Author's note: Fair warning, there is technically a major character death in this story, but since this is a story about a ghost, said character (it's Emma, I'm sure that's already obvious by the description) is still a main character throughout the entire story. She actually never appears alive in the story.
THE OTHER SIDE
By RowArk
Chapter One
Regina let out an audible sigh of annoyance when her phone rang at the exact moment she was about to leave her office for the meeting she was already nearly late for. She hated to be late, and her assistant knew this, so Regina cursed under her breath telling herself the whole damn town better be on fire if Jolene was going to be pestering her now.
"What?" Regina snapped into the phone. She wasn't usually quite so on edge, but with everything that had been going wrong lately, she really wasn't in the mood for another crisis to deal with.
"I have a Miss French on the line for you," Jolene replied, apparently unfazed by her boss's lack of telephone etiquette.
"I don't know a 'Miss French' and have a meeting."
"I know. I told her you were indisposed but she said it was incredibly urgent. She said it can't wait, or the opportunity will be missed… whatever that means."
Regina rolled her eyes. What on earth honestly couldn't wait a couple of hours? She debated telling Jolene to hang up on this Miss French as a quick glance at the clock revealed she only had about thirty seconds to spare before she really would be late for the meeting - which she had called, no less - but a small nagging feeling inside her told her to take the call.
"Fine. Put her through."
Regina rapped her fingernails absently on the desk she was standing behind as she listened to the line turn to dead air, then a click, and then an overly cheery voice with a distinct Australian accent. "Hi! Is this Ms Mills?"
Regina frowned. She was used to being called 'Mayor' not 'Ms' and whomever this was on the phone clearly didn't know her, and now she was quite sure she didn't have time for whatever she was calling about. "Yes," she replied curtly.
If the woman on the other end caught the air of annoyance in Regina's voice, she didn't let on as she began to speak again. "Great! I'm so glad I caught you! I have some good news."
Regina rolled her eyes. "Look, lady, whatever you're selling, I don't want any."
"Oh!" The woman sounded surprised, and recovered quickly with a short laugh. "I guess I should have said who was calling; it's just been such a hectic day. This is Lacey French, from the adoption agency."
"Oh," Regina breathed, feeling suddenly like time had stopped, and inwardly kicking herself for being off-putting. Her heart pounded in her chest as she sat back down in her chair, the bravado knocked out of her as she nervously anticipated what the woman was about to say. She'd said it was good news, so Regina was sure it wasn't her application being rejected, but it couldn't be a baby so soon, could it? She'd only applied to adopt about a month ago, and they'd told her it could be several months, even over a year, of waiting. "I'm sorry… you have good news?"
"Yes," Lacey replied. "Well, possibly, if you're ready. Maybe something good can come from a tragic situation."
"Miss French?" Regina urged, hoping the woman would just get to the point.
"We have a healthy baby boy who desperately needs a home, as soon as possible," Lacey explained. "I know you were likely told it would be months, but this was an unexpected situation, and he's only four hours away, in Boston."
"Oh," Regina said again, suddenly aware of how much her hands were shaking. "Oh."
"I know it's coming as a huge surprise, so take a minute," Lacey gently urged her. "He was only born this morning, and he hasn't officially been discharged from the hospital yet, so if you're willing, you have some time to prepare."
"Yes! Yes, I'm willing. Yes… I'll just have to get some things… a car seat, bottles, formula…" Regina's voice trailed off as she thought of all the things she'd have to get immediately. All thoughts of the meeting were miles away now. She'd expected to have time to prepare. She'd expected a call at some point about an expectant mother wanting to put her child up for adoption, not a call for a child was already born.
"We have a nursery at the agency where we can keep him until you're ready, Ms. Mills."
"Okay, alright… um… what about the birthparents? Is going to be a closed adoption?" Regina asked, hopefully. She hadn't specifically said she'd reject an open adoption, though it wasn't what she'd hoped for.
