I don't own these characters; Disney/ABC does.

Public Service Announcement: this is the next installment of the Who We Are series. It's still Omegaverse, starring an alpha!Emma and omega!Regina. So, there is G!P, futa, or however you refer to it in this story. There's not as much sex in this one as the previous ones, but it's there, so as usual, if any of those things aren't your thing, then this might not be the story for you.

A/N: Once again, I'd like to thank Kylie for being the beta for this. If you guys want updates for this story or any of my work, come say hi to me on Facebook.

In Case of a Flood

1: Drowning in Emotion

Emma rubbed her palms together as she stood outside Henry's closed door. There were butterflies on top of butterflies in her stomach. Henry and Regina were in there having a long talk in hushed tones. Every now and then, she could hear something, words with no real context to make sense of how things were going. She did not hear a thing to stop her heart from beating well out of her chest. Henry had presented. He was an omega. It made Emma both relieved and anxious.

"Thank god," she said under her breath for the millionth time while she was alone. She hoped she got it out of her system by the time Henry emerged, as she was not sure how he felt about being an omega.

She was relieved Henry was not an alpha. Intellectually, she knew there was nothing wrong with being an alpha. There were many great alphas from what she could tell in Storybrooke, but life had insisted otherwise for her and she could not shake that feeling. It was deeply embedded in her and she was aware of it to a degree, but felt it was true. Maybe not every alpha was bad, but being an alpha helped lean more into the asshole territory than most as far as she was concerned.

"He's not an asshole and he won't be an asshole." Emma was happy about that, but still her stomach twisted and turned.

She was anxious because, well, Henry was an omega. Now, she had a bit of a better understanding of Elle, the foster mother who threatened her alpha-hood and sent her to an alpha group home. It was scary to think Henry could end up pregnant by some idiot alpha, who would not or could not support him or was not ready to have pups, but wanted a good time. But, Henry had a good head on his shoulders and Regina was talking to him. She'll make sure he understands how serious this all is. Regina has this.

"Regina has this," she promised herself through clattering teeth. Saying it aloud always made things seem like they would come true.

Regina and Henry had been talking for almost an hour. Emma rubbed her palms together again, finding them very sweaty, so she rubbed them against her pants to dry them. She had been outside the door the whole time, trying to listen at some points, but also trying not to listen since the conversation seemed private. If they wanted her to hear, they would have had the discussion in the living room. Of course, Henry had barely been able to move yesterday, so Regina insisted he stay in the bed, even though he felt better while she had a talk with him.

"She's got this. Regina's got this. She's got this," Emma muttered under her breath, leaning a little closer to the door.

There was an added nervousness to Henry being an omega. He was a male omega. Society tended to be harder on male omegas, even though omegas in general were treated differently, typically worse than the other statuses. Male omegas were seen as sort of the bottom of the barrel, even now. Male features, but able to have babies and nurture them, so they were seen as unmanly. There were so many stereotypes and there would be obstacles in his way. People would assume he was weak, they would try to keep him out of so many fields, make comments about how he looked, and so many, many other things. How would they prepare him for that?

We'll think of something and Henry's smart. I just have to have faith. Before Emma let her thoughts run wild, the conversation stopped. Emma was not sure what that meant, but then the door opened, so she guessed everything was done. She straightened up, ready to move in case mother or son needed her. Need me for what? Regina locked eyes with her as she eased through a small crack of the open door. There were no worry or concern in those honey brown eyes, but the knot in Emma's stomach remained. Regina closed the door behind her, but remained in the doorway.

"He okay?" Emma asked, her voice below a whisper. It seemed like being quiet was the thing to do, especially since Regina shut the door without a sound. Emma hoped he was all right. If he was all right, she could be all right.

"Go in and talk to him," Regina replied.

Emma blinked. "You sure?" What the hell could she, an alpha, say to their newly presented omega son? She did not want to mess up whatever progress Regina made.

Regina offered her a small smile and it stiffed her spine a little. "You'll be fine. Go talk to your son. I'm going to get dinner going. I promised to make his favorite since he's feeling better and is certain he can hold down a real meal."

