AN~ Basically the same, but heavily edited and not in first person anymore. I used that way too much.
Beauty sits next to the hospital bed, staring at her broken daughter. Her husband is next to her, and for once, they aren't fighting. They simply sit in silence, holding hands and waiting for Natalie to wake up.
Beauty wonders, sometimes, how things would have turned out if they'd kept Natalie. They would have been very poor, yes, perhaps even homeless (children cost a lot of money to raise), but they'd have had their child. And Beauty can't believe she sold her daughter. It's one of her biggest regrets (she'll never get over the guilt) Perhaps she and her husband wouldn't have begun fighting so much, if they'd kept her. And Natalie wouldn't have turned into this mess.
Oh, she'd still have taken after her father in looks, yes, but she might not have become a monster. Not a real one. There are plenty of Everafters who have ugly alternate forms, but not many of them kill or enslave other people. And with Beauty as a parent, Natalie might even have learned to control her hair, to dress to flatter herself. They could have gone shopping together. The bow Natalie wears and the nail polish on her fingers make Beauty think that her daughter may take after her more than it appears.
Beauty wishes, more than anything, that she could go back in time and save her daughter from all this pain.
Wait- did the sheets just twitch?
Yes!
Beauty is suddenly very restless. What if Natalie doesn't want to see her? What if she hates her for abandoning her? What if she doesn't want a relationship at all?
Natalie opens her eyes.
"Hello," Beauty whispers.