The Curse of Love

by Sbstevenson2

Regina cast her curse over a decade ago. Now settled in Storybrooke, she has found the happiness she always longed for... until one day when she learns the curse of love.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! This was written for Hollie for #LoveFromOQ. If you know Hollie, you know she loves angst. SO, be warned, there is angst, but if you know ME, you know I can't let it all be too bad lol! I hope you all enjoy it. Please leave a review and let me know your thoughts.

Hollie - I hope this is something you enjoy reading. It was *very* hard not being able to link you to my doc like I normally do or get your opinion on the angstier parts haha. I almost slipped up a few times, but hopefully this was a secret until today! Love you!

There is a TRIGGER WARNING at the bottom - I didn't want to spoil anything up top, but if you are someone who needs to know the warnings, check out the very bottom before reading!

{**************************}

She never thought she'd have this. Not again, anyway.

Love.

And along with that love, a child. Not hers biologically, but hers nonetheless.

Regina Mills loves this little family she's built over the last three years. Even if it's all just pretend - the curse she cast sixteen years ago is still holding strong, but she constantly lives in fear of it being broken one day - somehow - by Snow White and Prince Charming's child.

"Hello, love," he whispers into her ear as he comes to stand behind her.

She smiles into the bathroom mirror, gazing at his handsome reflection behind her. "Hey, you," she purrs, turning in Robin's arms. Regina leans up, pressing her lips softly to his.

They both smile into the embrace, and she feels the scruff of his jawline beneath her palm as she reaches up to cup his cheek. God, she loves this man. Her soulmate.

It had been hard, confusing, at first, when she met him a few years ago. Regina knew she didn't know every person that came over with her curse - she could never have been bothered with such trivial formalities as to know each commoner by name - but when Robert Foreston walked into Granny's with his son in tow four years ago, her world was changed.

They'd struck up a friendship at first - an unlikely pairing seeing as she was the mayor of this small town and he was simply the local owner of the town's hunting and sporting goods store. But he'd rushed into the busy diner one morning, despite him running late for pre-school drop off for Roland, and bumped into her, spilling her freshly paid for coffee down her maroon, silk blouse and high waisted black pencil skirt.

She'd gritted her teeth then, held back the urge to lift her hand as if she were throwing a fireball, and shot daggers at him with her eyes instead. Robert had, of course, profusely apologized and bought her a new coffee, insisting he pay for her clothes to be dry cleaned and that she call him Robin, as all his friends do.

The two of them had actually become friends after that, once she realized he could more than handle her sassy remarks, smartass comebacks, and usually short tempter - in fact, he seemed to like her sarcastic nature and gave as good as he got - and a year after becoming friends, he'd asked her out.

She couldn't deny the attraction she felt, especially when she'd seen his lion tattoo for the first time a few months before he asked her out and realized he was the soulmate Tinkerbell had told her about so many years ago.

The mark on his arm had worried her at first, and she tried to push away from him, but Robin and Roland made it impossible to stay away.

The boys had wormed their way into her life, and before she knew it, her heart. She's found herself wondering so many times over the last few years what life would have been like had she chosen love over evil and gone into the tavern that night. She imagines a simple life, perhaps in a cottage near a lake, where Robin's men were always welcome, always stopping by to play with their gaggle of kids and scheme the next robbery of some royal with Robin. It would've been lovely, the kind of life she always dreamt of when she was just a young girl galloping through the forest on her horse with her stable boy by her side.

"What shall we do today?" Robin asks, pulling her from her thoughts as he steps back from her. He leans against the door jamb of their en suite bathroom, watching her apply her makeup.

She smirks at him through the mirror, picking up her lipstick. "I thought we could take Roland to the park since it's finally warming up outside."

Robin nods, saying he's glad the snow has finally decided to melt and let the sun come out to play for a bit.

Rubbing her lips together, she spins on her heel, asking him how she looks. She's wearing black jeans tucked into knee high black boots. She's paired it with a burgundy shirt and a royal blue blazer on top of it. She runs her fingers through her short hair, not missing the extended length from the Enchanted Forest but wishing it could grow just a little bit, maybe down to her shoulders at least. That was one drawback to this curse, she'd come to realize - the years changed in the world around them, ticking slowly by, but their physical appearances never changed.

"Stunning," he replies, leaning in to kiss her cheek - he's long since learned not to mess up her freshly applied lipstick.

She smiles, something she has done more of in the last three years than she ever did as Queen, and takes his hand, leading him out of their bedroom and downstairs to Roland.

{**************************}

"Higher, Mama!" Roland giggles, gripping the chains on the swing. "Higher!"

Regina chuckles, shaking her head at the daring little boy. Always the little risk taker.

She loves Robin's son, has come to think of him as her child far quicker than she ever imagined she could. The first time he'd called her mama had sent her heart into overdrive.

Thanks to the curse, Robin believes his wife died in childbirth, so Roland never knew her. It was easy to take on a maternal role - it filled a space in her heart she never knew was empty. She'd been worried when Roland finally called her Mama one night almost a year ago, then asking permission if he could in his sweet, little voice. Robin had smiled happily at him, agreeing that Regina was the only mother his son had ever known.

Roland climbs onto the couch, snuggling beside them as one of those horrid Disney movies that depicts only certain people in the best of lights plays on the television. He reaches over, taking an apple slice from Regina's bowl and giggles, raising his eyebrows to ask for her permission.

She leans over, kissing the top of his curly, brown hair and assures him it's fine.

"We all know how much Regina loves her apples, don't we, Roland?" Robin laughs, eyeing the pair of them munching on the sweet fruit together. "Good thing you asked permission, otherwise she might've been tempted to poison the next one you eat."

He chuckles at his attempt at a joke, but all Regina can do is widen her eyes momentarily, a fake, nervous bit of laughter falling from her lips. They'd just watched the cartoon version of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs last week, and she'd scowled the entire time, silently brewing over the fact that people honestly thought she poisoned Snow because she was prettier than her. She knew she was more beautiful than her stepdaughter, anyway, no need to kill the girl over it. And besides, if she had hated Snow because of something so vain, she would've just cursed the girl's food to give her warts or some other bodily mutation instead.

Ever since the movie, however, Robin and Roland have been making apple jokes at her expense because she loves the fruit so much - if she isn't snacking on apples, she's baking apple turnovers, eating applesauce, or tending to her apple tree she'd brought over with her in the backyard. She'd had to tell herself to smile and laugh, not wanting Robin to realize there could actually be any amount of truth behind their jokes.

The little boy's eyes widen in surprise, his little head whipping in Robin's direction and defending her honor by telling his father that, "My Mama would never do that! She always shares with me!"

Regina and Robin's eyes both widen at his statement, chocolate brown and ocean blues meeting each other, gazes locked. Roland looks between them confusedly before a sheepish grin slides onto his face, his tny, twin dimples on full display. The little boy shrugs one shoulder, looking over to Robin. "Is it okay if I call Gina my Mama?" He goes on, saying she treats him just how all the mama's in the movies and books do, so he thought she would be a great one to have.

Her eyes water at that, never dreaming that one day a child might want to be hers. She'd done so much evil in the past, had everyone cursed for an unforeseeable amount of time, how could a child ever love her? Children were the purest souls on Earth, surely Roland knew deep down who she truly was, what she really was. Pure evil.

Robin slides his stare from Roland up to her, tilting his head as if to silently question if she's okay with it. A small, self conscious smile starts to grow on her face as she tucks a piece of hair behind her ear. She gives him an affirmative nod, then looks down at Roland, handing him another apple slice before pulling him into her lap. She winds her arms around his pudgy belly and presses kiss after kiss to his cheek, causing a fit of giggles to erupt from him. Robin is watching them with a genuine smile on his face as she replies with a sincere, "Of course you can."

"Not too high, baby," she coos, "I don't want you to fall out and get hurt."

The little boy giggles, his soft laughter floating into the air around them. It's a cool day, still requiring light jackets, but it's a far cry from the winter they'd had this year. She and Robin had been forced to find ways to entertain their boy inside on many occasions, and for a child (and father) who loves the outdoors, that was difficult.

"Papa!" Roland shouts, lifting one hand off the chain to wave at Robin. "Look how high I'm going!"

She hears Robin's chuckle from the blanket he's sprawled out on and his, Very good, Roland! echoes back to them.

Regina had done some research well into the beginning of their relationship. Trying to see if there was ever a version of Robin Hood and Maid Marian written to have a son. She was always curious as to why the curse kept Robin's name so similar when it changed other's so drastically, and wanted to know if Roland was his real name or not.

She knew who Robin was back in their land all due to a chance of fate one night in her vault. She'd been digging around a few months after starting a relationship with him, looking through different memorabilia that she'd brought with her in the curse. As she ran her fingertips over the velvet and sequin covered outfits of the Queen, she'd discovered a piece of parchment in the pocket of one of her riding jackets. Inside the pocket was a wanted poster that had been folded up and stashed inside. She'd laughed to herself when she opened it to find Robin's face plastered to the front of it with a monetary reward written under his picture and the word Thief branded above his name.

Regina had wanted to taunt him ruthlessly that night when she climbed into bed, wanting to do nothing more than tease him over the fact that he was an outlaw. But then she'd realized her thief had no knowledge of their life before the curse, and she was hit with a wave of sadness.

It was lonely, being the only one to remember, to know the truth. But she figured it was better this way - Robin would never want her in his or Roland's life if he knew the truth of who she was.

She laughs at Roland's excitement, and smiles even wider when she sees Robin closing the book he's been reading and making his way over to them.

"I figured I'd give your arms a break," he chuckles, bumping his hip to hers, playfully moving her over a few steps to take her place behind Roland.

Smiling, she sighs out gratefully through her nose and thanks him, claiming she was getting tired. She's been running out of energy a lot quicker these days and tells herself she needs to go to the doctor if it continues. The flu has been going around, so perhaps she's coming down with it, but she hopes not. "I love you, babe" she whispers, pressing a kiss to his shoulder before settling into the swing beside her son.

The little boy's squeals of laughter boisterously come from deep within his belly when Robin pushes him higher than Regina had been. She rolls her eyes, muttering a Don't blame me when he falls and hurts himself but can't help but to grin at her boys.

The three of them discuss what they want to do next, and Roland, like always, exclaims that he wants ice cream. Her stomach rumbles, and though she's never been one to indulge in the sweet treat very often, she finds herself agreeing. "That actually sounds really good."

Roland and Robin's heads both turn to look at her at a comical rate, and she can't help but chuckle under her breath. Giving them a shrug, she stands, telling them to finish up while she collects their belongings and then they'll go.

The tiniest Foreston boy whoops happily, hopping from the swing when Robin slows it's pace a touch. He runs over to her, wrapping his pudgy little arms around her waist, whispering a, "Thank you, Mama!" into her body.

She smiles, leaning down to press a kiss to his wild and curly mop of brown hair.

Looking up, she catches Robin's eye. He takes the other end of the blanket, helping her fold it before tucking it under his arm. "Are we all set then?" he asks, catching the attention of Roland who had run off to chase a duck nearby.

"Yeah!" he shouts, racing back to his parents.

As they load the car, Regina can't help but contemplate which flavor of ice cream she's going to get, and wonders why she's suddenly craving a strange mixture of mint chocolate chip and raspberry caramel.