Emma nodded and Regina went downstairs. Emma took a deep breath and then knocked on the door. Henry made a noise that sounded like permission to come in, but she was not sure. Still, she opened the door and found Henry sitting on his bed, holding a book. He had a quilt around him instead of his usual blanket. Knowing this family, the quilt was handmade by Regina from when Henry was little. He was literally wrapped in comfort.

Emma tilted her head a little, needing to see his face. He did not look any worse for wear. She would dare say he looked normal, as normal as one could look after going through the whole mess of presenting.

"How you doing, kid?" Emma asked as she stepped closer. The wooden floor beneath her creaked, groaned maybe. She swallowed, a hard lump in her throat and her stomach butterflies in a tizzy.

"I'm good. It's just a lot to take in, you know?" Henry replied. He sounded rather all right, though a little muted. He did not look at her and picked lint off of his quilt. Then he let out a little laugh. "I mean, for all Mom's talk, she still gave me a book to help." He held up the book and gave her a small smile.

Emma's brow furrowed, but her nerves felt more at ease. "A book?"

He nodded. "She said it helped her understand omegas better in this realm and she thought it would help me. Little does she know, her talk was more than enough."

Emma fought down a smile. Regina had been prepared enough to have a book on deck. "Oh. That's good. Besides, you know your mom likes to be over-prepared."

He gave a light chuckle and there was an amused twinkle in his eyes. "Yeah. I always figured if Mom grew up here, she'd be one of those people who burned themselves out in college because she's doing too much."

"I think her personality begs her to do the most, but at least we always get goodies out of it." Emma was not sure if Regina might not burn herself out now, but she would try to make sure Regina took time to take care of herself. Really? Because you didn't do that here. You let her do all the talking with our kid.

"That's true."

Emma went over to him and sat down on the bed. He moved over, as if making space for her. She put her arm around Henry. "You okay, though?"

Henry looked at her and grinned at her. His eyes sparkled more and she was able to relax more. "I'm fine. It's weird, you know? I mean, it hurt."

Emma nodded. She remembered presenting, it definitely hurt. It was like having her guts ripped out and shoved back inside. She had hidden in the basement of her foster home when it happened and cried for a day. No one really comforted her, but someone checked on her a couple of times, probably to make sure she did not die. Someone had also brought her food at one point. She could not recall who, her focus had mainly been on the extreme agony. It did not matter since barely a week after presenting she was out of there.

Henry had the benefit of supportive parents and not being afraid of being thrown out of his home. So, he had been tucked into a ball in bed for the better part of the day with them putting cold rags on his fevered forehead and kept him hydrated. He cried and groaned, tearing at his bedding sometimes, but one of them was always there to rub his back, sing childhood songs to him, or tell him stories until things got better. Regina made some of his favorite snacks, pies and cakes, to make sure he ate. There was also homemade soup, because of course Regina would make her own soup rather than opening a can.

"I know all about it hurting," Emma said.

Henry nodded. "Yeah, Mom said it didn't hurt as much for her, but according to her reading this book, it doesn't hurt as much when your body isn't physically changing like ours did."

"Yeah, and how do you feel about that? I mean…" Emma did not want to bring up her own sex status issues with Henry, did not want to add to things if he felt bad and had just put on a strong face.

Henry's mouth twisted to the side and he looked at the book, now in his lap. "I'm okay. Mom covered a lot and it's not the end of the world. I know being a male omega can be tough, but it doesn't bother me." He shrugged. "It doesn't define who I am. And I know there's stereotypes and crap, but I don't have to be like them in any way. I'm good."

Emma smiled and ruffled his hair. "You're so mature." She was happy he had no problems with his status. Even if the rest of the world gave him crap about it, he would probably be all right.

Henry shrugged once again and looked right at her. "I dunno. Mom just gave me a really good talk. It helped me feel really comfortable with this. I'm just… okay. I'm really okay."

