Here Grows the Heart

Chapter One

Three years was how long it'd taken Henry, and Emma, to find Regina. They'd tracked her all the way down to Los Angles, but much to both their disappointment they'd found that Regina had moved back to the East coast. So now here they were, in a town just out side of Charleston, South Carolina, looking for the right address.

Both their brows furrowed in disbelief when they pulled up to the right address. It was a little two storey brown cottage, with shutters on the windows and a large garden filled with plants and trees. They looked to each other again before Henry looked down at the address, making sure they were at the right place.

"This is the right address, 62 Evergreen Road," Henry says, pushing his phone in front of Emma's face, showing the map.

After a moment Emma finally spoke, "Well go on then kid," she said, tilting her head towards the house. This whole endeavour had been for Henry's benefit, the now 14 year old had been missing his mother steadily for three years and Emma had decided it was time they'd found the brunette. At least that's what she tried to convince herself; she didn't want to admit that she missed Regina too.

Henry sighed, getting out of the car and making his way through the gate and up the path. Stopping in front of the front door, he turned halfway to look back at Emma, worry and anxiety etched on his young features. His blonde mother flashed him what she hoped was an encouraging smile as he turned back around, taking a deep breath and knocking on the old wood of the door.

A silent, awkward moment later the door was pulled open but not by the woman he had expected. Henry instead looked up into the unfamiliar dark blue eyes of a man he'd never seen before. He took a small step back, quickly casting his gaze over the man before him; he was fairly tall, muscled, light stubble across his chin and cheeks, with dark brown hair atop his head.

"Can I uh...help you?" the man asked, his voice deep and smooth. Henry looked up at him again before glancing back at the address on his phone, frowning deeper than before.

"Um, does a Regina Mills live here?" he asked cautiously, taking a little step backwards.

"Yeah, she does kid," he answered, "I'll just get her," he continued, eyeing the kid suspiciously but turning and walking into the house in search of Regina.

Several moments later, a slightly fidgety Henry looked back up to see his mother and the man standing in the doorway. Regina looked decidedly different, her hair longer and her clothes not the pressed business ensembles Henry had seen through his childhood but it was still his mother. Her eyes and mouth were wide open in surprise and despite the uneasy feeling, Henry beamed up at the mother he hadn't seen for three years.

"Mom," he exclaimed happily, throwing his arms around her in a tight hug uncharacteristic of a 14 year old boy.

Three Years Ago

"There's nothing left for me here," Regina says quietly, tiredly. She is looking towards the blonde saviour, hoping she'd understand.

"What are you talking about Regina? You've got Henry and...Me," she blusters out, partially angry and partially confused. She doesn't understand what Regina is saying, why she's making this decision now or how she can possibly change her mind. She doesn't really think she wants Regina to go but she isn't sure she wants her to stay either; there are too many conflicting emotions within her to deal with.

Regina scoffs, crossing her arms across her chest almost defensively, "No, I don't. Henry hasn't been mine for a long time, you've certainly seen to that and I most definitely don't have you either," she tells her resignedly.

Regina looks away then, glancing towards her packed car. A suitcase sits on the backseat, filled with close she'll probably dispose of and a box rests on the floor, filled with her most precious possessions. A photo album of Henry, some of his more sincere gifts, her mothers' locket and a jewellery box her daddy had given her on her 12th year. It was a dismal showing of her life but there wasn't much else she wanted to remember, from this land or the other.

"Regina, please, please don't go," Emma practically begs although she has no idea why she does. After everything, Emma should truly and utterly hate the woman in front of her but; she just can't bring herself to. She wants to imagine she only cares because the woman raised Henry, and loved him the best she could, when Emma herself couldn't; but she can't be sure it isn't something more either.

"I've made my decision Miss Swan and you won't persuade me from it," Regina tells her with a sigh, looking back up to the blonde.

"Right," the blonde nods in anger, her stubbornness setting in. As much as she knows how wrong it'll be for Regina to not be here, especially for Henry, she will not fight for her. Regina is the Evil Queen after all, she ruined everyone's lives and Emma knows she should just be glad the witch wants to leave and yet it doesn't quite settle right within her.

Regina, seeing that Emma had finally given up almost sighed in relief. She turned towards her car, opening the drivers' side door but hesitated for a moment. She glanced briefly over her shoulder at the blonde as she spoke, "Tell-tell Henry I love him...please," she says so quietly Emma almost doesn't hear it. The blonde says nothing in return, just watches as Regina gets into her Mercedes and pulls out of her drive way without a glance backwards.

