I've spent the last ten minutes staring at my computers screen. Right there I see the Evil Queen's photograph staring back at me. My stepmother, the woman who took my life and my dreams and my heart and stomped on them, breaking them into pieces. Regina Mills, the ID reads. 108 Mifflin St, Storybrooke, Maine. Where is Storybrooke, I wonder. I've certainly never heard of it before and I've been working in this police department for a long time.
"Are you coming Mary Margaret?" Paul asks.
"Give me a minute," I reply.
"I thought you handed all your cases to Jim."
"I did. This isn't a regular case." I reply."This is a favor, for a friend."
"Well, hurry up, would you? Your not so surprising retirement party is happening in the break room. I'm supposed to get you. So, come on. Put your best surprised face on and let's go," Paul winks at me.
Throwing surprise parties for all the staff who are about to retire on the last day is a department tradition. We all laugh, because it couldn't possibly be a surprise when we are all expecting it.
"I'm coming, I just need to make a quick call."
"Hurry up!" Paul smiles and he walks away.
I pick up my phone and I dial Emma's number.
"Mom? Is every thing alright?" she asks.
"I...I think..."I hesitate. Should I even tell her? What if it's just a coincidence? What if it's just a look alike?
I look at the screen. It is definitely not a look alike. There she is. My evil stepmother is looking right at me. Regina Mills, 108 Mifflin St, Storybrooke Maine.
"Mom! What's wrong?" Emma sounds concerned.
"Nothing is wrong," I try to reassure her. "Have you ever heard of a town called Storybrooke in Maine?"
"Storybrooke? I can't say that I have. What's going on Mom?"
"I...might have stumbled into something..."I hesitate again.
"Mom! It's not like you to call me from work while I'm on duty. Tell me what's happening or I'm going to drop everything and get over there."
"The Evil Queen forgot to pay a speeding ticket while she was in Boston. So now there's a warrant out for her arrest, which gives me a picture, a name and an address," I say and I can hear my voice cracking. I hadn't realized it but my hands are shaking.
"The Evil Queen? THE Evil Queen? Your fairytale stepmother is in Maine? Oh Mom! This is huge! This is the break we've been waiting for!" Emma replies. I can hear the excitement building up in her voice. "Are you alright?"
Yes, I want to say, I'm fine but I try not lie to Emma. When you ask a child who is now a grown woman to believe in fairytales, to believe that her father loves her more than anything in the world but he is far away because he is detained by a curse, it is important not to lie about little things. Its important not to lie at all. At least that's how I view this.
"No," I say softly. "I'm freaking out. I'm trying hard not to burst into tears."
"Oh Mom, it's OK" I can hear Emma smiling "just chock it up to your retirement. Say 'leaving this job is making me emotional!' But seriously, do you need me to come get you?"
"I'll be fine." I reply. "Why, where are you now?"
"On my way to the office to write my reports, right after I book Mr Silas Brown here for assaulting a police officer."
"Are you alright?"
"Oh, I'm fine. Willie's nose though, not so fine. Probably broken. He is on his way to the emergency room."
I feel a bit guilty but the truth is that I am relieved that it's my daughter's partner that has the broken nose and not Emma.
"Be careful, hon!"
"I know, Mom. I know. So, when do you want to visit Storybrooke? First thing tomorrow?"
"I was hoping tonight," I reply."Are you coming? Maybe I should go alone first. It might be just a coincidence. So maybe you should just stay home..."
"And miss a chance to meet my father? Of course I'm coming!"
"Emma, look, I don't want to get your hopes up..." I say hesitantly. Maybe calling her was a mistake.
"Mom! Stop it. I understand how this works. I'm not getting my hopes up. But I do have hope. Because that's how you raised me. So we will go, investigate, and take everything one step at a time."
You have hope because you are your father's daughter, I want to argue but I decide not to make that point.
"Exactly," I reply."Is there any way you can take time off work? In case we need to stay there for a while? I mean, you don't have to..."
"Of course. I got this Mom. Are you sure you don't need me to come over?"
"I'm fine. See you when I get home."

I get off my desk and I visit the bathroom. My eyes are red and my face is looking flushed. I splash water on my face and I look at myself in the mirror. I wonder what Charming will make of my haircut. I still look the same, or pretty much the same give or take twenty years and a wrinkle or two.

"I don't want to do this.I'm not leaving you. She said it would be on her twenty-eighth birthday..."
"What's twenty eight years when you have eternal love?"

