Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon A Time. All characters belong to ABC. The plot however is my own.
A/N: This is something I've been toying around with for some time and had to figure out a good timeline to have it happen. It takes place just after Neal is born and while Emma is in the past.
Regina slowly opened her eyes, to allow them to adjust to the sunlight that shone through the curtains. Groaning, she stretched her arms above her head. She tucked her feet up under her and rolled to the side. Next to her, still sleeping soundly was her soulmate, Robin. She reached up and traced his jawline. He stirred under her touch and fluttered his eyes open. He looked straight into her dark eyes and smiled. He lifted his hand and took hers in his. He turned it over and kissed her palm.
"Good morning," he whispered.
"Good morning," she replied.
"What shall we do today?" he asked, which made Regina chuckle.
"Well I do have to work at some point, but other than that I have a completely free day. Henry is with Emma this weekend," she replied. Robin grinned and pulled her closer to him.
"I vote we don't leave this bed," he told her and she pulled away from him. She rolled him over and leaned over his face, her dark hair floating gracefully to one side.
"As much as I would love to do that, we do have a 4 year old boy down the hall that will be coming in here wanting his breakfast," she reminded him. Robin raised his head and kissed her softly.
"I wish for once that he was a late sleeper. What child is a morning person?" he chuckled.
"Well he obviously doesn't get it from you," she said playfully. She tried to roll off of him and he held her in place.
"We have at least an hour. I can think of plenty of things we can do in an hour," he whispered. Regina moaned as she leaned in and kissed him. Robin held her tightly and rolled them so that he was laying over her. He put his weight on his hands and looked down at her. He smirked at her and leaned in and kissed her collar bone, then left a trail of kisses down her neck and to her navel. Regina squirmed under him, wanting him to hurry and move to where she needed him most. As he reached the apes of her thighs, she spread her legs further apart to give him more access to her. She held her breath as she waited for his mouth to make contact, but it never did. In fact all of his movement had stopped.
"This is not what I had in mind for this hour," she joked at him as she raised up on her arms. His face was not at all what she had been expecting.
"Robin?" she asked. Still he said nothing.
"Robin, what's wrong? You're scaring me." Finally he made eye contact with her.
"You're bleeding." He whispered.
"What?" she said, ripping the sheets away. She looked down at the bed and there it was, Bright red blood.
"I assume it's just your monthly," Robin suggested. Regina shook her head.
"I don't have one. Remember the potion?" she reminded him.
"Oh, I thought it just took away your ability to carry a child."
"It was a potion to bind my body's natural cycle. I don't have a period."
"Oh. Should you see a doctor?"
"I suppose I must. I'll umm…. dressed," she muttered and climbed out of the bed. She didn't speak a word. To be honest she had no idea what was going on and it worried her. She quickly cleaned herself up and got dressed. While she dressed Robin had stripped the sheets and had gotten Roland out of bed. He clung to his father still asleep. He assumed that Regina would prefer to be alone with her doctor. He waited for her downstairs. He heard her footsteps begin to descend the stairs and he went to meet her at the bottom of them. Her face was full of worry. Roland came running into the foyer and wrapped his arms around her legs.
"Mama!" he exclaimed. Regina smiled and lifted the small boy into her arms.
"Good morning my sweet boy. Listen, I have to go out this morning, but you and Papa are going to have a boys day out. Which means you get to do whatever you want." She told him. Roland smiled and looked at Robin.
"Can Henry come?" he asked.
"Henry has school, but I'll have him meet you guys after school at Granny's for ice cream."
"Yeah! Thanks Mama!" he said and hugged her tightly before wiggling free. He scurried off to the kitchen and then stepped into Robin's waiting arms.
"You're okay. Just go see your doctor and I'll see you later today." He whispered and softly kissed her head. She smiled gently and turned to leave. Robin watched her walk out of the door and he silently prayed she was okay. He then put on a smile and went to have breakfast with his son.
Regina sighed and closed her eyes. She wasn't going to her doctor. She was going to see the one person she knew what exactly the potion had done to her. The person who had given it to her, Gold. She waved her hand and disappeared in a puff of purple smoke.
She reappeared in front of Gold's shop and took a deep breath before walking into the small store. Belle looked up from the counter and smiled.
"Hello, Regina." Belle said sweetly. Regina walked to the counter and sighed.
"I need help," she whispered, her face white. Belle looked at her with concern and touched Regina's hand.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"I…I'm bleeding." She whispered. Belle looked her up and down but couldn't find a wound anywhere on her body. The confusion appeared on her face and Regina sighed and leaned in closer to her.
"I'm bleeding." She said once again and then looked down. Belle followed her gaze and muttered "Oh."
"Why do you need my help?"
Regina rubbed her hand over her face.
"I'm not supposed to be. Gold gave me a potion when I was younger to take away my ability to conceive. I took it as a way to keep my mother's grab on me at a distance. The potion also took away my cycle. I started bleeding this morning, to my surprise. Robin suggested I see a doctor, but I couldn't. I'm afraid something is wrong. I wanted to see Gold or you, since you have access to all of his books, before I psych myself out over worry." She explained. Belle nodded and turned to the shelf behind her. She grabbed a book and flipped through until she found a page with Regina's name written on it. She scanned the text and then grinned.
