Author's Note: Written for Swan Queen Week Day 4 - Teacher AU. Title taken from ABC by The Jackson Five. You decide if it's a non-curse AU or not.
"Henry?" He turns at the sound of his teacher calling his name. "Could you stay in here for just a moment? I'd like to talk to you about something."
Henry feels his heart sink for a moment – he's never been asked to stay behind by the teacher before, but he's pretty sure it's not a good thing – but he nods anyway. "Yes, Miss Swan."
The other kids begin to whisper amongst themselves, but Miss Swan dismisses them to recess and they quickly flee.
"You're not in any kind of trouble, Henry." Miss Swan smiles at him and he feels better almost instantly. "I just wanted to talk to you about the story you're working on for writer's workshop."
"Oh. Uh, okay. Sure." He moves over to the table where Miss Swan is still sitting, various student drafts laid out before her. He notices that his is right in front of her. "Is there something wrong with it?"
"I don't know." Miss Swan says. "I'm not the author, so I can't say whether or not there's anything wrong with it."
"But you're the teacher. You're the one grading it." Henry points out. He really likes his new teacher – she's a breath of fresh air – but he gets confused by her sometimes. She's very different than Mrs. Nolan, who is off right now because she just had a baby.
Miss Swan laughs. "Well, I suppose that is true, although I've never really been a fan of grading writing. I'd much rather help you to improve than just slap a grade on it."
"And you think it needs to improve?"
Miss Swan looks at him for a long moment before she smiles. "I think it's an interesting concept – a little boy adopted and raised by an evil queen. Where did you get the idea?"
He looks down then, unsure if he can tell her the truth. He doesn't know if she'll believe him or not, and the last thing he wants is for her to call his mother.
"Henry? You can tell me. It'll be between us. Think of it as teacher student confidentiality, okay?"
He wrinkles his nose at that – it's definitely not a real thing – but finally decides to just go for it. "It's me. I'm the little boy and my mom, she's the Evil Queen, Miss Swan. Like, for real. She cast a curse and sent everyone from the Enchanted Forest here to Storybrooke. I can prove it!"
He runs for his backpack and pulls out the book that Mrs. Nolan had given him before she left for maternity leave. "See, look!" He pushes the book over to Miss Swan, opened to the page showing the Evil Queen in all her glory, interrupting Snow White's wedding. "She's the Evil Queen. And Mr. and Mrs. Nolan, they're Prince Charming and Snow White."
"I see." Miss Swan nods, looking at the picture. "And this curse, you say the Evil Queen cast it?"
"Yes! She wanted to take away everyone's happy ending."
"Huh."
"Huh?" Henry's nose wrinkles again. "What do you mean, huh?"
"Well, I guess I mean that if that were true, she didn't do a very good job, did she? I mean, from my standpoint, she actually made everyone's lives better."
"What?"
"Well, if you're right and Mr. and Mrs. Nolan are Snow White and Prince Charming, then they're married here in Storybrooke and they just had a baby. So she didn't really stop them from having a happy ending, did she? All she did was send them to a place that has indoor heating and plumbing and cable TV and the Internet. Seems like they got it pretty good to me."
"But – but – that's just because True Love is stronger than she is."
"It could be." Miss Swan nods.
"It is." He insists. "She's the Evil Queen."
"And if that's the story you want to tell, Henry, then that's fine. I won't stop you."
"There is no other story, Miss Swan. This is the only one there is."
"Oh Henry, you don't really believe that, do you? Not a smart boy like you."
He frowns at that, not understanding what his teacher is saying. "I don't understand, Miss Swan. What other story is there?"
Miss Swan just smiles. "The Queen's, of course."
"But – but the Queen is evil. That's her story. That's all."
"Really? She's evil. The end? Not a very good story, if you ask me."
"But what else is there?"
"Well, there's her reasons, I guess."
"Her reasons?"
"For why she did what she did."
"She hated Snow White because she was prettier." Henry spits the story back. Miss Swan just starts to laugh.
"I don't know, but I think the Queen is pretty darn pretty herself. There's gotta be more to it than that. And that name? I'm pretty sure she didn't start calling herself the Evil Queen. So who did? And why?"