Emma's heart lit up and finally those damn butterflies fluttered away. Regina was a wonder. Even while she had taken a lot of time to get comfortable with her status, she made sure Henry was good. She's such a good mother.

"Despite everything, kid, I think we got lucky with Regina," Emma said.

Henry took a breath and let loose a laugh. "Yeah. I think this helps me better understand her, too. She told me some of the things her mother did to her when she presented and I'm really happy I got to go through this with you two. I've heard some horror stories about male omegas when they present."

She gave him a little squeeze around the shoulders. "We're never going to make you a horror story."

"I know." Henry smiled, more to himself than her, and tapped the book in his hand. "I really don't mind, Ma. I know your status is hard for you, but I'm okay. Even as a male omega, I think it actually suits me. I mean, I've always been a little weird. This is just something else."

Emma frowned. "Kids aren't picking on you or anything, right?" Henry did not have many friends, but he was not a social butterfly either. Emma hoped that was his choice and not kids purposely isolating him for whatever reasons.

"No, nothing like that. Well, not where I can tell anyway. But, even when there was the Curse, the kids sort of kept me at arm's length. I have my core group of friends, but that's kinda it. I'm fine with that. I'm like an introvert, but okay with being on adventures and with people I really like to be around."

Emma scratched her head. "How the hell are you so much like both of us?" She and Regina had their core group of friends and that was it. It was enough for both of them. Hell, their core groups rarely even mixed.

Henry shrugged. "I'm your kid."

She hugged him tight. "I'm so glad you're our kid. I'm so glad you're you and I'm so glad you have your mom." Tears actually pricked Emma's eyes. Regina's handling of this, of raising Henry, of Henry being able to handle this, it was so much. It felt like she was about to overflow with emotion.

"Ma, you okay?" Henry asked, his face scrunched up with worry.

Emma sniffled. "Of course." She let him go, in case she needed her hands to rub her eyes and catch any tears.

"You're crying, you know?"

Emma did not know. She turned away and wiped her face. "I'm sorry. I don't know what's come over me."

Henry shook his head. "It's an emotional time. Me and Mom cried a bunch of times while we talked. It's okay."

"Your mom cried in front of you?" Emma could not picture it. Not when Regina was always trying to be so strong for them, especially Henry.

He regarded her like she was the kid between them. "Yeah. It was okay. We had good cries. You can have one, too."

Emma took a deep breath. "You're such a good kid, Henry. I love you so much." She leaned over and kissed the side of his head. She could not help tasting a tear that rolled down her cheek. The saltiness seemed happy, oddly enough.

"I love you, too, Ma." He wrapped her up in an awkward hug.

"And I love your Mom. I love that you both could sit down and have this conversations together. This seems so big to me. I guess it didn't occur to me how major this would be…" Emma shook her head, not sure how to explain it or if she should explain it to him. How much had Regina shared with him?

"This isn't what happened when you presented, right?"

Emma frowned. "Not even close. At the time, I was living with a foster family. They had an omega daughter, so when I presented, the alpha of the house, my foster mom Elle, threatened to cut my thing off if I touched her daughter."

"Ouch."

"Yeah, and I believed she'd do it. A week after I presented, she tossed me in an alpha group home, which showed me how awful alphas could be. But, other than that, I didn't really get any talking. And, eventually, well, remember when I blurted out you shouldn't do drugs?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I thought you were just being weird."

She sniffled and wiped her nose, even though it was not running. "Well, obviously I was being weird. I'm weird a lot. Where do you think you get it from? Anyway, I ended up really ashamed of being an alpha because they're always terrible. I took drugs to make people think I was a beta. I wanted to be a beta. Well, I wanted to be anything but an alpha."

Henry patted her hand. "I'm sorry that happened to you, Ma. You deserved having someone to help you. But, you should know not all alphas are bad at this point. I mean, you're pretty freaking awesome."

Emma wrapped an arm around Henry and mussed his hair again. "You guys make me awesome. But, the real awesome one is you. You're taking this like a champ."

"That's thanks to Mom." Henry gave her a sidelong look. "You're right, you know? We got lucky with Mom. We all got lucky with each other."

