Once Upon A Time Fan Fiction:

The Other Side of the Story

Chapter 1

He saw the big beautiful white house. It looked like one of the homes in one of
those Better Homes and Gardens magazine. Usually he would be sitting in front
of the fireplace or in his cozy bedroom reading a gorgeously illustrated book
of fairy tales. His mother would bring him in his hot chocolate with cinnamon,
which she personally thought was gross but she knew he liked it. She sometimes
though he spent too much time reading the book. She thought he should get out
more and make friends his age. He always thought his mom was beautiful with her
rich and thick dark hair and luminous eyes. They looked nothing alike but that
was okay, he knew he was adopted. His mom was raising him alone and he had no
father. She was one of those proud single moms who was curiously able to find a
good balance between work and raising a child. His mom Regina, has been the
mayor of Storybrooke for as long as he could remember. Strangely enough he
couldn't remember anyone running against her.

An attractive young pregnant princess and her husband, the prince were panicking.
The princess said, "We must move quickly before the curse is cast, so both the
baby and I can go into the wardrobe". Suddenly the princess was struck with labor
pains and couldn't speak. The prince said, "I'm afraid we are not going to have
enough time. What are we going to do?"

Augusta, Maine Present Day

Each morning Henry would wake up on the rickety old sofa bed in the drafty and old apartment he shared with his mother, Emma. He looked on the bed for his book. It must have fallen on the floor during the night. He slowly got out of the bed and looked for the book. He saw the title "Once Upon a Time" staring back at him in red letters. His mother had laughed when Henry saw the book at a garage sale when he was 7 years old. Henry saw that the book was only 20 cents. His mom said that she thought the book belonged to some prissy little girl who got tired of her childhood things and ordered her parents to get rid of the stuff and was making its rounds from garage sale to garage sale. Yet she had no problem with buying Henry the book. When they were at home that night Henry pointed out that there were initials inside, MMB. Emma liked to make up stories about MMB who she named Millicent Morgan Bailey and had a horse named Horace and about her birthday parties with a carousel, carnival rides and a petting zoo.

Each night before bed Henry would read the stories in the book. He liked to imagine that the main characters were his family or friends. The Evil Queen from Snow White, was really his rich and successful mother who was misunderstood. Snow White was his beautiful and caring aunt who was always there for him whenever he needed them. He'd dream about them and how he lived in a town made of fairy tale also found out he was adopted and his mother was the long lost daughter of Snow White. But each morning he'd wake up to his bleak reality that it was just his mother and him in their dreary and lonely apartment. Often his mother was not home as she worked two jobs, one as a waitress in a diner and another as a maid in the inn next door. He would come to the diner after school and do his homework there and eat there too. When his mom went to his second job, he would stay at Granny's house (the owner of the diner) and hang out with Granny andher granddaughter. Granny wasn't her real name but she insisted that everyone call her that. Ruby is her granddaughter, a sweet but somewhat lazy young lady who was more interested in chasing after boys than helping out at her grandmother's restaurant. But she was very nice to Henry and would help him with his homework. School was difficult as Henry was short and always picked on. He tried to keep his head low and not talk much. Sometimes that would work but other times it would make the kids want to pick on him more.

Granny loved to watch the news after she finished with the dinner shift. She would make sure she took a break to watch the news before she went back to oversee the cleanup at the diner. Henry tried to help clean up whenever he could. Granny got Henry into the news. In a way,it was another escape from reality for him, like the fairy tale book. He loved to follow the exploits of local mayor Regina Mills and the mysterious mob connected Mr. Gold. It was no surprise that she appeared in his dreams as his mother as he was fascinated by her. He loved his mom dearly but Regina was exciting. She was depicted as corrupt and evil but he felt that the media exaggerated the truth and that she was given a bad rap. He followed the story of Regina from when she was a child. She was the eldest child of Senator Howard Mills and his wife Cora.

1972-Beacon Hill, Boston

"The three of us are finally going to the ballet tonight, to see the Nutcracker Suite", said Howard to his daughter Regina and his wife Cora.

"I cannot wait. I'm going to wear my new pink dress and black mary janes for the ballet", said Regina. It was an amazing night. Regina loved the dancers and the music and spending time with her mother and father. She didn't get to spend a lot of time with her father since he was a powerful and busy Massachussets senator. That was the last happy memory she had of her parents.

1976-Beacon Hill, Boston

"Where's daddy?" said Regina. "I don't know. He just didn't come last night. It's not like he left a note or anything", said Cora.

1976, Beacon Hill, Boston

The ballet was the last happy memory Regina had for a long time. The past two years were torture. People would point at her and talk about her behind her back. She was "that girl", the daughter of the scandal ridden Mills family. It was said that her mother cheated on her father with one or as rumor had it, several of his interns. It was said that when he found out about it, he threatened divorce and custody of his daughter and she would be lucky if she saw a cent from him. However while Cora and Howard got a divorce, Cora ended up with custody of her daughter and a very generous alimony settlement. It was said that Cora must have dug up some dirt on Howard. While Howard was a stand up politician and family man, like most other people, he had a past. Cora said that Howard must agree to her terms or she would expose his dirty secrets. And the fact is that Cora didn't really want Regina, but she thought having custody of a daughter would make her look more sympathetic to the general public and more specifically to men. Cora wasn't mean to Regina but she did not pay much attention to her either. She shipped Regina off to a boarding school and only saw her during holidays. She got to visit her father every so often, but those visits decreased once her father remarried his younger wife Erica and they had two children. Regina was surprised when she got a phone call at the school from her mom telling her she should come home in two weeks because she was getting married and she was going to Maine to live with her mother, new stepfather and step sister.

