"Nothing is more creative... nor destructive... than a brilliant mind with a purpose."
― Dan Brown, Inferno
"What are we gonna call it?" Ingrid asked, bouncing an apple back and forth in her hands, watching Regina scribble something down.
"You know what we should do? We should send a survey to the schools and have all of the kids take it so we can find out what we need."
"Good idea. I'm sure the mayor has some pull in that department. Now we need a place to put all of this." Ingrid paced back and forth excitedly. "It has to be close to town, preferably to the school. And big. You know the kids like to play ball and stuff outside."
"Oh we're definitely getting a basketball court. I guarantee that's what every boy at the school will put on the survey. If not that, football or soccer."
"Why not all three?" Ingrid grinned.
Regina smiled, magically conjuring a stack of surveys. "These should do it. We can drop these off at the school in the morning."
"In the meantime, I'm starving. Let's go to Granny's and get a bacon cheeseburger and some Chunky Monkey."
"Do I look like I eat Chunkey Monkey? Look at this figure." Regina said. Ingrid looked her up and down slowly, eyes darkening momentarily. She didn't say anything though, just smirked and walked towards the door. Regina raised an eyebrow and followed her. Ingrid had been teasing her with little looks all week and completely refused to kiss the brunette again, which only made Regina want her more. The physical attraction was clearly present, but both were having too much fun playing with it rather than actually doing something about it.
They grabbed their coats and walked hand in hand to Granny's. Their smiles never left their lips, even when they received hateful looks from the other patrons. Ruby took their orders as they sat down opposite one another in a booth.
The door chimed, signaling the arrival of more customers. The Charming clan. Regina had her back to the door so she couldn't see anything, but she could hear Emma arguing softly with Henry. Then her son came into view, sitting roughly in the seat next to Ingrid.
"Hi Mom." He said with a sigh. "I'm sorry for ditching you last time."
Regina raised an eyebrow, noting how miserable he looked just being in her presence and how not sorry he appeared to be. She let out a sigh of her own. "Henry, go back to your mother."
"What?"
"You obviously don't want to be here. I don't know why Emma is forcing you to. Don't apologize for something you don't mean, and I'm not about to sit here while you look miserable and pissed at the world because you have to talk to me. Just know that if I treated you the way you treat me, you would hate me. Now you have stood me up time and time again and clearly want nothing to do with me, so I'm done trying. If you want me in your life, then fine. Until then, you know where I live. Now go."
Henry looked shocked at being completely dismissed. Ingrid was surprised as well as the boy got up and walked back to the Charmings.
"You okay, Gina?" Ingrid asked, looking at her with concern. "Why'd you do that?"
"Because I'm sick of waiting for something that's never going to happen. He'll never love me the way he used to, and I'm tired of having my heart broken by my own son." She discretely wiped her eyes and looked at Ingrid's extended hands. The blonde laid both hands in the table, open and upwards. Regina placed her hands in hers.
"Hey, it's okay. I'm here for you Gina. What do you say we take those burgers home and go get us a glass of wine?"
Regina smiled and nodded and Ingrid went to go relay the news to Ruby. She wasn't surprised when Emma came to the booth, looking at her as though she were crazy. "What the hell?"
Regina looked up. "Meet me tonight at my home please. Midnight." Ingrid returned with the food and the brunette poofed them home.
xxxxxx
It had taken Regina weeks to come to this decision. Being with Ingrid, learning to love again, the right way, showed her just how much of a dark and lonely life she lived. She'd realized just how much she was missing. It was so good to be loved again, to not be ostracized, criticized, pitied, or expected to be some perfect little lapdog. She felt free, finally able to be herself and it was Ingrid who had given her this confidence, this happiness. The world didn't matter anymore, only her Snow Queen did. As happy as she was, Henry's very presence always managed to hurt. Every painful barb at her evil past, every look he gave her full of disdain. Every time he stood her up for something trivial and stupid. It was like a knife to the heart over and over again. Finally, it had become too much. She may have possessed the Heart of the Most Resilient, but that didn't mean she was incapable of pain. She'd tried her absolute best to be worthy of her son, but nothing she did seemed to please him. And now, after 10 years of raising and 3 years of being replaced for his "perfect" mother, Regina had finally made her decision.
