"Henry! We have been worried sick! Don't you ever do this to me again!" A girl who had been sitting on the front steps said as she ran up and pulled him into a hug. She looked a few years older than Henry from what Emma could tell, but she looked way too young to be wearing the black business dress she was in. She supposed that was how high society people dressed, since the mansion gave away their monetary status.

"I'm fine, Evie," Henry said and smiled into her shoulder. The girl reluctantly let go of him and ruffled his hair. He turned to Emma with a smile that had been absent moments before as he begged her not to take him home, "This is my sister, Evelyn."

It was obvious that his sister loved him very much judging by the way she was delighted to know he was safe, and it reassured Emma that Henry was given his best chance. She didn't think that he could have been adopted into a better household than what it appeared to be.

However, when Evelyn noticed the blonde woman for the first time she narrowed her eyes and put her arm on Henrys shoulder. She thought that Henry seemed to trust her too much, even though she was just a stranger. The blonde smiled sheepishly at her anyway, and she gave a small wave- only to be polite. The woman did bring Henry back home after all.

"I'm Emma. Emma Swan," the blonde said. She slowly started shuffling backwards not wanting to wait for Henry's parents to come out. Henry looked crushed, but she needed to get back to Boston. "It looks like I'll see you later kid. It was nice to meet you, Evelyn."

Emma didn't get the chance to leave, and she mentally cursed as the situation was going to get infinitely more awkward. Henry and Evelyn jumped when the door was flung open and their mother and Sheriff Graham ran outside. Regina was crying, and Emma felt a little guilty. "Henry! Henry, are you okay? Where have you been? What happened?"

As Regina embraced Henry he pushed her away and made a beeline for the door. "I found my real mom." Henry ran into the house and stomped up the stairs. Regina looked heart broken and focused in on the woman who had presumably just threatened her happiness. Evelyn's jaw dropped open in shock, and she was a little disappointed that Henry didn't tell her about his quest to find his birth mother even if she would have warned him against it.

"Y-you're Henry's birth mother?" Regina said, putting her hands around Evelyn's shoulders. Both of them had the same look on their face; however, while Evelyn's face just showed shock and sadness, Regina had contempt mixed in there as well. Emma would have laughed if the situation wasn't so awkward because Evelyn could have almost been her clone.

"Hi," Emma said quietly. The tension in the air was suffocating to say the least. Graham left to check on Henry, and Emma was left with Regina and her mini me. Just by looking her up and down, Emma knew that Regina had a superiority complex.

Regina was the first to break the staring contest and smiled at Emma. "How would you like a glass of the best apple cider you've ever tasted?"

"Got anything stronger?" Emma chuckled and followed Regina into the house. If anyone had told her that the events that had transpired this evening would occur on her 28th birthday, she would have thought that they were crazy. Little did she know, crazy wasn't going to be a word to adequately describe her life in the future.

When Emma stepped inside she looked around, and the interior of the house was absolutely gorgeous. It made her kind of sad that Henry didn't appreciate what he had. Even though Regina seemed a little rough around the edges and quite intimidating, Emma thought that she was probably trying her best to raise him. He seemed close with his sister at least. Evelyn ran up the winding staircase and disappeared into one of the rooms. She kind wished the girl had stayed, so she wouldn't have had to face Henry's mother alone.

Regina came back holding two glasses of cider, and Emma took it gladly. "How did he find me?" Emma asked. She doubted Regina knew, but she wanted to know nonetheless.

"No idea. I was told the birth mother didn't want to have any contact." Regina said, clearly pissed off that Henry found her. She swirled the liquid in her own glass before bringing it to her lips.

"You were told right," Emma said and shrugged. She took a gulp of cider to focus on something other than the woman in front of her. There was a picture of Henry, Evelyn, and Regina hanging on the wall. Henry looked slightly younger, but Regina and Evelyn looked the same. Emma didn't think anything of it.

"And the father? Do I need to be worried about him?" Regina prayed that little Emma was the only one she was up against. Emma didn't seem to be the type of person who would stay around and fight for what she wanted. She seemed to be more of the running away type.

"There was one, and he doesn't even know. You also don't have to worry about me," Emma said. She had no intention of trying to take Henry away from her. It was better that Henry's father never found out, although Emma was never going to see him again anyway. "What about Evelyn? Did you adopt her, also?"

Regina looked lost in thought for a moment. She set her drink down on one of the end tables, and smiled. "No. She is mine."

"I figured. I mean any kid that looks like they are dressed for a job interview is probably yours," Regina raised her eyebrow. Apparently Regina didn't have a sense of humor, and the tension was making Emma uncomfortable. She chugged down the rest of her cider and focused on a picture of the girl instead. She wondered if Henry was jealous. "So... do you have to worry about her father?"

"Miss Swan, I would appreciate it if you did not pry into my personal life," Regina sighed and Emma was confused because Regina had asked her the same exact question moments before. "He's dead. He died when she was young. I adopted Henry to fill the piece that was missing."