Well, let me tell you Charming a lot can happen in twenty eight years. I arrived in the land without magic with newborn Emma. I quickly realized that men in the land without magic were extremely fascinated with my long hair, so I after I grew tired of their advances I cut most of it off. That didn't really stop them, but it did slow them down a bit. I was shocked at the size of the land without magic. I knew right away I would need an edge, an advantage if I were to locate you and everybody else in this vast area. I needed access to information, photographs, names and locations. I needed a job that would let me do my research. So I became a police officer. And for the past twenty years I've been doing just that. Looking. Looking for you, looking for Red, for Granny or Grumpy. Looking for any connection to the Enchanted Forest. And today of all days, today, ten minutes before my retirement party, and just one day before Emma's twenty-eighth birthday I finally found it. A connection to the Enchanted Forest. The Evil Queen forgot to pay a speeding ticket when she went to Boston. The Evil Queen is going by the name of Regina Mills. She lives in 108 Mifflin Street, Storybrooke Maine.

I splash more water on my face and I take a few deep breaths. I look a bit younger than my actual age. Maybe it's the hair. Or the rosy cheeks. Or the fact that I train so hard to stay fit for work. Or maybe all the Enchanted Forest water I drank growing up.

"What's twenty eight years when you have eternal love?"

A lot of things can happen in twenty eight years Charming. Emma graduated out of high school early and then she got married and kept it a secret from me for a while. She had to come clean when she got pregnant though. We became a grandparents to Henry. I'm not sure how you will feel about Emma's husband Neal, but Emma's son Henry is the sweetest, kindest kid you will ever meet. He is so smart too. Nothing escapes him. Emma and Neal's marriage has been on the rocks for a while. He moved out and he sees his son on the weekends. I can see that Emma is hopeful they will get back together but Neal seems to be holding back. I can't imagine what's keeping him from getting back together with her. Emma is both beautiful and down to earth, kind and tough. She loves without holding back. Just like you do. So whatever is keeping Neal away from her...it must have something to do with his past. The part of his past he refuses to talk about.
Emma became a police officer too. I am so proud of Emma and so blessed to have her in my life. For years she's been helping me with my research. For years she's been keeping me going when I just wanted to despair and give up. When I think of all the things you've missed, Emma's first step, her first word, her drawing in first grade, when she drew our family and drew you in a castle in the clouds with a crown on your head or the letter she wrote to you in third grade, the one that prompted a concerned phone call from Mrs Toad, her third grade teacher:"Dear daddy, I miss you. I wish you were here so I could kiss you and break your curse..." That letter made me cry and wish for you so badly. Not so much for my sake, even though I'm terribly lonely without you, but for yours. I wish you were here to watch Emma grow, I wish you were here to meet Henry, I wish you were here to help me decide whether to embrace Neal or lock him in one of the interrogation rooms until he comes clean with whatever secret he is hiding in his past.

"What's twenty eight years when you have eternal love?"

When you said that, we were so young, so innocent, so in love... There is no doubt in my mind you meant every word but I wonder how you'll feel now when you meet me. Now that I'm older, perhaps wiser, perhaps more jaded or broken. I wonder what the curse did to you, how it changed you. I wonder if our young innocent fairytale love is enough to bring us back together after twenty eight years, if its enough to survive twenty eight years apart.
I glance at myself in the mirror one last time. Regina Mills, 108 Mifflin Street, Storybrooke Maine. I smile and my heart beats faster. The Evil Queen made a mistake. The Evil Queen forgot to pay her parking ticket and now I am hot on her trail. All I have to do, is get through my retirement party and then I can turn in my badge, my gun and the keys to the police cruiser and I can ran home to pack. I'll be in Storybrooke tonight, Emma and I will be looking for you first thing in the morning.

"What's twenty eight years when you have eternal love?"

Nothing. Twenty eight years is nothing. Because I am coming for you and I wont let twenty eight years or forty years or eighty years stand in my way.

I step out of the bathroom, I put my best surprised smile on and I walk to the break room. My soon to be ex coworkers yell "Surprise!"
"I did not see this coming at all!"I say with a tone that indicates the exact opposite.
"Thank you for being such a good sport Mary Margaret!" Laura, my boss says."May I have your attention please! We are here today to say goodbye to one of the most hardworking, efficient,compassionate and by the book officers that graced this Police Department. We are here to honor the woman internal affairs calls Snow White because she is so squeaky clean!"
The officers laugh and clap their hands and whistle."But above all, I am here to say goodbye to my friend Mary Margaret! You've worked so hard and put on so many hours of overtime, that when you told me that you were going to retire early I didn't believe you. Yet here you are! We thank you for your hard work, your dedication and all the hours you put in volunteering, helping us with our files and research. Working with you has been a pleasure and we wish you the best of luck with whatever you do next!"
"Thank you!" I say and smile. There are several things I meant to say, gratitude I wanted to express, but now all that matters is this address in Storybrooke Maine. My life is about to start again. My real life.
Everybody claps and yells and whistles. People are raising their glasses, filled with soda and water since we are still on duty, then they come to shake my hand and hug me.
"Now for a real toast with actual drinks we are going to Ralph's after work," Jim says. "You are coming, aren't you Mary Margret?"
"Sorry I can't. Something came up and I need to leave town right after I get off work."
"What's next Mary Margaret?" Paul asks.
"Now I'm going to join my husband in Maine," I smile.
"Your husband, huh? Am I ever going to meet this guy?" he asks.
"Maybe. Probably not," I shrug and he laughs.
"Well, good luck with whatever you do next," he replies. "We'll miss you, and if you change your mind, about retirement I mean, you know where we'll be" he adds and for a brief second I let myself wonder what exactly he means by that. Then I shake my head because Regina lives in 108 Mifflin Street, Storybrooke Main and that is all that matters.