Emma laughed, tears finally gone. "Yeah, but us more so because she's making your favorite dinner. The best we can do is buy her something when she's down."

"Well, if you knew how to do something beyond fry everything, you, too, could make her favorite food."

Emma chuckled and the atmosphere got a little lighter. Henry wanted to show her a school project he started working on. He had to create a movie poster for a book they were reading in class. Animal Farm. Emma had never read it, but he explained enough of it to her for her to decide his poster was a little cheesy. It was definitely a rip off of an Avengers poster.

"Wow, the only thing missing is Napoleon with one of the Infinity Stones," Emma said as she carefully placed the poster on his desk.

Henry pouted. "Well, I wanted it to be exciting. The book is really good, so I want a poster that makes people want to read it."

"By fooling them into thinking Thanos is coming? We can do better. We're kinda smart when push comes to shove." Emma grinned at him and he grinned back.

She helped change the poster up, make it less of a stolen work of art, until they were called down to dinner. It smelled as wonderful as dinner always did and Emma's stomach growled as soon as they hit the bottom of the stairs. It was when they all sat at the table that Emma got another rush of emotion.

It was just the three of them for once. Emma was not sure where Zelena was and did not care for now. She took in their little family. I'm so lucky. Then, Regina served them all, chicken parmesan with linguine noodles and green beans on the side. Emma and Henry both had more cheese than anything else. Regina was treating them both. There was a basket of hot, buttered bread in the middle of the table with a salad bowl. I want this forever.

Emma held in a gasp at what seemed like an epiphany, but it was nothing of the sort. She knew she wanted this forever, wanted this life. But, still, it felt like something shot through her. She had this wonderful family, a great kid who was mature enough to not only handle presenting a status that most consider inferior, but also try to console her over her status. Added to that, this great woman who made their son's favorite meal after talking him through a trying rite of passage. She could not think of many alphas who could have this and not muck it up. She would not be the one to muck it up.

"Hey, Ma, you okay?" Henry asked, pulling her from her thoughts.

Emma blinked. "Oh, yeah." She turned her attention to her food, knowing that was why Henry inquired if she was all right. "I got lost in my thoughts for a second there."

Henry nodded and ate a huge bite of his food. "Anything you want to share?"

"Not right now. I gotta get some things in order. You wanna tell your mom about the changes you made to your project?" Emma needed attention off of her. She did not want Regina to jump in on the questioning of her thoughts.

Henry wasted no time regaling Regina with his project and the little additions Emma added on. As he spoke and Regina listened with rasp attention, Emma felt overcome again. Maybe it was the quiet that allowed all of her emotions to wash over her like a heavy rain. No Zelena meant no constant wise ass comments that required a rebuttal from someone. It gave her a moment to just take all of this in. She would not mind if Robbie was there, which was like a light hit to the gut. God, I do want another pup with her. She wanted everything with Regina.

She wanted to have more children, raise them with Regina, and see them through everything from the moment of conception until they went off to college. Like Henry would in a few years. She would soon have a son in college and eventually he might find his mate, like she had, and have kids of his own. She would have grandkids. But, first, Henry would probably excel in high school whereas she never graduated. Henry had hopes and dreams, things she gave up on at about his age. Just simple things like that made her want to gush with pride. She had to do something about this. As soon as possible.

-8-8-8-8-

Regina studied Emma, who was in her pajamas of a tank top and shorts, lying in bed playing on her phone, while Regina was going through her nightly rituals. Emma had been quiet all day. She would have chalked it up to the shock of Henry presenting, but Emma's interactions with Henry were normal and obviously not forced. Regina moved to get in bed next to Emma, who quickly turned her phone off and put it down on the nightstand. Unusual.

"You don't typically bring your phone to bed," Regina said. Emma did not spend a lot of time on her phone like most people. Every now and then, a game might catch her attention, but she never played them for long. The world seemed interactive enough for her.

Emma blew out a breath. "I was just researching something."

