It took 3 days, 15 hours, 27 minutes, and 49 seconds before the nearly constant wailing, soiling, and spitting up became too much. To be quite honest, it was rather a lot longer than she'd thought she'd last after the first 24 hours had proved rather more difficult than expected, but she was loathe to admit defeat, especially in the face of such a...tiny...foe, so she had hung on until the anxiety rising in her chest and the headache pounding away at her temples was simply too much to handle. With a twirl of her hand and an exasperated huff she summoned the one person that she knew would take on this challenge, whether she wanted to or not.

"What the-?!" Emma Swan spun around twice, taking in her surroundings. The Queen couldn't stop the exaggerated roll of her eyes as she took in the grilled cheese sandwich hanging half out of the other woman's mouth as Emma's brow furrowed first in confusion and then in trepidation as she realized where she was and who had brought her here. "Your Majesty..." she grumbled around her lunch still held between her teeth.

"Miss Swan, kindly remove your food from your mouth before addressing me." Emma glanced down as if she was only just then remembering the grilled cheese, quickly plucking it from her lips and holding it awkwardly in her hand, looking about for somewhere to put it. Another eye roll accompanied the subtle wiggle of the Queen's fingers, the sandwich vanishing from between Emma's grasp in a puff of purple smoke.

"Hey! I wasn't done with that." Emma whined, slouching and very nearly pouting before she remembered who it was she was dealing with and straightened back up, arms crossing over her chest as she backed up half a step and regarded the Queen suspiciously. "What do you want now? Come to give me another speech about how worthless I am? Got any more mirrors to throw me into?" Emma's tone was scathing and defensive, not even a week before she'd been nearly killed by the woman standing before her, yet now here she was looking at her with an expression that was disturbingly similar to the one Regina gave her when she thought she was being a slightly endearing idiot. The Queen seemed to realize she was being just a tad too transparent, quickly turning her back on Emma and waving her hand nonchalantly.

"No dear, nothing quite so dramatic. You can relax." She turned back to face Emma, trying her best to school her features and look superior and disinterested.

"Relax? Good one." Emma quipped sarcastically, but her body language did shift to something ever so slightly less defensive as she let her eyes wander around the vault. Things were different in here now that the Queen had decided to make it her make-shift home base. The entire place was lit with candles, too many to count, some on the stone shelves carved into the walls, some hovering in the air at varying heights. There was more velvet, more regal (and slightly gaudy) furniture, and a chandelier in the middle of it all (which Emma suspected might be made entirely out of actual diamonds) that refracted the glow from the candles all over the room making everything look like it was shimmering. It was, Emma had to admit, cozy, elegant, and hauntingly beautiful. Shaking her head and bringing herself back to the moment, Emma was about to once again push to find out why the Queen had dragged her away from lunch with her son if she didn't intend to hurt her when a piercing cry erupted from behind a deep purple canopy in the far corner of the vault. She rushed to the canopy, pulling it back and feeling her mouth fall open at the sight below her.

"Is that? What is...?" She rounded on the Queen, anger obvious in her glare. "Did you steal someone's baby?"

The Queen looked almost insulted, her shoulders shifting as she drew herself up even straighter than usual, a hand coming up to rest on her stomach.

"I did not steal that child. I...found it."

"Found?!" Emma's tone was incredulous, her body moving to place herself protectively between the child and the Queen.

"Yes, Miss Swan. Found. It appears someone abandoned that child in the woods, one of the fools from the Land of Untold Stories I have no doubt. Seems they couldn't be bothered to care for this part of their story."

"So you've what? Been babysitting? Are you going to keep it? Hoping to raise an evil spawn of your own?" The Queen glared and stalked forward, invading Emma's personal space and causing her to place both of her hands on the edge of the basinet behind her as she leaned away from the Queen's hissed reply.

"I'll have you know I have been caring for this child, a child that no one else was looking after or even seemed to give a damn about, on my own. No harm has come to her, and none will if I have anything to say on the matter." The passionately protective expression in the Queen's eyes was 100% Regina and it had Emma's anger faltering, her own voice coming out hushed when she replied.

