STORYBROOKE, Maine

It felt real. Too real. Regina could still feel the sting of the blade hitting her neck as Emma swung her father's sword to end her life. The only part worse than that was seeing her sister in the crowd watching with no trace of sadness across her features; just the same smirk playing on her lips that Regina often wore. She could feel it in her bones, something was off with Rebekah. This pregnancy combined with the curse -- something had to be done. And though Regina had been excited at the prospect of growing close to her nephew, if somehow that fetus broke Rebekah's curse... She couldn't risk it. Not to mention Regina still worried about the fact that Jefferson may change his mind about staying away from Rebekah and her foolish sister would forgive him and say three words that would cause her to fall into a dreamless sleep for the rest of her life. With no magic in this world, there was no way she'd ever wake up.

Regina looked up at her apple tree, eyes wide as she reached for the now-rotten fruit hanging from the tree. It was black, just like the apple Emma crushed in her dream.

The sheer panic of her once fresh apples beginning to rot is what brought Regina to Mr. Gold, her ally and foe; a man she wouldn't trust if her life depended on it but he was her only option.

"Your Majesty, to what do I owe the pleasure?" he asked as Regina walked into his shop.

She held up the apple to show him. "My tree is dying." Regina slammed the fruit onto the counter and raised her brow at Gold. "Why?"

"Perhaps it's your fertilizer?" Gold replied with a smirk.

Regina inhaled deeply. "You think this is funny?" She asked him and he smiled. "Well, I'll tell you what I think; I think it's a sign that the curse is weakening because of Emma." Mr. Gold slowly walked out from behind the counter and Regina followed him. "But do you care? No." She answered for him. "You're content to just sit back and do..." She motioned around the room and made a face, still not knowing what he was gaining from the curse. "Whatever it is you're doing while all my hard work burns!"

"That's not all, is it?" Mr. Gold asked. Regina shook her head, not understanding. "Come on, you might as well get everything off your chest."

Regina scoffed. "I don't know what you're talking about," she said, arms crossing over her chest.

"Henry," Mr. Gold replied. "Ms. Swan wants him."

Regina scoffed again. "She'll have that boy over my dead body."

Mr. Gold didn't let her finish. "The curse was meant to take away Snow White and Prince Charming's happiness. Perhaps your giving up Henry is just the price to keep the curse unbroken," he suggested.

She blinked, not understanding why Gold would even bring that up. "I think I'd rather just get rid of her," Regina told him.

"Whew," Gold huffed. "Well, well. You're going to have to be quite creative," he said. "We both know the repercussions in killing Ms. Swan. The cur--."

"Curse would be broken." She finished for him, already knowing that. She stomped over to him. "That's because you designed it that way." Once she was standing in front of him, Regina leaned over the counter and told him, "Undo it."

Gold exhaled deeply. "Y'know, even if I wanted to, I couldn't," he told her before walking to the front of his shop. "Magic, well," he chuckled, "is in short supply around here and dwindling by the minute."

Oh, it had become so clear now. Mr. Gold was amused; downright giddy. "You want the curse broken?" She accused him. "Why?"

"That's not something I care to discuss."

Regina glared. "Don't bother! You can shove your reasons!" she told him as she walked over to him, leaning in as she said, "I want to strike a new deal." Mr. Gold sighed but listened. "One where I can get rid of Emma without shattering the curse."

"Unfortunately for you," Mr. Gold began, "a negotiation requires two interested parties." He reminded her. "And I'm already planning a trip," he said and walked away from Regina.

She spun around, watching him waddle to the counter. "I'll give you anything."

"Oh," Gold chuckled. "You no longer have anything I want, Dearie. But I will give you a piece of advice free of charge; I'd plan a trip of your own," he told her. "Because once people wake up and remember who you are and what you did to them..." He smiled while laughing. "They're going to be looking for blood," he told Regina. "And I have a feeling your baby sister will be leading the mob."

