Summer Interludes
Chapter 4
Birth of Dillon and Zita- Mid June
Robin lightly clasped Regina's hand as she nervously tapped her foot. Even without an impending attack from some villain, waiting for your first grandchildren to be born was nerve wracking. Robin glanced around the waiting room. Almost everyone was family. Regina, himself and the other kids, Violet's father, the Charmings, Emma and Killan, Belle and Bae, even his sister and her family. Then there were some of Henry and Violet's former classmates, and friends like Tinkerbelle and Maleficent.
Henry, of course was in the delivery room with Violet. As Regina had done with Grace, Violet was giving birth in Rebecka's clinic. Violet had worked as a medical assistant in Rebecka's clinic from high school until she was hired by Storybrooke's main pharmacy. Violet had been a pharmacist for almost a year now. Henry had just completed his first year as a high school English teacher.
Hank Morgan was pacing the waiting room. Every so often he'd go up to Nova at the receptionists' desk and ask her to peek in and see how things were going. Earlier he'd spoken to Regina.
"I know Rebecka is far more skilled than the healer in Camelot, but this is my only child. Violet's mother had a difficult time giving birth. We had no more children after her."
"Rebecka was able to get Grace and me both through her birth safely. I had a bad miscarriage back in the Enchanted Forest, in the early years of my first marriage. I had no other pregnancies until Grace. "
"Perhaps it was a blessing." Hank Morgan said hesitantly.
"Because of the broken mad woman I became."
"Yes, that, but I was thinking about your first marriage. I know you don't speak of the man, but even I have heard that your first husband was monstrous to you. Better there was no child. I'll say no more."
"Thank you." Regina felt oddly touched by Hank Morgan's words. Not something she would have expected from the gruff man. Perhaps that explained his ability to be civil and even occasionally friendly to her, despite the stories he had to have heard about her. He merely tolerated Emma and never spoke in a friendly fashion to her. She knew he still judged her by her behavior in Camelot, not overtly anymore, but it was still there.
Roberta was posting short videos on her phone and occasionally getting her cousins Roland and brother Matthew to participate.
"Look, you're a puppy Roland. " Roberta giggled.
Roland stuck out his tongue so that a giant puppy tongue would appear on the screen.
"Do the smushed faces next." Matthew grinned.
The teens would occasionally draw in some of the adults to join in with the silliness to pass the time. Hope, Grace, Neal, Bae and Cedric also had done a few, but they were more interested in the animated movie playing on Robin's tablet. Robin had bought a tablet after using one at work. He brought it along for times like this when the girls might have to wait hours for something with their parents.
Snow had brought along Neal's old favorite board game- "Chutes and Ladders". She was currently sitting on the floor playing it with Rowena's son Cedric. The movie wasn't holding his interest as much as the other children's. Cedric though was just six, where Grace and Bae were eight and Hope and Neal were nine. Neal had recently lost interest in the game, declaring it "was for babies". Cedric seemed to be quite taken with the game. Rowena sat down next to her youngest.
"Can I play?"
"Uh huh." Cedric smiled at his mother.
"Maybe we should get this game, so you can play it at home?"
"Yeah!"
Snow said softly, "Neal's lost interest in it. Just take it home with you. Better someone is playing it than it gathering dust in our closet."
"Are you sure Neal won't miss it? Maybe he's just not in the mood for it right now."
"No, he's wanting to play games on my or David's phones. Board games bore him now."
Emma flipped through another celebrity magazine. She refused to look at the baby magazines in the waiting room. Killian looked at the pages over her shoulder and made mocking comments about the celebrities on the page.
"Looks like he got that shirt from Regina's sister's closet."
"It's a nuclear green. Probably see it from space." Emma laughed. "His hair too…"
Regina wandered over and looked at the picture, "If that's the latest fashion for men, I'm glad I'm here. That hair looks like a clown wig and so does his outfit."