"But what more could there be?" Henry wonders, trying to piece together what his teacher is hinting at.
"That, Henry, is for you to figure out." Miss Swan smiles at him again, but it's a different smile this time. "Now go play."
"But, Miss Swan…"
"Go play, Henry. I've got an idea, but I need some time to work on it."
"Okay." Henry nods, his mind still whirling with what his teacher has said.
Miss Swan looks up in surprise when she hears the first bell ring. She's standing ankle-deep in a blow up pool full of oobleck and the students laugh when she jumps in surprise, only to have the green slime trip her and nearly make her fall over. "Oh! We'll continue this tomorrow with you getting to play in the oobleck yourselves, so wear old clothes." The students all cheer as they grab their backpacks. "Wait, before you go, I have a homework assignment for you."
Their cheers turn to groans instantly but Miss Swan just laughs at them. "It's not hard. In fact, it should be fun. I want you to think of a story that we all know that has a villainous character in it. And I want you to think about the villain's side of the story. Why did they do what they did? And it can't just be because they're 'evil'. I want real motivations. Got it?"
"Got it!" The class exclaims as they all begin to rush out of the room. Henry stays, watching as Miss Swan tries to make her way out of the pool, the oobleck sticking to her skin.
"That assignment was for me, wasn't it?" He asks.
"Pretty sure I gave it to the whole class." Miss Swan smirks.
"But it was for my benefit." He presses again.
"You're a smart kid, Henry. But sometimes you need to see beyond the black and white. All of you kids do. This is just a way to get those wheels turning and see what comes of it. Do your homework. Come to class tomorrow. We'll go from there, okay?"
"Okay."
"How was school today?" Mom asks that night over dinner.
Henry looks at her for a long moment – just like Miss Swan did to him – before he answers. "It was cool. Miss Swan made oobleck and tomorrow we get to play with it."
"Dare I ask what oobleck is?" Mom raises her eyebrow.
"It's a non-Newtonian fluid. That means that sometimes it acts like a solid and sometimes it acts like a liquid. Like, Miss Swan put a bunch of it in a blow up pool and then she ran across it and jumped around on it and didn't sink, but if she stood still she would sink. It was pretty awesome."
"It sounds… interesting. You like this Miss Swan don't you? Better than Mrs. Nolan?"
"Mrs. Nolan was great!" Henry defends quickly. "But Miss Swan's really cool. She makes things fun."
"Well, I'm glad." She smiles and Henry's reminded of what Miss Swan said about the Queen being pretty. His Mom is really pretty when she smiles. She just hasn't done it much lately.
"May I be excused? I need to go work on my homework."
"Of course, dear. Anything I can help with?"
He almost asks her, but he knows she'd never tell him, never admit to actually being the Queen. Instead he shakes his head. "Nope."
His mom's face falls as he rushes up the stairs.
The next day, Miss Swan takes the entire morning to talk about their homework assignment. She has the students share what they came up with and they end up having long discussions about their ideas and whether they'd made sense or not. It takes a little while, but soon Miss Swan has given them a new assignment for writer's workshop where they're writing the story of the villain and everyone is looking at things from a different point of view, Henry included.
So while everyone else rushes off to recess, he once again finds himself staying behind.
"Maybe you were right. Maybe she isn't just evil. Maybe she had reasons. Maybe things are even better here after the curse. But…" He trails off, unsure how to word his concerns.
"Henry, can I ask you a question?" Miss Swan asks.
"Sure, Miss Swan."
"Why do you believe your mother to be the Evil Queen? Besides the fact that the picture in the book looks like her?"
"Because she's a liar." Henry spits, suddenly remembering all his anger.
Miss Swan blinks. "What did she lie about, Henry?"
"She's not really my mom! I'm adopted."
"Oh." Miss Swan breathes. For a long second it's like she doesn't know what to say to that. But then she looks at him and softly asks, "How did you find out, Henry? Did she tell you?"
"No. I heard her and Mr. Gold arguing. He apparently helped her adopt me. She was never going to tell me. She was going to keep me from my real family forever."
"Henry," Miss Swan reaches out and puts her hands on Henry's shoulders, "there are all kinds of things that make up real families, not just biology. Believe me, I know. Does your mom know that you know about the adoption?"
