hunnyfresh - Letters from War

"Les go, boys," Henry said into his walkie-talkie before taking Rexy Jr. and Sea Turtle by the limbs and crawling out from under the table. Regina refrained from stopping him when Henry suddenly started rolling toward his tent then stood and attempted a somersault, though it was really him just placing his head on the ground and walking his body to the opposite way. He twitched dramatically before falling into the tent. "Ahh, they got me! They got me! Save me, Mommy!"

Regina shook her head affectionately, walking the distance from the entrance to his tent and pulling the Velcro away that attached the roof to pick Henry up into a tight snuggle.

"Phew," he said wiping imaginary sweat from his brow. "Thassa close one."

"That was a close one," Regina said dutifully, giving his nose a gentle tap with her finger.

"We gonna paint my face now?" He asked excitedly.

Regina said nothing and simply placed him down onto his feet and walked the few steps to his art table where she left the face paint.

"And Rexy too?" Henry asked holding up Rexy Jr. in one hand and squinting one eye in hopeful persuasion. "He has to match his Daddy."

"I don't recall Rex being in uniform."

"He's with Emma," reasoned the boy as if it were the most obvious answer in the world.

To Henry's credit, Regina could see his logic, but face paint on toy fabric was a recipe for disaster. Tucking a hand under her chin in thought, Regina bargained with her son. "We can't paint Rexy, but I think we can make him match Daddy."

October 28 2004

Emma,

I'm so glad to hear you've arrived safely. I admit, I was getting more than a little worried since I had gotten used to expecting your letter more frequently.

Regardless, first things first. Happy birthday, Emma. I feel terrible that this greeting is coming so late, but Henry and I were thinking of you. I've sent pictures that I'm sure you've already looked through. Henry insisted on making you a cake, but I managed to talk him down to simply cupcakes. Honestly, I fear for his teeth. I actually have no idea how everything works overseas, but I've also sent a fresh jar of cocoa. If it didn't survive the trip, there will be a steaming cup with your name on it when you return. Perhaps some whipped cream if you've been good.

We had our Miner's Day festival two weeks ago, and Leroy acquired a pickaxe and took it to a fuse box at Town Hall. Surprisingly he was sober when he did it, but I suppose his antic helped the nuns sell their candles. Dealing with the electricians for that was a complete waste of time.

Halloween is in a few days though, and we were wrong. Henry isn't Jim Hawkins, but I think you might like his new costume. He's also recruited a companion to take along with him when we go trick-or-treating.

Please be safe, Emma. We care about you and expect you home safe and sound.

Yours,

Regina

She signed her name and tucked the lone picture into the envelope along with the letter. Before she closed the flap, Regina smiled at the picture of Henry dressed in his army man costume, sitting on the couch with Rexy Jr., mimicking Emma and Rex's picture from months back, as the baby dinosaur sat proudly on Henry's shoulder, a carefully stitched army uniform clothing his torso with a miniature helmet to match.

November 24, 2004 – Storybrooke, Maine

Sidney quivered as he sat in front of Regina in her office at Town Hall. For such a petite woman, Regina could make even the biggest and strongest of men feel an inch small, so it was an easy task to make the nosy reporter nearly wet himself as Regina hissed lightly under her breath for his incompetence.

"I really don't understand what's so difficult for you to understand, Mr. Glass," Regina enunciated slowly, refraining from pinching the bridge of her nose to display her obvious frustration. "You are the one who put me in touch with the military, did you not?"

"I did, but–"

"Then why can you not locate Corporal Swan's location?"

"It's classified information, Regina. I, I mean, Madam Mayor," he stammered quickly to amend his mistake. "All I did was simply place an application in your name to pair you up. I didn't call the military directly to get her contact information."

"I was under the impression no media coverage was safe from your eyes which led me to believe you have connections, unsavoury or not," Regina began swiftly. "All I ask from you is to find out which camp Corporal Swan is stationed at. How difficult can that possibly be?"

"Units move constantly, and even individual soldiers get sent out on missions that are on a need-to-know basis. It could take weeks to even scratch the surface of finding your soldier," Sidney argued with just the barest hint of raising his voice before Regina's raised eyebrow had him cowering in his seat.

"Then get to it." She spoke slowly, enunciating every word and dismissing him all the same.

Sidney looked as if he wished to appeal to her reason, but after two months of silence, Regina's reason was thrown out the window, so the reporter took the logical approach and nodded his agreement, scampering out of her office hurriedly with his tail between his legs.

Regina exhaled through clenched teeth and willed the tension to leave her body, but it was no use. She was frustrated and tired, and the last time she had heard from Emma was when she had received her letter claiming to have landed in Iraq. True that had only been a month prior, but Emma had written that in September, and Thanksgiving was already tomorrow, and Regina half-hoped to expect her own letter and package had been received by the soldier by now. She knew it had landed safely since she had been monitoring the tracking number, but the phone call Regina expected to get never came.

Regina knew she was overreacting. Emma herself said it was difficult to place a call, let alone find the time to attempt it, and if Emma had already gotten the package and had written her response, Regina wouldn't hear from her in another month. But with so much piling up on her plate, preparing for the annual Town Hall Christmas party scheduled in three weeks, dealing with a sick Henry who had come down with a fever shortly after his trick-or-treating and had done nothing but cuddle and sleep, and now since it had been two whole months since she actually heard Emma's voice, Regina was feeling overwhelmed.

"Knock, knock," Kathryn greeted at the door as she stuck her head into Regina's office.

" What? " The brunette hissed nearly slamming her palms down onto her desk.

Kathryn cocked an eyebrow and took a cautious step toward her. "You look like you could use a friend."

"I am far too busy, Mrs. Nolan," Regina huffed, shuffling papers that looked irrelevant to anything on her agenda.

"Kathryn," the blonde corrected and shut the door behind her as she took Sidney's vacated seat. "Ignoring the obvious need you have to strangle me right now, how's Henry been doing?"

"He's fine," Regina ground out as she took one calming exhale. "The antibiotics Dr. Whale prescribed to him did wonders. Now what are you doing here, Mrs. Nolan?" At Kathryn's raised eyebrow, Regina rolled her eyes and amended. "Kat."

Kathryn grinned but said nothing as she leaned forward in her seat. "I'm here for meetings. My law firm are the consultants for the businesses Pan's boys had vandalized in the last year."

"The boys have been doing well in the last six months," Regina pointed out.

"It's the first six where they caused the most trouble," Kathryn reminded her.

Regina shook her head and sighed. "So what does that have to do with you popping into my office?"

"I overheard–"

"You eavesdropped."

"About Emma," Kathryn continued unfazed. "Is something wrong?"