Regina's cell was ringing in her bag. She was up to her eyes in paperwork, but it must be something important if her personal phone was ringing. Fishing it out of her bag, she couldn't help the smile that came automatically when she saw Emma's name on the screen. "Hello darling" Regina said, happy to be pulled away from work for a moment by her girlfriend. There was silence for just a moment. "Emma? Emma honey, are you okay? The boys?" Regina started to sound panicky, as Emma cut her off. "Regina! Stop. It's bad news, but it's not me or the boys", Emma paused and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry Regina, we've just found Marco. He's dead. Looks like maybe a big stroke." Regina bowed her head and rubbed her finger along the edge of the desk, attempting to get some composure. "Emma….." Regina cleared her throat and began again with a shaky voice, "Emma, you need to pick Henry up from school and bring him here so that we can tell him. He will be devastated Emma." Emma nodded as she spoke. "I'm on my way beautiful. I'll go now and I'll see you soon."
While Regina waited for Emma and Henry to come, she tidied away the work on her desk and informed her secretary of their sudden early finish. She was just putting the last of her papers in her briefcase when Henry burst in, followed by Emma. He ran at his Mom and clung to her middle, pushing his face into her body. As Regina lifted her arms and pulled him even closer she could feel his silent sobbing and the dampness of his tears as they seeped through her blouse. Pulling his arms from around her back she bent slightly and lifted him up, just as she would Calon and carried him over to the sofa. She patted the cushion next to her for Emma to come and join them as Henry, with his arms wrapped around her neck and knees either side of her legs, cuddled into her. Emma, not really knowing what to do, rubbed Henry's back and leaned her head against Regina's. After a long silence, punctuated by Henry's shuddering whimpers, Emma spoke "Henry heard what happened from someone in school. He wasn't too bad when he got off the bus and into the car, but the closer we got to your office, the more upset he got". Emma looked to Regina, curious to see if she would have an answer for their son's reaction.
Regina looked down at her son and then back to Emma. As she continued to rub his back, she spoke quietly. "When Henry was about five, he had a yellow truck that he loved. He took it everywhere and ran it over every surface. One of the wheels eventually came off and even though I repaired it, I didn't run as smoothly and just wasn't the same. Right Henry?" Henry shook his head against her neck, but remained where he was. "Well, Marco was cleaning my office one night when I worked late and he asked how Henry was doing. I mentioned something about the truck and he offered to fix it. But he had one condition. He would only fix it if Henry helped him and learned how to do it for himself." She squeezed Henry around his waist as she said this and he smiled against her neck at the memory. "Henry and Marco became firm friends and Henry would spend hours with him. I could always trust Marco to take care of him. Sometimes he would collect him after school and they would spend a few hours in his workshop; Marco showing him how to do simple carpentry and making small projects. They even made Henry's tree house together." Henry shook his head against his mom's neck and Regina pulled back a little to see his face. "Henry?"
"I didn't really do anything, it was Marco." Henry whispered in the smallest saddest voice. "That's not right Henry", Regina soothed, "you drew the design for it, and although Marco cut all the wood himself for your safety, you screwed in as many pieces as he did. I know because I watched the two of you doing it. You were only six, but you had learnt so much from him. I was so proud of you Henry. I still look at that tree house and I can't believe my little boy did so much."
"Wow kid!" Emma exclaimed softly, "you and I have sat in that tree house and I never knew all this time that you had helped make it. That's amazing." Henry moved to the other side of Regina's neck so that although he was still pressed against it, he could look at his other mother. "Marco taught me loads of stuff, not just to do with woodwork. He said that I was the man of the house, so I should know how to help my mom with things. I shouldn't leave everything to her." He snuggled in closer to her, realising perhaps for the first time just how hard he had been on her in the past. Now with Marco gone, it brought it home that he should love his mom properly and show her too. While they still had each other.
The three sat silently together for a while, just cuddled close and listening to each other breathe. Henry's head suddenly shot up and he moved to get off Regina's lap. But she held onto him tightly. "What's the matter darling boy?" Regina was concerned as his sudden movement. Henry sounded panicked. "Where's Calon? We need to go get Calon!" Tears were forming in his eyes once more and those eyes bore into Regina's first and then Emma's. "Hey son, he's at the crèche, don't worry. He's okay, alright?" At Henry's nod, Emma leaned forward and kissed him. "But I think it would be a good idea to go get him. I'd really like a Calon cuddle about now. All of us should be together." Emma looked up at Regina. "I need my family to be together." Regina gave her a long searching look and then nodded her head.
Henry got up from Regina's lap and immediately she stretched her legs. Henry held his hands out to pull her up from the sofa. As she rose he let go of her hands and wrapped his arms around her once more. "Sorry Mom. Guess I'm a bit too big now to be sitting on your lap." Regina placed her hands on his shoulders and leaned down until their eyes were level. "Henry, you will always be my baby boy. You'll never be too big for my lap." Henry suddenly grinned. "What, even when I'm a man? Even if I'm over six foot?" Regina laughed at him and ruffled his hair. "Yes, even when you're a tall strong man, you can cuddle up on my lap. But you'll have to be prepared to drive me to A & E to get my hips popped back in afterwards." The three of them laughed and after Regina grabbed her briefcase, they left the office.