"You are perfectly fine, Regina. The potion Rumple gave you has a limited affect. It is no longer working so you are having a cycle," she explained and turned the book to allow Regina to see it. Regina read through the text herself and it felt as if the air in her lungs had been taken away from her. She covered her mouth with on hand and placed the other over her stomach and let out a small sob. She looked up at Belle, tears filling her eyes.
"So, I can… I can have a baby?" she asked, really hoping this wasn't a dream. Belle grinned and took Regina's hands in her own.
"If you want to have a baby, you can. I assume Rumple chose this specific potion in case you wanted to change your mind later and want to have a child. The potion only has a span of three years, but with the curse, time was frozen. This is probably why you thought the affects were permanent." She explained and was enveloped in a hug. Regina cried as she hugged the smaller woman. Belle chuckled.
"I guess this is a good thing for you." She asked. Regina pulled away and wiped the tears from her eyes.
"Oh yes. From the moment I took that potion, I regretted it." She said and sat down in a chair. She folded her hands in her lap and looked up at Belle.
"I honestly took the potion to hurt my mother. I didn't think before I acted," she explained and started to cry.
"I was pregnant," she whispered. Belle knelt before her.
"Regina."
"When I realized I was pregnant, I knew that the baby would never truly be mine. She would hold it against me. Not to mention the baby was not conceived in any kind of love. Leopold was not the kind king everyone had thought him to be. Did you know I was barely 17 when he married me? I was still a virgin and he ripped it away from me. None of the chamber maids questioned when they cleaned my sheets the morning after our wedding night. He had bed me every night for two years before I got pregnant. I asked Gold for help. He… he helped me to get rid of the baby. He stayed with me as I miscarried. He then gave me the potion to stop any further pregnancies. That's part of why I adopted Henry. I felt that the only way I could ever be a mother was to adopt. Then I met Robin and he has Roland. That boy melts my heart. Being with Robin it's everything. When I told him that I couldn't have children he said it was nothing, I could see disappointment in his eyes." She told her. She then smiled and looked at Belle.
"Regina, you can give him that." She told her and helped Regina to her feet. "Why don't you go tell him." She suggested and Regina grinned. She hugged the younger woman once more.
"Thank you Belle." She disappeared and then reappeared in front of her house. She took a deep breath and walked into the house. Robin was seated on the couch watching TV. She walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around his neck. He tensed for a second then relaxed as he smelled her perfume. He stood up and walked around the couch and pulled her into his arms. She held him tightly and buried her face in his chest and sobbed. Robin pulled her away from him, concern over his face.
"Regina, what's wrong? Did you find out something at the doctor?" he asked. Regina cupped his face in her hands and gently kissed his lips.
"I didn't go to the doctor. I went to see Belle. She has all of Gold's books. She found the potion I used. She told me that the potion has a limited effect on a person, but because of the curse the potions time effect was frozen with everything else." She explained. Robin looked at her confused.
"Regina, I don't understand." Regina smiled and brought his hands to her abdomen.
"Robin, the potion has stopped working. My body is going through its natural cycle." She explained. Robin's expression changed from confused to realization as he looked at their hands laced on her stomach.
"You.. you can conceive?" he asked. Regina smiled and nodded her head. Robin leaned in and kissed her softly. As they parted Regina spoke.
"I'm not sure what affect the potion had on my body, but Belle thinks that I should be able to conceive rather quickly. So I had better take precautions as to not get pregnant right away." She explained. Robin had learned of birth control since arriving in this land and understood what she was saying.
"Regina, why if I may ask?"
"We just found each other again and with Zelena still a threat, I think us having a child right now would not be the best of ideas. As much as I would love to carry our child, any child for that matter, I think the timing is rather difficult." She explained. Robin shook his head and fell to his knees and softly caressed her flat abdomen. He kissed it then looked up at her.
"I can't imagine anything more perfect than your perfect form swollen with our child. Nothing would make me happier than to see our child grow right here." He whispered. Regina's heart melted. She couldn't deny this man anything, but she knew the desire to have a child didn't stop with him. She ran her hands through his thick hair and he stood on his feet.
"Alright. I won't see Whale for birth control. But, can we make a deal that we aren't going to actively try to get pregnant? Although the thought of having you ravish me nightly is a thought, I just don't want us to get our hopes up if I don't conceive right away. Let nature do its thing." Robin nodded and pulled her into his arms and whispered into her ear.
"Love, I would move the world for you if you asked me to. Although I really want to take you upstairs and make love to you now and begin new life within you, I understand what you are asking." He told her. Regina chuckled.
"As much as I would love that, there is no way you are making love to me tonight or for the next few days for that matter. I officially am on my period. Excuse me while I go to the drugstore to pick up something I never thought I buy." She said and pulled away from him.
"What is that love?" he asked.
"Tampons." She said and disappeared in a cloud of purple smoke.