Author's Note: So.. this is my first fanfic, and I'm nervous to even post it. It's a missing year OS idea that I've had floating in my head for a while. Just a little fluffy-ness to get us through the day. Big shout out to Taylor for helping me make this not completely suck lol...and Tina for encouraging me to finally post it. Please let me know what y'all think! :)
Gotcha Day
Sadness. It's the only emotion Regina knows how to feel on this particular day.
Things in the Enchanted Forest have been surprisingly smooth since Regina, the Charmings, Robin and Roland, Robin's Merry Men and everyone else made it safely to the castle. Once Regina had been able to raise her protection shield, no one had even tried to attack the fortress. Regina and the Charmings had allowed safe refuge for the Merry Men, and everyone was living harmoniously inside the castle walls. Zelena was waiting out her days in Rumple's castle, malevolently awaiting Snow's baby to be born. Regina, Snow and David have been constantly trying to find ways to defeat Zelena, but so far, they've come up with nothing. While this has kept Regina wildly busy throughout her days, she still finds herself thinking of Henry. He is always on her mind. She's heartbroken over the thought of never seeing him again, and Regina often finds herself sitting under her beloved apple tree thinking of simpler days when she lived in Storybrooke and had her baby boy by her side.
The apple tree.
For so long it has been a place of peace for Regina. That's where Robin finds her – sitting under her apple tree – staring out into oblivion, lost in her own thoughts. Over the past several months, since the Storybrooke crew had arrived back in the Enchanted Forest, Robin and Regina had formed an unlikely friendship, one that Regina seldom acknowledges and covers up by insulting the outlaw whenever they are around people. In quiet moments, however, she finds herself indulging in pleasantries with Robin - even opening up about her life in Storybrooke (and Henry) - while he opens up about his late wife and his life as an outlaw. The blossoming friendship is all thanks to an adorable brown, curly haired little boy who has wormed his way into Regina's heart after she saved him from a flying monkey (and turned it into a plush stuffed animal for him to play with). When Regina isn't working with the Charmings, she finds herself playing with Roland. Roland loves to take his queen on walks in her private garden while picking flowers for her or defending Regina from the dragons that threaten to harm her. When she isn't playing with Roland, she is often talking with Robin. She's formed a friendship with the outlaw, and an attraction – one that she won't dare admit aloud.
[..::::..]
Robin stands in the arched doorway, admiring the way Regina's hair, which was partially down for once, is slightly blowing in the gentle breeze. Over the past several months that they have been living in the castle, Robin has come to enjoy his friendship with Regina. Friendship. At least, that's what he'll call it out loud. Deep down, he knows there's an undeniable attraction he's felt from the moment he laid eyes on the Queen. Still, if friendship is all she is willing to give, then he will be happy to take it.
"M'lady?" he says suddenly, walking towards Regina. She's sitting on the stone bench that's wrapped around the apple tree.
Regina jumps slightly, abruptly pulled from her thoughts of Henry. She turns her head slightly in Robins' direction and manages half a smile, trying to not seem as startled as she feels.
"Apologies, m'lady," knowing he had scared her for a brief second, "but Roland was concerned over your absence at breakfast and lunch today. I told him I'd go in search of you."
When he receives no reply, and gets only Regina's back turning towards him again, Robin takes it upon himself to sit down on the bench in the open spot next to her.
"What are you doing out here?" he tries.
"Thinking." She replies shortly, then pauses.
After a few moments of silence, Regina speaks again. "I'm sorry I worried Roland. Today is…well…today is a special day to me and I wanted to be alone," she utters softly, attempting, but mostly failing, to conceal the hot tears he sees prickling her eyes.
"A special day?" Robin asks.
Robin knows it isn't quite time for Christmas, which Roland is all too excited to experience, but the Thanksgiving holiday they celebrated has already passed.
"Today is Henry's gotcha day."
"…gotcha day?" Robin questions with a quizzical expression upon his face. He's still trying to learn the modern lingo that so many of the new arrivals have brought back from Storybrooke, and this one is certainly an unusual new expression.
