(A/N: Okay, I know that I finished this story a long time ago, but I thought it's high time I treated you all to a scene that ended up on the cutting-room floor when this story was being re-written, and the name of this scene was inspired by "Momma Trauma", the name of an episode from the original "Rugrats" series. I hope you all enjoy it!)
It was a rather nice day in the Mushroom Kingdom. The sun was shining, the birds were singing cheerful melodies, and the kingdom was at peace. It also turns out that Queen Peach is taking advantage of this peace by spending some time at the Comet Observatory with her good friend, Rosalina. Maybe we should head on over there and check up on the two women.
At the Comet Observatory, Peach and Rosalina were sitting together in the main room, just talking about the way things have been since Peach's baby shower. Mainly, they were talking about what would be happening pretty soon, because Peach was still in her 3rd trimester. The royal baby's due date loomed closer and closer.
"Well, Peach, it looks like you don't have much longer to go before the birth." Rosalina said with a smile as she looked at her friend's baby bump.
Peach looked down at the modest bump in her stomach and said, "That's right. I don't. (sigh) I can't wait for the baby to get here."
"I don't blame you. The child belongs to you and Mario. It's a result of the love that the two of you share, and that makes it very special. I'm also pleased at the idea of being an honorary aunt to the little one." Rosalina replied with a smile.
It did the two women a lot of good to spend time together, and Peach was glad to be getting out and visiting with a friend before the baby arrived. She was pretty sure that after the birth, she would have to spend more time in the castle, taking care of the child. But Mario promised her that he would try to stick around and help her out as best he could. He wanted this baby as much as she did.
As the women talked, some Lumas would come by every now and again to speak to Rosalina, and whenever they did, they referred to Rosalina as 'Mama'. Peach always thought it was sweet that the Lumas referred to her friend as their mother. However, Peach was starting to feel differently about that detail this time around...
You see, not long after the baby shower, Peach was constantly asked by her subjects how she was feeling with the baby's due date so close. They knew that as soon as the baby was born, she would be a mama. Well, the word 'mama' started to bring something back to Peach. Something pretty bad. It was something that she had pushed to the back of her mind a long time ago...
That something was none other than Mario and Peach's first vacation to Isle Delfino; the one that had turned into a disaster before it really began, thanks to Bowser Jr., who believed Peach was his mother. He constantly called her 'Mama Peach', which irked her because not only was she not his mom, he showed her disrespect by adding her name to the parental title, and Bowser let him!
However, Peach noticed that the Lumas seemed to refer to Rosalina by the simple title of 'Mama'. They weren't adding her name to the parental title or anything like that. Peach didn't know if the Lumas had ever shown any disrespect to Rosalina before, and she felt felt like finding out now, for the bad memories were coming back to her in full-force.
"Rosalina, can I... ask you something?" Peach asked, a little nervously.
"Sure, Peach. What is it?" Rosalina asked as another Luma darted away.
"It's about the Lumas..." Peach began.
"The Lumas? What about them? Do you not like them?" Rosalina asked, a little worried.
"Oh, no. I could never dislike them, Rosalina. I like them very much. They're very sweet, and they're so adorable." Peach replied.
"Aren't they just?" Rosalina smiled as she watched some of the Lumas bouncing around happily.
"I was just wondering... I notice that they all refer to you as their mama..." Peach said.
"They do. All those Lumas started referring to me as their mama way back when I was just a young girl. You might have read about it in my book." Rosalina replied with a slight chuckle as she thought back to that moment.
"Oh, right..." Peach said, suddenly remembering that this was mentioned in her very own copy of Rosalina's storybook. Then she asked feeling even more nervous, "But... I'm curious... Have any of the Lumas ever called you anything like... 'Mama Rosalina'... or 'Mama Rosie'... or something like that?"
Rosalina was quiet as she thought about Peach's question. She began to think back to all the different Lumas she had raised over the years. Had any of them ever done what Peach was asking?
"No, not that I can recall..." Rosalina replied. She couldn't think of a time that one of her darling star children had thought to add her name (or even a shortened version of it) to her parental title.
"Oh..." Peach said, looking down at her lap. Her friend was one lucky woman to be a mother to the Lumas, children who were very respectful to her... while she had to deal with a child who showed her no respect whatsoever...
"Peach, is something wrong?" Rosalina asked, noticing how unhappy her friend looked at this bit of information.
Peach just buried her face in her hands and began to cry, which worried Rosalina even more.
"Peach, what's the matter? Can you tell me?" Rosalina asked Peach in a gentle voice, feeling very concerned for her friend.
At that moment, a Luma flew over, saying, "Mama, I wanted to ask you something..." But then the Luma noticed that Peach was upset, and the Luma forgot the question it wanted to ask, instead asking, "Mama, why is your friend crying?"
Rosalina didn't know the reason why Peach was so upset, and she didn't want to ask Peach about that in front of the Luma and have her answer alarm it, so she did something she didn't normally do: she made something up.
