Reset

Emma shook her head quickly, “no.. I mean I have opposing feelings for her, I like her and I dislike her.”

“I know why you dislike her,” Henry pointed out and looked at Emma expectantly, “but why do you like her?”

“Because she cared for you,” Emma said simply, “she gave you everything I couldn’t give you. She had made my life a misery ever since I got here. She tried to run me out of town, she framed my roommate for murder, she killed someone in front of my eyes, she punched me in the face..”

“She punched you?” Henry’s eyes went wide.

“Yeah, I punched her back,” Emma added with a smile at the memory, “she made my working life hell, she tried to keep us apart.. I really hated her. But..”

Emma paused and took a deep breath, “it almost pains me to admit that I knew she loved you more than anything, more than she loved herself and she’d given you everything. You’re a great kid, Henry.. and a lot of that is down to Regina. I know she was strict and I know you feel like you didn’t have the best home life with her sometimes but when you get older you will look back on it and realise how lucky you were.”

Henry nodded and they sat silently in the car as they each sat in deep thought. Finally Henry spoke, “can I see her?”

Emma scrunched up her face, “I don’t know, Kid.. she’s made it pretty clear..”

“But she can’t stop me from bumping into her in town,” Henry smiled.

“Henry.. there’s something else you should know,” Emma said quietly.

Henry looked worried and she couldn’t blame him all being considered.

“Regina.. you know Regina loves you very much, yes?” Emma started and smiled when Henry shyly nodded, “well, she is taking a potion to.. try to.. forget just how much she loves you. Not forget you,” she quickly added at Henry’s shocked expression, “just to allow her and you to move on.”

Henry looked at her open mouthed, “she’s taking a potion so she doesn’t love me?”

Emma winced, “I don’t know the exact details of it but she’s taking a potion to lessen her feelings. It was really hard for her to not have you in her life these last few months.”

“What happens if she stops taking the potion?” Henry questioned.

“I don’t know,” Emma shook her head sadly, “I really don’t know, I’m sorry Henry. I just wanted you to know that Regina.. she loves you so much. Don’t ever feel that she didn’t love you, okay?”

Henry nodded quietly, “so.. you’re saying I should leave her alone?”

Emma took a deep breath, “I’m saying that we all need to give her some space, let her know we support what she is doing and that we are there for her but keep out of her way for a while.”

Chapter 12

One of the rooms in the Town Hall had been converted into a meeting room for the council. Rather than the one large desk at the front and rows of chairs facing it, as had been common during Regina’s reign as Mayor, there was now a number of tables pushed into a large circle. Around the table sat Mary Margaret and David as semi-appointed heads, Granny and Ruby sat beside them followed by Leroy, Marco and then Archie as current Mayor of Storybrooke. There were three other chairs around the table, one was semi-reserved for Regina and one for Emma and the remaining chair was for any visitors to the council.

Everyone was sat down and Emma rushed in, “sorry,” she apologised as she quickly took her appointed seat at the table.

Mary Margaret smiled at her as she spoke up, “thank you all for coming, firstly we have an exciting announcement regarding a new arrival to Storybrooke. Regina has adopted a baby, a five month old girl called Grace. I know this may come as a shock to some of you but I think we all need to put aside our differences and..” she looked around the table with a raised eyebrow, “why does no one look shocked?”

“I’m shocked!” Ruby declared.

Mary Margaret waved her hand dismissively, “why does no one except Ruby look shocked? What is going on?”

Emma looked around the table as everyone attempted to avoid Mary Margaret’s gaze by looking around the room, staring at their fingernails or making unnecessary notes on their notepad.

“Archie?” Mary Margaret looked at the man with a raised eyebrow, “did you know about this?”

“Doctor patient confidentiality,” Archie shrugged apologetically.

“I didn’t ask you to break doctor patient confidentiality,” Mary Margaret intoned, “I asked if you knew about the baby?”

“Yes, yes, I did,” Archie attempted to sound strong but it failed.

“Before or after the baby arrived in town?” Emma got involved.

“Before,” Archie lowered his head.

“Oh my God!” Emma snapped, “you suggested it didn’t you?”

Archie looked up in shock and held his hands out defensively towards the blonde but that just confirmed Emma’s suspicions, “you did!”

“No,” Archie replied calmly, “I merely suggested that her happy ending could still happen, Regina decided to adopt again by herself.”

Marco desperately wanted to diffuse the situation so spoke up in order to help his friend, “she really is a beautiful baby!”