Information about the main characters:

Regina Mills was twenty-four years old, when she worked as a department manager in a group of the fashion industry. She always wanted to become a chief executive officer (CEO) but ever since she saw how many of her female co workers got pregnant, the idea of having a child of her own grew; but sadly she couldn't get pregnant, due to her infertility.

Of course there were other ways and she knew she wasn't the only single mother, so she decided to adopt a baby boy. She named him Henry Daniel Mills. Henry because of her father and Daniel because of her first love, who unfortunately got killed..

After four years, her boss finally recognized her work and talent and since he was getting old and trusted her a lot, he decided to leave her in charge of his company. She became, what she always dreamed of to become, a chief executive officer (CEO) in a group of the fashion industry.

Emma Swan gave birth to Henry, when she was eighteen years old. She felt too overwhelmed and since the father of the boy had vanished for an unknown reason, before he even knew that the blonde was pregnant; she decided to give the baby boy up for adoption. She never got to know her parents, since those gave her up for adoption as well.. She's always been a loner. Although the young woman had had a tough childhood, she got far in her life.

A few years later, after Henry's birth, she became a police officer of the NYPD.


Chapter 1: The Meeting

It was a stressful day for the chief executive officer. She had many meetings scheduled, so she texted her ten years old son, that she'd be late for dinner that day. "Hey sweetheart, I'm sorry to tell you, that I can't make it to dinner on time.. But I allow you to order a pizza for today. Love you!" It wasn't the first time, that Regina had done this.

The boy was seated in the school bus, on his way home as his phone vibrated. He pursed his lips, already guessing what the message was about, when he read the word "Mom" on his screen. A soft sigh escaped through his lips as he read the text message. "I knew it.." He mumbled quietly and as he moved his gaze up, the yellow vehicle stopped at his bus stop. The young student climbed out of it and walked home.

Once he approached the white mansion he lived in, he searched for his keys and unlocked the door, before he entered it.

He walked into his room and threw his backpack on his bed, then he searched for some money in the living room, where his mother usually left it, in case he ever needed it. "Great." The boy said ironically as he couldn't even find a one dollar bill in the small can. But luckily, he knew where his mother's safe was.

Henry walked upstairs and into his mother's walk-in closet, there he found some empty Jimmy Choo shoe boxes, next to the expensive high heels of the CEO. Behind those boxes was a small door; Regina's safe. "Alright.. 30-10-01" They boy took a deep breath, before a slender finger pushed the right numbers.

He knew the code number, ever since he caught his mother placing some money into the safe, one day. But back then, Regina didn't really notice, that her son saw the right combination of the numbers. The boy never dared to open his mother's safe, until that day.

"Easy!" A bright smile curled up his lips, but soon it turned into a confused one, as he saw a big yellow envelope inside the safe. "What's that?" As any other child, Henry was very curious and so he reached for it and decided to open it.

Sheets of papers. But not just any sheets of papers.. Adoption documents. "Adoption?" Henry said with a confused tone in his voice. "What is this?" He continued reading and stopped, once he read his name. "I-I knew it." The brown haired boy furrowed his eyebrows and searched for the name of his birth mother.

"Emma Swan" He kept searching for more details of her, such like age and the place where she lived. "Hmm.. she must be 28.. and perhaps she still lives on the 45 A 4th Street, New York."

The boy put the documents back into the yellow envelope and placed it back into the safe. He took a one-hundred dollar bill and closed the small door, before he placed everything back like he found it.

Then he ran into his room and emptied his backpack onto his bed, to put the money into his wallet and to pack some chocolate bars he had bought earlier, from the vending machine at school.

He quickly switched his computer on, to search for the street on Google Maps. Once the results showed up, he printed them and he grabbed his backpack, before he rushed down the stairs. The smart boy walked out of the mansion and towards the station.

There he asked where to find that street; and a man who worked there, told him that it wasn't that far away. "It's just a few blocks away. You turn to your right and then you walk down the street, until you see a big blue building across the street, then you turn to your left and there you're on the 4th Street." The man explained.

"Alright, thank you!" The boy smiled gently at him and made his way to his biological mother's house.


Meanwhile, Emma finished her shift at the NYPD and since it was her 28th birthday, she went to the bakery and bought herself a buttercream covered cupcake and a small blue star shaped candle. Then she drove home and let a deep sigh out as a soft smile curved up her pink lips. She placed the white box, in which the cupcake was in, onto the dining table. Carefully, she picked the small cake and set it onto the plate that was on the table.

As Henry was walking down the street, chocolate brown eyes searched for the big blue building, as the man at the station said. "There it is!" He said with a bright smile on his face. The excitement in him, was only growing more and more. His eyes spotted a street sign, saying "4th Street", showing towards the left side. His smile widened more into a grin and he searched for the number "45 A".

