A/N: I'm not sure yet if this will just be a one-shot or if I will continue it.
Disclaimer: I don't own "Once Upon a Time" or the characters; I'm only borrowing them.
Regina Mills pushed the baby stroller along the street, surveying her town. Henry was being quiet and just looking around. The townspeople would coo at him and then look at her, murmur "Good evening Mayor Mills," and quickly walk away.
She had adopted Henry a couple of months ago, and it was amazing how much her life had changed. She used to spend nearly all of her time running the town and coming up with ways to further punish Snow White. Now she spent much of her time taking care of her son. She had bought Henry all sorts of toys to play with, and she read stories to him. She avoided reading "Snow White"; every version she had found was so inaccurate. She even sang lullabies to Henry when he was having trouble sleeping, though she would never tell anybody that.
Regina stopped for a minute to check on Henry before turning to head for home. She smirked when she looked up and saw who was heading her way.
Mary Margaret wasn't looking in Regina's direction, so Regina crashed into her, knocking the teacher over and scattering the papers she had been holding.
"Miss Blanchard, watch where you're going!" Regina snapped at her.
Mary Margaret looked up nervously at Regina. "I'm very sorry, Mayor Mills."
"I should hope so. What if you had hurt Henry in some way?"
Mary Margaret looked at Henry, who appeared to be distracted by a bird singing in a nearby tree.
"Oh, I'm sorry. He seems to be okay, though."
"I will determine whether Henry is okay or not. He could have been traumatized by this."
Henry was still watching the bird and started smiling as more birds joined in the chirping.
Mary Margaret smiled at Henry and then gathered her things. "I'm very sorry again, Mayor Mills."
"You better move along, Miss Blanchard. You wouldn't want to keep your boyfriend waiting," Regina said. "Oh, that's right. You don't have one."
Regina pushed the stroller away, smirking. Well, some things hadn't changed.
The night went by quickly after she got home. She fed Henry, read him a story about a choo-choo train, and then put him in his crib. She smiled as she watched him sleeping for a few minutes; he was her baby, and no one would ever take him away from her.
She yawned as she crawled into bed. Being a mother was exhausting. She fell asleep soon after her head hit the pillow.
Regina was lying with her head on Daniel's chest; he was stroking her hair as a breeze rustled the grass around them. The sun was shining, and the sky was a bright, shimmering blue. They were lying in the shade beneath their favorite tree.
"I'm so happy right now," Regina murmured.
"So am I," Daniel said.
"I want to stay like this forever," Regina said.
"If only we could."
Regina sat up, and Daniel followed. "Why can't we?"
Daniel looked at her sadly and reached out to stroke her cheek. "You know why, Regina."
Regina's eyes filled with tears. "Because this is just a dream," she said softly. "It's always just a dream."
Regina was always young in these dreams, and Daniel looked just as he always would look in her memories. She leaned in and kissed him, wishing that this moment would never end.
"I don't want to wake up," Regina said softly after they separated.
"You don't have to wake up right now."
"But I'll have to eventually," Regina said. "I never get what I really want."
"But didn't you get what you wanted with the curse?"
Regina sighed. "What I really want is you."
"You have me right now."
"Not for long enough, not for real," Regina whispered. "I just want to be happy."
"But wasn't the curse supposed to be your happy ending?"
"Snow White is suffering for betraying us."
"But are you happy?"
Regina sat in silence for a few moments. "I will be," she finally said. "I have a son now. He's so beautiful. I wish you could see him."
Daniel smiled. "I'm sure he is."
"Remember the children we talked about having? We were going to be so happy." Regina was crying again. She always cried in these dreams.
Daniel wiped her tears away and then took her hands in his. "Of course I do. It would have been wonderful."
They sat for a few moments, just holding hands and staring into each other's eyes. Then, Daniel started looking around.
"What is it, Daniel?" Regina asked.
"Do you hear that?"
Now Regina could hear it too. It sounded like crying, a baby crying…
Regina opened her eyes. She wiped a tear off her cheek as she slowly got out of bed. Her son needed her.