Regina squared her jaw. No. She inhaled deeply. She won't get a chance. Regina, deep down, did truly love Rebekah. But if keeping the curse meant sacrificing the life of Rebekah and her baby...it would be done.

After dropping off Henry, Regina would leave a message for Jefferson that she knew he'd see. A white rabbit playing card on his daughter's bike that Regina knew Jefferson would not ignore. She pressed the card to the fake license plate with the name PAIGE on it in big, bold letters. He'd see it and come to her and Regina would offer him a one time deal if he agreed to help her. If he was smart, he'd take it.

_________________________________

Rebekah needed answers. Nothing made sense. She couldn't figure out what was reality and what her damn pregnancy brain was envisioning. Rebekah had woken up in her home on her couch with August no longer with her. She thought she had imagined the whole thing but the more she thought about it, the more it started to feel real. Which led Rebekah to stand outside of Jefferson's door, banging on it with her fist and demanding her answer.

"Dammit, Jefferson!" She shouted. "I tried to give you the benefit of doubt, I believed you when you told me my sister made everything up about you and her, I believed that you actually cared about me but now I want some god damn answers!" He didn't answer the door but her stubbornness kept her standing at the door, banging loudly for another ten minutes. Finally, she got back into her car and drove into the wooded area and waited to see if he came out. He did.

Rebekah stayed back so far that she nearly lost him while following after his car but felt her heart break when she pulled up to her sister's house and watched Jefferson walk inside without even knocking.

He lied.

Rebekah felt an ache in her belly, almost as if her baby were trying to rip apart her insides as she envisioned Jefferson with her sister and all she knew was that she needed to get far away from her sister's house in order to feel better. She thought about going to the diner to see Ruby but instead, Rebekah drove to Henry's school and went to find Mary-Margaret. Someone who had been actively avoiding her for reasons Rebekah hadn't known. Now, she needed to know the truth and if what August said was true.

Did Jefferson kidnap her? Did he hold her and Emma hostage? Did he hold them at gunpoint? Was the man Rebekah fell in love with some psychotic lunatic? What had she gotten herself into?

Rebekah parked in the visitor's section and quickly hurried into the school, not caring that Mary-Margaret was probably in the middle of a lesson. She needed answers and she needed to stop being lied to. Rebekah probably looked like a mad-woman, still in the clothes from the day before, hair looking like a wild witch's hair tangled up into a bun, and her eyes red and puffy from tears. But she didn't care. Maybe seeing the state she was in, Mary-Margaret might actually tell Rebekah the truth.

"Is it true?" Rebekah asked as she walked into Mary-Margaret's classroom.

The woman blinked at Rebekah in surprise and then her face fell upon seeing the state Rebekah was in and quickly hurried over to her. "Rebekah." She grabbed her arm and tried to pull her out of the class. Paige and Henry both got out of their seats only to have Mary-Margaret tell them to sit back down and to let the adults talk.

Paige looked so scared seeing Rebekah so frazzled, as did Henry, and Rebekah wanted nothing more than to go to them and hold them in her arms. But the classroom door shut and their faces disappeared.

Mary-Margaret frowned as she tried to smooth down flyaway hairs Rebekah had and wiped away tears Rebekah hadn't realized she was crying. "It's okay. Emma changed her mind," Mary-Margaret tried to explain. "Henry convinced her not to leave."

Rebekah hiccuped and then sniffled, trying to control her emotion. "Emma took Henry?" She asked, eyes filling even more with tears. "She was going to take him?!"

Mary-Margaret looked at her in confusion. "Yeah... Isn't that why you're so upset?"

"Now?" Rebekah said in anger. "How dare she?! She was just going to take him? I get her beef with Regina but I 'm his aunt!"

"Rebekah," Mary-Margaret tried to calm him down. "What is going on? What has you so upset?"

Her lower lip trembled and Rebekah closed her eyes, letting more tears fall before she asked Mary-Margaret in a whisper if what August had told her was true. "Did Jefferson kidnap you?" She asked, finally opening her eyes to look at Mary-Margaret. "Did he drug Emma and hold you guys at gunpoint?"