"No."
"So you've just been what… stewing about this since you found out? Pulling away from her and not giving her any reason why?"
"No!" Henry defends quickly, but deflates under his teacher's watchful gaze. "Maybe."
"You should talk to your mom about this, Henry. Tell her what you heard. Let her explain."
"But she won't explain. She'll just lie more."
"You don't know that. Not for sure. Not until you ask."
He looks down at the ground and then back up at her with his eyes searching. "What if I'm right? What if she doesn't love me? What if she's only pretending?"
"Oh, Henry. She's not."
"How do you know?"
"Before you found out about being adopted, did you ever doubt your mother's love for you?" Miss Swan asks.
Henry thinks back, but until that horrible day when he'd heard Mr. Gold tell the truth, he'd never doubted his mother at all. Afterwards, he'd doubted everything. "No."
"Well, there you have it." Miss Swan squeezes his shoulders again in that way she does. "Listen, Henry, I've been through the system. I know what it's like to have people who are supposed to be your parents but who don't love you and don't care because you're not really theirs. I know how much that hurts. And I know that that isn't the case with you and your mom. Talk to her, really talk to her, and you'll see that I'm right."
"Okay." He looks down to the floor again before looking back at his teacher. "Miss Swan? If she won't tell me the truth, will you help me find it?"
"Henry, I –"
"I already looked around in her office at home. The only file she has doesn't have any information about my birth parents in it. It says something about being closed. But there's this website I found – . I know it could find them. I just need the money and –"
"Henry!" Miss Swan's voice is firm and Henry stops talking immediately. "Listen to me, okay?" She says, her voice softer now. It's the type of tone that Mom gets when she's talking to him after he's had a nightmare – soothing and warm. "If it says closed in that file, it probably means that it was a closed adoption. That means that your birth parents didn't want your mom to know who they are or have any contact with them, okay? So if your mom says she doesn't know, she's telling the truth. And if your birth parents didn't want to be found, then I think you need to leave it that way."
"But…" There are suddenly tears in his eyes and he feels embarrassed because boys in fourth grade shouldn't cry, "why didn't they want me?"
When he looks up at Miss Swan, there's a look in her eyes that's so sad it makes his heart hurt and he doesn't understand it, but he knows he doesn't want her to look like that anymore.
"Oh, Henry, I don't know why. I wish I did." Her voice does this funny break thing then but she still smiles at him, even with her watery eyes. "I know how much thinking about that can hurt. But maybe you should think about how much your mom did want you. She chose you, Henry, to be hers. And I think that's amazing."
It is, he realizes suddenly.
Evil Queen or not, his mom chose him. She loves him like he's really her son. Because he is.
He launches himself at Miss Swan then, hugging her tight and crying against her stomach and she puts her arms around him and just holds him. It's different than Mom and even Mrs. Nolan, but it's warm and safe and exactly what he needs because she doesn't coo or fuss at him. She just holds him until the tears stop, then pulls back and smiles at him.
"Go play, Henry."
He nods and wipes his cheeks, then turns and leaves the room. He doesn't turn back.
Miss Swan has pushed all the desks back and Henry is just tugging off his sneakers when he catches sight of the person in the doorway. He freezes for a moment, but he's the only one. Everyone else is too busy yanking off shoes and socks and rolling up pants, ready for their shot at the oobleck pool, so they don't notice her. But Henry does, because she's his mom.
Miss Swan – looking so much not like a teacher that he suddenly worries about it in her bare feet and jean capris and messy bun that can't contain all her curls because some of them are falling down around her face – notices too. Her reaction is very different than any other teacher's has ever been. Her eyes go wide for just a second – that's the same – and then she starts smiling – that's definitely different – this big wide smile that seems to lighten her up, even her eyes.
"Madam Mayor." She calls happily and walks right over to his mom, not noticing how all the kids have suddenly frozen at those words. "How wonderful to see you. I'm Miss Swan." She sticks her hand out to his mother, that smile still in place.
"So I've heard." His mom replies and Henry feels his stomach begin to ache. But then she reaches over and takes Miss Swan's hand and shakes it. "Henry said something about oobleck and I decided that I needed to see it for myself."
