Lynnetta Mary Anne Mills had always been eager to know what her mother was doing, and that had only increased since they had arrived in Storybrooke. How long ago was that, now? The eleven year old shrugged it off. Maths made little sense outside of academia. Time and maths…they didn't fit together for her. She didn't care. Shrugging off her backpack on her bed, she peeked into Henry's room only to see her four year old brother happily playing with some of her old barbies. Waving at him, she started down the stairs only to stop at the first step upon hearing the landline go off, shouting that a phone call was incoming. Landline. No one else at school had one in their home, just mobiles. Lynn snickered to herself. Momma has always been stubborn like that. She perked up when she heard her mother's heels clicking against the floor, and shifted just a little. When she was sure she would be able to hear without her mother seeing her, Lynn curled into position, just as her mother popped the phone off the hook. Within seconds, the irritable, exhausted tone that the mayor never took with her children slipped out, briefly startling her eavesdropping daughter.
"...This better be good," Regina clicked the phone onto speaker, and set it down on the bookshelf in the entryway. "...I don't have time to be wasted."
Lynn leaned forward a bit, rolling onto her stomach to get as close as possible while remaining unseen. She nearly fell forward in surprise when she heard the slightly muffled voice on the other end of the phone line.
"...For someone who is the mayor of their town, I should have expected you to have better manners," It was the voice of Aria's mother. What was her name? Lynn frowned, listening even more closely if that were possible. "...I assure you I will not be wasting your time."
"...Nearly every interaction we've had has been a waste of my time," Regina coldly replied. "...What is it? Are you going to complain about how your 'little angel' is in a fight with my daughter again?"
Aria's not mean anymore, Lynn quietly sighed. Momma doesn't let things go. I hope she won't make Aria mad at me by accident.
Lynn paused.
She hadn't talked about her friendship with Aria much, apart from in passing, with her mother. Then again, the last year had become quite hectic. There had been a lot going on in town, and that strange man and his son who had come in. They didn't end up staying long. There also had been those strange men in suits who had come to the town. They had left too, and nothing had come of their visit. Lynn tried not to giggle. She had told her mother at the time that they must have thought Storybrooke was a place where UFOs were common, like Roswell or Area 51. She pressed her hands over her mouth. A couple of her friends - she couldn't remember who - had told her about those places and a lot of other weird things that all had to do with aliens. Aliens. She couldn't quite wrap her mind around those either. They sounded like strange forest dwellers, like back home. No. Not home. Just where she had been born. That thought came and went quickly, as did the nostalgia and odd sense of loss which accompanied them. Some of her friends had grandparents who supposedly "raided Area 51." That was a -
"...Aria is perfectly well behaved and, shockingly, your daughter seems to have improved her behaviour quite a bit," Leah sniffed on the other end of the phone line. "...But, forgive me for this, I do not trust her in the slightest."
Regina clicked her tongue. She was bored. She probably had rolled her eyes.
"...Your point being?"
"...My point," The word sounded forced, as if Leah had spat or popped it intentionally. "...Is that while Aria seems to have taken your truant of a daughter under her wing, I -"
"...Don't you dare," Regina hissed. "...Refer to my daughter as a truant. I've half a mind to call you a tramp."
Lynn pressed her hands against her mouth again to stop herself from gasping and laughing. She tried not to think too hard about the fact she had never heard her mother speak that way to anyone, even in their life before. There was a brief silence on the line, only the hum of electricity.
"...Fuck you."
Lynn bit down on her cheeks, barely able to contain herself.
"...I'm surprised to hear you speak that way. I thought you were a," Regina's voice took on a mockingly haughty air. "...Classic, prim, and proper woman, who established herself with her good husband in a New Hampshire mansion after the birth of their daughter in the glamorous but unscrupulous New York City."
Lynn snickered a bit despite herself. Much to her relief, the family cat crawled out from under the bookcase by which her mother was standing, its bell and sudden movement thankfully startling the queen enough for her not to notice.