Mary-Margaret frowned and sighed. "You don't need to worry about that, okay?"

"Oh my god." Rebekah moved her hand over her mouth. "He did."

"Rebekah, breathe." Mary-Margaret instructed her when she began to hyperventilate. "I'm taking you to your doctor's okay? You need to make sure your blood pressure doesn't get too high."

"No!" She yanked away when her friend tried to get Rebekah to walk forward. "How could you not tell me?" Rebekah cried. "I, I - I let him into my bed again! I almost told him I loved him! How could you keep this from me?!"

"I...I just wanted you and the baby safe, Rebekah." Mary-Margaret began to apologize. "Mr. Gold told us not to tell you."

"Gold?!" Her breathing was ragged, her vision making her see double. "Gold knew?"

"Rebekah, breathe."

"Don't tell me to breathe!" She argued only to start to lose her balance.

"Henry, call 911." She heard Mary-Margaret say and her body went limp against her friend as she caught her before she fell forward. "Now!"

"Bex?!" Paige shouted.

Mama! Please! Mama please don't leave!

"Grace?"

_________________________________

Regina was looking out the window when he walked into the room. But Jefferson knew she sensed his presence. He had seen her outside of Grace's school, watched as she left her little calling card for him and went home to grab any sort of weapon he could use against her if she tried to threaten his family again. But just as he was about to leave, Rebekah showed up pounding on his door, demanding answers. He had to wait to go to Regina until Rebekah finally gave up. Hearing the sobs she was holding back was what nearly made Jefferson open the door and let her in. It nearly made him tell her everything he had been keeping from her. But she left and Grace came into his mind and he remembered what he needed to do. He needed to go see Regina.

Jefferson shut the door to Regina's home office and watched as she slowly turned to face him, a smug smile across her face. "Jefferson," she greeted him. "So you got my message?" Regina said as he flipped the card between his fingers. He glared as she walked closer to him.

"How could I miss it?" he said in a dry tone. "You know I watch her."

"It must be so painful, your daughter, Paige, being oh so near."

"Grace," he corrected her. "Her name is Grace. You should know that; you changed it!" Jefferson stopped himself from saying anything else and inhaled deeply, trying to calm down and then asked, "What do you want?"

"Your help," Regina said as she poured herself a drink at her mini-bar.

That was a laugh. "And what makes you think that I won't kill you after everything you've done?" He asked, holding onto the knife hidden in his jacket pocket.

Regina smiled as she looked back at him. "Because you don't have it in you to kill your one true love's big sister."

Jefferson shook his head. "She hates you."

"Not here," Regina reminded him. "In fact, we had a nice little chat about you yesterday night when she came for dinner." His nostrils flared as he tried to keep his anger at bay. "Besides, if you had it in you to kill me, you would've done it twenty-eight years ago when I brought you here." She held two glasses of scotch as she walked over to him. "Because you know if I'm dead, you'll never get back to your daughter. And I," she raised one glass of scotch for him, "have a way for us to both get what we want."

Jefferson didn't take the drink she offered. Instead, he dropped the playing card into the liquid. "You'd never give me Rebekah back."

She rolled her eyes and walked away from Jefferson, placing his glass down on her desk as she went to grab something. He felt his chest tighten when she came back carrying the bag he once kept his hat in. Jefferson shook his head; it didn't matter. There was no magic here to make it work.

He walked over to it. "My hat." Jefferson unlocked the bag to reveal the hat. The one that belonged to him and Rebekah. Their hat. The hat that brought them together. Not one of his many failed attempts of making a hat -- the hat.

"I want you to use it again," Regina told him and he backed away from her when she stood too closely.

"I can't make it work!" he said in anger. "No one can -- not here, not without magic!"

"Well then you're in luck because I happen to have some." His eyes grew wide and he opened his mouth to demand Regina undo the curse on Rebekah, but she stopped him. "Not a lot," she told him and reached into the bag to grab the hat. "But hopefully enough for one last journey."

"Where?" Jefferson asked.