Regina drives through town, eyes steadfastly fixed straight ahead. She does not want to reminisce or dig up memories of the last 29 years she'd spent in Storybrooke. She'd thought there'd be tears or some type of emotion as she got closer and closer towards the town line but there is only brief pain of leaving Henry and relief. Relief that she'd finally be leaving her painful past behind and relief that she was going to finally be free, just like she'd always wanted.

Driving over the town line she knew it was the best decision she'd ever made in her long, miserable life.

Regina smiled at her lover as he stood across the room from her, holding a lilac paint swatch up against the ugly brown wall of the room they were in. The room had just been cleared out; nothing was in there, in preparation for their painting endeavour. She rested a hand on her rounded belly, rubbing it gently as she thought over the colour; lilac was a pretty colour but she just wasn't sure it was right.

"What about the sunshine yellow?" she suggests as she moves across the room, plucking the colour swatch from her lovers hand and holding it against the wall.

"I don't know Regina...isn't it a bit bright?" the man jokes, looking down at the former queen with a teasing grin.

"Too bright? Honestly Jack," she laughs, rolling her eyes at her partner. "I think yellow's the perfect colour for our little one's nursery," she continues, smiling up at him sincerely.

Jack Johnson smiles down at his lover, knowing he'll concede on the yellow because he loves Regina and really, anything that isn't this ugly brown will be better. He tosses the paint swatches to the ground, stepping forward to pull Regina closer, pecking her lightly on the lips. Regina easily let's him pull her closer, sighing happily into the kiss, grinning as they pulled away.

"The yellow's good, anything but this brown," he says, taking the yellow swatch from her hand and pressing it to the wall. He takes a roll of tape from his pocket and sticks a strip over the edge of the swatch, securing it to the wall. Regina watches him curiously as he taps it, "Now we can just keep that there until we buy all the paint. To remind us what colour we decided on," he says with a grin and a nod.

Regina nods happily, leaning up to kiss Jack again. Their lips meet sweetly at first but then Regina pushes closer, hands crawling up Jack's body and tongue swiping at his lip. Jack's own hands rested gently on her waist, holding her as close as they could get. Their moment however was interrupted by a knocking on the front door, startling them both.

"I'll get it," Jack tells her softly, pecking her on the forehead as he left the room. Regina watched after him happily, a surge of love and warmth filling her as she now thought about her life. This had been what she'd always wanted, pure happiness, the kind that came with love and inner peace. Something which she'd never achieved before, something which she was all too afraid would come crashing down around her one day.

She started to make her way downstairs, curious as to who could be at the door. They didn't know a lot of people here yet, only the people Jack worked for and they certainly wouldn't just stop by like this. Halfway down the stairs, she see's Jack at the bottom, looking up at her with a slightly confused expression.

"There's a kid, at the door for you."

Regina frowns; she doesn't know anyone well enough here, especially not a child. She comes the rest of the way down the stairs before speaking, "Did they give you a name?" she asks curiously.

Jack shakes his head, "Nah. Just asked if a Regina Mills lived here. Kid looks about 13 or 14, brown hair, brown eyes. Looks like any other teenager to be honest."

The description, though vague, sets off a reminder in Regina's head of a little boy she'd once adopted. She can't help but think of Henry at the moment, her little boy who would be 14 now; her first child one, one she hadn't seen in three years. There was a dull pain in her heart as she thought of Henry but she quickly shook it off, he was in the past now and she had to look towards the future; her happy future.

They walk towards the front door, Regina wondering who this kid was that wanted to speak to her. She stopped, frozen in the doorway as she took in the young teenager in front of her. He was slightly taller, less chubby and hair more tousled but she knew, that was her baby boy, her Henry.

"Mom," he exclaimed happily, and before she could do anything he'd wrapped her tight in a hug. Her own arms automatically came to wrap cautiously around him too before turning her head to look up at Jack. His expression was almost unreadable but she could feel the confusion coming off of him in waves.

AN: Well hello there. It;s certainly been a long time since I've written to be honest. I was initially hesitant about posting this but, I'm glad I'm going to. This will heavily feature an OC, which I'm quite sure you've gathered thus far. This will be a work in progress and because I do go to college full-time, I can't promise any kind of regular updates. But, if you've ever followed or read my stories before you'll know I'm notorious for irregular updates.

Anyway, I really love to see what you think. So please review if you'd like. :) LT.