He cuddled her, wrapping his arms around her and kissing the back of her neck. It was 6am but he knew she would be awake dreading to get out of bed and face the 5th anniversary of her son's death. March 15th was always hard for Regina and all she wanted to do was lay in bed and forget about the world. But that was impossible. David and their little son would wake her up with breakfast in bed and then have a picnic in the cemetery where Henry's headstone was. Their son was fond of his brother even though he had never gotten the chance to meet him.

"Mommy!"
"Daniel Henry Nolan what are you doing up so early?" She looked at her young boy climbing onto their bed as if it were the highest mountain on Earth. "You're supposed to be a sleep young man."
"Mommy me lay with daddy and you." The little boy laid down between David and Regina and held both his parents' hands. "Me see Henry today, mommy!"

Regina felt the tears in her eyes forming. Daniel was the sweetest four year old boy she could have ever asked for. Ever since he was old enough to understand about Henry, they've been taking him to visit his brother and it was something the toddler loved to do. David suggested they called him Daniel Henry to honor the two guys who've made Regina's life better. The boy had David's eyes but looked exactly like his mother, something that would get him far in life.

"Hey buddy why don't you help me make breakfast for mommy and pack our lunch?" David picked his son up and walked out of the bedroom. "Would you like pancakes?"
"Yes!" He looked at his daddy with happiness in his eyes. "We make mommy smile daddy."
"We will champion, she will be smiling. I promise."
"Me sad when mommy sad."

Every March 15th, Regina had no strength in her body. She felt empty and all she wanted to do was cry. But Daniel Henry would walk into her bedroom squealing in excitement about going to see his brother. When he was younger, David would tell him stories about Fairy Tale Land or about Henry. He would avoid mentioning Regina was The Evil Queen, but she had always made it clear to her son that she had been mean in another life. All the boy would do was laugh and say "Mommy you no mean, you pretty!"

"Daddy, tell me when you marry mommy!"
"You want that story again?"
"Please, daddy, please!"
"Okay." David flashed his son a smile and started telling the story once again. "Your mommy was 5 months pregnant with you and she was glowing. She looked as beautiful as she always does. We decided it would be a private wedding, only us…and you inside her tummy. It took place in the beach house where your mommy used to take Henry. We stood on the sand and said our vows, knowing that we would be together forever." He made a pause remembering that beautiful day. "After the wedding we stayed in the beach house and all we did was lay on the sand staring up to the night sky. Your mommy was still very sad about losing your brother, but she knew you were on your way to meeting us and that made her feel stronger."
"Me make mommy strong!"
"Of course, you always do."
"Me is mommy's gift, true daddy?"
"You know that's true, buddy."

Regina walked downstairs because she needed to be close to her family so she could feel better about that awful day. She wrapped her arms around David from behind and for a minute didn't say a thing. Nothing in life, after losing Henry, could have been better than that moment. The house was filled with pancakes smell, her toddler's laugh could be heard from all around the place and her husband's old stories were everything their son needed to hear. She felt at home and even though she missed Henry, she knew he would have been happy in that house with that family.

"Mommy me make cakes!"
"You?!" David said laughing.
"Sh sh daddy, me make them for mommy."
"Thank you, prince." She kissed her son's cheek. "Are you excited to see Henry today?"
"Yes!" He squealed like he did every single time he was happy about something. "Me paint a picture for him." Regina started crying and David turned around to hug her. "Mommy no cry, me good."
"Baby don't cry." David whispered in her ear. "You are going to scare him and you know he doesn't like to see you crying. Just think about how happy Henry would be to have a sweet brother like the one he has and how much he'd love to see that drawing. Don't cry in front of him."
Regina wiped her tears away. "I am just really happy you love your brother so much." She caressed Daniel Henry's cheek. "You know your second name comes from him and he would have loved to play with you."
"But mommy," he looked at her with a huge smile on his face, "Henry and me play in my dreams. He good to me."
"You see Henry in your dreams, champion?" David asked as he held Regina close to him. "Why don't you tell mommy about it?"
"He play with me. He say me good brother. He nice, mommy!"
Regina kept crying, but this time they were happy tears. "I'm glad you see your brother in your dreams. I'm sure he loves to play with you."

After breakfast, while their son got his drawing for Henry and a few toys, they cuddled in bed trying to push all the negative thoughts away. David had become her strength and without him, she wouldn't have been able to go on. Regina was his everything and he knew all he wanted to do in life was help her get over Henry's loss and prove to her that life could still be good. Their relationship was simply perfect. It wasn't sexual, it wasn't full of lust, it was love. They loved each other passionately and they showed it all the time. People from Storybrooke could often see them holding hands as they walked their son to the park, having dinner at Granny's without taking their eyes off of each other or cuddling on a bench near Henry's old castle as their little boy played around.