"So you gave her a brother instead of a dog?" Emma joked. Regina clearly wasn't amused and just wanted Emma Swan out of her and Henry's lives.

O.o.O

"Evie, I found my birth mom! Everything is going to be okay now," Henry said excitedly. He kicked his shoes off and happily flopped onto his bed. "Emma is going to save us!"

"Henry, I know you're excited and I know this has been the moment you were waiting for your entire life, but you already have a family that loves you. You need to remember that," Evelyn said quietly. She didn't know what to make of the situation, but she did know that her mother would want her to discourage him from talking to Emma again.

"Did mom tell you to say that?" Henry frowned. He knew Evie wanted the best for him, but sometimes she was too easily influenced by Regina. In fact, she did whatever their mother told her to do with no questions asked. He hoped that would change when Emma broke the curse.

"No. I came up here as soon as we came in the house to check on you, and I wanted to hear about your amazing adventure to find Emma."

"I took a bus," Henry smiled. Evelyn rolled her eyes. Henry giggled as she tried to tickle the information out of him. "I really did just take a bus to her apartment in Boston. The adventure is going to begin now because Emma is going to stay in Storybrooke, and she is going to break the Evil Queen's curse. I know you don't believe mom is evil, but she is. Emma is going to save the town."

"It was pretty evil when she forced us to eat brussel sprouts, but mom is not the Evil Queen," Evelyn laughed. Henry sighed because she never took anything seriously unless it made Regina happy, and accusing her of being the Evil Queen never did.

Evelyn suddenly leaned back to lie on top of Henry. Her eyes were closed and she puckered her lips. He tried to push her off. "Evie, come on. Get off! It's not funny."

"I'm Snow White, and I need a handsome prince to wake me from this dreadful sleeping curse," Evelyn said as Henry was still trying to wrestle her off of him. She tried not to smile as Henry laughed and was mad at her at the same time.

"Fine, but you're not Snow White," Henry gave in and kissed her cheek. She smiled and got up as Henry stuck his tongue out at her.

"Then who do you think I am?" Evelyn said heading towards the door. She looked back at him as he spoke.

"You are her little sister, Sky Blue. You are cursed, too, and that's why you can't remember. I'll let you read my book when I get it back,"

"Did you just make that up to include me? And where is the book?" Evelyn smirked. He probably hid it under his bed.

"Good night, Evie," Henry said sticking his tongue out again.

"All right, but this isn't over, Henry," Evelyn said. She shut the door behind her as she walked out.

O.o.O

Evelyn wondered why Henry would believe that the town was cursed. Leave it to Henry and his wild imagination to make up fake characters in order to include her in his daydreams that everyone in town was from a fairy tale. Also, the fact that he thought their mother was evil was stupid. She wasn't home all the time and was sometimes too strict, but that didn't mean that she was an evil person.

Maybe Henry is jealous of the time mom spends with me. Maybe that is why he is lashing out, she thought. Suddenly she felt terrible, but it wasn't entirely her fault that Henry never wanted to do anything that their mom wanted. Perhaps, leaving to find Emma was the only way he thought he could get attention, even though he never seemed to crave it and always pushed mom away. But he can't possibly be that lonely because he has me.

The intoxicating aroma of apple turnovers warm from the oven permeated through the halls and brought her out of her thoughts. As she ran down the stairs and made it to the kitchen a huge grin appeared on her face. There was nothing she loved more than her mother's apple turnovers.

Regina sat at the head of the table holding a glass of wine. Her face was still a little red from crying, but she smiled as Evelyn came in and sat down. A plate with a turnover was already placed in front of where she normally sat- Regina's right hand side.

"Thank you," Evelyn said too quietly and mentally berated herself. She hoped everything could go back to normal if she pretended that everything was the same, but it just wasn't. Unfortunately, she had a sinking feeling in her stomach that nothing was ever going to go back to the way it was. Emma may have left, but it wasn't like Henry didn't know where she lived. She may even want to come over to see him from time to time now that she knew who he was.

"Evelyn, do you know anything about a fairy tale book that Henry miraculously possesses," Regina said short and to the point.

The sinking feeling in her stomach came back as she willed herself to say no. She didn't want her mother to be upset, but she couldn't hold it in. Every time she wanted to lie to Regina it always felt like something was prohibiting her from doing so. "Yes, he thinks everyone in Storybrooke is a character from his book. No one can remember anything because they were all cursed by the Evil Queen, which is you. Apparently I'm supposed to be Snow White's sister; isn't that funny? I think he just made it up to include me." She shrugged and stuffed the turnover into her mouth.

Regina shook her head at her daughter's lack of table manners. However, she maintained a blank face as she sipped her wine. "And do you believe him?"

Evelyn swallowed and looked confused, "Of course not. Although it would be rather interesting, wouldn't it? Not that I think you're evil, but a huge castle and a little magic in our lives wouldn't hurt."

"I do imagine magic would be useful," Regina said. She stood up and took Evelyn's plate to put it in the dishwasher. "However, you have school tomorrow, and it's late." Evelyn groaned.

She came up behind Regina and put her arms around her. "Good night, mom. I love you."

