Chapter Text
It’s never easy to see your child pain, even if it’s a pain they adamantly insisted on.
As Regina let Lizzy squeeze her hand with all the force of a mack truck, she wished a million times over that she could trade places with her. And not even for the reason she normally did.
Lizzy had gone into labor two weeks earlier than expected. She moaned in pain, clutching her stomach with one hand and her mother with other, cursing Roland and Andrew who had yet to appear.
“I hate them, Mom,” she hissed, tears in her eyes. “I really hate them. They’re not here, they’re gonna be terrible parents.”
“That’s not true. If you thought that you wouldn’t be here.” Regina comfortingly squeezed her hand. It’d been nearly a year since they’d floated the idea past her but she still couldn’t believe Lizzy had decided to be a surrogate for Roland and his husband. It had seemed crazy at the time but crazy was where Lizzy’s kindness dwelled. It'd been a long road since then and she was inches away from the finish line.
Glancing at the monitor, she saw that the contraction was passing. “Honey, I promise the pain will end, I swear.”
Lizzy glared at her. “How? It’s not like you’ve ever done it.”
And suddenly Regina felt her own spike of pain.
The monitor beeped and Lizzy’s contraction passed, the pain in her face replaced with the realization of what she’d just said to her mother.
“Mom… I’m sorry,” she pathetically cried. “I’m sorry, it just hurts.”
Regina shushed her, sweeping her bangs away from her forehead which was damp with sweat. “It’s okay,” she lied. “You can say whatever you want right now. It won’t matter tomorrow, I promise.”
She sighed, a wistful smile pulling on the edge of her lips. “And just so you know, I might not have been where you are but I have been in this spot before. Twenty-six years ago, the day you were born.”
It feels like a lifetime ago. Looking at her daughter now, she realizes that it actually was. “I held Alice’s hand, just like I’m holding yours, and I waited for you to come to me. You didn’t keep me waiting long either. You were so ready.”
She still remembers getting that call in the middle of the day, running out of her school as she frantically tried to dial Robin’s number at the same time. She got the call around noon. By eight that night, Lizzy was cleaned off and in her arms. She fell in love with her in one instant.
Lizzy gulped. “Did it hurt this much for Alice?”
Regina nodded, the image of her daughter’s birth mother in pain was still one of her clearest memories. “Of course it did but she was strong. Just as strong as you.” She leaned in to whispers. “Promise not to tell your brothers but you’ve always been my toughest kid.”
She rolled her eyes. “Mom…”
“I’m serious,” she insisted. “All the things that would’ve blown them over, that would’ve blown me over… you’ve never flinched. Not once. So I promise you’re gonna get through this day, just like you’ve gotten through everyone before. And you’re gonna give Roland and Drew the greatest gift imaginable.”
Lizzy sighed, exhausted from all the contractions. “Can I at least curse while I do it?”
Regina chuckled. “As much as you like.”