Author's Note:This is inspired by the movies Dumbo and The Storks which is some of my favorites.
For all you mothers out there that are celebrating Mother's Day today, I hope you have a great one :o)
A letter to Mister Stork
"Mom," Henry looked up from the television and over to his mother. She was sitting at the table working on her laptop, not really paying attention to the movie.
"Mm," she said without looking away from what she was working on.
"Do storks really bring babies?" he wondered, looking at her for an answer.
"I am sorry?" She wondered rather confused. She was looking at her little boy with wondering eyes.
"Do the storks bring the babies, like in the movie?" he asked again. He nodded towards the screen where storks were delivering babies to the animals of the circus.
"Yes, Henry they do," Regina said, not wanting to get into the matter of reproduction with him quite yet. She found it sweet that he believed it would happen this way, even if it was somewhat farfetched.
"So if I wanted a brother or sibling I would have to write to the stork, like I write to Santa?" he wondered curiously.
"Yes, I assume that would be so. I got you from filling out some papers," she said, looking at him with tender eyes.
"Alright! Will you help me, please?" He looked at her with puppy dog eyes, so she found it hard to say no. Even if she knew there would not come a baby out of this, she still indulged him in it.
It was a few years later when Henry was looking around in his mother's home office. He had not yet gotten a sibling from the storks and found that maybe the stationary he used wasn't pretty enough or maybe his writing was unreadable. In the evenings he had practiced his penmanship so it would be readable, not giving up, even if the children at school said he was stupid.
He startled as he heard his mother's voice, "Henry, what are you doing in there?"
"I was looking for a letter set, to write a letter for the stork. They have yet to bring me a brother or a sister," he explained.
She sighed, wondering if it was time to break the illusion, only she couldn't bring herself to do so. Maybe she deep down hoped that the letters would somehow lead to something, even if that was impossible. If it was, she would have reversed her spell that kept her barren. Then again, if she could do that, she wouldn't have Henry and she loved him more than anything. She sighed and went in one of her drawers and found a stationary set with flowered edges and handed it over.
"Thank you," he said and beamed at her. She simply gave him a tired nod and sank down behind the desk. He looked at her, she suddenly seemed so sad whenever he talked about the storks. With an insecure voice he said, "Mom?"
"Yes, Henry, dear," she said, looking over at her boy, standing in the doorway, he had grown up too soon.
"Julian in class, he says that I am stupid because I believe in the storks and that babies come from the belly of the mom. That the moms and dads make them together," he said quietly.
"Well, in some cases that is right. When there is a mommy and daddy they can most of the time make a baby together. But sometimes something is wrong with one or the other and then they can't have a baby together. I…wrote to the storks because I couldn't have a child the regular way, something is wrong inside me. I had an accident when I was younger that caused it, it is a bit too complicated to explain, but it comes down to this, even if there had been a daddy, I couldn't have made a child of my own," she said.
"And the storks brought me to you right away?" he said, beaming at his mother. If the storks had gotten him to his mother, surely it had to work.
"No, it took ten years, but it was worth the wait," she smiled back at him.
"Oh okay," he said and left the room, clearly satisfied with her answer. She shook her head wondering how he was going to adopt or get him a sibling. She wasn't sure how long she would believe this nonsense; she wasn't sure how much longer she could keep this charade up either. She knew all to well that sooner or later he would find out the truth about her, about everything.
High up on a cloud a stork was flying back to his headquarters with a baby, explaining that he couldn't find the address to where the baby was supposed to be delivered. The young boy, a Henry Mills had been writing them for years, but every day the stork couldn't seem to find the address or the town on any map. It was like it didn't exist at all.
His leader, that was an older stork decided to fly with the young stork, who for the third year came back with a young baby. He followed the younger stork, resting on some skies every once in a while, with the precious cargo, before flying to where the place should have been, but there were no houses or a town there, just road or forest. His younger friend was right, it didn't show on any map. As they flew back he encouraged the young stork to fly back whenever he got the request, because surely if there was a letter there had to be a sender, but maybe he and his mother lived hidden in the forest or something like it.
The younger stork agreed and settled on this, sad that his precious cargo didn't find his family this year either. He knew the older brother would probably be disappointed. He gave the baby to a stork that would find another family for it, hoping young Henry would send another letter the next year so he could try again then.
Henry had no idea that every year the stork was trying to find him, but as he got older he found that writing to the storks seemed rather silly. Still the year of his tenth birthday, he decided to try one last time. If he managed to get Emma to the town, maybe there was a possibility the stork would finally find them. If it didn't work, he would simply give up.
He had asked his mother the day before, a couple of months after he brought Emma there if the storks were all a lie, but she had stood her ground and said no, that maybe their stork just got lost on the way, or he delivered the baby to the wrong family, after all mail did tend to get lost. He couldn't quite believe it at this point, especially since he knew that Santa Claus was a myth, so maybe it was time to stop believing birds could deliver babies.
