SQW is back and I am so incredibly excited! Let's kick it off with my take on Sharing A(n other) Child; of course, the usual disclaimer applies (the show and characters are not mine, sadly). I hope you'll have as much fun reading this little story as I did writing it.
May you all have a great Swan Queen Week! 3 Stay awesome, Swen friends!
Family night had always been special to the Swan-Mills family: Wednesday nights were their chances to spend some quality time together, without being bothered by work of Henry's school work or other activities. Planning the family night, however, had slowly become increasingly difficult: each member of the family had their own idea of what constituted good family fun. That's why, to ensure everyone was pleased, Regina had come up with the idea of posting a list on their fridge where everyone could add their ideas for the upcoming family nights. It had been working so far, and everyone in the family checked daily if someone had come up with an interesting proposal. On that Wednesday morning, however, Regina was left more than surprised and slightly uncomfortable by the latest addition. There was a new entry, underneath "make a photo album with last Christmas' pictures" in Regina's neat and careful handwriting and "eat the largest ice cream sundaes we can find" in Emma's quick scrawl.
"Discuss baby brother or sister"
Henry had apparently scribbled it in a rush, probably before going off to school. Regina knew there must have been a reason why he'd practically run out of the house to hop on the bus this morning. She re-read the sentence a few times, to make sure she hadn't misunderstood what her son meant, but she eventually had to come to the only reasonable conclusion: Henry wanted a sibling.
"Hey beautiful, what've you got there?" Emma exclaimed joyfully as she entered the kitchen, her empty coffee thermos in hand. She reached for the coffee pot, filled her thermos and turned back to Regina, who was still standing there, obviously shocked.
"Is there something wrong?" Emma asked, slightly concerned. She glanced at the paper Regina was holding and smiled upon realizing it was their list for family night. "Did Henry write something? What is it? Something ridiculous I'm sure?"
Regina shrugged, at a loss for words, and handed the paper over to Emma before leaning against the kitchen counter.
"Discuss baby brother or sister? What on Earth…?" Emma's voice raised an octave as she read out loud what her son had written. She looked at Regina with wide eyes and a very obvious apprehension. "Where did he get this idea?"
"I don't know." Regina shook her head. "He never mentioned it before – wait." Emma looked up at her expectantly, silently urging her to go on. "He did say something when we were babysitting your brother, the other day. Something about you being lucky to have a brother, even if he probably felt more like a nephew than an actual brother. I didn't think much about it at the time, but… Do you think it's been on his mind for long?"
"Probably? You know Henry, he thinks alone for a while and then he throws his conclusions at you and expects you to understand his whole reasoning. He's so your son."
"Yes, because you're always so open about what's on your mind" Regina replied with a smile, gentle sarcasm dripping from her every word.
Both women smiled at each other. This kind of playful banter was a regular occurrence between them, and they never got tired of it.
"Well, what do you think then?" Emma prompted. "Is it something you even want to discuss?"
"We've always discussed everything and anything with Henry, I don't see why it should change now –"
"I meant do you want to discuss it with me?"
"Oh." Regina paused for an instant, observing Emma's face. "Well, we probably should, shouldn't we?"
"Yeah, probably." Emma couldn't help but sound disappointed that Regina had to think about whether she wanted to talk about it.
"Do you have time now? Or should we maybe do it at lunch?" Regina's voice was now so professional, as if she was merely scheduling an appointment with a slightly unpleasant citizen of Storybrooke.
"Lunch works for me. I'll come meet you at your office, okay?" Emma's throat tightened as she said those words. She needed to leave quickly, before she let her emotions get the better of her. "Love you!" She placed a kiss on Regina's cheek before grabbing back her thermos and exiting the kitchen. Less than a minute later, her Bug had driven halfway up the street, leaving Regina alone with her thoughts.
Lunch time came much quicker than both women would have wanted it. They had both been lost in thoughts all morning, tallying the pros and cons of adding to the family. When Emma knocked on Regina's office door, she was surprised to find herself anxious. She took a deep breath before stepping in the room and going straight to sit down in Regina's couch, where Regina joined her a few moments later.
"How was your morning?" Regina asked, trying to keep the conversation casual.
"I'm not sure. I don't think I was paying much attention, I was thinking about our talk" Emma answered honestly.
"I thought about it too." Regina's tone had switched back to mayoral, and Emma couldn't help but cringe. "Should we share our conclusions on the matter, then?"
"You don't want a baby, do you?" Emma burst, all plans to remain calm now forgotten.
Regina was startled by the sudden outburst retreated slightly on her side of the couch.
"Why would you say that, Emma? I haven't said anything yet."
"You don't have to actually say anything. You sound… Unhappy with the situation. As if you're trying to refuse without looking like the bad guy." Emma looked down at her knees, pouting like a child.
Regina chuckled slightly, almost sadly. "Oh, Emma. I'm sorry you thought I wanted to refuse. I was just surprised about the whole thing, to say the least. I didn't expect to suddenly have to talk about it."
Emma looked up at her, green eyes flashing with hope.
"So it's not a no on the baby?"
"I would never say no without thinking about it first."
"But…?" Emma could sense the "but" coming.
"I'm not sure." Regina confessed. "It's all very tempting, but… You weren't there when Henry was young." The words weren't said in an accusative tone, but they stung nonetheless. "I don't think I was a very good mother then. I mean, Henry was fed and healthy and I kept a roof over his head and he was materially fine, but… I'm not sure I was very good at loving him."
Regina's self-doubt hurt Emma more than any remembrance that she had missed most of Henry's childhood ever could.
"What do you mean, not very good at loving him? Regina, you've always been an incredible mom to Henry. He's turned out amazing, and you get most, if not all, the credit for that."
Regina smiled sadly before softly patting Emma's hand.
"It's very sweet of you to say that."
"I mean it, Regina." Seeing that no amount of complimenting would ever get Regina to see how good of a mother she had been, her Evil Queen breakdown aside, Emma added: "Anyway, I'll be here this time. And you can't deny that, together, we make a pretty kickass team moms."
"Team moms?" Regina chuckled. "I like the sound of that."
"Yeah, me too." Emma pulled Regina into a one-armed hug. "So, now that we've gotten this out of the way… What do you say about this potential baby?"
"I can't wait to meet them. I mean, only if you're 100% on board for this, of course."
"Are you kidding me? I've never been more on board for anything in my whole life!" Emma's eyes were sparkling, and Regina's smile was properly radiant. Both women stayed silent a second, reveling in each other's happiness until Emma broke the silence, sending them into a fit of laughter.
"Man, this baby is going to be the greatest baby ever made! No one stands a chance to team moms."
When Henry came back from school on that Wednesday afternoon, he was surprised to see a paper taped to the front door of the house. He got slightly nervous when he recognized their list of ideas for family night. One of his mothers had circled his proposal in red, and the other – Emma, he was certain – had put a smiley face next to it. Henry grabbed the paper, with a wide smile on his lips, and he rushed into the house, impatient for family night to begin.