"Birth parents aren't going to be an issue," Lacey said, the cheeriness suddenly gone from her voice. "We have no idea who the father is, and the mother… well, there were complications, and she didn't survive the birth."
Regina swallowed hard. She hadn't expected that, and though she didn't have a clue who this other woman was, she felt instantly guilty that she was about to be gaining a child at the expense of his mother's life.
"She was an orphan herself," Lacey continued, "no family on record, so the baby is currently a ward of the state. The adoption will be uncontested."
Regina nodded as Lacey spoke. "Alright, I just… I just need a few hours to get everything ready. Just a few hours…"
"He won't be discharged until tonight, possibly even tomorrow morning, so why don't you aim for tomorrow afternoon? There's no need to rush. He'll be released into our care until you arrive."
"Yes, alright, okay. Tomorrow, then."
Regina was still shaking as she hung up the phone, in utter disbelief that that conversation had actually just occurred. It took several moments for her to regain the presence of mind to remember the meeting she was absolutely late for now, and pick up the phone to call her receptionist to cancel, and that she'd be taking the rest of the day and the rest of the week off. She knew that wasn't going to be well-received, but she had more important things to worry about.
After a long afternoon of baby shopping, and an even longer evening of assembling baby furniture with the help of the young woman who lived down the street, Ruby Lucas, Regina had laid down for the night, only to get hardly any sleep. She felt like a child on Christmas Eve, eagerly awaiting the arrival of Santa Claus, only the gift she'd be receiving tomorrow would by far trump anything her parents had managed to give her throughout the years.
The fact that she was estranged from her mother and her father had long since passed put a bit of a damper on the whole situation, as she'd really been left with no one to call to share the exciting news with. Ruby and her grandmother were one thing, but they weren't family or even overly close friends, and Regina found herself itching to call the one person who she'd once been able to tell anything to.
It had been three months since she and Mal had ended things, for good this time, she swore. They'd been on and off since college, but had never seemed to be able to find the right groove to make everything fall into place. Mal wanted adventures, and to see the world, and she hated being tied down. Regina wanted stability and a family, and she had finally come to terms with the fact that she likely wouldn't find that with Mal.
Throughout the years, she'd dated other women, and sometimes men, but she was never really looking for a partner. For her, no one would ever hold a candle to Mal, but Regina was desperate for a family. She wanted a home full of love and laughter and smiles, and she had finally come to terms with the idea that she might have to go it alone, and so she'd decided to apply to adopt.
From the moment she'd submitted the application, she was sure she'd get denied. Of course, she passed the interviews and the home inspection with flying colours, but she was a single woman and she worked too much. She was sure they'd deny her on that alone, and even still, as she lay awake in her bed in the wee hours of the night, she couldn't believe that she would be bringing home a baby - her baby - tomorrow.
In the morning, after a little sleep and a whole lot of caffeine, Regina couldn't sit still as she watched the clock, trying to decide when to leave. It was a four hour drive to Boston, and she didn't want to be coming home too late, so she finally opted to leave shortly after ten. The drive felt excruciatingly long, and she tried not to think about the woman who'd lost her life to make this all happen as she drove.
Finally, at just past two, she arrived in front of the agency, and after a few deep breaths to build up her nerve, she got out of the car and made her way up to the door.
"Hi, Mama," a woman with chestnut hair and a big smiled greeted Regina as she entered the building. Regina recognized her voice from the phone, but was momentarily taken aback that Lacey seemed to know who she was.
For her part, Lacey appeared to notice, and with a small laugh, explained, "sorry, I could just tell it was you by the look of terror on your face. Most new moms have it."
"Oh." Regina nodded, trying to force herself to relax.
"Are you ready to meet your son?"
