Chapter Text
“Henry.” He looked sullenly at his mother, shifting uncomfortably in place. He had never really gotten in trouble at school before, and didn't think he deserved a serious punishment for it… but she hadn't listened to his side at the school at all! “Henry, you're not in trouble yet.”
The words shocked him, and his little 9-year-old heart swelled with hope.
“What is our biggest rule?” she asked patiently. Did she sound tired? Maybe afraid?
“Everything has a reason.” He recited dutifully. She’d drilled that into him for longer than he could remember. Sometimes she'd ask him to do something, or say no, and he wouldn't understand, but she always had a reason that he would eventually understand. In turn, if he did something that might upset her, he could tell her why it happened. He might still get in trouble, but usually not as much if he had a good reason.
“So when we get home, we're going to sit down with some tea and cocoa, and you're going to explain your reasons.” She definitely sounded tired. Maybe him getting in trouble at school had pulled her out of a meeting. She'd once told him those made her tired. “I sure hope they're good reasons, young man. You were suspended from school for fighting. You're nine .”
“I know,” he mumbled, looking down sullenly again. He was probably still going to be in trouble, but at least she was still being the same mom he always knew. “You're probably going to ground me though.”
“Well, you're a very smart boy, so if you think so you're probably right.” she acknowledged, and he winced. “We'll talk first though.”
He sighed and brooded in his seat, staring at the pavement as she drove. When they'd arrived home, he watched her carefully remove her heels, then move into the kitchen to make their drinks. They were the same movements he'd always known. Her gentle, tired smile when looking up to check on him was the same one she always gave after a long day. She was his mom .
“Henry.” She had her mug of tea in hand, his cocoa sliding cautiously in front of him. Henry lifted his head to look at her tearfully. “Honey, please tell me why you punched that boy during lunch and had to be pulled off of him. That's not like the sweet boy I know.”
“Jake.” Henry grunted wetly, rubbing tears away and trying to be a big boy for her. If he just started bawling she would comfort him, but she'd be asking again once he calmed, and he'd have to tell her anyway, and have a headache and upset stomach from crying too. “Jake Rowley was teasing me at lunch. It really upset me, so I hit him.”
“Henry.” Her tone was reproving, and he knew that he'd have to give her more than that.
“He… he said he heard his parents. He said that… that since I n-never had a dad that… that you were either a slut, or I wasn't really yours.” Henry sniffled again, trying to breathe deeply. “He just kept saying you weren't my real mom, and that you probably didn't even like me now I'm grown up and so skinny and stupid.”
She looked somewhere between shocked and horrified, and Henry really started to get scared then. Was it all actually true? He knew no one else in class had the same kind of relationship with their parents… but he figured that it was just that no one was like his mom. As he threatened to break down completely she shook herself and hurried around to wrap him in a hug, and he found himself gasping in tears into her midsection.
“Henry, you are the best thing in my life. I love you more than you will ever know.” She reassured him as he gradually calmed down. “Jake Rowley is an idiot.”
Henry laughed in surprise, coughing a little around his tears. “Mo-om.”
“I think it's time to talk to you about this though.” She sounded shaken, and when she sat back down, closer to him now, her eyes were wet too. “Please know that I love you more than anything.” He nodded, afraid again. “Henry, I am your mom, and you're my son… but I did adopt you when you were only a month old.” He hiccuped in a breath, only partly surprised. “There's a lot of things that led up to it, but I knew I wanted to be a mother and… Henry you're perfect. I have loved you from the moment I saw your picture and I will always love you.”
He stared at her, not fully believing it. For several, heated moments he was so angry. How could she have never told him? But then, maybe he hadn't been ready to hear. Jake even teasing about it had terrified him enough for him to hit the other boy. Breathing in slowly, he watched her let him work through it. It had terrified him because he couldn't even imagine what not having his mom would be like. But… she did love him. She picked him.
“What happened to… why did they…” he couldn't finish his sentence.
“I don't know, Henry. It's what's called a closed adoption. When… when someone gives a baby or child up for adoption, as closed, that means the new family and the child aren't given any information on the birth mother or family.” She was still all teary, which was making him choke up again. “But… I'm a mayor. I can… if you really want… I can try to…”
“No… no I just…” Henry looked down, not able to see her cry. “I was just curious.”
“I'm sorry Henry. I never knew how to tell you. You've grown up so fast.” She shifted the mug across the table a little, obviously not that interested in drinking either. “I'm still your mom, Henry, and I still love you very much… even if you're upset with me.”
“No. I'm not mom. I love you too.” He swallowed and looked at her again. “Are you upset with me?”
“No.” She smiled at him, looking relieved. “You shouldn't be fighting in school, but I'm not upset with you. You're not in trouble this time. No more fighting though, not if you can avoid it.”
Henry smiled in relief and gratitude, still not really sure how to react. He still loved his mom… she was his mom … but this was so big. “Okay. Um… no more secrets?”
She looked torn, and his eyes widened. There was more? Slowly, with shaky hands, his mother picked up the lukewarm tea and sipped it.