"Good night, Evelyn," Regina said and kissed the top of her head cherishing the moment. "I love you." More than life itself, she thought.

When the pair of them stopped hugging, Evelyn went to bed. As soon as Regina couldn't hear Evelyn's footsteps on the stairs she threw the empty wine glass at the wall. She was finally content and everything she had worked for was going to fall apart if she couldn't convince Henry that she wasn't the Evil Queen. She doubted Evelyn would even want to stay with her if the curse broke because everything she had ever done was in the name of her daughter.

O.o The Enchanted Forest o.O

Regina cringed as she watched Snow, an 11 year old girl, tote her baby around like a doll. Snow bounced the infant around as she walked around the room and animatedly waved a metal rattle in the little girl's face, with no intention to deposit it into her tiny outstretched hands.

While the baby was often mesmerized with Snow, she started fussing as Snow continued to tease her with the rattle. Regina wanted nothing more than to rip the poor child out of Snow's arms, but Snow would often beg for more time. Regina didn't want to listen to her incessant whining or the possibility of getting scolded by her fool of a husband that she needed to be more trusting of Snow. Instead, she took a deep breath to calm herself and waited for the baby to start crying.

Although Snow meant well, she was sometimes too careless with her little sister and had nearly dropped her on several occasions. Regina couldn't stand Snow on any given day, but whenever Snow cheerily skipped into her chambers and practically demanded to hold her sister (and usually almost killed the baby in the process) she was positively enraged. Regina did not go through a long heartbreaking pregnancy to have Snow accidentally harm her daughter.

Regina had noticed she had fallen pregnant a few weeks after the wedding, much to her chagrin, and she had hated every moment of it. Perhaps, if her child had been Daniel's she would have cherished every moment of her pregnancy, but Snow had ruined any chances of that ever happening. She prayed the baby would be a boy to eliminate Snow's chance of becoming queen, whereas she knew that everyone else in the kingdom was hoping for another princess so Snow would stay first in line. But life never went her way it would seem, and if it had, Leopold would have done everything he could to make sure his precious Snow White still got the kingdom.

Even though the last thing she wanted was a baby, she was not her mother. She was going to try to be the best mother for her daughter because she was miserable, and perhaps the child would fill the void in her life if she raised the princess to love her unconditionally.

Regina remembered that after all of the maids came in to change the bedding and clean up their queen and the baby princess after the birth, she just wanted everyone in the room to leave. Several servants still flitted about and several nannies stood to the side waiting for her to give one of them the baby. Snow ran into the room as soon as the midwife came out and gave her permission to enter. Snow sat next to her on the bed cooing at the sleeping baby. Leopold came in shortly after beaming with pride. It was all too much for Regina, especially when he announced that they would call the baby Sky Blue after the color of her eyes (and perhaps to make Snow feel better with her dreadful name), without any regard for what she wanted. It was a blessing when both of them left to give her time to rest. Unfortunately, Princess Sky soon started to cry.

"The princess is hungry, your majesty," Regina remembered the old nanny in the middle say as she pushed the young one next to her closer to the bed. The girl looked around the same age as herself and had fear in her eyes. The old one gestured to the one she pushed, "This is Sophia, she is one of the nursemaids. She will take care of nighttime feeding. Kate will do mornings, and Lucy will do afternoons."

"That won't be necessary," Regina said. All of them were visibly uncomfortable. The old one looked horrified. "I intend to do most of it myself."

"It isn't customary your majesty. Queen Eva never fed Snow," said the old nanny, not realizing that that was the wrong thing to say. Regina was visibly seething; the residual pain of the birth and the crying baby only worsened her mood.

"We can teach you, your majesty," Sophia squeaked pulling up the petite blond one, Lucy, who nodded, "It's no trouble at all."

"The rest of you are permanently dismissed. I do not want to see you again," Regina said to the remaining three nannies. The old one looked like she was going to protest, but then thought better of it as she looked at Regina's murderous face. She scurried out with the rest of them.

Suddenly Regina was pulled out of her memories as Sky started to cry. Snow reluctantly handed her the baby and skipped out of the room. Regina smirked as her child quieted down as soon as she was put in her arms. She rose from the chair and decided to walk outside for a bit and visit her apple tree.

As Regina walked down the hallway the servants politely bowed their heads down, however their eyes still followed her- the Child Queen with a baby of her own. She didn't pay them any attention as they were beneath her, and she did not care if they thought that raising her child was unfit for the Queen. The stares continued until she came up to her apple tree, but at least no one ever bothered her there.

"Daniel wanted to name our first daughter, Evelyn, after his mother. We talked about it for hours," Regina said as she ran her fingers through the baby's soft black hair knowing she couldn't understand her. Tears pricked in her eyes as anger gripped her heart. "We were going to be a family, until your horrid sister ruined everything."

"Missed me, Dearie?"

Regina whipped around and came face to face with Rumplestiltskin. He let out an eerie giggle as Regina took a step back right before he was about to touch the baby.

Perhaps she would try to learn magic after all.