Thank you so so much Marie and Lauren! I hope you like it...
Regina arrives at home at 4:15pm. Her head is reeling with thoughts as she mentally makes a to do list for before Henry gets there. Prepare his bedroom. He's injured. Will he need more pillows? Painkillers. Ice. Is he hungry? Should I make dinner? Ruby mentioned they were at Granny's.
At last, she decides to place an extra blanket on the guestroom's bed – just in case he's cold at night; she prepares a kit with a towel and supplies. Then, she takes a quick shower to freshen up and changes into "casual" slacks, a shirt and flats. Last topic on the list, dinner. What does he like? Mac and Cheese. After all every teenager likes that, right? She gathers the ingredients for a homemade mac and cheese. It's 5pm and she thinks they should be here by now.
In the car Ruby tells him about Regina. She tells him that she really believes this is going to be it. He listens to her quietly. He's in too much pain right now, his journal is torn apart and all he can think about is what this woman, Regina he reminds himself, is going to do to him; they always do something. So, when Ruby finishes trying to get him excited about the prospect of a home, he only adds, "It never lasts more than a month."
"Wait, what?" Ruby asks, not sure what's he's talking about. He sighs, untangles his fingers and looks at her eyes through the mirror, then explains, "You know… it never lasts more than a month. In a month this family will realize I'm not special; I'm not the baby they've dreamed about saving from the streets. And-"
"Henry, you are special. And if it has always been like this… then give me this month, try to live this month through and then we'll talk again." She slows the car and parks in front of a red cricked building. "Okay, this is it."
He looks at the building and takes a deep breath.
"One month is all I'm asking of you." She unbuckles and turns to face him with a smile that is supposed to encourage him.
"Okay"
"Uh…before we go in, you should know that you're not going to fool her with the 'I'm fine and nothing hurts' talk"
He blinks and his eyes widen at her, Ruby chuckles a little and adds, "and I thought you should know that. Are you ready, buddy?"
He nods and gets out of the car.
Regina is placing the Mac&Cheese in the oven to grill the cheese on top when she hears a knock on the door. She fixes her clothes, places the towel on the cabinet and takes a deep breath.
"Breathe, Regina, breathe, he's probably as nervous as you are." She tries to calm herself, then imagines Daniel doing the same. She stops in front of the door, one more knock, she opens and Ruby's already speaking.
"Hi, Regina, for a second I thought you weren't home"
Regina apologizes and looks at the boy, a young man, standing behind her.
"I'm really sorry I was caught up cooking and-"
"No problem."
Regina moves to the side of the door and invites them to come in. Once they're inside, Ruby puts a hand on Henry's shoulders and brings him closer to them. The boy is sheepish and hasn't said a word except for a shy Hi.
"Regina, this is Henry," the woman smiles at him and he feels her scanning him, he wonders if she's noticing he's hurt, "Henry, this is Regina Mills."
Regina extends a hand to Henry and he is on the way to shake her hand when he remembers the stinging pain on his right wrist. He quickly withdraws it and gives her his left hand instead causing the handshake to be somewhat awkward and to Regina's taste, suspicious.
"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Mills"
"Nice to meet you too, Henry. You can call me Regina. Are you hungry?" She invites them to move to the kitchen.
"Actually, Regina" Ruby starts, "we just ate at Granny's"
"Oh, okay."
"But I do need to talk to you quickly."
"Sure." She looks at Henry, who's standing right by Ruby's side. He has puffy, tired eyes, too tired for someone his age. "Henry, are you tired? Why don't I show you your room and you can make yourself comfortable?"
"Okay."
"Good, follow me." She leads the way to the corridor and Henry has the impulse to follow, but first he takes a glance at Ruby to check if she's coming too. Regina notices he's insecure about it and adds, "Ruby, you can come too."
The bedroom is classy, it doesn't look like a teen's room but it's classy and comfy. Henry never had this and he wonders for how long this will last.
"Okay" Regina says point towards specific places in the room, giving him instructions, "I placed extra sheets and a towel on the bed for you, you have your own bathroom and I left supplies for you there too in case you needed it… I… I didn't know what you were bringing with you."
