I Remember

Family

Henry

Robin ran inside with my aunt in his arms, blood covering his cloak, my grandpa followed him into the room and started working on her.

Robin came out from the room and rubbed his bloodshot eyes. Coming over to Roland and I, explaining to the small boy how the evil man took baby Elizabeth and how she will never be back again, the way he dumbed it down angered me, my sister was killed in cold blood and it shouldn't be sugar coated, my blunt manner of thinking coming from my mother.

He led us into the large chambers where I found my mom sitting cross-legged on her large bed, in her arms she had a pink blanket with the baby inside of it. I couldn't stand it, she should have her two babies, the two that she carried for nine months and loved unconditionally. "Hi boys." She said in a bittersweet tone, my eyes started to water when I heard the strain in her voice, how she couldn't enjoy the birth of her daughter. "Mom..." I whispered, terrified that I would lose it and break down, I darted out of the room.

Regina

Roland seemed confused about the whole ordeal and hung onto his monkey, peeking at the baby every couple of seconds. But then when I looked over at Henry, the expression filled with complete agony filled his face, he had never grieved before, he didn't know his father when he died, which saved him the heart-wrenching agony. "Hi boys." I managed to utter, his face filled with more pain and he darted out of the room.

"Henry!" I called, I slowly started to get up from the bed. "No Regina! I did that when Emma was born and I hurt myself!" Snow said sitting me back down. I sighed and brought my baby closer to me, my thoughts running through my head, Henry wasn't dealing with this as well as I thought he would, but he was a child, and this was something horrible to wrap your head around. "Gina, what's her name?" Roland asked climbing onto the bed, I had her name picked out for a while but I didn't share it with anyone. "Penelope Emerson Locksley." I said proudly, he clamored over to my leg and looked into my arms. "Can I call her Ellie?" He asked, I gave him a smile and nodded, he giggled and touched her hand, mesmerized at the small baby in my arms. "Ms. Snow is going to help you hold Ellie right now because I have to go and check on your brother, okay?" I said handing Penelope over to her, pulling myself to my feet.

I wobbled down the hallway and followed the sound of weeping and crashing. The sound echoed in the kitchen, the pots and pans flying inside. I swung the door open and saw my son sobbing and throwing the huge pots against the walls, blood streaming down his arm where he had cut himself, the broken glass spilling on the floor, a large shard sitting on the counter next to him.

"Henry Daniel Mills!" I exclaimed, pulling him out of the dangerous kitchen, using the little magic I had left to clean up the destroyed room. I shut the door and held the wall, pulling him into my secret study in the wall.

"Explain yourself young man!" I said sternly, he gave me a hard look, then I saw it split in half, his raw emotions spilling through. "I hate that I'm his grandson! He killed my sister and didn't even think twice about it! What if I did something like that! I don't know if I can live here knowing that I have the potential to do something like that! I don't want to cost you your happy ending, or even risk it. You have already lost so much mom, I hate that this happened! It's all my fault! I should have known and stopped him-" I cut him off unable to allow him to blame himself.

"No, Henry listen to me! I am going to tell you something that only your grandmother and Robin know. My mother, she killed my fiancé in cold blood, ripped his heart out and crushed it right in front of me because he was not the king. But she was still my mother, and no matter how much resentment I held towards her, I had to find it within myself to not become her. Evil isn't born Henry, it's made. And so is good. Don't think that you are a risk that could take away my happiness, because Henry you are my happiness, you changed me and made me whole again. This horribly tragic thing should have never happened, but it did, and it is no one's fault but Rumple's." I said wiping a tear from his eye. He just collapsed into my arms and sobbed, I felt my own tears start flowing and I collected his face in my hands, brushing my thumbs across his cheek. "It hurts Henry, that feeling won't go away for a while, but right now we just have to be there for one another." I said gently, he nodded and hugged me tightly. "But why us?" He asked, I sighed and shook my head, placing a small kiss on his forehead. "I don't know."

I wobbled back to the room where everyone was gathered with Henry, his mood didn't change but he didn't run away. "Sit down mom." He said walking me to the bed, I sighed and sat in front of him, Snow handed me Penelope and then took Roland to go find the bathroom. "Come here Henry." I said quietly, he got up and stood next to me by the bed, he gently pulled the blanket away from his sister's face and smiled. He sat down next to me, staring at the little girl intensely. I passed her to him and watched as he carefully held his sister. "What's her name mom?" He asked, never taking his eyes off of her, it made my heart warm to the point of tears. "Penelope Emerson." I whispered, he smiled and held her close to him, kissing her head carefully. "I love you Henry."

The room was quiet and the boys had retired to their rooms while Snow took Emma to go find David, I held Penelope then looked up when I heard footsteps in the doorway. "Hello." I saw Robin standing next to the bed with a tray of food for me. "Can I hold my daughter please?" He asked gently, setting the tray next to me, I handed her over and laid back onto the large mountain of pillows. "She looks like you Regina." He remarked, running his finger up and down her cheek, I just nodded and smiled, I was determined to feel some joy for one of my daughters, and then quietly mourn the other.

Robin placed the plate into my lap and urged me to eat, but my appetite was gone. "No Regina, you are not going to starve yourself. I am not losing my daughter and my wife too." I looked up at him and raised my eyebrow. "Wife?" I stuttered, his eyes looked sad and tired, but he nodded and smiled. "I want to marry you Regina, do you want the same?" He asked softly, the shock still stirring. "Of course I want to marry you. I love you." I said as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "Just please don't push away from me, we will get through this together Regina, as a family. You me, Roland, Henry, and Penelope." He said holding her out, he then pushed the plate towards me and I picked up the piece of toast and nibbled on it. "Good, now how about you try this on?" He said slipping a diamond ring onto my left finger, I smiled and kissed him gently, my heart still ached but it didn't ache alone, I had my Robin, we would help each other, help our children, be a family.