Shrugging it off, she tosses their picnic basket beside the folded blanket and walks to the passenger side of the car. Once inside, she confirms that Roland is buckled in the back seat and looks over to Robin.

He catches her eye and reaches over, taking her hand in his larger one. He brings her hand up, placing a feather light kiss to her knuckles before taking a deep breath, breathing in her scent as he looks over at her with a smile on his face, telling her once again how much he loves her. She smiles back, opening her mouth to whisper her response when Roland interrupts with a, "Papa! Let's go!"

They pull their hands apart, Regina bringing hers back into her lap as Robin laughs, mumbling how he'll get back to their moment later tonight once their son is asleep. She sighs contentedly, laying her head against the headrest, tilting her head to allow the sunshine to warm her face through the window as Robin interlaces their fingers together and drives to Any Given Sundae, Roland chattering the whole way there about what flavors he wants to mix together today.

{**************************}

She'd been feeling extra tired lately and having strange cravings for foods she normally doesn't eat. With anyone else, she'd tell them they were probably pregnant, but Regina had cursed herself by taking a potion to ensure that could never happen years ago.

So when she went to the doctor this morning, fully expecting to have the flu or some other sickness, she was shocked beyond words when Congratulations! You're pregnant, Madam Mayor! slipped from the doctor's mouth, and she almost fainted.

"Is Roland asleep?" she asks when she spies Robin walking into their bedroom.

She's perched on their bed, her back against the headboard, contemplating the best way to tell Robin he's going to be a father again.

He hums in acknowledgment, "He was out before the movie even ended. I just carried him up to his bed."

She chuckles, shaking her head and apologizing for not helping with bedtime. "You were tired," he shrugs, taking off his shirt and tossing it into the hamper in the corner of the room. Her eyes roam down his chiseled chest, biting her lip to stop a tiny moan from escaping. She can only imagine how she'll feel about him when the pregnancy hormones really kick in; she already thinks he's the sexiest man that she's ever known.

Robin wriggles out of his jeans, folding them over once and laying them atop the plush, beige chaise in the corner. He reaches into the dresser, pulling out a pair of navy sweatpants and slips those on before climbing into bed. "Roland was too engrossed in the movie to notice you'd slipped upstairs, anyway," he laughs.

He shimmies closer, draping an arm over her stomach. Her heart flutters excitedly with the knowledge of what lies beneath his embrace.

She'd been confused this morning when the doctor delivered the news, asking her to repeat it several times. Regina refused to believe it, knowing that she'd cursed herself all those years ago. The doctor had pulled up the machine, inserting the doppler into her body and clicking the ultrasound machine on to prove to the mayor that her pregnancy was, in fact, real. Regina's eyes had watered seeing the small, empty sac. The doctor explained that because it was so early, around five or six weeks, they wouldn't be able to see much else.

After drying her tears, she'd gotten dressed and rushed to her vault, wanting to research how this was possible. After hours of sitting in the same position, scouring over book after book, she found the same conclusion in each one.

True Love's Kiss.

It was the only magic strong enough to break any curse. And that is exactly what her infertility was - a curse she'd placed upon her own body. She knew Robin was her soulmate, her other half, and not just because of that damn lion emblazoned on his forearm. No, even if he didn't have the tattoo, she'd know he was the man for her. Robin completed her, made her feel alive and happy again. She never thought after what happened to Daniel, after the villages she'd slaughtered and the lives she'd taken, that she would have someone to love her again. Never thought she could love again.

So true love's kiss had made it possible to get pregnant, and she left her vault with a giant smile on her face. She loves Roland, and having another baby - one that is half her and half Robin - would only add to the joy that surrounds their lives.

"So, how did the doctor's go this morning, my love?" he asks, bending his elbow and leaning his head onto the palm of his hand as he turns on his side to look at her.

Regina takes a deep breath, biting down on her bottom lip as she closes the book she'd been attempting to read. Laying it on the bedside table, she breathes out, looking over at Robin.

"Well," she says, brushing her hair behind her ear, "they did some tests."

Robin nods, brows pinching together slightly in concern. He asks again if everything is alright, and her silence must worry him because he sits up, pulling his legs into a criss cross position to get a better view of her. She matches his pose, landing her hands on his knee caps as they sit, facing one another in the middle of their large mattress. "Everything is fine, babe," she confirms, a smile blooming on her face. "I'm… pregnant."

There's a beat of silence before a smile forms on his face. His pearly white teeth bite his bottom lip, clearly trying to tamper his grin, but he can't. His dimples are popping, drawing her eyes down to them and she giggles happily over at him. A tearful laugh escapes his lips as he says incredulously, "Pregnant?" His head ducks down to look her more squarely in the eye, and all she can do is grin and nod.

"Five and a half weeks according to the doctor," she informs him. She swings her legs around, letting them drape over the side of the bed as she reaches into the top drawer of the night stand. She feels him crawl across the mattress to her side, letting his legs hang over as well so they're sitting side by side.

Her shoulder presses into his, and she loves this, loves the closeness they so naturally share. Regina hands him the ultrasound picture and points to the black space. "That's our baby."

Tears form in the base of her eyes as she notices a tear run down his cheek. Reaching up, she wipes away his tear as he looks over at her. "I'm so happy, Regina," he vows, leaning in to capture her lips in a deep, passionate kiss. "I love you so much."

She affirms her feelings, promising she loves him just as much, and they spend the rest of the night wrapped around each other's sweat slicked bodies, hot and sweet kisses passing between them, placed to every inch they can reach, showing the other just how true and deep their love is.

{**************************}

A few weeks later, Regina comes home late one night from work. It'd been a busy day at the office, and she'd called Robin earlier to let him know so he could make sure to leave the store on time to pick up Roland from school.

There'd been budget report meetings and a town council meeting where the insufferable townsfolk came with all sorts of complaints that she just didn't have time to listen to. She loves being mayor, she's a great leader, she knows she is, but sometimes she wishes she'd left some of these people behind in the Enchanted Forest.

"Long day?" Robin inquires, looking up from his book. He slides the glasses off his face, letting them fall to his belly with the book.

She huffs, mumbling a You have no idea and I'm going to take a shower before disappearing into the bathroom.

Once she's clean and relaxed from the warm spray of the shower, she changes into her black yoga pants and red tank top that she sleeps in and climbs into bed. He's still awake, still reading the same book and scribbling something down on a piece of paper.

"What are you doing?" she asks sleepily, turning on her side to look at him as her arm curls and she cradles her head into the crook of her elbow, sinking into the pillow beneath.

He grins mischievously, tilting the book in her direction. The Complete Book of Baby Names.

God, he's so fucking adorable. Her heart swells with love for this man, and she smiles lovingly up at him as her eyes brim with tears. She'd found over the last few weeks that she is more emotional, so she can only imagine how much worse it'll be the further along she gets. It's not a sensation she's used to feeling. Her tears in the other realm were mainly from heartbreak or frustration, never from feeling so overwhelmed with love that she didn't know what to do with herself. "Robin…" she breathes, sitting up in the bed.

She reaches out and he hands her the book, letting her thumb through some of the pages. "It's still so early," she giggles, a sound she's still not used to hearing even after three years with this man. He's the only one that can make her giggle like the girl she once was, and she loves him for it. "We have plenty of time to pick names."

"I know," he sighs contentedly. "I'm just so excited!" He leans over, kissing her languidly for a few moments, his lips dotting kisses to the apples of her cheeks and to the tip of her nose. Her hand cups his jaw, scratching lightly at his scruffed skin. She pulls herself closer to him, cuddling into his side when they break apart.

She hands him the book back, letting her head rest on his firm chest. She can hear his heartbeat underneath her ear and she lets it soothe her. The sound of beating hearts once gave her a rush of adrenaline, knowing she was capable of taking said organ from someone's body - being in complete control of someone else - but hearing it beneath his skin, knowing he's alive and willingly choosing to love her, gives her a sense of peace she's never had before.

"What have you found so far?" she asks, reaching up to rub her still flat belly. She's only nine weeks along now, and her pregnancy books tell her the baby is the size of a cherry. Smiling to herself, she lets her mind wander, imagining what her body will look like when her stomach has expanded, making room for this life they've created.

She's had a few symptoms - morning sickness has hit her several times, and not just in the morning, making her silently curse whoever named it that. She's had headaches and been moodier than normal, but luckily Robin has taken it all in stride (he's used to her short temper and witty remarks at this point anyway). They'd told Roland about the baby a few days prior, which helped explain why Mama was throwing up after dinner some nights, and he'd been just as excited as they were. He'd asked for a baby brother so they could color together and play superheroes in the backyard, and they'd had to explain that it wasn't up to them if it was a boy or girl, but no matter what, he could play superheroes with the baby when it got a little older.

"Hmm," Robin murmurs, slipping his glasses back onto his face and flipping through his little notepad he's been writing on. "The ones that stood out thus far are Thomas, Nicholas, Nick for short, of course," he informs, looking at her over the top of his glasses. She grins, humming and asking what else. "Then there's Matthew, Liam, Daniel,"

"No," she says quickly, cutting him off with a shake of her head. "Not Daniel." Her eyes sting with tears that she refuses to let drop. She'd told Robin about Daniel long ago (she explained it as her first love who died in a car accident, couldn't quite think of another way to explain the heart crushing truth to him), and she knows he thinks it might be a sweet gesture, but she couldn't stand the pain of hearing his name every day come from their mouths.

He sighs sympathetically, whispering an Alright, my love before listing off a few more names. She settles back into his side and listens. "Lucas, John, Tucker…"

"Hey," she scoffs, pressing on his chest to help her sit up. "These all sure do sound like boy names to me." She smiles down at him, narrowing her eyes in mock anger.

Robin laughs, shaking his head. "I was getting to the girl names next!" He holds up his notepad for inspection, shifting his weight in the bed and chuckling as she grabs it from his hands.

"Sure, sure," she taunts, smirking at him. "Let me see." Her eyes scan the page, roaming over the long list he's created.

Emma. "Mm, no," she scoffs, scrunching her nose in disgust. "I don't like that one at all."

She goes on, reading the others from his list.

Olivia, Victoria, Rachel, Sophie, Madison….

"These are nice," she hums, eyes examining the page again. "I don't really love any of them, though."

Robin nods, saying he agrees. He's been searching through the whole book trying to find some that seemed to fit them but wasn't having much luck.

"What do you think the baby will look like?" Robin asks wistfully, laying the book on his chest again and looking over to her with bright eyes.

She warmly smiles, head tilting to the side as she gazes down upon him before setting the little notepad down on her nightstand and snuggling into his side. She hums, then adds, "I imagine a baby boy with dirty blonde hair like yours, maybe brown eyes like me?"

His chest rumbles with his approval before he tells her, "I think a little girl with long, raven hair like her mum, and blue eyes like mine. Although if she had brown eyes, she'd be just as gorgeous," he runs his fingers through her hair, twiddling with the end of a piece before adding, "Just like you."