"Back to our land," Regina told him. "Where there's a solution to a very delicate problem I have," she explained. "How to get rid of the one person who could break my curse."

"I hope you're talking about Emma," Jefferson said, needing to make sure his wife was safe.

"Of course." Regina smirked.

He couldn't help but smile. "And why shouldn't I let her do just that?" Jefferson asked. "End the madness and go home."

Regina scoffed. "To your hovel?" she mocked him. "Selling fungus at the fair?" She turned and placed the hat back into the bag. "Why? When you could just stay here in the mansion I gave you?"

"Really?" He moved his hands to rest back in his pocket, holding onto the knife again. "I want my wife . I want my family."

Regina rolled her eyes and moved back over to him, pressing her hand to his chest and gave it a pat. "My problem, Jefferson, is the same as yours," she told him. "It's...family." He looked at her skeptically. "We both want our children back and we both can get them if we work together ," she emphasized.

"Why should I trust you now?"

"You shouldn't," Regina told him. "But you learned that lesson a very long time ago," she said next. "However, it's the only offer you've got," she reminded him. "After we're through; I'll use whatever is left of the magic to wake your dear Grace up so that she remembers who you are. But only Grace."

"No!" he said in anger.

"You don't understand how Rebekah's curse works -- do you? She says I love you to you and she's gone! How can you risk that?"

Jefferson squared his jaw and shook his head. "That's...that's not...I know Rebekah can't be woken up. I don't want Grace to be woken up because remembering is the worst curse -- two lives in her head, like me..." Jefferson closed his eyes before he said, "I want to forget. I want you to write me and my daughter a new story. A fresh start. Here."

Regina quirked her brow in interest. "And Rebekah?"

He swallowed hard and opened his eyes. "I want her to forget ever meeting me." Jefferson told Regina. "I want her to forget that she loves me. I want her to forget that the child she's carrying is mine." His voice broke but he tried to remain strong. "I want her to forget about Grace -- everything that has to do with me needs to be erased from her mind and when she sees us on the street she won't even glance up to look."

Regina crossed her arms over her chest and cocked her head to the side as she took in Jefferson's words. "And who should the father be to your son ?"

He felt his heart drop.

It was a boy?

They were having a son?

He closed his eyes again and shook his head, trying to shake away the feeling of happiness about having a son with Rebekah. Because once he had a new story, he wouldn't know her. And she'd be safe from ever breaking her curse because she wouldn't know him. "Whale."

Regina laughed at that. "Really?" she asked. "I would have thought you'd at least have it be Graham's."

"Victor was our friend before the curse. He'll take care of her."

Regina simply shrugged. "Oh, my dear Jefferson. That's exactly what I'll give you." She smirked. "Victor and Rebekah will be happily in love and expecting a child together in her new story," she told him and Jefferson could feel bile rising in his throat. "And you and Grace will get a fresh start in Storybrooke without you ever having to worry about my sister falling in love with you again."

It's not what he wanted. But it's what needed to happen to keep Rebekah safe.

"Oh," Regina said after she had already walked away. "After we take care of Ms. Swan."

On their way to her father's tomb, Regina got an onslaught of messages and phone calls that she did not answer. "Who's calling you?" he asked her as they got into the tomb.

"No one," she said with a little huff and Jefferson could tell that she was lying. He grabbed her by the arm and tried to yank her phone away. "My sister might enjoy being man-handled but I do not!" She tried to push him away but he refused to let go. "Unhand me!"

"You're not a queen here." Jefferson glared.

"No, I'm not." Regina glared back. "But I am the person capable of giving you what you want and if you don't do as I say, you won't get it."

He shook his head. "And you won't be able to use the hat."

She stood straight, her smile growing dark. "Rebekah can though," Regina reminded him. "That's how she was able to convince that two-timing pirate to smuggle you back in that hat from Wonderland." She grinned. "Maybe if she had done more than kiss him; he might not have double-crossed her."

Jefferson glared at her. "You're lying."

