Written for OQ on Holidays week Day 1.
Prompt:42. A week at the beach. Roland almost drowns.
Regina Mills inhales deeply, letting fresh air fill her nostrils. God, she's missed the smell of water, the noise of waves hitting the ground. It seems that Henry missed it too, because he's inhaling as well, a content sigh escaping him soon after, a huge smile spreading across his face.
Regina smiles, too.
It's been a few years since the last time they've been here. Back then, their family consisted of three instead of two, and when that one member disappeared from their life, he took the joy of life with himself. It felt wrong to return to the places where they'd been together, it felt wrong to feel happiness again.
Both, Regina and Henry, spent lots of time licking their wounds until coming here didn't bring tears into their eyes anymore. And so, once Regina had gotten a free week, they packed their things and came here, to their favorite beach.
Sipping their milkshakes, Regina and Henry make their way to the bridge. It is a big one, painted in blue, the railings in red. It holds a special place in her heart – it was the place where Daniel proposed – and the memory has tears collecting in Regina's eyes.
There are many people on the bridge so they walk further and further until they find a place to stop and watch the sea. Henry puts his milkshake on the railing and grins, watching a small ship sailing in the horizon.
They chat about what they will do after returning from the beach, Henry telling Regina that he'd like to visit this museum of sea creatures half an hour away from their house. They make plans to visit some other museums in town as well, then to go somewhere to eat and then return to the beach to read for a bit and maybe to swim (Henry makes that suggested carefully).
Regina opens her mouth to protest, tell him that the water is too cool today for swimming and that they have the whole week ahead of them and can wait until the water is warmer to swim, but a scream cuts her off. It is a child screaming, and she hears it again, small voice full of panic.
She quickly turns around to look over the bridge, looking for the child who probably got lost until Henry shouts and points to the water.
In the middle of dark and dangerous waves Regina notices a small boy who's screaming, disappearing under the water and appearing again. Her mother instinct kicks in and she quickly throws her purse on the bridge. Then, she steps on the railing – she struggles with that a bit for it is rather high and Regina is not as fit as she used to be – and finally jumps into the cold water.
She screams as the cold water surrounds her, cannot help herself, and then pushes her wet hair away from her face, desperately looking for that child. He could've drown by now, but she catches a small hand peeking out of the water and quickly makes her way there, fighting her way through the waves.
She's not a good swimmer, damn it, she doesn't even know how to swim more than five meters but she forces her arms and legs move, ignores the fear gripping at her heart that tells her that not only she'll not save this child but also leave Henry an orphan.
The waves are pulling the child deeper into the sea and Regina tries to swim faster and faster, feeling herself getting tired more and more, but the child is fighting to stay afloat and she tells herself to keep going.
Finally, when her body is ready to give up on her, she catches a tiny hand of a screaming boy, and he keeps struggling until he sees that he's not alone anymore, and their eyes lock as Regina tugs on his hand. The wave tries to pull him away, covers them both in water but she holds him strong and the boy does the same and finally Regina manages to pull him closer to her chest.
He's crying and shaking, and she realizes that they're both drowning because he's out of energy and her strength is leaving her too, so she quickly turns around, not saying a single word to the scared child – speaking might help him to calm down but she's pretty sure it would use some of the strength she needs so much now – so she keeps moving her legs and free arm, the other wrapped tightly around the boy's chest, holding him close to her chest.
She notices a man swimming towards them in long, big strokes and soon he's pulling the child away from Regina into his arms. She sighs a bit in relief now that she doesn't have to hold a child and it becomes a bit easier to swim. When she realizes that the boy is safe, she sighs and all of a sudden feels heavier and heavier, her body finally giving up now that the child is saved, adrenaline leaving her.
The man, who, she realizes, is crying, kisses the child's face, but he has no struggle to stay on the surface it seems. Regina watches the scene, feeling her muscle tremble, her heart finally calming down, until she's slowly sinking, eyes closing.
"Wake up!" She feels a hand wrapped around her bicep, holding her tightly and there's a gentle slap across her face then and she opens her eyes alarmed. She realizes that she's still in the water and starts moving her legs and arms, and when the man is sure that she's not going to sink anymore, he lets go of her hand and lets her swim on her own.
When her feet finally reach the sand, Regina lets out a sigh of relief. She stands up on wobbly legs and tries to make her way to the beach, her whole body shivering from the exertion and cold water, her light summer dress now much heavier, drenched in cool water.
Before she's even fully out of the water, Henry runs to her and wraps his arms around her, almost making her lose her balance. She wraps her shaking arms around him too, and he's getting wet from her, and he'll get sick and she tries to tell him that but her lips are shivering too much to speak the words out loud.
The boy helps her reach the shore and as soon as she's out of the water, she falls down ungracefully. Her whole body is trembling, her eyelids heavy and she struggles to keep it open but the whimpering of the boy right beside her makes her force her eyes to stay open.
She turns her head to the side and finds the man who dragged her and the boy out of the water. He's holding the child in his arms, and the worry lines on his face make her realize that he's the careless father but perhaps it all was just an accident so instead of scolding the man, she forces a small smile to form on her face – everything ended happily.
All of a sudden the man pulls her into his arms, taking her by complete surprise. She gasps as a cold arm is wrapped around her and then his face is buried in her hair as he keeps thanking her, squeezing her in his arms as if his life is belonging from her.
She thinks it's true, in a way. After all, she's saved his child, no matter how poorly she did that.