"Well, you're just in time!" Miss Swan grins. "In fact, why don't you come join us?"
There's a collective gasp then, from all the kids, and a silence that descends over them quickly. But Miss Swan doesn't seem to notice it, just keeps smiling as she tugs – actually tugs – on his mother's hand to bring her closer to the blow up pool. "Come on, the kids will love it. Ditch those fu – killer heels," Miss Swan grins sheepishly at whatever it was she'd been about to say, "and hop on in."
His mom blinks and he steps forward, ready to throw himself between his mother and teacher and beg for mercy if needed, but then she smiles – just a tiny one, barely there, but Henry sees it and he thinks Miss Swan does too – and nods. "I suppose I could –"
"Awesome!" Miss Swan laughs and then there's a sudden cacophony of noise as all the kids exhale and begin chattering in wonder and excitement.
His mom glances at Miss Swan then, looking almost nervous about something, but Miss Swan seems to understand right away, her eyes following Mom's down to her legs. "Oh! If you go behind my desk, the kids won't be able to see anything and you should be able to take off your, ah, well, yeah." Miss Swan blushes and there's maybe a little bit of extra color in Mom's cheeks too as she nods and moves behind Miss Swan's desk.
He realizes that she's taking off her stockings back there and then his own face colors, but before anyone else can make any mention of it, his mom moves from behind the desk to stand on the tarp in her bare feet, her chin held high. Miss Swan smiles at that and he does too.
"So, I don't know what Henry told you, but basically in order not to sink, you need to apply force quickly – basically run across the pool. And it helps to get a running start. Hey, Henry?" He looks up expectantly at his mother and teacher. "You wanna show your mom how it's done?"
His eyes light up. "Sure!" He replies as she quickly yanks off his socks. "Watch, Mom."
He starts off on a run and jumps into the pool, running across it just like he'd seen Miss Swan do the day before, picking his feet up quickly. The oobleck feels strange under his feet, but he doesn't sink. Miss Swan is at the opposite end of the pool to catch him as he jumps back out and she gives him a high five as he starts to laugh. "That was so cool. You gotta try it, Mom."
Everyone starts cheering and for a second, Mom looks totally uncomfortable and out of her element. But Miss Swan just smiles and gives her a reassuring, "You can do it, Madam Mayor," and Mom nods, suddenly determined.
She's more graceful than Henry and Miss Swan were, running across the pool in such a fluid motion that it looks just as easy as if she'd been walking on the sidewalk. Miss Swan is there to catch her too, although Mom doesn't need it, she stops easily on her own. But she high fives Miss Swan without hardly any hesitation at all and then Henry hears her laugh, really laugh, and he can't stop his own smile or the urge to run over and hug her.
And Mom wraps her arms around him, holding him tight, even if her face shows surprise at the affection.
"That was so cool!" Everyone is cheering and begging for their own turn and Miss Swan is saying something but he isn't really paying any attention, focused instead on his Mom, who's still holding him and smiling.
She chose me, he thinks, and hugs her just a little tighter.
"Well," Mom says later, when they're walking home after the school bell has rung and they've helped Miss Swan clean up the pool of oobleck, which Henry really enjoyed because he got to play with it some more and because Mom just kept smiling and laughing at Miss Swan when she was being goofy and acting like she was going to pour it all over Henry's head, "that was interesting."
"It was awesome." Henry grins.
Mom looks at him out of the corner of her eyes. "You're not upset that I came?"
"No. It was really cool. You were awesome."
Mom's quiet for a while and Henry wonders if he somehow said the wrong thing, but then Mom smiles again and says, "Miss Swan is not what I was expecting."
Henry's nose scrunches. "Is that good or bad? Because she's a really great teacher and she normally dresses – well, not like Mrs. Nolan did – but teachery, I promise. She just had those clothes on because of the activity and she's really smart and –"
"Henry. It's all right. She pleasantly surprised me."
"Good." Henry nods, then remembers what Miss Swan told him. "Hey, Mom, after dinner, can we talk?"
"Of course." Mom says, looking at him like she wants to ask a million questions, but she doesn't and Henry's glad.
"I know I'm adopted." He blurts as soon as he's cleared his dishes away from the table.