"So why am I here?"

The Queen averted her eyes, letting them fall to the still whimpering infant behind Emma's back who, as if on cue, released another eardrum shattering screech.

"I can't get her to stop doing that."

"And you want me to what? Help? What do you expect me to do? You have way more experience with babies than I do."

The Queen turned away and began pacing, her hands clasped in front of her stomach, clenching and unclenching in a way Emma knew meant she was struggling with something, warring with herself likely over how much wanted to share, to give away to this woman she called her enemy. Emma let her pace, glancing back over her shoulder at the red-faced and clearly very upset child writhing her little limbs as she gurgled and sputtered away in the basinet. Despite her cries, Emma could tell she was a beautiful child, her eyes were large and brown, her head holding a dusting of soft nearly golden hair, and she clearly had one powerful set of lungs. When the Queen spoke again she was facing away from Emma, the tightness in her shoulders and the slightest quiver to her voice the only things giving away just how hard getting the words out of her mouth was for her.

"I need your help. I need you to take her. I can't...I don't have any feel for this and she clearly doesn't care for me. It would seem that Regina was the half with the natural gift for mothering." There was a pain lacing those words, an ache that pulled at Emma's heart but before she could dwell on it too long she found the baby girl in her arms, wrapped in a soft blanket (one that looked shockingly like her own hand-knit one), her cries quieting instantly and her eyes looking up in wonder at Emma, who gulped down her sudden nerves and gave her a small, hesitant smile. She was about to press the Queen for more information, question her motives and insist she tell her the whole story behind the child when she felt familiar magic wrapping around her body from the feet up and knew she about to be transported away. As the purple cloud started to obscure her vision she could just make out the Queen turning to her, her eyes watery and brow pinched, her gaze fixed on the child.

"Goodbye little one. This is your best chance."

Emma's heart clenched, the longing so clear on the Queen's face that in that moment she couldn't see her as anything other than a lonely woman desperately trying to make a connection with someone, anyone, even if that someone was only a baby.

When Emma reappeared it was, to her surprise, in Regina's bedroom, where she found the other woman rushing from the bathroom, her hair still damp from a shower while she hopped on one foot trying to slide a shoe on while the other dangled from her fingertips. The shoe fell to the floor and she very nearly followed it when she spotted Emma before her and let out a surprised little yelp.

"Emma?! What are you doing here? Are you alright? Henry just called in a panic and told me you were abducted by magic from the diner in the middle of lunch. It was the Queen wasn't it? Did she hurt you?" Her rapid-fire questions stopped suddenly when her eyes fell to the small hand that popped up from the bundle of blanket in Emma's arms. "What in the world are you doing with a baby?"

Emma couldn't help but laugh as Regina's tone mimicked the Queen's so closely that she found herself wondering, not for the first time, just how different they really were, deep down. Not that she would ever voice that particular opinion because she was fairly certain it would earn her a fireball to the face, which again left her with the sense that the two halves of the other woman were really more alike than either would ever admit. Regina rushed forward while Emma was lost in thought and snatched the child from her arms, her expression softening as she took in the chubby cheeks still streaked with tears from her earlier bawling.

"The Queen found it. Her."

"What?" Emma watched as Regina's hold on the baby tightened almost imperceptibly, clutching the infant protectively to her chest.

"She said she found her abandoned in the woods. I think...I think she wanted to keep her."

"Like I'd ever let that happen! If she thinks she's going to get her hands on this innocent child again and use her as a pawn in her ridiculous plots she can think again! I will not let her hurt this child." Regina scoffed, her tone a near growl and her eyes flashing purple. Emma held her hands up to placate her, moving forward cautiously.

"Whoa, calm down Regina, and maybe stop squeezing her so tight." Emma gestured to the baby with a crocked smile and she could see Regina deflate as she too looked at the little girl in her arms and relaxed her grip. Emma reached out, smoothing down the baby's hair and allowing one finger to run gently down her cheek, wiping away the last of her tears as the little girl cooed up at her.

