Chapter Nine: A Blast from the Past
Days passed since the incident at the lake. Henry was cleared with a minor concussion and ordered to take it easy. The first night, he slept in his bed with Regina seated in a chair in the corner. She woke him every hour to ask him the questions Dr. Whale instructed her to.
"What's your name?" "Henry." "Who am I?" "My mom." "How old are you?" "12."
After a few hours of losing sleep so his mother could drill him, his answers changed.
"What's your name?" "Rapunzel." "Be serious!" "My name is Henry." "Okay, and who am I?" "The Evil Queen." "Really, Henry?" "Sorry, the former Evil Queen." "How old are you?" "300." "Come on, Henry!" "Oh, how old am I? I thought you asked me how old I thought you were. Sorry mom."
Regina left him alone after that, understanding that he was fine and just needed some rest. But she didn't sleep. She continued to sit in the chair watching him, afraid she'd lose him if she closed her eyes.
She calmed down after a few days and when she noticed that her son was starting to feel like his normal self again, she allowed him to take the walk with her to bring Pongo back to Archie.
He apologized up and down for what happened at the lake. Regina guessed he heard what happened through the grapevine and shrugged off his apologies. It wasn't anyone's fault: not Henry's, not Pongo's, not even her's, although that didn't stop her from blaming herself. Sometimes accidents happen and they are out of our control.
"I really appreciate you taking care of him while I was gone. If there's ever anything you need, please let me know," Archie said, petting his loyal pal.
"I did have a question for you," Regina started and turned to Henry. "Can you go inside with Pongo for a minute?"
The boy patted the back of his leg and called for the dog as they entered the office and the adults stepped into the hallway.
"Is everything alright?"
"Oh yes, everything is fine. I was wondering where you got Pongo. Henry and Roland were really great with him and I thought I'd look into it," she replied. Her tone was all business, but Archie knew that was a defense mechanism for whatever other troubles she was having that she didn't want him to psychoanalyze her about.
"I actually brought him to a breeder to mate with a female Dalmatian. They have one puppy left in the litter that would still need to be adopted out. I can email you their information. How soon were you looking to adopt one?"
"I was thinking around Christmas," she smiled, imagining their little faces on Christmas morning to see a little Dalmatian pup with a red bow around his neck. She lingered in her vision. The idea of Henry and Roland together on Christmas meant something more and she knew that. She knew in her imagination, the boys were giggling and playing with their new pup while Robin stood beside her taking in the view as well.
"I'm sorry, Archie. There's something I need to do. Would you mind watching Henry for me? I'll call Emma to pick him up. It won't be for long," she explained.
"Take all the time you need. We'll be here. And I'll send you that email right away," he answered.
"Thank you," she nodded and raced out the door. She pulled her phone out of her purse and dialed the blonde.
"Hey, how's the kid?" she heard from the other end of the phone.
"He's fine. I left him with Archie. Can you pick him up there?"
"Yeah, no problem. Is everything okay with you?"
"I'm going to the stable. There's something I need to do."
"If you're looking for Daniel, I just saw him at Granny's."
"Could you tell him to meet me there, please?"
"Sure."
Without a thank you or a signal that the conversation was over, Regina ended the call. She pulled her purse closer to her body before waving her hand above her head and transporting herself to the stable.
She took in her surroundings, admiring the riding clothes she changed into before arriving. She missed riding, but occasionally snuck out to the stables to clear her mind. She placed her hand on the nose of a dark brown horse with lighter brown in his mane. She led him out into the field without putting a saddle or reigns on him. Regina wanted to feel free and in order to do so, the horse had to feel free.
Over time, she had built a connection with this horse. There was nothing like the bond she shared with Rocinante, but this horse trusted her and she trusted him. The owner of the stable once told her the horse didn't have a name, that he just showed up at the field one day. So Regina took it upon herself to name him.
"Okay Goliath, here's the deal. It's been a while and I've gotten older, whether I like it or not, but we're gonna ride bare back today. I can't mount you at your height without stirrups so I need you to cooperate. If you do that for me, I'll conjure up some nice carrots for you. Sound fair?"