"No, sweet Jefferson. I am not." Regina told him. "I saw it with my own two eyes."

He let go of her arm, shoving her away. "Let's just get this over with."

Regina huffed but walked forward. "This is where I've kept the last bit of my magic," she told him as they walked underground. "The only magic in this world are in the things I brought with me."

Jefferson looked around at Regina's old relics, not seeing anything that glowed with magic. He set the hat down on the ground and waited for whatever magic was in this room to make the hat spin. But it didn't.

"It's not spinning," he sighed. "It's not working."

Regina looked around the room and nodded her head. "It needs to absorb the magic that's here." She walked away from the hat and over to a large wall and pulled out a small box. "A few trinkets," she said as she opened the lid then bent down to dump the belongings into the hat.

He waited a moment before going over to the hat to pick it up. The hat absorbed the objects but it didn't take them with it. "It's not enough. You need something that still works!"

He watched as Regina pulled out a golden band. Jefferson saw it shine and a face appeared. The stable boy. He scoffed. It always came back to him betraying Regina by promising her that Victor was able to bring him back.

Somehow, the ring still had magical properties. "Give me that." Jefferson held out his hand for her to give him the ring. "Let me see what I can do with it." She moved away from him, not trusting him. Jefferson couldn't help but feel good about that. Good. See how it feels not knowing who you can trust. "If you want your son back, if you want your revenge , give it to me."

Regina glared but motioned for Jefferson to put the hat down on the ground again. Regina slowly walked over and dropped the ring inside. The purple smoke that appeared whenever the hat was used was barely there. Only a little mist of the purple smoke gathered around the hat.

"What's wrong?!" Regina asked in anger. "Why isn't it opening a portal?"

Jefferson grabbed the hat. "The magic -- it's not enough." He huffed. "We can't go anywhere."

Regina inhaled roughly through her nose. "Then you've failed!" She seethed.

"Maybe not!" He shouted at her. "There's enough magic to touch the other side, just not to get us there. There might be enough to...reach through and retrieve something."

Regina got down on her knees as she looked into the hat. "I can bring something back?"

"Is there an object that can help you?" He asked, desperate to help her so that he could save his wife and get his daughter back. "Perhaps I can open it enough and reach through and grab it," Jefferson explained. "It would have to be small...something that you can take with your hand. Is there anything like that that can help you?"

"Yes." Regina grinned evilly. "Yes, I believe there is."

"Then you need to direct me to the time and place this object exists." He held up the hat.

"How?" she asked.

Jefferson closed his eyes. He remembered how he first began to travel through time -- how the very first time he had done it he had been guided by Rumpelstiltskin. It was when he went forward in time to steal the jewels from Snow White and Prince Charming which ultimately led him to rescuing Rebekah. Every move he made, every step he took...it was all to lead him to his wife. He just hadn't known it.

"Think about it." Jefferson opened his eyes. "Guide the hat."

Regina grabbed the hat from him and nodded her head, closing her eyes as she concentrated on where she needed to go -- what she needed from that time. She smiled, setting the hat down again as purple mist appeared again.

He felt sick to his bones teaching Regina how to use the hat.

It wasn't hers to use.

It was theirs. It was his and Rebekah's.

He never had to teach Rebekah, she only ever followed her heart and the hat listened to it.

Regina laughed, taking Jefferson away from his thoughts.

"Excellent," he said bitterly. "It appears to be working. Now what is it we're after?"

She looked over at him and grinned. "An apple."

Jefferson held out his hand and out popped an already bitten apple. He narrowed his eyes at it as he held it in his hand. "Is this it?" he asked.

"Yes," Regina whispered with a smile as she grabbed it from him. "Yes it is." She chuckled.

He took a step back. "Our deal?"

"First thing's first." Regina looked to him. "The deal is not done. Not until I solve the next conundrum." She looked down at the apple. "How to get this savior to taste my forbidden fruit?"

