Forever Yours

Chapter Twenty

Regina Mills

"The wheels on the bus go round and round. Round and round. Round and round," I sang while gently moving my son's arms in a circulation motion.

One month since Emma left us behind without another glance back. The funny thing is, the day she walked out that door was the last tear that ever fell for her. Henry is my main focus and priority now. I don't have time to worry about that woman.

I don't allow myself to think about what could have been. We would have been amazing. I don't allow those haunting nightmares to creep into my mind of the day she left. The day she broke me. I don't ever allow those hopeful dreams of her return to ever make an appearance in my mind. She was my forever. There simply wasn't enough room for pity or self-wallowing with an infant around. He is my number one.

Instead I focused on my job and my son. My son. Emma did send over all the legal documents, signing over her rights to me. I didn't have the heart to take away Swan from his last name so instead I added my last name. My son is now Henry Daniel Swan-Mills.

While I'm at work, I rely on Ruby, her grandmother, my sister or Belle to watch over Henry. They are the only ones I trust alone with my son. Those women have been constantly checking up on me to see how I am doing and making sure Henry is alright as well. Ruby told me she finally heard from Emma a few days ago. She was asking about Henry and I, but Ruby refused to indulge any information about us.

"The horn on the bus goes beep, beep, beep," I tapped my son's nose lightly, but his eyelids were already growing heavy. "Am I boring you baby boy?" I playfully teased inspiring a wide yawn to break from my son.

I swept his thick black hair to one side and ran my fingers over his forehead, down his little button nose, around his thin lips that resemble is birth mother's and across his round chin. I sighed feeling content in this moment as I watched my son drift away into a peaceful sleep.

A stern knock against my front door startled me since I wasn't expecting company. I lifted my sleeping baby into my arms and placed him inside his bouncer. I draped a thin blanket over his stomach and legs before heading toward the door.

The aggressive knock was heard once more before I peeked through the window to discover my mother on the other side. I groaned inwardly and rolled my eyes knowing she couldn't see me just yet.

I unlocked the door and took a deep breath before slowly opening it. The woman stood tall on my porch with a fake smile plastered across her face. She was dressed in her most business-like pencil skirt and blazer like she was on some sort of job interview.

"Hello, mother. What are you doing here?"

I didn't have time for her cold-hearted games. I know her all too well by now.

"What? A mother cannot drop in to see her lovely daughter?" She inquired in her most sarcastic tone.

I stood back allowing the shorter woman to enter without a word to be spoken. My mother has never visited my home, not once. I know she has an ulterior motive for being here. I'm just unsure quite yet what her business could possibly be with me.

I escorted her over to the living room where Henry laid fast asleep in his bouncer.

"Would you like anything to drink mother?" I politely offered but my heart was racing as I watched my mother lean over Henry's bouncer. She peeked over at the small baby before shaking her head and sitting down on my couch.

"No thank you dear. This shall be quick," she confirmed. I nodded and sat down on the floor next to Henry. "So, the rumors are true, you adopted your friend's baby," she spat coldly provoking my temper to boil up inside of me.

"Yes mother. This is Henry, my son," I snapped. The protective mama bear instincts suddenly took over and I knew I had to keep him safe in this moment.

"Well I was going to offer this to your friend when Zelena told me she was pregnant, because I know how you are with your heart. Then I heard she was going to give the baby up for adoption, so I decided to hold off on my offer, until now. Now that I see she ran off and left my poor daughter alone with this baby."

"Mother, I wanted him." I sighed and shook my head because I knew this would be something that she could never understand. "I begged to keep him. He's my son and I love him."

"Love is weakness Regina, you know that. Look what happened to Daniel and now this girl," she said with so much disgust rolling off her tongue, I physically shuddered. "Now listen up if you would like to remain in this family and inherit our family's money and belongs. You will take this offer. I will give you twenty thousand dollars to place this baby up for adoption."

My heart jumped up into the back of my throat. I clenched my jaw tight as anger pulsated violently through my blood. My fists were gripped securely, leaving indentations of my nails against my palms. My stomach turned as the stomach acid burned my throat.

"What?" I choked out the small word in disbelief.

"Twenty thousand. This boy will ruin your life. No man will ever want you, when you have this child around. You will end up living alone, in poverty."

"Are you insane? Seriously. Do you honestly think I'm going to abandon my child for any amount of money? Then you really don't know me, do you? You can get out of my house and out of my life. Henry and I will be just fine without you or anybody's help for that matter."

"You have no idea the kind of mistake you are making!"

"I know damn well that I'm not making a mistake. I'm choosing my son, love, over money. I know it may be hard at times but that doesn't matter. All that matters is my love for Henry." I stood abruptly and walked to the front door, not allowing her anymore time for discussing this. My mother's heels clicked viciously against my hardwood floors, her own way of expressing just how angry she is with me. I have never felt this kind of power and courage to ever stand up to my mother like this before and now that I have, I don't ever want to stop. "Not get out of my house and out of my life!" I snapped for the first time ever at my mother.

I finally felt proud of myself. I smiled maliciously as she stepped onto my porch. With all the pent-up rage and frustrations, I have felt for this woman over the years, I slammed the door with everything I had. Not once, did I ever feel guilty and not once did I ever look back.

I quickly ran over to my son, scared that I might have woken him from the slamming door. Luckily, he was still sound asleep. I carefully lifted the sleeping baby into my arms and walked over to my couch. I slowly laid down and placed the infant upon my chest.

Too many recent memories of Emma laying on this very couch with this baby sleeping on her chest came flooding back to me. I pushed those thoughts aside and focused on this moment right now.

I kissed the top of his head and rubbed his back softly. The calming scent of lavender filled the air around us from Henry's nighttime shampoo. I smiled and snuggled my sweet baby boy even closer. My fingers dragged slowly across his back as I hummed a sweet melody to keep him content in his sleep.

"Just you and me Henry. I'm forever yours," I promised against the top of his head.