The people, who have surrounded the beach to watch the scene, stand out of the way to let paramedics rush to them. They look at the child first, and the boy is blue and shaking but otherwise seems to be fine, yet it is still decided to take him to the hospital to make sure that it's only shook that he's suffered from.
When the man with the child in his arms are being walked to the ambulance, the paramedics turn to Regina but she just shakes her head and assures that she's fine and just needs to sleep it off. The specialists don't look too happy with her choice and tell her to come to the hospital if the shaking of her body doesn't stop once she's warm again.
As soon as the paramedics walk away, Henry throws himself into her arms again and starts crying and Regina quickly wraps her arms around him, whispering into his ear that it is over now and that she's fine, just a little bit cold.
The people who've gathered around help Regina on her feet and then Regina and Henry make their way to their house, Henry not letting go of her hand all the time as if afraid that she may still be taken away by the dangerous waves of the heartless sea.
(…)
"Do you really want to go there again?" Henry stops walking suddenly, making Regina turn around and look at him. They are walking to the bridge again because the last time they've been there they didn't really have enough time to enjoy the view.
Regina would be lying if she said that her stomach didn't turn at the thought of being surrounded by dark blue water all again (she wouldn't be surrounded by water literally, but she should would see is water, so it's almost the same, right).
So she smiles at Henry and states, "I would be happy to stay here, sit on these benches and gaze at the sea from here," she points to an empty bench, "But if you want to go on the bridge, we'll go."
"We're staying here," Henry says immediately and sits down on the bench, making Regina chuckle lightly.
She sits down beside her son and gazes at the sea, at the waves that never seemed as dangerous until she was surrounded by them. She was never a fan of lakes and seas and oceans and after what happened a few days ago she doubts she'll ever dip her toe into the water again.
Wrapping one arm around Henry, she brings the ice cream closer to her mouth with the other hand, watching the sea from afar. Henry seems content with staying here, to be honest he hasn't mentioned swimming again either, and Regina feels glad because even though her son is a teenager and quite a good swimmer, the idea of him in the water makes her skin crawl.
"Good evening."
A deep, masculine voice makes Regina blink her eyes and come back to reality. It takes her a few moments to catch a handsome man and a very beautiful boy making their way towards them from the beach.
Regina's heart starts beating faster in her chest – it is the same boy who was drowning the other day, the one she's saved.
She doesn't know what comes over her, but she stands up from the bench and makes her way towards the man, meeting them midway. She kneels in front of the boy and pulls him into a tight hug, making him gasp in surprise.
He's still a little child, only about five or six years old, and that day must have been so stressful to him but it seems that he recognizes her, or perhaps his father has told him that she's the woman who jumped into the water to catch him because he wraps his little arms around her neck and starts crying.
She feels tears filling her own eyes but she manages to stop them from falling. She holds the boy in her arms, rubbing his back in soothing circles, whispering that it's all right into his ear. She'll hold him as long as he needs, she decides.
When he finally lightens his hold around her neck, Regina releases him and pulls away. She swipes her thumbs over his cheeks, catching a few tears and wiping them away. She smiles to the boy then and stands up.
Once she's on her feet again, she's pulled into another hug, this time arms that wrapped around her are stronger and larger, and the voice that whisper into her ear thank you's is thick with emotion.
"We were looking for you," the man finally says when they've have pulled away and he's shaken Henry's hand. "We didn't even get a chance to thank you. Both, Roland and I, are very grateful for what you did that day. If you hadn't jumped into the water, he would have-" the man trails off and swallows hard, his hand tightening around the boy's.
"I did what every human would do," Regina tells them, smiling. She notices that the boy is not crying anymore, he's looking shyly at her and Henry now, his dark brown eyes wide. "I'm glad you're feeling aright, Roland?" she says, making his name sound as a question for she's not certain she got it right.
"Oh, I'm sorry I forgot to introduce us," the man apologizes quickly. "I'm Robin, and this little survivor is Roland."
"Nice to meet you, Roland, Robin," Regina replies with a smile. "I'm Regina, and this is my son Henry."
"Nice you meet you too," Robin returns. A small uncertain smile spreads across his face making dimples appear in his cheeks and Regina has to stop herself from grinning – she's always had a weak spot for dimples. The man clears his throat and tells them, "We would like to take you two to dinner as a thank you, if that's okay with you and you don't have any plans."
Surprised, Regina looks down at Henry who's grinning at her. They've had plans to visit some of the museums they've never had a chance to visit but they still have a few days left, and it doesn't seem that Henry minds the delay of their plans.
Regina nods her head, smiles and says, "We would love to."
"Wonderful," Robin smiles at her and looks to Roland who's smiling too now, and when Regina notices the dimples in his cute little cheeks, her smile grows wider.
Smiling, all four of them make their way to the main street, parents making small talk while children are walking in silence.
When they are sitting in the diner, waiting for their orders and Robin excuses himself and Roland and go to the bathroom, Henry winks at Regina and says, "See, it wasn't such an awful idea to come here again."
For a moment Regina looks at him until a huge smile spreads across her face and she takes her milkshake from the table and nods her head, taking a sip and humming at the wonderful taste. Her gaze lock with Henry's and she rolls her eyes at the hidden hint.
He takes his own milkshake and drinks it, his smile only widening when Robin returns and starts chatting with his mom.
It turns out it was, actually, a very good idea to come here.