"Anything I could help with?" It could be Emma was looking up ways to support Henry. Regina had done plenty of research on that.

"Not really."

"Does this have to do with Henry presenting as an omega?" Regina asked. She would not be surprised if Emma was looking up any sort of statistics involving male omegas, trying to figure out what she would need to do to make sure their son had as normal a teenage life as possible.

Emma's mouth twisted to the side. "Kinda, but not in the way you think. I'm not worried about him or anything. I mean, whatever you said to him, it had to be really good. He was so… calm and… accepting."

Regina was silent for a moment. Emma was probably amazed by Henry's acceptance because, even now, Emma had issues with being an alpha. Everyone went at their own pace, so Regina would not push. After all, she had only recently accepted her own status, if "recent" was a relative term in regards to how long she had been an omega.

"You want to talk about it?" Regina asked.

"I think I'm just sort of amazed with him and with you. I mean, you talked him into being okay with his status. I don't think I'd have been able to do that if he was an alpha," Emma replied.

Regina knew Emma would not have been able to. Emma was so relieved when Henry confessed he was an omega that she fell against the wall and sighed. Regina doubted Emma was even aware of her actions.

"I would have spoken to him regardless. I've been on both sides, after all," Regina said. While they never outright said it, she always imagined it would be on her to talk to Henry when he presented, regardless of his status.

Emma nodded. "I know and I'm sure whatever he would've been, you would've gotten the same outcome. I mean, you would've made him feel comfortable and secure. I told him how lucky we are to have you."

Regina scoffed. "Really? I've made both of your lives unnecessarily hard." And she would never forgive herself for it, but she would spend all of her time with them now trying to make things easy, comfortable, and good.

"You know what? It was worth it. You and Henry, you're worth the bullshit childhood."

"Even the threat of having your penis cut off and being dumped in an alpha group home?" Regina would never buy Emma's hardship in life was worth it, no matter how many times Emma insisted it was.

Emma put her hands on Regina's hips, pulling her close. Regina wasted no time hooking her leg over Emma's hip as Emma caressed her sides, pressing the silk of her nightgown against her slightly heated skin. The simple touch made Regina melt inside.

"I would do it all over again. Every single everything if it got me here. I love you and Henry that much. Actually, I love this whole set up, which is why I know I'm lucky to have you. I like time with both of you. I like watching Robbie and the Little Guy. I like being a sheriff. I like being settled and domestic."

Regina nodded. "I understand that." She would live through everything all over again, too, to get to this point, but she did not want that for Emma or even Henry. "I just hate that you were hurt."

"Don't worry about it. The pain just became an educating factor for me in life, like it did for you."

Regina scoffed. "I wanted to burn the world down."

"Yeah, but not anymore. The pain from your past helps you be the person you are right now. The amazing woman who comforts our son while I'm holding up a wall." Emma glanced away for a moment.

Regina stroked Emma's cheek. "My love, is that what's troubling you? Tell me."

Emma grinned at her. "No, no, no. I'm not troubled at all. I'm in awe and so in love with you. I think I realized I had a quiet love for you along with everything else. Like I couldn't see it until we sat down at the table tonight. Maybe I got a chance to see this other bit of it because I don't have to listen to Zelena's big mouth."

Regina chuckled. "It is a bit different when she's not around. It gave you a chance to appreciate something more."

Emma nodded. "Just us. Our family. I can't explain it, but it was like a revelation. You ever have moments like that?"

Regina pushed herself a little closer to Emma and smiled a little. "I have little moments almost daily. There are times when I look at you, maybe while you're playing with Robbie or helping Henry with something or just sleeping on the couch and find myself falling deeper in love with you. I find myself marveling over what we're capable of together. I want to go back in time and tell my younger self it gets better. In fact, my dream eventually comes true."

Emma's eyes glistened. "I helped make your dream come true?"

"Of course you did. You gave me Henry and then gave me family."

"How the hell are we so alike?"

Regina was not sure how or why, but they were very alike underneath. Whoever said opposites attracted had never conceived of them. With a sigh, Regina pressed her forehead to Emma's and then had to kiss her. Emma kissed her back, of course.

