Forest of Fireflies

Chapter 74

(Regina's POV)

I put my hand around my daughter's shoulders as we walked to Granny's for Henry's birthday dinner. I let her hold Henry's present for she needed to distract them to allow me to get close with Leopold to slip the potion into his drink. I tightened my grip and whispered, "You ok?"

She nodded.

"Remember, there's no need to be nervous. Just remember to smile and act like yourself, ok? They won't suspect you if you act natural."

We arrived at Granny's very quickly, for I had only parked the car a street away. Coming closer, music and chatter could be heard from inside the diner. Tied up around the white fence, were balloons that spelled out, Happy Birthday Henry!

I smiled but with an uneasy feeling in my heart. My only wish was that I would have been either asked to take part in the party's arrangements, or even invited. As we walked up the steps however, my thoughts of fury were replaced by those of anticipation. A small part of me of course, wanted to take him away with my magic. However, I knew that this action would have annoying repercussions.

I reached for the door and whispered to Daniella, "You ready?"

Daniella looked up and gave me a nervous smile as she replied, "I've never crashed a party before..."

I chuckled under my breath. Then, I opened the door for her. As she walked in, I heard the noise from the diner suddenly died down. I came in behind her to see that everyone in the room were gathered around in a circle, along the perimeter of the room. They were all looking at us with shock. My eyes quickly swept across and I spotted Leopold beside insipid daughter at the back of the room. I spoke in place of my daughter. "Sorry we're late."

The grumpy dwarf was the first to react. As he retrieved a knife and pointed it at us, he demanded, "What are they doing here?"

I put Daniella behind me as I replied, "I hardly think its appropriate to not invite every member of Henry's family."

Emma dared to argue against me as she stated, "Henry's a part of my family now, not yours."

I huffed, "Oh please, Ms Swan. I raised him for 10 years but let's not have that again." I paused for the dramatic effect before adding, "Daniella wanted to come and give her brother a present."

Daniella stepped out from behind me and came up to Henry, who was standing in front of a table with a cake on top. With outstretched hands, she handed him the present. As he accepted it with a confused expression, she added quietly, "Happy Birthday, Henry."

I waited for a reply and to my relief, he gave my little firefly a smile and said, "Thanks."

I could see Daniella's tension ease a little. "You should thank Mama too. She told me what you liked when we went to choose a present."

My heart stopped for a second as he looked up at me. Then, he grinned and asked generically, "Can I open it?"

I chuckled. "It's yours." I ignored everyone's hesitant stance as I came closer to him. He carefully tore the wrapping away and I watched with glee as his face lit up.

Henry exclaimed, "The new xbox?! But it only came out a week ago! I wanted it so bad and I asked Emma but she said no-"

To my disappointment, Emma cut in and interrogated me rudely. "What the hell were you thinking, buying my son the most expensive gadget out there?! You think that you could win him over with your wealth?"

Oh, if it was only that easy. I curled my fingers as I fumed with anger. Snow immediately whispered something to her daughter and when she finished, I calmly replied, "I'd appreciate it if you could refrain from such vulgar thoughts in front of Henry."