Regina swallowed and nodded quickly. She normally could gain control of a situation right from the start, but this was so foreign to her that she found herself silently following behind Lacey, taking in the appearance of the building - from the cream coloured walls to the framed pictures of happy families that adorned them - as if it were her first time there. She realized right away that her apprehension was coming from the knowledge that this was the last time she'd walk down this hall, or any hall for that matter, as just Regina Mills. From here on out, she would also be somebody's mother.
And it was terrifying.
The fear was washed away by an overwhelming feeling of pure joy when Lacey opened the door to their destination, and inside was a crib holding a tiny baby boy. For the second time in twenty four hours, Regina felt like time had stopped, and she could hear her heart pounding in her ears as Lacey stepped over to the crib and picked him up, turning to hand him to Regina.
"Oh!" Regina breathed, wondering if that was the only word left in her vocabulary today, since it seemed to be the only word she was able to force herself to say, as she took the tiny infant from Lacey's hands. He was much smaller than she'd expected, and in his soft blue sleeper, his weight felt like nothing in her arms. Her mouth dropped open in awe as she took in the little scrunched up face he made in his sleep.
Regina smiled as the baby made a small cooing sound. "Henry," she whispered, just loud enough for Lacey to hear.
"Henry?"
Regina nodded, still smiling. "After my late father."
"Oh. That's sweet. Henry's a good name. His eyes are blue, by the way" Lacey commented, "so far at least. The birthmother's were green, and, well we don't know about the father so we don't know what his will be. The mother - the birthmother, Emma - she was a blonde, and had no concerning medical conditions that we know of. We don't know her family history, obviously, but other than astigmatism, she was healthy."
Regina looked up in confusion. "If she was healthy, then why…?"
Lacey sighed. "From what we've learned, she came from a pretty rough situation. She was only seventeen, living in a group home, and the woman who runs it didn't even know Emma was pregnant. No one did. She kept it a secret for some reason, and never had any prenatal care. She had undiagnosed pre-eclampsia, unfortunately. She went to the hospital completely alone."
"Poor girl. She must have been so scared," Regina acknowledged. "What's going to happen to her now? To her body, I mean?"
"She's still a ward of the state, she never aged out, so the state of Massachusetts will pay for her burial."
"Would I be able to get the location of her grave, once you have it? For Henry, when he's older and inevitably has questions about where he came from."
"Absolutely." Lacey nodded, "I'll make a note in your file. Also… if you're interested…" Lacey didn't finish her sentence as she crossed the room to grab a cardboard box from a table near the door. She removed the lid and pulled out a white knitted blanket before stepping back over to Regina. "The woman who ran the group home boxed up a few of Emma's things, and she said she was especially fond of this blanket she had since she was a baby. If you're interested, I thought you might like to have it, for Henry."
Regina nodded absently as Henry began to squirm in her arms, and she looked down to see his eyes opening. "Well, hello there, Henry. I'm your Mommy."
The first few weeks with Henry passed in a blissful blur for Regina. It had all happened so quickly, and there was still so much she needed to get, and there were home visits from the adoption agency and sleep schedules to adjust to, but for the first time in her adult life, Regina felt like she had a purpose, and that was to be this little boy's mother.
Henry was eight months old when Regina began to notice something odd about him. More and more often, when she was playing with him or talking to him, instead of looking at her, he seemed to look behind her, laughing and giggling at nothing. Sometimes, he would babble to an empty chair or jump in surprise at nothing at all. On more than one occasion, she's seen him reach his arms up to no one at all, wanting to be picked up, and she was growing concerned that his eyesight was poor. All she knew about Emma, really, was that she had astigmatism, but Henry seemed to see things that weren't there.
Or, at least that's how it appeared to her.
So she took him for vision tests, and when those came back fine, the doctors began ordering up more tests and asking about family histories of mental illness that involved hallucinations and Regina was terrified and heartbroken thinking something was wrong with her little boy, and she didn't know how to make it better.
And that's how she ended up visiting Emma's grave site for the very first time.