Regina giggles breathily, closing her eyes and imagining a little girl. The thought of a girl scares her, she's so used to Roland now and the energy of a boy, and thoughts of her mother swirl through her mind. How could she raise a little girl and not turn into Cora? It would be the default to want her daughter to be the best she could be. She fears she'd put too much pressure on a little girl, but, she self corrects, maybe she would do everything opposite from Cora. Maybe she could love a little girl like how she always wanted to be loved by her own mother. It could be fun, an exciting challenge to have a girl in the house.

"I think either one sounds amazing," she sighs, "as long as they have your dimples." She smirks, opening her eyes and leaning up to press a kiss to his warm cheek. "I can't wait to see what it'll look like… and to find out what we're having so we can stop calling it the baby or it all the time," she laughs.

Robin chuckles, nodding his head, saying it'll be fun in a few weeks to finally find out the gender. "Then we can really start planning the nursery and everything." She smiles at his excitement, glad he's just an into all of this as she is. "Now," he says, "back to something we can control." She looks up at him, righting herself to sit up in the bed as he looks at her pointedly, saying, "the name."

Rolling her eyes with a wide grin on her face, she moves, reaching over to take the book from his hands and straddling his waist to place it on his nightstand. She slowly removes his glasses from his face, setting them on top of the book before leaning down, pressing her lips to his sensually as she rocks her hips on his middle. She sucks his bottom lip into hers, drawing out a moan from the back of Robin's throat.

Grinning into their kiss, she pulls back slightly, just enough to speak as she tells him, "Like I said," she pecks his lips again, sulturaly murmuring, "We have plenty of time to pick a name," another peck, this time to his jawline, and, "Let's focus on something else right now," she purrs, roaming her hand down his chest as he leans up, growling lowly as he sucks on her collarbone before trailing his mouth down and capturing her cotton covered nipple in his mouth.

He rolls them over, her legs still wrapped around his waist, and he looks down at her lovingly. "We could always let Roland pick the name."

Laughter escapes her, and she shakes her head, saying, "The baby would be named Spider Man or Catwoman for the rest of our lives if we did that!"

Chuckling, Robin leans in, mumbling into her lips that she's right and that they can keep looking for names tomorrow. Peppering kisses to her earlobe, down to her jaw, then back up to her lips, he vows, "I love you, Regina," before leaning down to nudge his nose to hers, then kisses her soundly once more.

When he lifts up, shifting his torso above hers, she tells him, "I love you too, Ro-" a yawn escaping her mouth, and she brings a hand up to cover her parted lips.

Robin rolls of of her, breathy laughter escaping him as he looks over at the clock on the nightstand, noting that it's almost one in the morning. "We can pick up where we left off tomorrow, my love," he tells her. "Let's get some sleep."

Mmm, she agrees, curling into his side and whispering a Goodnight, Robin into the space between them before falling asleep, baby names bouncing around in her dreams for the rest of the night.

{**************************}

It's a week later when Regina feels a pain in her abdomen. She's sitting at her desk when she notices a cramping sensation within her body. Reaching up, she places her palm on her stomach, willing the pain to go away. It's too reminiscent of all the times her stomach had hurt after being impregnated by the King, and she refuses to believe this is the same source of pain.

Regina feels the sharp pain again a few moments later and decides to call it a day. She gathers her belongings and hurries to her car. Once home, she rushes upstairs, dropping her briefcase and jacket onto the bed as she runs into the bathroom. On the drive home, she'd felt a slight, unexplained wetness between her legs and was instantly concerned. She'd thought about calling Robin but decided against it, not wanting to worry him unnecessarily if it turned out to be nothing.

Looking down once she's sitting on the toilet, she notices the redness in her underwear. Closing her eyes in panic, she quells the tears forming and tells herself to take deep, calming breaths. Women spot all the time during pregnancy, she'd even read about it in one of the baby books Robin bought for them.

Standing up, she reaches beneath her to wipe. When she pulls the toilet paper away, there's more blood. Darting her eyes into the toilet, she sees not only urine, but blood, more than what "pregnancy spotting" would produce. Reaching over to the cabinet, she places a pad in her underwear and rushes from the bathroom, picking up her Blackberry that had fallen out of her purse and onto the bed.

She clicks down to Robin's name in a frenzy, shaking her head and murmuring No, no, no, no, no over and over again until he answers. His cheery greeting of Hello, gorgeous, goes unnoticed as she starts crying into the phone, yelling that there's blood, she's bleeding, something's wrong.

Robin tries to seem collected, telling her to calm down and take a deep breath, but she can hear the fear in his voice as well, the tremor to his voice. He tells her he's on his way. He is leaving the shop in his employee, John's, hands and is coming to get her. "I don't want you driving to the hospital while you're so upset. I'll be there soon, darling."

She nods, frantically moving around the house trying to keep herself busy until Robin can get home. It is still early, Roland has a few more hours in school before she needs to go get him, and in this moment she wishes more than anything her little boy was home to distract her from the pain inside her body.

The front door swings open, Robin bursting through in a rush. She's in the living room, straightening up the magazines on the coffee table for the fourth time since she'd called him. Looking over, she can see the panic in his blue eyes. "Are you ready?" he asks timidly, taking a deep, heavy breath. He runs his fingers through his dirty blonde hair, and she nods silently, walking over to him.

Robin wraps his arm around her shoulder, guiding her out of the room and toward the front door. He presses a kiss to the top of her hair, muttering his assurances (that she's positive he doesn't actually believe) that, "It'll be okay, Regina," as he locks the front door, leading them toward his hunter green truck in a hurry.

She nods, twisting a piece of hair around her finger and giving him an unsure smile. They buckle into the car, Robin reversing out of the driveway before she's even finished snapping her seatbelt in place. She takes his hand, recounting the pain she'd felt earlier the whole ride over to the hospital.

Once there, Robin's hand tightly intertwines with hers, and she hears I'm sorry, Madam Mayor. They are the only words that register in her brain, the only ones she hears over and over again, reverberating through the crevices of her mind like an echo in a deep cave.

I'm sorry. Miscarriage. The baby is gone.

It's like a bad dream. She doesn't cry - not in front of the doctors or nurses. No, she just stares blankly at the wall in front of her while Robin speaks with the medical professionals, getting the details they can give and soaking up any advice they are spewing.

She doesn't hear any of it.

The baby is gone. Their baby is dead. Miscarriage.

She deserves this, she thinks, this pain that is surrounding her. This is her punishment for casting Rumple's dark curse. For falling prey to her mother's demands. For choosing revenge over forgiveness. For choosing darkness, evil. For… all of it. For every choice she's made since Daniel's death. For believing she could actually be happy.

This is her fault. She was stupid enough to believe that a baby could grow inside of her while her curse was in place, while everyone's physical forms were frozen in time. She doesn't understand it; the baby had been growing though, somehow, but she squashes the spark of hope that flickers in her heart, reminding herself that she killed their baby. Her body would continue to reject changes all thanks to her fucking dark curse, her need for revenge against Snow White so strong that it's even backfiring on her now, sucking the happiness away from her once again. She just can't win. Everything she touches eventually turns to ash.

The only thing she ever got right was allowing this town's sporting good supplier into her life. For letting his son crawl his way into her heart. And now they're going to leave her, too. She just knows it. She wouldn't blame them if they did. Robin deserves happiness, a happiness she clearly cannot provide him.

The idea of Robin taking Roland and moving back into their cabin in the woods breaks her heart. If there's even a heart left to break. She wishes more than ever for magic, just a little bit, just enough to reach inside her chest and remove her bruised and battered black heart. Maybe then she wouldn't feel like she is slowly dying with each labored step she takes toward her bedroom.

Robin is right behind her, just as silent as he'd been on the car ride home. She hasn't spoken, has barely blinked her eyes. Still no tears. She's in shock, she thinks, unwilling to believe her baby is gone.

As soon as they step into the bedroom, she notices the bathroom light is still on from earlier, and though it seems insignificant, it's the reminder she needs of what happened in that room earlier. Of how her baby was lost to her in that bathroom.

She sinks to her knees, falling to her hands right outside the bathroom door, her wails of sorrow echoing off walls of their bedroom. She sobs, louder than she's ever sobbed before. More than when Daniel's heart was crushed in front of her, or she was forced into the King's bed at night, or when she crushed her father's heart for her own, selfish attempt at a happy ending. Which she now realizes was all for naught. There was no point to Daddy's death, there is no happiness left in this life for her.

"Shh," Robin tries to calm, throwing himself on the ground beside her and winding his arms around her crumpled body. He rocks her in his embrace, side to side, and she has the fleeting thought that they'll never get to rock their baby like this. "It'll be okay, my love. We will get through this together."

She hears him, but his words don't register. She twists, burying her face into his shoulder as she gathers fistfuls of his shirt in her hands, crying and crying for the life that is now lost to them. Regina thinks she feels tear drops falling onto her shoulder, but she doesn't have the strength to look up and meet his sad, blue eyes. She's afraid of what she'll see there, anyway. Afraid to see that she's crushed his heart in the only way possible in this land without magic.

She did this to him. To them. It's all her fault. He'll never forgive her, nor should he.

"Regina," he whispers after their cries have subsided some. "I've got to go pick up Roland from school. Are you going to be okay here?"

She silently nods, murmuring something about taking a bath and getting into bed. She feels him stand, hears his footsteps on the stairs, hears the front door close, and finally, finally she gathers the strength to walk into the bathroom.

Regina slinks into the tub, letting the heat surround her. Lucas, I like Lucas, she'd just told him two nights ago. Or Sophie if it's a girl, maybe, I'm still not sold on that one. Now there's no need to think of baby names, or what it'll look like, nursery colors, or what diapers to buy. That's gone. It's all gone.

The tears stream down her face, no sound leaving her except the snotty sniffles that fill the silent bathroom. Mustering up the strength, she gets out of the tub, changing into sweatpants and one of Robin's t-shirts before turning off the lights and climbing into bed. It's only three in the afternoon, but she doesn't care. Her baby is dead and it's all her fault. Her past wickedness did this to her, to Robin, to Roland. True Love's Kiss may have broken her infertility curse, but she had been stupid enough to forget that no amount of love could break the curse of constant evil that surrounds her life.

The exhaustion of the day finally hits her, and she closes her eyes, her nose inhaling the pine scent wafting from Robin's shirt. She can hear Roland talking to Robin as they enter the house, but she can't find the strength in her tired body to go downstairs and see her family. Not now. Maybe tomorrow.

{**************************}

It's been four days. Four horrible, restless days since she got the news that her baby was gone.

She hasn't left her bed except the use the bathroom, and Robin has tried to be comforting. He brought her daisies the first morning, and he's sat with her for hours on end each day, trying to make conversation, to get her to talk. He has stayed home from work, taking care of things around the house while she stays in bed, thinking over what happened, trying to pinpoint what she'd done wrong. He's taken Roland to school and packed his lunches and tucked him in at night - all of which he tells her about every night when he climbs into their bed.

"And Roland said his friend, Michael, had a slumber party. His cousin, or… someone," he goes on, "I'm not entirely sure, spent the night. Had a grand time, according to Ro."

She hears him, really she does, but she can't find the strength to even nod in acknowledgment. Her eyes are glossed over, barely blinking as she stares blankly just beyond his head.

He sits on the edge of the bed, taking her hand in his. Robin brings it to his mouth, kissing her wrist lightly. He sighs, whispering, "I know you're hurting, love, so am I," before running a hand through her hair.

