Reset

She waited a moment before hammering again on the door and shouted, "Regina! I know you're in there, open the door!"

She reached down and tried the handle and was surprised when it opened, she pushed it open and marched into the house, "Regina!"

Regina appeared from the kitchen, "shh!"

"Don't you dare shh me!" Emma shouted at her as she walked up the stairs into the hallway about to give Regina a piece of her mind but then she noticed the vial of silver liquid in Regina's hand and pointed to it, "is that it?"

Regina frowned at Emma and then quickly thumbed the cork away from the vial and made a move to swallow the liquid but Emma quickly ran towards her and tackled the brunette to the ground. Once Regina was on her back with Emma put her weight on top of her and reached for the vial in Regina's outstretched hand.

"Give me that!" Emma cried out as she reached and Regina held it just out of her reach.

"Get off of me!" Regina hissed at Emma.

"Not until you give me that potion!" Emma argued but was then stilled by a strange noise. She paused and turned her head to look up and into the large hallway as she could hear a noise coming from upstairs. The sound was so out of place that Emma couldn't immediately place it, but it sounded a lot like a baby crying.

"Regina," she whispered, "what is that?"

"That," Regina said, using the advantage to push Emma off of her, "is my daughter."

Chapter 7

Emma was still sprawled on the floor where Regina had pushed the blonde off of her body and was now making her way up the stairs following the sound of crying. Emma stared opened mouthed at the woman until she was out of sight and then shook her head and jumped to her feet and ran to the stairs and took them two at a time as she followed Regina.

The upstairs hallway was dark but for a dim light from Henry’s bedroom door that was slightly open. Emma approached the door and opened it up and involuntarily gasped in shock. Henry’s bedroom was Henry’s bedroom no more, the décor had been changed to muted pastels in pinks and yellows. In the centre of the room was a white crib and by the window was a comfortable looking arm chair where Regina sat rocking a baby who was wearing a pale pink sleeping suit. Along one wall was a half constructed large and ornate wooden cot with a large crest containing the initials GM.

“I don’t recall inviting you up here,” Regina quipped softly as she rocked the baby.

“You.. you.. how do you have a baby?” Emma stammered.

“Well, I didn’t have a criminal boyfriend to knock me up so I had to go down another route,” Regina sighed as she removed the dummy from the baby’s mouth and put her little finger in the mouth in its place.

“You.. adopted?” Emma asked.

“Very astute,” Regina whispered, “isn’t she a clever Sheriff?”

“When..?”

“Today, actually,” Regina said with a smile at the bundle in her arms who was smiling at her around the finger.

“You adopted a new baby on Henry’s birthday?” Emma snapped.

Regina’s head snapped towards Emma, “you will keep your voice down or you will be out on the street, you have already woken her once,” she hissed quietly before turning back to the baby with a warm smile, “did she wake you, Grace? Did the rude woman wake you with all her shouting?”

Emma could actually feel her legs wobble with the shock of what she was seeing as she looked around the room again, “where.. where are Henry’s things?”

“The garage,” Regina answered, “I wouldn’t throw them out. I assumed that one of you would come eventually.”

“Regina..” Emma pleaded, “talk to me.. tell me what is going on.. I want to understand..”

“I don’t owe you any explanation, Emma,” Regina replied. Grace began to stretch and fidget in Regina’s arms so she stood up and walked around the room gently while soothing the little one.

“You’re right.. but I’d like to understand,” Emma pleaded.

“I think you have all the information you require,” Regina stared coldly at Emma, “you’re a smart girl, you’ll figure it out.”

Emma swallowed and glared at Regina, “from here it looks like you’re replacing Henry..”

Regina paused midstride and stared at Emma, “Henry ceased being anything to do with me five months ago, you took him away and ignored my requests to see him. The adoption dissolution was merely a legal tick box exercise.”

“And now you have a new baby?” Emma went on.

“Henry..” Regina took a deep breath, “Henry was to be my own chance at a happy ending, someone to love, someone who loved me,” she stood firmly and stared at Emma with a cold expression as she whispered, “you took that away from me.”

“I.. didn’t..” Emma started to deny.

“Save it,” Regina shook her head, “all I’m doing is trying again. Looking for my happy ending, and that’s Grace. She’s five months old, born just after you destroyed my life, took Henry from me. Fitting, don’t you think? My new child was born at the exact moment you took him from me.”

“You’re taking a potion to forget about your feelings for Henry,” Emma concluded.