Anyone's Help

No Excuse

Regina looked at the nurse. "She's so small."
The nurse smiled and slowly lifted the baby out of the incubator and handed her to Regina.
Regina held her cautiously and smiled. "Hey pretty girl." She said softly. "How is my little fighter?" She asked in a cooing voice.
The baby snuggled into Regina's touch.
Regina smiled. "You're a beauty." She whispered.
The nurse set new bedding in the incubator. "Do you have a name?"
Regina looked at the baby. "Mia Grace."
"Mia. How cute." She nurse said. "Are you going to tell your wife soon?"
Regina looked at the small baby in her arms. "I will. Just not yet."
"Alright dear. It's about time for her feeding. Would you like to do it?" The nurse asked.
Regina smiled. "I would love to."

   Two weeks later,
Regina pulled her hair up and walked to the living room. "Ready to go?"
     Emma looked up from the couch. "I can't go."
  Regina frowned. "I-it's your daughter. Why not?"
       Emma sighed. "I have to go to work. I want to go. Really Regina I do."
Regina sighed. "Fine. G-Go to work. It'll be fine." She said softly.
Emma stood up. "Regina I-"
"I'll see you after you get home from work." Regina said and walked out of the house. Slamming the door behind her.
Regina hailed a taxi and got out at the hospital. She walked into the hospital and straight to the NICU. She washed up and went to see her baby.
The nurse smiled. "Hey Mrs. Mills. We had a good night last night. Where is your wife?"
Regina looked at her daughter. She didn't bother to correct the nurse and say Swan-Mills. She was to upset to. "She seemed work more important."
"I see. Does she work a lot?" The nurse asked.
Regina nodded. "She always seems to be working."
The nurse smiled at her. "Well I'm sure she does it for the family."
Regina took her daughters tiny hand into hers. "She could have taken off. Her father knows what is going on. He would have scheduled her for a different time to work or something. And she knows that."
The nurse walked over. "I'm sure she has good reason for not being here."
"For her sake I sure hope so." Regina snapped. "Because if she's just doing this to miss it on seeing her daughter she won't see the end of this."
The nurse chuckled. "Okay. Well enjoy your time with your daughter. I'll be back soon to check on her."
     Regina nodded and picked her daughter up gently into her arms. "Hello my love." She said softly.
      The baby stirred in her arms and looked up at her.
   Regina kissed her forehead softly. "I love you so much my beautiful girl."
Regina sat down and held her baby close. "You're going to do amazing things one day my love."
The baby cooed softly and closed her eyes.
Regina sat with her for a few hours, talking, feeding, and cuddling her. She gently put her back in her incubator and smiled. "I love you baby. Mum will be back tomorrow."
Regina signed out of the hospital and walked outside. She hailed a taxi and drove back home. She paid and walked into the house.
"Henry don't argue with me!"
She heard Emma yell from upstairs.
She frowned and walked in, shutting the door behind her. "Emma?" She called.
Regina walked upstairs.
Henry was striking out of his room and into the bathroom. He slammed the door so hard it shook the walls.
Regina frowned and walked into Henry's room. "What's going on?" She asked uneasy.
Emma looked over. "I got a call from his teacher. Apparently he's been skipping classes."
Regina sighed. "Emma he's been through a lot."
"Quit making excuses for him! He's going to keep doing these things if all he gets is praises from you!"
"I'm not making excuses. I'm just telling the truth!" Regina said softly.
Emma threw her hands up. "That gives him no excuse to be like this!"
"Emma he's young! You have to be patient-"
"No!" She snapped. "No kore patience! If he does one more thing like this I'm sending him to boarding school. I'm not dealing with this anymore!"
Emma storming out of the room. Regina sighed and walked to the bathroom. She knocked. "Henry?"
"Leave me alone. I'm taking a shower." He said.
"Henry there's no water running." Regina said softly. "Let me in."
He opened the door. "What?"
"Henry why are you acting this way?" Regina asked softly.
He looked at her. "None of this is far for me. I didn't ask for any of this."
"I know Henry. And I'm sorry but that doesn't mean you should act like this." Regina said gently. "You know this isn't the way to act."
He looked at her. "You don't know what this is like! You don't understand. Now leave me alone." He snapped and slammed the door.
Regina took a step back. "This is my fault." She whispered.
Regina walked downstairs and saw Emma at the counter. "You tried to talk to him didn't you?"
Regina nodded. "I feel like this is my fault. He wouldn't act like this if I didn't treat him like everything was okay."
Emma stood up. "I didn't mean that Regina."
Regina shook her head. "No. I am making excuses. I just don't understand why my baby would be acting this bad."
Emma walked over to her and took her hands into hers. "Regina I don't know why he's being like this. But we'll figure this out. Together."