Regina fights the urge to roll her eyes. She blinks slowly, rolling onto her other side and spending the next half hour staring at the wall ahead of her while Robin continues to rub her back soothingly. He lays down, draping an arm around her waist, cuddling her from behind. She takes a deep breath, closing her eyes, appreciating the warmth of his body no matter how irked she feels at his constant need to talk, to be there. She feels his breathing slowing down, can feel slight shudders to his inhales, and she feels the wetness against her pajama top where his silent tears fall.

She opens her eyes, staring ahead of her, trying to muster up the courage to roll over and face him. To reach out and comfort him like he's been trying so hard to do for her. But she can't. So she closes her eyes once more, letting her own set of hushed tears fall from her eyes as she drifts off to sleep once more.

He's trying. He really is. But she finds herself just feeling annoyed with him. With everything.

He stays on his side of the bed at night, her curling up into herself and laying on the very edge of the left - as far away as possible without kicking him out completely.

He's brought her all of her meals - morning, noon and night - always sitting with her while she eats, making sure she eats. She doesn't say anything, just grunts or nods in reply when necessary.

She's pushing him away, she knows she is. She can hear his discouraged sighs at night when she won't kiss him goodnight. She hears him whisper how much he loves her when he thinks she's finally fallen asleep, and she yearns to reply back to him - her soul screaming at her that she loves him too - but her voice betrays her, keeping her silent.

She pretends to be sleeping, unsure if she can handle hearing about another adorable something Roland said today, or how he'd let their son help cook dinner - a chore she knows the dimpled face little boy loves to do.

"I love you, Regina," he whispers into the quiet stillness of their room. She feels him shift, feels his body roll away from her and onto the right side of the bed.

Regina hears his hand thrumming over something, hears pages flip and a wet, humorless scoff fall from Robin's lips. She cracks one eye open, just enough to see what's in his hands. The Complete Book of Baby Names.

Her heart breaks all over again, and she squeezes her eyes shut once more before he can catch her looking at him. Robin sighs sadly, she can hear him sniffling, trying his hardest to be quiet. The book thumps closed and he tosses it into the drawer of his nightstand, muttering something under his breath that she can't quite make out.

He sniffles once more before turning off the little lamp on his side table and shuffling deeper into the covers, his sniffles and ragged breathing acting as a sick lullaby to both their ears.

She worries her bottom lip, fingers twitching to reach over and rub that spot between his shoulder blades that he finds so comforting, but she can't do it. She's too exhausted - physically and mentally. She doesn't think her limbs could move if they wanted.

After a while, his soft snores fill the quietness, and she sighs, turning her head to look at his back that is facing her. The moonlight from the window illuminates his form just enough for her to make out the silhouette of his body. She can see his chest rising and falling, and as a tear rolls down her cheek, she whispers an almost inaudible. "I love you, too."

She knows he's losing patience with her, not that she can blame him. She's shut him out, building up the walls so tall around her that not even the most skilled thief in all the lands could break in. He loves her still, somehow, promises her that every night before bed even as his frustration grows.

He's talking to her about John. He'd called today to let Robin know that they'd finally sold that large canoe they've been trying to sell for years. She rolls her eyes, not caring one bit about a stupid canoe.

She turns over, away from him once again, a position she's found they sleep in much more nowadays. They used to sleep curled together or facing one another, but lately it's become one of their backs toward the other.

Robin sighs irritatedly. She can hear his palm scratch over his stubble before his hand drops to the mattress between them. "I'm just as hurt as you, you know?" he mumbles before standing and walking toward the door of their bedroom, murmuring that he'll bring her dinner once it finishes cooking.

She watches him go, dead eyes watching his every move. His eyes lock onto hers, seeming to be pleading her to talk to him, to open up, but she can't. She just purses her lips, one eyebrow cocking up toward her hairline.

Shaking his head, Robin huffs once more before finally exiting the room, the door slamming just a bit harder than it normally does.

The tears fall then, streaming down her cheeks in silent protest to what she's doing. She doesn't want to continue pushing him away, but she can't help it. This is how she deals with loss, with heartbreak, with… everything.

"Mama, color this one," Roland tells her, pulling her from her thoughts as he pats a coloring book page of Spider Man and a giant web. He's been the only source of light in her life the past few days.

She hasn't smiled, not since before that familiar pain in her abdomen changed her whole life. But she still listens to Roland each morning when he climbs into bed with her and each afternoon when he does the same thing after school. Today is Saturday, which means Roland has decided to spend the entire day in bed with her. Bless this little boy and his tender heart.

Regina assumes Robin had been forced to tell their son what happened - had to explain why Mama wasn't leaving her room, or cooking them dinner, or doing anything Mama usually does - because yesterday he'd laid his little head on her chest, stroked her stomach and whispered, "We can make another baby in there soon, Mama," and told her that his heaven Mama could watch over their heaven baby for them, to which she'd effectively started crying and Roland didn't know what to do. He'd curled into her side, letting her cry, despite her attempts to tamp down the tears.

"Okay, baby," she says quietly, her voice a little hoarse. She's barely spoken the last three days. Hasn't said a word to Robin, and has only been left with her thoughts during the day while Roland was at school.

She picks up the coloring book, reaching over to grab a crayon from the tin lunchbox full of the colorful wax that Roland has placed in between them.

They spend a few moments in silence, her little boy fully concentrated on his task. After a while, he starts rambling on about what he wants to do now that it's the weekend. He asks Robin, who is sitting in the chaise flipping through a book, if they can go to the library and see if they have anymore books about Spider Man and Batman. Her mind races, thinking of the dragon that slumbers beneath the very place her boy wants to go, smiling inwardly at the thought of her only friend she ever had before Robin came along. Sure, it was wrong to trap her in dragon form beneath the clock tower, but she wanted everyone but her to be miserable, and if there was one thing she knew about Mal, it was that she despised being forced into her reptilian form.

Robin chuckles, a sound that both stabs at her heart and makes it swell. They haven't laughed since losing the baby, have barely spoken. "We'll see, my boy," he tells Roland, a hint of sadness to his voice.

She doesn't look up, refusing to meet his eyes. She's struggled to look at him since the miscarriage, hardly made any eye contact at all. Finds it's too hard. She's angry. Angry at the world for cursing her with such bad luck, but also angry with him for being able to carry on with life. For being able to just pick himself up by the bootstraps and go on as if nothing has happened.

Regina rolls her eyes to herself, focusing on the coloring page Roland had given her. She sighs out, leaning back against her propped up pillows and placing the crayon in the tin.

Roland takes notice, climbing over to her side of the bed and plopping himself down right next to her. She wraps an arm around his waist, moving the bucket of crayons over to Robin's side so his little feet don't accidentally kick it over.

He's babbling on, hardly taking a breath, about school yesterday and how they learned the letter "S" and, "Did you know it makes the sound ssss like in snake! Or slide or spider… like Spider Man!" he gasps happily, holding up his picture of the superhero. "Or… mmmm…" he taps his chin in thought, "Oh! Snickers. I looove Snickers!"

He dramatically rubs his belly and licks his little lips as if he's just eaten said Snickers, an overdone Mmmmm falling from his lips, and she can't help the little giggle that escapes her mouth. Her eyes widen in shock, and her head lifts to meet Robin's eyes from across the room. He's watching her, a small, understanding smile on his face.

It's the first time she's laughed since losing the baby, and when her brown eyes meet his crystal blue ones for the first time in four days, she realizes that despite his small smile, there's a sadness in his eyes as well, a weariness in his bones that shows itself in the pronounced bags under his eyes. A blankness to them that she thought only resided in hers. It's nice, sadly, to know that he looks just as miserable as she feels. It's a connection they share, the only two people to lose this baby, and she wishes they never had to feel it, but they do.

They hold each other's gazes while Roland, oblivious to everything around him, continues to chatter on about school and his friends and what they ate for lunch yesterday. Her eyes are sad, constantly wet with tears, but she stares at him, an unspoken conversation passing between them. Regina gives him one, short nod of acceptance. That's it. Enough is enough. She can't stay in this room and let life pass her by, can't let Roland go on living his life without her in it. It's time to get up and start living life again.

She knows she's been selfish the past few days, and anyone other than Robin probably would've called her out on it. But not him, never him. This sweet, loving man that has chosen to spend his time and love and energy on her of all people.

Mustering up all the strength she has, she parts her lips in the faintest of smiles, and she's rewarded greatly when he returns the gesture.

{**************************}

That night, after she puts Roland to bed - which took longer than normal because the boy was so excited that Mama was out of bed and doing bedtime with him again - she walks downstairs into the living room.

Robin is sitting on the couch, glass of whiskey in his hand, as he stares at the blank television.

"Hey," she says gently, coming to sit beside him on the couch. It's the closest she's been to him since she cried into his shoulder that day, and she realizes how much she's missed the feel of his skin. Their shoulders touch and he lifts his arm, summoning her to curl into his side.

As she does, his arm drapes over her shoulder and he places a chaste kiss to the top of her head. "Hey, yourself."

Regina takes the glass from his hand, takes a swig of her own before setting it on the coffee table in front of them. "We need to talk."

He looks down at her, furrowing his brow in question. She sits up, separating their bodies enough to be able to look him in the eye. "I'm… um, I'm sorry," she finally admits, locking her wet eyes with his. It's a hard pill to swallow; she never had to apologize for anything as the Queen, always demanding her way of doing things was the right way and no one could tell her differently. But not with this, not with him. She owes him more than to be treated like any other peasant in her kingdom.

Robin shakes his head, promising she has nothing to be sorry for.

"Yes, I do, Robin," she tells him earnestly, shaking her head. "I shut you out, and that's not okay."

He takes a deep breath, reaching for the glass of whiskey again. She watches him silently, knows he's gathering his words in his mind. He's always been like this, always so careful with what he says. Never flies off the handle like she does, and it's one of the things that makes them work, she thinks.

Swallowing methodically, letting the amber liquid slowly descend down his throat, he inhales and exhales slowly before placing the glass back on the table.

He turns his head to look at her, the silence weighted between them. "You did, Regina," he tells her seriously, looking back to the coffee table. "But you were hurting, so was I," he shrugs, adding, "and you were dealing with it in a different way."

It hits her then, just how self-centered she's been lately. She wasn't the only one to lose a baby, they both did, but she wasn't there for him. She didn't let him grieve. The tears cloud her vision once more, and she blinks, rapidly trying to push them away. "I should've been there for you, babe," she vows, scooting closer to his body. Her knee is bent, pressing into the side of his thigh now, her body fully turned to look at him.

He's staring at the coffee table, but shifts his head to glance at her. Seeing the look in his eye, the pain and the misery floating beneath his ocean blue depths, she reaches up, encircling her hand around the base of his neck and burying her fingers in his hair.

Robin's eyes close, and he sighs at the contact, leaning into her embrace. His head falls to her shoulder and she moves the hand in his hair further over the grip his opposite shoulder, pulling him closer into her arms.

They sit there, cuddled into one another as they both silently cry for a few moments over the loss of their child, finally grieving how they should have all along. Together.

