Got this idea while watching a few episodes of "Switched at birth" and had to at least give it a shot, especially because I simply adore little Emma and Lily and was thinking about weaving them into a story anyway. Also, well. Regina fits the SAB Regina's role quite nicely; after all Regina originally comes from a "poor" family as well & was just came to money by Cora's and later her own marriage.

Also, in my story Storybrooke is not a small town but more like the size of Boston. ;)

Well, bear with me and my silly ideas. Tell me if you are interested in me continuing this fic.

And now read and leave me some words.

- np

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"Happy Birthday Lilith," Regina whispered and blew out the candle on top of the small pink cupcake. She closed her eyes and wished for the same thing she wished for since 3 years: for Lily to be happy, healthy and loved. She wouldn't admit to herself that she secretly made another wish, that she wished she could meet her one day.

Regina sighed and opened her eyes again. It was time for her to get some much needed sleep. Life wasn't easy as a single mother of a now 5-year-old. She was barely able to pay the rent each month. Her little Emma could only dream of the things other parents were able to afford for their children's birthday. But, and it made Regina smile, they had each other and nothing would ever come between them. She quietly walked up to Emma's bedroom and peeked inside, a loving smile on her face when she saw her child sleeping peacefully. "Goodnight, little swan," Regina whispered into the darkness before she turned around and headed to the couch, which served as her own bed. She wasn't able to afford more than a one bedroom apartment and she'd decided early on that her daughter would get the room for herself. She remembered how it had been, growing up and sharing her mother's bedroom. The other kids had teased and bullied her relentlessly for it. She would not put Emma through her own childhood trauma. A little inconvenience on her side was definitely worth the reasonably carefree and toothy smile on Emma's face.

So she settled into the sofa and wrapped herself up in her blanket, staring at the motionless ceiling fan and waiting for sleep to claim her. Since she knew, March the 18th had become a day full of warring emotions for her; the sleepless night she usually had on that date was just a little extra bonus.

Her alarm woke her barely three hours after she'd finally fallen asleep. Regina groaned and quickly hit the snooze button on the alarm clock before it woke Emma. Her little swan could stay in dreamland for another hour while she got ready for the day.

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"Elsa," Maleficent softly shook her daughter's shoulder. "It's time to wake up sweetheart."

"Don't want to," the 9-year-old buried her head under her covers and Mal had to stifle a laugh.

"Come on, sweetheart," she pulled the covers off of the light blonde hair. "I'll even make your favorite blueberry pancakes."

At her mother's words, Elsa slowly opened one of her clear blue eyes and grinned. "Can I have some strawberry sauce, too?"

"I'll see what I can do," Maleficent winked at her oldest child and got up from her bed. "I have to go and wake up your sister. Get ready and I'll be downstairs with you in a minute."

Elsa sleepily nodded and Maleficent stepped out of her room and into the next.

"Lilith," the blond mother whispered close to her daughter's ear. "Time to get up, sweetling."

"I don't want to, mommy," Lily complained, burying her head in Mal's lap. "I don't feel good," the toddler yawned and brought a small hand to her head. The blonde mimicked her brunette child and gasped when she felt the hot and slightly sweaty forehead.

"Oh baby, I think you have a fever," Mal stated more to herself than her daughter before she called out for Elsa to bring her her mobile phone.

"Does anything else hurt, baby?" Mal worriedly moved a strand of dark hair out of Lily's face.

"My throat feels icky," the child mumbled and Maleficent nodded. "Probably just a cold but we should still go and see Dr. Hopper once your sister is in the school bus."

A moment later Elsa burst into the room and glanced at her little sister. "She sick?" the girl asked, handing the phone to her mother.

"She is," Mal answered. "She's running a fever. I'm going to call and see if Dr. Hopper can make some room in his schedule for us."

Elsa nodded and gave a comforting smile to her little sister. "I'll just eat some cereal, mom. You stay with Lily and get her ready."

Maleficent sent a proud smile to her daughter. It was always so heartwarming to see how her children took care of one another.

"Thank you sweetheart," she briefly stroked over Elsa's beautiful hair. "I'll make it up to you."

Elsa smiled and nodded. "You go on and call the doctor."

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An hour and a half later, Mal and Lily were in Dr. Hopper's office, waiting for the doctor to come back into the room. Her little one was sitting on her lap, barely able to keep her eyes open. It had been a tiring morning for her sweetling but she had been brave like a champ.

Eventually Dr. Hopper stepped back into the room, a raspberry lollipop in his hand.

"This one's for you, young lady," he bent down and gave it to Lily who was instantly awake at seeing the sugary treat.

"Thank you, Dr. Hopper," she shyly mumbled and the two adults smiled. Then he got back up and took a seat behind his desk.

"The results from the blood test will be here tomorrow. One of the nurses will give you a call. It won't be necessary for you to come back in if it's just a cold," he explained and Mal got to her feet, keeping Lilith on her arm.

"Thank you Dr. Hopper. I'll call if she gets any worse."

Then she exited the office and made her way to her car.

She hoped the blood test came back negative. Dr. Hopper had advised it because there was a rather nasty fluenza virus going around. He wanted to be sure this wasn't what they were dealing with. He'd assured her though that it was rather unlikely that Lily had it. Well, better safe than sorry.

