The Nanny

The New Family

"Are you sure you can't come to Chicago with us?" Little Grace Hatter looked up at her beloved nanny with pleading eyes.

Regina Mills smiled as she shook her head. "I would love to come with you, but I need to stay here in Storybrooke with my daddy."

"Can't he come too?"

"He's too sick," Regina told her. She lifted the girl onto her lap. "But I met the woman who will be your new nanny. Her name is Belle and she's really nice. You'll love her as much as you love me."

Grace threw her arms around Regina's neck. "I'm going to miss you."

"And I'm going to miss you." She hugged the girl back. "So very, very much."

"Okay, Grace, why don't you go play? Regina and I need to talk." Jefferson, Grace's father, leaned against the doorway.

Grace nodded, hopping off Regina's lap and running to her playroom. Regina straightened up as Jefferson sat down next to her. "You're going to be missed. By both of us."

"I'm going to miss you too." She squeezed the hand of the man who was more friend than employer. "You have done more for me than I ever could imagine. Thank you."

Jefferson smiled. "And I'm not done yet."

"What do you mean?" Regina frowned.

"I've secured another position for you," he explained. "One of my colleagues, Robin Locksley, needed a nanny for his son. So I talked to him. He's agreed to hire you."

Her mouth fell open before she recovered her manners. "You didn't have to do that!"

"Nonsense. He needed a nanny and you needed a job. It was a match made in heaven."

She hugged him. "Thank you. For everything you've done for me and my father."

"You've done a lot for Grace and me." He let Regina go. "Now go do the same for Robin."

*****

Regina set down the bowl of soup in front of her father. "Eat up!"

Henry Mills pushed the bowl away, shaking his head. "No appetite."

"Daddy." She pushed the bowl back. "You need to eat something."

"I just can't, Regina." He sank further into the couch cushions, looking small and frail. His skin was sallow, eyes sunken in and hair thin. But Regina still saw the strong man who had held her when she was scared and who had raised her alone after her eighth birthday.