He had fought with Emma as well and was now seeking solitude at his toy castle, where Emma found him.
"Hi kid, so it's here you are hiding?"
"Just leave me alone…"
"Hey, what's with the attitude?" she wondered with a frown. She found it amusing how much he reminded her of Regina when he had one of his moods. She might have given birth to him, but he was all Regina from the way he dressed to the way he behaved and she found it overly cute.
"You don't believe me and mom is a liar," he said in a stubborn tone, looking into his story book.
"Because she is supposed to be the evil queen, right?" Emma tried as she sat down next to him.
"Yes, but mostly because she lied about the storks," he said, throwing the book aside.
"The storks?" Emma looked at him confused.
"Yeah she told me that they bring babies, that a stork brought me here. Yeah, yeah I know you gave birth to me and all, but it was nice to believe and it would still be nice if the storks came with a brother or sister, but it isn't real. All she does is lie, she is nothing but a liar!" he said. The pain shining in his eyes.
"You know, kid, sometimes stories are just stories and storks are just storks, but that doesn't make your mom a liar," she said calmly. She could get why Regina would tell him this, she actually found it cute that the who he said was menace, told her son that rather than the truth.
"Whatever, you are nothing better than her, I hate you both!" he said and ran off with haste before she could get up.
Emma sighed as she drove down to the city hall to find Regina. She didn't really get that far, as she saw the mayor walking down main street in her usual style. She pulled up next to her and got up, "Hey, Regina!"
"Did I say you could address me by first name?" she asked in a sour tone. She was tired of it all, this town, her life, fighting with Emma, with Henry.
"No, but I need to ask you something, it is regarding Henry as he clearly hates us both just now," Emma shrugged. She knew he was just testing the limits.
"Go on?" Regina said tiredly. Her cheeks were grimy as she had been crying before leaving the office. Henry had yelled and called her a liar for what felt like the hundredth time, but this was the first time he said he hated her. Even if she knew he deep down didn't mean those words they had hurt her, more than he could possibly understand.
"Did you tell him babies come with storks?" she asked calmly.
"He was a child, I wasn't up for having the talk about where babies really come from, so I did yes. Maybe I wanted to believe it myself, who knows," she shrugged it off. She knew that for a short second she had hoped that the stork would bring them another baby, as she had missed those moment together when Henry was just a baby boy.
"You really wanted a family, didn't you, Miss Mills?" Emma said, for a short second she felt for this woman. She had a feeling she probably was just as lonely as she had been for years, until Henry walked into her life.
"I would think it was evident since I adopted Henry," she admitted, looking down. She wasn't even sure why she admitted this. Not that it mattered now, the little boy she cared for all his life was now hating her and calling her a liar. All because of something as stupid as the storks and because of hiding her true identity, maybe she just should come clean about it all.
"I know he wants you to be the Queen, and heck maybe you used to be and I was supposed to break the curse and all that shit. But Regina, if you told him there is a stork out there with a baby for the two of you, I believe it. It can't be any crazier than this town being cursed," Emma gave her a gentle nudge.
"You know the logistics of that wouldn't work, a baby weighs too much for a stork," Regina bushed now.
"Well, a bee can fly even if its body is bigger than its wings, so who knows. And maybe that is why that stork is taking so long to get to you. Come on, if I am supposed to be the daughter of Snow White and Charming," Emma made a face of that, "You can get another baby from a stork."
"I don't know, Emma," Regina said and shook her head, this day had been too long.
"How about I drive you home, make you my famous grilled cheese and then go find our son?" Emma offered, holding the door on the passenger side open for Regina. She shrugged and got in as she said, "If that stork does show up, I am going to marry you, Emma."
"Oh and why is that?" Emma quirked a brow. Regina could clearly not love her or anything like it.
"Makes perfect sense to me, ever since you stepped into my town and battling me saying you are his mom. Maybe instead of arguing back and forth we should just stop and find a way to raise him together, especially if there is a stork coming, I could use some help. Plus if there is a curse and it breaks it would piss off your mom," she reasoned, getting into Emma's dingy car. Emma shook her head, not caring to argue against it, she didn't see the point.
The stork landed on a cloud, taking a breather, looking at the letter once more. He had saved every single one he had gotten from Henry the past five years, but this one was special as he didn't just want the baby for him this time, but for his mom. He smiled at the little bundle neatly wrapped in a blanket saying, "This time I have a feeling you are the right baby and we will find your family. Just listen to this, he really wants you there."
He cleared his throat and read, "Dear Mister Stork. I am sure you are very busy, like my mom, but I would like a baby brother or sister. I will take good care of them I promise. Plus I think a baby would make mom smile too. Sincerely Henry."
