Broken

Crumbling Family

These next couple chapters may get heavy for some readers, read at your own discretion.

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Regina

Four Days Later

Life with an infant was impossible, I thought giving birth was the hard part, but the harsh reality of having a newborn at home while my husband returned to work proved to be an impossible feat.

I stumbled out of bed due to the sound of the microwave, rushing downstairs to find Alena warming up a heating pad, clenching her abdomen while swallowing a handful of Advil.

"Cramps?" I asked scooting besides her, she nodded and groaned, taking the pad out of the heat and pressing it against her stomach, exhaling as some of her muscles relaxed. "Yep, I did not miss those." I recalled, but she just nodded and sipped some tea, clearing her throat before looking up at me.

"I think I know what I want to do with my life." She blurted out of the blue, shocking me at her revelation so early in the morning. "What is it?" I asked trying to stay awake, but my late nights and lack of coffee made it difficult.

"I want to do what Aunt Zelena does, I want to be a midwife." She declared, shocking me as she smiled, but I just returned a confused one and hugged her. "That's fantastic, you should talk to her about it and start studying, maybe you can get your GED and start early." I suggested, but she seemed to zone out and rose from her seat.

"I will, but I'm going back to bed mama, thank you." She groaned, taking the heating pad with her before returning to her room, the whole house silent since Robin had left early for work and Roland had been dropped off at daycare with Snow's carpool to the school where she had began working again, the whole house finally a serene silence for me to enjoy. Thankfully the teenagers were still on holiday break and busied themselves with their own issues, making it convenient when they had sleepovers and get together with their friends in other houses, letting me take care of Evelyn.

The sleeping baby and running dishwasher allowed me to grab a throw blanket and curl on the sofa with it, dozing on and off until I felt my nap consume me completely.

I was jolted awake by my phone, I scrambled towards it and quickly silenced it and brought it to my ear. "Hi." I snapped, yawning tiredly, Granny's nosy voice filling the other line.

"Good morning Madame Mayor, I just wanted to send my congratulations to you and your family on your newest addition." She began, calls like these filtering through for the past few days as rumors of my delivery spread through town without our confirmation, trying to keep our lives as private as possible.

"Thank you Granny." I yawned, leaning back on the pillow to try and lull myself back to sleep, but she continued hastily. "I was also calling because Emma doesn't seem to be in the station and nobody seems to be able to get a hold of her, and I was just wondering if you knew where she was?" She asked, sparking my concern since my friend rarely missed a day of work, mostly because there was nothing else to do in this town but hunt monsters and demons until it eventually killed you.

"Thank you Granny, I'll check and let you know once I figure it out." I answered, clicking the phone shut before rushing upstairs and packing my infant up, gathering her items into the diaper bag, shoving it all into the stroller, exhaling shakily over her first outing in the real world.

I sped down the street to Emma's new home just past her parent's loft, screeching to a halt, quickly gathering my baby into the front pouch of my contraption. I climbed the steps and used my key to unlock the old rustic door, quietly creeping inside.