Robin smirked. Curious, he had to take a glance as well. "Oh, but my love, with that you wouldn't need a flashlight in the dark."
"Are you proposing this for the Rangers' outfits?" Regina teased back.
Maleficent read the next entry in the book. She and Regina were slowly going through her old spellbook collection along with Tinkerbelle and Rebecka. They were deciding what spells could be taught to Regina's magic class. Rebecka had added her small book collection of healing magic as well. Now that the classes had been established for several years, and she had assistant teachers, Regina decided it should have a more set curriculum. Thus their project, creating a curriculum.
"Maybe we could even make textbooks!" Tinkerbelle enthused.
"Perhaps." Maleficent smiled. She found Tinkerbelle's honest enthusiasm charming. That had been the initial attraction, that and her nonjudgmental attitude. Tinkerbelle had spent her own time in darkness and despair. It had been Regina that had helped Tinkerbelle regain confidence and faith in herself.
Tinkerbelle had blamed Regina for her fall but after a confrontation the two women had taken parallel paths back to the light. A few years later they learned both their falls had been engineered by the Blue Fairy. That woman had done so much damage and for such a petty reason… But justice had been done at last; the Blue Fairy would never have that kind of power again.
Henry and Violet had come over to Regina's and Robin's house the week before and found the four women sitting at the dining room table with piles of books around them. Robin was outside with Roland, Hope, Grace, and their cousins Matthew, Roberta and Cedric. Robin was giving the kids an archery lesson.
"Mom, aren't those your spellbooks from the vault?" Henry asked.
"Some of mine too." Rebecka stated.
"Yeah I recognize that one", Violet pointed to a slim purple volume. "That's the herbal you had me study."
"Yes. It's clearly written and brief, without being too short."
"So you think we could just use that one as is?"
"Use? "
"For my magic classes. I have so many students now, as you know. Needed my three assistant teachers, plus occasional guest teachers." Regina pointed to the other three women seated around the table. "I suggested the class might become a regular elective for middle school and high school."
"And?"
Regina smiled. "If I can pull together examples of proposed lesson plans and a curriculum, they'll likely green light it within the next few years."
"Operation Hogwarts" Henry grinned.
"Remember when Blue accused Regina of trying to turn 'her school' into Hogworts?" Tinkerbelle laughed.
Maleficent smirked "Wouldn't she just hate this. Perhaps we should send a message to Avalon to let them know and pass it along to that woman."
Nova opened the door "Both babies are here!" She exclaimed happily. Then she looked over at Hank Morgan. "Violet is fine. Tired and sleepy, but everything's fine."
"Thank goodness, can I see her? And my grandchildren too?"
"Sure. Rebecka says not too many at once at first. Emma, Killian, Mister Morgan, Robin and Regina first, she said."
The five made their way to the room. Henry greeted them at the doorway, holding one of the twins. "Rebecka's finishing up helping Violet get settled. This is Dillon." He looked at Regina. "You want to hold him, mom?"
"Of course." Regina smiled and let Henry transfer the newborn into her arms. She and Robin were completely captivated by the baby.
Hank smiled and stroked a finger across Dillon's cheek, and then he looked at Henry with his normal stern expression. "My daughter okay?"
"Yeah, and both your grandkids." Henry glanced back into the room.
"Dad you can come in now. I'm settled in and so's Zita, your granddaughter."
A faint flicker of relief showed on Hank's face as he stepped into the room. Hearing his daughter's voice sounding perfectly normal eased his worries.
"So kid, you're officially a dad now." Emma said with a quirk of a smile.
"Yep! " He glanced over at Robin and Regina "Operation Duo" was a success." Henry smirked.
"Still doing that?" Emma sighed.
"Absolutely." Henry "I'll teach my kids too."
Emma shook her head.
"So, Moms, Robin, ready to meet your other grandkid?" Henry led them into the room.
Violet held a sleeping Zita in her arms.
