AN: Next chapters are written - a few - but they still need some polishing. Also, I'm looking for the right titles. So, they are there, it's not going on hold or abandoned, but it may take some time before I post the next part. In August I'm on holiday, so maybe I'll manage to get some more sleep than normally and work on the text :)
Little town
They finally managed to get Roland to give them the address - or rather the directions - to Regina's house.
From his disjointed story, they worked out the situation - adoptive mother, his long-kept longing for a father who apparently disappeared in the woods, his attempts at finding the place where he used to live. All very familiar, well-known from the stories of other children in the group home.
As Elena spoke to Roland, wiping his wet hair and tucking the blanket around him, Emma slowly drove forward, looking carefully for any sign of civilisation. When they suddenly came upon a sign saying "Welcome to Storybrooke" she was not even that surprised.
That magic thing about pushing them in the right direction was starting to be annoying.
The town was slightly anticlimactic. Just a standard somewhere-in-USA town - reasonably sized streets, unexceptional shops, some bigger buildings, a clock tower, a crossroads, a phone booth… very generic, very normal.
Even at the rather late hour they could see people walking, some cars on the streets, some shop windows illuminated. Smell of fried onions wafted in through the partially open window on Emma's side.
Emma sent a grateful thought to whoever may be listening for this being a XX century town, probably well-equipped with all modern facilities, like running water. She really hated field solutions to hygiene problems.
"Here we are" Emma parked the car in front of a huge stone mansion. "Come on, girls. Let's hand Roland back to his… Well. To Regina. Preferably before they start a kid hunt in the forest in darkness."
Elena managed to scoop slightly damp kid out of the backseat, where he tried to resist, for just a moment. Still, he seemed more resigned to his fate and to protest mostly for the sake of appearances.
Elsa pressed the buzzer button and they waited in the slight drizzle.
"Who is…!?" tall, handsome brunette woman opened the door abruptly, her voice dying as she took in the whole group. "ROLAND!"
"Um. Afternoon" Elsa smiled her best lawyer-y smile. "It seems we found something of yours."
"WHAT? Where… How… Why do you have Roland?"
The boy curled up in Elena's arms even more tightly.
"Regina?" a male voice asked from inside the house.
"Graham! Yes, there are some women who have Roland…" she trailed off. "Who are you?" her gaze focused on Elena, who was still holding the small boy.
Tall, curly-haired man with a wide smile strode into the hall behind her. His uniform and badge were rather obvious hints towards his role in the town.
"Ah, sheriff!" Elena's smile brightened. "Hello. Sorry, yes, we found Roland. In the woods, something like two miles outside the town."
Regina gasped and reached for the boy.
"Let me" the sheriff offered and picked him from Elena's arms. "Regina, I'll take care of the lad, you please talk to the ladies. I wonder how he managed to get so far… Come on, little guy, you gave us all a fright."
The brunette's eyes tracked him until he apparently reached the stairs, his steps echoing in the hallway.
"Mom?"
Henry stood on the steps behind them, holding something up.
"Roland left his hat and his bag in the car" he explained, pushing between his aunts. "Hello. I'm Henry Swan. I think these are Roland's?"
Regina took the offered objects almost automatically, looking at Henry in astonishment.
"Thank you, Henry Swan. And…" she raised her eyes at the grownups on her doorstep. "I'm so sorry. Didn't introduce myself. Regina Mills. Would you all please come in? I have just made tea, maybe you'd like some?"
They sat on the grand leather-covered sofa, all three in their casual travelling attire, Emma holding sleepy Henry in her lap, opposite of Regina, who even at her own home was dressed rather smartly.
Their host was arranging the tea set on the tray in front of her, and glancing at them from time to time. Finally she poured and handed them their cups.
"So… You just arrived in the area? I've never seen you around here. And it is a rather small town, so I know everyone. Probably."
"Yes" Emma lifted Henry to a more comfortable position against her shoulder. "We were driving through the forest when Elena spotted Roland between the bushes. Considering the fact that we didn't see any lights or homesteads around, we decided it would be best to take him with us and hand him to the authorities, if we couldn't find his family."
Regina nodded slowly.
"Thank you" her gaze stopped on Henry's slumbering form. "Roland is… Is a bit troubled. His family does not… Well."
"I understand he thinks his father lives in the woods" Elena smiled, leaning forward. "I'd assume this is some trauma from before adoption. He seems very determined."
"Actually, we have no idea what happened to his family" Regina sighed. "He was found wandering the woods one day by a teacher from local primary school. She brought him to the sheriff and we tried to identify whose he might be. We assumed he just got lost, but from what he said, we worked out…"
She stuttered a bit and Elena smiled compassionately.
"He said something about smoke" she provided. "I'm guessing some kind of forest fire? Maybe he was hiking with his family and they set their campfire up without securing it properly?"
Regina nodded, then shook her head.
"We didn't have a forest fire anywhere near where he was found. I'm afraid he must have been walking for miles before he was found, and so we have no hope of ever identifying where he came from. We sent his description to social services in the nearest city, but all they could give us was the offer of one of their social workers picking him up" she hugged herself unconsciously. "I couldn't… just give him to be lost in the system. At least if we kept him here, we had a chance of controlling what happened to him, and in case his parents were ever found, to check what was it that had happened. If we sent him to the main offices, he would have become just one more number on a long list… And they'd probably hand him over back to whoever was irresponsible enough to have lost him."
Elsa leaned towards their host and patted her hand.
"You did well" she said gently. "He's better off with you, whatever he thinks, than in a group home."
Regina blinked.
"We were in the system" Elsa weaved towards the other two. "Unadoptable, as triplets. It's way better for him to stay with you. He seems like a very delicate boy, he wouldn't have done well in an average group home. And some of the foster families are proper nightmares."
Regina's trembling half-smile surprised all of them.
"Thank you" she finally uttered. "I'm… I was never sure I did the right thing, I know nothing about raising children. But it seemed safer, and with me being the mayor of the town, I could move the papers to declare myself the foster family for Roland. I really hope someday his father is found, but it's been already a year…" she bit her lip.
Elsa's smile faltered as she watched Regina carefully and she touched Emma's hand, tapping her watch.
"Alright, we'll let you get back to him, then" Emma smiled over Henry's head. "We should be getting on our way. Is there a hotel somewhere in town? I don't want to even try to drive anymore and Henry deserves a proper bed for the night."
Regina rose with them, and walked them to the door.
"If you turn to the left on the next lights, three houses down is the B&B. Granny should still be up so you have a chance for a room if you hurry."
They walked down the paved path silently, Emma holding Henry's prone form and the other two thinking very intently.
As they opened the car door, Elsa finally inhaled deeply.
"I never actually believed August was right."
"You saw it?"
"Yep. A scar on her lip. Just like he said."
Elena helped buckle Henry in.
"Let's get some sleep and start this early tomorrow. We have to call August in the morning, to tell him we're here."