A few meters away, he finally found the building he was looking for. Now he hoped to find the person he was looking for, in it.

He looked for the name "Emma Swan" on the mailboxes that were outside the door.

"There! Apartment 21. She still lives here!" Henry chuckled softly and tried to push the door open. To his luck, the door was open and he got in.

The blonde lit up the candle, with a matchstick and gently leaned over the table, resting her crossed arms onto the table. She closed her eyes tightly and made a wish. Once she wished for what she wanted, she blew the candle off and in that instant, her doorbell ringed. Her eyes widened and she arched her eyebrows, at the unexpected visit.


While Henry was meeting his biological mother, his adoptive mother was on her way home. Her last customers had cancelled their meetings and so she had the rest of the day, free. She pulled over on her parking place and climbed out of her blue Mercedes. Then she locked her car and rummaged in her purse, searching for her keys.

As she entered her white mansion, she called for her son. "Henry, dear. I'm home!" She furrowed her eyebrows as she heard no reply, after good five minutes. "Henry?" The worried mother walked up the stairs and into her son's bedroom, but she just found a mess of books on his bed.

"Henry!" The tone in her voice sounded between concerned and serious. "Henry Daniel Mills!" She shouted around, but her son was nowhere to be found. Regina decided to call him, not once, not twice, but more than four times, and unfortunately he never picked up, since his phone battery had died.

Mills was very concerned. So concerned about her son, that she decided to call 911, to report that her son was missing.


The boy's heart raced wildly as he stood in front of the door, of Swan's apartment. He was already preparing himself for a rejection.

The young woman, who was still in her uniform, opened the door. Her eyes searched for someone, but she couldn't see anyone, until she glanced down.

"Oh wow.. Are you Emma Swan?" The smart little guy had a surprised expression on his face, as he saw the officer open the door.

"Yeah. How may I help you?" Em furrowed her eyebrows in slight confusion.

"I'm Henry and I'm your son." The boy blurted out the reason why he was there and quickly ran into the apartment, through the slot between the young woman and the door-
frame.

"Wow, hey, Hey! Kid! Who are you?!" Emma watched him run into her apartment. She closed the door and followed him into the kitchen. "Didn't your parents teach you not to storm into other people's home?" She added with a slight annoyed tone in her voice.

"10 years ago. Did you give up a baby for adoption?" The boy asked, but as he didn't get an answer, but just a stunned facial expression, he continued talking. "That was me."

"G-give me a minute." The blonde stuttered and locked herself into the bathroom. She could not believe what was happening. How did he even find her? Emma wondered. Tears were forming in her eyes, as memories of what had happened 10 years ago, came into her mind and she felt as if she was about to break down, but she couldn't show any sign of weakness yet.

Henry sighed softly and waited for his birth mother to come out of the bathroom.

A few seconds later, after the blonde calmed herself down, she walked out of the bathroom. "Kid, I'm gonna take you to the police department. C'mon."

"What? Y-you can't do that." The boy shook his head and walked a few steps closer to her.

"Of course I can, I'm an officer." Emma smirked weakly.

The smart boy thought of something, to make her change her mind. "Fine. Do that. Then I'll tell them you kidnapped me."

"-And they're gonna believe you because I'm your mother.." Em sighed deeply and shook her head in disbelief. "You wouldn't do that."

"Watch me." Henry smirked at the blonde.

"Alright, but let me just get you home, kid. It's getting late and I bet your parents might be worried sick about you!" The officer said as she motioned to him, to walk out of her apartment.

"I just have a mother and she's evil.." The boy let a deep sigh out as he furrowed his eyebrows and obeyed her.

"/Evil/? Really?" The blonde closed the door behind herself as she walked out after him. "Don't you think that's a little exaggerated?" She added and led the way, out of the building and towards her car.

"No.." Henry sighed once again. "She really is. She doesn't love me, she only pretends to." He lowered his gaze to the floor.

Emma stopped in front of him and kneeled down to his height, giving him gentle squeezes on his upper arm as she talked to him. "Kid.." She looked him in the eyes. "I'm sure that's not true."

"Whatever." He shrugged nonchalantly and walked around her, on his way out of the building.

The blonde got back up and continued leading the way. She asked him for his address as soon as they were seated in her car.


A few minutes later, after Regina called 911 and told them that her son had ran away, an officer showed up. Both were standing on the CEO's porch as they talked.

"M'am', don't worry. We'll find him. He might be somewhere around here." Officer Humbert soothed the worried mother.

In that moment, Emma showed up in her yellow Volkswagen. She parked her vehicle next to the sidewalk and climbed out of her car, followed by the boy.