“Henry… I… well, if you're old enough to understand that, I guess you're old enough to know now.” She sounded resigned and gestured for him to settle back in. “Do you remember when you asked me why the clock tower doesn't work?” he nodded. “And when you asked why all of the children in school were staying in the same grades from the past years?”
Henry nodded again, frowning. That had been the weirdest thing to realize, that none of his classmates ever graduated to another grade with him. It was hard to keep friends like that. She'd said it was an understanding for another time when he'd asked though.
“Henry… once upon a time, there was a very sad… very angry woman.” She said staring avidly at the wall behind him, as if reading a story. “She was queen of an entire realm, and known well for her very harsh, but still fair rule.” He blinked several times as she paused, wondering where this was leading. More than once she'd explained something complex to him in story form, he loved stories, but it felt different this time. “While she had not been born a princess, or to strife, her life had taken many bad turns. Along the way she had become a little cruel, and eventually, she was known as the Evil Queen.”
Henry watched her wet her lips, and drank some of his, no longer hot, cocoa. “Villains aren't born, they're made.” He quoted, remembering the stories she'd always taught him when he was even younger.
“Right. Well, her heart was broken many times, by people that she cared about. Her mother had been cruel to her - quite literally heartless, for they lived in a world with magic where such things were possible. Little Snow White, the young princess she had saved one day, betrayed her by breaking a secret, and the queen’s beloved was killed cruelly before her. She was forced to marry a man that she did not love, and who did not love her, and they were quite miserable together. Eventually, she just wanted to escape them all.”
Snow White. She hadn't told him many Snow White stories growing up, but he knew some of the Disney story. It had always been a bit… shallow to him.
“She killed the king that she'd been forced to marry. There were reasons, there are always reasons, but I can't tell you those until you're older.” She shook her head, looking at him again with tear-filled eyes. “His death hurt Princess Snow, who had loved the horrible man because he was her father. In relief of her escape from the king, and still hurting years later from Snow’s betrayal as a child, the Queen banished her from her own kingdom.”
“But she was just a kid when it happened!” Henry exclaimed, startled. “You don't break secrets like that, but she was little!”
“The Queen knows that now, but she was hurting from years with a cruel husband, after an even crueler mother and magical tutor.” His mother blinked away tears again. “Years passed of the Princess constantly dodging in and out of the kingdom, challenging her banishment, attempting to regain her power. Eventually the Queen saw her as an enemy, and pursued her in an effort to damage the Princess’s happiness, as she believed Snow had damaged hers.”
Henry blinked rapidly, staring again at his mother. This was starting to sound more familiar. The noble but lonely queen fighting a three person war against the outlaw princess and her prince. His mom had not named them before.
“More years passed, and in her battles with Princess Snow the Queen did some very bad things… all because she was still very hurt, lonely, and angry.” His mother reached forward to stroke his hair. “What she did was wrong, and cruel, but sometimes people do very bad things when they're hurting and scared.” He nodded, only partially understanding. Was all of this because she'd done something bad?
“Eventually Princess Snow and her Prince won more battles, and managed to gain the Prince’s kingdom from his tyrant of a father, and set to be married. The Queen was devastated that her enemy, the girl who had caused her so many problems, would get a happy ending. Snow would be happy, married to the man she loved, and eventually have children of her own. The Queen, though, was doomed to loneliness. Who there could love someone they called evil? So she decided to curse them.”
Henry’s eyes were wide, still not fully understanding why she was telling him the story. It couldn't just be about him lashing out at Jake when he was scared and angry.
“At their wedding she showed up unexpectedly to give them one last threat and warning, declaring her intentions to cast a grand curse. She was so angry, so sad, that she hurt her only friend to get the scroll that her tutor had written the curse on. The curse, Henry, this curse, sent everyone to a world without magic, intending to separate them from the power of true love.” She dabbed at her eyes. “For a time she was content that she had won… that if she was not happy, they couldn't be… but Henry, she just wanted happiness. Eventually, she found that happiness in adopting the perfect baby boy.”
Henry’s eyes shot open wide. “No…”
“Yes, Henry. As hard as it may be to believe… the whole town is cursed. No one here can age because they are under the curse… it keeps them from even remembering anything that would suggest it's not normal.” She fidgeted nervously with her mug. “You're not cursed of course, honey, but you're from outside of the town's influence. If… if you want to think about this for a while, you can.”
He simply sat there, not knowing what to think. He couldn't remember his mother ever actually lying to him… and looking back, none of the other children ever seemed to get older. It was less weird in adults, he was just a kid, how would he notice that? But kids grew up normally. He was at least.
“You cursed everyone?”
“Yes honey. I'm sorry.” She breathed in deeply. “If… I'd break it if I could, if that was what you wanted. I don't know how, but I would for you.”
He was silent again, just staring at her. It didn't seem to be real. Would she? But then, why would she tell him? No one would believe it if he said anything. She didn't have to be honest. It explained some things, but left so many other questions.
“Th-thanks.. for… for telling me.” he was stunned, and seeing her tears he pushed forward to hug her. She clung to him, crying. “I love you mom. You don't have to be lonely and angry with me here.”