Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon a Time or any recognizable characters.
AN: This is written for Bambibelle84 who was the 500th reviewer of Meet Me Halfway. I haven't written a Growing Up Series oneshot in a while, so I figured I could start by fulfilling this prompt from this amazing reviewer. It starts off kind of sad, but it does end happy. It's a reboot of the season one finale, so if by some chance you haven't seen it, you may want to pass this one. There's Swan Queen if you squint.
The heart monitor beeped rhythmically as Regina sat by Henry's hospital bed. It was over. Everything she had worked for, everything she had built, everything she had sacrificed for a happy ending was tearing at the seams, and here Henry was fighting for his life because of a misguided attempt to keep him all to herself.
He knew the truth about her now, but then again he always knew. All he got to show for his discovery was his mother, if Regina could even bring herself to call herself that right now, who had cursed him. God, what was she thinking? Over the course of the past few weeks, she had begun seeing Henry more often, and ultimately Ms. Swan, but one late slightly inebriated night overrode her rationality and kickstarted her insecurities. She had sought the help of the Mad Hatter to procure the infamous apple for her. But it wasn't supposed to be for Henry.
She pressed her hands to her eyes to keep the tears at bay, but it was no use. This was her fault. There was a sliver of hope that perhaps Emma retrieving the final remnants of magic from the belly of Maleficent would be able to restore her powers and she would be able to heal Henry, but Rumpelstiltskin, that blasted imp, had taken off with it before either women had a chance to truly possess it. The hospital had called them claiming Henry was worsening, and they were right.
Only magic could save him now.
She leaned over and pressed her forehead against his shoulder and let out a breathy sob, her tears marring his hospital gown. That blasted beeping was the only sound in the room aside from her sobs, and it was a bittersweet sound, signalling that Henry was still here, still fighting, but it was nothing like his voice, his voice telling her that he was okay, calling her name.
"Henry," she cried out, clutching his small, clammy hand within her own. "Henry, I'm so sorry."
She pulled back, using her free band to wipe at her eyes, shaking her head at the circumstances. Henry didn't deserve this. Not her baby boy, her little prince. "Please wake up," she begged.
But it was no use. Henry didn't wake. Instead there was a spike in his heart monitor, and Regina prayed to every god out there to wake up her son. She'd give anything to trade places with him, give up the curse if it meant he woke up.
His monitor sped up dramatically before it flatlined.
SWAN QUEEN SWAN QUEEN SWAN QUEEN
Henry was eleven months old, and Regina had thoroughly gotten the hang of motherhood. The first few weeks she had no idea what she was doing, and she almost gave up, deeming herself unworthy of being a mother. But Henry was her son, and she'd die before she'd abandon him. There were bumps in the road, yes, but every night when she went to bed singing her little prince the lullaby her father hummed to her, she knew it was all worth it.
He was crawling and pulling himself up onto the ledge, but Henry had yet to say his first word. All the baby books she had read said most children said at least one word by the time they were one, and Henry's first birthday was fast approaching without him uttering a single sensical word. Regina had tried, oh she had tried to get Henry talking, but the infant was content with the nonverbal language Regina had taught him at a young age.
Regina had read, in another one of her numerous baby books, that the bond between mother and child strengthened when they effectively communicated with each other, and since Regina was already nine months behind on the bonding experience, she eagerly taught Henry a few key phrases in a makeshift sign language to help understand him.
He had mastered pointing to his mouth whenever he was hungry, while the flick of his wrist had Regina knowing he was all done with whatever activity he was doing or food he was eating. Regina's favourite was their little game of Regina pointing to her eyes, then her chest, then to Henry, as he mimicked each movement perfectly. "I love you," she always finished with a tickle to his neck.
Despite their understanding of one another, Regina longed to hear him speak. His babbles were adorable, anyone in Storybrooke could vouch for that, but the innate need inside her to be wanted struck her hard when it came to her child. The deep seeded fear that perhaps Henry had yet to call out for her because he knew somehow, some way, she wasn't his mother worried her whenever she let her mind stray too far. So she spent countless hours, sitting with Henry in her bed, in his high chair, or on the play mats in his playroom enunciating very clearly. "Ma-ma. Can you say mama, Henry? Mama."