"It's the day I got to bring Henry home from the adoption agency," Regina starts to explain, still wondering why she so easily opens up to this gorgeous, blue-eyed man. "Every year on his 'gotcha day' we would do whatever he wanted for the entire day. If it was a school day, he got to skip school that day, and I would take off from work. We would sleep in, play video games, eat pizza, anything… as long as he was happy," Regina says with a ghost of a smile appearing on her lips, while tearing up at the thought of her little boy on all of his 'gotcha days' and the fun they used to have. This is the first one she has missed, she tells Robin, and even though Henry is living in New York, with no memory of her or 'gotcha day', the thought of missing it still breaks Regina's heart.
[..::::..]
Robin is lost in his thoughts for a moment, thinking of how unlikely this friendship is. He's thinking again about that word, friends-if you consider stolen pecks in dark corridors (after some of their more personal chats where they revealed their darker secrets, and realized they had more in common than either was willing to admit), secret hand holding under the counsel table, and him admiring her figure in those tight corsets she always wears, a friendship. He certainly never admires Little John's figure in his daily attire – although, Little John never wears such glamorous and form fitting garments. Though, the thought of John prancing around in a corset, causes a chuckle to escape his lips.
"What is it?" Regina asks curiously with a smirk, the first sign of any joy on her face so far today.
"Nothing…just you taking the day off of work is hard to imagine," he attempts a cover up, thinking on how she has yet to take a day to slow down since arriving in the Enchanted Forest. He imagines she was much the same when it came to work in Storybrooke, too.
"Yes, well… I'd do anything for Henry" and with that, the smirk is gone. Great.
"I just hate not even getting to do something as simple as eating pizza with him for dinner. He always wanted pizza – it was his favorite," she tells him somberly.
"I understand. It sounds like it was always a wonderful day for the both of you. If you wish to be alone…"
"No," Regina states quickly, looking into Robin's eyes for the first time since he sat down and he thinks she doesn't want to be alone. "It's fine."
Robin can't help the smirk that emerges on his face. This woman, who is so confusing, yet so enchanting to him, who pushes people away, insults everyone (including him), keeps her walls up at all times, allows him to reach over those walls and gets her to talk about such personal topics whenever they are alone. He's enamored with the idea of getting to know this hidden side of the "Evil" Queen, the side she keeps hidden from everyone, everyone except him.
He wishes to distract her, so the pair sit there for quite some time talking about any and everything, like they normally would, trying to keep Regina's mind off of what this day really means to her.
Then, an idea comes to Robin.
He gets up suddenly, "I've got to go check on Roland," the outlaw lies, "I'll be back. I trust you'll still be here?"
"I'm not going anywhere," she answers.
Perfect. That gives him plenty of time to set his plan into action.
[..::::..]
Robin walks into the kitchen where an older, grey haired woman everyone calls "Granny" is standing.
"Hello, Granny," he greets her.
Granny just grunts in reply – seeming far too busy preparing some type of food that he imagines will be their dinner tonight.
"Granny," Robin starts, suddenly feeling nervous to make the request, "I was wondering if it would be possible, in this land, to make a pizza?"
Granny stares at him, quite confused at the request for pizza coming from someone who has never lived in Storybrooke. "Pizza?" Granny asks, clearly thinking about all the ingredients available to her in this dated kitchen, "I suppose it might be possible. Won't be as good as anything I could whip up in Storybrooke, but it might taste alright…why?"
"Well," he muses, unsure of how to explain that he wants a pizza made for his friend, whom most people don't know he's friends with, and the reason he wants it to be made.
He decides to just be honest. He's seen the way Regina comes around the kitchen and helps Granny, every now and then, make a special dessert for everyone (even though she would never admit that she helped in any way, shape or form in making something for the commoners), and the way the two women would talk about their former lives in Storybrooke. Granny had apparently, according to one of his and Regina's many conversations over the last few months, helped Regina out when Henry was a baby. She would babysit him when Regina had meetings, and would always have a nice cup of hot cocoa with cinnamon waiting for Henry on cold mornings before school.
"Today is the day Regina adopted Henry."