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"Hey duckling," Regina happily exclaimed when Emma came running out of the kindergarten building and leaped straight into her arms. "I missed you."

"Missed you too, mommy," Emma giggled and kissed her mother's cheek.

"Did you have fun today?" Regina asked and set Emma back down on her own feet.

Emma nodded her blond head and securely slipped her small hand into her mother's.

"We made easter cards, mommy," Emma was excited. "Miss Blanchard helped me draw a bunny."

"Really?"

"Yes, it's really pretty, mommy," Emma gave her a toothy grin. "Can I give it to grandma?"

"Sure Emma. I'm sure she'll love it."

Her daughter beamed up at her and together they walked home. Luckily they only lived about 15 minutes away; there was no money they could afford a car with. They needed all of Regina's small wage for paying the bills, buying food and Emma's schooling.

"Mommy?" Emma suddenly asked into the silence. They'd been walking for over ten minutes now and were almost home.

"What is it, little swan?" Regina stopped on the sidewalk and waited for her daughter to respond.

"Miss Blanchard wants to take my class to the zoo next week. Can I go?" The little blonde hopefully looked at her mother. She knew they didn't have a whole lot of money but she really wanted to go and see the elephants.

Regina pondered it in her head for a moment. It was nearing the end of the month and her next paycheck wouldn't arrive until April, 1st. But, she remembered with a small smile, she'd put some money aside. She really needed that haircut but her daughter always came first. She could probably just shorten it a little herself.

"Yes, duckling, you can go."

Emma's bright smile told her she'd done the right thing. She may not have much, may not be able to buy Emma the newest toys ans brands, but she was a good mom.

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"Dad," Elsa ran to her father when he finally got home this evening after being on a business trip for the last 8 days. Maleficent stood in the hallway and watched as Stefan mumbled something about being tired from the plane ride before he left for his bedroom without saying another word or taking his child into his arms. The pained look on Elsa's face broke her heart. When she looked at Stefan nowadays, there wasn't much left of the man she'd once fallen in love with. He'd changed so much over the last 5 years. It seemed like his work was the only thing important to him and she'd given up on getting him to join them for family dinners and the like. They even had separate bedrooms for 3 years now. She saw Elsa walk up the stairs and heard her door shut closed a moment after. She wanted to go and comfort her but she knew she wanted to be alone for now. So she sighed and went to give Lilith some cough syrup before bed. At least her temperature was in the normal range again.

"Hey baby," she said entering the room. Lily sat on her bed and was playing with her barbie dolls. "How are you feeling?"

"Still icky, mama. But better," the small girl replied. Maleficent nodded and measured the cough syrup into a spoon, holding it out to her daughter. "Open up baby."

Lily opened her mouth and gulped down the cough syrup without making a fuss.

"Good girl," Mal whispered and stroked over her child's smooth dark hair.

"Is daddy home yet?" Lily asked hopefully, looking at her mother with big brown eyes.

"No sweetheart," the lie came easily over her lips. Lily needed all her strength to get healthy, she shouldn't have to use it wondering why her dad hadn't come to see her. "No. But I'm sure he'll be home for breakfast tomorrow."

Lily sadly nodded and crawled under the covers just when Elsa walked into the room.

"Elsa," Lily happily exclaimed when she noticed her sister.

"Hey baby," Elsa said affectionately. "I thought I could join in on your goodnight story tonight." The blond girl shyly looked at her mother. Usually she claimed she was too old for bedtime stories. Mal knew Elsa just didn't want to be alone right now. She smiled brightly at her daughters.

"So what shall we read tonight?"

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The next day Regina was busy waiting the tables at Granny's. It was lunchtime and many regulars and passersby were streaming into the diner. Of course this was the exact time that her cellphone started to ring without pause. She ignored it and took orders from several tables, when it started ringing again.

"Take it," Ruby, the other waitress and granddaughter of Mrs Lucas motioned to her jeans pocket. "I'll be alright for a couple minutes. Could always be important."

Regina nodded gratefully and quickly hurried out of the back entrance. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and looked at the screen. The caller was unknown but definitely from Storybrooke as well. Who would be calling her at this time of the day? Every person in possession of her number knew that it was usually a busy hour at work. Maybe something had happened to Emma? She finally accepted the call so fast, she almost dropped the phone.

"Hello?" She brought the phone to her ear.

"Am I talking to Ms. Regina Mills?" A male voice on the other end wanted to know and she nodded before remembering that the caller couldn't possibly see it.

"Yes," she said. "Who am I talking to?"

"Mr. Gold," the man simply stated, not bothering to make a bigger introduction. "There is a situation concerning your daughter and another girl. We have to assume that the children were switched in the hospital on the day they were born."

Regina wasn't fast enough to stop her phone from falling to the ground. She was too shocked to even register that the man on the other end of the conversation, Mr. Gold, was calling out her name again and again. She had known that it was possible that one day, this day might come. She just hadn't expected it to be now, now when Emma was still so little. She hadn't expected to feel like this, like her whole world came tumbling down. After all, she knew. And it seemed like now they knew as well.