"Oh, don't worry, Luma. Peach isn't really upset. You see, she's going to have a baby! It'll be born any day now, and she's crying because she's so overcome with happiness. When that baby gets here, she's going to be a mama herself." Rosalina said. She didn't know if she was lying or not, but she hoped the Luma wouldn't ask her if she was sure about her answer.
"Wow, Mama! Your friend is really having a baby?!" the Luma asked in an excited voice that was loud enough to get the attention of all the other Lumas in the vicinity.
"That's right. Now, do you know what to say to a queen when she's expecting a child?" Rosalina asked with a smile, seeing all the other Lumas showing up.
"Congratulations, Your Majesty!" the Lumas all said in unison.
Peach took her face out of her hands, looked at the Lumas all gathered around, and nodded at them as if to say 'thank you'. Then she started to cry into her hands again.
"Come on, Peach. We'll go and discuss this happy matter in the library..." Rosalina said, helping Peach to her feet. Before they went there, though, Rosalina turned to Polari and said, "Please talk to the Lumas in the kitchen about fixing some Star Bit tea for me and Peach. Also, do you think you can keep an eye on the Lumas while I talk with Peach, and keep them out of the library?"
"Of course." Polari replied.
"Thank you." Rosalina said.
Polari then flew to the kitchen while Rosalina led Peach to the library. Once there, they sat down and Rosalina asked Peach, "What's wrong?"
Peach looked at Rosalina with tears streaming down her cheeks and asked her, "Why can't I be you?!" She then burst out crying into Rosalina's shoulder.
"Why can't...? Peach, how can you say that? You're probably one of the luckiest women I know! You're the queen of the beautiful Mushroom Kingdom, and you're also married to one of the most handsome and considerate men I've ever known! Plus, you're having his child!" Rosalina said in surprise, rubbing her friend's back.
"But... but... you had a great family! You actually got to know your parents! My parents died when I was just an infant, so I don't even remember them all that well! All I can do is borrow the memories my godparents have of them!" Peach wept.
"Your godparents?" Rosalina asked.
"Yes. My aunt, Daisy's mother, is my godmother. Toadsworth is my godfather." Peach explained as she took her face out of Rosalina's shoulder.
"Oh." said Rosalina. She never would have guessed.
"And according to your storybook, you also had a sibling." Peach added.
"That's right. I had a brother." Rosalina remembered.
"You're lucky. I always wanted a sibling, because I was so lonely and in need of somebody to play with after Mother and Daddy died. Daisy couldn't always visit me, and she was the only playmate I had left after Mario and Luigi were taken to Brooklyn." Peach replied.
"I see... But I don't think that's what's really bothering you, Peach. You seemed awfully upset when I told you that I can't really recall the Lumas adding my name to my parental title. Now why did that upset you so much?" Rosalina asked.
Peach took a deep breath, then she told Rosalina, "You're the lucky one because the Lumas are so respectful and sweet to you! Somebody once referred to me as their mama... but they showed me a lack of respect by adding my name to that parental title..."
Rosalina couldn't think of who would do such a thing to her friend. It couldn't be the Toads. She always heard them refer to Peach as their princess (later their queen). And even though Peach showed that she had a kind and motherly nature when she was with them, they never once called her 'Mama'. But now she better understood why Peach was so upset.
"No wonder you felt the need to ask me if the Lumas had ever done that. It does sound disrespectful to add the names of your parents to their parental title. I recall my parents telling me and my brother that we were never to refer to them by their real names..." Rosalina said as Polari flew into the room with two cups of Star Bit tea.
"Even Toadsworth told me that. He said I was not to refer to my parents by their names unless I was on some diplomatic mission and somebody asked me who I was. After giving them my full name (that included my title), I had to tell who I was the daughter of." Peach replied as she and Rosalina accepted their cups of tea.
Then Rosalina thanked Polari by giving him a Star Bit, telling him, "There will be a lot more Star Bits where that one came from, as long as you can keep the Lumas on their best behavior without my help."
"I can keep them in line." Polari promised, happy at the thought of more tasty Star Bits.
When Polari left the room, Rosalina said, "That's completely understandable, Peach. You would also have to do that if you were writing your autobiography."
"Yes, but... I haven't had to tell anyone who my parents were for quite some time." Peach said, taking a small sip of her Star Bit tea, which tasted very good.
"I see..." said Rosalina. She then asked, "So, who called you 'Mama' with your name added to the title? Who was mean enough to show you a lack of respect?"
"I don't know if you're going to be all that surprised or not because you already know the culprit. It was none other than Bowser's son, Bowser Jr..." Peach replied.
Rosalina had started sipping her tea, and she almost did a spit-take when she heard that.
"One of those Star Bit thieves had the gall to refer to you as his...? Just where did he get off...? How could he think that you, of all people, was his mother?!" Rosalina asked when she finally managed to speak again.