"...If you are going to insult me in such a callous manner, I will reply with equally callous language," Leah tersely said. "...I will not allow myself to be treated in such a way. Which brings me back to my concern about your daughter's apparently deep friendship with Aria that my daughter claimed she was terrified to tell me and Stephen about!"
"...Perhaps that says a great deal about your parenting," Regina gently shooed the cat away as it had tried to scratch her heels on her feet. "...I've known about Aria's friendship with my daughter since it took her by surprise last year. I can't say I've been thrilled by it, but I respect her enough to let her make her own choices."
Lynn's eyes widened, and she smiled, shifting to sit up instead of laying on the floor. She realised she had never been more proud of or loved her mother more than she did now.
"...Stephen and I are perfectly good parents!" Leah snapped. "...And we have a full staff which have always taken care of Aria when we have gone away! We even had a wet nurse for her! We have given her everything, every advantage, and -"
"...Before you continue to be angry towards me, I should let you know I take issue with that," Regina's fingers began to tap against the bookcase on which the receiver lay on speaker phone. "...I have always kept my children close to me to the fullest extent possible, only leaving them when absolutely necessary or, as they have gotten older, to allow them some freedom and privacy. I don't think we need to turn this into a debate on each other's parenting, but if you are going to get that upset by it, I'm going to take the bait."
Leah let out what could only be described as a frustrated half-yell.
"...Your daughter did serious, physical harm to my child two years ago, and Stephen and I will not forget that fact!" Leah's voice, though furious as ever, remained a level headed volume and mostly level headed cadence. "...And that is precisely what we need to discuss!"
Regina sighed, sounding almost bored.
"...To what end, Leah?"
"...It's Doctor Watson, to you," She coldly replied. "...I have a PhD in linguistics, I'll have you know."
"...Oh, yes," Regina dryly replied. "Because I care a great deal about what your title is or isn't. In fact, you ought to be calling me your majesty, because I am the queen of Misthaven."
Lynn smacked a hand over her mouth yet again, before relaxing when she remembered no one but herself, her mother, Chloe, and Sherry knew the truth. It's just momma making a stupid exaggeration, to their minds, Lynn reminded herself. But it's true. So take that!
"...That's rich," Leah paused, presumably to regain her composure. "...If you're going to insist on being impossible -"
"...I can't be impossible, I exist," Regina quipped, and Lynn once more forced herself not to laugh, well aware that her mother was quoting one of Chloe's favourite television shows. How long ago had it - "...I believe you meant to say that I'm improbable."
"...If you're going to insist on being improbable," Leah irritably began again. "...I shall cut my losses and be short with you: Aria has expressed not only that she is apparently close friends with your daughter, now, but that she wants to spend time at your home."
Regina softly laughed. "...Is that so?"
"...Your home," Leah repeated, then, as if the words disgusted her, she continued: "...In a small town in Maine."
"...If no one is coercing her, I see no problem with that," Regina replied, and Lynn willed herself to stay silent again. "...Though I suspect she would probably want to stay the night. What is it…at least two hours for Lynn to get to school every day, and I have no idea how far you live from there…"
Wait…Lynn's thoughts started to run amok. Momma doesn't like it when people come into town. She's super careful - has to be super careful - about it because of the curse.
"...I am not allowing my daughter anywhere near someplace so…well, presumably undeveloped," Leah could not hide the contempt she held with every word she spoke. "...And, right now, I refuse to consider my daughter having any time alone with yours."
"...And at school? Sounds cruel to break up friends to me."
"...I don't care what happens at school so long as your daughter does not break Aria's nose - or harm her in any way - again," Leah said with a sniff. "...But I will not allow her around your daughter alone at the moment. Do keep that in mind. I don't want you to get any…bright ideas."
Regina took in a sharp breath. "...What could you possibly mean by that?"
