2Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon A Time or any of its characters. Everything belongs to ABC and Disney.
"Daddy!"
Henry Mills was woken up early on a certain Sunday morning by his daughter, jumping on his bottom corner of the bed he shared with his wife, Ella. He sat up and smiled while letting out a chuckle. He noticed that Lucy seemed excited. He wondered if that had anything to do with the certain day.
"Well good morning to you too," Henry opened his arms and Lucy didn't hesitate to jump into them and he enveloped her into a hug. "You're up early." He knew Lucy to usually sleep in on the weekends. Usually the only exceptions were Christmas and birthdays.
"Come on," When she was released from the hug, Lucy took Henry's hand and dragged him into the kitchen, where he was surprised to see an already made breakfast. "Surprise!"
"Lucy," Henry looked over everything on the table. A stack of pancakes, a plate of bacon, and eggs. And at his usual spot at the table, there was a mug of hot chocolate with cinnamon. "Did you do all this?" It seemed to be so, since he knew Ella was still in bed asleep when Lucy came in. "When did you learn to do all this?"
"In the curse, Grandma Victoria said I needed to learn to cook," Lucy explained. "She said that I would need to learn to cook if I was to want a husband or something."
"Why does that not surprise me?" Henry shook his head. That sounded very much like her. Great teachings for a grandmother to pass on to her nine year old granddaughter. "Just promise me you won't get married until you're like 40."
"Just sit and eat."
Henry sat down after making some freshly brewed coffee for when Ella eventually got up. He sat down and tasted the breakfast that his daughter had made for him. "Wow," Henry said. "You might be giving my mom a run for the money."
"Really?" Regina then came out from the back.
"Mom?!" Henry didn't know she was here. "Wait," He turned to Lucy. "Did you have help?"
"I promise you, this was all her," Regina answered. "But you were out of cinnamon and eggs, so she asked if I could do a grocery run." And then she handed Henry a small wrapped box. "And it gave me an excuse to give you this; for my favorite son."
"Last time I checked, I was your only son." Henry chuckled before opening the box to find a brand new book. Upon taking it out of the box and looking it over, he noticed that it was his book. "But I haven't published it yet." Under the curse, he had written about his story in Hyperion Heights. He was thinking about getting it published but he hasn't decided yet.
"Well your daughter thought the world might enjoy the second story," Henry and Regina glanced over to Lucy who smiled. They both knew she had a point but they doubted there could be someone else that was as interested in his story, whom lived in the real world besides her. "And your aunt's husband is friends with some publishers."
"This great mom," Henry gave her a hug and then turned to his daughter. "And you," Henry put a hand on the top of her head. "You're spoiling me, kid." It was almost like she was trying to make up for the time lost in the curse. "Did you miss me that much?" Henry already knew the answer and then placed a kiss on her cheek.
"What's going on out here?" The three of them turned to see Ella walk out in her robe, with her hair still a mess as she quickly headed for the coffee pot. "It's too early."
"I was giving daddy his father's day present," Lucy answered. "And Grandma came over."
"I thought we agreed not to call me Grandma." Regina chimed in and Henry gave her a look as Ella came over, taking a piece of bacon and then letting it hang over the rim of her coffee mug. Then she retreated back to the bed room. That caused both Lucy and Henry to frown.
"Is she sick?" Lucy asked. She hadn't seen her remotely like this in a long time.
"Father's day is just a bit difficult for mom." Henry knew Lucy might not quite understand since it was easy to forget what happened. After her mother had left and died, soon followed by her step-sister Anastasia, things between Lady Tremaine and Marcus were rocky; she blamed both of them for losing her beloved daughter. Though things improved between Tremaine and Ella when they had to work together in attempts to stop Drizella from casting the dark curse, Henry knew that she never forgave her for killing her father. Henry knew both father's and mother's day were difficult for his wife.
"Why?" Lucy asked. "Can we do anything?" She wanted to do what she could to help her mom feel better. She thought they should be celebrating the day together. It was the first father's day together since the curse broke. Lucy thought it should be extra special.
"I think you're dad's got a handle on this." Regina knew that Henry probably has had experience with dealing with this in the decade they've been together.
While Regina kept Lucy occupied, Henry went into the bedroom where his wife retreated to. She was laying in bed, close to edge. He watched her take the smallest of sips from the coffee before putting it back on the end table and curling back up into a ball. Henry went over and laid next to her, wrapping his arms around her. He almost expected Ella to pull away. She had the first few times when he tried to comfort her on previous father's days; but this time she didn't.
"Doing okay?" Ella didn't answer and Henry sighed. "Yeah, stupid question."
"No, but I'll be okay," Ella eventually responded. "You don't have to stay. You and Lucy should be spending time together." Though she didn't truly mean that, she didn't think it was fair to Henry.
"I'm not going anywhere." Henry knew that Ella really wouldn't want him to leave. And it wouldn't have felt right to leave her, knowing how sad she was.
"So she made you breakfast?"
Henry nodded. "She's quite the chef."
"I guess that's one good thing to thank my step mother for." Henry kissed her on her forehead. "I hate that woman."
"I know." Henry certainly didn't blame her. Especially for his first encounter with her.
"She murdered my father. It wasn't enough she took my mother too." Ella had never been able to recover from that. Even with her stepmother in the ground. "I wish I could enjoy the holiday with you." Ella knew Henry deserved it, especially with the curse being broken. But she couldn't bring herself to be happy. "Lucy was so excited to do something and all I could do was get you a stupid card."
"Its not stupid." Henry smiled warmly. "I love cards."
"I'm sure you would like it." Ella opened the drawer next to her and pulled it out. "Lucy picked it out."
"She has good taste." Henry took the card and then gave his wife another kiss. "She gets that from you." Henry wrapped her up again tightly. "Tell me some good memories of your father." Henry had an idea to make this day enjoyable for her.
Ella thought about it and then decided to tell Henry about a time before Tremaine had returned. It was her mother, Marcus, and her step sisters. It was the first time Ella had a proper birthday party and he made it extra special. "Did I never tell you about this?"
"No," Henry shook his head. "I think we were busy either fighting your step mother or trying to fend off your step sister's curse."
"It was simpler back then," Though she had to admit, now things in the united realms were pretty nice. "Everything is great now, I just miss him a lot around this time."
"Well then, why don't we tell Lucy about him." Henry suggested. "Its something we could do together." And he hoped it might cheer her up.
A few minutes later, Henry and Ella joined Regina and Lucy in the other room. Regina had distracted Lucy by having the two of them make more hot chocolate. Which was the perfect story time drink. They enjoyed the cocoa while Ella told a few stories about her father. The good memories before her mother had left and her step mother was in the picture.
"Wish I could've met him." Lucy admitted after the fifth story.
"Me too." Ella leaned into Henry, though the smile that had formed as she shared the stories of her old family with her new one did not fade.
"Tell another." Lucy curled up in between both of her parents.
"Leave it to Henry Mills to make this a good father's day for everyone." Ella looked up him as Lucy got snuggled in. She actually felt better. "Thank you."
"I love you."
And that became one of the best Father's days for the Mills; and with more to follow.
A/N: I have been wanting to write for Henry, Ella, and Lucy lately. So I wrote a short little thing. I figured with today being father's day, I'd use it.
Please don't forget to review.
