Amelia

Chapter 19: ...Three Steps Back, Part 2

AN: Ask you shall receive. We hope you enjoy 34000 words worth of Regina and Anna...with a touch of Mia. Hope the new year is treating you all well. We also hope to get back on track and post more often soon.

Chapter 19...Three Steps Back

"Hold on...Hold on...Hold on to me... 'Cuz I'm a little unsteady. A little unsteady. If you love me, don't let go."

Regina felt the tingling in her spine return as she paused at the end of the porch leading into the front door of her home, a fireball at the ready if she needed it. Her heart was thumping wildly in her chest, so loud that it was all she could hear as her feet stepped over the threshold. Before she closed and locked the door behind her, she set about reinforcing the protection spells on the house again to make sure nothing got in. The house was silent, dark...not at all what Regina expected to come home. It made her really wonder if something was wrong. The living room television wasn't on...so Anna wasn't, as she called it, "binging" her favourite shows. The kitchen was empty...so Henry wasn't raiding the refrigerator for a late night snack. Regina didn't hear any crying or screaming...so (luckily) Mia wasn't having another nightmare.

The whole thing was just so strange...

She wandered around her dark house, growing more concerned with each empty room she encountered. Neither of her kids (or granddaughter) were anywhere to be found downstairs at all. Hadn't she told them to go straight home and stay there until she got back?! She was anxious to find Anna. She was ready to finally tell her the truth so they could start focusing on being mother and daughter instead of all the lies and withheld secrets.

She started to climb the stairs, unbuttoning her coat and wondering if the kids really were asleep after all. A quick check of both Henry's and Anna's rooms didn't get her anywhere. Both were empty and untouched since the night before.

Her eyes strayed down the hall to Mia's room, her forehead scrunching when she noticed that the young girl's door was wide open. That in and of itself was strange. Her granddaughter always insisted on having her door mostly closed but open only a crack. None of them knew her reasonings, it was just a part of little Mia's charm. So seeing her granddaughter's door wide open when she couldn't find her son or daughter was more than a little panic— inducing. Especially paired with the feeling she couldn't shake that someone was watching her.

She released a heavy breath, her hand over her heart as she stalked her way down the hall. She felt her magic bubble up within her, ready on the defensive. When she finally reached the door, she cautiously peeked her head into Mia's low—lit room and the familiar sound of soft snoring reached her ears. She squinted her eyes in the soft glow. The only light in the room came from the small lamp on the nightstand and the nightlight plugged in on the floor beside it.

She could just make out the three shapes on the bed — two older and one smaller. She let out a silent gasp, her heart just about ready to burst at the sight of the three she loved most all safe and curled up on Mia's bed together. With Mia in the middle and Anna and Henry cuddled up next to her on either side, Regina couldn't think of a more adorable sight to behold.

It was then that her eyes fell on the object under Mia's arm, snuggled in on her chest. Her breath caught in the back of her throat and she swallowed down the grief. She hadn't seen that object in quite a while, the memory of its creation from her own magic hitting her like a thousand arrows to the heart. Mia sighed in her sleep, clutching the grey stuffed monkey tighter. Regina could feel the tears gather in her eyes, lost in thoughts of Robin and Roland, flying monkeys and scared little boys.

She stood in the doorway of the room just beyond the foot of Mia's bed for a while, simply watching her precious angels and the rise and fall of their breath. Her head tilted to the side, a relaxed smile on her lips. Her eyes wandered around the room, noting the dull colours on the walls, the overly simple and outdated furniture, and the non—personal paintings scattered about the room. Besides a few of Mia's drawing Regina herself had framed and displayed, a few stuffed animals and the old yellow dreamcatcher hanging off the post of the bed frame that Emma gave Mia, the room in no way at all looked like it belonged to a three—year—old. Regina frowned, vaguely remembering a mental note she'd made to herself weeks earlier to bring up the idea of redecorating to Anna and Mia. With everything that happened it completely slipped her mind. Now standing in Mia's doorway, she decided it was really well past time to bring that idea into fruition. A toddler's room should be colourful, educational and fun. Full of things the child enjoys. Mia's room was everything but — barely passable as a hotel guest room and the more Regina looked around the room, the more she hated it.