"How did you get the baby away from her?" Regina's voice was almost a whisper, clearly distracted by the now content child in her arms.

"She, um, she...I think she gave her to me...to us." When their eyes locked Regina could read the look of hope, mixed with a healthy amount of apprehension, on Emma's face. She raised one sculpted brow and squinted her eyes, taking in every nuance of the other woman's expression.

"Us, dear?"

"Well...um, she gave her to me but she said you were the one with the mothering instinct, and then she sent me here, to you. So...yeah, I think she gave her to us." As she spoke the baby girl reached out and wrapped her tiny fingers around Emma's, attempting with every bit of strength in her little arm to pull it to her mouth, which Emma allowed only to let out a surprised little gasp when the infant began sucking on it vigorously. Regina chuckled, causing Emma to blush though she wasn't sure way.

"It would seem that someone is hungry." A bottle appeared in the blink of an eye and as soon as it neared the child's lips she surrendered Emma's finger and began eagerly sucking down the formula. The expression that settled on Regina's features was one of pure bliss and as Emma stood watching the two of them together, the little girl staring adoringly up at the woman who'd known exactly what she wanted, she couldn't help but think that the Queen had been right.

"You really are a natural at this, aren't you?" Regina's throaty laugh surprised her.

"I have experience, that's all. Let me guess, the Queen called you in when she couldn't get this little darling to stop crying, am I right?"

"How did you know that?"

"Because it was the same for me with Henry. For days after I brought him home he wailed and wailed and wailed. Nothing I did comforted him, my presence actually seemed to make it worse. I was such a mess I even turned to your mother for help."

"What happened?"

"You already know the answer to that Emma, you already know the whole story." Emma was puzzled for just a moment before she remembered the shared memories Regina had given her, the ones based largely on her own life with Henry from before Emma had entered their world, and she let her eyes drift closed as she allowed them to come into focus in her mind. Ever since she'd returned to Storybrooke she'd tried to forget the memories Regina had provided when she'd written a new life for her and Henry because something felt invasively intimate about allowing herself to dwell on them, like she was seeing into Regina's deeply personal moments that she really should never have been privilege to. Regina spoke, as if reading her mind,

"It's alright Emma, I knew what I was doing when I gave you those memories. I didn't have to give you mine, I could have invented whole new ones. I chose to give you what I did and I accept what that means."

Emma blushed furiously, feeling the weight of Regina's words as the baby finished off her bottle and began to fuss. Regina vanished the bottle and was about to raise the baby to her shoulder to burp her when she gave Emma an odd look and moved towards her, Emma's eyes widening with every step closer Regina came, knowing what it was Regina was intending to do.

"Oh no, no Regina. I can't." She tried to back away but found herself very quickly bumping up against Regina's dresser.

"Oh but you can Emma. I know you, I know what you're capable of." The smirk on Regina's lips was infuriating as she thrust the baby into Emma's arms and flicked her hand causing a burping towel to appear draped over Emma's shoulder. Emma lifted the baby and looked into her face with an expression that read pure terror and Regina couldn't help but laugh. "The mighty Savior, afraid of baby."

Emma glared at her while she placed the baby on her shoulder and searched her memories for ones not quite her own of doing this very thing with Henry. She allowed muscle memory to take over, pleased (and a bit disgusted) when not even minutes later the infant gave an outrageously loud burp and spluttered up warm formula all over the towel.

"Whoa there, kid, did that all come from you?" She pulled the girl off her shoulder and wiped her chin tenderly, booping her gently on the nose and earning herself a happy little gurgle and two playfully kicking feet. "You're pretty damn cute, you know that?"

"Language Emma."

"Come on Regina, it's not like she can understand me."