Emma walked up to the massive mansion and knocked on the door. Ingrid answered it, dressed in a long white dress and carrying a glass of wine. She said nothing, just turned and lead the way into the kitchen. Regina was sitting to the table, sipping her own glass of wine. A large snowflake was resting in the center of the table, providing light. Regina looked as though she'd been crying. Ingrid sat down on the counter while Emma remained standing, confused as hell. "You gonna tell me why you said what you did to Henry this afternoon?"
Regina sighed. "I told him to go back to his mother. His real mother. You."
"Regina, what are you talking about?"
"Have you any idea how much it hurts to know that the child you raised and loved and completely changed your life for, doesn't love you?"
"Regina, this is just a phase. He'll grow out of it. I talked to him and he'll get better." Emma said, almost desperately.
"Emma, this has been going on for years. He started pulling away when he found out who I was, and he's never come back. He never will, and you can't force him to. I don't want you to. I just want him to be happy. I just want to be happy." She looked at Ingrid. "I finally am."
"So because you got a crazy ass frozen bitch for a girlfriend, you want to just throw our son away and abandon him?!" Emma roared, becoming angrier by the second.
The temperature in the room dropped instantly as Ingrid stepped towards the other was no emotion on her face, but her eyes burned with cold fire. Regina looked at her now frozen wine and sighed. She knew both blondes would react this way. Ingrid was naturally protective and could've frozen Emma solid in a heartbeat if she so wished, and Ingrid was quite terrifying when she wanted to be. However, the entire cause of Emma's anger was lost on her.
"Enough." Regina said sternly. She stood up to gently take Ingrid's hand and pulled her away. "I have considered this for a while now." She waved her hand and a stack of papers appeared on the desk.
"You don't want to be Henry's mother anymore." Emma said, reading them.
"To him, you are his mother. I am just an evil woman constantly begging for his affection. I'm done chasing him." Regina said firmly, lifting her chin. It was breaking her heart, but she was confident in her decision. This was the best thing for the both of them. She'd lived before Henry and she could live without him again.
"He's gonna look back at this and realize what he lost, Regina. He's gonna miss you. You know I'm not a mother like you. You are his mother too." Emma pleaded.
"I love him, always will. If he wants a relationship then he knows where I live. I don't really see how much of a difference this makes since we haven't even spoken except to make a date to do something together that he won't even show up to. He hasn't come to the mansion in months. What's the big deal?"
Emma glared at her, a mix of confusion and anger flashing through her eyes. She angrily made a pen appear in her hand and signed the papers. "What now?"
"Now, you leave. That's all I wanted." Regina said without looking at her. She slowly walked forward and looked at the adoption dissolution forms. Already it was like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders, a tether attached to her heart had been snipped and she could breathe easier. She hated how she felt. It shouldn't have felt so good to let go of Henry. She should've been crying her eyes out, regretting her decision and begging Emma to tear up the documents. But she didn't feel that. "Take care of him." She whispered finally, making the papers disappear.
Emma shook her head. "I can't believe you did this."
"Believe it."
"He's your son."
"He's your son. Go ask him and see what he says. What's the point of me trying to fight my way into his life? All he cares about his family of heroes. I say let him have it. Now go home, Miss Swan."
Emma looked at her in disbelief. She cast a quick glare at Ingrid as she stepped forward to put her arms around Regina in a comforting manner. She turned on her heel and stormed out, slamming the door as hard as she could as she left.
"Sometimes the person you want the most is the one you're better off without." Ingrid said, pressing a kiss to her neck.
Regina nodded. "I guess I just have to accept the fact that Henry will always be in my heart, but not in my life. You know, I'll still protect him."
"I do." Ingrid said.
"Does this make me a bad mother?"
"No. I think it's what was best for the both of you. Both of you can live the life you want."
"I love you Ingrid." Regina whispered, turning in the blonde's arms to face her. Ingrid pulled her close and kissed her, pouring in so much love and passion into the action that Regina melted and quickly teleported them to the bedroom.
"I love you Regina." Ingrid smirked as Regina peeled away her clothes.
xxxxxxx
The next morning Regina awoke before Ingrid and managed to slip out of her arms without waking her and walked into the bathroom. Her own reflection caught her attention and she stopped to examine herself. She thought she looked brighter somehow, but it could've been the lighting. With a wave of her hand, her hair grew back out to its full length, just the way it was in the Enchanted Forest. She found that she missed having long hair to style and ran her fingers through it, admiring the shine. A pair of hands and a rush of cold air told her that Ingrid had woken up. The blonde smiled at her in the mirror and stepped forward to pull back some of Regina's hair, pinning it away from her face with a sparkling clasp in the shape of her signature snowflake.
