The road between Elyria and Sherwood is hard-traveled and inhospitable. Torrential rains and the subsequently soft earth turn the three-day carriage ride into a five-day nightmare filled with mud holes, broken axles, and weary travelers.
Not about to set out for the local forest after dark, Beatrice Atherton willingly pays the price for a night spent at the Rose and Crown. Under any other circumstances she would have considered it frivolous and wasteful, but after a hot meal, and an indulgent bath, she falls into bed and sleeps as soundly as it is possible for a woman of her age and means to do while in a strange bed.
Awake only twice in the night, she rises early the next morning, dresses in her second-best apparel, laces her boots up tightly and sets out on foot. Not far outside of town, she looks over her shoulder when she catches the sound of sleigh bells. Stepping to the side of the narrow dirt road to allow the on-coming wagon passage, she offers a reserved but friendly smile to the driver of the plain, but serviceable wagon when he takes the lead.
Some twenty feet ahead of her, he slows his team and looks back over his shoulder. "It's a long walk down a lonely road, Mrs. Not another house for a good ten miles in the direction you're headin'. I don't suppose you'd be likin' a ride now, would ya?"
She eyes him politely but warily. "Thank you for the offer, sir. That's very kind of you, but I'm no stranger to a long walk." She gives the newly fashioned walking stick she acquired from the remains of a fallen elm tree shortly after the start of her journey a spirited shake.
Nodding, he tugs at the brim of his weather-beaten hat in a gesture that encompasses both greeting and farewell. "Far be it from me to bother a lady, but I've got more than enough room up here in the seat, or I suppose you could ride in the back of the wagon if you want to. I'll be happy to drop you anywhere you want as long as it's on my route. It's gonna get mighty hot out today."
Shielding her eyes from the early morning sun, she lifts her chin and studies the heavy lines around his kind eyes. She glances at calloused hands made wide and gnarly by a lifetime of painstaking manual labor. He's big. Not just his hands; all of him. Although he looks a little neglected, and he probably possesses brute strength that age is only just beginning to sap from his big body, he's no boorish cad.
Making up her mind, she steps forward and reaches up, offering him a hand in greeting. "Beatrice Atherton. You're sure it's no trouble."
When he smiles down at her, it's the kind of wide smile that swallows the bottom half of his face. "Me name's Theodofolous Bannerman, Ms. Beatrice, but me friends just call me Teddy. Glad to know ya. Climb aboard."
On her way around the wagon, she lifts her bag into the back behind the seat before accepting the hand he offers for support as she minds her skirts and climbs in, he waits for her to get settled comfortably before lightly taping the reins against the backs of two stout mares. "Git up girlies… and away we go."
She ducks her head slightly to hide the smile she can't deny herself. And thinks silently, "Git up girlies? , Long or short, it matters not which. This ride is not going to be boring.
"Where you be heading to this fine July morning, Ms. Beatrice?"
I'm headed out to the haunted forest. She answers without the slightest hesitation.
He shoots her a sideways glance, it's meaning indecipherable, but to his credit, he does not mock her. "Me daughter's say that place is full of dark spirits."
Beatrice shrugs. "I suppose that's why the people of Sherwood call it haunted."
"That seems a good bet. I'm guessin' you're not believin' in ghosts, then?"
"Oh, I believe in them. I'm just not afraid of them. It's the living who scare me. No ghost has ever tried to do me harm."
Teddy shakes his head, laughing softly as though he's looking at something he's seen 1000 times before; only this time he's looking through new eyes. "I reckon you got a point right there, you have."
"You've got daughters?"
"Three of them, I have. And, seven grandgirls." He says with obvious pride.
"Any boys?"
"The gods didn't see fit."
"That's too bad. Still, with three daughters, your wife must've been very busy."
"Aye, she was. God rest her. Me Rachel's been gone now for three years."
"You have my sympathies."
"I thank you for that but there's no need for 'em. She was a fine good woman. We had lots of years and very few tears."
"That's the way to do it, I suppose."
"Is there a Mr. Atherton?"
"Not since my little brother died… a lifetime ago." She offers him a melancholy smile. "And, he was barely a mister."
"Any other siblings?"
She shakes her head
"No husband, and no immediate family? That's a lonely way to grow young."