When Emma gets off work, she rushes up to my bedroom and then she looks at me her eyes wide open. I am currently trying on my red dress, while I've already tried and discarded all my other dresses, now laying on several messy piles on top of my bed.
"Mom? What's going on?" she asks.
"Nothing looks right," I say and I feel like I'm about to cry.
"What do you mean? You look amazing in the red dress. And that white dress on top of pile number three looks great. And you are the one who taught me that what matters is what is on the inside. So what is going on?"
"I cut off my hair..." I say and now I have actual tears streaming down my face.
"Yes, because police officers are busy chasing bad guys. Not keeping up their gorgeous long princess tresses. You look amazing Mom. And if my father cannot see what a beauty the woman who survived the police academy, kept a demanding job and raised me all by herself is, then I'm going to punch him in the face for being blind!" Emma states matter of factly.
"He's not like that, you know..." I reply quietly.
"I know. If he is half the man you describe him to be, then you have nothing to worry about," she replies."Also, mind you, your lead is the Evil Queen. Instead of hot dresses, maybe you should pack jeans, a baseball hat and sunglasses. You want to blend in, in Storybrooke. Not stand out. At least until you figure out what the situation is."
She is right of course. So I hang my dresses back in the closet. I do pack both the white and the red dress in my suitcase, then I pack jeans and few plain shirts. I throw in my red short nightie. Just in case. I wonder if Emma noticed but thankfully she doesn't comment. I reach to the back of the closet and pull out a brown case.
"What is this?" Emma asks.
I open the case.
Emma whistles.
"It's your father's sword." I say quietly as I pull it out of the case and inspect the blade. It's still sharp. "He handed it to me, as I walked into the wardrobe. Then he kissed your forehead and he said 'find me!' Three black knights entered the room, so he shut the door and he turned around to fight them, to keep them away from the wardrobe long enough for the magic to work. I held on to you tightly and watched him, through the crack of the wardrobe door, until the wardrobe made a noise and I found myself here, in the land without magic, in the forest."
Emma's eyes are welling up with tears.
"Was Dad good enough a sword fighter to fight three black knights at once?" she asks.
"He was... he is good enough to fight ten black knights at once," I reply. "But I do think that he got stabbed...right before the wardrobe transported us, I think I saw him get stabbed!'
"Mom!" Emma whispers."you never told me that before. What if he didn't make it?"
I look at Emma and I nod."He made it," I state simply.
'How do you know that?" she asks.
"Because our story can't end like this," I say quietly and I put the sword back in its case and place the case on top of my suitcase.
Emma leans in and kisses my forehead.
"I'm sure you are right Mom," she replies but for the first time I see doubt in her eyes."I'm going to go pack," she says.
"What about Henry?" I change the subject.
"Well, tomorrow is Saturday. Neal agreed to pick him up tonight. As long as we don't tell Henry where we are going..."
"I'm not lying to him," I reply. "When you want people to trust you enough to believe in fairytales...-" I start to say,
"I know, I know, you got to tell them the truth about everything else." Emma adds, then she glances at me and I can almost read her thoughts. The possibility of my father being dead is a truth I would have liked to have known sooner, she is thinking.
"He is alive Emma," I reply.
Emma sighs. "Well if you tell Henry where we are going you know he is going to come along, right?" she asks.
"You better pack a bag for him too," I reply.
Emma's eyes get wider. "Alright then. l'll let him know."

We are in Emma's yellow Volkswagen, crossing State lines.
"Welcome to Maine," Henry reads out loud. "So what are we calling this?" he asks.
"What are we calling what?" Emma asks.
"This adventure," Henry replies impatiently, shocked that Emma didn't understand him right away. "It needs a name. A code name. Every good adventure has a code name. We can't call it 'operation rescue grandpa' or operation 'break the curse' because that its too obvious. We need a code name."
"I'm no good with code names kid," Emma replies. "You name it."
"Operation Goblin Shark," Henry replies.
"What? What is that?" Emma asks.
"It's a very freaky looking shark," Henry smiles. "Its the perfect code name. None will even suspect what we are talking about."
"Wait, what are we talking about?" Emma asks.
"Rescuing grandpa of course," Henry replies.
"Oh, right. It is the perfect code name."Emma agrees. "Nobody will know what we are talking about. I barely know what we are talking about!"
"Good," Henry replies. "We are off to a great start."

I thought I was done with Snowing stories. And then this concept popped in my head.
Thank you so much for reading! If you have any reviews, thoughts, anything you'd like to talk about, I'm all ears.