expecting but she couldn't just run away now because of a wave of embarrassment, not when she needed answers.
She'd already dug deep for a better explanation while she waited for her second set of test results, but she was pretty sure that she would remember. It had been years since she'd consumed enough alcohol to have that kind of catastrophic black-out so there was only one candidate, even if it fundamentally made no sense.
It had to somehow be part of the mayor's elaborate plan to get her out of her town. Maybe she thought that in some sick, twisted way, giving her another child would get her to back off of Henry.
But how could she have done it?
"That's why I'm here, what did you do to me?" Emma demanded, desperately.
Regina tilted her head, any bravado noticeably missing. As if she were aware of some possibility that Emma wasn't.
Still, the words that left her mouth sounded patently like Mayor Mills, "What exactly is it that you are accusing me of, sheriff?"
The floodgates almost burst open right there as it crashed down upon Emma that she really was being ridiculous. This town may be stranger than any other in America, but she highly doubted that whatever it was that she was suggesting could happen, she couldn't even settle on a proper theory.
Emma stepped back and ran her hand over her face, mumbling, "You're right, sorry…I should…just…"
As she turned to open the door and flee, she heard the distinct sound of the mayor's chair rolling back as she stood but she would never know if Regina called after her as she was already out of the office but the woman could form a word.
S
Emma Swan felt like a complete moron! What exactly did she expect to accomplish in the mayor's office?
Who found out that they were pregnant and then rushed to accuse their female one-night stand of something untoward?
She may not be able to recall being with a man, but an alcohol blackout that she couldn't remember made more sense than any other explanation.
Besides, paternity didn't matter when she considered how all of this would end. It would be a few days before she would start thinking about all of the other potential options, but as she drove away from Regina at top speed all that she could think about was the heartbeat.
Even ten years later, their rhythm had the same deafening quality.
Was she not supposed to have a child in a more 'traditional' manner?
It was slightly different this time around, she also had Henry's grinning face asking her for juice on the day that she met him crystal clear in her mind.
Why was it that knowing her firstborn filled her with so much more panic this time around?
She had no answers to any of these questions, but there was one thing that she knew for sure, she couldn't return to work today.
Her boots bombed against the stairs to the apartment that Henry believed she shared with her mother.
On this particular day, 'Operation Cobra' could not even enter her mind. It was already too full with what her future now looked like.
She didn't like thinking too far ahead at the best of times but this meant thinking at least nine months ahead.
She slammed the door and leaned against it with a shaking breath, unwittingly surveying the space.
Where could a crib go? And all of the baby crap?
Would Mary Margaret even want to live with a wailing newborn? Would the friend that she barely knew help her?
They'd already established that available real estate in Storybrooke was scarce, so where would they live where she would still be able to see Henry?
Would Henry even be interested in her by that point? Surely by then, she would have done something to prove to him that she was the least qualified woman in the world to be his mother?
She huffed and was about to fly towards the kitchen in search of the toaster that she'd replaced once before.
Before she made a step and considered where her roommate had hidden the screwdriver, said woman appeared from the bathroom.
"Oh hey, Emma," she greeted," How did your appointment go?"
Emma halted and opened and closed her mouth until she said, "I…" but her voice broke with a sob.
The schoolteacher abandoned the papers she had gone to pick up and said, "oh Emma," crossing to her without hesitation to envelope her in a hug.
It was almost maternal enough to take Emma's breath away, or at least she figured that this was what constituted motherly from her very limited experience.
It took all of her cynicism not to pull the woman back into the embrace as she let go and asked, "What is it?"
"Whale did some tests…"
"And?" Mary Margaret prompted, almost nervously.
"I'm…pregnant," Emma admitted, falling back into another sob.
Mary Margaret hugged her again.
It would take a while to calm down and give Mary Margaret more details. To behold the shocked expression when she revealed the identity of the last sexual partner that she could remember.
Right now, she just let herself be hugged by someone who cared about her.
It was more than she had the last time that she got this news and took the edge away from her panic.
S
Regina shouldn't believe Emma Swan, she should even spend a moment wondering whether it was even possible.
Their night together had been alcohol-soaked, amazing and unspoken, the inevitable end to a raw, inescapable attraction.
The next day, they went back to hating each other, to fighting over Henry with a shared understanding that it was a one-time thing that never needed to be mentioned again.
Of course, that was no longer the case now that Emma had exploded at her.
The town's newest resident obviously had no idea what it was that she was accusing the mayor of but said the mayor was aware that there were not only traditional methods of conception, at least in another world.
It was this that she was not able to get out of her mind over the intervening two days.
