I apologize that it took me so long to add the next chapter. As always, life got in the way! I am so sorry! Anyway, enjoy!

This is for my Squishy and Robin Hood!

Chapter 3

"When Henry was a little boy…" Regina smiled slightly at the memory she was about to share with Archie, "He would always come home from the sitter's or from school with a picture for me that he had drawn. Every single day, without fail… I kept them all inside of a locked drawer in my office desk."

"Do you still have them?" Archie asked her as he sipped his hot cup of coffee.

This was their fifth session. Their two previous sessions they just spoke further about Regina's childhood and cleared up how it wasn't her fault and that she wasn't completely unlovable. It took quite a bit of convincing. Archie hated himself though. He hated himself for realizing that something wasn't right here. He felt as if he were having feelings for Regina. And really, it wasn't that much of a shock, Regina was an absolutely beautiful woman and she was quite good-natured when you took the time to listen to her and comprehend her. He'd concluded that she was just very misunderstood.

He was trying his best to ignore these inappropriate feelings for his patient, but it wasn't working, (which didn't really matter since he did get his PhD from a curse…). Whenever he saw her, his heart would beat just a bit faster, his breath would catch in his throat and he would have to remember how to breathe. Easy to say he wasn't going to act on these feelings. He couldn't. It would be selfish on his behalf. Regina needed this, she needed change and this was helping her, working out the kinks from her past so she could have a better future. So that she could be an even better person. He couldn't ruin this for her. No matter what his heart said, logic was still taking over.

Regina smiled just at the thought of the pictures, "I do, yes. When I moved out of my office, I put them I a box, I keep them by my bed… Make nights just a bit less lonely." She admitted, her eyes looking far away.

"Tell me more," he requested gently. He looked like he genuinely wanted to know more and he really did. The thing was, Regina's maternal side was the most heartwarming thing he'd ever seen. Despite the past she'd had and despite the incredible amount of pain she'd experienced, she still managed to love someone; yes, it was a closely guarded love, but it was a love nonetheless. That counted for something.

She looked at him, her lips curling upward slightly, "Alright. Uhm, Henry had this tendency when he was little, whenever we baked, he hated it when the cookies touched while they baked. He would have a panic attack if they did, so whenever I wanted to bother him just a bit, I'd let a cookie or two stick together. It'd keep him angry for hours," she laughed at the memory. Heavens, she had a beautiful laugh.

"So you would annoy him purposely?" Archie couldn't help but laugh.

"Mm, sometimes, but only because it was so much fun," she continued laughing.

When it died down a bit, she stared off and whispered, "I almost lost him too once… And then I did lose him…"

He didn't say a word and allowed her to elaborate. He saw the roller coaster of emotions on her face and let her take her time. Sure they'd already done this a few times before, but Regina was still very new to this whole opening-up bit. He would never push her to do something she wasn't ready to do. Archie looked up and studied the woman before him closely. There was an unfamiliar tug in his heart and the indescribable urge to suddenly kiss her pain away. Archie blinked several times and shook his head a bit. Logic won over his heart once more. One day, his heart would grow impatient though…

Turning his attention instantly to Regina, Archie listened to her speak slowly, "When Henry was a child, he got… Sick very easily. Frequent trips to the hospital, long nights, you name it. This one time, his fever rose to over 102 degrees. In a child, that's…" She swallowed, "I was so scared and I could tell he was too. I brought him to the hospital immediately and they tried to bring it down but nothing worked. So we resorted to cool wet towels and sponge baths. It took nearly two days for it to come down. They were the longest two days of my life."

"I spent a large amount of that time singing to him, it always calmed him immensely. I remember he was… He was so scared, even though he didn't understand what was going on," she sighed and winced a bit in remembering the pain she saw in her son's eyes. "He would tell me that he didn't want to die," she chuckled softly. "That sounded crazy, but the fear in him was so real, I couldn't help but want to take it away and I couldn't. I was completely powerless…"

Archie listened closely, a sad smile on his face. "It's a very common feeling among parents who have sick children, Regina. Feeling like they can't do anything good enough to help their children; they want to take their pain away. It's a part of loving correctly… If there even is a correct way to love…" He trailed off a bit, thinking. He certainly didn't love correctly. Wait, when did it turn into loving Regina? He'd merely just wanted to kiss her before…

Regina looked up at him, unsure of what to say or how to respond. Archie took a breath and asked, "What would you sing to him?"

Regina smiled slightly at a memory, "Henry used to call it the Sunshine song. I would rock him to sleep every night and sing him that song. When he became too old to rock, I would just tuck him in and sing to him, I'd stroke his hair and…" She swallowed hard.

Archie reached over and gently squeezed Regina's hand because he couldn't help himself given how distraught she looked over the matter. And really, she had every reason to. Her son, who she raised as her own for 10 years, had been snatched away from her with very little warning. Of course she had tried to fight back, but in doing so, she only pushed him further away from him. The one thing, person she loved since losing her soul mate.

Regina sniffed, unaware that tears were falling slowly. She reached up to try and wipe her face silently. Archie moved over to sit beside her again, not letting go of her hand. Regina looked up at him, tears slowly slithering down her face. His heart pounded and then shattered at the sight of her letting out such raw emotion. She proceeded to whisper, "I was his everything when he was little... He used to call me his hero… What's changed?"