I'm BACK! I realize that it's been more than a little while since I've updated, and I can't tell you how sorry I am for that. Real life has been hitting me really hard lately- but if you're still reading, just know that it means a whole lot that you guys still follow this story. I made a promise to myself that I would update before Once came back (and I made this one extremely long to make everyone happy) so I hope you all enjoy! This is the birthday party that everyone has been waiting for!
The sun was bright, and the sky was the clearest blue she had ever seen. Today was the day. The day she had been waiting and anticipating for the past month- the one day that would change her forever. Caroline half expected to wake up that morning a completely different person- nevertheless, she still had her scrawny body when she awoke that Saturday morning.
"Happy birthday, kiddo!" She heard Roland shout, setting himself on her bed before she could even open her eyes. When she did, she saw her entire family in her bedroom- that was a surprise by itself. Her father was holding a bouquet of purple balloons, looking quite elegant against the fluorescent lights above them. Beside him, her mother was smiling brightly down at her, looking about ready to burst with excitement as she aimed a video camera in her direction, ready to record the moment. But the first true surprise of the morning resulted from seeing her oldest brother with a wrapped package in his hands. As far as she knew, Henry was supposed to be on his way back to Canada- he must've been keeping it from her. She had said her goodbyes the night before and it had been hard... But this was something truly amazing.
"Henry!" She exclaimed, giving him a hug as he set the present in her lap.
Robin and Regina exchanged glances, and the record button was quickly pressed, capturing every second of the moment before them.
"Why are you still here?"
"What, you want me gone, just like that?"
Caroline giggled, and shook her head. "No! If it were up to me, you'd live here instead of Ontario. But then again, they don't have a fancy university here."
Storybrooke definitely did not have a fancy university- it did, however, have a small community college. As the years passed by after the curse freezing time was lifted, the children grew older, and soon had nothing to do after high school graduation. About two years before Regina met her soulmate, she had finally obtained the land and other legal necessitates needed to build SBU, the small but ever growing community college at the edge of town. It was where everyone went after graduation; they had a nursing program, an engineering sector, and even a law firm. But, of course, Henry was different; he was special, so he got a choice nobody else in that town had- he got to leave whenever he wanted. Not even his siblings could do that.
"No, they don't. But hey, Ontario sure doesn't have you guys. I emailed my professor and told him that I needed to take my exam later this week- I can't just miss your tenth birthday."
Beside his sister, Roland rolled his eyes inwardly in frustration. Of course all it took was a simple email in order for Henry to get out of things just like that. It was a joke.
"So what are we going to do first?" Caroline asked excitedly, changing the subject back to her.
"Why don't you get changed while I get breakfast started," Regina proposed, walking over to her daughter's bed and placing a kiss to her temple, hugging her close for a brief moment.
"I just can't believe you're ten," she sighed, the past decade of her life swirling around in her mind in the few seconds she held her. It was moments like these that her prior self, the Regina Mills with a hardened heart and a lonely soul, was amazed that she successfully brought a child as innocent as her Caroline up in such a hopeless world. But as hopeless her life seemed before she met Robin, Regina was proud to say that fate had given her a hopeful turn for the better- the past ten years had been full of happy memories with friends and family; there was no longer a threat from Neverland, or her mother, or any other monster that lurked outside of the city limits.
No, her town of Storybrooke was a place where people could thrive without worrying about those things. Regina could raise her children without fear because, undoubtedly, she knew every single citizen within her town, and she knew there was no way anyone could get in without her knowing. She, Rumplestiltskin, and Emma made sure of that- nobody had magic stronger than theirs.
"Should I wear my blue dress or my pink flannel Mom?"
Regina looked down to see a pair of inquisitive brown eyes glancing up at her and smiled.
"I think you should wear the dress- David's love for flannel is starting to really rub off on you, and I don't know if I like it or not." She joked, giving her another light squeeze.
"Well she already has the horseback riding part down," Robin interjected, "I should start buying you flannel, Regina. Then you two can be my cowgirls."
Regina practically scowled at the word. Turning around to give him one of her looks, she reveled in his instant regret.
"Boys, you're helping me with breakfast," she instructed, "and yes, that includes you too Robin. I'll see you downstairs soon sweetheart."
