"You're my mother." A young boy whispered through the phone line.
"Woah, is this a joke?" Questioned the woman as the insides of her stomach started doing somersaults, front handsprings, and aerial cartwheels like a gymnast during a floor performance, hope, and excitement growing with the mention of her being the kids' mother.
"If you want to see me then you need to come to Storybrooke, Maine. I will text you the co-ordinates because you won't find directions on a map."
"How do I know this isn't a joke or something? It's common knowledge that I have been looking for my son for ten years, since the day he was kidnapped." She heard a gasp on the other end of the phone line.
"I was kidnapped?" The innocent voice asked.
"Well, my son was kidnapped by his father. I will be there by morning and will explain more when I arrive."
"Okay, I need to go, bye." The boy replied quickly before putting down the phone.
He had found his birth mother, the Savior. It was easy to find her through the internet, and with a little assistance from Miss Blanchard's credit card, he was also able to locate a telephone number. He had a plan, an operation to be exact and Emma Swan needed to be here in Storybrooke for Operation Swan Queen to be successful.
He texted her the co-ordinates to Storybrooke as their little town will not be on any map in the world and directions will be null along the roads. The only difficult part to enact his operation will be convincing his brunette mother. She will dislike the fact that he went behind her back and found his birth mother, he is aware of her need to be in control, and little does she know, but he has also seen her be very angry towards people if they don't do as she demands, she never asks, she demands.
If she refused to meet Emma or allow him to meet Emma then he foresaw the women going head to head attacking each other verbally and maybe physically. His mother will not give him up to Emma, and he didn't want her to but he did want the two women to be civil with each other, he needed for them to be civil towards each other. His love for his mother ran deeply within and she always made it known that he was the most important person in her life, she will do anything to protect him, including forbidding Emma Swan entry into his life. As his eyes glazed towards the clock on the wall that was ticking nearer to his bedtime, he knew he had to speak to the brunette before morning, sighing in acknowledgment to the task before him, he left his bedroom to search for his mother.
"Mom?" Henry called entering the pristine kitchen of their home and watching his mother put away dishes from the dishwasher.
"Yes, my prince?" The woman smiled as she turned around to acknowledge her son.
"I need to talk with you."
"Okay, why don't we go into the family room and discuss what's on your mind," Regina suggested. She knew whatever needed to be discussed was important to her son as he had been acting strange the previous two days, distant almost and that worried her tremendously.
They moved to the sofa and Regina tucked her legs under her as she sat facing her son. After a moment Henry sighed and thought he may as well get it over and done with, like ripping a band-aid off a wound. "I found my birth mother." He blurted out.
Regina gasped in surprise and possibly hurt. Did she not show him how much she loves him? Is his life so bad that he… is she such a bad mother that he needed to find his real mother? She knew there was a possibility of this day coming… but… never thought he would be the initiator and especially at only ten years old.
"Mom, calm down." He tried to soothe her wandering mind.
"Henry…"
"Mom, I love you. I love you more than anyone or anything in the world. I never searched for her because you were a bad mother, you're the best mother any child could ever have."
"Then why? Why would you search for her?" Tears threatened to fall from the normally stoic brunette.
"Because she is the key to finding your true happiness, your happy ever after." The young boy shared.
"What are you talking about, Henry? You are my happily ever after and I wouldn't want it any other way." His mother responded with a little uneasiness. She never believed in the fairytale of happy ever after, or true loves, those are only for the heroes, not the villains, the brunette mused to herself.
"Mom… she will have arrived by morning, I have spoken to her and given her our address."
"Henry!" Regina groaned, her right hand rubbing furiously against her forehead. "She's going to take you away from me… I… my heart will…"
"Mom!" The boy screamed. "I'm not going anywhere and I don't care what she says or what she does, I will never leave you. You're my mother and will always be my mother." The boy vowed.
Regina was on the precipitous of screaming at her son before a sudden realization dawned on her. How the hell will his mother enter Storybrooke? She cannot if she is not from the Enchanted Forest. Suddenly, Regina felt at ease and slowly released a breath she had unknowingly held in.
"Then why would you contact her and bring her here?"
"The curse," Henry replied searching his mother's reaction, noticing the quick flash of shock across her face before she concealed it, feigning ignorance to any knowledge regarding the curse.
"Curse? What are you talking about, Henry?" She asked as a mantra kept replaying in her mind - he does not know about the curse… he does not know about the curse… he does not know about the curse.
"The curse of the Evil Queen Regina on the citizens of the Enchanted Forest, mom." He watched as tears slowly fell down his beautiful mother's tan cheeks. "She is part of you, but she is no longer who you are and your heart is so good. Mom, I know you weren't born evil, I know there were circumstances in your upbringing that lead you down that path."
