Chapter Three
Regina returned to the diner in a haze, toiling over Rumplestiltskin's words.
Coming to terms with having another child should have been enough to dwell on, but getting the first to trust in her in order to have a chance at a relationship with her children and (maybe) their mother, felt insurmountable.
Before Emma came along, she'd done every little thing to garner trust from the boy, but she was well aware that she had ramped up the awfulness ever since.
It felt justified while protecting the curse but now that her goals had shifted, so had her perspective of herself.
Never before had she felt quite so much like Cora and the fate of the Queen of Hearts did not exactly stir a lot of hope in the mayor.
The truth was the obvious answer, it may not work on Emma just yet, but Henry fundamentally believed large parts of it. What could she say to inspire hope that she hadn't earned?
As she entered the diner, she kept her eyes on her heels and crossed to the table she'd stared longingly at earlier.
Her carefully constructed 'happy ending' would be imploding very soon, but what if it gave way to something better?
As much as she hated the comparison, it wasn't as if Snow and Charmings' relationship hadn't been chalked full of pain, strife and impossible indecision.
Perhaps this was the first one that she had to take for the sake of True Love?
Aware that she was getting way too ahead of herself, she got to the table to find Emma giving her that look again.
She couldn't decide whether it was suspicion or distrust. If it was the first, perhaps she could kiss her right now and prove her intentions to Henry without a conversation that she had given him no reason to believe.
As she entered, she noticed Henry talking animatedly to his birth mother as she felt her usual contempt spring forward into a desire to berate the sheriff.
She forced this down, however.
Surely she could at least try and be nice to her True Love?
This was why she didn't look up again until she reached the table and effectively put an end to whatever they were talking about.
Seeing Emma up close only intensified her desire to kiss her for reasons not wholly related to avoiding an awkward conversation with Henry.
There was nothing quite like spending days imagining what it would be like to have a functional family unit with someone to intensify any repressed feelings.
The fact that having Emma's parentage confirmed did little to touch the swirl of emotion didn't freak her out quite as much as she thought it might be another factor. It didn't even bother her that it would put a swift end to any plans to continue hurting her children's grandparents.
What need would she have for revenge once she was certain that their daughter could make her happy?
It was all of this that allowed her to put aside all maternal jealousy born from Henry's ill-hidden preference for his birth mother and she smiled at the sheriff.
"Hello, Miss Swan," she greeted beside the table trying not to react to the cake that Henry was finishing with a frown.
Once they figured everything out, she could discuss proper nutrition with Emma.
"Hey Regina," Emma replied, her voice revealing little regarding the choice between suspicion and distrust.
"Thank you for keeping Henry company, my apologies for not asking first but my…commitment was unavoidable…"
Henry licked at the chocolate on his lips and narrowed his eyes at her but Regina had to keep her gaze on Emma to maintain the unnatural niceness.
"It's okay…the kid wasn't a problem at all," Emma replied, shifting under Regina's smile. She was trying to make sure that it wasn't a 'mayor smile' but the edges of her mouth were somewhat starting to hurt.
Taking in a deep breath as she realised that there was nothing that could be achieved until she had an honest conversation with her son, Regina released the tight grip on her handbag to gesture to the boy.
"Well, we should be getting home, it is a school night," she announced.
Henry scowled but slipped out of the chair so that he was stood next to his brunette mother, who was unable to resist picking up a napkin to wipe the chocolate from his face, but Henry wriggled away before she could finish and Regina cringed as he instead wiped at his face with his sweater sleeve.
She opted not to admonish him in the interest of not closing lines of communication for the night.
Draping her hand over the boy's shoulder, Regina addressed Emma, "Thank you again, Miss Swan," she said, finding the woman staring at the standing pair with an unreadable (maybe wistful) expression.
"Sure," Emma said, going for a cautious smile, "See you later, kid?"
Henry nodded eagerly and Regina hesitated before leading him to the exit.
Henry looked over to Emma, who strangely had placed her hand to her stomach, but something else strange must have occurred to him and he asked, "Aren't you going to have dinner, mom?"
Regina's stomach turned and shook her head as the bell sounded their exit to the rest of the diners, "I'm not hungry," she said.
Henry released himself from her hold and rounded on her to inspect her intently.
"What are you planning?" he demanded.
"Why do you think I'm planning something?" Regina asked, sighing because she knew the answer.
"You were being nice to Emma."
Regina smiled weakly, seeing his distrust with such clarity that she felt as though she had been punched.
