Lots of thanks to my dear beta rhona_gray ;)
Things were getting kind of crazy in the Mills mansion. To say that Cora was a control freak was an understatement, Regina was used to her mother bossing she and her sister around, but now that baby Henry was born, the woman was getting unbearable.
"At last!" Cora uttered as soon as Regina got into the room and placed the baby monitor in the hardwood sideboard. "If it started crying one more time, I think I'd lose it!"
"It's not an it, mother, he is my son." She answered as she took a seat in one of the expensive armchairs in front of the fireplace.
"Anyway, darling, I think it's time we find him a daycare facility." The older woman suggested while moving her eyes over the newspaper she was supposedly reading.
"I beg your pardon?" Regina's head shifted into her mother's direction immediately.
"A nursery school, dear." Her mother completed as to clarify what she meant.
"Yeah, I got that, but it's out of discussion!" The young lady assured.
Cora blinked a few times and turned slowly to look at her daughter, newspaper still open in her hands.
"Mother, he's three months old! He needs to stay with me!" Regina argued, her pitch rising and her forehead vein showing her uneasiness.
"Regina, sweet child, let me remind you of something." She closed the gazette and placed it on the coffee table, uncrossing her legs, "Whilst you live under this roof, you shall do as I say, do you understand?" Her voice was somehow both tender and firm.
"But Mother!"
"Do you understand?" Her mother pressed.
Tears of hatred were starting to fill the girl's eyes and she refused to let her mother see a single drop coming out of them. She got on her feet and ran to her room, climbing up the stairs two steps at a time.
The rest of the night remained silent and Regina thanked little Henry for being so quiet and taken by his sleep. She was checking on her son, when she heard a light knock on the door. She left the side of the crib and went to the door as it opened slowly, revealing her father's head. Before he could come inside, she signaled she'd come out so that they wouldn't disturb the peaceful baby.
"Is he still asleep?" The old man whispered with a smile and got a silent nod from his daughter in response. "Good. He's a good child."
"Mom doesn't seem to agree." The brunette said as they entered the library, where father and daughters usually spent time together.
"You have to excuse your mother, Gina... Her thinking mechanism is quite different from ours" he petted the girl's dark brown locks as they sat down on the sofa, "Not evil, I assure you." He completed as his daughter opened her mouth to argue.
"She wants to send him away, daddy…"
"You know that's not what she said." He tried to comfort her, but his words offered little comfort as he himself knew the girl was right. Since Regina announced her pregnancy, Cora could only talk about how young and unprepared her daughter was. She kept insinuating the baby'd have a much better like if he was raised by mature and responsible parents and she'd even mention a couple of acquaintances she knew were willing to adopt.
"And you know she discussed the issue with the Geppettos already."
"Oh, honey… Your mother's used to take care of our family decisions, she's just looking for what's best for you and little Henry."
"What she thinks is best for us, daddy, but she doesn't even listen to me!" tears were rolling down her cheeks, "I know me and Daniel screwed up, I know it! But it doesn't give her the right to make these choices for me, to live my life for me!"
Sir Henry listened to his younger daughter with a heavy heart. He knew his wife was a tough woman and sometimes would act without consulting with the rest of the family, but he loved the woman with all his heart and would never be able to confront her.
"She already ruined my relationship with Daniel, dad, I won't let her do the same to my son, I won't!" Henry tried to embrace Regina to stop her sobs, but she wouldn't let him. "You know what? She said I had to obey her if I wanted to live under this roof, but guess what? I don't want to live here anymore! She can't stop me, dad, I'm of age and I can do whatever I want!"
"Regina, reason with me… You can't leave this house…"
"Of course I can!" She got up immediately and faced her father with flushed cheeks.
"I don't mean that you don't have the strength to do it, sweetie, what I'm trying to say is that you won't be able to provide for you and your s-"
"Oh no, you're very wrong about that, father. I may be only eighteen, but I have two good arms and two good legs and I will find some place to work. I don't need this mansion, I don't need to be wealthy, all I need is my son. And no one, NO ONE will take him away from me."