"I know I have no business being here," Regina said, aloud, pacing in front of the plot that was only marked by a ten inch by six inch plaque on the ground that simply read EMMA SWAN. She'd left Henry with her neighbour Ruby Lucas for the day, opting not to tell her where she was headed, other than it had to do with Henry's condition, as she really had no valid explanation as to why she was here.
"So here's the thing," Regina said, with a sigh, stopping her pacing and staring down at the grave before her. The grass was growing over it, albeit sparsely enough to indicate the grave wasn't that old. Regina wondered if she should have brought flowers. "The thing is… I adopted your son when you… I adopted your son. And there's something wrong and I don't know what to do. I don't have any of your family history. I know you didn't have it either, but… I don't even know why I'm here, to be honest. The doctors are talking about schizophrenia in an eight month old boy and here I am talking to a grave of a woman I never even met."
Regina pursed her lips and shook her head. What the hell was she thinking? That she would find the answer at Henry's dead birthmother's grave? She'd left her son with a sitter and drove four hours to talk to a ghost? Well, that would have been the case if she even believed in ghosts. Really she was talking to a patch of grass and she didn't even bring flowers.
"I'm sorry," Regina whispered. "I shouldn't have come here. I just… I just want to say…"
Regina shook her head again. What was the point?
By Henry's first birthday, the doctors were still stumped, and Henry's behavior hadn't really changed. He still babbled at no one and intensely watched things that no one else was able to see.
"It's probably just an imaginary friend," Ruby guessed, with a shrug, as they both watched Henry insistently try to hand his sippy cup of watered down apple juice to no one in the middle of the living room, and grow agitated when no one took it. "Kids have them, you know? He'll grow out of it."
Regina raised an eyebrow. "An imaginary friend? This has been going on since before he could even walk. And why wouldn't the doctors suggest that?"
Ruby shrugged. "They're probably being paid off by the pharmaceutical companies. They don't make the big bucks off a diagnosis of an overactive imagination."
"Well, I hope you're right," Regina said with a sigh. "But forgive me if I'm skeptical."
"Regina!" Eugenia Lucas called from across the room. "Let's get this boy into his highchair for his first taste of birthday cake!"
"My Gran did slave over it," Ruby pointed out, noting Regina's hesitation. Regina wasn't eager to give Henry so much sugar, and even though it was generally tradition, she was still convinced that one year was far too young for cake.
But with Eugenia Lucas involved, she knew there would be no winning this one.
"Mama!" Henry cried out, giggling and pointing at a stray balloon on the floor as Regina approached to pick him up.
"I see it!" Regina said back, excitedly. It was always exciting when she actually did see what he saw. "Are you ready for your cake, my little prince?"
Henry nodded eagerly, though Regina knew he had no idea what she was talking about. Still, she scooped him up and carried him into the dining room to strap him into his highchair, as Eugenia followed close behind, carrying the little cake she'd made especially for Henry's smashing pleasure.
Well, Eugenia insisted it was small. Regina thought it looked like way too much when it was actually on Henry's plate, but there wasn't much she could do about that as her little boy reached into the cake with both hands at once. It was mere seconds before his face was plastered in bits of chocolate cake and globs of blue and white frosting, but even Regina had to smile at the sight of his giant grin.
"Mama! Mama!" Henry squealed, holding out a handful of smashed cake in an attempt to share it with Regina.
"No, that's alright, sweetheart. That's all for you," Regina insisted, shaking her head as she continued to smile.
And then it happened.
Henry turned his attention to his right, though no one was standing beside him, and held out the same smushed up piece with a huge grin, and cried, "Emma! Emma!"
Regina felt all the blood drain from her face as her mouth dropped open and she turned to Ruby. "What did he just say?"
Ruby smiled through her confusion as Henry continued to repeat the name, excitedly. "Uh, it sounds like he's saying Emma? Who's Emma?"
Regina swallowed hard. "His birthmother."