Knowing that she could hardly admit to being the Evil Queen outside of Granny's diner, Regina assured, "I will tell you once we're home."
"So there is something?" Henry prodded, running to catch up to her and tearing the car door open.
Regina managed something approximating a real smile, she couldn't remember the last time that her son was this eager to talk to her.
S
Upon entering the mansion, Regina instructed Henry to get ready for bed.
Despite the bombshell she was determined not to shy away from, she was well aware that it was still a school night.
Henry's mouth twisted into yet another scowl but he seemed to decide that she had lied to him at the diner so just flew up the stairs.
That definitely hurt but Regina was now acutely aware that it wasn't undeserved.
Discarding the bag and coat, Regina clicked her way towards her study, thinking of the one thing that would help with this ordeal.
She originally planned to grab the book and rush up to her son's room, but some force had her sit down and open it.
She sucked in a breath as she found a rendition of what should have been the happiest day of Snow White and Prince Charmings' lives.
Running her fingers over her own illustrated face, she drew her bottom lip into her mouth and chewed insistently.
How could she admit that this actually happened?
It went against everything she had been trying to do for decades but she no longer had a choice.
The person who threatened to take away Snow White's happiness could not have fathomed that the woman could have been responsible for the birth of her True Love. Or at least she was beginning to hope that she was.
What would she do if it turned out that she was wrong about all of this? What if she told Henry the truth and lost everything?
For the first time, it occurred to her how selfish she was being.
Was all of this worth having her son believe that he was crazy? What would it achieve to keep him away from the mother that he clearly preferred?
Perhaps this wasn't all for her potential second child? Surely Henry's quality of life could only improve when his mother stopped lying to him, no matter how much she would be risking in the endeavour.
Snapping the book closed, she stood with a steadying breath and smoothed down her pantsuit.
If she waited much longer, the boy would be asleep and she would surely lose her nerve by the time morning came.
At last, she ascended the stairs, passing through the hollow halls of the mansion until she reached one of the rooms with the most substance.
The door was slightly ajar so Regina opted not to knock, instead entering to find Henry already in his PJs stretched out with a comic book.
If it were a year ago, she would have come in to lay beside him so that they could read it together, but she was so far behind on the Marvel continuity at this point.
She wasn't sure that she could even hold a conversation about who the strongest Avenger was anymore.
If this went well, then perhaps she could catch up?
The comic flopped down in response to Regina's presence, but his face soon became consumed in anger as he shot across the room.
The boy snatched the book away from her and she involuntarily hissed at the force as he retreated to his bed to cradle it preciously.
"What are you doing with this?" he demanded.
Regina dragged her tongue over her lips.
Years of living a lie meant that a million explanations sprung to mind, but she resisted. She couldn't just tell him that she was his mother and did not have to explain herself to him because frankly, she did need to.
"I was…searching for an answer," she replied.
Henry's forehead scrunched as he decided that the book was physically fine and he dragged his gaze up to Regina, apparently thrown off by the sincerity despite her vague response.
Hugging the book, Henry asked, "Answers to what?"
Regina placed her finger to her lips and stared at him, this was it, the point of no return.
"I needed to confirm…that Emma is...Snow White's daughter."
All emotion was wiped from Henry as he dropped the book down beside the abandoned comic books.
He opened and closed his mouth a few times until he said, "What?"
Regina breathed in deeply and made to approach the bed, but the boy visibly tensed so she stayed put and crossed her arms, glancing around all of Henry's things.
How much of it would he want to take with him if he took this admission as expected?
"I owe you an apology, Henry," she sighed.
"Why?"
"Because I am…was the Evil Queen. You were right about everything, the curse is very real," she rushed out, hoping that Henry could decipher it.
There was very little chance that she would be able to say that again.
Judging by the blankness emanating from him, Regina had to guess he understood, so she held her breath until he reacted.
Eventually, he stood with his fists clenched, "What are you trying to do here?"
It was expected, but still excruciating to witness his wariness.
"I am trying to make amends," Regina replied.
Henry narrowed his eyes and asked, "Did Archie tell you to 'go along' with the curse stuff?"
Deciding that standing was untenable, Regina went to sit on the edge of the bed, even though she knew that Henry's resistance to being near her was going to add to the ordeal.
"Dr Hopper is hardly inclined to help me as of late," Regina sighed, "I am doing this because I have been wrong. I should have never allowed you to think that you were crazy. I was…afraid, but that doesn't excuse what I have done. I am truly sorry."
Obviously processing the weight of her words, Henry replied, "So you expect to say sorry and then we'll just live in a cursed town?"
