If he is in SB with Regina then I think it would stand to reason that he must have lost his mom right before the curse was cast since his dad is supposedly comforting him over his mom…like Cinderella was pregnant for 28 years… I would think his dad would have to be doing this for 28 years….unless we are about to find out that they are outsiders and came to Storybrook and like Phee said inspired Regina to adopt a son.
Who knows…if they were outsiders that came and went we might be seeing this kid as an adult further down the line in Storybrook again. If I wasn’t so convinced that Neal was Bae (plus MRJ does not have blue eyes either) I would say they could have made him a young Neal…but I really do think he is Bae at this point. I guess Greg could always be an option.
ETA: okay after realizing that the title is Welcome to Storybrook(at this point I can’t keep any of this straight lol) I am leaning toward Ben and Owen being outsiders that enter Storybrook. Welcome to Storybrook could have the beginning of the curse…Owen and Ben coming to Storybrook…and Greg checking out Storybrook (since he’s already arrived) as parallels. (with Owen and Ben being within the Storybrook flashback part).