He sees the look of recognition appear on Granny's face and takes that as a good sign to keep going with his request. "She called it his…"
"Gotcha day," Granny finishes for him, an affectionate smile forming on her lips. "Henry and Regina would sleep in every gotcha day, and come into my diner in the late morning for some brunch. They loved gotcha day." The old woman says, sounding sad at the memory.
"Yes, well, today is Henry's 'gotcha day' and Regina mentioned that they would always eat pizza for dinner. I thought, if it's possible, that you might be able to make her a pizza to eat for dinner tonight?"
Robin is not prepared for the look of joy that comes across the woman's face. "I'll start on it right away."
"Thank you, Granny."
"Feel free to stay, boy. It'll give me a chance to have some human interaction while I cook," she chuckles.
"Of course," Robin replies, secretly hoping it won't take too long. The sooner he can get the pizza out to Regina and (hopefully) see her smile, the better.
"So, tell me about you and Regina…" Granny begins, as she starts kneading the dough. Robin lets out a breathy sigh, which turns into a slight chuckle.
"That…is a completely hard situation to explain."
"I've got time," the old wolf replies with a smirk.
[..::::..]
Regina has been sitting on the cold, hard bench for more hours than she can remember. She knows she's hungry, but can't find it in herself to get up and go to the dining hall. Robin had mentioned she missed breakfast, which she knew, but also lunch, which was a surprise to her.
She shivers, as the cool breeze sweeps over her face. She wraps her arms into her black, feather covered cloak and sinks deeper into her thoughts.
"Mom! It's my gotcha day!" Henry shrieks, climbing onto Regina's bed, and kicking a few of her ribs as he does so.
"I know!" she laughs, "What shall we do today, my little prince?"
Henry rolls his eyes at the "silly" nickname. He always tells Regina he's too old now (being 9 and all) for nicknames like "prince" but Regina continues, still. She tells him that she's his mother, and can call him whatever she likes.
"Let's go get pancakes at Granny's! Then we can go to the park and play on the swings. The best swing will be open since all the other kids are still in school. Then we can come back here, and I can reaaaaally show you who's the best at Mario Kart!"
Regina just chuckles. She's normally a strict parent, always believing that children should never be in charge of the household, but gotcha day is an exception (within reason, of course – that one time he requested they go ride dirt bikes and climb Mount Everest, which he'd studied in school that year, was pushing it was little too far). She'd never want to be as controlling as her mother had been, but she knows that children who are raised with rules are more likely to grow up and not be completely entitled adults who think they deserve everything handed to them on a silver platter, which is ironic, since she grew up with everything handed to her on a literal silver platter.
"Ok, slow down!" Regina laughs, as Henry rambles on and on about all the things they can do today, "Let's start with pancakes at Granny's and go from there."
"Ok! Let's go!"
[..::::..]
"I'm back, Your Majesty."
Regina is brought out of her thoughts again by Robin's voice.
"Sorry, again," he says with a grin, knowing good and well she only allows him to call her that now (she has made it clear that she prefers "Regina"), and knowing he has startled her for a second time today, which is not something that happens very often to someone as regal and composed as The Queen.
"That's ok. I was just thinking about the last 'gotcha day' Henry and I had together."
"What did you do on that day?" Robin inquires. Regina thinks he seems a little distracted, taking quick glances towards the archway and all, but doesn't think much about it.
"Well," Regina begins with a nostalgic smile on her face, "Henry always loved eating pancakes at Granny's. After that, we played on the swings at the park. He said 'gotcha day' was the best day for swings because all the other kids were in school so he could pick the best one. After that we watched his favorite movies, played video games until our fingers hurt and ordered a pizza for dinner." She chuckles fondly at the memory.
[..::::..]
Robin smiles, chuckling right along with her.
"Sounds like he had a really good day…and a really good mum."
Regina suddenly grows quiet and looks up at the apple tree, seemingly lost in her thoughts again, "Yeah." she sighs sadly, barely above a whisper.
Luckily for Robin, who is kicking himself for bringing her happy mood down again, Roland comes running through the doorway. "Papa! Regina!"
Regina's head whips around to see Roland running straight for the pair. Her face instantly breaks into a smile at the sight. She has grown so fond of this little boy over the last few months – some days, he (and Robin) are her only sources of light.