"I love you," Regina said. The words flowed more freely now than they ever had. Emma freed her from a prison in her own mind. Emma let her spirit soar.

"I love you, too." Emma kissed her and they fell asleep tangled together under a blanket of emotion.

-8-8-8-8-

Emma beat Regina home, which was not unusual. She was glad for it today, though. She needed to talk to Henry. He was in the living room, books spread out on the coffee table. Emma practically leaped out of her heavy boots and coat.

"Henry, lemme talk to you real quick," Emma said in a rushed voice.

Henry looked at her. "You are talking real quick."

Emma frowned. "Smart ass."

Henry shrugged. "I think we established I am my mothers' son."

Emma could not deny that and eased onto the sofa next to him. "Yeah, speaking of your mom… I want to talk to you about her."

Henry looked at her with a scrunched up expression. "Oh, my god, she's not pregnant, is she?" He looked absolutely terrified.

"What? No! What are you talking about?" Emma grimaced.

He winced. "Sorry. I guess I was just thinking back to my talk with Mom and one of the things she mentioned was being careful because I could still get pregnant, even if I haven't gone into heat yet. But, sorry."

Emma's mouth dropped open. "Oh, my god, you can get pregnant. Oh, geez. Should we buy you condoms?"

Henry looked beyond horrified and his face turned bright red. "What? No! Please, stop talking, Ma!" He waved his hands to get her to stop.

"You started it!" Now, she had to wrap her mind around the fact that one day Henry might end up pregnant. She would have to check any alphas he might date, or even male betas if that was his thing. Was Violet an alpha? Had she presented yet? I'm so not ready for this. Her stomach dropped into her feet.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry. Just tell me what you were going to tell me."

Emma took a breath and then grinned. "Okay, look at this." She went into her pocket and pulled out a jewelry box. Popping open the top, she showed Henry something she had been saving for, but never really realized it. Ever since moving in with Regina, she had saved money on little things and put that money away. Now, almost a year since they sort of fell into a relationship with each other, she had this beautiful ring and was ready to make this permanent.

Henry's eyes went wide and he gasped. "You're gonna propose?"

"Yeah. You okay with that?" He did not seem to be okay if Regina might be pregnant, so he might have some objection with this.

"Of course I'm okay with that! That's awesome! Yes. Do it. You have a plan?" He bounced next to her, ready to make a plan.

Emma smiled. "Yeah, I know what I want to do. What do you think of this ring?" It was thin, platinum band weaved together like an infinite symbol with rubies and black diamonds that wrapped around a large ruby. It shouted "Regina" at her the moment she saw it.

"It's perfect."

Emma's chest filled with pride. "And you're sure you're okay with me asking her?" She did not want to do anything that might disrupt or disturb their family situation.

"Ma, I would love for my parents to be mated and married."

"Even if… even if we eventually have another pup?" Emma wanted that, but Henry did not seem too thrilled over the idea his mother might be pregnant.

Henry twisted up his mouth and rested his chin in his hand in thought. "I think I'd actually make a pretty cool big brother."

She arched an eyebrow. "Then why the first reaction?"

"I guess I just never considered I might have to share you guys, but I'm sharing you right now with Robbie and my mini-unc. And you both are really good with them. Why shouldn't you have another pup? Besides, I'll be off to college soon. Maybe you guys should have one. I mean, I'm sure if we were a normal family, I'd have at least a brother or sister by now," he replied.

Emma wanted to tell him he definitely would have had siblings had they been normal, but she did not want to poke the bear too much. It was nice that he was trying to be understanding, but that was something for later. Right now, she had Henry's permission to change their family dynamic. She wanted to get to that.

"Your mom is gonna say yes, right?" Emma found herself asking.

Henry scoffed. "Duh! Now, how about you help me this lit homework? Poetry never makes sense to me."

Emma chuckled and did not point out that poetry did not make sense to her either. This was Regina territory, but they could both pretend she knew what she was doing for now.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Emma's plan.