Family Bonds
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the main characters of Once Upon a Time, however much I wish I did. I do, however, own all of my OC characters. I hope you enjoy this story, and there will be a very important author's note at the end, so please read it!
Chapter 1
Henry opens the door to his childhood home as he arrives home from school.
"Mom, I'm home from school," he calls as he slings his backpack off of his shoulder.
Henry then grabs a Diet Coke out of the fridge and quickly pops the tab off. Regina still hasn't come to greet him, which begins to worry the dark-haired teen. If there is one thing Henry can count on seeing after school, it is Regina. She is always waiting on the couch to ask him how his day was and then they would start making dinner together. Not seeing his mom anywhere, Henry starts to search every room in the large house. He first checks Regina and Robin's bedroom, and not finding her there, he heads across the hallway to his room.
"Maybe she's cleaning my room since I haven't done that in ages," Henry reasons.
He enters his room, and not finding Regina there, he decides to check Roland's room. As he enters his little brother's room, he sees a fort made out of pillows and an assortment of sheets in the floor. Henry's ears pick up on laughter coming from somewhere behind the pile of pillows, so he decides to investigate. He accidently steps on the squeaky board that is near the foot of Roland's bed, and he does his best to hide from the younger boy.
"Mama, someone's coming," Roland whispers to Regina.
"Well, Roland, take your bow and see who it is," Regina smiles from behind the pillows at her son, knowing that the "intruder" is either Robin or Henry.
Roland grabs his plastic bow from the floor and fills it with foam darts. He pops up from behind the pillow fort and shoots lots of foam arrows at Henry. Henry falls down on his back, not expecting the assault of darts that come from his brother's bow. Roland continues shooting arrows at Henry, which causes the older boy to pull Roland out of the pillow fort.
"No more, Roland! I yield!" Henry laughs as Roland shoots a dart at Henry's nose.
"Are you going to attack the castle if I stop?" Roland questions with the cutest grin anyone has ever seen.
"No, Prince Roland, I promise that if you stop shooting arrows at me that I will stop attacking the castle," Henry smiles.
"Good. Now, you are allowed in the castle only if you promise to protect Mama from any harm," Roland tells his older brother.
"I will protect Mom from all magical and non-magical threats," Henry says as he raises his right hand in a promise.
"Welcome, Knight Henry, to the castle," Roland giggles as he opens a section of the pillow fort.
Henry crawls between the pillows and goes and hugs Regina. Regina returns his embrace before she hands Roland some more plastic darts to refill his bow with.
"So, how was your day at school, Henry?" Regina asks her oldest son with a grin.
"It was great, Mom. I got an A on my math test, and Grace ate lunch with me," Henry tells his mom, smiling at the latter statement.
"Well, great job on the math test, and I think you're still a little young to have a crush on a girl," Regina remarks in a playful tease.
"Mom, I'll be fifteen in May. That's what age you were when you started dating," Henry reminds.
"Why must you have remembered that?" Regina laughs as Henry looks up at her with puppy-dog eyes.
Roland holds up a finger to his lips as footsteps are heard in the hallway. Regina and Henry immediately zip their lips when the footsteps edge closer. Henry grabs a plastic sword and a plastic bow as he realizes who is standing near their pillow fort.
"Where is everyone?" Robin finally asks after he stands there for two minutes in silence, though he has a feeling where his wife and their sons are hiding.
"Here we are, Papa!" Roland announces as he shoots several fake arrows at his father's chest.
Henry joins in the attack by shooting several arrows at his new father and holding the plastic sword near Robin's neck.
"We have you surrounded. There's no way you can get the queen now," Henry says with a smirk as Robin looks down at his two smiling sons.
"Are you sure there's no way I can get the queen?" Robin tease.
"Yes, we're sure. We've hidden all of the weapons from invaders like you," Roland tells his father with fake superiority.
Robin sees another fake sword laying an inch away from his foot, and a smile crosses over his lips.
"Well, you certainly didn't do a thorough job," the thief smirks at his sons as he picks the sword up and begins dueling with Henry.
Henry tries his hardest to block Robin's attacks, but alas, the teenage boy is no match for a skilled and grown man. Robin quickly disarms Henry and heads for Regina, who is still behind the pillows. Roland thinks on his feet and jumps on top of his bed before Robin passes the edge of it. Roland jumps off of the bed and lands on his father's shoulders. Robin allows himself to be tackled, and soon Roland has Robin on his back in the middle of the floor.
"Admit it, you're no match for the queen's knights in shining armor," he teases his father.
"I am no match for your knights, milady. But, when they are not here, I will have some time with you," Robin winks at Regina.
"How about we go and make dinner, hmm?" Regina suggests as she offers her hand to Robin.
"Good, because I'm starving," Henry chuckles as he races Roland down the stairs towards the kitchen.
Regina pulls Robin to his feet, and he gives his queen a kiss on the lips before they go down the stairs to make dinner with their boys.
"Mama, is this enough sauce?" Roland questions as he spreads some home-made pizza sauce on a piece of garlic bread.
"It's your personal pizza, Roland. You can have as much pizza sauce on it as you like," Regina tells him as she adds a layer of cheese to her personal "pizza."
Robin, meanwhile, is having trouble getting the sauce to stay on his pizza. Every time he tries to smooth out an area on the bread with a casing knife, a huge glop of sauce gets on his hand.
"Is making your own pizza supposed to be this difficult, Regina? I keep getting sauce on my hand whenever I move," Robin groans as yet more sauce covers his hand.
"Making pizzas isn't the hard part, Robin. The person making them is making this a hard task," Reina laughs as she helps Robin spread out his remaining pizza sauce.
"Yeah, Dad, it's not that hard. You just have to move the casing knife and your hand very slowly," Henry tells his step-father.
Dad. Robin enjoyed hearing that word coming out of Henry's mouth so much. At first, Robin was afraid that Henry would never call him 'Dad,' thinking the teenage boy would never get over the death of his real father. His life was complete with Regina, Henry, and Roland with him.
"Hey, Robin, think fast!" Regina playfully yells.
"What are you doing, Regina?" Robin questions in fear as Regina comes towards him with her hand covered in pizza sauce.
Those are the only words that can come out of the former thief's mouth before the once evil queen smears the sauce all over her husband's face. Robin must think of a way to get her back, and quick. He grabs the bag off cheese and begins to sprinkle it in her hair.
Let's just say that the night at the Hood household was very messy, and resulted in everyone getting covered in assorted pizza toppings.
Author's Note: This is the first chapter of Family Bonds! I hope you enjoyed it, and I now have a proposition for each of you. I am leaving most of this story's plot up to my viewers. Each chapter will be suggested by a guest or FanFiction member, and I will get it uploaded as soon as possible. Here is all you have to do. You just need to hit the Review button at the bottom of your screen and leave a review, along with what you want the next chapter to be about. If you are a guest, please leave an original name where I can tell all of the viewers who suggested/requested the chapter. The suggestions can include all four of these characters, or even just two of them. Of course, I will have some chapters that I make up myself, but the majority of the story will be chosen by you. Also, one last thing, and this one is the most important. Please keep all chapters at a K+ RATING! I can't wait to see your suggestions; and whoever sends in the first review and prompt will get the second chapter written for them!