Ruby just smiles looking at both of them interacting, they're both nervous and acting awkwardly, but she sees the way Henry falters every time Regina shows some affection. She can see the way Regina looks at him, with a motherly interest.
Henry nods and puts his bag on the bed.
"Thank you, Mrs. M- I'm sorry. Regina."
"If you need anything my room is right across your door, there's water right there," She points to a little table on the corner.
"Okay."
"You're tired, so feel free to go to sleep if you need to."
"Yeah, buddy, that might be a good idea."
He's yawning, his body is sore, he has a headache… Sleeping is a great idea.
"Okay, I'll take a shower and go to sleep."
"Great." Regina looks nervous but she adds, " Henry, I took the day off tomorrow, would you mind having breakfast with me? I understand if you need to sleep more, It's… It's alright."
"No problem."
She releases a much held breath, "Okay, I'll knock on your door when the food is ready. Good night, Henry."
"Good night, R… Regina." It's the first time he smiles, he's sitting on his bed passing his hand on the sheet feeling its softness.
"Good night, buddy!" Ruby says and winks at him "15 days, okay?"
Regina looks puzzled at the comment. Henry looks at her then at Ruby again.
"Okay."
They leave and close the door. Henry lays on the bed and he tries to control his thoughts, tries not to be so hopeful about this. He falls asleep wearing his clothes and shoes, uncovered and sore.
"Would you like some Mac&Cheese, officer?" Regina closes the door and points towards the kitchen.
"Sure, I can't say no to that."
Ruby takes a seat at the kitchen's island while Regina is placing the plates and utensils; she takes the pasta from the oven.
"He's a good boy."
"I believe you. Is he well enough to go to sleep? I mean he's clearly in pain?"
"He'll be fine for tonight but you might need to take him to a doc or give him some painkillers and ice tomorrow."
"Hum…" She motions to serve Ruby and the officer nods. Her movements are rigid and Ruby can smell the anxiety from Regina.
Regina opens her mouth to speak, closes it with uncertainty, then says, "What's his story? Does he have-"
"He doesn't have a family. He doesn't fit the system either-"
Regina chuckles bitterly, "Who does?"
"Point taken. I've been the one to take him from one home to another, and he was always left behind. I don't know, sometimes a baby was more attractive than a boy; sometimes the biological kids didn't accept him, or the parents were… well assholes. He's not like the other boys. He's hopeful and caring…"
Regina smiles at the description.
Ruby continues, "although I'm afraid he's losing hope now. Look, I don't want to put pressure or anything. This is something that has to work for the both of you, I care about him and I remembered all the times you were heartbroken to say good bye to a child, I remember you telling me why you wanted to foster and I thought maybe this could work out."
"I hope I can be what he needs me to be… a teenage boy? I'll… I'll do my best."
"It will be more than enough." She puts the last scoop of past on her mouth.
"Thank you, Ruby, for… for thinking of me. I appreciate the trust."
"No problem. I have to go now, I sort of ignored all the calls from the station to stay with Henry. I'll bring the documentation I have of him tomorrow. Oh! I almost forgot. I haven't really told much about you to him, but something he'll be mesmerized about is your job… he wants to be a writer."
"Oh… I think I can certainly use that in my favor."
They head to the door, Regina opens it for the officer.
"Thank you again, officer."
"You're welcome, Regina. You'll be a great mother to him if both of you allow yourselves. Good night and thank you for the dinner."
"Good night." She closes the door and sighs. She cleans the kitchen and thinks about the boy with sad green eyes and a sore body that is sleeping in the guestroom.
Regina takes some ibuprofen and a ice packet, then goes to his bedroom– when did she start thinking about the room as his? Well, it is his. The door is still closed and she carefully opens it, afraid to wake him up.
Seeing him there she realizes she could be the mother to this boy forever. She could come to this room every night to the same scene and she would never get tired of it. He's sound asleep, in a awkward position, one of his legs is dangling outside the bed, he's wearing the same clothes he came in, his left arm is holding his torso and his right arm is resting by his side, his head is tilted to the opposite side of his – not violet – cheek.