With another hug and exchange of smiles, Regina followed her son out the door, only to be stopped short by her husband's toned forearms. He easily got a secure hold on her, snatching her from behind and straight into his chest, spinning her around so she was face to face with him.
"That's what I'll get you for our ten year anniversary," Robin grinned, speaking in a hushed whisper, "flannel. We can officially turn into a Snow and Charming couple."
He knew that messing with his wife was like playing with fire, but the thief couldn't help himself.
"Not if you want me to continue sleeping next to you every month," she counteracted, finding a way to slip out of his hold on her waist before he could manage to place a kiss on her lips.
She was gleefully striding down the hallway towards the staircase, still wearing her silk pajamas that skimmed the carpet as she walked.
"Now hurry up, your daughter wants her strawberry pancakes."
After a rowdy breakfast with her energetic ten year old, Regina had her family packed in her Escalade and off towards Granny's right on schedule. Everyone had agreed to help out with the party, as they always have, promising to make this year's celebration bigger and greater than ever. There was no opposition about it- Caroline was involved in everyone's lives. Emma, Killian, Snow, Charming, Will, they had all watched her grow up. Throwing the best party in the history of their magically made town seemed like a small price to pay for the love she brought to the family.
"We've got one hour to transform this place," Regina announced, entering the diner to discover an army of her friends and family moving swiftly around the booths and tables, all completely zoned in to the task in hand. Granny was holding a clipboard, a stern look on her face as she directed orders to Emma and the pirate. The second she spotted Caroline, however, her harsh façade completely melted away.
"There's the birthday girl! How are you feeling?"
The girl smiled. "Amazing! Today is gonna be the best. Are you making the cake again Granny?"
"You know it!"
Before she could say anything more, the ten year old was whisked away by Snow, who captured her in a tight embrace and gently swayed from side to side. "I cannot believe you're ten! This is crazy- I'm getting so old! Before long you'll be graduating from high school, heading off to collage..."
"Oh stop it Mom," Emma intervened, attempting to wiggle the suffocating girl out of her grip, "you know she can't leave. She's not going anywhere."
Emma cut her sentence off abruptly, knowing she had said something she hadn't. A small smile flashed in replacement of her startled demeanor; all she had to do after that was wait and see what the girl's reaction would be.
"That's right," Caroline sighed, a surprisingly understanding smile on her face, "maybe I'll be a nurse, like Grace."
"Well, you've got a while to think about that," Emma said, giving her temple a kiss, "until then, revel in your first year in double digits. It's a once in a lifetime thing, kiddo."
She quickly took those words to heart. Everything had to be perfect for her party- for some reason, there was a pressure for her party to impress all of her schoolmates. Even if she weren't close friends with them, she didn't want to be forever known as the shy girl with important parents. She didn't know when exactly the change from ignorance to reality happened, really, and Caroline wasn't quite sure she was ready for it.
"Alright, it's perfect!" She heard her mother announce, the voice of the mayor turning every head in the room. "It's all perfect- nobody touch anything. We have ten minutes before this place becomes flooded with kids. You all know what to do, and if anything goes wrong... We'll get more cake. Get over here Caroline, we have pictures to take."
Being the daughter of a former queen, Caroline knew very well that if she didn't obey, she had quite the punishment waiting for her.
Every year was the same- pictures with family, pictures with balloons, and pictures with her parents. She didn't love standing still with a petrified smile on he face as the white flashes streaked like lightning across her face, but she knew her mom really liked keeping them.
Caroline was centered around the large crowd of the people she called family; the prince married to her bandit of a grandmother, the savior dating the pillaging pirate, they were all there, in that picture, surrounding her with love and attention. Then, in the quickness of a camera flash, it was over- the doors soon opened, and Granny's began to fill with children. Parents dropped their fourth graders off and stayed five minutes for a fast birthday wish; some lingered longer, locked in a conversation with either Robin or Regina. With them occupied, Emma, Killian, Granny, and the rest of the Charmings acted as chaperones, keeping the crowd of eager faces entertained with the promise of food, games, and prizes.
"It's so cool your brother could stay for your party," her friend said, nudging Caroline's shoulder as she caught Henry's glance. He was adding another present to the pile that already existed on one of the booth tables.
"I know. It makes this birthday extra special," she responded, repeating her mother's words. Of course this birthday was the most important one she had, but it shared most of the same things her past parties had- her family, her schoolmates, and Granny's diner. Caroline supposed that meant it had to be up to her to make it special.
