Summary: Regina brings flowers to Lizzy's birth mother the day after she's born to see if she wants to be involved in Lizzy's life.

Regina stood in the hospital gift shop with her heart in knots. She was a mother again, finally. Three floors up in the maternity ward there was a baby girl wrapped in a pink blanket who'd call her mom. Her daughter… Elizabeth.

She'd only been in her life for a few hours now but she loved her so much, her heart glowed at the thought of her.

However, her daughter wasn't the girl on her mind at the moment. That honor went to her birth mother, Alice.

—-

Double checking the address she'd gotten from the school, Regina looked up at the apartment building with a frown. It wasn't special. It stood in a decent neighborhood, there was no noticeable wear and tear, things looked relatively safe. Triple checking the address she felt relief grow through her when she confirmed she was in the right place.

When her former student had shown up the night before, six months pregnant and begging her and Robin to take in her baby, she'd been worried that she was in trouble. Well, more trouble.

Robin had went to get her and when they'd came out in the street together she'd already disappeared.

Regina hadn't been able to get her mind off her though. She remembered Alice from her first year working at the middle school. It'd been a nice change of pace to teach older children and the young blonde girl with bright blue eyes and a curious mind had been one of her favorites. She'd never expected this from her though.

Slipping into the building when someone walked out, Regina stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the Jones' floor. It was hard to find where Alice lived. The school still kept records of all their old students and it didn't appear as if she'd moved.

Reaching their door, she hesitantly knocked two times, still internally debating whether she should be there at all. She hadn't told Robin what she was doing. He'd suggested just waiting for her to come back on her own when she was less emotional but Regina had never been a patient person. She had to know if Alice meant what she said and she had to know now.

A few seconds later she heard the distinct rustle of a chain lock and the door opened. Poking her head out Alice looked at her with apologetic eyes, mumbling a soft, "Hi."

"Hi," Regina repeated, unsure of anything else to say. Before she could stop herself her eyes dropped down to Alice's middle, settling on her baby bump. A baby girl. That's what Robin had said. Just like they'd wanted.

"May I come in?" she asked.

After a brief moment of hesitation, Alice nodded stepping aside to let her in the apartment. Again Regina was relieved to see that things didn't look amiss. The apartment was clean and homey. She spotted pictures of Alice at different ages on the wall, almost always with the man she knew was her father.

Killian Jones.

She'd only met the man a few times during Alice's year as her student. She remembered that he'd been a little bit of a flirt but always devoted to his daughter, in every way. Parent teacher conferences, showing up for presentations. She could tell that the two of them were close.

Regina wondered how he was taking his daughter's pregnancy.

Taking a seat at the kitchen table she looked at Alice expectantly and she only did the same.

"So… my husband said you dropped by last night," she ventured.

Alice nodded. "Yeah…" She took a seat across from her, sighing as she slowly sat down. "Sorry about that. I… I didn't mean to scare you."

"You didn't," Regina immediately refuted, shaking her head. "You just… caught us by surprise."

Alice simply bit her lip, averting her gaze.

Silence fell over them and Regina was struck by how small she looked. The girl she remembered had been happy and loud. Not in a way that was necessarily disruptive to class but she'd always been filled with this… joy. An innocent happiness that couldn't be hidden.

That was gone now.

The light in her eyes. The smile on her face. It was as if they'd never been there at all.

Regina cautiously reached out to touch her hand. "Alice… are you alright?"

"No."

Her answer came out soft and broken as her bottom lip trembled. "Are you here to take my baby? Do you want her?"

Regina's heart clenched and blood rose to her cheeks. Every ounce of physical restraint she had went towards stopping herself from shouting "Yes! Yes I want your little girl!" because she did. She so desperately did but that's not the reason she came here. At least not the only reason.

Self concisously swallowing her feelings, she gently rubbed Alice's hand. "Maybe… maybe we should wait until your father is here to talk about this?"

A tear ran down Alice's cheek. "My father is dead."

Regina's blood ran cold at her simple admission. Her eyes widened as Alice wiped away her tear and continued to speak.

"He drowned during a storm a few weeks ago," she revealed, letting out a shuddering breath. "He… he was supposed to help me with this. He promised he would."

She ran her hands over her stomach protectively, biting her lip as she tried to suck in her tears.

"But he's gone now and I…I can't do this. Not by myself, not alone," Alice tearfully declared.

"What about your baby's father?" Regina wondered.

Alice scoffed, shaking her head. "He doesn't want to be here. He's a kid… I'm a kid and I want… I want more for her."

Regina's heart broke listening to Alice speak out on all her troubles. It was clear that she was devastated by everything.

Taking a deep breath, Alice raised tilted her head. "But you… you and your husband could take her. You could adopt her… just like you adopted your son."

Regina nodded understandingly, remembering that Alice had been in her class the year that she and Robin had officially adopted Henry. She remembered bringing him to class to show him off, how happy all the students had been for her, especially Alice. At the end of the year party she'd even offered to babysit him whenever they wanted. She and Robin had laughed at it.

The idea of it leaving their baby alone with a girl who was only ten years older than him.

Just a kid.

"I need her to have more than just me," said Alice. "I need her to have a family and I want it to be yours, please…. will you take her?"

—-

She settled on a bouquet of pink carnations, it was the only thing in the gift shop that wasn't annoyingly cheerful.

She and Robin might've finally gotten their baby girl but Alice just lost hers and she didn't want to rub that in her face. The flowers they were beautiful but non-descript. Perfect for any occasion, somber and joyful.

Things were quiet in Alice's hospital room. There were no visitors, her father had been only family and friends were a rare luxury for pregnant teens. Still in her hospital gown she laid on the bed, still looking exhausted. She looked up when Regina walked in with the bouquet, awkwardly holding them up.

"I brought these for you," she said, presenting them to her. "I thought they could brighten things up in here."

Alice nodded as she set them on the nightstand next to her bed. "They're pretty. Thanks."

Again, a heavy silence fell over the two mothers. Emotion filled the air, the mixture of sorrow and gratitude soon becoming stifling.

"How is she?" Alice softly asked.

"She's good," Regina gently answered. "Beautiful. We named her Elizabeth."

Alice offered her a tragic smile. "That's a good name."

Regina nodded, unsure of what else to say. Taking a deep breath, she mumbled, "Would you like to see her?"

She didn't know what answer she wanted in response, yes or no. To her surprise, Alice went with neither. "I already saw her."

Regina's eyes widened. "You did?"

"Yes." Alice nodded. "They handed her to me after everything… I… I held her."

Her voice broke a little as she spoke. "She looked perfect."

Tears welled up in Regina's eyes as she imagined Alice, this young girl holding her newborn baby in her arms only to send her away.

"You know, we've never talked about if you would be involved-"

"I don't want to see her again." Alice cut her off, her voice solid and resolute despite the tears in her eyes. "I can't see her again. It would be… too hard."

Regina nodded her head, understandingly. She could only imagine how hard it was to let go of a child once but twice? Three times? Every year? She doesn't know if she could handle that kind of pain. And she doesn't blame Alice for not wanting to.

Taking Alice hand in her own, she swallows her emotions again. "If you ever want to reach out… you know where we are?"

"I do." Alice nodded. "Thank you for taking my baby."

Regina smiled at her. "Thank you for giving us our daughter."

I really hope you guys liked this one! I loved it so much! Please leave a review!