She was still grieving from losing her farther again, now her mother has dropped this bomb on her! When she asked her mother if there was anything she wanted to say to her before she left for good this was NOT what she expected! Perhaps another apology of some sorts; but not this. Not in a million years had she expected this. The wood carver was her father. Geppetto was her father! She had always looked up to him as a fatherly figure ever since the first curse broke; but this was something complete different.

She sat silently in one of the booths in the diner thinking things through. She couldn't help but feel a little angry at her mother for not telling her; thought she was more shocked than anything else. There was one feeling she could get rid of, however, one that she was surprised to be feeling at all. Relieved. She was relieved. Regina felt betrayed, and angry, and confused, and yet she was overcome by an overwhelming feeling of joy.

Her father, or at least the man she thought was her father, was a kind man but her never had a back bone. He never protected her like her should have. Geppetto one the other hand, did. He was strong and always protected who he thought deserved to be. He always put family first and never regretted loving them or treated them badly. Or at lest that was the man she thought he was; though she doubted she was wrong if that cricket was best friends with him.

She hadn't heard the bell ring as the door of the diner opened, she was started when her son asked her if she was okay; when did he even sit down? She asked herself. "Mom?" her son urged.

"hm? What? Oh, sorry Henry I didn't see you sit down! What were you saying?" she stuttered as she tried compose herself. She was always happy to see her son but right now probably wasn't the best time for her; she just needed to think things through for a bit.

"I was asking if you're okay. You seem nervous…. or worried maybe? I don't know but I'm just a little concerned; you don't usually look nervous, never actually!" Henry rambled as he stared at his mother curiously.

"oh, Henry. I appreciate your concern, but I'm perfectly alright; just a bit exhausted from the current predicament we've found ourselves in." She explained attempting to brush off her son's curiosity.

"Mom." He looked at her a knowing look as if to say I know you're lying, and if you don't tell me what's wrong right now I'm going to find out myself"; his tone reflected his expression effortlessly.

Regina sighed exasperatedly as she knew she'd have to tell Henry otherwise she'd never hear the end of it. "I- "she began but couldn't get the words out; she couldn't quite figure out what would be the best way to articulate what she had discovered. She settled for the simplest option of just telling him straight. "Geppetto's my father!" she blurted out franticly. She was worried she might've scared Henry with her tone but didn't think much of it when she saw the same look of shock that she had moment ago on her son's face. She would have chuckled at how cute he looked if not for the current conversation topic, instead she just let the corners of her lips curl into a small grin.

"Huh?" he questioned her timidly.

"I said Geppetto… is my father." She replied with the same exasperated tone as before. Some part of her was glad that she had told some and lifted the burden of knowledge off her shoulders, another part of her was glad that henry was the first person she had told; Regina hated keeping things from her son.

"well that's…um…that's- "He paused for a moment as he processed Regina's words before letting the corners of his lips curl into the widest grin his mother had ever seen on him! True it was an unexpected revelation, but a good one nonetheless. Henry started bouncing lightly in his seat as his thoughts and ideas of what this could mean for the future. "That's amazing! The best news we've had all year really! When did you find out? Does Geppetto know? Who even told? Was it him- no! it was Cora wasn't it?!" he rambled off getting more ecstatic by the second.

Regina was relieved to see that he was happy about all this; it would have been hell if he wasn't. She gave him a small innocent smile, feeling her eyes burn as they teared up. Henry saw her begin to cry and rushed over to her side. Regina out her arm around the boy while her nestled himself up against her; her would always feel safe in his mother's arms. "Well- "She paused to kiss the top of his head lovingly, "I'm glad you think so because I don't know what I'm going to do now. He's always been such a father figure in my life since the first curse broke, but now that he is my farther I'm not sure how to feel about it.

"You're scared he won't love you, aren't you? That he won't forgive you for your past. Mom, it's going to be okay! He'll love no matter what; just like you loved me after I ran away and said you weren't my real mom. If you can forgive me than I know he will forgive you!" Henry tried to convince his mother; every ounce of his body filled with confidence.

"Henry- "Regina sighed, shaking her head defiantly, "it's not that simple. I don't even know if he knows! Cora only just told me about an hour ago; and I'm still having trouble comprehending it!...look…. I know you want everyone to be a big happy family, but that's just not how it works; life is hard and most of the time you don't have perfect relationships with the ones you love the most. Geppetto probably doesn't even know I'm his!" Regina furrowed her brows as she became aware of Henry's ever widening grin, "What?" she asked him; extremely confused with why he would be smiling after her serious outburst.

"His" He stated simply.

"What?" What in the realms was her son talking about?!

"His. You said you were his."

"Well yes; if I'm his daughter than I'm his. His daughter." She explained to him sounding matter-of-factly.

"No! I-I mean before wouldn't stop saying "his daughter", but just then you said "his"; you said it like you've accepted it. You said it like you've always been his daughter. You sound like you felt safe…... or maybe… at home when you said it." Huh! She thought; maybe he was right.