"How's the cake coming along?" Robin asked, finally catching a glance of his wife among the many other faces in the diner. Regina was hunched over in front of Caroline's chocolate cake, completely channeling all of her focus towards the dessert layered with green and purple swirls, her daughter's two favorite colors. Her lower lip was bit in concentration- Regina barely got out a faint "good" in reply to her husband. Eye contact wasn't even a question.
Robin didn't know how Regina could do the cake so perfectly and effortlessly, though she had done one for every single birthday each of her three children had. Professional Cake Maker was something that could be added to her endless list of titles.
He could, however, see the wrinkles creeping at the corners of her beautiful brown eyes, evidence of the long, happy years of marriage. The tiredness in her façade was also clear. But, knowing her well both inside and out, Robin knew that she would do absolutely anything and everything in order to make Caroline's birthday a success.
His suspicions were confirmed when Regina quickly turned her head to the side and coughed twice into the crook of her elbow.
"Are you sure you're okay?" He asked, sudden concern pounding in his voice.
This time, Regina raised her eyes up towards his. "Yeah, just a little cold. But don't worry about me- has Emma started the beanbag toss yet?"
The seriousness in her voice was indisputable.
"She just did. Don't worry, Regina, everything is going fine. You don't have to worry about a thing."
Regina sighed, knowing that was impossible. "Just... Keep track of Caroline, okay? And make sure everything is running smooth while I finish this cake."
Robin responded with a sigh, slowly straightening his posture until he was upright and peering across the room at all the festivities, the dull pain in his back fading slowly as he tried to hide his wince. It was irritating and irrefutable, old age, but the thief knew it was simply a fact of life.
Within ten seconds, Caroline was spotted in the crowd of girls and boys no taller than four foot two, standing before the large array of purple and blue cupcakes. She was taking her time in picking one; her index finger tracing over each individual cupcake, probably looking for the biggest one, the one with the most icing. This act of childlike innocence put a smile on her father's face faster than anything else could- she was happy.
An unexpected rush of wind surged into the room right then, causing the entire room to burst with animation for a split second before everything abruptly returned to its normal state. Robin glanced up at the door immediately, surprised not by the gust of wind, but by the woman standing now inside the diner. She was tall, probably because of the heels she was wearing, and her fiery red hair remained pristine- even after enduring the windy weather outside. And, more importantly, Robin didn't know who she was. Even after scanning through the mental lists of every citizen in Storybrooke, (he knew everyone, mostly because his wife was the mayor) the result was a big fat blank space. Robin didn't know how or when he allowed himself to walk towards the front of the diner, but before he knew what he was doing, there she was, right in his path.
She caught his eyes after a moment of glancing around at all the kids in the room. She had bright blue eyes, foreign yet exquisite, eyes that seemed to just about burst with confidence and friendliness. Robin had a twinge of wariness inside, an insecurity he couldn't quite put a finger on.
Arm extended, with a warm and welcome smile on his face, Robin shook her hand.
"Are you, uh, here for lunch? It might be a while, Granny practically shuts the diner down for the entire day for-"
"Caroline's birthday party?" The redhead answered for him, a pleasant smile on her face, "I know. That's why I'm here."
Robin didn't have enough warning to wipe the surprise off of his face. "Oh," was his pathetic reply, retracting his hand, "well, welcome! Glad you could make it, Ms..."
"You can call me Zelena," she said, in her thick English accent, "and this is... Quite the party you have here."
Robin nodded, looking back at Caroline and that cupcake of hers. "We have a party for her at Granny's every year. I just... Can't believe she's ten already."
Scratching the back of his head, Robin figured he was probably making the conversation way more awkward than it needed to be. But he couldn't help it; it wasn't every day that a person he didn't know showed up to his daughter's birthday party. He cursed himself for being too nice to simply say "who gave you the right to barge in here?" or "where the hell did you come from?"
"Caroline is such a lovely girl. She was kind enough to keep me company here at Granny's one evening. I can't believe how good the food is here- I've gotten the same chicken salad and the same cheesecake from here for as long as I've been here."