Regina looked at her granddaughter with a worried expression. "She looks a lot smaller than Dillon."
"She is" Rebecka said "but everything checks out okay with both of them. Usually one twin is noticeably lighter and smaller than the other, it's rarely a health issue though. Especially when they are full term. They came just one week earlier than their due date."
"What are their heights and weights?" Emma asked.
"Zita is eighteen inches even, and five pounds ten ounces. Dillon is twenty and a half inches, six pounds twelve ounces."
"You were nineteen inches and six pounds three ounces. " Regina smiled at Henry.
"Don't know what your exact height and weight were, but I think you were as tiny as my granddaughter." Hank said softly to Violet. "I was terrified the first time I held you, you were so small."
When Snow and David came into the room, Snow was over the moon about her first great grandbabies.
"Ooh look at how big Dillon is, David! I think he takes after you." Snow now held Dillon, while Regina held Zita.
"Zita is tiny, like her mother. Alisande, Violet's mother was a tiny woman as well. Hank Morgan replied.
Snow turned to Henry "Will you be having a naming ceremony for them? I could arrange it." Snow said hopefully.
"Sorry grandma. I think we'll just have a party at home, like mom did for Hope and Grace."
Snow looked disappointed but then smiled, "I can help you plan the party."
Regina and Robin looked at each other amused. Snow would find a way to plan any party for any family member.
Regina had briefly taken out Dillon then Zita so the children could see them. Regina didn't think the younger ones would be able to keep their voices soft for more than a few minutes. While Roland and Matthew would be curious to see what they looked like, then want to go back to playing the games on their phones. Roberta was a bit more interested and tended to be quiet when she wasn't around her older brother or cousin. She'd come back to the room with her parents to visit with Henry and Violet. Henry and Violet's friends had stopped in for a short time but most had left now, except for Sabine and Jacinda.
Both Sabine and Jacinda had come over with the second curse, but Henry hadn't met them until he and Violet had been married and were taking college courses. Violet had met Sabine in high school; they'd been in the same geometry class but they had just been acquaintances. Jacinda was two years younger so they'd never had any classes together.
Violet decided to take a culinary arts class on a lark, in her last year, as an elective. Sabine and Jacinda were taking the same course. Early on the three women discovered they all lived in Storybrooke. Violet struggled a bit with the class, but Sabine, who was top of the class, started helping her out. Jacinda wasn't quite as skilled as Sabine, but she was still in the top 10 of the class.
Jacinda and Sabine had been meeting up at Granny's. They had persuaded Granny to let them try out their creations on customers that were up to the challenge. Granny was happy because it drew in more customers. Violet started coming in hoping to get better from watching Sabine and Jacinda at work. Henry became curious after Violet told him about her friends.
During the course of the class, Sabine and Jacinda fell for each other, then moved into an apartment together. Both Sabine and Jacinda were children of widowed parents, when they came over with the second curse. Sabine's father, Lord Jacque Toutant, had died in battle when she was eight. She and her mother, Lady Eudora Toutant, had been at sea between the Enchanted Forest and Arrendale when the first curse struck. Eudora was trying to make a trade deal between the lands. The negotiations had fallen through though, and they were on their way back. Jacinda's mother, Lady Nicola Lince Barba, had died of an illness when Jacinda was five years old. Her father, Lord Agosto Barba, had been busy trying to hold their kingdom from their more powerful neighbors. He had taught Jacinda how to fight with any weapon she might have at hand. They had been together with their counselors, discussing strategy, when the first curse struck. Their kingdom was outside of the direct effect of the curse, but like everywhere else, was struck by the secondary effect.