She chuckles drolly. "I'm not lonely. It wasn't something I planned, and it certainly was never my intent, but somewhere along the way, I wound up den-mother to a houseful of rowdy wayward boys. When I took in the first one as an unmarried girl of 23, I suppose it sort of limited my prospects. And, it hasn't helped that I've taken in twenty more in the years since."
"Twenty!"
She wrinkles her nose. "Twenty-two, actually."
"Hush up, woman, you're having me on!"
She laughs and shakes her head; almost apologetically. "No, sorry, hand to the gods, twenty-two. Though, as I said, that never was my intent."
Teddy laughs freely. "I don't imagine it was. Any girls?"
She shakes her head adamantly. "People tried to get me to take in a few over the years but bringing home a sweet-smelling young girl to a houseful of rowdy teenage boys who were not her brothers, that seemed like an unwise thing to do."
"I'll say!"
No regrets, though. It was, without a doubt, the best decision I never made. I'm out here in search of my first boy now. I named him after my brother."
Storybrooke Maine
When the back door opens, Henry Sr. looks up from the chessboard resting before him on the kitchen table. Seated at an opposing angle, both of them sharing the same chair, are his grandsons.
"How was the doctor's appoint…"
Robin shakes his head in warning, waving his hands, trying to ward off his father-in-law's much-anticipated question.
A few steps behind the retired thief, Regina stomps into the house and, with entirely too much force, she slams the door and then slaps a low-resolution grainy black and white photograph against the refrigerator door and roughly secures it there with a magnet.
Putting their game on hold and rising to his feet to step closer and peer over her shoulder at the photograph, the likes of which he has never seen; Regina's father tilts his head to one side and frowns thoughtfully. "What am I looking at?"
Still in the throes of her frustration, Regina tries not to snap at him. She tries not to be impatient. He is still very new to this world. He's been here less than the year. This is his very first encounter with the wonders of technology as it relates to prenatal care. "Daddy, it's a picture of your granddaughter."
The old king squints and then scowls curiously. He looks from his daughter to the photograph, and back again. "What granddaughter?" He gently touches her belly. "This granddaughter? Are you sure?"
Regina chuckles softly. "Yes, Daddy I'm sure."
She watches her father's eyes widen in shock, surprise, and hesitant delight. "No! They can't do that! Can they?"
Regina nods. "They can here, in this realm,"
As the boys gather around, eager for their own glimpse, Henry whistles low and mutters a partial quote from a line of Shakespeare. "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio..."
Using her index finger to trace the outlines around each specific area at the appropriate moment, Regina says, "See, Daddy, here's her head, her tummy – she's sucking her thumb. See her little fingers. That little black fuzzy dot is her beating heart."
Unshed tears quickly moisten the corners of the old man's eyes. Quietly, he breathes, barely above a whisper. "Will wonders never cease? Blessed be, Regina! This is the sweetest, most beautiful thing I have ever beheld!"
Throwing her arms around him, Regina hugs her father zealously and kisses him noisily on the cheek. "See, how hard is that? What is wrong with my sister? Why can't she do that?"
Confused, Henry and the boys turn to Robin; looking for an explanation.
"After we left the doctor's office today, we stopped by the villa to drop off Eliana's baby blanket Zelena left here when she last visited. All Regina wanted to do was take a minute to proudly show off the new picture of the baby like every other expectant mum on the face of the planet probably does. Our girl is healthy and developing normally, and Regina wanted to share that with her sister, but all Big Red could talk about was how her eight-month-old angel is a demigoddess and she's already using her power to magically call for her pacifier whenever she wants it."
"Which is impressive." Regina cuts in. "It really is, but Robin and I couldn't get a word in edgewise. She hardly even looked at the picture. I walked in here and put it on the refrigerator, and Daddy you didn't even understand what you were looking at because this is completely and totally new to you, and still, you found something truly wonderful to say. You found a small way to celebrate with us. That's all I wanted, but I swear, here lately, you can't get Zelena's attention if you're not immortal. She's obsessed! I mean, I know my kids aren't gods and I don't expect them to be treated like they are, but my children are the three most excellent things that have ever happened to me. It would be nice if she could take two seconds and acknowledge that!"
Regina sighs and offers a tired smile as she gently touches Roland and Henry's faces with maternal affection. She breathes deeply. "I'm sorry guys. I'm grouchy, I'm tired, I'm hungry, and I'm hot. Norah and I are gonna go take a bath. When we come back down, I'll be in a better mood."