Chapter One-Caterpillar

It was sunny with a slight breeze as several people surrounded each other lost in their own grief. Regina Mills was holding on tight to her son Henry, as they watched his father and his uncle being lowered to the ground. She held back her tears and her anguish as to not startle the two year old toddler who didn't understand why daddy wasn't coming home anymore. She could hear her sister in law's sobs as they mingled in with the priest.

"Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it" She zoned out until it was time to throw the first shovel of dirt onto her husbands coffin. Quickly she rose, setting her son in his grandmothers lap before slowly walking toward the hole in the ground. Saying her final goodbye, she dropped a pile of dirt into the hole before collecting Henry.

"Regina darling, where are you going?" Cora asked worriedly as the brunette quickly tried to exit the funeral.

"I-I can't mother! I need to leave." Regina hissed quietly, quickly glancing around to make sure they weren't drawing any attention to themselves.

"Regina your sister is going through a hard time right now. You both are! Maybe you should learn to lean on one another." Cora tried to advise the stubborn brunette.

"Please! If it wasn't for her we wouldn't be here right now! My son would have his father and I would have my husband!" Regina scoffed, glaring at a heavily pregnant Mary Margret.

"What happened wasn't her fault. You're forgetting she was hurt too. It was an unfortunate event and she lost her husband and her brother."Cora reminded but Regina just shook her head before stalking off.

It had been four and a half years since Regina had buried her first love and her brother in law, and four and a half years since Regina had seen or spoken to Mary-Margret. She still harbored a lot of anger towards the younger woman simply for the fact that she was the only one out of the three of them to live through that mugging. She had buried herself into her family law firm, making CEO around the time her son turned four, now that they boy was six she was cutting back slightly on her hours so she could enjoy watching her son grow up.

"Miss. Mills, you have a visitor." Her secretary Tink Kendrick's voice rang throughout her office through the intercom.

"Do they have an appointment?" Regina was confused, as she glanced at her calender. She had been getting ready to leave the office because her schedule looked clear.

"No but she insist this is very important. She says she is from social services." Tink replied, and it was the edge in the girl's voice that had Regina worried. What would someone from social service want with her? Was something wrong with one of her cases? Or Henry?

"Send her in." Regina sat back in her chair, waiting for the mysterious woman to come into her office. She was expecting some frumpy, thirty year old Betty to walk in but was pleasantly surprised when a tall curvy brunette with a red streak in her hair walked in. The woman was no older than twenty-five with milky pale skin and the brightest green eyes Regina had ever seen. If it wasn't for the serious nature of her visit, Regina was sure she would have been in full flirt mode.

"How can I help you Miss-" Regina stood and smoothed out any imaginary wrinkles from her pencil skirt. She noticed the way green eyes scanned up and down her profile and the way the woman bit her bottom lip before speaking.

"Lucas, Ruby Lucas" Ruby stuck out her hand from Regina to shake, and the older woman was happy to see a perfect french manicure.

"Miss Lucas, what brings you here today?" Regina asked the question again.

"I'm here in regards to your niece Emma." Ruby replied, slipping on her professional mask. She watched Regina's eyebrows furrow in confusion before the woman shook her head.

"I can assure you, I do not have a niece. Nor do I know a child named Emma." Regina denied.

"I have it on record that she is your sister's child. Three years old, blonde hair and green eyes. Does this ring any bells?" Ruby asked double checking over the information she had received.

"I am an only child. I think you have the wrong person." Regina responded stiffly, all of the pieces finally falling into play.

"It says here that your sister is Mary-Margret Blanchard. Is that not correct?" Ruby asked raising an eyebrow at the clearly lying lawyer.

"As I've said before. I am an only child. Now if that will be all, I need to go pick up my son from school." Regina smiled tightly at the other brunette.

"We both know that isn't true! Look lady, your niece needs you!" Ruby dropped her professionalism when she literally jumped into Regina's path.

"Whatever Mary-Margret has gotten herself into, she can get herself out of. I don't have time for this." Regina snapped at the beautiful woman, who was suddenly losing her cool points with her.

"I'm sorry to tell you this way, I wanted to ease you into it..." Ruby held her ground as she trailed off.

"Will you just spit it out?"Regina asked, officially out of patience

"Mary-Margret died two weeks ago." Ruby blurted out, watching the mask slip from Regina's face before it was firmly placed back on.

"That is very unfortunate, now if you'll excuse me." Regina tried to push her way pass Ruby in order to leave. When Ruby didn't budge she began to feel trapped within the four walls.

"Are you kidding me? I just told you your sister died and your still not going to try to hear me out?" Ruby asked in shock.

"I need to pick my son up from school." Regina replied stoically.

"Emma needs you. She's only three and she's already lost her mother and her father." Ruby tried again.

"Surely she doesn't if it took you two weeks to contact me about her well being. I have never even met the child, what do you expect me to do?" Regina questioned harshly.

"We only found her two days ago. We were doing a routine check-up on the house when no one answered. We came back twice before I finally was able to get a warrant to break down the door." Ruby answered.

"Why would you be preforming a routine check-up? That is for parents who have had their children taken away before." Regina pondered aloud.

"Mary-Margret had got into prescription narcotics shortly after giving birth. Emma got into the pills when she was around one and was hospitalized for nearly three weeks before she woke up. She agreed to go to rehab so she wouldn't loose full custody, as a part of the agreement random check-ups and routine ones are mandatory." Ruby answered, watching Regina's shoulder slump slightly.

"How-was she in the apartment with her the whole time?" Regina asked the question the was burning in the back of her head since the brunette across from her revealed they only just found out about Mary-Margret's death.

"Yes,- it looks like she went on a binge and locked herself in the bathroom. She accidentally overdosed. Emma had access to the rest of the home except that room." Ruby replied watching regina shudder slightly before pulling herself together.

"Thank you for informing me, Miss Lucas. However I really don't see how I can help you. I shall have my mother start with funeral arrangements for Mary-Margret but there is nothing I can do for her child. Now if you'll excuse me." Regina nodded her goodbye before she was finally able to get around a shocked Ruby.

Regina rushed out of Mills Law Firm and out to her Mercedes Benz before the first shuddered sob racked her body. Sure she was angry at her sister but she was hoping she would at least have the chance to say everything she wanted to, to her before. She had thought that she had struggled when Daniel died but to hear that Mary-Margret had turned to drugs with a young babe in her house had her feeling really guilty. Yet there was no way Regina was going to be able to take the child in, she just couldn't. Pulling herself together, she pulled out of the parking garage and drove the short distance to her son's elite Catholic school. She had arrived just in time to see her son run out of the school building with several of his friends, his small face full of laughter and happiness. He looked so much like his father that sometimes it hurt her heart to look at him. Henry spotted the sleek black luxury car before booking it towards his mother.

"Mama!" Henry screeched as Regina got out the car to greet the first grader. Dropping to her knee , carefully in her skirt she accepted the big hug her son always bestowed upon her.

"Hey baby how was school?" Regina asked, pushing back the boy's messy brown locks.

"It was fun. We did numbers!" Henry grinned as Regina helped him into the car.

"Oh you did?" Regina asked playing along with her son.

"Yeah! Ms. Nolan said I was a really good boy today." Henry continued to babble, successfully distracting Regina from the last hour of her life. It wasn't until she was setting the table and the door rang, that her little comfort bubble was popped. Ruby Lucas was one stubborn bitch.

What do you think? Should I continue ?