He would babble back non-words or stretch out his 'm' sounds, ending in a big raspberry and careless laughter. Regina could never get angry at him for the end result was always adorable.
It was at Granny's one day when Regina heard him speak for the first time.
She was enjoying her apple pancakes while Henry had his own cut up slices of blueberry waffles as he sat beside her in the aisle, seated in a high chair, when he flicked his wrist and pushed away his barely eaten food.
"All done, Henry?" She asked with a frown. Again he flicked his wrist and reached over for his sippy cup of diluted apple juice.
"You have to eat something, sweetie," Regina enticed, picking up a piece of waffle and holding it by his mouth.
He shook his head and flicked his wrist insistently.
"You gotta eat up, munchkin," Ruby said casually as she cleaned the booth in front of them. "Your mama will be sad if you do."
Regina rolled her eyes at the waitress, the need to tell her to mind her own business and do her job dying on Regina's lips when she heard the most glorious sound.
"Mama."
Regina whipped her head to Henry and gasped, unsure if she heard what she did as the boy played happily with his sippy cup.
"What was that, dear?" Regina asked again.
"Mama," he grinned and let his cup fall to the table, reaching for Regina.
"Did you hear that?" Regina clarified with Ruby.
"Yeah," the waitress confirmed with a breathy laugh.
"Mama!"
That was all the confirmation Regina needed, and in a flash, she scooped Henry up from his high chair and balanced him in her lap, her eyes wide and amazed at her little prince.
"Again, baby?"
"Mama," he said giddily, pressing his hand to his chest and then out to Regina before tickling her neck.
She laughed happily, and smothered his face with kisses. "I love you too, Henry."
SWAN QUEEN SWAN QUEEN SWAN QUEEN
"No, what's happening?" Regina shrieked as Dr. Whale stepped into the room, followed by a flurry of nurses and Emma.
Regina was pushed aside as the attendants snipped Henry's gown off and readied the defibrillator.
"He's crashing," a nurse said as she monitored his vitals.
"No," Regina whimpered, taking a step back. She pressed into Emma who held her shoulders staring watery-eyed at Henry.
"Clear." Whale pressed the paddles to his chest, shocking Henry. His body arched but his heart showed no change.
They shocked him once more. Then twice. Until that incessant beeping that had aggravated Regina's ear ceased to sound leaving only an omniscient flatline.
"Oh god," Emma whispered, turning away briefly with a hand over her eyes.
"No, come on, Henry," Regina begged silently.
Whale shook his head solemnly and looked toward the women. "I'm sorry."
A loud sob ripped through Regina's throat as she pushed past the orderlies to get to her son. She barely processed the fact that Emma was there too, on his other side, draped just as tragically as Regina was.
This wasn't fair. This wasn't his price to pay. Henry should never be hurting. Regina sobbed openly, apologizing over and over for the son she never wanted to disappoint.
"I love you, Henry," she heard Emma whisper. And it tore through Regina because she also loved him, more than anyone else in the world. She pressed a palm to her chest and before holding it firmly over Henry's, their silent language speaking volumes.
Both mothers kissed his cheek in their sorrow, and Regina kept her lips there, promising she would change if she could just hear Henry's voice one more time.
He gasped and sat upright. "Mama."
Regina and Emma pulled back shocked to see Henry, alive and well as he gasped for breath. She didn't notice that Whale and the nurses clutched their heads and looked at Regina as if she were more than a cold Mayor. All she knew was that Henry was there, calling for her.
He looked right at her in disbelief. "Mama."
"I'm here," she gasped and engulfed him in her arms.
"Em," he choked out, hugging Regina back.
Soon Emma wrapped her arms around both Regina and Henry, and Regina almost apologized right then and there for almost poisoning the blonde. She didn't care that they were hugging in a room full of people she didn't care for. All she knew was that her son said her name.