1976, Silver Brook, Maine

The new stepfather was Congressman Lucas Blanchard of Maine. While her father was a Democrat, her new father was a Republican. Her new step-sister was 8 year old Mary Margaret. Her stepfather had been widowed from his wife for two years. She died of cancer when Mary Margaret was in first grade. Regina wasn't crazy about being in the boarding school but she adjusted and made a lot of friends and more importantly she was away from her mother. She was worried what things would be like forced to live with her mother. When her mother was married to her dad she ignored her mainly and her dad when available spent time with her, reading her stories and taking her to the park. She would likely be the odd one out. Her mother would have her new husband and daughter and they would probably all ignore her. If she was going to be ignored, she wanted to be with her friends who liked and respected her. Her stepfather was nice to her but she was not around much because he was either in Augusta or Washington D.C. to fulfill his duties as a Congressman. Her mother expected Regina to have Mary Margaret hang out with her friends and entertain her on weekends. Mary Margaret did have a nanny and they had a maid, so she wasn't expected to cook, clean, help with her homework or take her to her activities, but she had very little free time to herself as she always had to be with Mary Margaret. She figured she would hate Mary Margaret as she was likely a spoiled and annoying child. Surprisingly Mary Margaret was nice. She would try to do her own activities when she was with her friends or she would read her book in the park when Regina would hang
out with her friends. She noticed it was always the same book. It was an old fashioned looking book of fairy tales called "Once Upon a Time". Mary Margaret commented that her mother gave it to her for her 6th birthday. When Regina was 14 and Mary Margaret was 10, they became closer. Regina would do her hair and would try on makeup and pretend to be society ladies. Mary Margaret made Regina laugh because Regina would always try to be haughty and spoiled as a society lady but Mary Margaret would pretend to head up some fantastic charity event and save the dogs and the like. Regina was popular. She became a cheerleader in ninth grade and class president in 10th grade. During 9th and 10th grade, she would date the same type of guys,the jocks and the popular rich kids, sons of politicians or corporate executives.

1980, Silver Brook, Maine

But things changed as Regina met Daniel, a guy very different from her previousboyfriends. Daniel was the mysterious new guy who transferred to her high school from Cincinnati, Ohio. Not much was known about him except that he was poor and a stable boy for the exclusive Silver Brook Country Club Horse Farm. It was rumored that his mom was a drug addict and his dad left when he was a baby and that he basically raised himself from the age of 12. His aunt found out the type of situation he was in and decided to take him in her home. His

Aunt Sandy lived in Silver Brook. Daniel was hardworking and loved science, especially biology. Regina met him when they became lab partners in her Advanced Placement Biology class. Despite the fact that he was well mannered and hard working, she knew her mother would not approve of him because he was poor and came from a "bad family". They dated in secret. Even Mary Margaret did not know about him.

The Other Side of the Story

1980, Silver Brooke, Maine

One day Regina decided to surprise Daniel at his job after school. She appeared behind him, covered his eyes, and said, "Guess who?". Daniel turned around and smiled and kissed Regina. "I just saw your sister, Mary Margaret," said Daniel. "Shoot! Is she here today?" said Regina. "Uh yes, she comes for lessons every Thursday," said Daniel. "Is she still here?" said Regina. "Yes, but as I said you do not have to worry about her. She would not rat you out to your mom," said Daniel.

"Hi Regina and Daniel! So you guys are dating?" said Mary Margaret. "Yes, but you must not say a word to my mom," said Regina. "Believe me I won't. I think you both make a great couple and I would not want your mom to get in the way of that," said Mary Margaret. "Thank goodness," said Regina. "Usually Daniel lets me feed the horses now, but if you want some time alone, I can read my book," said Mary Margaret. "Thanks Mary Margaret. I appreciate it," said Regina.

Later that week, Regina and Daniel stayed after school to work on their science project. After they were done Regina walked outside with Daniel and was talking and laughing. Little did they know that Regina's mom Cora drove by on the way back home from her trainer. Luckily she had missed the kiss between Daniel and Regina.

Later that evening when Regina was taking a shower Cora pulled Mary Margaret aside. She knew it would be a bad idea to confront Regina because she was not a 100% sure it was true. And even if it was, Regina would lie to her and they would get in a fight. Mary Margaret being as young as she is lacked guile and was easily manipulated. "Mary Margaret, I am worried about Regina!" said Cora. "Why, is she ok?" said Mary Margaret. "Is she dating this boy from her school? I do not know his name but he is tall and lean with dark hair," said Cora. "I am not sure who you are talking about?" said Mary Margaret. "Yes you...I mean I would think she would confide in you," said Cora. "Let me be honest here. I was driving past the school today and saw Regina awfully close to this guy. I am worried because he looks like a guy from the wrong tracks. The type of guy who would get a girl pregnant and leave her. If Regina gets pregnant she would be resentful of everyone because she would not be able to go to college and live her dream life," said Cora. Mary Margaret looked skeptical. "Look I am talking from experience. This happened to a close friend in high school. But she was poor and her parents kicked her out of their house. That would not happen to Regina but she would not get to enjoy the rest of her childhood and college years," said Cora. "Ok, fine, I will tell you," said Mary Margaret.