Mom is still holding her glass of wine, or at least she was until he said that. Now the glass is shattered on the floor and Mom is staring at him like she doesn't know what to say or do.
"I heard you and Mr. Gold arguing about it. That's why I thought you were the Evil Queen. Because you'd lied to me and I thought you didn't really love me, because I wasn't really yours. But Miss Swan said that there's always more to the story and that you chose me and that I needed to talk to you so…" He rushes to explain.
"Miss – Miss Swan?" Mom gapes at him, blinking like she doesn't understand what he's saying.
"She read my story about being adopted by the Evil Queen and she asked me about it and so I told her and –"
"The Evil Queen?" Mom looks ready to cry then and his heart hurts again.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He chokes, the tears suddenly falling from his eyes because he was wrong, so wrong, and everything hurts now.
"Oh, Henry." Mom drops to her knees and pulls him into her arms and he clings to her as he cries. But then he remembers the broken glass and pulls away, looking down to where his mother is kneeling in it. "Mom!" He exclaims. "Get up. The glass!"
She looks down at her knees as though she's never seen them before and slowly stands up. Henry winces at the blood dripping from them, from the glass that's cut her skin. But she doesn't seem to notice it at all. She's only worried about Henry.
"Henry, I was going to tell you. I was. I just –"
"Mom." Henry interrupts her. "You're bleeding. Come on."
He leads her to the bathroom and makes her sit down on the toilet lid while he gets the first aid kit and checks that none of the glass has embedded itself in her skin. Then he cleans her cuts, just like she's always done for him.
"I'm sorry, Henry." Mom whispers and her voice does that break like Miss Swan's did. It sounds even worse in his Mom's voice and he shakes his head against it.
"No. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gotten mad. I should've talked to you. Asked you."
"Asked me what?" Mom looks confused.
"About my birth parents. But Miss Swan says that if the adoption was closed, you wouldn't know anything about them anyway."
"How do you know it was closed?" Mom still looks confused and he wonders for a moment about shock. Is it possible she's in shock? And if she is, what is he supposed to do?
"I looked through your office and found the file. I'm sorry, but I just wanted to know and I thought if I could find them – I thought that you – but you didn't and I'm sorry, Mom." He looks down then, feeling even more ashamed.
"Thought that I what?"
"I thought you were keeping me from them. But I know you weren't now."
"Because Miss Swan told you this?"
"Yes! No! I don't know." Henry shakes his head, confused. "Miss Swan talked to me and she listened and she made me understand. And then she told me to talk to you."
"I see." Mom says, but it doesn't sound like she sees at all. It sounds distant and hurt and confused and Henry hates the sound of it.
"I was wrong. I thought that you were keeping them from me, but I see now that you weren't. I see that they didn't want me but you did. You picked me. I'm yours and you love me just as much as if I really was… maybe more because you picked me. Out of all the babies you could've picked, you chose me. Right?" His lower lip wobbles then and he doesn't want to cry, not again, but he's not sure he can stop it.
"Oh, Henry." Mom starts to cry then, actually cry, and Henry realizes that it's the first time he's ever seen her cry. "I love you more than you could ever, ever imagine. You're everything to me, sweetheart."
He throws himself into her arms then, hugging her tight, like he'd hugged Miss Swan earlier that day – although that seems a lifetime ago now. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry." He whispers over and over again against the fabric of her shirt, and Mom matches him, murmuring the words into his hair, until both their throats hurt from crying and talking.
Henry finally pulls away and looks at her then, all tear streaked and red eyed, she's still the most beautiful person he's ever seen, and he smiles at her. "I love you, Mom."
She pulls him back in for another hug and he realizes how much he's missed this affection from her since he started pulling away. "I love you, too, Henry."
"Henry?" Miss Swan stops him a few days later, holding up yellow paper that he knows houses the rough draft of his new story about the boy adopted by the Queen. "This is a great story."
She gives him a wink before turning back to the piles of paper and Henry grins through the entirety of recess.
"Miss Swan called me today." Mom says as they walk together towards Granny's.
Henry's started going back to his mom's office after school to sit and do homework and talk with her like he used to, instead of just sulking back to an empty house. They've both enjoyed the change and have taken to going to Granny's once they're both finished for the day to get a little treat before dinner.