Henry watched as the brunette girl stormed out of the room and shook his head.
"She's just like her mother…"
Regina spent the whole night on her computer. She just needed a plan, she kept repeating to herself while looking for jobs and hostels, but the fatigue was reaching her fast. She'd give anything to have her sister there to help her, or Daniel, who she knew would want to raise Henry with her.
"If only he knew…" Regina placed her head in her hands and allowed a few more tears to fall from her eyes. That was all she did lately: cry. Alone. She'd cry out of fear, she'd cry out of anger, she'd cry out of loneliness, she'd even cry because of all the crying she'd been doing. She got up from her chair and went to the bathroom to wash over her red face. She took her reflection in for a second and felt sorry for herself. Zelena's voice played inside her head: you look ridiculous, Regina! Oh, for God's sakes, be a woman, will ya? She smiled to the thought of her sister's voice. She missed her with all her heart everyday since the ginger girl went to London to study psychology. She wanted to text her and ask for help, maybe even go after her and ask for a place to stay, but she knew she had to be better than that, she needed to prove herself. She needed to show everyone she wasn't a little girl anymore, she was a woman and a mother and she would make her own decisions.
Regina packed her hiking bag with only the necessary items, once she knew the amount of baby stuff she'd have to bring along. She tiptoed to her son's room and completed the packing with difficulty cursing the fact that such a small creature would need that much junk.
As she managed to close the last pocket, she checked on her son. "It's almost time, Henry." She said moving the baby's hair to the side. The brunette mentally checked everything she had to take: baby stuff, clothes, toothbrush, documents, food, money… money. She opened her wallet and stared at her credit card. She knew she couldn't keep it. She knew if she wanted to live her life with no interference, she'd have to handle the money issue. She also knew the moment her parents realized she was gone, they'd track her down as soon as she used the charge card. She took it on her hand and fitted it for a second as if it represented all her problems, all control her mother had over her. She could feel the anger building up inside her system and she broke the card in two pieces, satisfied with herself. This was it. She was ready, it was time to live her life.
Regina put on the heavy backpack and regarded her son. "Please don't cry, please don't cry." She pleaded as she reached to take him on her arms. Little Henry grumbled a little, but didn't wake up and the girl breathed relieved. She carefully placed him in the baby carrier that was tightly wrapped around her waist and back and adjusted his head on her breasts so that he'd be cozy sleeping during the journey to the coach station.
It took her a little to get used to the weight that was pulling her to the ground at each step, but she marched to the gate of the house without looking back. As she reached to open it, a loud and dangerous voice filled the dark path.
"Where do you think you're going?" Regina felt a cold wash running down her spine. She took a deep breath and turned to face Cora.
"Away from you." She filled the last word with all the rage she felt for that woman.
"Silly girl, do you even know what you're doing?" Cora mocked.
"I'm sure I do." She said giving her back to her mother again.
"Come back inside, Regina. Now." The older woman ordered.
Regina stopped for a moment and looked back, but not to her mother. Her attention was drawn to the upper right window, where her father was witnessing the scene. To know her father wouldn't do anything but stare down the window was like being stabbed in the chest, but the girl regained her strength and glared back. She offered him a single nod as goodbye and resumed her walking.
"Regina!" She heard Cora shouting in a warning, "If you don't turn around right now," she paused, and Regina kept walking, "don't bother to ever come back!"
A single tear ran down the girl's left cheek as those words touched her ears and she promised herself it'd be the last one her mother would get from her.
Hey guys, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! All comments are really appreciated, don't be shy to share your review with me! :)
I have to warn you I won't be updating so frequently, cause I have another work in progress right now that is kind of my priority, but I promiss more frequent updates as soon as I finish the other one (in case you're interested, the title's A pretty real delusion)
