Ever After ~ {Editing}

Chapter 16

“No you aren’t. You don’t care about me because you aren’t my mom. You never were and you never will be. You don’t love me. I don’t even know why you adopted me in the first place,” Henry yelled, venom dripping from is voice.

“Henry. Daniel. Mills ,” Regina said, standing up from her spot on his desk chair. “You will not take that tone of voice with me. You will not speak to me that way. I am your mother, which means I can ground you. Give me your phone.”

He huffed and tossed his phone to her.

“You can have this back when you learn to respect me. I’m sorry I haven’t paid enough attention to you. No matter what you think, no matter what anyone tells you, I do love you. I wouldn’t have adopted you if I didn’t want to be your mother. But I did. I adopted you when you were just a baby. I changed every diaper, soothed every fever, endured every tantrum and nightmare you ever had. I may not have given birth to you, but I am your mother. Blood doesn’t make a family, Henry. Love does.”

And with that, she left the room, slamming the door behind her.

She hadn’t once raised her voice at him. He had yelled at her, but she had never raised her voice above its usual level. Her tone had changed, yes, gone from caring to pissed in a flash. She wasn’t sure how she’d managed to keep her voice down, although she was sure it was laced through with fire and poison. She was the Evil Queen, after all. When she got mad, it was the real deal. You didn’t want to cross her.

She was pacing the floor in her office. She still had quite a bit of anger and adrenaline rushing through her veins. There was no way she could sit still. She picked up a stapler off her desk and studied it for a moment, frustration building up inside her. She growled from deep in her throat, her eyes narrowing. She pulled her arm back and chucked the stapler at the wall. It collided with a loud thud before hitting the floor. Seconds later, Robin ran in, looking perplexed and worried.

He saw her standing in the middle of the room, shoulders tense, cheeks burning, flames flashing in her eyes. It was a wonder she hadn’t burned the house down yet; he knew how hotheaded she could be. Although now was probably not a good time to mention that, seeing how she was not in the best mood. He decided the best way to calm her down would not be to speak, but just to let her know that he was near and that he loved her.

His face changed from bewilderment to concern and love as he slowly came closer to her. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her into his chest. She rested her head on his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his waist, letting her shoulders droop. Good, he was getting a positive reaction so far. He got an idea, then, that he was almost positive would calm her down.

“You be my soft and sweet, I’ll be your strong and steady,” he sang quietly, lowering his head so his mouth was right next to her ear.

“You be my glass of wine, I’ll be your shot of whiskey.”

His voice was low and raspy, resonating through her ears.

“You be my sunny day, I’ll be your shade tree. You be my honeysuckle, I’ll be your honey bee.”

She pulled her arms tighter around his waist but didn’t say anything. He took that as a cue to continue.

“You be my Louisiana, I’ll be your Mississippi. You be my Lil Loretta, I’ll be your Conway Twitty. You be my sugar baby, I’ll be your sweet ice tea. You be my, honeysuckle, I’ll be your honey bee,” he finished softly.

She sighed and kept her face buried in his shoulder.

“He told me… He told me I’m not his mother,” she said. Her voice cracked a bit, but she swallowed her tears.