The short haired brunette, dropped her jaw as she saw her son, climbing out of that car. "Henry?!.." She shouted and ran towards him, with open arms, to welcome her child back home.

The officer in the background recognized the blonde and with a soft nod of his head, he thanked her for finding the boy.

"Henry! Are you okay? Where have you been?! What happened?" The adoptive mother asked while she hugged her son tightly.

"I found my /real/ mom." The boy pulled back from the hug and ran inside the mansion.

"Y-you're Henry's birth /mother/?" The brunette blinked her eyes quickly, not quite believing that Henry did find his biological mother.

"Hi." The blonde nervously brushed her tongue over her lower lip, to moisten it and swallowed thickly but offered the other, a bright but gentle smile.

"I'll just check on the lad, make sure he's alright." Officer Humbert said, as he walked into the mansion.

None of the women responded to him, since they were just standing there, staring at each other. A few milliseconds of silence passed until one of them, the older one, broke the awkward silence.

"How do you like a glass of the best apple cider you've ever tasted?" The shocked facial expression of Regina, turned into a warm and gentle one.

"Got anything stronger?" Emma joked as she shrugged softly but accepted the offer and both walked into the mansion.

Once both were inside the mansion, they introduced themselves and then Regina walked right into the kitchen, while Emma waited in the lobby. The brunette grabbed two whiskey glasses and carried them to her mini bar, which was placed in her lobby.

"How did he find out where I live?" Em asked while she placed her hands into her posterior pants pockets and watched the adoptive mother of Henry, put some ice cubes into each glass.

"He probably found the papers.. I adopted him when he was only 3 weeks old. I was told, the birth mother didn't want to have any contact, but they must have written your data on the documents, anyway.." Regina shrugged softly as she poured some apple cider, into each glass.

"Right.." Emma nodded her head slowly as she pursed her lips.

"And the father? Do I need to worry about him?" The brunette raised an eyebrow, in curiosity.

"Nope. He doesn't even know about the kid." Emma shook her head and leaned against the wall.

"Do I need to be worried about you, Miss Swan?" She turned around and walked towards her, with a soft side smirk on her face, as she handed the officer, her glass.

"Absolutely not." The blonde shook her head again and raised her eyebrows lightly as she reached for her glass.

Officer Humbert walked down the stairs, with a reassuring smile upon his lips. "Miss Mills, you can relax, other than being a tired little boy, he's fine."

"Thank you, officer." Regina nodded her head once in courtesy and offered him a gentle smile.

"I got this." Emma said to the man and smiled at him as well, just as gentle.

The male officer nodded his head gently and walked out of the mansion, on his way back to the police department.

Regina gestured to the blonde, to follow her towards her workroom. "I'm sorry he dragged you out of your life. I really don't know what's got into him."

The blonde pushed herself away from the wall and followed her. "Kid's having a rough time, happens." She said and took a seat on the vintage sofa, once she entered the workroom.

"You have to understand, ever since I became a chief executive officer, balancing things has been tricky." The brunette closed the door and took a seat on the armchair, across from the blonde. "As I see, you're a police officer.."

"Uh, yeah, that I am." Emma chuckled gently and placed her glass on the coffee table, after having sipped the alcoholic beverage.

"Imagine having another job on top of it." She smirked at her opposite. "I've been a single mother. So, I push for order. Am I strict? I suppose. But I do it for his own good. I want Henry to excel in life. I don't think that makes me evil, do you?" Regina tilted her head slightly to the side and forced a soft smile as she asked the blonde for her opinion.

"I'm-sure he's just saying that, because he's a kid. You know.. kids always exaggerate things.." Em took another sip of her drink.

"Yeah.. sure.." Regina arched her eyebrows for a few seconds as she narrowed her eyes at the blonde.

"You know what. It's none of my business. He's your kid. And I really should be heading back." The blonde smiled gently and shrugged, before she took another gulp of the best cider she had ever tasted.

"Of course!" Regina straightened her skirt as she stood up to open the door, motioning for the blonde to go home. She obviously felt threatened by the blonde.

Emma widened her eyes as she was about to swallow the cider, not expecting that Regina would say goodbye that fast. She set her glass onto the coffee table and stood up, to walk out of the mayor's workroom.

The brunette walked the officer to the main door. "Goodbye, Miss Swan." She offered her a soft smile.

"Bye." The blonde said with a soft tone in her voice. She walked back to her yellow VW and climbed in.

Henry was standing at the window of his room, watching his birth mother go back to her apartment.

Emma felt watched and so she turned around and saw how the boy backed away of the window and turned off the light. The blonde just sighed deeply and started the engine. Finally driving off, on her way back to her apartment.