Hey I wrote something again yaaay. I'm not adopted, so I don't really know how the whole "you're adopted" conversation goes. This is also the first time I've written Regina period, and I hope I captured her okay considering she's Regina with Henry, who is considerably nicer than Evil Queen Regina. Enjoy.
Henry could remember the day his mom told him he was adopted. He'd been six, and it was the same day he'd started asking about his father.
He'd been at the park playing on the playground and his mom had sat a few feet away, reading a book. He'd spotted a little boy he knew called Darren there with his father and mother and little sister. His mom and little sister played in the sandbox and his father stood watch and interacted with Darren as he swung on the monkey bars and went down the slide. They played tag and Henry looked back at his mom and sighed. She never played with him like that.
His mom had always been slightly reserved from him and he had never known why. He had thought there was something wrong with him. Sure they ate breakfast together and she tucked him in at night, and whenever he had nightmares she'd bring him a glass of water and stay up with him until he was asleep again. He remembered that just a few weeks previously he'd pate her that clay project painted red with the imprint of his hand and given it as a gift. He'd been so proud and she had been genuinely enthusiastic with it and had given him the tightest hug. That was one of those rare moments when he felt truly loved. The rest of the time it had felt that his mom didn't know what to do with him, and it was awkward. She hadn't even taught him to ride a bike. She'd tried but it was difficult for her, so she'd had Graham teach him.
The absence of a father never really bothered him until he'd watched Darren with his father and Darren's little sister with their mother. They were warm and all happy with each other, but with Henry and his mom it was just- awkward. They were just strangers living in the same house. He watched Darren and his family until they left, and then Henry just sat at the edge of the wooden castle and swung his legs. His mom took him here for fun but he'd never really enjoyed it. He really just liked being alone. He wondered what it was like to have a dad like Darren did. Like everybody else. He didn't even know why he didn't have a dad. Mom never talked about him. The more he thought about it, the more the absence stood out. There weren't any pictures anywhere of his mom with a man that could have been his dad. His mom didn't wear a ring like all the other moms did.
"Henry, come on it's time to go home." Her voice called out. "I think its going to rain."
Looking at the sky he noticed the gray clouds developing so he climbed down from his castle and walked over to the bench she always sat at. She put her book in her purse and stood up, simultaneously wrapping an arm around his shoulder. He silently begged her to say something; to make conversation. He was so sick of silence between them. But she made no attempt at conversation and they walked quietly to her car.
It started raining shortly after she strapped him into his car seat and he watched the rain drops on the window, making a race between two of them and using his finger to trace them as the fell. Thunder rolled and he made a muted thunder noise by blowing air quickly from his lips. He always found a way to entertain himself.
The rain had turned into a torrential downpour by the time they'd gotten home and she quickly ushered him inside and took off his coat. "Why don't I make us some hot chocolate, huh?" She offered. "It's the perfect weather for it."
"With cinnamon?" He asked eagerly and she frowned.
"I don't think I have any," she said, "but that doesn't mean it can't still be good, right?"
"Yeah," Henry said hiding his disappointment and wandering into the living room. He plopped down onto the couch and stared at the fireplace and bookshelves. They didn't have a TV. She said it would rot his brain. Most of the times he didn't care about it. They had a ton of books and he often spent the days reading. He prided himself on his reading ability. He was only in kindergarten but he was already on a fifth grade reading level. Granted he struggled with everything else, but he always had one hundreds on his spelling tests and never needed help. He loved reading all types of books; adventure, fantasy, horror, you name it, he read it. He'd gotten ambitious once and tried to read The Three Musketeers but that was just a little too hard, so his mom had given him an abridged version and that had been much easier. Even still, on rainy days he would have liked to have had a TV to watch.
His mom brought in the hot chocolate and sat beside him. She dragged the quilt that laid over the couch onto their shoulders, snuggling him inside her and the quilt's embrace.
