The day is as fresh in her mind as the grass beneath her feet. Thirteen years later and she still hasn't forgotten the feeling of his tiny hand in hers as they walked down the sidewalk from their home. Later on she would learn to let him ride the bus but on that day, the first school day of hundreds to come, she'd decided to walk there with her little prince. She'd told herself that it was for his benefit. A chance to give him extra time with her before spending hours away in a classroom where she was nowhere to be seen. But walking down the sidewalk with her heels clacking against the pavement and his light up sneakers sparkling with each step she knew she'd done it for herself. She'd wanted to prolong the moment. Extend the chapter of their lives where she'd spent every minute by his side.
She could still remember how he looked that day. She remembered looking down at his normally messy brown hair, currently tamed with the help of a last minute haircut the day before. She remembered the sight of his brightly-colored Spiderman backpack, hanging loosely from his shoulders, bouncing against his back with every hop and skip he made. He'd nearly filled it to the brim the night before, stuffing in every notebook and pencil he could find, so sure that he would need them all for the day to come. It had taken an hour for her to convince him that he would only need one of each, if he'd need them at all. Her little prince had been so excited, more excited than her, that day. Peppering her with questions the whole way there.
What's my teacher's name?
Will I get lunch?
Do we spend all day inside?
How will I know who to be friends with?
Each new inquiry brought a smile to her face, as did the efforts she made to satisfy his curiosity.
Your teacher's name is Mrs. Jameson.
Yes they will feed you lunch. Mac and Cheese. I promise I checked.
You'll get half an hour of recess where you can run around as much as you'd like.
Your friends will be the people who treat you with kindness and smile when they see you.
Every answer she gave him only added to his excitement. The closer they got the wider his grin grew, the more she'd mentally prepared herself for the moment he'd finally drop her hand and run off to this exciting new world without her.
Except that's not what happened.
They'd rounded the corner and finally caught sight of the school. They'd been there weeks before to enroll, to show Henry a glimpse of his first classroom. But the school had been quiet that day, with only a tenth of the students there. That had not been the case on the first day.
The school was swarming with students now, many of them bigger than her little prince. On the lawn, in the halls, in the classrooms. Their shouts and laughter made it hard to hear to her own thoughts. In their identical school uniforms they were practically a sea of black and white, and even as an adult Regina found herself struggling to navigate her way through them.
She'll never forget the way his grip on her hand tightened. They way he started clinging to her waist as they made their way down the hall. By the time they reached the kindergarten classroom, Henry's grin had all but disappeared. He seemed to shrink into her side as they entered the room where he would spending most of his time for the next year.
The kindergarten class was small that year, only twelve or so in the group. The bell had yet to ring so they were still exploring the classroom with their parents, wonder present in their young eyes. The theme that year was caterpillars and butterflies. There were different pictures of cartoon butterflies all over the room. She'd shown him each one hoping to help him relax before class started. Ten minutes later she still hadn't felt like she'd succeeded. Henry still seemed withdrawn.
But what more could she do? The bell rang and started ushering the parents out of the classroom. Something the children weren't particularly happy about. More than a few shouts and tantrums were heard and she found herself grateful that Henry hadn't been among the few initiators. At least until she kneeled down to give him a hug and heard the four words that would crack her heart in two.
"Please don't leave me."
The words had barely been more than a whisper but they pounded in her ears like a drum. Her little prince didn't want her to go… even though she knew she couldn't stay. She wanted to tell him she had to leave, that it was important for him to make friends here and learn on his own. She had to tell him that. She would have but he broke her resolve with two more words.
"I'm scared," he whispered.
And he was. She could see it in his hazel eyes. Feel it in the way his tiny hand was clenching at her skirt. Though he wasn't crying or shouting like some of the other students, she could feel his fear like it was her own. He wasn't ready for her to leave yet. And so she didn't.
