My father had been a cop and my mother a doctor, leading me to my current line of work as a medical examiner. It didn't take long, especially when my parents were alive. I graduated high school a year early, finished college in two years, and had a medical degree at only 23, the youngest in my class. Hannah swears that it was perfect timing, that I accepted my first job only a month before my parents died. I was only 23 but I was better suited to take care of the young ones than most everyone I knew.
I was good at my job, good at solving crimes. I had vowed to myself that when Carter was a little bit older I would go to the police academy so that I could be a medical examiner and a detective. I wanted to put my super power of being able to tell if someone was lying to better use than just parenting. Though, I wasn't always sure how good I was at the parenting thing, the little boy I found curled on top of me in the morning was a good sign.
Carter's unruly blonde hair was tickling my nose and I sneezed loudly, making him shift and move. I wasn't really worried about waking him up, he could sleep through the apocalypse, but I was worried about the room's other occupant. I soon realized that that wasn't really a problem as Matthew was already in the chair across from me, flipping through the channels on the tv.
"How'd you sleep?" I asked, shifting the little boy off of me and sitting up.
"Better than you, I'm sure," Matt shot back with a smile. "We're going home, right?"
"Yeah, I just didn't want to drive last night. It was late and I was tired."
"You were pretty shaken up from seeing Henry, I could tell."
"I feel bad. I feel horrible, actually, for giving him up."
"You don't have to, no one blames you for the choice that you had to make."
"I-"
"Emma," Regina called frantically from the other side of the door. I looked at the sleepy little boy next to me who seemed unaffected and I went to answer the door. The uptight mayor looked frazzled and I had to admit, it was rather cute. "Henry? Do you know where he is?"
"Honey, I haven't seen him since I dropped him at your house."
"Yeah, well, he wasn't in his room this morning."
"Did you try his friends?"
"He doesn't really have any. He's kind of a loner."
"Every kid has friends. Did you check his computer? If he's close to someone, he'd be emailing them."
"And you know this how?"
"I solve puzzles for a living. I can help you look for him."
"Thank-thank you," Regina trembled, obviously wary of me but still very desperate.
Going through his computer turned up a search that he did to find me using his teacher's credit card that led us to the elementary school. Mary Margaret Blanchard was a dainty little woman with brown eyes, very short brown hair, and the fashion sense of a fifties housewife. I was a little afraid of seeing Regina rip into this docile woman and so I stopped her and Matt, Carter asleep where he sat on my hip.
"Will you stay here with Matt while I go and talk to her?" I asked Regina calmly, reaching out a hand to gently touch her crossed arms. She just nodded resolutely and I smiled at her, earning myself one in return. With that, I approached the school teacher. "Miss Blanchard?"
"Yes?" The woman looked up from a stack of papers on her desk.
"I was wondering if I could talk to you about Henry Mills, he's missing."
"I just thought that he was home sick. What happened?"
"Did you give him your credit card so that he could find me?"
"I'm sorry, who are you?"
"Emma Swan, I'm Henry's birth mother."
"And him?"
"This my younger brother, Carter. You don't know anything about this do you?"
"No, unfortunately not," Mary Margaret said honestly, going to check her wallet. What she found must not have been what she hoped because she let out an exasperated sigh and set it back down. "Clever boy… I should never have given him that book. They're just some old stories I gave him. Henry is a special boy. So smart, so creative, and as you might be aware, lonely. He needed it. I feel awful, this is all my fault."
"No, it's not. How's the book supposed to help, though?"
"What do you think stories are for? These stories are classics. There's a reason we all know them. They're a way for us to deal with our world. A world that doesn't always make sense. See, Henry hasn't had the easiest life. He's like any adopted child. He wrestles with that most basic question they all inevitably face – why would anyone give me away? …I am so sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean in any way to judge you."
"It's okay."
"Look, I gave the book to him because I wanted Henry to have the most important thing anyone can have. Hope. Believing in even the possibility of a happy ending is a very powerful thing."
"You know where he is, don't you?"
"You might want to check his castle."
It turns out that the boy's castle was an old wooden play structure on the beach, a rickety thing with rotting boards but loads of character. I told the boys to stay put as I approached the solemn looking boy with caution.
"Hey, kid," I called, leaning against the play structure where he was sitting. "Your mom is looking for you."
"You're my mom," the boy grumbled, looking down at his lap.
"No kid, Regina is your mom and she loves you."
"You don't love me?"
"I didn't say that."
"Then why'd you give me away? I always thought that it was because you wanted to give me my best chance but you kept them."
"Carter and Matthew are my brothers and I took them in because my parents died. Henry, I was 18 and in college when I had you and I wasn't ready to have children. I had just graduated medical school when our parents died so I had the time and money to raise them. I didn't put you up for adoption because I didn't want to, it was to give both of us our second chance."
"Couldn't your parents-"
"Emmy!" Carter yelled, running towards me with Henry's story book in his arms. Henry smiled at him and it caused me to as well, you couldn't help but love the little boy. When he reached us he smiled up at the brunette boy, handing the oversized book to him. "You left this in the caw Henwy."
"Thank you, Carter," Henry smiled at him, lifting him up to sit beside him on the play structure.
"The clock doesn't move?"
"It hasn't in years. I was hoping that when I brought Emma back, things would change here. That the final battle would begin."
"Battle?"
"There's no battle, Carter. Henry," I warned. I was fine if that was the way that Henry coped but I couldn't have him scaring Carter. "Let's go."
"Please don't take me back there. Just stay with me for one week. That's all I ask. One week, and you'll see I'm not crazy."
"I have to get you back to your mom."
"You don't know what it's like with her. My life sucks!"
"Oh, you want to know what sucking is? Being left abandoned on the side of a freeway. My parents didn't even bother to drop me off at a hospital. I might've never found a home if my mom and dad hadn't found me. Look, your mom is trying her best. I know it's hard and I know sometimes you think she doesn't love you, but at least she wants you."
"Your parents didn't leave you on the side of a freeway. That's just where you came through."
"What?"
"The wardrobe. When you went through the wardrobe you appeared in the street. Your parents were trying to save you from the curse."
"My parents are dead, kid."
"No! Snow White and Prince Charming gave you up to give you your best chance."
"Sure they did. Come on, Henry, let's get you back to your mom."
Regina was grateful that I found him and, even though he ignored her and ran into the house, it looked like she was going to hug me. The boys were in the car and so I stepped closer, touching her arm lightly. I don't know why but being around her I had this impulse to touch her as it had such a calming effect on me. She sighed and unconsciously moved closer as well, making me smile.
"He can be so very stubborn sometimes," Regina said quietly, rubbing her left temple with one hand. "Thank you for finding him."
"You're welcome."
"He's taken quite a liking to you."
"I'm so sorry for that. I didn't mean to-"
"No, it's fine. When I adopted Henry I read the entire file, including his parentage and why you gave him up. I'm not going to judge you, that was an impossible choice and you had to make the one that you could live with."
"He looked so much like him when he was born but…"
"Now he looks like you? Yes, he does."
"I couldn't even look at him when he was born but now, I don't have those same feelings. It's amazing."
"If, if you want to see him-"
"I don't want to take him away from you, Regina. He's your son. I made my decision and now I have to live with it."
"Just… think about it Emma."
