AN: I've done a lot of baby!Henry Growing Up fics, but I thought I'd tackle more future fics. I hope you guys like it!
Regina had been dreading this day since Graham had made the mistake of allowing Henry to sit on his lap in the driver seat of the police cruiser and turn on the sirens when Henry was three. She had been dreading it when Charming, in his incessant need to look "cool", allowed her then 12-year old son to drive his pick-up truck, damaging city property and nearly making the Seven Dwarves into a quartet. She had been dreading it since Henry had moved from his fairy tale and supernatural phase and started to obsess over muscle cars and super models, going so far as to hanging out with Michael and Nicholas Tillman as they fixed the town's cars.
It was the day Henry asked Regina to teach him how to drive.
The boy had been sixteen for less than a day before finding her in the kitchen, still cleaning up the mess from the party she allowed him to have with his friends the day before. Elbow-deep in the sink, she nearly dropped the casserole dish she was cleaning when he asked for the lessons.
Everything in her mind told her to say no. Henry was only a baby, he wasn't ready to drive, or have his own car, or go off to college and get married. Good god, is this what a heart attack felt like? But even she knew that her worries were invalid. Henry was growing to become a man and had given her no evidence that he wasn't responsible, save for sneaking off to see his birth mother daily in his youth. So with a reluctant nod, Regina agreed and now she found herself in the passenger seat of the Benz, Henry behind the wheel, and his training permit tucked into his wallet.
"Did you do a vehicle check?" Regina asked, moving the rear view mirror and adjusting her side one.
"People don't actually do that, Mom. Stop fiddling, I adjusted them already," he said, swatting at her arm.
"Henry, if you want to drive this car you will do a vehicle check each and every time."
Rolling his eyes, he unbuckled before checking to see that the tires were inflated to regulation pressure. Regina turned on the signal lights, and he threw a thumbs up to indicate they were working, doing the same for the brakes. By the time he returned, he glanced admonishingly at his mother. "Good enough, your highness?" He teased.
"It is your majesty," she retorted sharply. "Emma is your highness."
"Hey, so am I."
"You'll be the court jester if you don't perform a proper vehicle check."
Henry rolled his eyes but grinned nonetheless. "Okay. Done. Now can I drive?"
Regina nodded tightly. "Okay, dear." She opened her purse and pulled out the driver's handbook. "Now let's review the rules of the road again."
"Mom," Henry groaned. "I already took my written test. Last week actually. I aced it. I know the rules of the road and all that, I just need to get some driving in for the road test."
"It doesn't hurt to be prepared," Regina argued, snapping the book shut with finality and popping it into the glove compartment. She gestured to the gear shift. "So here we have Park, Reverse, Neutral, Drive, and Lock. Make sure whenever you arrive at your destination to always put the car in Park lest you want to go rolling down the street. Do not forget when you are visiting the Tillmans. The hill they live on is atrocious. In fact, use the parking brake, and in that instance you must turn the wheel to the left after parking in case your vehicle rolls down the hill. It maximizes the chances of it rolling onto a sidewalk rather than traffic." She shuddered as she imagined Henry in a car as it rolled down a hill. "Actually I'll just drive you to the Tillmans myself."
"Mom," Henry groaned again.
Regina continued, ignoring the interruption. "When you are in Reverse, you may unbuckle your seat belt to allow yourself complete access to look behind you. Please be wary of putting the car in Reverse or Drive. It's easy to forget once your foot is on the gas pedal."
"Didn't you back into a fire hydrant when I was younger?" Henry laughed.
"No," Regina glared petulantly, though the blush on her cheeks gave her away.
"Yeah, and the hydrant exploded and flooded Main Street for a week!"
"Neutral," Regina continued with a pointed look, ignoring his braying laughter, "allows the car to be pushed should you be in a ditch or such. Do not put the car in Neutral at any other times."
"Mom," Henry said again, this time placing a hand on her shoulder to get her to finish her lecture. "I know how all this works. Emma let me drive her bug a couple times last month."
"What?"
Henry winced and stared forward at his admission. "So what does Lock do?"
"Ms. Swan allowed you to drive without a permit?"
"I just pulled out of the apartment. It was no big deal."