Sniffling, Robin sits up, wiping at his eyes. She bites her lip, linking their hands together and bringing them into her lap. "How are you feeling?" she asks bravely, knowing she's not the only one who needs to talk about what happened.

Sighing out once again, Robin takes a deep breath and looks up at her. "Sad. Confused. Hurting. I was," he hesitates, glancing at her before his eyes flicker back down to their hands, "angry. With you. Not for what happened, of course not," he reassures, locking his gaze onto hers sincerely. "But for how you handled it, for how you pushed me away when all I wanted was to help. I just needed someone to talk to, you know?"

She breathes in deeply, taking the stab she feels at his confession, but letting him continue, knowing he needs to let this out. "But then I was consumed with guilt," he admits, shoulders sagging. "Guilty because I know you were hurting just as I was, but dealing with it differently." He tells her he knows that she's bottles her emotions up, a trait far different from him, but he just wishes that despite that personality trait, she still would have let him in.

She nods, squeezing his hand and apologizing once more, saying she should have let him in but she didn't know how. "I've never been good at opening myself up to people."

Robin nods back at her, taking another deep, calming breath, saying he understands. He apologizes profusely for the anger she didn't even know he had felt before, then asks, "What about you? How are you feeling?"

The corner of her mouth tips up in an empathetic smile, and she nods, telling him she felt the same emotions he'd mentioned a moment ago. "I've spent the last four days up in that bed crying myself to sleep wondering how this could've happened," she admits.

She can see the tears forming in the corners of his eyes when he says, "I've spent the last four days crying while watching you sleep, knowing that there's nothing I could do to fix this for you, for us." He tells her that despite her pushing him away, all he wanted to do was make everything better. He wanted to fix it somehow but knew there was nothing he could do.

Her shoulders sag, listening as he goes on. He tells her how their baby is all he's been able to think about. He's taken Roland to school, and cooked meals for all of them, but when he wasn't doing something to keep himself busy, his mind was wandering back to that fateful day and pondering if there was anything he could've done differently. "Maybe if I'd just driven faster, if I'd gotten you to the hospital just a few minutes earlier then—"

"No, Robin," she asserts, squeezing his hand once more. "Don't do that. There was nothing you could've done." She shakes her head vehemently, "This wasn't your fault."

He looks over at her then, twisting his body to face her directly. He tucks his chin closer to his chest, looking at her pointedly when he confirms, "And there was nothing you could've done either, Regina. This wasn't your fault." He shakes his head, eyebrows pinching together in realization, "You know that, right?"

The tears fall then from her eyes, and she squeezes them shut, willing them away. She shakes her head slowly, breathing through her nose as Robin pulls her closer to him, encasing her in a hug. "It's like no matter how many times I tell myself that, I just can't believe it."

He sighs, affirming once more it was no one's fault. He strokes his hand through her dark hair, tucking a piece behind her ear, then cupping her cheek in his palm. "There was nothing anyone could have done to stop this."

She nods as his hand drops, resting on her thigh. She sniffles back her tears as she thinks of all the times she'd lost babies while being at the King's mercy. Being forced into his bed all for the sake of an heir, but never able to produce one. She doesn't know if it was stress, or lack of medicine in the Enchanted Forest, or if her body just rejected all pregnancies for some reason, but whatever it was, she always blamed herself, and so had Leopold.

Regina has never told Robin about her marriage, never wanting to relive those memories or come up with more lies to cover up the fact that he was in love with a mass murderer. So she isn't sure how to explain to him now that this isn't the first miscarriage she's had. She should've seen it coming, nothing good ever comes to evil people like her.

Taking a deep breath, she decides to be honest with him, as honest as possible anyway. "I've lost babies before," she concedes quietly.

The living room is silent, save for the whirring of the air conditioner as it cools the mansion down. His breath catches and he asks her when.

This is the moment of truth, she decides. "I was married… before," she tells him shakily and his eyes widen, taking her hand in his.

"When?"

She knows because of the curse that he has no memories of her ever being married, all he remembers is his life with Roland and how everyone has lived in Storybrooke for as long as he can remember.

So she goes with a lie, hoping the curse will twist and mold to fit her tale, filling in the blank spaces. "Before you moved here," she tells him, settling into the cushions of the couch, her leg that's been bent moving to dangle between his thighs.

She can see his mind whirling, can tell the curse is working it's magic and rewriting what he thinks are his memories. "I was very young," she goes on, looking over at him, toying with the cotton hem of his shirt sleeve, "and he was far too old to marry someone my age."

Regina tells him how her mother had married her off to a business partner, as part of a deal Cora and Leopold had made together. It wasn't too far off from the truth, she just left the royalty aspect out of it. She recounts how awful her husband had been, how she never wanted to warm his bed but he'd demand she perform her wifely duties night after night, taking advantage of her all for the sake of trying to get her pregnant. His way of proving to himself and his friends that he was still young and full of vitality.

She tries to be strong while telling her story, forces the tears to stay tucked inside her eyes, but a few traitorous ones slip free. Regina admits how she'd gotten pregnant a few times, but none of them ever made it as long as their baby had. "That's why I thought we were in the clear," she admits quietly. "I'm so sorry, Robin." Those tears she's done so well to keep hidden finally all fall, and Robin pulls her into his lap, wrapping her in his arms and swaying them side to side to soothe her fears. He rubs her back, up and down, as she tucks her head into the crook of his neck.

He promises her in hushed tones that none of this is her fault. The marriage wasn't her fault, the miscarriages, none of it. "Sometimes these things happen," he tells her, and she nods her head, knowing that's the truth deep down, but still struggling to believe it in her heart.

Taking a deep breath, she leans her head back, catching his eyes. God, she loves his eyes. He always tells her how her's are the window into her soul, but she thinks his are the same way. She just knows she was born to gaze into these eyes forever. She can't imagine life without this man by her side.

She leans forward, picking up the glass of whiskey and taking another hearty sip before handing it to him. He finishes it off, and she places the glass back on the table before slipping from his lap and curling into his side as they settle back into the couch together.

After a few moments of silence, Robin finally speaks, a lump evident in his voice. "I'm devastated that this happened, even though it's no one's fault." She can feel his head shake against the top of hers, can practically hear the anger in his voice when he tells her, "I just wish there was someone to blame."

Sitting up, she looks into his eyes and nods, whispering a Me too into the space between their bodies. "This little life was so short," she sighs dejectedly as she rubs her stomach, but Robin cuts in with a heartfelt, "Doesn't make it any less epic."

She smiles sadly at him, her shoulders sagging, "I'm sorry I shut you out the past few days," she tells him again. "I know you say it's okay, but it's not." She goes on, telling him how they're in this together, how they're a team, and she never should've handled it as if she was in this by herself.

"You're not my ex-husband, nothing like him in fact. You're my partner in all things, babe," she says, leaning her forehead against his before leaning in to press her lips to his lovingly, the first kiss they've shared in days, and it sends a bout of energy through her, their soulmate connection felt even without magic in this realm. He tilts his head, inviting her to deepen the kiss if she desires, and she does, sliding her lips against his, inhaling deeply at the feel of him beneath her once again. She runs her palm over his jaw, pulling him closer for a few moments, soaking up the feel of his skin against hers. Pulling back a bit breathlessly, she amends, "And I know you were there for me, even when I was pushing you away with all my might."

He nods solemnly, saying, "We are a team, my love. I want to help you in any way possible." He tells her how he handles trauma and heartbreak by needing to talk about it, and it hits her that this is the first major upset they've really ever experienced. Guilt washes over her anew as she realizes, once more, that she pushed him away when he was hurting just the same as she was. He needed her, wanted her to help him through this and she wasn't. She will be though, she vows to herself. Starting now, she will be open and willing to listen so that they can grieve and process things together.

She smiles, the act feeling foreign after so many days of not, and she nods, saying she knows and that she promises to let him in the next time she's hurting. "And, Robin," she says seriously, tearfully, "I'm with you, always." She sniffles, reaching up to wipe a tear from her cheek.

He shushes her, shaking his head and pulling her close again. He promises that there's nothing to forgive, they were both grieving in opposite ways, dealing with their anger and heartbreak individually, but, "Like you said, you're with me. And I'm with you, forever." He promises to always be there for her, and she returns that promise whole heartedly. Bumping their noses together, he trails his up the length of hers before stopping and pressing his lips to her forehead.

"I love you, Regina," he whispers as sleep begins to claim both of them, wrapped up together on the couch.

"I love you too, Robin," she replies back. "We'll be okay, right?"

He nods, giving her a sad smile. "Of course," he vows, leaning in to press a tender kiss to her lips.

She leans over, pressing her lips to his in return before looking behind them to the clock on the wall. "It's almost three in the morning."

He mumbles, something about their talk taking longer than he expected, and she just chuckles, standing and reaching out for his hand. "Come on," she says. "Let's go to bed."

And they sleep that night, snuggly tucked against each other for the first time in days, his deep breaths warming her skin as she lay against him, letting his heartbeat lull her to sleep.

{**************************}

The last three weeks have flown by for Regina. Her son and her boyfriend helping her grieve more than they will ever know. Roland with his sweet, dimpled smile, always up for another adventure - whether they're going to the park, feeding the ducks by the lake, watching movies on the couch and eating popcorn, or coloring together around the coffee table.

And Robin, well, Robin is Robin. Always so loving and attentive. He tells her in their quiet moments at night how her coming out of that room and deciding to live life again has helped him grieve, too, helped him come to terms with what happened to them, and she has to agree. Sitting in her bed all day, pushing Robin away, was only making the pain worse. She realized over those four days that she needed him, needed her other half, to help when things got hard.

They truly were a team. She knew she was meant to spend the rest of her life with this man, but his support through this traumatic experience has only solidified that. He'd even convinced her to go meet with Dr. Hopper, to which she'd finally agreed. They'd gone together, and the cricket had actually helped them process everything together more than she ever thought he was capable of. Her curse really did do a great job giving him the mind of someone with a PhD.

Over the last few weeks, they've spent a lot of time as a family, just the three of them, and it's been the best medicine she could've ever asked for. She hasn't been up for going around other people too much, but they've found ways to get out of the house while still not having to speak with too many citizens. She's been warming up to the idea the more she starts to feel like her old self, even went and sat in Granny's yesterday with Robin and Roland and realized she was fine.

She had been worried, seeing as the first time she tried to go to Granny's after the incident, she'd stormed out crying. Granny, the old wolf with her heightened senses, had asked Regina about her pregnancy when she'd walked in a week after her miscarriage. The old woman had left her conversation with Marco to ask Regina quietly about it, told her that she'd had a grandma's intuition that she was pregnant the last time she'd seen her. Unable to control the emotions, Regina had teared up and run from the establishment before too many people could see their mayor in tears.

One morning, Regina is standing in the kitchen preparing breakfast for her family while Roland watches intently, asking questions and saying he wants to learn to cook one day.

She smiles, once again thankful for this little boy and how he's helped her overcome her heartache so much already, and promises one day she'll let him use the stove. "You can help me crack the eggs, though."

"Okay!" he shouts in excitement, hopping down from his barstool and dragging it to the other side of the kitchen island.

She giggles, placing a hand on his back to help steady him as he climbs onto the stool once more. Regina slides the measuring cup over to him, telling him they're going to crack six eggs into it. She explains that they don't want any shells to get into the glass, so they have to be very careful.

