CHAPTER 3
The Mills' family lawyer, August Booth's face was red as he slipped an envelope to his white faced bosses. He wasn't in a habit of identifying with his clientele but this was different. This was an egregious screw up at the hospital that had cost his clients their child. And had done the same to some other poor unsuspecting family.
But August wasn't just any lawyer in the firm. He had been taken underwing by the great man himself. He didn't know what it was. He had been a screwup all his life. But after watching him in a court room where he had managed to successfully argue down his latest DUI case, Henry Mills had taken a shine to him.
He'd sobered him up. Gave him a purpose. Let him know he was worth something in life. He'd paid for his college and helped him pass the bar. Then he'd given him a job in their law firm which was one of the most successful law firms in that part of the world. And he'd made the man that no one expected anything of his protégé. August would forever be grateful. There was basically nothing he wouldn't do for the Mills. They were his family now.
He watched quietly as they opened it up and read the papers within. August wasn't ashamed to say that he had a certain look and way about him that charmed the ladies. He'd managed to use it to his advantage to get information on another baby girl who'd been born at the same time as the Mills' baby.
"Is this a joke?" Cora asked as her eyes flashed dangerously. "The woman who has my baby is named Snow?"
Henry Sr. patted her hand, "Dear, lets not get sidetracked. What's important is where do we go from here?"
They looked expectantly at August. He merely shrugged, "that is up to you. If you want to keep this quiet it's fine. No one knows anything yet. It could stand that no one ever will."
"But she's ours," Cora yelled.
"And Emma is theirs," August pointed out.
Cora dropped her head in her hands. She began to quietly weep. Henry rubbed his wife's back as he stared across and into the roaring fires of the fireplace.
Emma knocked quickly before sticking her head in, "Mom my friends are here." She'd already cleared it with her earlier that her team was going to be stopping by for a slumber party. Which basically meant camping out in the den with snacks while coming up with wild things to do to quell their boredom from the burden of being 15. "Hey Auggie," she grinned at her favorite supposed adult as she leaned a little further into the room.
August grinned back at her. The two had a time tested friendship. Emma would often go to him before turning to her parents because August got her unlike they did. He was basically a big brother to her.
Henry turned his body so that Cora would be hidden from his daughter's view. He fumbled in his back pocket for his wallet handing it over to his daughter, "Order whatever you'd like dear."
"Plastic," Emma grinned wider as she waggled her eyebrows as she looked through his wallet for his credit cards. "Cool," she left with a loud whoop to her friends.
With Emma gone, the adults began to sober up. There were two little girls at stake here. And both deserved the best that their parents had to give.
"Regina," Cora breathed.
"Huh?" Henry turned to his wife. Her tears had dried but he knew it wouldn't be for long. Though Cora was a woman who kept her emotions close to her, they'd been together for almost 20 years. Henry knew that still waters ran deep.
"Our daughter's name is Regina." She gave him a sad watery smile, "a name fit for a Queen."
August cleared his throat, "if you want, I can do some more poking around while we give you two time to figure out what you'd like to do next."
The Mills thanked him and he quickly made an exit. He had just gotten onto his motorcycle when Emma stuck her head out the door, "Hey Auggs when ya gonna take me on that spin you've been promising."
"Someday Ems. I promise," he said as he put his helmet on.
"Yeah, yeah," she waved him away. "By the time that day comes I'll have my own motorcycle."
August laughed, "like your parents would allow that."
Emma sighed and hung her head. "I guess it'll just have to be our little secret," she winked and waved her goodbyes.
August sadly watched her go back into the house. Whatever happened he was a part of this family. It would affect him too.
RQ
August Booth crossed the town lines into Storybrooke, ME a few days later. He'd been glad when Henry had asked him if he could get more information on the daughter that they'd been cheated out of. He was as curious as they all were about her.
He'd pulled into the inn which seemed to be the only place to rent a room for a few nights. And he was fine with that. It seemed clean and he was a simple man with simple needs.
He had just ordered some lunch at the diner which seemed to be where everyone hung out at when he saw her. He knew right away who she was. She looked a lot like her Mother.
He was staring as his waitress came over to drop off his meal. She followed his gaze. Ruby wore as little clothing as humanly possible so she was used to being stared at not ignored. She pouted as she followed his steeled gaze, "that's Regina."
August came out of his trance, "excuse me?"
"Regina. She works here part time. And she does a lot of the cooking. Her baking is the best. Even Granny says so and she never compliments anyone's cooking except her own. But Regina's a definite close second."
August smiled, "well the way to a man's heart is through his stomach."
Ruby lowered her voice, "not always," she said provocatively as she let her eyes wander down his body. The man was gorgeous. And his build was awesome. Ruby's flirting was normally harmless. Unless the moon was in a particular phase. Then all bets were off. Plus they didn't get too many visitors in this small town. They weren't on the path to anywhere. They were barely even on the map.
"She mostly works in the kitchen. She loves the cooking for some reason. But occasionally she'll helps out up front. Plus we have to share our tips with the cooking staff. So being generous to me is the same as being generous to her," Ruby hinted.
August blushed. He had wanted to play this a lot cooler. But it seemed a small town coupled with almost no visitors left the people around with nothing better to do than worry about what everyone else was doing. God he hated small town life. He picked up his knife and fork and began to eat. His face took on a shocked quality as the flavors from the lasagna burst in his mouth. "Oh my god. She made this?" At Ruby's nod he was blown away, "This is incredible," he couldn't help himself. He ordered another plate on the spot.
As an Italian boy, he knew Italian food. He was a born skeptic and honestly even in New York, only his Father's cooking could satisfy him. Plus he was extremely tall with a large build. He had a fast and healthy metabolism. Henry had gotten him into working out to help with his temper and excess energy. His body was built to handle carb overloads.
But this was different. The girl had a gift that was for sure.
He was surprised to see her walk over with his second plate. He looked up into large, expressive brown eyes that made him think of her Mother.
She had a beautiful smile that lit up her whole face, "I'm glad you're enjoying my lasagna."
"It is. I'm an Italian boy from New York and I can honestly say this is the best I've ever had," he grinned at her.
Regina blushed and began to retreat. "I'll leave you alone now."
He reached out and grabbed her hand, "No. Please. Sit."
Regina looked down at his hand on her wrist. She had no idea why but for some reason it didn't irritate her like it would've had it been one of the males around the town. Plus he was a tall, dark, handsome, mysterious stranger from a big city.
She looked around at the diner crowd. It was late and the rush was over. Now it was just nosy townfolk lingering over coffees and gossip. She smiled into blue eyes as she took a seat, "okay."