For those left behind outside of the curse in the Enchanted Forest they, unknowingly, were literally magically asleep for the twenty-eight years; time itself was frozen. When they awoke, at first only those with magic realized twenty-eight years had gone by and the entire population of several kingdoms were missing. The castles and buildings stood empty. Gradually the news filtered to all corners of the Enchanted Forest. People reconstructed their lives. But a bit over a year later the Wicked Witch invaded and chaos reigned in the Enchanted Forest. Then rumors spread that a strong resistant movement was gathering, centered at the Evil Queen's old castle. Sabine and her mother, and Jacinda and her father had made their way there, only to be caught up in the second curse.
The new residents adjusted to their new lives in Storybrooke. Eudora opened a fine fabric store and Agosto opened a small retail store. Sabine and Jacinda enrolled in school. Agosto died when Jacinda was almost eighteen. He'd been driving home from closing the store during a terrible nor'easter. He was found dead the next morning. His van had been blown off the road in the high winds and crashed into a ravine. The sale of the store and house had allowed Jacinda to move into an apartment, and enroll in an online college, without having to get a job. After she had fallen in love with Sabine, the two of them moved out of the smaller apartments they'd each lived in, into a larger two bedroom apartment together.
Jacinda was still finishing up her degree. Sabine's mother Eudora helped Sabine make the down payment on a bakery. Granny grumbled about having completion. Sabine though just laughed and said it wasn't really competition. Granny had a diner, she had a bakery. The bakery was already very popular though. Jacinda was pregnant and due in a few months. Henry had been the sperm donor. The four friends had discussed the situation about six months ago.
"We're thinking about driving down to Boston and see if we can do it through a sperm bank."
"But that's so impersonal." Violet said with a shudder of distaste.
"Yeah, that's what bothers us too." Sabine said. "But neither one of us really want to do it the traditional way."
"And even if we did, what if the guy turned around and was a jerk; trying to control Sabine and my lives through the baby?"
Henry gave Violet a significant look, then whispered in her ear "What if I was their donor? Would that be okay with you? We could do it through IVF."
Violet looked thoughtful, then nodded.
Henry then asked Sabine and Jacinda. "I could be your donor. We could do it through IVF so no sex is involved."
"Are you sure? Both of you?" Jacinda asked Violet.
"Absolutely. You're our friends. "Violet said firmly.
Jacinda decided she wanted to be the one to have the baby. Because it was her decision, she had been firm that she would pay for the majority of the medical costs. In Storybrooke that was far less expensive than outside, even in the hospital. But it was even cheaper at Rebecka's clinic. Rebecka charged on a sliding scale based on her patient's incomes. That and Rebecka's excellent reputation made her the obvious choice. Rebecka had done the IVF procedure the next month and it was successful. Henry and Violet had treated Sabine, Jacinda and Eudora to a celebration dinner at Granny's when it was confirmed Jacinda was pregnant. Jacinda was now five months pregnant. They'd recently found out the baby was a girl and had already decided her name would be Lucy.
Zita woke up and began to fuss. Regina gave her back to Henry. "Time to be a dad." She smiled.
"So that's how it's going to be. While she's sleeping you get to hold her; but if she starts fussing, then it's my turn." Henry grinned.
"Of course. I'm just the grandmother now." Regina smirked.
"Uh huh, yeah just the grandma…" Henry teased. "So that's going to be your excuse."
"Teasing aside, Henry, if you need my or Robin's help with the twins, we're just a phone call away."
"Thanks mom." Henry had gently rocked Zita back to sleep. "Maybe it was just the noise, woke her up. She's asleep again now."
"Maybe she's a light sleeper like you were. Took me a while to figure that out. Least little noise would wake you up."
"You were pretty frazzled early on. I was always crying, you said."
"I thought I was incompetent as a mother. I didn't realize part of it was just your nature for a while."
"Plus you were alone. Thank you again mom, for making that choice to raise me."
"I adored you from the first moment I saw you. I wanted to do everything right. Not like my mother. You had my heart from the first second."
Henry leaned over and gave his mother a kiss on the cheek. "Love you mom."
Regina looked up at her oldest child, so much taller than her now. "Love you too."