He knows I was a murderer… he knows I was a murderer… he knows I was a murderer… "My prince, you…"
"No. We need to break the curse, mom. For you, for the citizens of the town, for Emma and me. Please?" He whispered as he snuggled against his mother.
"Emma? Her name is Emma?" Please don't let it be.
"Yes, Emma Swan. She's the Savior who will break your curse and…"
"Defeat the Evil Queen." The Brunette spat out, cutting her son's sentence off. How ironic is it that she raised Snow White's grandson and the son of the prophesized Savior?
"Yes, but I don't believe she will defeat you with revenge, mom. She can cross the town line too; she is from the Enchanted Forest. Please don't be angry, we need to do this."
She can cross the town line, she is from the Enchanted Forest… She can cross the town line; she is from the Enchanted Forest. Her third mantra within minutes running through her mind. "Henry, you know I will do anything for you, anything in the world, but why to break the curse, are we not happy?"
"Are you mom, are you truly happy?" His hazel eyes boring into her coffee-colored globes.
"Of course, I am, I don't expect to be happier than I am with you. If we break the curse people are going to want to hold me responsible for ripping them away from the Enchanted Forest and kill me."
"They won't, Emma won't let them and neither will I."
"You're so brave, my prince but…" What was she going to do? Regina thought as she looked at her son's hopeful eyes, she could never deny those eyes, even if her life depended on it. Closing her eyes for a moment and exhaling loudly she finally spoke. "Okay, Henry. But when she arrives, I will like us to go and do blood at the hospital, just to be sure." She watched as her son rolled his eyes, she taught him well she thought before smiling.
"I love you, mom." He whispered as he snuggled in tighter.
"I love you too, my prince."
"Oh… there's something else I need to tell you."
"I think you have surprised me enough for one night." His mother sighed.
"Ahh… you need to know this, I only found out myself from Emma."
"Okay, what is it?"
"I was kidnapped."
"You were what?" Regina jumped from the sofa in shock.
"She said she has been searching for me for ten years because I was kidnapped. She said my father kidnapped me. She will explain more when she arrives."
"Kidnapped? I don't believe this." Regina worried as she unconsciously rubbed her forehead again before sitting back beside her son. After a moment to digest the new information, the family sat in silence as both parties were lost in their thoughts and worries. It wasn't long after, that Regina suggested Henry go to bed while she prepared the guest room for their impending guest.
An hour after leaving the guest room, Regina had completed her nightly routine and snuggled down in her bed, her mind was like a maze, trying to find its way out of all the information her son shared with her tonight, she was scared. For the last 28 years, she has controlled everything in her town and her life, except for Henry's arrival of course, and the knowledge enclosed in Neal's or Baelfire's Will, that he was her half-brother. She would never have foreseen that discovery, her mother having an affair with the Dark One years before she met Regina's father, Cora gave birth to Baelfire and relinquished her rights as a parent to his father and his wife Milah. Unfortunately, Milah later found true love with a pirate and abandoned her family.
Then there was Baelfire's involvement in Henry's kidnapping and how the hell did he get himself involved with the prophesized daughter and Savior of Snow White and her fake Prince Charming? The brunette knew change was coming with the arrival of Emma Swan and felt unprepared. How is she going to reign control over the town if the curse is broken? What will the Savior do to her in retaliation? Thoughts of approaching Rumplestiltskin for advice briefly appeared only to vanquish when she recalled ten years of arguments between the two regarding Henry's custody.
Worry etched the woman's forehead; she didn't want to revert to her dark self and that thought alone plagued her. Immersed in deep thought, she missed the opening of her door and the quiet footsteps that made their way to her bed, it wasn't until she felt the blankets lift and a body sag down on the bed that she realized Henry had entered her bedroom.
"It's alright, mom. We will be alright; she will protect us. Nothing bad will happen to you." He murmured into her shoulder.
"I wish I held your faith, my prince. If I lose you, I don't know what may happen to me. And if the people do something to me, I cannot fathom what will happen to you." She could feel her eyes glaze over as she spoke the truth to her son.
"I told you before, I will never leave your side and Emma will protect us. Trust me, please. Let's get some sleep, tomorrow may be a long day." He urged his mom to move closer to him and held her tight. He knew she would worry and would stay awake all night fretting if left alone.
"I love you, my prince." Regina slowly released a deep sigh, her son has always kept her grounded and safe with his love, she just needed to trust in his hope and belief that everything will be okay, which was easier said than done.
"I love you too mom." Regina noticed the flicker of red in her son's eyes as he replied, she never tired of seeing that color in his eyes, they always gave her confidence and surrounded her heart with warmth. Seconds later, they both closed their eyes and succumbed to the world of the sandman.