She was smart, Robin concluded. Obviously she figured he would have no idea who she was. The woman, Zelena, seemed to know what she was talking about, with her head held high and her smile ongoing. The fact that Robin was just now meeting her, this supposed friend of his daughter, made him feel bad about never noticing her around town before. But how could Caroline never have told him or her mother about inviting this woman?
The sudden rush of pity made Robin drop the suspicious demeanor all together. "So, where do you work? I'm... sorry to say I can't recall seeing you around town."
Zelena's expression never changed- she had been positive, radiant, and enthusiastic throughout the entire conversation. Maybe it was to make him feel better.
"I don't expect you to know who I am," she began, "I've been cooped up in the hospital for years. I worked as an intern for Dr. Whale for a while before becoming a midwife. Storybrooke has had a 76 percent increase in infant births than in 1978?"
It was true, Robin rarely visited the hospital- he hadn't in several years. "I didn't know that. Actually," Robin shook his head in a laugh, "actually, it's funny you're a midwife. Caroline was born here at Granny's, during a horrible snowstorm. But, of course, we'll never tell her that."
That caused a slight glimmer of surprise to appear in her blue eyes. "You don't say," she replied, "that must've been terrible. Your wife is... Regina Mills, right? The mayor?"
He wasn't used to people not knowing his wife- everyone knew Regina Mills.
"Yeah, that's her. The evil queen." Robin chuckled, glancing in her direction again. She was finished with the cake, having started a conversation with Snow since then. Zelena followed his gaze, quickly wetting her lips as she eyed the smiling brunette from afar, her mind practically marveling with the idea of superiority, the idea that her darling little sister had no idea that she was even there. In fact, everyone in the diner, all the supposed heroes, were daft enough to believe that they were safe.
"Quite the family you have," she said, after what felt like ages in her perspective, "Caroline is one lucky kid."
It wasn't until she said this that Robin noticed the black and green wrapped present in her hands. Zelena caught his eyes shifting downward, suddenly remembering herself that she was holding it.
"Oh, this is for Caroline- I just thought I'd stop by and give her something." She said, handing the box out towards him.
"Aren't you going to stay?" He asked, taken aback for a moment by the brief gesture.
"No, I should get back to the hospital- I don't want to intrude, it looks like Caroline is having fun."
Robin had no choice but to resign and take the gift from her, knowing she was right. "Okay, I'll make sure she gets this."
Zelena's smile broadened. "Great! Well, it was a pleasure meeting you, Mr. Locksley, and I hope the rest of the party goes alright."
With another handshake and an exchange of goodbyes, Zelena was back out the door in a flash. Robin, still slightly confused, peered down at the present for a second before setting it down on the pile with the others.
He then talked to Regina, who of course was curious about the unrecognizable woman she saw him with, which lead to a transfer of confusion and a long series of questions that really had no answers. This went on until both of them realized that Killian was left to entertain the kids with the typical conversations about pirates. He was probably out of ideas, waiting for Robin or Regina to announce that it was time to open up the presents.
So they did, and soon the diner was alive with the sound of tearing paper and the occasional gasp of pure surprise. Her gifts were fit for a ten year old- Regina didn't like to use the word expected, but that's what kind of gifts they were. Lip gloss, candy, a new wii game, about ten CDs, gum, blue shoelaces, socks from Will, they all began to pile up on one another- a stack of riches before a queen. Robin had the task of automatically placing another present in his daughter's hand to help speed things up. When he looked down and saw the black and green wrapping paper, he gave Regina a quick look. She seemed just as unsure as he was, but it wasn't like they could keep her from opening it. So Robin handed it to Caroline, explaining who it was from since it didn't have a tag.
"Zelena? Where is she?" She inquired, her exhausted brown eyes suddenly bursting with wonder as she scanned the room.
"She, uh, she had to leave." Robin told her, watching her excitement fade.
Caroline was disappointed, but she anticipated about what she had gotten her. She tore the paper nearly, unearthing a small unmarked box. Her audience was silent in their own form of anticipation, waiting for her to make the move. Effortlessly, Caroline opened the box, a smile blossoming across her face. She turned it around and showed her peers, as well as her parents. Inside the box was a pair of purple studded earrings.
Again, thank you all for keeping up with this story! I promise the next chapter won't take as long to update. Special thanks to Maya, Sherry, and lmusicluver23 for keeping me going. Y'all rock :)
So, what do you guys think about the present?
