juliet •peter pan•

EIGHTY-FIVE

STORYBROOKE

In the day following the big witch showdown, Regina had put up a protection spell around Mary Margaret and David's apartment. This spell could not be undone by blood magic, so Zelena couldn't enter. 

Which meant that Juliet was spending a lot of time at their apartment. 

Currently, she was helping David and Emma attempt to put together a crib for the baby. It was not going well. 

"I've seen enemy battle plans that were easier to decode than this." David remarked, reading over the instructions.

"Let me see." Emma held out her hand, taking them from him. She looked over the paper. "All right, it says take screws E with washers D through bar C using wrench F, which is..." She looked at the paper, then frowned. "Not provided." Mary Margaret sighed, looking up at the ceiling from her chair.

"Do you want me to just call Marco? He's really good at this sort of thing." 

"No!" Emma and David exclaimed at the same time. "We're fine." David continued. Juliet sat back on her heels. She had hoped that someone else could take over, but there was no stopping the father-daughter duo now. 

"Should we even be doing this?" Mary Margaret asked. "Ever since the showdown between Regina and the Wicked Witch, we haven't seen Zelena or Gold at all." Juliet folded her arms.

"And that's a bad thing why?" Mary Margaret shrugged.

"I'm just saying, shouldn't we be focusing on her next move?" Emma sighed. 

"We are. We just can't stop living." David nodded, holding up a piece of the crib.

"Yeah, and this crib is a statement. We're not going to lose another baby." The door opened, and Regina walked through.

"And thanks to me, you won't." She walked over to the table, standing in front of a box with two vials. She placed the vials in the box. "I'm finished."

"So?" David stood up. "Did it work? Were you able to put up a new protection spell?" Regina nodded. 

"One that can't be undone by blood magic." She boasted, taking off her gloves. "Which means Zelena won't be able to put her hands on that baby." Mary Margaret looked down at the ground.

"Any idea why she would want to?" Regina shrugged.

"The number of spells involving baby parts would surprise you. That green is clearly one twisted witch." Juliet nodded in agreement. "But as long as we're in here, we're safe." 

"That's useless." Emma piped up, still sitting by the crib parts. "I think we need to stop playing defense and start taking the fight to her." Regina turned her head to face the savior.

"Did you not see how I barely outwitted her yesterday? She has magic, powerful magic."

"I have magic too." Emma argued. "You've seen me use it. I just can't always control it. But if we teamed up... if you taught me..." Regina stared off into the distance.

"Now, why does this feel so familiar?" She asked. Emma sighed.

"I'm ready this time." Regina chuckled.

"Okay." It was clear she didn't believe Emma. "But if we do this, we do this my way. This isn't drinking stale coffee at a stakeout or whatever you did as a bail bonds person." She put her hand on the box. "This is a way of life. You have to fully commit to it." 

"Not a problem." Emma stated. Mary Margaret sighed. Regina grabbed the box.

"Meet me in my vault in one hour." She took the box and left the apartment. Juliet went back to trying to assemble the crib. 

"And no complaining." Emma looked at her parents, especially Mary Margaret. "I'm doing this. It's the only way, and yes, I will be careful." 

"We know." Mary Margaret assured her.

"And don't worry, we'll watch Henry when he gets back from the store." David added. Emma put her hands in her pockets, looking a little apprehensive.

"Actually..." She started. "I'm not sure that's the best idea." Mary Margaret tilted her head.

"What? What is it?" Emma sighed.

"Well, you guys are tired. You need to rest." Mary Margaret chuckled.

"I'm pregnant, I'm not sick with the flu." She argued, and Emma nodded.

"Yeah, I know. It's just, um..." She tried to figure out how to best word what she was about to say. "Well, it's..." She put her hands on her hips. "Cradle cap. Last time you guys had him, you overwhelmed him with baby tips. He's twelve. He doesn't want to talk about pregnancies. It's not fun." Juliet snickered. 

"Oh, we're fun." Mary Margaret sat up straighter. 

"Well, I'm just saying maybe Henry disagrees." Emma tried to save her case. "He'll get there. You gotta remember, he doesn't know who you are." David sighed.

"Well, if we're not fun, who is?" Juliet looked up at Emma. She could tell who Emma was thinking about. 

At the end of the day, the group was back in The Charming's apartment. Mary Margaret and David had spent the day with Henry, while Hook had spent the day helping Ariel find her prince. Emma had been working on her magic with Regina. Juliet hadn't done much that day, but she had managed to avoid both her mother and Gold, which she considered a win. 

Emma demonstrated what she had learned in using the full length mirror in the apartment to look through realms at Ariel's happy ending. Juliet was happy for the mermaid. It was nice that someone got a happy ending. 

Meanwhile, Hook had been acting weird pretty much the entire time he was there. Juliet had been getting a little concerned, but she assumed that he found something while helping Ariel that shook him up. She hoped it had nothing to do with the Wicked Witch.