He let the hot chocolate sit for a minute and what he wanted to ask her danced on the tip of his tongue. He wanted to know so bad, but he couldn't imagine what she would tell him. He had to have a dad. All the other kids did. Well no actually, he'd met a girl named Danielle once and she didn't have a dad. She'd had two moms, but two moms was still more than he had.
He'd sighed and finally asked. "Mommy?"
"Yes, sweetie?" She said sipping her hot chocolate.
"I was just wondering….why don't I have a dad?" He said.
She choked on her hot cocoa and tried not to cough it up. She looked at him like he had snakes crawling from his mouth. Was it really that weird a question?
"Where did this come from?" She asked. "You've never asked before."
"I just noticed that everybody's got a dad- or two moms- but I only got one mom and no dad. I just wanted to know why."
His mom had frowned, a furrow forming between her eyebrows. She looked as puzzled as he had, as if she herself was wondering why he didn't have a dad. She pursed her lips for a second and then let out a long sigh.
"Henry, there's a lot of answer to your question, and I don't know if you're ready. I don't know if I'm even ready," she muttered under her breath.
"Please," Henry had pleaded. Her vague response had only made him want to know the answer more. He didn't know everything, but he wasn't so dumb as to believe that babies really came from the stork and a mom and a dad- or at least two parents- had something to do with it.
"Well," Regina started with another sigh, "I suppose you do have a dad."
"Suppose?" Henry asked. Suppose? What was that supposed to mean? If he had a dad, his mom had to have known he had a dad.
"I…never knew him. I never met him." His mom said simply as if that answered the whole question but a whole new set of questions rang in Henry's head. How could he have a dad if his mom had never met him? How could that be possible? The look on Henry's face must have given away his confusion because Regina's face gave away knowledge.
"I know that sounds weird, but it's true. You know that babies come from their mommy's tummies." Henry had not known this but he just went with it. He filed it away with things that surprised him. Babies came from their moms. Okay. "When you were a baby, you didn't come from my tummy, but instead you came from some other lady's tummy." She said awkwardly.
"But why didn't I come from your tummy if you're my mommy? Why did I come from her tummy?" Henry asked.
"I don't know. I guess it's just the way it worked out." She pulled him into and embrace and she ran her fingers through his hair. He closed his eyes and enjoyed it. That was the most affectionate they'd acted towards each other in weeks. Sometimes he felt alone, and then these rare embraces would occur and he didn't feel so lonely. "The lady you came from was your mommy, and I suppose you had a dad, but they gave you to me so I could be your mommy. And that's all that matters now is that I'm your mommy." Regina said simply. Henry now knew that it was much more complicated than coming from one woman's tummy. He still didn't know everything but now he knew babies didn't always come from people who wanted them.
"So you're my mommy, but I have another mommy?" He asked.
"No," Regina said. "She's not your mommy anymore. I'm your mommy. I was lucky enough that she let me be your mom."
"Did she not want me?" Henry realized with horror, his voice choking on tears. He hated to think that he had such an awkward relationship with his mother but his other mother hadn't wanted him at all. To feel unwanted by two mothers was almost more than he could bear.
"Oh no!" She murmured. "I'm sure she wanted you very much! I can't imagine why anybody wouldn't want you! It might have been difficult for her or she wasn't able to take care of you. I know she would have loved you as much as I do, and I'm sure she still loves you. I'll bet she thinks of you a lot. I know I would."
"You really think that?" Henry whispered, looking into the fireplace. He didn't want to feel unwelcome and unwanted. He wondered about his other mom, even though she wasn't really his mom. He wondered if she was pretty, and he wondered what his dad looked like. He hoped that they had each other even if he couldn't be with them.
"I know it." His mom hugged him tightly. After a few seconds she released him and than rubbed his back a little bit. "You go play upstairs for a little while I start lunch, okay?"
"Okay, Mommy," He hugged her again and smiled. "Thank you for telling me about my other mommy and my dad." And then he went upstairs to watch the rain race down his window.