The Tie That Binds

Chapter Sixteen

"Tell me how you can look at those two and want to rip away their happiness," Regina whispers to Snow as they watch Emma fling a frisbee between her son and unknown father. "Do you know how utterly crushed Emma will be to discover that this is not her reality? That her wish to have never given up Henry and be as far away from villains as possible is being yanked away from her?"

Snow sighs, a hand mindlessly caressing her swollen stomach upon a blanket in Central Park. Last night's dinner went as well as it could have possibly gone and Henry was the one who suggested meeting at the park after school this afternoon. He wanted to show off New York, knowing Mary Margret and David have never been.

"Can't you at least convince her to move to Storybrooke? I don't want a life without her."

"Absolutely not. There are too many risks in Storybrooke and that would defeat the whole purpose," she quickly dismisses. "Although, there is one problem I have yet to work out."

"And what's that, what if she breaks up with you and won't allow you to see your own daughter again?"

"I don't foresee that happening. We were originally bound together because of our love for Henry and now our True Love bond is so strong that we were able to create life out of magic. I'm not worried about us breaking up over something trivial," she casually responds.

"I suppose not. So, what's the issue?"

"When I first met her, I told her about my son living with his other mother to gain her trust and also, I didn't want that inner lie detector to go off in that head of hers."

"What are you going to do? Eventually, she will grow suspicious-"

"She already has," she exasperates. "She's wondering when she will meet him and already planning family dinners together. I don't know," she waves nonchalantly, "maybe I'll just have to kill them off in some horrific car accident-"

"Regina!" Snow gasps, absolutely appalled by the prospect.

"What? It's not like I'm actually going to murder anyone. Technically, they aren't real. And in some aspect, I do need to mourn my son and his mother because as much as those two share the same faces, they are not the same people I originally fell in love with."

Snow swallows, her eyes trailing back to where David is diving in front of Henry for the frisbee. She's silent for a moment, lost in thought before she quietly asks something she's terrified to know the answer to.

"But do you still love them? Do you love these versions of Emma and Henry?" Snow softly questions.

Regina's lips curl into a gentle smile as her eyes find Emma ruffling her son's mop of a head. "It's always them, any version, any realm, those two are my world."

~~~~

"Emma, are you alright, dear?" Regina investigates when she notices her girlfriend trailing behind again when the woman's mother is even more pregnant and isn't having any issues keeping up on their way back to the apartment.

"Yeah," Emma heaves, cradling just beneath her bump to support the added weight. "Just between working all day and playing with Henry, I'm just exhausted," she confesses in a sleepy haze that immediately alarms Regina.

"I know you have been taking it easy at work-"

"I know you know, you watch me like a damn hawk ready to swoop down and steal its prey during class."

"Maybe you should consider less hours."

"No way. I need that money, I have a kid to support and rent," she scoffs, sounding so painfully out of breath. "We're here anyways," she mumbles, nodding toward her apartment building that her son and parents are patiently waiting in front of.