At first, she tried to put it aside from her thoughts and go about her daily routine as if the world wasn't suddenly moving faster under the pressure of something that shouldn't be plausible in this world.
Then it occurred to her that she didn't really have any idea who it was that took up so much of her time since she had crashed unceremoniously into Storybrooke. This information felt vital if she was seriously entertaining this ridiculous notion.
Emma seemed so absolutely certain that this pregnancy was impossible that Regina couldn't ignore her niggling urge to double-check.
Henry was so desperate for his birth mother to stay and had become more insistent that she was the Evil Queen so Regina was sure that there had to be a connection. Then there was the undeniable ticking of the town clock that Regina had to staunchly ignore in order to go about her days in her cursed town.
Once she confirmed that Emma Swan was found in the woods the same day as the curse, tracking down the book that Henry believed to contain all of the universe's answers was more difficult than it should have been considering that it was hidden by a ten-year-old, but she did eventually find it.
It was this quest that led her to sit in her study, an untouched glass of whiskey on her desk, it was way too early to take a sip from it.
Like most things when it came to Emma Swan, she really did feel like this required alcohol to get through.
Scouring each page took longer than it should have since she was searching in vain for a man who could more easily fit the bill and solve all of her problems.
She already knew well, however, that there was no one that would be a good candidate, or at least she could feel a certain hope bubbling with each page she analysed.
Another child.
Biology had long since left her list of important traitors for a child, but if she were ever able to have another, the possibility that her second could in any way be related to Henry was more exciting than it should be when she thought about how that relationship would happen and what it would mean for her and Emma Swan.
She already knew who her True Love was, it wasn't as if the Evil Queen of all people would get the chance to have another, especially when it was someone who consistently made the vein in her forehead bulge.
At last, with the ice in her full glass of whiskey melting into the brown liquid, she reached the final page and crumpled at the remains of the pages that had been frustratingly torn out.
There was little doubt in her mind that these would have all of the answers that she craved, why else would Henry have removed them as soon as Emma showed up?
Rubbing at her forehead, she almost admitted defeat and closed the cover.
The simplest solution had to be the explanation and in a land without magic or happy endings couldn't be True Love. Ema Swan was just a random woman with a tragic childhood who either forgot about sleeping with a man or was lying for some inconceivable reason.
Thoughts of True Love had her turning back to the story that she hated the most. Images of Snow White and Prince Charming falling in love. Even in the pictures, the shade of green in her former stepdaughter's eyes and the gradient of James's blond hair stirred up a decent amount of bile to climb up from her stomach and into her throat.
If this were true then it would make Emma the product of True Love, it would make the person she loved most in the world the grandson of her greatest enemies and it felt all the more possible that her next child could also be.
That would dash any plan that she had to destroy their lives, it also meant no longer being able to send away or incapacitate her newest enemy.
Overall, it was more than difficult to ascertain how it was that she felt about the entire situation without any proof.
Was it possible to complete a DNA test on a foetus without the person carrying it noticing? How ridiculous would she feel upon discovering that the baby wasn't hers?
No matter what logic she threw at the conundrum, she was becoming increasingly aware that this couldn't be pushed aside like many other Storybrooke problems.
This was only bolstered by staring at the images of Snow White and Prince Charming but her fixated spell of panic was shattered by the turning of the doorknob.
She reacted only in time to close the book and shove it under her desk.
Henry frowned, zeroing in on the whiskey and his eyes drifted to the clock and Regina found herself unwittingly comparing the expression to a younger version of Snow White.
Regina cleared her throat and said, "Are you okay, Henry?"
The boy seemed to disregard whatever worry he momentarily had and replied, "I'm hungry, mom, is there any dinner?"
Under normal circumstances, she would have admonished him for being so openly rude and reminded him that she was his mother and deserved respect.
There was far too much on her mind for that, however, so she stood and regally smoothed out her skirt, already planning to return the book while the boy went to school the next day.
"Time must have gotten away from me," she said as if she didn't feel as though the world had changed completely, "We can have dinner at Granny's?"
Henry narrowed his eyes and she knew why.
Since Emma was dragged into their lives, she tried to avoid the diner as much as she could unless she was planning to threaten the town's sheriff.
Henry looked at the whiskey again but ended up shrugging, "Whatever, I'll get my shoes," he said without further questions.
Regina's hand hovered over the glass but she closed it into a fist instead and went off in search of her handbag as she wondered absently whether Henry's attitude could be the result of nature or nurture.
It wouldn't bode well if she was right about the parentage of Emma's second child.
A/N - Would love to hear if you would be interested in more!