"Careful like when I'm trying to color inside the lines," he explains, a serious expression written all over his face.

Smiling down at the little boy, the corners of her eyes crinkling, she brings the carton of eggs over, pulling one out to show him how to carefully crack it on the side of the measuring cup. Helping him with one, she praises him when he does it correctly, and he beams with pride.

Leaning down, she kisses the top of his head, then spies Robin walking into the kitchen, and her smile grows even wider. "Morning, my loves," he greets, walking over to give each of them a kiss.

"Morning," she replies back, letting Roland explain that they are cooking breakfast and he's been put in charge of the eggs so he has to concentrate.

"Yeah," Regina chuckles, "So don't get in our way."

Holding up his hands in mock surrender, Robin slowly backs away from the counter, popping a blueberry into his mouth on his way to the other side while giving her a wink. "Oh, I wouldn't dream of it!"

Cutting her eyes over to him with a smirk on her face, she mutters an amused Thief, before tossing another blueberry his way that he catches, plopping it into his mouth with the other.

"Ah," he tuts, "but you can't steal something that's been given to you!" he laughs, leaning over the counter to swipe the carton of berries over to his side. All Regina can do is laugh, rolling her eyes as she turns her attention back to their son to make sure there are no shells in the cup.

She helps Roland with another egg, then moves on to pouring the pancake batter onto the griddle. As she waits for them to cook, explaining to Roland how the heat cooks the batter so you have to wait a little bit before flipping them, but, Yes, yes, you can help flip it, baby, she catches Robin's eyes. Their glances hold so much meaning, as if they can read each other's minds, see each other's souls, when they look upon one another.

She knows her eyes are thanking him for helping her get through this, thankful to have him in her life. Just like she knows his eyes are relieved she's coming out of her depression, and thanking her for being there for him. He had been just as hurt as she was over the loss of their child and they're learning to live life again, together.

She'd come to realize over the past few days that they truly were happy, despite what had happened. Life with Robin and Roland was great.

While cleaning up from breakfast, she smiles, watching Roland zoom from the kitchen and up the stairs as Robin walks in.

He wraps his arms around her waist from behind, peering over her shoulder and asking if he can help with the dishes. "Of course," she tells him playfully, handing him a dish towel and saying he can dry them off. She's just washing the items that can't go into the dishwasher for now, but he agrees, pressing a kiss to the crook of her neck and shoulder, and reaching around her to take the towel.

Before he can step from behind her though, she turns in his arms, pressing a quick kiss to his lips, then pulls back, looking up at him seriously. "I'm still obviously hurting from losing the baby," she says, looking down at her flat stomach. She lays a hand there briefly before letting it fall onto Robin's hip. "But even if we never get pregnant again, we will be happy… right?"

He smiles down at her, nodding in agreement. "You, me, and Roland," he says with a content smiles on his face. "Sounds pretty great to me."

She beams at that, nodding her head back at him. "Yeah," she sighs happily, "Life with the three of us is pretty wonderful; I love it."

And Robin agrees, lifting her hand from his waist and intertwining their fingers before pressing a kiss to the inside of her wrist. "The three of us are extraordinary together. A baby would be a great addition one day, but I truly believe we'll be alright if we never have another one."

She smiles, nodding in silent agreement. She goes to speak, but Roland interrupts, rushing back into the kitchen dressed in his Spider Man costume, stretching his wrists out and making whooshing noises as he sprays invisible webs all over the kitchen chairs.

Regina laughs, turning back around to finish rinsing the dishes off as Robin makes his way over to Roland, chasing him around the room, drying dishes completely forgotten. He scoops the tiny Spider Man into his arms, hoisting him over his shoulder and carrying him into the living room.

Shaking her head, she realizes he's right. Life with her boys is exactly that - extraordinary.

After the big dishes have been cleaned and a little bit of playtime, Regina takes Roland upstairs to lay down for a nap while Robin cleans up the rest of the kitchen from breakfast.

As she comes down the stairs, she hears the sink still running so she makes her way into the kitchen. Robin is standing there, back toward her, as he washes the rest of the dishes off before placing them into the dishwasher. The muscles in his back glide with each movement and she can't help but bite her lip. He's so sexy, even when he's doing little things like this, and she's reminded again how much she loves him.

"Hey there," she mutters, wrapping her arms around him from behind like he'd done to her earlier. She buries her nose into his shoulder blade and breathes in. It's the scent of their fresh spring laundry detergent mixed with his cologne that always smells like the forest to her, and she breathes it in deeply, committing it to memory like she's done so many other times before.

He chuckles out a, "Hey yourself," before turning off the water and picking up the hand towel beside the sink to dry his wet hands with.

Robin turns in her arms, leaning down to peck the tip of her nose. She scrunches her nose up in response, giggling at the way his scruff tickles her skin. "How would you feel about going on a date tonight?"

Her eyes open, looking directly at him, wondering if she heard him correctly. It's only been a couple of weeks since her miscarriage, and she hasn't done much getting out of the house except to go to work. She thinks about it, how nice it would be to go out just the two of them though like they used to, but she isn't sure. Is it too soon?

"Robin," she breathes, "I… I don't know."

True, she's been feeling better. And spending her mornings or evenings with Roland and Robin have helped her tremendously with feeling more like herself, but she just… isn't sure.

"I've already talked with Marco and he's free to come over tonight to watch Roland." He tells her he's made reservations at Bella Notte, and wants to wine and dine her if she's up for it, but promises he'll cancel the whole thing if she wants him to.

She thinks about it, contemplates how nice it would be to get dressed up and go out with him, just the two of them enjoying a night away from cartoon movies and meals she's had to take the time to prepare. His dimples disarm her when she looks back up at him. He's so cute and looks so hopeful, how could she say no to this ruggedly handsome man?

With a sigh, she breathes out a laugh and smiles back at him. "Alright."

He grins widely, bending down to capture her lips in a tender embrace. She lets his lips move over hers for a second before she presses her tongue to his lips, seeking entrance. He grants it, letting their tongues dance with one another's before she moans into their embrace and pulls back.

They haven't had sex since she lost the baby, not physically able to according to the doctors for the first two weeks. But that time limit has been up for a week now, and she knows that she's emotionally ready to connect with him again in that way. "What time will you pick me up?" she asks cheekily, waggling her eyebrows.

Laughing, he tells her to be ready by six-thirty. She smiles, nodding her head and turning to help finish putting the dishes away.

After they complete their chore, the two of them make their way into the living room and turn on a movie, just soaking up the alone time while they can. She smiles to herself as the butterflies dance in her stomach. She's actually excited for tonight and spends a good portion of the movie mentally combing through her closet, trying to decide what dress to wear to knock Robin off his feet.

{**************************}

The doorbell rings that night, and Regina goes to answer it. Marco and Granny both stand before her and she does a double take, silently questioning why they're both there.

Marco chuckles, replying to her question in his Italian accent. "Roland is great fun, my dear, but very spirited."

She takes a step back, allowing both of them to enter her home. "Ms. Maggie here has much more energy than I do at night," he says, and Regina thinks she sees a blush creep onto the old woman's cheeks. Narrowing her eyes, she makes a mental note to watch them more closely the next time she's at Granny's diner. "So I figured between the two of us, we could handle the little firecracker."

Regina laughs, wondering why Robin didn't just ask John, or one of his other younger guy friends, or hell, even Ruby, to watch Roland. But, she supposes, Roland won't be too wild now that he's run around all day and gotten most of his energy out.

"Granny! Marco!" Roland exclaims, running in from the living room to give both of them a hug. He takes each of their hands in his, walking them toward the living room as he talks to them about how they can draw and color and watch movies until bedtime.

She smiles to herself, glad that Roland has so many people in this town who love him, despite who his father is in love with (though, granted, she's not as hated here as she was as Queen).

Making her way upstairs, she slips on her heels and checks herself once more in the mirror. She's opted for color tonight, going with a navy blue dress. It has a zipper that starts mid-thigh and trails to the back of the dress, going up her back. There's a zipper on the other side too just for looks, and she pairs the tank dress with a black, leather jacket. Bella Notte is a nicer eatery in town, so she was sure to try and tone down the sexiness of the dress with black tights and black heels.

Though, judging from the low whistle Robin just let out as he walked into the room, the sexy factor was still there. Good. "Do you like it, babe?"

"My love," he breathes, taking her hand and twirling her away from the mirror to face him, causing a giggle to fall from her lips, "you look absolutely magnificent."

She looks down, still always so taken aback by his compliments. "Thank you," she finally tells him, looking back up. She takes a step back, holding his hands out to get a good look at him. She whistles just as he had done, smirking and lifting an eyebrow as she tells him, "You clean up nice."

He's dressed up tonight, a rare sight seeing as he gets to wear jeans to work every day. He's in black slacks now, though, and a pale gray button up dress shirt. There's something about a button up shirt on him that does things to her body. Pursing her lips, she gives him one more appraising look before telling him they should leave now or she'll be tempted to lock the door and not go to dinner.

Chuckling, Robin says that's a tempting offer, but Bella Notte has, "breadsticks we can't simply just pass up."

With a smile, she shakes her head, taking his hand and leading him down the stairs to kiss their son goodbye before making their way to the restaurant.

Once at dinner, she finally feels relaxed. She smiles softly at Robin, holding his hand from across the table and talking softly about work, things happening around town, and their plans for Roland's spring break that's coming up in a few weeks. She knows they can't cross the town line, but God, does she wish they could. She would love to see Roland's face if they were to go to Disney World and see all his favorite cartoon characters in person.

They discuss renting a hotel room in town for a few days, letting Roland feel like he's on some magical adventure, and Robin throws out the idea of taking him camping. Regina despises the idea of camping, spending the night out in the woods with no electricity or running water - two main perks she was afforded by bringing them all to this land. But, for Roland, she would do anything.

After they stuff themselves with too much pasta and garlic bread, Robin orders them the house special dessert, key lime pie, and they sit for a while, just enjoying the ambiance of the restaurant and the live music playing in the front of the room.

"You look beautiful tonight," he tells her once more, and she just grins, telling him he's met his quota of compliments for the night. "For you? There aren't enough compliments to give to express how gorgeous you are."

She rolls her eyes but can't help the smile that forms on her lips. Thanking him, she gives his hand a squeeze and says they should pay the bill and get out of here.

"I was thinking the same thing," he confirms, lifting a hand in the air to capture the attention of their waiter. "Perhaps I could interest you in a walk in the moonlight?"

He's so romantically cheesy, something she's not used to, but finds that she loves it. Even after three years with this man, it still surprises her when he does anything romantic for her. Chuckling out a silent laugh and a wide smile on her face, she nods, "Perhaps."

Once the bill is paid, and the dessert is finished off, Robin takes her hand, intertwining their fingers as they walk around the large pond beside the restaurant. Each tree is wrapped in white fairy lights, and she can't help but think how perfectly romantic this setting is. "This place is beautiful," she mumbles into his shoulder. It's gotten chilly out since the sun went down, and her leather jacket can only provide so much warmth. Her arm is linked with Robin's, and she has her face leaned into his shoulder so the heat from her breath can help warm her face. "It's like a scene from a fairytale."