"Still. It's bad form." As Emma moved the child, whose eyes had begun to droop, back into the cradle of her arms she found herself captivated by the look on Regina's face as she watch the two of them. Minutes passed silently and Regina moved closer, her hand coming to stroke the fine baby hairs as the little girl's breathing started to even out and she drifted off into a peaceful sleep. The whole moment took Emma's breath away, the baby somehow feeling safe enough in her arms to fall asleep, the woman standing before her with a look of absolute awe on her face, the shared memories of Henry when he was this young dancing behind both of their eyes.

"So..." Emma was the first to break the silence, never good at letting the quiet settle around her.

"Indeed." Regina replied, sensing the weight of Emma's unspoken thoughts.

"She doesn't seem to have anyone else, at least not anyone that wants her."

"Except the Queen, it would seem." Though Regina tried for casual disinterest, Emma could sense the pain and conflict radiating off the other woman at the mention of the Queen. Almost as if trying to comfort herself, Regina reached for the baby and Emma handed her over without a second thought. Another silence fell between them, Regina clearly lost in her own mind as her fingers danced over the little girl's arm and cradled a chubby hand in her palm.

"Her best chance." Emma muttered, almost unaware she'd spoken aloud until Regina looked up at her questioningly. Emma blushed, looking sheepishly down at her feet and clearing her throat. "As she was sending me here with the baby she looked right as us and said 'This is your best chance.' I think...um...I think she meant us." Regina's expression turned from questioning to thoughtful.

"We have done well with Henry."

"We?"

"Yes, 'we' Emma."

"So are you saying you want to try to do this...like, together? Me and you and a baby? Cause that's a whole different ball game than sharing custody of a teenager."

"Look Emma, if you don't want to do this just say so. I understand it's a big undertaking but I'm not going to leave this child on her own and we both know that Storybrooke has no foster system so if you're suggesting we give her to Maine's social services-"

"No! Of course not. God Regina, I wouldn't wish that life on anyone, you know how I feel about that." Guilt flashed across Regina's features at Emma's response and she rushed to apologize but Emma cut her off before she could. "Look, Regina, I'm just saying, this is going to be huge. It means a ridiculous amount of change for our lives, for Henry, for everyone."

"For you and your pirate." Emma paused at Regina's comment, having completely forgotten about Hook and how this would look to him, but found herself responding with only a second's hesitation,

"I don't care. Hook can deal. This is more important. If we're her best chance then we're her best chance." She wasn't really sure why she responded this way, why she knew deep down with every bit of her gut that she wanted to do this, to raise this child with Regina. Up until she'd seen the little girl in Regina's arms, seen the way the two of them looked at one another, the way Regina looked at her with pride when she'd succeeded in burping the infant, she hadn't even realized she wanted more children. Having children at all had never been in her plan and, though she wouldn't trade Henry for anything, she had never planned him and never truly wanted to be a mother. But now, standing here with Regina looking at her like the words coming out her mouth were possibly the most wonderful things anyone had ever said to her, she knew with a certainty that she'd never before felt that this was what she wanted and who she wanted it with.

"Emma, do you know what you're saying?" Emma closed the last inches between them, one hand coming to rest on Regina's shoulder, the other cupping the hand that was cradling the sleeping child.

"Yeah Regina, I do. I want this. Me and you, we are her best chance. We can do this together. I mean, look at her, we already are doing this together."

The smile the spread across Regina's lips was slow to start out, spreading wider and wider until it was so bright and so incredible that it was nearly blinding.

"I don't understand you, Swan."

"Yes you do. You really, really do."

The Queen watched through the mirror in her vault as Emma magicked a crib into existence at the foot of Regina's bed, tears streaming down her face as she reached out with one shaking hand to the images in the glass before her. She watched as Regina placed the infant on her back, wrapping the baby blanket, the one the Queen had actually spent the past three days knitting for her (she'd grown quite adept at knitting once upon a time, back when Regina and she were still one, still a frightened teenager trapped in the walls of a castle trying desperately to fight against the rage eating away at her soul), tightly around her and bending to place a kiss on her forehead before reaching over and taking Emma's hand, looking at her with a sort of loving wonder the Queen swore she could feel in her own blackened heart. Emma returned the look with a ducked head and a shy smile, squeezing the hand holding her own before the two women gave the sleeping girl one last look and exited the room, no doubt heading to Regina's study to discuss the implications of this unforeseen new addition to their family, likely over a glass or two of strong cider.

