I'm still accepting six more prompts! :)
Title – Most Nights
Setting – 3b/Missing year before Snow gets pregnant
Most nights she cried herself to sleep. She thought she it hid well, and even though her chambers were apart from everyone else, somehow Snow found out. Regina should have known Snow would find out.
She cried for Henry.
Cried for the little boy she had raised into a young teen. Her heart felt empty and some nights the grief became too much.
Sometimes, when she would wake up from a dream or memory of Henry, she'd find herself in tears and heart wrenching sobs that she couldn't stop and then Snow was suddenly there, comforting her and even holding her until she couldn't cry no more and fell into a dreamless sleep.
They never talked about those nights.
One evening, Roland finally approached her since that first day she saved his life from a flying monkey. He wanted her to tell him about Storybrooke, the land that he's heard the villagers talk about.
She was drawn to that childhood innocence, and those big brown eyes so full of wonder she couldn't resist. So she told him stories of a land without magic. It hurt to be around him even when she enjoyed his company, to hold him in her lap as they sat in the garden under her apple tree. It hurt when she couldn't be with her own son who had no memory of the mother who had really raised him. She gave all those moments to Emma.
When Robin came to retrieve Roland for bedtime, he noticed her sullen mood. Usually she'd snap at him for even stepping in her path. She loved goading him into fights, but now…
Now she just didn't seem to care.
She avoided his eyes all together, pretending he wasn't even there as she lifted Roland from her lap and walked away.
She was heartbroken and he knew it had to do with her son which was why he was walking down the corridors that led to her chambers. He knew it was late, but he needed to see her. He couldn't get the image out of his head, of her red rimmed teary eyes or the way her voice cracked when she wished Roland good night. She was fire, but that flame had seemed to burn out as she walked away from him without even acknowledging his presence.
When he reached the heavy wooden doors of her chambers, it was then that he heard it. Someone crying.
"Regina," he spoke, opening the doors and through the light from the candle lit corridor and the moonlight shining upon her, he could see her. Her body shook with sobs and Snow was lying beside Regina, holding her from behind as she cried.
He's never seen this side of her and it made him uneasy.
"Regina… Is she… What's wrong?" he stumbled on his words, looking from Regina and then to Snow who had whispered something into her ear. Regina didn't seem to care that Robin was standing beside her bed. She didn't even seem to notice him.
Snow stood, and led him out into the hall.
"Stay with her," she said the moment the doors were closed.
"What? She's not exactly fond of me if you hadn't noticed. She nearly threw a fireball at me the other day for merely glancing at her."
"I know Robin, but right now she is heartbroken. She misses her son and I know deep down she really does like you. I know she trusts you."
"Why can't you stay?" he asked, growing uncomfortable and then he noticed her placing her hand on her still flat belly. Right, she's only two months pregnant. He'd forgotten the announcement she made that morning to only the people at the round table. She couldn't announce it to the kingdom yet when Zelena was a threat.
"Just because it's called morning sickness, doesn't mean I only get sick in the morning," she explained and it was then he noticed how off she seemed to be. She did look paler than usual. "I can't comfort her when I'm trying not to be sick."
"She'll shut me out."
"She won't. Right now she is grieving, her walls are down. Please Robin, I don't want her to be alone."
He couldn't say no. Somehow, he'd grown to care for the Queen even when she gave him such a hard time.
"Ok," he sighed.
When he walked in, she was still crying. He thought she'd make him leave, but instead she didn't say a word. She continued to cry, her back to him as he lied on the bed beside her, their bodies close but never touching.
When the tears had finally stopped, he just stared into the darkness, wondering if she had cried herself to sleep. But then he heard a deep shuddering breath. She was still awake.
"Roland reminds me of him, when he was the same age." Her voice was raw, full of so much emotion and exhaustion. It wouldn't be long before she'd fall asleep.
"I'm sorry he brought up painful memories of your boy."
"No," she whispered. "Don't ever be sorry when it comes to that beautiful child."
He turned to face her. She still had her back to him, curled under the blankets and looking so small then what he was used to. Snow was right. Her defences were down and for the first time he could see who she truly was. A woman, misunderstood, with the weight of the world on her shoulders. A mother grieving for her baby.
Her shoulders were shaking, silent sobs racking her body. He knew she was crying again and he didn't even think. He just did it. He moved closer to her, pulling her against his body and holding her close to him.
She let out a sob, trying to stop them but she couldn't. She didn't care that the man she fought with so much was holding her, comforting her, and basically being there for her. She could count on one hand how many people were there for her without a hidden agenda and Robin was now one of them.