Henry still prefers Mom's cooking, but if he gets a milkshake out of the deal, he's pretty pleased.
He's also noticed that Miss Swan seems to be at Granny's each afternoon, surrounded by papers, sipping hot chocolate as she swirls her pen across the pages. Mom usually goes over to say hello – something she never did with Mrs. Nolan – and Miss Swan will usually slide a corrected assignment his way with a grin while she talks to Mom.
"Oh?" Henry knows he's not in any kind of trouble, so he wonders what Miss Swan could be calling Mom about.
"She said that she would be at Granny's again this afternoon and asked us to join her for a little while. She said she's got something to share with me. Any idea what it could be?"
Henry's got a tiny inkling now, but he just shakes his head. "Nope. No idea."
"Well, I suppose we'll see, then." Mom opens the door to the diner and her eyes quickly settle on Miss Swan, tucked into her usual booth.
"Yeah." Henry says, watching his Mom watch Miss Swan. "I guess we will."
Henry's through his entire milkshake – and not just because he drinks them pretty fast – and Ruby has been by to refill Miss Swan's hot chocolate twice and Mom is still just sitting in silence, looking over the papers that Miss Swan had given her.
Henry knows what they are – he'd turned them into Miss Swan that afternoon – and while he'd been excited for his mom to read them, now he's starting to worry at her silence. Things have been so much better the past few days and he's afraid that he's somehow managed to ruin that with what he'd written.
He's fidgeting, playing with his straw paper and bouncing his leg so much that Mom has to feel the vibrations too, but she doesn't react. Miss Swan reaches across the table and puts her hand over his, giving him a soft smile.
"It's okay." She mouths the words, but Henry's not sure that Mom would've heard them even if she spoke them aloud. "Just give her some time."
Isn't that what he's been doing for the past twenty minutes? He frowns, but nods and leans back in his seat. Miss Swan gives him a wink and makes a motion at Ruby. A moment later another milkshake is placed in front of him. He thinks about protesting for a second, but then changes his mind and starts drinking.
Finally, when the new milkshake is halfway gone, Mom puts the papers down on the table. Henry notices that her hands are shaking just the tiniest bit.
"Henry," Mom whispers and he focuses all his attention on her, searching her face for an answer to the question that's been burning in his brain since she started reading – did she like it? "That was –"
She doesn't finish her sentence, just lets the silence hang in the air for a while, and that's something else that he's never seen his mom do before – be without words.
"Pretty epic, if I do say so myself." Miss Swan finishes for his mom. "And I'm not just saying that because I helped with the editing."
She offers up another wink and that seems to bring his mom back to reality, because she smiles and then looks back at Henry. "It was beautiful, Henry. Wonderful. Just –" She puts a hand over her heart, "just wonderful."
Henry beams then. "Miss Swan helped a lot." He says, because it's true. She made him see everything differently. She made everything better.
But Miss Swan shakes her head. "I told you how to spell some words and where to add commas. But this story, Henry, it was all you."
He wants to protest, but then he catches sight of his mom and the way she's looking at Miss Swan and he realizes that she already knows how much Miss Swan did and she loves the story even though it didn't start out like this – maybe even loves the story because of that, because of Miss Swan's help and his own realization. So he just smiles and goes back to drinking his milkshake and watching Mom and Miss Swan.
"Miss Swan's birthday is tomorrow." He announces at dinner, watching his Mom's reaction in his peripherals while simultaneously cutting up his chicken marsala.
"Oh?" Mom says and if he hadn't been watching, he'd think she didn't care, but he had been, so he sees the way that Mom looks up right away at the information. He hides his smile by taking a bite of mashed potatoes.
"Yeah. I thought maybe I could bring her something – like a cupcake or something. Do you think we could go to the bakery and –"
"The bakery?" Mom sounds offended at the very suggestion. "Nonsense. We'll make her something here after dinner."
Henry doesn't try to hide his grin at that.
Henry holds the container with the homemade cupcake and apple turnovers tightly, unwilling to let it spill, as he walks beside Mom who is holding a to go cup from Granny's filled with hot chocolate topped with whipped cream and cinnamon.