It seemed as though Regina already had an idea how to solve that conundrum. Jefferson left her in the tomb and walked to where he parked his car only to double over in pain, the feeling of his heart in literal pain causing him to groan. He clutched at his chest and felt his steady heart beat and knew that it wasn't him who was in pain.

It was Rebekah.

_________________________________

"We need to talk." Emma stood on the other side of the door.

Regina blinked in surprise. "Uh, yes...I imagine we do," she said, confused as to why Emma was at her door but glad nonetheless that she would be able to get things done faster. "I was just about to call you," Regina admitted. "Come right in." Emma walked into the house. "Do what you're so skilled at and make yourself at home."

Emma looked around the house and Regina followed after her. "If you're here about my sister, I have already been made aware of the situation and I have the best doctors looking after her."

Emma's brows furrowed in confusion, clearly not knowing that Rebekah was in the hospital. "What?"

"I assumed Mary-Margaret told you since the two of you are so close. Rebekah is in the hospital," Regina told Emma. "Unfortunately, the doctors believe that her baby is in the process of dying."

"Oh my god," Emma said in shock, moving her hand to cover her heart. "How -- when -- are you sure?"

"Is that not the reason you came here?"

"No," Emma said and shook her head. "Why are you here ? You should be at the hospital with her!"

Regina simply shrugged. "She's comatose, Ms. Swan. My presence won't change that." She watched as Emma pulled out her phone and turned it on, checking to see if she had any new messages. Her eyes widened but Regina interrupted her from saying anything. Clearly, Henry had messaged her too. "Now, what did you come here to discuss?"

"Look." Emma shook her head, trying to control herself. "This isn't easy. I think that this...whatever is between us needs to end."

"At last," Regina said in surprise. "Something we can agree on."

"I want to make a deal with you about Henry," Emma told Regina.

"I'm not making any deals with you." Regina shook her head.

"I'm leaving town!" Emma said. Again, throwing Regina off guard.

"What?"

"This...what we're doing is a problem," Emma told her. "And I'm going to go, but I have conditions. I still get to see Henry. I get to visit and spend time, whatever."

Regina crossed her arms over her chest. "You get to see him, you're still in his life," she reminded Emma. She wanted her gone. Not have her become an every other weekend parent.

"Look, in any deal, both parties are a little unhappy," Emma reminded her. "But let's be honest. We both know the world where I'm not in his life no longer exists and there's no one who can do anything about that."

I can, Regina thought bitterly. I have it warming on the counter right now just waiting for you. The oven timer went off just in that moment causing Regina to smile. "You're right," she told Emma who sighed in relief that Regina was going along with her. "Would you mind following me for a moment?"

Emma nodded her head and followed.

Regina walked into the kitchen and opened the oven, pulling the apple turnover out. "These are Rebekah's favorite treats," she told Emma as she placed the tray onto the counter. "I guess a part of me thought that by baking it...she might wake up."

She looked to see Emma frowning.

"Who am I kidding? I'll just end up having to throw it away," Regina said with a sigh before looking back to Emma. "So anyways...what are you proposing?" She went back to the topic of Emma leaving.

"I don't know," Emma admitted, still looking upset about Regina mentioning Rebekah. "We can just figure it out as we go."

"But he's my son," Regina reminded Emma. There was no way this was even happening, but Regina wanted to hear Emma say it.

"Yeah," Emma agreed after a moment of silence between the two.

Emma sighed and told Regina that she was going to check in on Rebekah.

It was the perfect opportunity. "Ms. Swan," Regina stopped Emma from leaving. "As I said, this apple turnover will only go to waste since I don't allow Henry to have any sort of sweets so late in the afternoon. Perhaps you'd like it?"

Emma frowned. "I wouldn't feel right eating it," she admitted as Regina dug through the cabinet to grab something to put the pastry in.

"Thinks of this as...a peace offering," Regina said as she placed the apple turnover in a container. "If we're going to be in each other's lives, it's time we start being cordial."

Emma smiled and nodded her head. "Thanks."