Their mood was soon improved when they went to pick up Calon. As he saw the three of them, he screamed in delight and crawled speedily towards them. The three of them had never come to get him together before, so he was spoiled with whom to go to. But, happily for Henry, he chose his big brother and as he got to Henry, he pulled himself up and wrapped his arms around his knees, babbling up at him. Henry reached down and hauled him up, closing his eyes and cuddling him close. Emma's hand found Regina's and she linked their fingers squeezing tight. Before Henry started crying again, Emma pulled Calon out of Henry's arms and handed him to Regina, then returned to Henry and led him back out to the car, arm wrapped around his shoulder. Regina became suspicious when she saw Emma and Henry's heads close together, whispering and looking up at her. She felt right to be suspicious when she saw Emma push her hands in her back pockets and look up through her eyelashes at her. "Umm, babe," Emma started "since it's been a horrible day, how about we order in pizza? Just as a special one off treat. For Henry, of course." Regina looked at her with her arms folded around Calon, then raised one eyebrow. "For Henry?" Emma and Henry nodded together, looking at Regina with big, hopeful eyes. Regina was usually immune to those sorts of looks from them, but seeing Henry smile after seeing him so upset, she had to give in.
While they ate their pizzas they decided that they would watch a movie in Regina and Emma's bed all cuddled up close together. It was a time to be held close.
Calon was fast asleep on Emma's chest and she was loving feeling his breath softly puffing against her neck. Her arm was around Henry as he was squeezed in between his moms. Although the credits were rolling on the television in front of them, apart from the sleeping baby, none of the occupants of that bed were feeling too sleepy. Henry looked up at Regina and took her hand in between the two of his, playing with her fingers. "Henry, honey, you haven't done that since you were in kindergarten. You need to talk some more?" As she spoke she looked from his big brown eyes over to Emma's puzzled face. "When Henry was very little, if he was worried about something, if he needed to talk; he would come and sit next to me and start playing with my hand. He wouldn't look at me; he would just focus on his fingers in mine. It would usually take a fair bit of questioning, but we would always get to the bottom of the problem and sort it all out." Regina explained. Using her other hand, she lifted Henry's face so that she could look him in the eye. "Talk to us Henry. Ma and I are here, you're safe."
Henry cleared his throat and looked down once more at his Mom's hand. He fiddled with her engagement ring, twisting it around her finger. "Can I please go to the funeral?" he whispered. "I want to say goodbye". Regina could hear the tears in his voice, so she took his hand in hers. "I think you have to be there Henry. You were so important to Marco, it would be wrong of us to keep you away. I think you're mature enough to handle it." She said softly. Emma squeezed his shoulder in support. "Mom's right kid. We'll go as a family." Henry looked back down at Regina's hand and pushed his fingers through hers. "Marco and I talked about family a lot." He said softly.
Emma and Regina remained silent, waiting for Henry to continue. When he spoke again, his voice though still quiet, was much stronger. "When Mom told me I was adopted, I was confused. And I was angry. I couldn't understand why I wasn't with my real parents. I thought that I had been taken from them and dumped with a stranger." Emma gasped and quickly looked to Regina, expecting to see her upset and needing comfort. But Regina was looking at her boy, with love-filled eyes, waiting for him to continue. She had obviously heard this before, lived through it and come to terms with it. "I ran to Marco's workshop. I didn't know at the time but Mom had rung Marco and told him I was probably on my way there. He didn't ask me what was wrong, he just gave me a job to do. After a while, Marco said that he was really pleased with what I had learnt. And he said, he wished he could have had a son like me." Henry paused and rubbed his eye, never letting go of Regina's hand. Once he cleared his throat again, he resumed his story.
"He told me that he and Hannah; that was his wife" he looked up at Emma to explain, "he said they couldn't have their own babies. Even though they really wanted one and they tried to have one, it didn't happen. They were so sad, but they decided they would adopt, so that they could still have a baby. But they had left it too late. They were too old to have one. The people in charge said no. Marco was so sad when he was telling me. He told me that whether they had been able to have their own child, or whether they had been given a child, they would have loved it. Marco told me that love was all that mattered. Whether you grow in your mom's tummy or another lady's tummy, as long as you are loved it doesn't matter where you come from. Just where you are now. He told me that he didn't know why my birth mom had given me away, but all that really mattered was that my mom had wanted me and loved me. He said she was my real mom. I haven't always believed that over the years, but I know it's true. I know that as long as you are loved 'real' doesn't mean anything." Henry was silent again as he looked down at his hand in his Mom's. Suddenly he sat up, ripping his hand away and turned to look at Emma. "I'm sorry Ma!" he whispered in a panicked voice. "That doesn't mean I don't love you Ma! I didn't mean…." Emma pulled him down until he lay against her side once more, this time facing her.
"I gave you away Henry. I gave you up, hoping for a better life for you than I could give you. I loved you enough to do that Henry. So I'm glad that you look on Mom as your real mom. I never got to have that as a kid, but I wanted it so much for you. I know you and Mom have had your problems, but you're both happy and that's all that matters to me. I love you kid." Henry settled back down, this time lying on his side against Emma, holding her hand across Calon's back. "But you're my real mom too. It's so complicated." Henry dipped his head to her shoulder and closed his eyes, looking so sad. He felt his Mom press up against him from behind and saw her hand come to rest on his and Emma's. She reached over and kissed his Ma on the cheek and then leaned down and kissed him. "Henry, my beautiful boy, how about we just say we are family? And family is what counts. I have this wonderful woman who I share my life with. I have a son who grew in my heart and a son who grew in my tummy. Both of whom I love more than I thought it was possible to love." As Regina finished speaking she looked over at Emma who stared back with tears in her eyes. Emma nodded her head and mouthed 'I love you' back at her. Just as Regina laid her head down next to Henrys and snuggled into him, he spoke up once more. "I just hope we never have to do family trees in school. I'll never be able to get this down on paper….." and he squealed as Regina poked him in the side and raspberry kissed his neck.