"It is a very big deal, Henry Christopher Mills."
Henry winced again at the use of his full name and cast a sheepish eye in his mother's direction. "I love you?" He tried, hoping to ease her distress.
She glared and shook her head. "I swear, it's like having two children where your other mother is concerned."
"Soo," Henry drawled. "Can I drive now?"
"Easy. Easy, Henry. Be careful. Watch out for the crack in the road!"
"Mom," Henry said laughing as Regina glared out the window at the cracks that nearly killed her son more or less. "You won't let me go over 20, and what do you want me to do? Make the car small to avoid the cracks?"
"It's a precaution," she answered petulantly.
They had been driving for ten minutes, and Henry hadn't once gone past 22 miles per hour. He nearly breeched 20 when a text message from Emma distracted his mother, but as soon as Regina put the phone down, Regina screeched that he was speeding.
He pulled over, quite expertly done so if he could say so himself, and put the car in Park and then pulled the parking brake for good measure. As an added bonus, he pressed his hazard lights on before turning towards Regina.
"Do you trust me?"
"Of course, I do, sweetie," Regina answered immediately, her tone softening as she placed a palm on his cheek.
"I can do this, Mom. You raised me to be a good kid, plus I'm sure I inherited your driving skills instead of Emma's. I'll be extra careful around hydrants though."
Regina glared before glancing down at her wringing hands and nodded. "Okay. I will. . .not relax but I won't say as much."
"Thank you."
Signalling his return to traffic, Henry released the brake and pulled the car into Drive again as he smoothly merged back onto the main road. He kept at the speed limit, keeping to the rightmost lanes as per Regina's request. Once, he removed his hand from the wheel to scratch his nose, but Regina nearly had a field day with that one. For the remainder of the trip, his hands were firmly on ten and two.
As Henry drove them around Storybrooke, Regina began to relax, telling herself that her little prince was growing up and into a fine young man at that. The lesson became more of a simple mother-son drive as discussion came up about Henry's schooling, his most excellent play at his recent baseball game, and prospective dates for the Spring Formal. He and Grace had been beating around the bush about their relationship status and Henry believed they were ready to take it to the next level. That particular discussion would be saved for another day.
Regina had to admit, her son had quite a handle of driving. Perhaps it was because of those preempted lessons with Emma, but Regina liked to think that he just naturally picked up skills easily. He was her son, after all.
"So do you think I can get my own car?" Henry teased as he turned back onto Main.
Regina scoffed and threw him a playful glare. "One step at a time, dear."
"Emma's thinking of giving me her bug when she retires it."
"If she retires it, then you should not be using it. I can't believe your mother thinks that monstrosity is still fit for the road."
"August is already building his own dirt bike, and he's younger than I am," Henry argued.
"Physically."
"Technically."
"You're still not getting a car," Regina said with finality.
"But how am I supposed to go out without my own car. I'm just gonna end up bugging you for the keys."
"Then I will know when you would like to go out."
"That's not cool," Henry muttered.
"Yes, dear. I am not cool," Regina appeased, but then suddenly her eyes widened when Henry was approaching a stop sign and showed no sign of slowing. "Brake! Henry, brake!"
Henry screamed as he slammed on the brake, but by the time he reacted, he had already passed the sign just as another car was driving through. He turned the wheel and swerved out of its way, only comprehending the lilac smoke around them when he found that he was stopped outside the mansion on Mifflin. He panted heavily, his heart racing in his ears while his white knuckles clutched the steering wheel tightly.
He was almost too scared to look at Regina, wondering what wrath he would incur from the near-accident, but he chanced a glance nonetheless to see that his mother was clutching the overhead handle while her other hand was firmly placed on the dashboard to steady herself. She was just as shaken as himself, if not moreso if her flared nostrils and pulsating vein on her forehead had anything to say able it.
Meekly, he put the car into Park, pulled the parking brake, and removed the key from the ignition. "So," he drawled shakily, a hesitant chuckle lacing his breath as he waited for Regina to turn toward him, "was that a no on the car thing?"
She took the keys from his grasp and opened the passenger door. "That's a never."
"Thought so," Henry muttered to himself as Regina slammed the door shut.