"He is a perfect young man." Regina said as she rested her head on David's chest listening to his heartbeat. "He can easily put a smile on my face."
"I'm glad we had him. I think he came at the right time, when we most needed him. He saved us from a really rough time."
"He keeps saving me, constantly. I don't know if I'd be able to get out of bed if it wasn't for you and him. I'd be lost without you two."
"Well, you'll never have to live life without us. We are not leaving you."
"That's the same thing Henry said."
"But he was taken away from us, he didn't choose to leave, Regina."
"I know. Stupid Whale who got away and we can't find him!"
"I haven't stopped looking. You know I won't stop until I find him, I don't care if it takes me all my life."
"I wish I had killed him when I had the chance."
"No, I don't think that's what Henry would have wanted. You are a good woman and that's what he always saw in you."
"That's what I always want Daniel to see in me." She looked at her husband with tears in her eyes. "I know I've told him about me being The Evil Queen but it's because I want him to know everything from the beginning. I don't want him to wake up one day and find out who I truly am because that would make him hate me, like it once happened with his brother."
"He could never hate you, he loves you too much. You can see it all over his face, he looks up to you."
"Want to know what my favorite thing about him is?"
"Tell me."
"His eyes. He has your eyes and you can see goodness in them. That's what I first saw in you when we slept together. Your eyes. They are so perfect and they show you've been through a hard time but they express your peacefulness and your goodness."
David kissed her passionately. "If we didn't have to go out right now, I'd be making sweet passionate love to you."
"Maybe tonight, when Daniel is finally asleep." She smirked for the first time in years and that made his heart skip a beat.

Daniel Henry was sitting in the back seat on his child seat looking out the window. He was singing a song about dogs and cats, something neither Regina nor David understood but it made them happy to hear their son sing. He had his drawing for Henry in one hand and a toy in the other. The picnic basket was right next to him filled with sandwiches and juice boxes to last for a few hours. Regina had flowers in one hand and was holding David's free hand as he drove. It was an emotional day for the three of them. They both knew that by the end of the day their son would be crying not wanting to sleep because all he wanted to do was go back to see his brother. It happened every year and it made Regina's heart break. She knew she couldn't bring Henry back and it hurt her to know her little son wanted to see his brother more than anything in the world.

"We are here." David said as he parked and got out of the car. He grabbed the basket and held Regina's hand. Slowly, the three of them walked to where Henry's headstone was. Once they got there, they saw there were new flowers. Obviously, Emma and Snow White had been there that morning before the three of them got there. Emma and Regina's relationship had become peaceful after Henry's death, they became friends. Snow White didn't like to see David nor Regina but she loved to spend time with Daniel Henry because he reminded her of her grandson. They were a very dysfunctional family but they got along to honor Henry's wishes.

"Henry!" Daniel ran to his headstone. "Me bring you a picture and my favorite toy." The little boy sat next to the headstone. "Me paint you and me playing in the park. Me take care of mommy like me promise, Henry. Me good!"

Regina stepped away wrapping her arms around herself. She had to find the strength in her not to burst out crying in front of her son. David saw how broken she was and held her close to him to keep her from falling. "It's okay," he whispered in her ear, "I have you, don't worry." He held his wife for as long as Daniel talked to his brother, hoping she wouldn't breakdown in front their son and wishing he could do more to help her feel better. He knew no matter what he said or did, Regina would always have a part of her heart broken.

"Mommy juice please." Daniel said as he leaned against his daddy. "Me want juice."
"Here sweetie." She handed him the juice as the three of them sat around Henry's headstone. "I want to say something."
"Go ahead baby."
She looked at Henry's headstone. "These past five years have been really rough, the roughest of my life. I lost my boy and thought I was lost. But then," she looked at Daniel, "you came along and saved my life. I felt incomplete until I held you in my arms for the first time and I knew Henry had sent a perfect angel to look after David and me." Regina couldn't keep the tears from rolling down her face and she felt her little boy wiping them away. "Before we lost Henry, he told me he wanted me to be happy. At the beginning, I thought that was going to be impossible without him. But now as I look around, I know I have everything I need to be happy. So, wherever you are, Henry, I hope you know you didn't die for nothing. I am the happiest person I could be at this point of my life. I have to thank you and little Daniel." She looked at David. "And I also have to thank you. You've made my life worth living and I have no idea where I'd be without you. You help me get out of bed every morning and whenever I feel like giving up, you hold my hand and teach me how to keep going. I know how hard this has been for you, but never once did you give up on me. Thank you, David. Thank you for being my everything."

There was nothing else left to be said that day. After Daniel and David ran around for an hour, they decided it was time to go back home. They said goodbye to Henry and promised they would come visit him soon. As soon as they got home, the tears began. Daniel Henry refused to go to bed. He cried and kicked asking to go see his brother again. It broke Regina's heart to see her son so sad, but she felt the pain he was feeling.

"Sweetie," she said as she tucked him in, "I promise you we will go visit Henry soon, okay? In the meantime, you will see him in your dreams and you two can play. Ask him to tell you about the beach house because daddy and I are taking you there very soon."
"Okay, mommy." He said as she kissed his cheek. "I love you mommy. I love you daddy."
"We love you too." David said as he turned his night light on. "If you need anything, just call us, we are right down the hallway."

"It's my turn to speak." David told his wife as they looked at each other. "You are the one who saved me, Regina. I woke up from a curse and knew I wanted my life to be different, and even though I once said awful things about you, I know the amazing woman you are. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. You are my queen. You are everything I need in this life. When we lost Henry, I knew it was going to be a rough road for us, but as soon as Daniel got into our lives, I knew you would heal better." He kissed her. "I promise you I won't let anything happen to you or to our son. And it doesn't matter how long it takes me, I will find Whale and make him pay for what he did."
"Stop talking." She kissed him passionately.

And like that, they made love. It felt like the first time they have done it. He took care of her making sure she felt loved and wanted. She made sure he felt good about himself and wanted as well. This time instead of saying "I know you are The Evil Queen" like that first night in which they had broken the curse, when they were done making love, David whispered in her ear "I know who you are" and fell asleep on top of her. In that moment, Regina knew that, even though she would always miss Henry, she was now healed and it had all been thanks to her Prince Charming.