She chuckles inwardly at her own joke, knowing her former self is somewhere deep inside rolling her eyes so hard that they might get stuck like that.

They stop walking, just enjoying the view of the moonlight reflecting on the water's surface, and he takes a deep breath, revealing to her once again how much he loves the outdoors and would love to go camping sometime soon. "But people who camp…" she says, scrunching her nose, "they… I don't know… bathe in the river and use pinecones for money."

He laughs heartily at that, a hand coming to rest of his bouncing stomach. "Oh, my love," he chuckles, "I'm pretty sure no one these days actually lives in the forest, so no need for pinecone currency." He smiles, still laughing softly at her disgust for the woods. "But you have to admit, if they did, it'd be a pretty smart invention."

She rolls her eyes, saying once again, "Well they still have to bathe in the river."

"Just another reason I think we should take Roland camping," he jests, tapping his finger to the tip of her nose.

She scoffs out a laugh, shaking her head. "I'm not going to win this argument, I see."

With a shake of his head, Robin just shrugs his shoulders, saying he thinks she might be outnumbered on this one. Roland has been asking for a camping trip since Christmas time when a friend from school told him about how her family went camping one weekend.

She sighs, leaning her head back to look at the moon, muttering out a defeated, "Fine. We can go camping," adding a grumbled, "As long as we stay in your old cabin and not a tent."

He chuckles once more at her distaste for the idea, but nods in acceptance, saying, "We'll see," with a giant smirk planted on his face.

They stand there for a few more beats of silence, soaking up the sounds of crickets around them, serenading them on this quiet night. "Regina," Robin says suddenly, turning to look at her.

Her brows pinch together, asking him if everything is alright. She takes hold of his hands, and despite the coolness of the night, his palms are sweaty. "Yeah, yes," he chuckles awkwardly, rubbing at the back of his neck. "I'm fine, love."

He turns to look at her, staring deep into the depths of her brown eyes. He takes both hands in his, giving them a little sway before he speaks. "Regina, I love you more than I've ever loved anyone in my life." She smiles at him, knowing they've talked about Marian (Mary, to his memories) and Daniel before, how they were amazing first loves, life changing loves, but how they never felt this deep of a connection with them. She nods, whispering that she loves him, too. "You are my everything. You make me smile to the point where my cheeks start to hurt, you make me laugh more than anyone else can," she shakes her head, never believing that she's quite that funny, "You are the strongest woman I know, and you love me and Roland so completely, more than anyone else on this Earth could."

She bites down on her bottom lip, picking up on what he's doing, and her heart begins to pound nervously, excitedly. He smiles at her, the sheepish grin she loves so much. "We've been through so much lately, but I've been planning this for several months, and I feel like tonight is the perfect night."

With that, Robin drops down to one knee while simultaneously reaching into the breast pocket of his jacket. He opens up the small, velvet box, revealing a beautiful ring with a blue sapphire in the middle, surrounded by tiny diamonds in a halo effect.

A small, breathy gasp escapes her lips as she brings her right hand to cover her mouth. Her mind is spinning, going a million miles an hour. She loves this man, more than anyone she's ever loved before. She never thought she'd want to get married again, not after the nightmare that was Leopold. But this is Robin, this is her choice. She's not being forced into this. And she wants this, to spend the rest of her life with him, desperately.

Thoughts of the curse suddenly swirl in her mind. What if the curse is broken one day? What if her happiness is taken away and Robin leaves her? But… that's a risk she's willing to take. For him. For them.

"Regina," Robin says earnestly, his voice laced with emotion. "You are my future." Hoisting the ring up just a touch higher, he asks, "Will you marry me?"

She sees a tear run down his cheek, and she can't help but let a few drop down hers as well as she tearfully accepts, nodding her head vigorously, a Yes, of course, yes, falling from her lips.

Robin slips the ring onto her left hand before standing up and wrapping both arms around her waist, lifting her off her feet. She squeals out of surprise, laughing as she loops her arms around his neck, pressing kiss after kiss to his neck, jaw, cheek, and finally, his mouth. He sets her feet down on the ground, still wrapped in each other's arms, as his lips move lazily over hers. He's taking his time, murmuring that they're in no rush. He wants to memorize her like this, with all the love and joy possible in her eyes. It's just them out here, just the two of them as it should be.

Once their tears have dried, Regina tugs on his arm, asking him to take her home.

The drive home is peaceful, as is life in general with her soulmate. She reaches over, taking his hand and brings it to rest in her lap. She turns his forearm up, tracing a light pattern over his tattoo. She loves to do this, to stare at the printed proof of their destined love. He's asked her before why she likes his tattoo so much, and she always just shrugs, saucily replying that it adds to his sexiness. He always just laughs, bouncing his brows up and down before leaning in to kiss her.

The music coming from the radio is low, but as the sounds of that popular song "I Knew I Loved You" stream through the speakers, Robin beings to hum softly, the words flowing from his mouth as if it's his voice on the air waves.

She loves his voice, would rather listen to him then any famous singer any day of the week. She tilts her head, looking over at him, her eyes scanning the lines of his face as he watches the road.

His eyes glimpse over to her at the next red light, a smirk forming on his lips as he sings, I knew I loved you before I met you. I think I dreamed you into life, in her direction. Smiling, she thinks about how true those words are, how she thinks she's loved him since that night at the tavern when she chose hate over love and ran away from her destiny. Giggling, she joins him for one line, singing out, I have been waiting all my life, as he smirks, both of them commenting on how the lead singer has a much higher pitched voice than either of them which causes her to laugh once more.

Shaking her head, she turns the radio station, increasing the volume as the sexy words I'll make love to you, like you want me to finish and fade before the slow and soulful "Dangerously In Love" starts to play, the opening lyrics perfectly capturing how she feels for him as Beyoncé serenades I love you, I love you, I love you. Baby, I love you. You are my life.

His thumb moves to rub the engagement ring on her left hand as he continues to harmonize with the talented vocalist, expressing his feelings through song once again, and Regina looks down, smiling and thinking how she's never been this happy before.

Once home, they pay Marco and Granny, thanking them for watching Roland tonight, and Regina keeps her hand hidden, wanting this to be their little secret for tonight. They leave with a Goodnight before Robin closes the door and turns toward Regina.

He bites down on his lip in that sexy was he does when he wants her, and she smirks back at him.

Robin leads her upstairs, and they quietly peek in on Roland, breathing out a sigh of relief that he's blissfully unaware of their presence and off in dreamland for the rest of the night.

Walking quietly to their bedroom, they take their time, stopping every few steps to kiss, suck, and nip, or simply breathe each other in. He pushes her against the wall softly, reaching down to slide the leather jacket from her arms. A shiver goes over her when the cool air hits her skin, but she reaches up, unbuttoning his gray shirt and letting it hang open. Regina hooks her fingers into the belt loop of his pants and brings him closer, taking her jacket from his hands and tossing it on the floor, mumbling that they can pick it up later. She brings him in, capturing his lips with a fierceness she hasn't felt in weeks.

They make their way to the bedroom, and once there, Robin reaches for the zipper of her dress, sensually sliding it all the way around and down until her dress hangs open. He breathes out, uttering how absolutely gorgeous she is as he runs his finger tips down from the cup of her bra to the top of her black panty hose. He sinks to his knees, tugging the garment down her legs. When he looks back up, he's met with the sight of her black, lace thong and he licks his lips, pressing a kiss to the inside of her thigh. It send a delicious shiver over her spine, and she slides the dress off her body, kicking the hose off her feet as he lays her down gently, kissing his way down her legs and back up again.

She lays back once the dress is removed, watching as he takes his clothes off as well. Once in bed, they take their time, tracing fingers over skin, kissing every inch of each other's skin, and exploring each other's bodies all over again. She's so in love with this man, and the shimmering stone on her left ring finger brings a smile to her face, reminding her that she'll soon be his wife, and that thought brings her more happiness than any amount of revenge of an enemy ever could.

They spend the rest of the night wrapped together for the first time in weeks - kissing, licking, sucking, and embracing each other, making love until they both come multiple times, each other's names falling from their lips in tandem. That night they fall asleep, nothing on their bodies but the sheet of their bed and the ring on her finger.

{**************************}

Two years later, Regina Mills is now officially Mrs. Regina Foreston. Sure, she knows deep down that if the curse were to ever break, there'd probably be no legal standing to keep her married to Robin, but when thoughts like that creep into her mind, she finds a way to distract herself. She doesn't want to think of The Charmings' precious daughter somehow finding their sleepy little town, the curse breaking, and all of this happiness being taken away from her.

She loves her life, for the first time ever. They'd been married in a very small and intimate ceremony in a quaint, remote clearing in the woods near his old cabin, with a large lake as the backdrop as the sun was just beginning to set above it. The location had been his idea, and though Regina hates the woods, once she saw the venue, she had to admit that it was perfect. She'd made Robin promise not to honeymoon in the woods, and once he'd laughed in response, promising they could stay somewhere nicer, she'd agreed. It had taken place eight months after he proposed, and it was the most beautiful wedding Regina ever could have imagined for herself, and for them as a couple.

The freedom Robin gave her to pick whatever she wanted for the ceremony was just another small reminder to her that he was nothing like Leopold, and this marriage would be absolutely nothing like her first one. After the pain of losing their child, they'd only grown closer together - all three of them. She loves her family and is so thankful for them every day.

"Mama!" Roland giggles as she tickles him on the couch. "Stop! Stop!"

Laughing, she relents, lifting her hands from his belly. He looks at her and takes her hand in his, guiding it back to his belly for more tickles.

She snorts, lifting him up and carrying him over her shoulder to the kitchen. "I have to start cooking dinner," she informs him, and his little face lights up, asking, like always, if he can help.

Regina nods, saying she picked an easy recipe for tonight so that he could do most of the prep work. Her little boy beams at that, and she's once again struck by how glad she is the curse froze him at such an adorable age. He should be five years older than when she first met him, but the curse continues to reset itself every year, so no one is none the wiser except her.

"What are we making?" Robin asks, joining his family in the kitchen.

Roland beams up at his father, informing him that he will be making them enchiladas. Robin looks to Regina, lifting his eyebrows as if he's impressed. She smiles, pointing to herself from behind their son and mouthing the words I am going to help, which only makes him smile.

Robin walks over, kissing Roland on the head before swooping in and kissing Regina soundly on the lips, causing the little boy to let out a shrieked, Ewwww! making both adults laugh.

Robin comes to stand beside Roland, asking him what he can help with, and Roland promptly points to the sauce, telling him he can stir it since, "Mama won't let me," while he lays out the tortillas.

Smiling at her two favorite boys, Regina walks over, standing behind her little boy and draping her arms over his so they can stir the meat and vegetables together.

They all spend a few minutes preparing the enchiladas, letting Roland sprinkle the cheese on top before Regina slips them into the hot oven.

Once she informs the little boy that it has to cook for about twenty minutes, he's off like a light, telling his parents he can run fast like the Flash and dashes upstairs to play with his toys.

Both adults chuckle at his antics before Regina walks over to Robin where he's perched against the kitchen counter by the sink. She places her head against his chest while his arms come to rest on her hips. "How was work?" she asks, tilting her head back to look at him.

