At the age of six Roland Locksely was many things, most of them good. Friendly, adorable, kind, protective. All these words could apply to him. However, the one that fit best would be impatient.
As a curious and enthusiastic child, waiting was not in Roland's vocabulary. Whether it be food, playtime or answers, if he wanted something it was a safe bet that he wanted it now. Something his future stepbrother, Henry Mills, learned late one night when he woke up to find Roland tapping him on the nose and urgently whispering his name.
"Henry! Henry! Henry!"
Henry scrunched up his face as he groaned with his eyes still shut.
"What Roland?" he whispered in a raspy voice. He reluctantly opened his eyes and squinted against the darkness, irritated once he realized it was not even close to morning yet. "What do you want?"
Roland stood by his bed still dressed in his pajamas. It was dark and though he could really only see his silhouette but Henry already knew that he was staring at him with his wide brown eyes.
"Henry, can I ask your mom to be my mom too?"
The sleep vanished from his body. He rapidly blinked his eyes as they adjusted to the darkness. Leaning up on his elbows he could see Roland's features start to take shape. The younger boy is anxiously biting his lip as he continues to stare at him through the darkness.
"What do you mean Roland?" asks Henry.
"Well, you know how my friend Andrew has two mamas but he only calls one of them mama and the other mom? I asked my mama and she said it was alright if I kept her as my mama and made Regina my mom," he explained.
Henry knew that his Aunt Marian had died when Roland was a baby. He also knew that he'd started praying to her for some reason. He thought it was really weird but when he'd told his mom that she'd said that he should never tell Roland that he felt way. That even if he didn't understand it Roland's beliefs were very important to him and he shouldn't be told that they were wrong. So he played along.
Henry shrugged his shoulders. "Okay, if she said it was okay, then why are you asking me?"
Roland nervously shifted his weight from foot to foot, hesitating before speaking again.
"Because she was your mom first," he softly answered. "Daddy says if you want someone to share something you have to ask first."
"Oh," said Henry. He pauses for a moment before shrugging his shoulders. "Well, she already does mom things for you. And all the other brothers and sisters at school share a mom. I guess, we can too."
Roland's eyes light up. "Really?"
"Sure," says Henry. "I don't mind."
He liked Roland and he wanted him to be happy. Besides, he knew there was more than enough love to go around.
Roland grinned from ear to ear but it faded when he tilted his head and asked, "But how am I supposed to ask her?"
He'd never asked a woman to be his mom before. It sounded complicated, very different than asking for a cookie or a toy.
Henry silently thought it over before replying, "Hey why don't you propose to her? That's what your dad did and it worked."
"Oh yeah," drawled Roland. He remembered his Daddy talking to him about it before it happened. He'd said that a proposal was a special way to ask someone to join your family. But his Daddy had been very nervous before he did it.
"It sounds kind of scary," he mumbled.
"Don't worry Roland. I'll help you," said Henry.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
The next day they set to work planning Roland's proposal. Snow was babysitting them at her condo while their parents were worked on some wedding stuff. Henry thought it best that the proposal was a surprise so it made perfect sense to plan it while they were gone.
For most of the morning they'd had their eyes glued to the iPad as Henry clicked on nearly every YouTube with proposal in the title. Roland sat by his side at the living room coffee table trying to make a ring out of the pipe cleaners and beads that Snow left out for them.
Looking over his shoulder, Roland grinned at the video onscreen. "That looks fun!" he said.
Henry nodded his head in agreement. He'd landed on a Disneyland proposal complete with a dancing flash mob. It looked like everyone was having a good time and the lady did say yes but it still didn't seem like something his mom would like.
"It does look fun," he mumbled. "But mom doesn't like big crowds. Besides, I don't think we can afford to go to Disneyland and we don't know that many dancers."
Roland pouted in response.
"Don't worry Roland," said Henry, patting him on the shoulder. "We can still do something special."
Just then Snow came from out of the kitchen with their morning snacks. Handing them both a small mixed fruit cup, she kneeled next to them at the coffee table and picked up one of Roland's discarded pipe cleaner rings.
"This looks pretty," she said, appropriately enthusiastic. "Is it for me?"
"No it's for Regina," said Roland. "I'm trying to make her one for the proposal."
Snow narrowed her eyes at him, confused. "I thought your daddy already gave her a ring."
"It's not for his proposal," he explained. "It's for mine!"
"Yours?"
"Yeah, Roland's gonna ask my mom if she wants to be his mom too," Henry said proudly, as he ripped the plastic lid off his fruit cup.
Snow eyes softened at their words. She silently stuttered for a few seconds before turning to Roland.
"Is that true?" she whispered.
"Mm-hmm," Roland happily hummed, with a nod of his head. "I asked my mama and she said that it was okay."
"Oh my god," breathed Snow, sending him a watery smile. Her heart leapt in her chest and her stomach started doing somersaults. Roland was going to ask Regina to be his mother.
"Well that is… wonderful. Regina is gonna love it. And I think it would make her really happy to be your mommy."
Roland grinned in response. Taking a deep breath, she looked down at the pipe cleaner rings on the table. They were adorable and obviously full of love but they weren't built to last. For a moment as big as this one Regina deserved something better. She and Roland.
A thought pops into Snow's head.
