Once Upon a Dream:

Page 96: Stopping Pan:

*Almost Twenty Years Ago*

*Storybrooke*

Regina was doing papers at the dining table. "You wanted to see me?" Dr. Archie Hopper asked as he looked at Regina. "Yes, I did," Regina said as she kept looking at the papers, she was working on. "If this is about Pongo's dog license, I believe it's still up to date." Dr. Hopper continued, sitting in front of Regina.

"This has nothing to do with your dog." Regina sighed, looking up as she sat her pen down. 

"Madam Mayor, are you all right?" He asked her. 

"I'm okay." Regina lied.

"Excuse me for saying so, but you don't seem okay." Dr. Hopper said, being his therapist self. 

"I don't tolerate that sort of bluntness. I'm the q--" She stopped, remembering that they were in the curse. "The mayor." She corrected herself.

"And I'm a therapist. That's why you asked me here, isn't it? What's bothering you? What are you feeling?" He asked her, making her scoff.

"Nothing." She scoffed before sighing to herself. "I'm feeling nothing."

"If I were to guess, I would say that you're a driven woman. And sometimes, that can leave a hole." Dr. Hopper sighed, turning this meeting into a therapy session. "A what?" Regina asked, sounding offended. "A hole. An emptiness. There's more to life than work. And maybe that's why you feel dissatisfied." Dr. Hopper continued.

"I'm not dissatisfied. I love my life."

"But what's the point if you've got no one to share it with?" He asked her. "There's that bluntness again." Regina scoffed at him.

"Has there ever been a time in your life when you haven't felt this way?" Dr. Hopper asked her.

"When that little boy visited. Owen." Regina smiled. 

"A child." Dr. Hopper smiled, knowing the reason why Regina felt lonely. "That can provide so much meaning." Dr. Hopper smiled as Regina nodded.

Regina ended up going to Gold over having a child when she ended up with Dream after Graham could not give her a child. When Dream learned to talk, she asked a lot about wanting a little sibling. So, Regina decided to go to Gold once more.

*Nine Years Later*

Regina hurried over to Gold's Pawnshop. The bell at the door rang when Regina walked up to the counter that Gold was standing behind. "I need a child, Gold. And I need your help." Regina said while pushing Dream's stroller as she was asleep, despite her being around eight or nine years old. "Well, I'm flattered but uninterested. We've already had this discussion; over the deal, you broke." Gold said, looking at Dream, who was fast asleep.

"Not like that...again. I've spent all morning talking to adoption agencies. The wait lists are over two years long. But you, Gold, you know how to cut through red tape. And if anyone can work the system and find me a baby sibling for Dream, it's you." Regina smiled at him, making Gold look up from their shared daughter. 

"You wish to adopt?" Gold asked her.

"Well, don't look so surprised. I came to you over Dream."

"Oh, I'm not. I'm sure you'll make a... Well, a mother of some sort." Gold smirked, still petty over their deal that Regina broke about nine years ago. "Can you help me?" Regina asked him, wanting to hurry before Dream would wake up from her after-school nap.