A/N: This fic is inspired by the song 'The Chain of love' by Clay Walker. I highly recommend listening to it sometime. It's a great song. :) Enjoy!
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The roads were blustering with blowing snow and the temperature outside was below zero. It was one of the coldest winters Storybrooke, Maine had ever experienced in its history. Gripping onto the wheel of his beat up Pontiac he'd owned since his freshman year in college, he drove down the icy road carefully, trying to get home to his family for Christmas. Glancing at the side of the road, he made out the figure of an old woman, possibly in her mid to late seventies. She was waving one hand for attention, the other hand currently occupied by holding her thin coat close to her frail body.
"What the bloody hell…" The man pulled over without another thought, his own Christmas plans being put on hold in an instant. With a slow and gentle stop of his car he stepped out to meet the woman in need. "Ma'am? Is there a problem?" He said loudly, hoping to be heard over the weather.
The woman turned to face him, a frightened look upon her face she brought her hand down to her side and nodded her head. "My car…it stopped." She said, the man being able to tell how cold she was by even her tone.
"I'm here to help." He said with a smile and a thorough look at her flat Mercedes. "Just a flat…I should be able to get you fixed up in no problem. I'm Robin, by the way."
He bent down to change the flat tire, closing the trunk to her car and looked up at her, taking in every bit of information she was telling him.
"Thank you so much, Robin. I can't start to express my gratitude-" She began to thank him and dug into her purse, pulling out a few twenty dollar bills. "I'm from St. Louis and just passing through. I must've seen at least a hundred cars go by but you're the only one who's stopped."
"You don't need to. It's Christmas." He smiled, shaking his head, hopping into his car once again and about to drive away.
"No. really, I insist!" She shook he head stubbornly and began to look through her purse again. "How much do I owe you?"
With a smile and a slight sigh Robin replied, "You don't owe me a thing; I've been there before, too. Someone once helped me out, just the way I'm helping you. But if you really want to pay me back, just make sure that you don't let the chain of love end with you."
And with that, he drove away, waving to the woman as she herself got in her car, a smile on her aged face.
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A few more miles down the road the old woman saw some little café and decided to stop and get something to eat quickly, knowing she wouldn't be at her destination for a couple hours and it was already six o'clock. She walked in, wiped her boots off on the welcoming rug at the door, and picked a booth to sit down at. Before she even had her coat off and a young woman walked up to her table, a sweet smile gracing her lightly colored face.
"Could I start you off with something to drink, ma'am?" She asked after introducing herself and handing her a menu. The old woman couldn't help but notice how her small hand so lovingly and gently caressed her swollen stomach. She must've been eight months along and she looked dead on her feet.
"I'd love a glass of water with lemon and a cheeseburger with fries." After a brief nod and some scribbling of the order down on her note pad, the waitress told her she'd be right out with her order. "Thank you, darling." The older woman smiled back at her, a sympathetic look on her face at the poor woman having to work on Christmas. She was even pregnant and she still had to work!
Well the waitress was right, her food was out in less than ten minutes within walking through the door and she gratefully ate until she was pleasantly full. When the waitress had come to take away her plate she also placed her bill on the edge of the table for her. "Just let me know when you're ready to pay." She smiled at her again before leaving through the kitchen doors.
Though she didn't know her story and most likely she never would, the woman's heart went out to the waitress, this stranger. So just before the waitress went to get her change from a hundred dollar bill, she slipped right out the door. Fresh tears gathered in the waitress's chocolate brown eyes as she read the napkin that was to tenderly placed inside the black bill book.
'You don't owe me a thing; I've been there before, too. Someone once helped me out, just the way I'm helping you. But if you really want to pay me back, just make sure that you don't let the chain of love end with you.'
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That night as she got home from work she quietly changed into her pajamas and looked at her peacefully sleeping husband before lying down beside him. She stayed awake for a while, just thinking about the money she had received and what the lady's note had said.
She rubbed her stomach gingerly and kissed her husband's stubbled cheek. Whispering soft and low, she told him, "Everything's going to be alright. I love you, Robin."
And with one last rub of her stomach, Regina closed her eyes and fell asleep, knowing that their child would be supported with help from that kind old lady.
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A/N: I know it's short, but it was only a four minute song. ;) I decided to keep Regina's identity secret until the end. And if you want to know who the old lady was, go with Granny. I never decided on who she was. Haha! I hope you all have a merry Christmas!
Review, comment, and favorite. :)