"It's my famous turnover," Regina told Emma as she closed the lid on the container. "An old recipe but delicious." She smiled while holding it out for Emma to grab but she hesitated. Regina frowned. "As I said, Rebekah really enjoyed them."

Emma forced a smile and took the container. "Thank you," she said again.

"I do hope you like apples." Regina smiled.

_________________________________

Jefferson had to hide when he saw that Mary-Margaret was with Rebekah in her hospital room. He had gone straight to the hospital knowing that's where he'd find Rebekah but stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the pixie-haired woman at Rebekah's side along with Henry and Paige. No. Grace.

Emma showed up when the couple masquerading as his daughter's parents arrived to take her and Henry home. He had breathed easily knowing that soon Emma would be the one in a sleeping curse and that he'd have his daughter back...but Rebekah...

"What happened?" He listened to Emma ask Mary-Margaret.

"She came to my class room demanding I tell her if the whole Jefferson thing was true or not," Mary-Margaret said in a whisper. He felt his chest ache and stomach drop.

"And you told her?!" Emma hissed. "Are you insane?! Mr. Gold was obviously right when he said that telling Rebekah about her psychotic baby-daddy would be bad for her health!"

He didn't roll his eyes at her remark; his only concern was Rebekah. Jefferson sucked in air when a single thought entered his head. By tomorrow morning none of this will be a problem. Rebekah will wake with a new life and he and Grace would no longer know her -- he'd no longer...care. It made him sick to his stomach.

But now that she was already sick?

"Oh," someone said from behind him causing Jefferson to spin around and face them. It was Rebekah's gynecologist. "Jefferson. I was wondering when you'd show up."

Jefferson looked back to the room and sighed in relief when he saw that Emma and Mary-Margaret hadn't noticed him there. "What happened to Rebekah?" he asked as he pushed Dr. Porter farther down into the hallway to keep from being seen.

"No one has told you?" Dr. Porter said with a sad sigh. "Oh...I'm so sorry, Jefferson. I..." She shook her head. "I can't say what is happening without breaking HIPPA but...I think Bex would want you to know," she said sadly. "I'm sorry but...Rebekah is losing the baby."

Jefferson bit down hard on his lip and shook his head as tears began to emerge. "How'd it happen?"

"Stress," Dr. Porter told him. "High-blood pressure."

"Can't you deliver the baby?"

"She's only seventeen weeks, Jefferson. That's far too early."

A tear fell. "There's...there's just no way to save the baby?"

Dr. Porter frowned. "A miracle?"

He knew she wasn't saying it to be rude, that the chance of his and Rebekah's baby surviving was about as likely as the curse being broken. It was just hard to hear. He asked Dr. Porter not to tell Emma or Mary-Margaret that he was here and left, taking one last glance at Rebekah before leaving.

It was the last look he'd ever take of his wife.

He wished it could have been longer.

_________________________________

I'm here! Rebekah screamed in her mind. I'm still her you absolute idiots!

She could hear Mary-Margaret and Emma talking about Jefferson. 'Psychotic baby-daddy' she scoffed. That's my husband you're talking about! She screamed loudly in her head.

But no one could hear her.

They kept talking about how her baby was dying but it wasn't true. The baby was fine; she could still feel it's heart as well as she could feel her own. The baby was safe -- it was the curse .

Go break the damn curse, Emma! She shouted. It's the only way we'll survive this.

Her magic had awoken and the second she saw Grace she remembered who she truly was and because of the damn curse, her body fell into a coma. Regina was so worried about Jefferson breaking Rebekah's curse when she should have been worried about the love a mother has for her child. Not that Regina knew anything about that!

I'm still here! She continued to shout. Don't give up on me, please! She begged.

Jefferson would save her. Somehow, he'd find a way.

If there was anyone in the world to save her, it'd be Jefferson. He'd never give up on her.

Jefferson, hurry. She pleaded.

Because she knew that if she spent anymore time in the coma that they'd make her go into labor to give birth to a baby not ready to be born yet and like hell anyone was going to take away her son.

Jefferson will find a way, she told herself and her son. He won't give up on us.