Goliath huffed and bent forward so his back was lower to the ground. Regina smiled. Maybe her real magic was talking to animals. She hopped onto his back and rubbed his neck as he stood up.
"Thank you, dear," she leaned forward, grabbing hold of his mane. She clicked her tongue and tapped her heels against his belly to get the horse trotting about the field. Once they were warmed up, Regina had Goliath jumping over fences and racing through the trees. She leaned back and closed her eyes, allowing the cool breeze to run through her hair.
When she opened her eyes, she spotted Daniel leaning against the stable looking out at her. She let out a sigh before slowing the horse to a trot and patting him with appreciation.
"You did good today, Goliath," she smiled when the horse huffed and nodded his head up and down in agreement. He trotted to the stable and slowed to a halt, bending over once again to allow Regina to dismount. Once the horse was settled, she conjured a few carrots and held them out for him. "As promised."
Goliath inched forward and took them from her with his teeth. He tapped his hooves on the ground with excitement as he devoured his treat, to which Regina laughed.
"I'm glad to see you haven't lost your touch," Daniel said from behind her. She turned to face him, her heart now falling to her stomach knowing why she asked him here and dreading his reaction. "I was about to get on a horse of my own until I saw you bringing him in. Perhaps next time."
"Daniel," she sighed and looked at him, as hard as it was for her to do. "I don't foresee there being a next time for us."
"I didn't think so," he said, his tone defeated. Regina tilted her head trying to read his expression. "I see the way you look at him and the way he looks at you. We never had that. We never needed to look at one another that way. We didn't have any responsibilities or worries, at first anyway. You both have children now and have lost loved ones. Your connection with him is deeper than ours could ever be."
"My love for you has always been real," she said, wanting to make that very clear.
"You named your son after me, Regina. If I had any doubts about your love for me, they were diminished the minute I heard you say his name," they smiled at one another before he continued, "But sometimes love just isn't enough."
"No," she sighed, "I suppose it's not."
"I wanted to marry you," he admitted, his tone soft. "I wanted to give you all the things he gives you."
"I know you did," she replied.
"I guess fate wanted life to go another way for us," he crossed his arms.
"I would have said yes," she said. She hated seeing him like this. All she ever wanted was to see him happy, but here he was. Miserable. Because of her. He nodded, accepting her answer as genuine.
"What do we do now," he asked.
They were still for a moment. Regina hadn't thought about how things would be after she made a choice. She just wanted to get through today before thinking about the rest of her life. An idea sparked in her mind and her eyes lit up with excitement.
She walked over to the spot where her purse hung over a pile of hay. She sifted through it until she found what she needed. Daniel looked on with a curious expression. Regina held the small bag of pixie dust in her hand and smiled before walking back over to the stableboy.
"I want you to have this. A long time ago, a fairy gave me a second chance at love and happiness," she took his hand in hers and placed the bag in his palm as she continued. "Give yourself enough time to heal. I've gone through this heartbreak and it wasn't easy, trust me. But when you're ready, this will lead you to your happy ending."
"What if it leads me to you?"
"It won't," she squeezed his hand. "Pixie dust never lies."
Daniel moved his hand from her grip and put the bag in his pocket. Their eyes met one last time. He drank in the dark brown eyes he'd fallen in love with, not wanting to forget a single thing about them when she left him there. Forever.
"Was he your happy ending?"
"No," she said. "Feeling at home in the world, having a family. That's my happy ending. Robin is just a part of that."
Regina stepped forward, placing her hand on his cheek. She leaned in and kissed his lips softly. Daniel closed his eyes wanting to remember her lips even when she was gone. They pulled apart and a tear fell from his light blue eyes. She wiped it away, feeling tears of her own threatening to escape her.
"You will be happy, Daniel. Don't squander this second chance."
"I'm not sure I can be happy without you, Regina," he confessed, but she smiled at him.
"You owe it to yourself to find out."