"My boy!" Robin exclaims, as he picks up Roland and sits him in his lap. "Why aren't you inside with the others preparing for dinner?" even though, he knows exactly why not.
"Because, Papa," Roland giggles, turning his eyes toward Regina and covering his mouth with both hands. "We have a surprise for Regina!"
Regina, feeling utterly confused, looks to Robin. "A surprise?"
"Yes, well," Robin starts, rubbing his hands on the back of his neck, suddenly worrying over whether making her son's favorite food on his special day was the best idea or not, "when I went in earlier, I thought you might like to have a small part of your 'gotcha day' here with you in the Enchanted Forest. I know Henry can't be with us, but I thought, perhaps, his favorite food could be?"
Robin looks to Roland, who jumps up and runs inside the arched doorway where Granny is waiting with a pizza in her hands.
Robin watches as Regina turns and sees Roland take something from Granny's hands. When the boy gets a little closer, he can tell she realizes that it is a small, somewhat edible looking pizza. He can see tears instantly spring to her eyes and for once, she doesn't stop the one (or two) that fall onto her cheeks.
"You did this?" Regina asks, turning to face Robin. "For me?"
"Of course," he says, a sympathetic smile upon his face, as he wipes the tears from her cheeks. "I didn't want you to miss out on everything 'gotcha day' normally held. I thought we could, at least, give you this little piece."
"Thank you," Regina whispers, with a smile on her face, "thank you both."
Roland, looking entirely too pleased with himself, even though he hadn't known about the plan until the pizza was halfway done cooking, ran and slung his arms around Regina's legs. "We love you, Regina! Me and Papa didn't want you to be sad today!"
"Well thank you, I love you too," Regina replies softly to Roland, giving a knowing glance up towards his father.
"Let's eat, shall we?"
[..::::..]
The three of them all sit around the tree eating slice after slice (Roland has more than the adults – claiming this is the best food he's ever eaten), and talking about what the young boy had done all day without his Queen around to entertain. He talks about playing with Belle in the library for a little bit, then running around the garden with Little John pretending to slay dragons like a good little knight.
All the while, as the boy chatters on, Regina is caught up in her thoughts of the man sitting across from her. She's so moved that Robin has gone through the trouble of getting Henry's favorite food made. Sure, it wasn't nearly as delicious as it would've been in Storybrooke, but it was decent enough to enjoy two pieces of. It's a little piece of home that she needs on this particularly hard day.
When all the pizza has been eaten and they have all gotten a good laugh over Roland's stories of slaying the biggest "John dragon" he's ever seen, Roland lets a giant yawn escape his mouth. Looking sheepishly up at Robin, he simply says, "But I'm not tired!" when Robin officially declares it bedtime.
"Oh yes, my boy. It most certainly is. Tell Regina goodnight," Robin instructs and Roland obeys, walking over and pecking Regina on the cheek, instantly warming her heart, the same way it warms every time he kisses her cheek goodnight.
"Goodnight, Regina," Roland whispers, "I hope you had a good 'gotcha day.'" And with that, the boy is scooped up by his father and carried to bed.
A few minutes later, Regina hears Robin (no one else would dare interrupt her while she sits at her tree) come through the arched, stone doorway again.
"He's finally asleep," he informs her quietly.
"Mmm," Regina hums, turning her face up towards the tree again as a breeze blows through her dark hair, "Good. He was tired."
Robin sits down on the bench, once again joining her in the same spot where they've spent so much of the day together.
"Did you enjoy the pizza?"
Regina turns her head to look into Robin's stunning blue eyes. Had they always been that blue? She smiles slightly at him, tipping her head gently to the right. Leaning in towards Robin, she presses her lips softly to his. She can tell it takes him a split second to register in his mind what's happening, but once his brain and his lips catch up with each other, Regina feels his lips press back into hers, and his hand instinctively going to her hair, holding her head in place for a few moments.
When the need to breathe comes, both pull away at the same time, smiling sheepishly.
"The pizza was great," Regina says with a smile that actually reaches her eyes.
[..::::..]
Finally, Robin thinks to himself. A real smile today. Gotcha.