"...You'll defend the indefensible in your supposedly precious little angel," Leah hissed. "...I would not put it past you to kidnap my child."
"...That's enough," Regina finally snapped, her voice lowering. "...I would never and will never take a child away from their parents unless I knew for certain they would be in more danger with them than without. Don't you ever dare accuse me of that again."
"...And what do you know about that? I'll have you know that Aria was briefly kidnapped as a toddler, and that -"
"...This is not productive, but I'm glad you and your husband got your daughter back safe," Regina icily replied, swearing when she heard a knock at the door. "...I have to get that."
She slammed the phone back into the hook without another word. She let out a short, irritated noise of pent up frustration. Lynn leaned forward a bit. Her mother took a look at herself in the mirror, brushed herself off, and stepped the little she needed to towards the door. She just about tore it open. Lynn stood up, awkwardly starting down the stairs, only to pause, grimacing and pressing herself against the wall on the right side of the stairwell when she saw who was at the door. Leaning on the cane that many in town presumed was more for dramatic effect than pure walking aid, stood Abraxas Gold. Polished and imposing as ever, he prepared to step into the home but was stopped by Regina kicking one of her feet out to push his own back. When he saw Lynn in the stairwell, he let out a low (and, to the young girl, ominous) chuckle and gestured towards her with his cane. Regina turned around, still keeping a foot to stop him from entering, and her face softened for a moment when she saw her daughter. She waved Lynn down, and her little girl just about wrapped herself around her mother from the waist, glancing warily at Gold every few seconds.
"I ought to come in for this discussion."
"That won't be necessary," Regina told him, her nearest hand to her daughter affectionately untangling parts of Lynn's long hair. "What do you want?"
"First off, let me remind you that I own this town," He said simply. "Which is why I thought I should complain to the mayor directly about not allocating more funds to me."
"You get more than you're owed, Gold," Regina's eyes narrowed. "You are well aware of that, I'm sure, and I assume you're only mentioning this because you overheard - probably from Sidney or someone - that the town council is considering striking you down to exactly what you're owed, no less and no more, and that I'm supportive of that."
He glared. "Since when have you cared about anything but getting your way?"
"I let the council do largely what they please," Regina swiftly reminded him. "And I absolutely agree that the town should not be responsible for funding whatever….well, whatever it is you do with the extra income."
Gold's glare deepened. "What I do with the money is my business."
"Yes, well, their point and mine stands that you don't need more of the town's money to pocket for yourself when you already could find somewhere more affluent to live," Regina replied. "I believe Manhattan has some very good options."
Lynn giggled and, before he could say another word, her mother kicked the door shut in his face.
"It's been a long day, dear," She said, affectionately pressing a kiss to her daughter's forehead before turning towards the stairs. "Henry?" She called up.
The little boy just about ran out of his room and started down the stairs.
"Hey, hey, calm down," His mother said, and he sat down halfway down the stairs. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay since I wasn't able to check in on the two of you as soon as I got home."
He nodded. "Love you mommy!"
Regina smiled, hugging Lynn and then him.
"I know. I love you both too."
Replies To Reviews:
barrattajennifer: they really do! i've always loved Regina and Henry's relationship, and just every motherly moment Regina has (hence why i created Lynn!) and the family dynamic is one of my favourites to write! (and is part of why i've always loved Emma and Regina's relationship, they really are perfect for each other and in my opinion are together and have been since the end of season two) i'm so glad everyone is liking the story as much as i do!
Sammii16: Ruby's care for Lynn (and, now, Henry) is definitely one of the parts of the story i like the most so far! (hope you and everyone liked my brief Big Bang Theory reference - sorry, i had to, it was right there)
jasouatfan: let's just say that things are going to both become clearer and more complicated with what's going on with Leah, Stefan, and Aurora in the upcoming chapters. i'm so happy that you're excited for what's to come, and, yes, Henry and Lynn's relationship is a lot of fun to write!