The sun was shining outside his window, and all Henry wanted to do was to sneak outside and find Emma. He'd already fooled his mother into letting him stay home from school with a hot water bottle, knowing full well she had important town meetings she couldn't cancel to stay home with him. He was already counting the minutes down to her departure when she dropped in on him one last time.

"Henry, your grandfather is here. He's agreed to watch you, so don't cause any problems for him, alright?" Regina knelt down to look in her son's eyes. She hated the thought of leaving Henry in anyone else's care, but it couldn't be helped, and Kathryn, who was her usual babysitter, had a prior engagement. She'd called over to Mary Margaret's apartment to talk to Emma and had gotten David instead, and well, she was desperate for a sitter.

Henry was sure that his mother had lost her mind. He looked up at his mother wide-eyed, "Rumplestiltskin?"

"Don't be silly. Your other grandfather," Regina scoffed. No matter how desperate she was, Rumplestiltskin would never come anywhere near her son without her present. David was at least mostly harmless-when his pea brain was functioning anyway.

Henry resisted the urge to hug his mother, but his eyes gave away his excitement just the same. He loved spending time with David, otherwise known as Prince Charming, almost as much as he loved spending time with Emma. He knew that his mother didn't really approve of his biological family, so he tried desperately to stay calm for her sake, "David's here?"

"Yes, and you'll be happy to know we're all out of apples," Regina put her hand on his arm, smiling a little to let him know that she was mostly joking. She moved closer as though she was going to kiss his forehead and then backed away instead. She decided not to test their already fragile relationship when Henry had a fever. "Remember, no problems. Don't strain yourself."

"Yes, mom. Thank you," Henry said, remembering his manners. He watched her leave with a wistful look on her face and less than a minute later, David walked in, holding his storybook. Henry knew every single story in the book by heart because he'd spent so long trying to discover everyone's fairytale identifies and convince Emma to break the curse over Storybrooke. She'd since broken the curse, although she wouldn't tell him how, and he'd been in a coma at the time so all he had were educated guesses as to what happened. Not that it really mattered to him, because even though the curse was broken, he still wasn't allowed to live with Emma and his mom was still the mayor and everything was pretty much the same except that Mary Margaret and David had moved in together and Ashley had finally given birth.

Scanning the room quickly, David found a chair by Henry's desk that was kid-sized, but would probably hold an adult's weight. He pulled it over so he could sit next to Henry's bed, "Hey, kid. Thought I'd come by so we could spend some quality time together."

Momentarily forgetting that he was supposed to be sick, Henry asked, "Are you going to teach me to ride horses?"

"Not today, kid. I thought we could read one of these stories together since you are so fond of them. Would you like to pick one?" David proposed as he handed the book to Henry.

Henry leafed through the book and found what appeared to be an entirely new story. He stared at the picture, which had a teenage girl who looked a lot like his mother only with long hair standing next to a horse. Was it possible new fairytales were being created now that the curse was broken? He exclaimed excitedly to David, "Look! This one wasn't here before."

"Well, I'll be…I guess that means we should read it first," David thought out loud. Fate had a funny way of making itself known, and he wasn't about to mess with it. He held up the page so that both of them could see as he began to read, "The Princess Bride. Once upon a time, there was a princess named Regina, and her favorite pastime was ordering the stable girl to do things for her, but she never called the stable girl by her first name…."

"Stable girl, saddle my horse," the princess ordered. The princess was dressed in the finest riding clothes money could buy, and her long dark hair was in a single braid down her back, tied with a beautiful blue ribbon that matched the pale blue of her riding coat.

"As you wish," said the young stable girl, the corners of her mouth turning into a smirk. Her golden curls were as wild and untamed as Regina's favorite mare. Her tank top and trousers were well-worn, but accentuated her muscular figure perfectly, at least as far as the princess was concerned. The stable girl leaned over as she put the saddle atop the horse, actively putting on a show for her audience.

"Stable girl, help me up," the princess commanded, pretending to be completely unaffected by the girl in front of her. When the stable girl uttered the same three words she always spoke-'as you wish'-the princess looked into emerald eyes and found herself momentarily lost. In that moment, as the stable girl knelt before her and held out her hands in a compliant manner, the princess Regina knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that those simple words were the stable girl's way of saying 'I love you,' and she knew in her heart that she felt the same.

Confusion enveloped Henry's features as he searched the page in front of him for answers. It was one thing to see his mother looking like a princess in his own book of fairytales. It was a whole different story to envisage his other mother in that same tale in the role of his mom's love interest. He wasn't sure how he felt. On the one hand, this was his book of fairytales; the book that had gotten him through some very confusing times and helped his mom to break the curse, so the story couldn't be all bad. On the other hand, the Evil Queen and the Savior? As a couple? That didn't make any sense. Also, where was the adventure? Was this story only about romance?

David glanced at him, sensing that Henry needed a break from the story. Quite honestly, he needed a little break as well. He stated the obvious, "Um, this seems to be a romance."

"Maybe the adventure is coming up?" Henry wondered. "Every fairytale has adventure and fighting the bad guys. But, if my mom is one of the good guys, who are the bad guys in this story?"

"I guess we're going to have to read to find out," David replied, not entirely satisfied with the answer himself. He continued on with the story however, seeing as how it had been his idea in the first place to read the book to keep Henry company.

Even as the stable girl melted into the princess' embrace, she knew that their happiness could not last, at least not yet. She had no money to provide for the princess, nor did she have the station to allow her love to hold her head high. As an orphan, there wasn't much she could do about her station, but there was a way, albeit a risky way, to make enough money that the princess would want for nothing for the rest of their days. She would sail aboard a ship to the new country, to make her fortune. She was young, strong, and hearty and could withstand the long voyage. What broke her heart was knowing that she had to make the trip alone, and the thought of being separated from her princess was almost too much to bear.

"I'll come with you," the princess pleaded. A terrible foreboding filled her heart with dread. "I'll bind my chest and cut my hair. I couldn't bear it if something happened to you."

"Nothing will happen to me - I swear it," promised the stable girl. She stared into beautiful brown eyes and just knew she could conquer the world.

"What if my mother tries to marry me off?" the princess begged, her eyes downcast. She shuddered to think of being betrothed to anyone but her love.

"Look at me, your highness. Regina, what we have is True Love. Even your mother won't go against True Love," the stable girl insisted. She reached around the back of her own neck and unhitched the clasp on her locket. Placing the locket gently in the princess' hand, she continued, "This is all I have left of my parents. Keep it as my pledge to you – I will always save you."

Clutching the locket, the princess felt tears start to fall. She forced her tears to stop and put the locket around her own neck. She put her chin up, "I can save myself. Just…come back to me."

"As you wish."