"He is a gentleman, your brother, calling me Mister Stork and everything, your mom must have raised him well. I am sure she will do the same with you, even if she is very busy. I know it is late, but hopefully she won't be too angry at this," he addressed his cargo who made a small sound. He nodded and again took flight as he had the four previous years.
To his surprise he saw that what before had been trees and a road was now a town. He flew towards the address the boy had written and landed on a balcony, there was still light ton in the room, so he knocked on the door with his beak after he gently placed his package on the floor. He took a step back and waited for the door to open, seeing a woman appear shortly after, frowning at him, "Now I have never, Emma, come look at this!"
"What?" he heard another female voice from inside and saw another female appear in front of him. So one of them was the mother, he knew he couldn't speak their language and so instead he took the letter from underneath his wing and held it. The brunette who looked slightly older to him than the blonde stepped closer to look at his little package.
She clasped her moth and tears sprung from his eyes as she said, "Emma, get Henry, will you?"
"Of course, Regina," said the blonde woman.
"Just wait a moment, Mister Stork, I am sure my son would like to greet his sibling as much as I do. It is he who sent the letters, but we have been waiting for you to find the way here," she said and smiled at the stork. He nodded his head, standing tall and rank.
A moment later the other woman appeared with a young boy that looked rather sleepy, his eyes widened as he looked at the bird in front of him. He looked at his mother saying, "No way! This thing is real, the stork really brought me a brother or sister?"
"Seems so. Is it alright if we take the package or do I need to sign for anything?" Regina asked politely. The stork shook his head and lifted the bundle to her. She took it gently and thanked him, before watching him fly away. Regina could feel her tears start to fall as she opened the blanket finding a baby girl inside it, she smiled at the baby whispering, "I am so glad you are finally here, my love."
"What is it, mom?" Henry asked, looking at his mom. He hadn't seen her like this before, crying of happiness.
"It is a girl, Henry, you have a sister," she said and gently lowered her so he could see her.
"That is awesome," he said and smiled at her, adding, "I am your big brother and I am going to teach you about life and protect you when moms aren't around."
The baby girl made a sound as Emma said, "You did well, babe, she is gorgeous just like you."
"I…thank you, Emma," she said, not being able to stop sobbing, feeling nothing but happiness.
"So what are you going to call her?" Emma wondered, letting a gentle finger stroke the cheek of the new family member.
"Hope, because Henry never gave up hope that she would get here," Regina said, looking at him.
"I almost did today, you were the one that didn't give up, mom," he said, blushing.
"Well, all good things are worth the wait," she pressed a gentle kiss against Hope's cheek.
"Hope Mills, I like it," Emma said, nodding approvingly.
"No, Hope Swan Mills, we are getting married, remember?" Regina concluded. She was a woman of her word after all.
"Whoa, I thought you were joking!" Emma's eyes widened now. She never in a million years thought Regina meant anything by her comment. She had only known her for a couple of weeks. Still, she couldn't deny their chemistry. She knew that was why they most likely fought.
"I never joke about something that serious, but if you don't want to I get it," Regina said, taking her eyes off Emma, letting them go back to her baby girl, talking to her in a soft voice. Emma could feel her heart swell by this, she dared to step closer, wrapping an arm around her waist, "I'll marry you and raise our two children, but for right now I am content just being here, is that alright?"
"Of course, Emma," Regina said with a yawn.
"How about I take the first shift since you have an early appointment?" she pressed a kiss to Regina's cheek. She got a nod in return and took the baby from her, watching as Regina went to get ready for bed, she whispered, "She is something that mother of yours, isn't she?"
Hope made a sound and closed her eyes, settling in her arms. Emma shook her head at this and went to lay her in the middle of Regina's bed which she assumed would be their bed as she changed into pajamas. She lay down next to her, gently caressing her small soft features, feeling her heart beam with joy.
Regina came back and lay down on the other side, smiling at them, she didn't say anything, she just pressed a gentle kiss against Emma's forehead, before closing her eyes. Content, still not able to phantom that a stork got her a daughter, but glad that he did.
Mister Stork was standing looking at the new babies some months later when there was a letter for him. He opened it and saw a picture of Henry and his family, the baby girl smiling at the camera with her brown eyes. Soft blond strands were covering her head where she sat in her mother's arm dressed like a little cowboy. The whole family was in similar attires, and he felt his stork heart warm by this. The letter read,
"Dear Mister Stork.
Thank you so much for my sister, she is the best gift ever. I love everything about her and my mom is so much happier now, she even took time off from work to be with us! And she is getting married to my other mom! You didn't just bring me my sister, but brought us together, so thank you.
Sincerely
Henry (and Regina, Emma and Hope.)
The stork smiled at this, glad he finally managed to give Henry the sibling he wanted so much. He had no idea that the little girl had meant even more to his mother, who had finally gotten what she always wanted, a family that loved her unconditionally.
Thank you for taking the time to read this story, feedback is always most welcome :o)