Instead she gave her son a pinky promise that she wouldn't leave. She told him that even though she couldn't stay in the classroom with him, she'd be right outside his door, the whole time. Promising him that if he got too scared he could look right at the door and know she was right there.
Only then did he let her go, watching her the entire time as she walked away away from him and out of the classroom. She'd count walking out of that room as one of the hardest things she'd ever done.
As the door shut behind her, she'd fallen against the wall and let out a deep breath. The hallways were empty now. All the students had been shuffled into their classrooms for the day, waiting until lunchtime to emerge again. One look to her right and she could see the path to the front doors were clear. She could walk out of them with ease right now. Henry probably wouldn't see her. Probably wouldn't even care once he got acclimated to his new environment. Surely once he spent a few hours with his teacher and his new classmates he'd forget all about the promise she'd made to stay outside the room. And it wasn't as if she didn't have other things that she needed to do that day. She was still the Mayor. And there were things in the town that needed attending to. Things she couldn't take care of from the hallway of an elementary school.
She could've left. Perhaps she would've if she hadn't decided to take just one more look into the classroom. She saw that class had begun and Henry was sitting quietly in his seat like the good boy he was. She also saw that he was still nervous. Biting his lip and crossing her arms as if he had a tummy ache. His face was still twisted into a grimace and she saw him look toward the door and catch her eye. She sent him a reassuring smile and wave and his lips pulled into a smile. He sent her a small wave back and the decision was made.
She wasn't going to leave her little prince. Not when he'd asked her to stay.
She slid down the wall to take a seat on the hallway floor. Not an easy task when you're in heels and a pencil skirt. One call to her assistant and all her calls were forwarded to her cell. Within an hour she was still on the ground, this time engrossed in a review of the city budget while she listened to the children play and laugh in the room she sat next to. She got more than a few strange looks that day and she had no doubts that she earned them. She must've been quite a sight, perched against the wall, her trench coat folded up against her back providing minimal comfort as her eyes ran over the various papers she'd pulled from her briefcase and spread around her like a fan. She had no doubt she looked like every school's worst nightmare: a workaholic mom who just refused to let go.
It was another two hours before she saw Henry again, walking in a straight line with Mrs. Jameson and his classmates, most likely on the way to lunch. His grin had returned as he waved to her on his way down the hall.
"Hi Mama!" he'd happily whispered as he passed her.
She'd smiled and waved back to him, pressing a finger to her lips to remind him to be quiet like the teacher had instructed. He repeated her action and continued down the hallways with the others until he was out of her sight. Once he disappeared behind the cafeteria doors she leaned her head against and let out a relieved sigh. Her little prince was doing just fine.
Still she didn't leave.
She stayed until the day was over. Finally folding up her briefcase when the final bell rung and the students started to spill from their classrooms. Not ten seconds later her eyes fell on the light up shoes she knew so well and she looked up to see her little prince grinning down at her with a crudely made drawing in his hand.
"Hi Mama!" he chirped, holding up the drawing. "Look what I made!"
She "ooh"-ed and "aah"-ed at the artwork he'd handed her. A macaroni contraption that she was sure was meant to be a big butterfly and a little butterfly.
Hand in hand they left the school the same way they'd entered it, walking the same path home that they'd traveled hours before on their way. The only difference being that this time it was Regina's turn to ask the questions.
Did you like ?
How was lunch?
Did you make any new friends?
Henry's grin had returned in full force as he chattered away at her side, revealing every detail of his first day of school.
is so nice and funny! She makes me laugh!
The mac and cheese was good but not as good as yours.
I made friends with Anna and Jamie and Marcus and Becca and…
She listened to all his answers with a smile on her face, relieved that her little prince's first day of school was everything that he'd hoped it would be. Before she knew it they'd returned to the mansion. Digging into her pocket, she pulled out her house keys and just as she was about to open up the locks she heard him say "I'm glad you didn't leave me."
She turned to him with a smile and easily responded, "Of course I stayed. That's what mommies do."
To be continued...
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