"We don't even know that Miss Swan actually likes cupcakes," Mom had argued as she chopped up the apples the night before. "And these turnovers are my specialty."
Henry could have told her that he knows for sure how much Miss Swan likes cupcakes – she always, always gets one for herself when someone brings in birthday treats, even when the birthday kid isn't in her class – but he couldn't bring himself to do it. Not when Mom was humming under her breath while she chopped and whisked and kneaded dough.
Mom had insisted that she would walk with Henry to school to deliver the treats to Miss Swan and Henry hadn't argued. He'd just smiled to himself, especially when he saw that she was wearing a blue shirt. He'd told her about wanting to get a blue candle for the cupcake because he knew blue was Miss Swan's favorite color.
"Are we going to be able to get into the school? We're usually not allowed in until eight o'clock." Henry wonders as they approach the school.
It's still early and the parking lot is mostly empty, but he spots Miss Swan's yellow Bug easily. It's bright and different to all the other cars, just like Miss Swan.
"Of course we'll be able to get in. I am the mayor after all." Mom winks, pulling out a set of keys. She finds the right one and slides it into the lock, turning until the lock clicks and she pulls open the door.
"Cool." Henry heads into the hallway, tilting his head at the sound of music floating down to him. It's faint, but he's pretty sure it's coming from Miss Swan's classroom.
His suspicions are confirmed the closer they get to the room and when they finally stop in the doorway, it's to see Miss Swan dancing around and signing along with the song playing from her computer.
"'Cause tramps like us, baby we were born to runnnnn." She sings, spinning around and then stopping suddenly at the sight of them in the doorway. "Uh…" she says when she steadies herself.
Mom laughs at the look on her face. Miss Swan lunges for the computer and stops the song. "Madam Mayor, I am so –"
"You didn't need to stop on our account." Mom grins. "We didn't mean to interrupt your performance."
Miss Swan blushes and looks down. "I didn't think anyone else was here. Like to get my morning started with a little bit of The Boss, you know? But, uh, what can I do for you this morning? Is there a problem?"
"No, no problem." Mom smiles at her, another real one, and Henry notices that Miss Swan is the only person besides him that can draw them out so easily. "Henry just wanted to bring you a little birthday treat to start the day."
"Really?" Miss Swan's eyes go wide and she looks so surprised that Henry wonders when the last time she celebrated her birthday was.
"Of course! We made you a cupcake. And apple turnovers in case you didn't like the cupcake." Henry moves forward to give her the container.
"But Henry you know that I –" Miss Swan starts, and then she catches the look that Henry's giving her, "am trying to cut back on sweets. But who can resist this? This is all just –" She sits down at the table and opens the container, "far too much."
"Nonsense." Mom waves away the comment, sitting the to go cup down before pulling the star candle out of her pocket, along with a small lighter. She easily sticks the candle into the cupcake and lights the candle.
Miss Swan closes her eyes. "Wait! We have to sing Happy Birthday first." Henry says, looking at Mom to join him. She looks slightly embarrassed, but nods and begins to sing with Henry.
When they finish, Miss Swan's eyes are really shiny and she closes them tight for a long time. Then, all at once, she leans forward and blows out the candle.
"What did you wish?" Henry wants to know.
"If I tell you, it won't come true." Miss Swan says softly.
"Well, we should leave you to your music." Mom says and Henry wants to protest, but Miss Swan beats him to it.
"Oh, no, please, stay. Have a turnover with me."
"They're for you, for your birthday." Mom tries.
"That's right. It's my birthday and I insist you eat them with me. You can't turn me down. It would be rude."
"You always say never to be rude, Mom." Henry reminds her, even as she sits down.
They eat and talk and laugh until the bell rings. Then Mom jumps up and kisses Henry's head before offering another smile and birthday wish to Miss Swan. Henry's pretty sure he catches her humming as she leaves.
"I think you should have dinner with Miss Swan sometime," Henry says after dinner a few nights later. Mom looks ready to drop her wineglass again.
"W-what?"
"She's new in town, so she doesn't have many friends. And, no offense, Mom, but neither do you."
"Henry, she's your teacher. It wouldn't be appropriate."