"Oh, that's simple. He got the idea from that lying liar known as his father, to whom he never shows any disrespect." Peach replied.
"And was his father stupid enough to believe that you would be willing to go along with that lie he told? Only a complete fool would fall hard for such an outrageous lie!" Rosalina said.
"That's what he was probably expecting me to be! And he should've known that I'm too smart to fall for that sort of thing! However, I'm thinking that the more he told Jr. the lie, the more he began to believe it was the truth!" Peach said.
"Does Mario know about this?" Rosalina asked.
"If you're talking about the obvious lie, yes. But he never believed the lie because he knows me and loves me well enough to believe me. However, he doesn't know everything that I went through when I was in the clutches of the Koopas. I couldn't bring myself to talk about it with anyone. I just wanted to forget all about it after I got out of that awful situation." Peach said.
"You're probably not going to like this idea, Peach, but I really think you should tell someone about it, and if anything, Mario should be the first one to hear about it." Rosalina said.
"But-" Peach began.
"No buts, Peach. As I said, Mario is your husband, and the father of your child. He has a right to know exactly what you went through. He'll want to help you move past that trauma. Now tell me: when did these memories start coming back to you?" Rosalina asked.
"Well, they started coming back not too long after the baby shower, when my subjects started to ask me how I'm feeling at the fact that I'm almost a mama. And hearing the Lumas refer to you as simply 'Mama' is what made them come back even more." Peach said.
"Because Bowser's son called you his mama and showed you no respect by adding your name to the parental title?" Rosalina asked.
"It wasn't my fault! I didn't ask for him to keep calling me that!" Peach said.
"And you had every right to feel that way because you're not his mother. And even if you were, he was still being very disrespectful to you." Rosalina said.
"According to Bowser, I was the kid's mom. The worst part was that Bowser didn't tell his son to stop calling me 'Mama Peach'. He knew I hated being called that; I told him myself that I didn't like it, and that he was disrespecting me! But he really didn't care!" Peach told her.
"I can see him not helping you out, despite telling his son that you were his mom. He's a moron if he wasn't helping the woman he claimed was the mother of his child." Rosalina replied.
"So, I should tell Mario what happened to me?" Peach asked.
"You really should, Peach. Haven't you ever thought to tell anyone what you go through when you're rescued after being trapped with the Koopas?" Rosalina said.
"Not always... And after that time... it was so awful! I didn't wish to discuss that torture with anyone after I was rescued, and I never wanted to think about it again. So I just pushed it to the back of my mind and forgot all about it... until recently, that is." Peach said.
"Oh, don't do that, Peach. You really shouldn't bottle up your feelings, or try to push them away like that. That's not going to do you any good. Look at what just happened." Rosalina said, referring to the fact that the memories came back to haunt her.
"Yes. It was a stupid move on my part." Peach said, hanging her head.
"You really should tell someone you can trust, like Mario, if something is bothering you." Rosalina said.
"Well, I did talk to Daisy and her mom about what happened that time Bowser tried forcing me to marry him. I went to Sarasaland the day after my rescue, and I had some girl-talk with them about the matter. They told me to tell Mario what I told them, and to let him talk, too." Peach replied.
"There you go. You did what they said, didn't you?" asked Rosalina.
"Yes, Mario and I talked about what we'd been through, and it helped both of us feel better. We've been perfect ever since then." Peach said.
"I'm sure of that. You two always have been each other's 'special one'." Rosalina smiled, which also got a small smile from Peach. Then Rosalina asked, "Have you let on to anyone other than me that you are worried about being a mama because of these memories?"
"I... I might have... I don't really know..." Peach said.
"If Mario noticed, and I'm sure he did; I know how observant he is and how much he loves you, don't lie to him if he asks you about it. He'll want the truth, and I know you can trust him with that, so you'd better tell him." Rosalina said.
"I will. Tonight." Peach said.
"You promise?" Rosalina asked.
"Cross my heart." Peach replied.
"Okay." Rosalina smiled, giving her friend a hug that she really needed. Peach gratefully returned the hug.
After a while, Peach had recovered enough for the two of them to go back to the main room and continue their talk. Some Lumas told Peach that they found out that having a baby was going to make her a mama, and they just knew she was going to be a good one, like their own mama. Hearing such kind words made Peach and Rosalina smile.
Later that afternoon, Peach was ready to head back to her home in the Mushroom Kingdom.
"Remember what I said: tell Mario what you've been through. If anyone can help you feel better, I know that he can." Rosalina told her as she dropped her off outside Mushroom Castle.
"I will. Before tomorrow gets here, he'll know the whole story." Peach said.
And then Chapter 5 took place after this. I'm willing to bet you never would've guessed that Rosalina was the reason why Peach finally told Mario about what happened when she was taken to Corona Mountain in the main timeline. Either way, I hope you enjoyed this deleted scene!