"Of course not," Regina assured, which did nothing for the confusion Henry was still exuding, "I need your help to break the curse."
"How am I supposed to believe that's what you want after everything?"
Regina scratched at her hair, she had thought saying 'Evil Queen' aloud would be the hardest part of all of this, but perhaps she had underestimated the weight of the rest of it.
"I'm not sure that you will believe my reason," Regina replied with a nervous laugh.
"Try me," Henry said, leaning forward when she hesitated and he insisted, "If you want to stop lying…"
"There…is the possibility that Miss Swan…Emma…is…I think that she could be…my True Love," Regina stammered, which progressively disarmed Henry so that he moved towards his mother.
"What could make you think that…" he said, but trailed off and his eyes widened, "Wait…the baby?"
Regina raised an eyebrow, her breath taken away by the fact that he went there so quickly, somehow Henry believing that it was possible made it feel that this was all the more real.
It was for this reason that she could only nod.
Henry's forehead scrunched and asked, "You and Emma…"
Hopeful that Henry didn't know what he was actually suggesting since she was already in the middle of a difficult discussion, Regina cut him off, "Yes we…did," Henry grimaced and she tried not to take it too personally. It wasn't as if she could detail to her son how amazing the unspoken night was to get him onboard, "I know that you must think that this is ridiculous and I have given you no reason to believe me…"
"You want to break the curse for the baby?" Henry asked and Regina tilted her head. Was he jealous?
He didn't back away as she put a hand on his knee and replied, "Even if it is a remote chance, I have to know and I can't discuss this with Emma until she believes there is a chance that two women can have a child."
"If she's your True Love, just kiss her," Henry pointed out doubtfully.
"We have kissed, Henry," Regina assured, looking away so that she didn't risk seeing his nose crinkle in disgust again, "the curse is still intact as I'm sure you've noticed. Rumplestiltskin said that it will only weaken as the saviour believes and then the kiss will break the curse."
"And…what if the baby isn't yours?"
Regina looked back at him as his mouth pulled down in worry.
"Then…the curse will be broken and Emma will have her parents to help her with the pregnancy," Regina said, "It's…a win-win."
"Not for you," Henry argued.
Regina smiled because it sounded dangerously like he cared but she could only shrug.
Henry fiddled with the book that had changed the way he saw his mother, was that beginning to change again?
A thought broke through and he asked, "Rumplestiltskin?"
"Mr Gold," Regina replied.
"Oh, that makes sense!" Henry said, suddenly excited as he swiped up the book and laid back.
He opened it to the first page and said, "I can bring you into Operation Cobra if you answer some questions."
"Okay…" Regina said cautiously, which fell away as Henry patted the mattress space, so she kicked off her heels and lay beside him.
For the following hours, she forgot that it was a school night and meticulously told him who each person was and added as much detail as she could.
Admittedly, she could have told him more about the Evil Queen stories, but the boy seemed satisfied with the level of information he was receiving after months of lies.
Each fact about the Enchanted Forest delighted him further until he agreed to talk about the operation once she revealed the fate of Maleficent.
"You could take Emma to see the dragon to make her believe," Henry suggested.
"I can't take a pregnant woman to meet a dragon," Regina sighed.
"Okay…then you could take…"
"Neither will I take a ten-year-old," Regina interrupted the hopeful question.
Henry huffed and Regina grinned as he dropped tiredly to her shoulder.
"Emma doesn't believe me because I'm…well ten, so maybe you could just try and tell her the truth?"
"She has barely known me for two months, I very much doubt that she will believe me after everything I have done to make sure that she leaves," Regina said, stopping herself from touching his hair, she didn't want to push her luck too much.
"It's worth the risk, right? For the baby?" Henry yawned and Regina was almost certain that she detected jealousy that time.
She was far too tired to think too much about that, however, especially as she pictured the disbelief blooming on Emma's face as she spouted words like 'curse', 'Evil Queen' and 'True Love'.
Somehow, she doubted that conversation would end with a kiss that would prove her right.
Still, she didn't have a better idea, so she figured that she would also have to try believing in Emma if she really thought that they were meant to be…something other than enemies.
"I'll think about it," she promised but frowned as she heard soft snores in response.
Letting out a contented sigh, she finally touched his hair and sank back into the pillow. It wasn't the most comfortable position on the small bed, but there was absolutely no chance that she would risk disturbing it.
Naturally, Henry was still suspicious but this gave her enough hope to reaffirm that she had a lot to prove and that it would be worth it.