"Mooomm! Come on, I really need to go!" Henry pulled at her pencil skirt again, thankfully failing to move it out of place. Regina didn't care that other parents believed her wardrobe was unsuitable for a single mother with a toddler, she looked good and never accidently showed anything, which is more than the rest of them could say.
"I'm walking as fast as I can, Henry, but it's very packed right now," she explained, trying to stay patient. Why did he have to realize he was about to wet his pants in the middle of the mall on Christmas Eve, one of the days where the mall was most crowded?
"I'm going to burst," Henry whined, halting in the middle of the staircase, shifting from foot to foot and clutching his pants. Regina groaned to herself, and quickly scooped him up, out of the way of the rushed last minute shoppers shooting her dirty looks. She grunted slightly under his weight, four years old was an age that made it hard to carry him up the stairs. In heels.
"We're almost there," she vowed, clearing the stairs and searching for the bathrooms the map claimed were near. The masses of people made it rather difficult to see anything, spotting the small writings giving directions to the restrooms was practically impossible.
"Out of my way!" Regina barked, summoning the persona from her days of being mayor. The difference was that now, she was using her order-giving skills as a way to help her kid pee, instead of using it to help Storybrooke gain a new playground. She had to say that she preferred the way she used it now.
Regina wracked her brain as she passed Kohls, trying to remember the directions to the restrooms. Henry squirmed. Turn left at Kohls, walk down the hallway, turn at the right, and… "Here!" she exclaimed triumphantly.
She had made it before Henry had an accident. The brightly-lit, bustling bathrooms had never looked more appealing. However, her relief would not last long. As Regina put Henry down and led him into the women's bathrooms, he shouted, "No!"
Feeling confused, Regina asked, "Did you have an accident? Because that's okay. We'll just need to get you cleaned up…" she trailed off, leaning down to check his pants.
"No," Henry repeated. "I won't go into Mommy bathroom, it is gross! I'm a big boy, I go to the big boy bathroom!"
Of course he chose this moment to change his mind about bathrooms. Regina grabbed Henry's hand and brought him over to check the family restroom. It was locked. She wanted to cry. It shouldn't be this hard to get a photo of Henry with Santa Claus.
"Henry! Please, just come into the bathroom with Mommy," Regina begged, not wanting to drag him in kicking and screaming.
"No!" Henry stared obstinately back up at her. She wracked her brain for a solution, as she couldn't safely send Henry in alone to the men's. Luckily, one came to her in the form of a man exiting the men's room.
"Hey," she called to the man.
He looked around perplexed before he pointed to himself. "Me?" he asked.
"Yes, you! I have to talk to you," Regina said. Absentmindedly, she wondered what was going through his head as he walked over to her.
"Okay, I know this is weird, and I've never even met you before, you could be a serial killer for all I know, but you look nice and you have a son," she gestured toward the adorable little boy holding his hand. "And my son needs to go to the bathroom, but refuses to go in with me, and I don't want to send him in alone, so could you please escort him in and out?" Regina finished her short speech, taking a deep breath at the end.
The man looked at her, then at Henry, and back at her. "Sure," he said. Being able to hear him better, she realized he had quite an attractive accent. (And an attractive everything else, she noted, but now was not the time to flirt.) "Roland, we have to go back into the bathroom, and bring…" he paused, gesturing at Henry.
"Henry," she supplied.
"Yes, we have to bring Henry to the bathroom." The boy, Roland, nodded in consent.
Regina turned to Henry. "Hear that, Roland and this nice man will bring you to the big boy bathroom. You'll listen, right?"
"Ok," Henry said, completely unaffected by the concept of going with a stranger. Ah, the innocence of youth. She gave a quick hug to her son.
"By the way, my name is Robin," the man called to her as he led the boys to the bathroom.
"Regina!" she yelled back, a smile on her face. She could sense that Henry would be in good hands with Robin.
She killed her time by pulling up another map of the mall. It was still unfamiliar, and she was not going to be put into another situation like this one. Regina would know where everything was in this mall, so if Henry had another pee emergency, she wouldn't have to run through the mall like a crazy person, looking for a map.
She was interrupted by a happy yell and a force barreling into her. She hugged Henry back, and listened to him excitedly, and loudly, recollect his adventures in the men's room. "Mom! They have boy toilets in the big boy room!"
"That's great, sweetheart." Regina watched as Robin and Roland also sat down on the bench. "Robin, I'm so grateful. Can I pay you or something?" She turned to open her purse.
"A simple thank you will suffice… and perhaps your number?" He asked, smiling at her.
"Aren't you married, with a son?" she replied without thinking, nodding towards Roland, who was currently showing Henry the game he got that day.
"A son, yes. Wife, no. We divorced after Roland was born," he explained. Regina felt herself blush in mortification.
"I'm so sorry, especially because I know what it's like to have people assume stuff about me. My fiancée Daniel died in a car crash while Henry's adoption was finalized, and the rumors flying about town eventually got so bad we just up and moved, "she hurriedly said, albeit a little bit sadly.
"Well, allow me to offer my condolences, and to say that it's fine that you… assumed."
"Thank you," Regina warmly replied, while scribbling her number down on a spare piece of paper and handing it to Robin.
Robin laughed suddenly. "Look at us. Two grown adults with kids, and we're flirting like two ten year olds."
She had to smile at that thought. "I guess I should say here that I think that if I got to know you more, I could definitely say that I like like you," Regina teased.
His phone rang out, jolting them out of their friendly silence. He called Roland over to him. "That's the timer, I've got to bring Roland to the front of the mall to his mother before heading back to my shift working at Santa's Cottage," Robin apologized, grimacing.
Regina smiled, the coincidence had to be a Christmas miracle. "I'm sure I'll see you again, soon."
"Goodbye, milady," Robin said, leaning down to kiss her hand, and leaving her speechless. It tingled as she watched him walk away, Roland holding his hand.
She soon left him speechless when she brought Henry to take a picture with Santa. Regina thought that no one had seen Santa fall of his throne like Robin did.
And if later she kissed Santa Claus, well, at least she didn't let anyone see (so no children's childhoods were ruined).
And if Santa agreed to come to her apartment the next day, making the empty feeling Regina had been feeling fade away, well no one had to know.
On an unrelated note, she, Henry, and Robin had a great Christmas dinner. He definitely was not a serial killer.
This is my first attempt at Outlaw Queen, so I hope you like it! Thanks so much for reading, and please tell me what you think! -LifeIsGame