She watches him for few seconds and moves closer to him. She feels like she should wake him up so he can fix himself on bed but she's afraid to scare him out. Instead she takes the leg that is outside of the bed and gently puts it beside the other, she gets the extra blanket she placed on the bed to pull it over him. Regina leaves the medicine and the ice on the nightstand by the bed and grabs a glass of water to leave there too.
She whispers, "Good night, Henry, welcome home." Regina closes the door and goes to her room.
She wakes with the sound of her alarm clock. It's 6:30. As always, she puts on her robe and leaves her room stopping to face Henry's door. Realization hits her; she has a teenager at home. One, which will most likely wake up starving. She goes to the kitchen and gets the kettle working for her much needed coffee and starts preparing breakfast. Or a banquet.
He opens his eyes and it takes him a moment to remember where he is. It takes only one second for him to know why he woke up, the smell of food, good food. He instinctively uses his right arm to push him up and regrets it the moment he does it. His body hurts even worse this morning, his wrist is swollen and somewhere round his rib cage everything hurts.
He looks around the room and notices the glass of water and the painkillers on the nightstand. He shouldn't take medicines with an empty stomach but he doesn't think he can do much without the medicine. And he needs a shower.
Once he's showered – it was harder then he thought to take off his shirt but he managed – he takes a look at his face, his cheek is a little swollen too and purple-ish. It's going to be harder than he thought to hide the injuries and his pain. But, he doesn't want to cause trouble to anyone or to bother anyone with his needs.
His stomach makes a sound close to a growling dinosaur and he knows it's time to face this new reality.
Regina is sitting on an armchair, a pack of papers on her lap and one pencil in her hand. She's concentrated and writing something on the paper. Henry glances at the table and there's a full breakfast there waiting for him. On one of the walls there's a book shelf full of books and pictures, one of them shows Regina with a man. Henry thinks it might be her husband. He doesn't know how to approach her so he clears his throat and says, "Mrs. Mills?"
Regina looks up from the transcript she's reading to see a shy boy looking at her with uncertain eyes. She notices he changed his clothes and that his face is a little more swollen than yesterday.
"Oh, Henry. Good morning! I'm sorry, I didn't hear you coming in…"
"It's okay, I just came here."
"Did you sleep well?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"You can call me Regina," she stands up and gets closer to him, "Are you hungry?"
His stomach answers for him and he blushes.
"I'll take that as a 'yes!' Come, I made us some breakfast… I hope you like it."
He nods eagerly. He doesn't remember a time or place where he felt anything like this, home.
Henry takes a sit and Regina sits across him.
"Mrs… Regina, thank you for… for this, all of it."
"You're very much welcome Henry. I called a… a friend of mine, he's a doctor and I'd like to take you to see him. It's just for… just to check if you didn't break any bone or if you need any extra care besides the painkillers and ice."
He looks down at his plate and also sees his damaged wrist.
"Okay."
They eat for a while in silence; he was clearly hungry. After some time, Henry points to the bookshelf and asks, "Have you read all of those books?"
Regina follows his motion and smiles at the old bookshelf Daniel had chosen for them, on of their first possessions.
"Hum… Sorry to disappoint, but no. Some of those books were…" she pauses because she really didn't plan to talk about him at this point.
Henry notices the shift in her eyes and the discomfort there.
"…they were Daniel's."
"Is he your husband? Is he traveling?"
"No, Henry, he is not my husband. He was my fiancé but he passed away years ago."
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Mills, I didn't mean to… I'm sorry."
"It's alright, but it's Regina, remember? And you're living here now, you'd eventually ask about the pictures."
He feels like he has already screwed this up.
She continues the conversation as if nothing happened. "Do you like books?"
"Uh… yeah, I do. I really like books."
"Well, then, you're more than welcome to read whatever you feel like, believe me when I say that there are plenty of them in the house. Perks of working as a book editor."
She's smart, she waits for his reaction thinking about what Ruby said.
"You're a book editor? Like, for real?"
"Indeed I am."
It's the first time she sees him truly smiling.
"Okay, young man, I'll take the dishes and we'll leave as soon as I'm done to see Robin… the doctor." She excuses herself form the table and starts cleaning the table.
He watches her and wonders if Ruby was right. He needs to hope for the best. He needs to believe that the woman in front of him can be what he's been waiting for.
"Can I help?"
"Of course."