Curse

Chapter 19 Magic

Neal stares at her, wondering if she's believing in magic. "What do you mean by magical?" Neal asks. "Well it's like out of a story book, kind of ironic considering the name," Emma said. "Right, anything else ?" Neal asks. "Well it just seems like a picture, the town. It's small and quaint and Regina has a lot of Apple and tree themes," Emma said. 

"You know fairy tales sometimes are based on real things," Neal said. "Yeah like we're all going to look up in the sky and follow the second star to the right and straight on till morning?" Emma asks him with a laugh. Neal smiles, loving when Emma smiles like this, it's been a long time. "Well, you never know, Neverland may be out there somewhere," Neal says. "Yeah? Would we go there?" Emma asks. "Well if we did, that baby would never grow up," Neal said. 

Emma takes a deep breath and gently touches her bump, "Do you want to feel?" Emma asks. "Yeah? "Neal asks. "Yeah, the baby is moving right now," she smiles. Neal gently places his hand on her, "Woah, they're really moving in there," Neal said. "Yeah, it feels funny," Emma says. The pair stand and softly smile at each other. 

"Look," Mary Margaret stops David at the other end of the street, seeing Neal and Emma together. "I would like a word with him," David said. "David," Mary Margaret scolds. "What? He's the dark one's son, and got our daughter pregnant, and sent her to jail, shouldn't I get at least a word?" David asks. "Ok, but you can't let her know," Mary Margaret said. 

"Hi," David and Mary Margaret greet them. David can't help but wish he could just hug his daughter, he kept his eyes on her a little longer, but pat Neal on the shoulder, "I could use a hand down at the station if you don't mind?" David asks. "Uh yeah sure," Neal nods and heads off. Emma smiles softly at Mary Margaret. 

She breathes to herself, looking at her daughter, now expecting a baby of her own. She can't believe she's missed it, but she's so thrilled to see Emma ten years sooner than expected. "So I thought we could get to know each other," Mary Margaret says. "Umm sure, everyone in this town is so friendly, it's almost like I know everyone already," Emma says. Mary Margaret softly laughs, "small towns are like that." 

"I'm sure you want to talk about Emma," Neal realizes in the station with David, "That obvious?" David asks. "Well you're her dad, and yeah it's obvious, do you have a gun?" Neal asks. "I do," David nods. "Listen, Pinocchio told me that I had to leave her, and it was at a really bad time, he told me he knew I was Baelfire, and that Emma had a destiny, if I stayed with her, she probably wouldn't be here to break this curse." Neal said. "Mmm, you're nothing like you're father," David said. "Well I hate what magic did to him and my family, so I'm a bit different," Neal said. 

"So we have to get Emma to believe she's the daughter of Prince Charming and Snow White?" Neal asks. "Seems that way," David sighs. "Any ideas? You know her better than I do," David says. "I'm not sure, but Emma has a superpower about lying, we maybe can just be upfront with her and admit who we all are," Neal said. "That may not go over well given her condition," David said. "Well we can do it gradually, we have some time before the baby right?" Neal asks. "Brings me to my next question," David said. "Uh oh," Neal sighs. "What do you intend to do about that?" David asks. "I guess whatever she wants me to, I would like to be involved," Neal said.

"Interesting, I was working in New York, up until a few days ago, and here I am in an enchanted town with my father, and almost stepfather. Killian was actually giving me a pep talk saying that just because my father abandoned me, doesn't mean I'll make his mistakes with mine," Neal said. "He's not really Captain Hook here," David said. "That's the thing, when he was Captain Hook he offered to give everything up and take care of me," Neal sighed. 

Now that so many people have their memories, mainly Rumple, Snow, Charming and Neal, Regina feels herself pained with guilt even more. While so far no one is holding any grudges, it hurts her that she's lied to the man she's loved for so long. She feels a nerve in the pit of her stomach. 

A couple weeks will go by, Regina is in the kitchen, with Emma, at her house. "You know you should probably kick me out at some point, I'm getting way too comfortable here," Emma said. "Why would I kick you out?" Regina asks. "Well I don't think you want a screaming baby in the house," Emma said. "Don't be so sure about that, we've been... trying remember?" Regina asks. "Oh that's right, I'm sorry.." Emma said. "No it's ok, actually it's more than ok," Regina says. 

Emma looks at her curiously. It's been roughly 5 weeks since the clock and time started moving within Storybrooke. David, Mary Margaret and Regina have been attempting to get closer at least as friends to Emma, in order to eventually reveal who they really are. 

Regina, however, feels a bit out of sorts today. "Are you ok?" Emma asks. "Yes, I'm fine, just feel a little tired," Regina sighs. "I bet Killian does that," Emma jokes cutely, "Oh..." Regina blushes a bit, "Maybe that's why I'm tired," Regina laughs. 

"What happened to your father?" Emma asks. "He died," Regina answers. "Oh, I'm sorry," Emma said. "Yes, it's ok, it was a difficult situation, someone very evil, killed him," Regina admits, of course the Evil being herself. "I'm sorry," Emma says. "It's ok, he was a good Man, and he just wanted me to be happy," Regina said. 

"What do you imagine about your parents?" Regina asks. "I don't know, for whatever reason I feel like they're like me, young, and didn't know how to keep me, maybe they gave me away for my best chance, just like I wanted to with this baby," Emma looks down. "You don't want to give the baby up now?" Regina asks. "I'm rethinking it," Emma nods. "Good, you should believe more in yourself," Regina said. "Do you believe in yourself now? About being able to be happy?" Emma asks. "I do, and I think more happiness is to come," Regina smiles. 

A/N-- let's see if you pick up on that subtle hint....