"She's only my teacher for another week. Then Mrs. Nolan comes back." Henry is quick to remind her. "I just think you'd get along, is all. I mean, you both like Bruce Springsteen."
"What?" Mom frowns and Henry knows he's got her.
"Well, I've heard you humming his songs lately so…"
"Henry, I cannot date Miss Swan." Mom replies quickly and only realizes what she said a moment later. Henry can tell because her eyes go really big.
"Well, maybe not right now. But in a week…" Henry shrugs. "I'm just saying, I'd be okay with it."
Then he runs upstairs, giggling to himself the entire time.
"You're not leaving town, right?" Henry asks as he hugs Miss Swan at the end of her last day.
"Nah, kid," She smiles, "this place has grown on me. And I signed a rent agreement for a couple months so I'll be here for a while."
"I'll miss you." He says and only then realizes how true it is. He likes Mrs. Nolan, don't get him wrong, but she's not like Miss Swan. She doesn't make him look at the world in different ways. She doesn't challenge him. And she doesn't make his Mom smile and laugh.
"You'll probably see me every day at Granny's or something." Miss Swan laughs. "You won't have time to miss me."
"Can I come talk to you if I see you?"
"You better." She gives him a soft punch on the shoulder. "I'd be mad if you didn't. And you keep writing okay? Keep giving those villains the stories they deserve."
"I will," he promises before leaning over to hug her again. He feels the words bubbling up in his throat, but he knows that he can't say them, even though he wants to. So he closes his eyes and he thinks them really hard, hoping that she knows somehow, that she can feel it even if she can't hear it.
I love you.
"Madam Mayor!" Miss Swan sounds surprised to see his mom on her doorstep early on a Saturday morning and he doesn't blame her – he'd been surprised when she left the house early too. Even more surprised when he followed her and realized where she was going. "I – uh – I'm not Henry's teacher anymore, but if there's an issue I can try to –"
"That's why I'm here." Mom says and she sounds almost nervous. Henry can see, from his vantage point on the stairs where he's hiding, that Mom is wringing her hands together. "Because you aren't Henry's teacher anymore."
"Okay?"
"I thought –" she shakes her head. "I was wondering if you'd like to get coffee? Or hot chocolate, if you prefer."
"Like… now?"
"Yes. If you'd like."
"No. I mean, yes, I'd like that. I just…" the door opens wider to reveal that Miss Swan is in a hoodie and running pants, "I was getting ready to go for a run."
"Oh. Of course. I'm sorry to have disturbed you, Miss Swan." Mom starts backing away and Henry's heart sinks.
"No. Mayor Mills, wait." Miss Swan reaches out and grabs his mom's arm to stop her from leaving. "I'd love to grab a coffee with you. I just… I just need to change."
"But your run."
"Can just as easily be done this afternoon or evening." Miss Swan smiles.
"Miss Swan, you don't need to –"
"Emma." Miss Swan interrupts. "I'm not Henry's teacher anymore, as you pointed out. So that means you can call me Emma. And I do need to change if I'm going anywhere with you looking like that this morning." Emma motions to his mom and how done up she is and Mom blushes. "Give me ten minutes, tops."
Mom nods and follows Miss Swan inside her apartment. Henry wishes he could follow too, but instead uses the time to get a better hiding spot in the hallway of the apartment building.
"So," Miss Swan is saying when they walk out of her apartment ten minutes later, passing by Henry without noticing him, "does this coffee also include breakfast? It is the most important meal of the day, after all."
"I suppose it could." Mom agrees, walking beside Miss Swan so that their shoulders are almost touching.
"Awesome."
"Although, if we are having breakfast, then perhaps I should join you on your run later. To burn off those calories, you know?"
Miss Swan laughs. "That'd be great. And then maybe we could grab dinner after?"
"Perhaps." Mom says, but he can see her smile for just a moment before she disappears down the stairs.
Henry waits a few more minutes to be sure that they've left the building before he slips out from behind the potted plant he'd been crouching behind and heads back to the house. He's got an idea for another story that he wants to get working on. The Queen finds friendship and eventually love with a woman who is brought in to be the Prince's tutor but becomes so much more.
He can't wait for Mom and Miss Swan to read it.