"You are so beautiful." Ingrid said.
"Do you really like it?" Regina asked.
"I love it, and I love you. We should hurry and get ready so we can go take the surveys to the school."
"Already taken care of. Emailed them last night." Regina smirked. "Besides, I think I want another taste of what I had last night."
Ingrid grinned and took her hands, leading her back to the bed. "Well then, you should come get it." She laughed as Regina kissed her and both of them fell back onto the bed.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Regina and Ingrid eventually decided to go pick up the surveys from the school personally, in hopes of finding a place for the actual rec center on the way. Regina smiled, feeling the cold wind gently kiss her skin with Ingrid's warm hand in hers. It was almost surreal to feel this happy. A part of her wished that things had worked out better with Henry. But another part of her was excited for this new beginning. They reached the school and walked inside. Kathryn had become the school counselor after that whole episode with Charming years ago and had forgiven Regina. She lent them an empty classroom to go over the surveys.
"Holy crap." Ingrid said, looking at the stack of them.
"Yeah. Some of the kids were pretty excited about it. I think a rec center is just what the town needs, especially for the former Lost Boys." Kathryn said with a smirk. "Feel free to use this room as long as you need." She grinned again before leaving.
"This is gonna take hours." Ingrid said. "Maybe we should've done a select few instead of every kid in school."
"No kidding. You would think we would've thought of that." Regina sighed. "Looks like we should get to work."
A few hours later Ingrid was laying across the teacher's desk and Regina was laying on her stomach on the floor. Both of them were starting to get headaches from reading so many words. Regina had written down whatever new idea they'd come across and so far half the board was filled.
"Um, excuse me?" They both looked up as a teenage boy peeked into the room. He looked about Henry's age, but more athletic with short black hair and caramel colored skin.
"Yes?" Regina asked from the floor.
"Miss Nolan sent me to bring you some doughnuts and coffee." He said, presenting the doughnuts. Another boy about the same age, handsome but with darker skin and a shaved head. He carried the coffee and was quickly shoved aside by a smaller girl that looked strikingly similar to the first boy.
"And who might you be?" Ingrid asked politely, sitting up and shrugging a bunch of surveys to the floor. She magically replaced them and excitedly took the doughnuts.
"I'm Brett." said the first boy with a smile.
"I'm Jake, and the little spitfire is Taylor." said the second boy.
"I'm Regina, that's Ingrid. You both were Lost Boys, weren't you?" Regina said, sipping her coffee.
"Um, yeah. You guys are the ones who asked us to do the surveys. Are you really gonna build us a rec center?" Brett answered.
"You bet." Regina said, smiling at Ingrid and Taylor sharing doughnuts. "We're still trying to find a place and figure out exactly what to put in it."
"Pool, you should get a pool." Jake said, looking at their board.
"And a dance studio." Taylor added, mouth full of doughnuts.
"I agree." Ingrid said, her mouth full as well.
"Shouldn't you be getting back to class?" Regina asked with a raised eyebrow. All three looked sheepish. "But Kathryn did send you here and you only have what? Half an hour left of school?!"
"We've been here all day?" Ingrid said.
"Apparently."
"Hey, I know just the place for the center." Jake said. "There's like a huge plot of land with just an old abandoned house on it just down the street. It's perfect. We can take you there after school."
xxxxxxxxx
As the school let out and the kids rushed out of the building, Regina and Ingrid waited for Brett, Jake and Taylor. Regina glanced up at seeing Henry as he walked up to Emma and the blonde put her arm around him. Emma glanced up and caught her eye, but the brunette turned away as Jake and the others returned, this time accompanied by an extra friend, a boy named Marc with a slender build and shoulder length blonde hair. The kids were excited as they lead the two queens down the street and Regina couldn't help but laugh at their happiness. It surprised her that they even wanted to associate with the Evil Queen and the Snow Queen. They didn't even seem to mind the dark looks from the townspeople, although Jake almost jumped on Grumpy for muttering something about evil bitches and whatnot. Ingrid simply froze his feet in place and smirked as they left the dwarf trying to walk with two giant blocks of ice around his ankles. Finally, they reached the land that Jake spoke of.
"This is perfect." Regina smiled.
"Never allow someone to be your priority while allowing yourself to be their option."
― Mark Twain
Read and review! Not sure how well this chapter was but let me know what you think.