She holds her hand out to Roland. "Why don't you come with me to my room? I have something I want to show you."
Roland eagerly takes her hand and she leads him upstairs to the closet in her room. Once there she holds up his pipe cleaner ring.
"Roland this is a very beautiful ring," she says. "Any woman would be lucky to have it but you only use a ring in a proposal if you're asking a woman to be your wife."
"Oh," he mumbles, disappointedly. "But what am I supposed to use if I'm asking her to be my mommy?"
"Why a bracelet, of course," Snow replies, sending him a dazzling smile. Opening her closet door, she stands on her tip toes and pulls an old shoe box out of the corner of the top shelf. Her heart clenches a bit when she touches it. She hasn't thought about what lies inside for years now. Clearing her throat she takes off lid and pulls out a small velvet jewelry box, blowing off a small layer of dust as she does.
It's been more than ten years since she's laid on it.
Still smiling she hands it to Roland, "Here you can use this."
He opens it and finds a silver bracelet inside. It's plain, not ostentatious at all but it has a small, engraved label attached to chain that he can't read.
"Wow!" he breathes, his eyes going wide. "It's beautiful!"
She'd gotten it made years ago when she'd thought that Regina would be her stepmother. She'd planned to give it to Regina on the day she married her father. Knowing what she knows now, she's glad she never got that chance. She'd considered throwing it out when Regina had disappeared but something inside had told her to keep it. Seeing Roland's face light up she knows she was right to.
"What does it say?" he asks.
She lets out a soft breath before pointing it out to him. "It says 'Friends by fate, family by choice.''
She still remembers spending days trying to think up the right thing to engrave it with. It was hardly a fitting choice for Regina's engagement to Leopold but somehow it'd ended up being just right for Roland's proposal.
"Oh," he drawls, before smiling up at her. "That sounds pretty."
Snow nods. "I thought so. And I think Regina will too… if you want to use it."
"Yes!" said Roland, fervently nodding his head. It was way more beautiful than any of the pipe cleaner rings he'd made. He gives Snow a hug, squeezing his arms tight around her waist. "Thank you!"
"Of course Roland," she said, hugging him back. "I hope you get the answer you're looking for."
xxxxxxxxxxxx
By the time night fell it had been a long day for Regina. She and Robin had woke up at what felt like the crack of dawn to look at possible venues for the wedding. They'd been driving from place to place all day and they still hadn't been able to make a decision. She tried to remind herself that making choices like this was meant to be the fun part of wedding plan and watching the pieces come together would make it worth it. Still by the time they picked up the boys, she'd been pretty close to exhausted. However, that didn't stop her from worrying when she saw how strange the boys were acting.
They'd been whispering and acting secretive since she'd brought them home from Snow's condo. She mentally made a note to ask them about it the next day, too tired to get into it that night. After a quick shower, she'd hoped to hop into bed and go straight to sleep but Henry had appeared to tell her that Roland wanted her to read him a bedtime story. Of course, Robin had offered to take her place but according to Henry, Roland had been adamant that it should be her.
With a yawn she'd gotten out of bed and headed down the hall to his room. She found him up waiting in bed for her.
"Hello my little knight," she said, with a smile. Taking a seat on the edge of his bed she ran her fingers through his curls. "I heard someone wanted another bedtime story."
Roland pressed his lips together before softly shaking his head. "No, that's not true."
She tilted her head, confused. "What?"
"Henry only said that so you would come in here," said Roland. "I don't need another bedtime story."
"Okay," said Regina straightening up. "Then what do you need?"
Roland went silent. A shy, nervous look appeared in his eyes making Regina feel uneasy. She rubbed his back in comforting circles. "Roland?"
He took a deep breath before speaking again. "Do you remember the night that you said that you couldn't be my mama because I already had one?"
Regina's heart begins to race and she struggles to keep her face neutral as she nods her head. "Yes Roland, I remember."
"Well, I know that Mama is my mama and I still love her," he said. "But sometimes I think it might be nice to have a mama that's not in heaven like everybody else does."
"Oh honey," she drawls, brushing his curls from his face. "It's okay to feel that way."
"And I know you said that you couldn't be my mama… but if I asked you to be my mom wouldn't that be different?" he wonders.
"I… suppose so, yes," she answers, a little breathlessly. Everything's happening so fast, she feels like she can barely keep up.
Roland nods his head and reaches under his pillow, pulling out a small, velvet jewelry box. Her heart nearly stops when she sees it.
"Oh… Roland…"
"Daddy said when he asked you to be his wife he got you a ring," he says holding it out to her. "So I wanted to get you something too."
She chuckles nervously as she takes it from him. Opening it, she's stunned to find a silver bracelet inside, engraved with the words, "friends by fate, family by choice." It's absolutely beautiful. If she wasn't so completely overwhelmed she might've wondered where he got it.
"Regina… would you be my mom?"
He's taken her breath away, utter and completely left her speechless. In all their time together, she's never, not once expected this to happen and until this moment she'd never realized just how much she'd wanted it to. There is nothing in the world that would make her happier than to be this little boy's mommy.
Tears welling up in her eyes, she brings her hand to his cheek as she nods her head. "Roland… I would love to be your mom."
I hope you enjoyed this! And be on the lookout for the next chapter of What Would They Say!
