Cora put the embroidery down to watch her daughter play with wooden blocks on the floor. The innocent sight would have warmed her heart, had it resided in the conventional keeping place for such an organ.
"Mommy, look!" Regina exclaimed proudly, displaying the sentence she had just spelled out with her toys. I-L-O-V-E-Y-O-U.
Love is weakness.
Cora bit back Rumple's motto that sprang naturally to her lips as she smoothed the dark head next to her. The little interaction involuntarily sprung a slow wish in her chest to be able to truly reciprocate the feeling. "I know dear, I know."