After Henry (Once Upon a Time)

Chapter Nineteen: Family

Countryside, Illinois...

Henry:  Ivy left two days ago and I still couldn't put myself together after that. 

It all happened so fast. One minute we were happy lying in each other's arms, wrapped by Malibu's warmth, the next one we discovered a future gazing it's big eyes at us, we were about to be the one thing I never thought I could be with: a family! The next second, we're running for our lives, fighting like we didn't even love each other, only for me to lose her to Fate's betrayal. 

When those chains were placed on Ivy's wrists, my heart just fell. I felt the the same agony as I did when the clock beat eight-fifteen and the flames in my apartment devoured Lauren and Aby. 

Could this be my fitting punishment? I told Ivy I didn't want to be Prince Charming, that I didn't want the weight of my family's well being to rest upon my shoulders, to be responsible for their happiness and be their hero every time a "curse" or "spell" crashed upon our lives. I wanted to be myself, Henry Mills, unsuccessful writer who just wishes to lie in someone's arms, accepted by his flaws as well as virtues. 

Now Ivy was taken away, along with my child and the prospect of a better future. I was forced to be Prince Charming again, to rescue them! Only, this time, I knew I couldn't. I wasn't strong enough! I lost my family once and I was about to lose them again...

The heart aches. It's so unbearable. I wrapped my legs and hid my face between my knees, when Amy came in with a deep frown covering her marble face.

"Henry, how are you hanging on, kid?" 

"I'm lost...Amy...Again..." I whispered, the tears were so heavy they silenced my voice.

"Hey, hey!" She called me, kneeled before me and grabbed my hands, that's when my eyes met hers, in search for hope.

"This isn't over, you can still find them. I talked to Rogers, he'll do whatever he can to make sure Ivy gets a good lawyer. She won't be in jail!" Those promises were so vague, I didn't even feel like Amy believed them. "It will be okay, you don't have to fight this on your own."

"I appreciate it, Amy, but Victoria Belfrey is the devil in Prada, you really think she'll help Ivy? Our lives will be a living hell with or without jailing."

"Ivy is a grown woman, she doesn't have to be her mother's little bit--" She bit her tongue before she could curse. "Look, one problem at a time, right?"

"Is this how life's supposed to be? One minute of happiness and the next thirty pure agony?" 

"Hey, life is made up of moments, good ones, bad ones but they're all worth fighting for." She quoted David Nolan and my mouth corners raised, hope breathed inside of me.

Amy smiled back at my forest green eyes and the next thing I heard was a small knock at the door. We both wondered back and met a beautiful amber gaze.

"Can this be a tiny moment of happiness?" The brunette standing on the other side asked us, my jaw hit the floor when I met the oval pale face I learned to adore so much!

"Ivy?!"

"Yes, Henry!" The girl yelled my name, bathed in the joy that tiny little fragment of relief the universe brought us after those intense weeks.

"Oh God!" I sighed, hugging her so deeply I might have crushed her bones. "How did you make your way here? Are you okay? What happened?" I killed Ivy with questions. My hands lied upon her belly, comforting the baby and feeling taken by that enormous amount of love.

"I had to see you! There's still some time before the court session, I couldn't waste any second, I couldn't!" 

"Oh, thank God you came! I was afraid you wouldn't be able to or that you'd even feel embarrassed or afraid after our rocky departure."