Once she was sure they were downstairs the Queen wiped away her tears, glamoured her make-up back to flawless perfection, and magicked herself into the room where the little girl she'd saved from the woods slept peacefully, something the Queen had only managed to get her to do once when the child had literally screamed herself into an exhausted slumber.

"Goodnight, little one. You'll be safe now. Your new mothers, though they may both be painfully self-righteous, will fight for you and love you more than they love themselves." She reached out, tentative, worried that her touch would wake the child and send her into another crying fit. When the sweet girl continued to sleep she allowed herself another moment before taking a chance and bowing to place a kiss that mimicked her other half's before whispering, "You have nothing to fear from me. I promise you, I may not be good enough to raise you, but I will never hurt you."

"Good to know." The familiar lilt of her own voice coming from the doorway behind her startled her, causing her to straighten and spin around. Regina cocked an eyebrow at her and shook her head. "Did you really think I would leave her unprotected? I knew the minute you entered this house that you were here."

"Then why didn't you rush in to stop me?"

"Because I didn't think you were here to do her any harm."

"I'm not."

"Like I said, good to know." The Queen huffed, looking rather irritated with both herself and Regina, before she moved away from the crib and began to raise her hands in order to transport herself away. "Wait-" Regina reached out and clasped fingers around her wrist, stopping her magic before it could swell to the surface. Regina waited until the Queen looked her in the eyes before finishing her thought. "Thank you."

"What, dear Regina, could you possibly be thanking me for?"

"For her." Regina inclined her head towards the crib. "For saving her, and for doing what was best for her." The Queen scoffed, tugging her arm from Regina's grasp.

"Don't read too much into darling, I simply couldn't put up with that thing's pesky shrieking any longer." Regina saw through the lie in a second, they both knew it, but she allowed the Queen her dignity and didn't call her out on it.

"In that case you better go before she wakes, the do have a habit of making rather a lot of fuss." Regina's smirk was knowing, and the Queen scowled, sparing one last look at the child before she backed away and threw up her arms, disappearing in an instant.

Regina turned back to the crib, feeling her heart surge as she watched the steady rise and fall of the beautiful baby girl's chest. It was ironic, the Queen, despite all her "evil" deeds and despite all the pain she'd caused, somehow in her own way always seemed to give Regina exactly what she needed. She'd protected her when she was a helpless young Queen, she'd defended her from her mother's manipulations, she'd given her strength in the face of a world that left her to fend for herself, she'd provided her the insanity she needed to cast a curse that allowed her a second chance in a world without all of her past baggage. And now she'd brought another child into her life, a child that would cement the ties between herself and Emma, a woman she loved desperately no matter how much she'd tried to fight it. It would seem the Queen was, once again, and in her round-about fashion, giving her everything she wanted but wasn't quite strong enough to reach out and take on her own.

There was just one problem, one thing causing her heart throb painfully within her chest. While she had everything, everyone she could ever want within her grasp, the Queen, who she knew deep down wanted all the same things, was alone once more. And this time it was so much worse than all the times before, so much worse than when she'd been locked away in the castle, so much worse than when she'd been sentenced to banishment, so much worse than the past couple of decades when Regina had kept her pushed further and further into the recesses of her heart and mind. It was worse because now the Queen was truly alone, truly without any of Regina's hope, Regina's love, that had always lingered within in her, even at her darkest. As Regina turned back to the still slumbering infant she placed her hand gently on the soft, pudgy stomach, feeling it rise and fall with each small breath.

"I do believe she loves you, sweet Princess. Perhaps, in time, you can teach her how."