"Mm," he hums, "Nothing special. Sold some equipment, Mary Margaret came in and bought that treadmill she's been looking at for months."

She cuts in with a humorless, That's good, she could certainly benefit from one before he just rolls his eyes with a smirk firmly in place, never understanding her dislike for the perky school teacher, and goes on, listing other sales they made today and the contract he'd finally signed with the archery camp on the other side of town to sell them the bows and arrows sold at his shop.

Regina smiles, listening to him talk about his day. She loves this, loves how simple and domestic their life has become, and she hopes this never changes.

She checks the timer on the food, seeing they still have a few minutes and pulls herself up into the corner of the countertop. Robin smiles, moving to stand in between her legs. He places his palms on her thighs and gives them a squeeze, bouncing his brows as she leans down with a chuckle to press her lips to his.

They pull apart, and she goes serious, fiddling with her wedding ring and looking down into his eyes. "There's something I've been meaning to talk to you about."

"Al... alright," he says nervously, taking a small step back to get a better view of her face. "Is everything okay?"

Regina smiles, nodding. She twists her lips, pursing them before blowing out a breath and admitting, "I've been thinking… that I want another baby."

Robin's eyes widen, and he tilts his head, asking what she means. She huffs out a laugh, knowing he's confused. The doctors had run some tests a few months after they got married, after she'd told them about her other miscarriages, and they'd found nothing wrong. The curse truly had been broken over her fertility, but the doctors had advised them to use caution because she was at such a higher risk for miscarriages since she'd suffered multiple ones in the past.

They'd gone home that night, talked over their options for a while, and finally come to the decision that the pain and heartbreak of a miscarriage wasn't worth actively trying to get pregnant. If it happened, it happened, and if the pregnancy stuck, even better. But just like they'd talked about so soon after they lost their baby, they were completely happy with just Roland.

Ever since that conversation though, Regina has been thinking how great it would be to have a baby in the house after all. She loves Roland, he brings her more joy than anyone, but she wants to experience that baby phase - the sweet smell of their skin, the cries in the middle of the night, the soft coos and giggles, even the diaper changes and fussy feedings. She wants that, and she wants to experience it with Robin by her side. She thought of adoption as an option, realizing that if she loved Roland as her own, why couldn't they adopt another baby to raise together?

"I've been thinking… about adoption," she says tentatively, watching his face for any indication of how he might feel.

Slowly, a smile grows on his face that he tries to tamp down. "Really?"

Regina nods, asking him how he feels about that. Robin blows out a quick breath, rubbing his hands up and down her thighs before landing on her knees. He gives them a loving pulse before telling her, "I think it's a great idea."

She lights up, asking him if he's sure, and he tells her how he's been secretly thinking about another baby for a while now, but didn't want to say anything in case she wasn't ready.

Tears form in the corner of her eyes, and one slips free from each duct. She looks down at Robin and sees him reaching up to wipe away his own tear. "So, we're really going to do this?"

"Absolutely," he nods, moving his hands to grip her waist and pull her from the counter top.

She giggles, shrieking when he doesn't put her down at first. He spins her around, pressing kisses to her jaw and neck.

Once she's planted on the ground, she smiles up at Robin, draping her arms around his neck. She leans up on her tiptoes as he leans down, sliding their lips together slowly. It's sweet, and tender, but sensual at the same time. It's a kiss that holds the promise of a beautiful future together.

They apply for adoption with an agency in New York the next day, and when plans fall through over and over again, Regina finally decides to make a deal with the dark one himself. She knows Robin can't leave the town, no one can except her, so making appointments out of town for a married couple was hard when only one spouse could meet with them.

Rumple worked his non-existent magic, somehow, and found a baby in Boston that was ready to be adopted. The agency had taken care of the boy since his adoption fell through. He was born in Phoenix but was placed with a family in Boston who ended up not wanting him. Mr. Gold had called it fate when he told her that the baby still needed a home. The Dark One had, according to him, told the agency that the husband owned his own business and it was hard for him to go out of town, plus they had a young son that one of them needed to stay here with. Another lie the curse had convinced Mr. Gold of, thankfully, though Regina was always slightly suspicious that her former mentor somehow remembered their old life and was just toying with her, biding his time until he could reveal the truth to her in a dramatic flare like always. Whatever the reason for his lie, the curse or his own twisted manipulation, she didn't care. He had helped her find a baby for them.

He'd told the people that the mother was mayor of their small town, and her schedule was much more flexible, so the agency had been more willing than the first one to accommodate and only meet with her. Regina had been nervous, had wanted Robin to go with her, but the curse had convinced him that there are absolutely no day he could get away to go meet their new child, but he promised her every night leading up to it that he believed in her judgement and that she would only bring home this baby, whose picture they'd memorized over the last several nights and fallen in love with, if it felt right.

The next day, Regina was introduced to the tiniest, most precious baby boy she'd ever seen. His pudgy cheeks were only one of his cutest features. His big, round, brown eyes looked back at her with a depth she didn't think a three week old could have. She felt a connection to this baby boy, and she instantly started crying when he was placed in her arms. "Well, hello, there," she cooed sweetly. "It was fate, wasn't it… Henry?"

"Henry, huh?" the man from the adoption agency questions, stating, "You don't meet a lot of Henry's nowadays. Very old world."

She and Robin had talked about names, deciding not to use any of the ones they'd previously discussed for their child. Too many bad memories. One night, Robin had closed another baby name book and looked at her, saying, What about Henry? After your father, and that had been that. Their new son would carry her father's name.

Looking down at the baby, decidedly not making eye contact with the man, she informs, "It was my father's name." And looking up to him finally, says sadly, "He passed some time ago."

The man gives her his sympathies, then asks if she needs help when the baby in her arms starts to cry. She chuckles, hoisting the tiny boy into an upright position as she promises the older man, Oh no, I've got it, before whispering to her new baby boy, "Come on, let's go home."

As soon as she pulls into the driveway, she can see Robin and Roland bounding out of the house, and she can't help but beam with pride as Robin opens the back door of her car, reminding Roland softly not to be too loud around the baby.

She walks around to the other side of the car, bending down to meet Roland's eyes. His tiny brown ones are shining with excitement, and she promises him as soon as they get inside, he can hold his new brother.

Regina stands, meeting Robin's gaze and they share an elated smile. He presses his forehead to hers, breathing her in for a beat before pulling back. She presses a peck to his lips before tugging at her suede, crimson blazer, pulling it tighter around her tight, black dress that sits mid-thigh. It was chillier now than it was when she left for Boston, and the gap between her knee high boots and the bottom of the dress is giving her chill bumps, so she's ready to get into the mansion. "Let's get you boys inside," Robin says, ruffling his son's curly hair before bending down to get a better look at Henry.

She gives him a few moments, telling Roland to step back for a second, while she listens to Robin coo down at their new son. She wants him to have this moment, could see the tears in his eyes when he'd first opened the car door. He looks over his shoulder at her, beaming with excitement before unlocking Henry's car seat from it's base.

She watches, amazed, wondering how a man who raised his son in the forest before the curse even knows how to do that, but, she supposes, it's just one more bit of knowledge her magic provided him. Regina stands back, watching as, now, all three of her boys make their way inside the house.

Grinning, she grabs the diaper bag from the floorboard and closes the door to her Mercedes, making her way inside the house as well.

Granny had brought over multiple frozen lasagnas and other meals to make mealtimes easier for them the first few weeks while they adjusted to a new baby, and though they're not quite as good as hers, now that she's home and enjoying her time with both her sons, she's more than thankful for the old wolf. Cooking is the last thing she nor Robin will want to do tonight.

Robin places Henry's car seat down on the floor of the living room, and Roland immediately bounces on his knees, begging to hold the gurgling baby.

Regina smiles, coming in behind them and setting the bag down on the couch. She kneels on the floor with her family, unbuckling Henry from his car seat. He wiggles in her arms, clearly glad to be free from his entrapment, and they go over the rules with Roland as she hands their son to Robin, who snuggles his nose into Henry's thin layer of hair, breathing him in and talking softly to the chubby baby boy.

You have to hold his head. Don't move around too much. If he starts to cry, hand him back to me or your papa.

Deciding the couch might be easiest, Regina stands, Roland by her side. He sits gingerly on the couch, and she places a pillow under the little boy's arm to help support Henry's head.

Their oldest son spends the next twenty minutes marveling at his new baby brother, laughing at all the little grunts he lets out and asking every question he can think of to his parents.

When will he play superheroes with me? How old is he? Has he pooped yet? What's his favorite color? Can he crawl? When will he start talking? What does he eat? Can I feed him?

Finally after a while, he gets bored since the baby isn't doing much of anything, saying he wants to go play in the backyard. The adults laugh, and Robin takes Henry from him while Regina stands from the couch, going to the coat closet to grab Roland's jacket. She helps him bundle up and tells him to be careful as he rushes outside to play with his plastic archery set.

Walking back into the living room, Regina sighs out a relieved breath. She's glad Roland seems to like his brother, and she's glad so far things are going well (she knows she's only been home an hour, but still). She smiles when she sees Robin on the couch, Henry in his arms as his father sings a soft melody to him.

She loves his voice, has been late for work many a morning from listening to him sing in the shower, or almost fallen asleep listening to him lullaby Roland to sleep at night.

He looks up, tilting his head to summon her over to the couch with him.

Regina cuddles into his side, trailing a finger down Henry's chubby cheek and tracing the outline of his pouty lips. "He's beautiful," she breathes, and Robin nods in agreement as they both smile softly down at the baby. "I already can't imagine life without him. I know this sounds horrible," she chuckles softly, "but I'm glad his first adoption fell through, for our sakes."

"Well," he smiles, his dimples that she loves so much popping onto his cheeks as he smiles over at her, "like I always say: it's all about timing."

She brightens at that, having nothing to say but to agree. She hums in acknowledgment, laying her head on his shoulder. They spend the next few, quiet moments soaking up the peace surrounding their new little family.

Looking over at her, Robin asks, "Are you ready for this new adventure?" and places a kiss to the top of her head as she leans in closer to inhale the sweet baby scent radiating off their son.

She gleams up at him, nodding in assurance as they get lost in each other's eyes, listening to Henry's soft puffs of air as he snoozes in Robin's arms. "This is the greatest adventure I think I've ever been on," she tells him sincerely, reaching out to take Henry from her husband's embrace. "And I'm so glad you're on it with me."

Robin smiles at that, draping an arm around her shoulder and smiling at their son snuggled into Regina's arm. He presses one more kiss to her lips, and when they pull apart, they both stare down at Henry, taking in all his features and memorizing him just as he is. She doesn't think about how one day this boy will be older than Roland, doesn't wonder how she'll explain that to Henry when he undoubtedly notices his older brother isn't aging, all she can think about is how complete her family feels in this moment, and how delighted she truly is.

Sighing contentedly, Regina situates herself closer to Robin's side and lays her head on his shoulder, blissfully unaware that their newest addition will be the undoing to all the happiness she's built with the curse.

{********************************}

Thank you for reading! A huuuuugeeeee shout out to Brooke and Shay for putting up with me while I wrote this, and for their help finding all my little typos lol.

TRIGGER WARNING: Miscarriage