On Regina's second birthday, Henry made special efforts to make sure she stayed out of trouble. He certainly did not want a repeat of the previous year. Regina was making his task difficult, having grown more willful with age.

"Regina, sweetheart, you need to wear the dress," Henry tried reasoning with her.

"No!" Regina threw the dress on the floor before running off in nothing but her linens. She giggled mischievously as she ran.

Henry sighed and picked the dress up from the floor before jogging after her. "Regina!" he called. When he caught up to her, she was trying to strip off the linens as well. "No, no, no, those definitely stay on!"

Regina blew a raspberry at him, stamping her foot. If there was ever a time Henry felt like he was dealing with a mini Cora, it was the present moment.

"Don't you want to see your friends and Granddad?"

"Gra-da?" Regina hopped excitedly. "Where Gra-da?"

"I'll take you to see Granddad if you'll wear the dress," Henry bargained.

"Hmph." Regina crossed her arms with a pout. "No like dress."

"How about the blue dress?"

Regina shook her head. "No!"

"The green dress?" Henry tried again.

"Uh-uhn. No like."

"What about the red dress? The one with the big, pretty bow. Will you wear that one?"

Regina nodded enthusiastically after a moment. "Uh-huh!" She leapt into her father's arms.

"Oof!" Henry exaggerated Regina's weight, pretending she was heavy enough to make him stumble, which only made the toddler giggle. Soon after, he found the red dress and helped her into it. He couldn't help but smile at the way she was grinning. She was so precious. "Happy birthday, mija."

Once Regina was in her dress and her hair had been arranged into pigtail braids, Henry lead her by the hand to see King Xavier.

"There's the birthday girl!" King Xavier beamed. "My, you've gotten so big." He squatted down to be at her level. "Is that your favorite dress?"

Regina nodded enthusiastically.

"I can see why. It looks so beautiful on you. You are growing into quite the young lady."

Regina released Henry's hand to throw her arms around her Granddad's neck.

King Xavier chuckled, returning the hug. "Happy birthday, Regina."

"Have you seen my wife recently?" Henry asked his father, finding it odd that he hadn't seen Cora for hours.

King Xavier lifted Regina into his arms so he could hold her and converse at the same time. "I saw her chittering about with some highborn woman with a son younger than Regina, here. I imagine she is still trying to lock down an engagement for the little one?"

"Oh, yes," Henry answered wearily. "That seems to be her most consistent mission in this life."

"Have you discussed trying for any more children?" King Xavier asked curiously.

Henry laughed at the thought. "I think that ship has long since sailed. I'm not sure she'd even be happy with a son anymore, now that she's investing so much energy into Regina." The energy wasn't going to Regina directly, rather, trying to secure her a nice spot in the hierarchy succession of some kingdom via marriage. It didn't seem to matter which kingdom, either. The only thing that mattered, at least to Cora, was that Regina would be Queen, someday, somehow. "And Regina is enough for me. I love her with all my heart."

"She is certainly lucky to have you as her father." King Xavier kissed one of Regina's cheeks.

"And to have you as her grandfather," Henry returned the compliment to his father. He honestly wasn't sure if her other grandfather was aware of Regina's existence – or if he was even alive. He knew Cora grew up believing her mother had died in childbirth, but coming from a drunk of a father, the truthfulness of that was anyone's guess. Unfortunately, Regina's paternal grandmother had died before Regina was even thought of. Henry knew his mother would have loved her and spoiled her. He could almost imagine the constant rows she and Cora would have.

"There's my darling girl!" Cora swept in with a sing-song voice. "There are so many people just dying to meet you today, Regina! Your Highness, would you mind putting her down so she can walk with me?"

Regina clung to King Xavier, hiding her face in his chest. She even wrapped her legs around him. "Want Gra-da!"

Cora plastered on a false pleasant smile, knowing there were too many people around to reprimand Regina's insolence the way she would have liked to. "We can come back. You'll see him again," she cooed, tone syrupy sweet. "It is your birthday, after all." She glared at Henry. "And just what is she wearing?"

"What she wanted. I saw no harm, given it is her birthday," Henry answered. In his father's presence and the spectators, Henry could at least speak freely in the moment. He could be punished for it later, but it felt good watching Cora twitch with the restraint to maintain her illusion of elegant civility.

King Xavier played with one of Regina's pigtail braids. "Why don't you go with your mother for now, hm? You'll see me again, Regina."

Regina looked at him. "Pwomise?"

"I absolutely promise."

Reluctantly, Regina released her legs to signal she was ready to be put down again. "Okay," her dislike of the situation was made clear by her dejected tone.

Once Regina was standing on her own two feet, Cora grabbed her hand, pulling her along to where the noble woman was waiting, wanting to show her off. It would have made for a better impression if Regina were in the dress Cora had chosen for the day, but if Regina were on her best behavior, the fashion blunder may be excused.

"Ow!" Regina whined. "Mama, hurts!" She tried tugging her hand free, only for the grip to be tightened further.

"I'm sorry, Regina. Would you prefer I carry you?"

Something felt off, but Regina didn't understand what or why. Confused, she nodded slowly.

Cora leaned down so there was less risk of her lowly spoken words being overheard. "Too bad," she sneered, nearly nose to nose with the girl. "Not even birthday girls can have everything they want." As she straightened to her full height, she did, however, relax her grip on Regina's hand.

Still not understanding, Regina's eyes welled up in tears, blurring her vision so badly she stumbled along the path Cora was dragging her on, clinging to her hand for balance and support. Without her guidance, she would be lost.

Cora looked down at her. "You'd best not start sniveling, girl." With a discreet turn of the wrist of her free hand, she made Regina's tears and signs of upset vanish. They needed to make an excellent impression, especially since Regina was older than the boy.