The Potion

R&V

Regina

Two Days Later

"Robin can you grab her please?" I groaned as I heard the baby monitor go off, after all of the adrenaline had finally left my body I was starting to feel the fatigue, soreness, and difficulty of having a newborn. My whole lower body ached and I couldn't handle another grueling feeding where she would refuse to latch on and just cause me extreme discomfort filled with crying from the both of us.

Please let it be a diaper, please let it be a diaper. I prayed as Robin entered into the nursery with a grumble about how babies could be such a handful. I felt my eyes weigh down and I was out, the exhaustion winning over my willpower.

"Regina, it's your time to shine babe." Robin said walking into the bedroom with Bethany in one arm and my feeding pillow in the other hand. I groaned internally and sat up slowly, he gently placed her into my arms and she started sucking on her hand as I quickly unbuttoned my pajama shirt and tried to get her to latch on this time, closing my eyes in discomfort as she tried, I tried to maneuver her and Robin even tried to help but nothing was happening, she started to wail and frustrated tears sprung from my eyes. "Beth! Please eat for mama! She wants you to so we can all go to bed!" I begged, she continued wailing and her bottom lip started to quiver.

"Babe- Regina! It's okay." Robin said lifting my chin, I whimpered and felt a cold tear run down my face as I looked at my daughter whom I couldn't even feed on my own. "She is going to be fine, I know this his hard for you and you are doing wonderful, but it is late and you are tired, I'm going to give her a bottle and you can rest up." He said wiping my cheeks and taking Bethany from my arms, I smiled and leaned into him, giving him a gentle kiss on the lips, he smiled and returned one before he got up to feed our daughter.

I was wandering through the house the next morning with Bethany in my arms, the haze of exhaustion wearing on my body along with the soreness that I felt. Robin's paternity leave had run out so it was my first day alone with Bethany and I was not ready. Not to mention that Violet was out of remission for a while.

I finally got Bethany down for a nap when I heard a terrifying scream coming from Violet's room. I tried to rush as fast as I could go up to her room and saw her trying to move her legs, and when it wasn't working she looked up at me with terror in her eyes.

"Sweetie what is it?" I asked walking towards her. "I can't move my legs! I'm trying and they won't move!" She sobbed, her hysteria was making it hard for her to breathe. I sat in front of her and took her hands, making her look up at me. "Violet honey, that's going to happen, when Emma hurt you she messed with your nerves and muscles, so when you get a bit stronger they said that we have to take you to some physical therapy." I said giving her a somber smile, she started to sob harder when she looked at her legs that refused to work.

"WHY WOULD SHE DO THIS? WHAT IS WRONG WITH HER!" Violet screamed, I took her into my arms and nodded, letting her cry into my chest, my shirt ruined from her absolutely devastated tears. "Violet, you will get better, you will be able to walk again." I said wiping her tears away, her breathing became shallow and she looked at me with disbelief. "The darkness can do unthinkable things. It can change a person." I said sadly, she tilted her head in confusion and shook her head at me. "Hi Vi." Henry said leaning on the doorframe, I smiled and slowly stood up to give them some privacy, walking downstairs so I could answer the door before Bethany woke up.

"Zelena?" I said holding the door open for her, she had a basket full of baby things and a goofy look on her face. "Hi, I'm sorry I didn't call but I bought some things for Beth, and since I didn't throw you a baby shower I figured it's never to early to start spoiling my niece, and I also bought some things for my nephews too, don't worry, plus u heard Robin went back to work so I figured you might need some help." She said juggling the gifts, I let her in and went to take the basket when she leapt back and jerked the basket away from me. "NO! This is heavy and you're not suppose to be lifting!" She said sternly, I sighed and sat down on the couch, motioning her to sit beside me. I opened the cellophane and pulled out a soft pink blanket with embroidery on the corner like Emma's, but this one had white stitching with her name. I smiled and laid it on my lap and started going through the other things, lots of "Auntie loves me!" onesies and booties on top of mountains of diapers. "Thank you Zelena, I'm glad I have a sister in this who loves my daughter so much." I said taking her hand in mine, she smiled and looked down with a somber look, trying to hide it with another fake smile.