What, if after the king's death Regina finds out that she's pregnant? And what happens, when she gives the baby away but then starts regretting it? Outlaw Queen! Regal Believer! Dimples Queen! A little bit of Swan Queen friendship!
She's staring at her reflection in the huge mirror and although it's obviously visible, she still doesn't believe it. She turns to the other side and stares at herself again but the mirror still shows the same – she has a bump, not huge but visible.
How hasn't she seen it before?
Well, perhaps she's seen it, but she chose to ignore it?
Regina shakes her head to herself. It can't be happening. Not after everything is going just the way she wanted – the King is dead, Snow White is out of the castle in the woods, where catching her isn't a hard thing to do. She is finally getting closer to her happiness but now this.
She walks back and forth in her bedchambers, breathing heavily, trying to stop the anxiety. Maleficent should be wrong (she was the one who pointed out that Regina is pregnant), perhaps it's just dress, or maybe she's just got fat, but she definitely can't be pregnant.
Suddenly she collapses on the floor as tears fill her eyes – of course she can be pregnant and of course the child is King's. That's the worst part.
She thinks about all options of this situations: she could drink a potion and it would be over but even though she's pure evil now, she couldn't kill a child, no matter what happens she would never do that; also she could keep the baby but it would always remind her of the King, at the same time, it would be her weakness, her enemies – Mother for example – would definitely find a way how to use it against her.
She realizes that she doesn't have another choice just to give the baby away once it's born, no matter how much it may hurt her.
For a moment, she stays like that: vulnerable and broken, letting herself realize that her life is messed up a lot, too much perhaps, but then something inside her clicks and the Evil Queen is back.
She stands up and wipes away tears from her cheeks. Her eyes, which just a few moments ago showed how broken she really is, now are dark and giving nothing away. She's emotionless.
That's what she's learned over her not-so-long life – if you want to achieve something, you have to be emotionless and do everything it takes. And no one could deny that she's the best when it comes to ignoring the feelings.
It's a dark, stormy night. The windstorm has been ragging all day and even now the rain and thunder can be still heard, loud and frightening.
And with every thunder, there is a scream, a scream which comes from the Evil Queen. It's the night when the time has come – the baby has to be born. And it's been already several hours when she's tormented trying to give birth to her child.
Thankfully, she isn't alone. No matter, how much she hates people, at this moment she's glad that there's someone with her, holding her hand. And of course that person is her father, the one and only who knows about her pregnancy, despite Maleficent.
It takes all Regina's strength but finally, after a few hours of torture, the child is born. The baby lets a sharp cry and Henry sighs with relief, throes are finished.
Regina collapses back on the bed exhausted and closes her eyes tightly as the baby continues to cry. She should probably look at the baby, hold him or her or do something what a mother should do, but all she can do is lay there lifelessly because she knows that once she looks at the baby she can change her mind and then it would ruin everything.
"Regina," Her father is pleading her, holding a tiny baby wrapped in a blue blanket in his arms, but she doesn't listen, she keeps shaking her head. "You should keep him, just look at h-"
It's a boy.
Regina doesn't hear what her father is saying anymore, all she can think is that it's boy. She has a son, a beautiful little boy who deserves someone better than she; she has to give him his best chance.
"Reg-"Her father puts his hand on her shoulder and calls her name but before he can finish, she cuts him off.
"Get it out of here, I don't want to see it," She hisses the words out making her father shake his head at her.
But her father knows that it's better not to try her patience, so he just nods, looks at her one more time, in case she changes her mind, but she turns away, so with one last sigh he rushes out of the room with a new-born baby in his arms.
Once her father is out of the door and she's all alone, she lets a few tears leave her eyes. No matter what she is or how dark her heart is, if the situation wouldn't be that bad, she would keep the child. She would love him, her boy, with all her heart but she has no choice.
In this land, she can't let herself have that.
When her father comes back after a few hours and she is already dressed her black dress again as if nothing has happened, she asks him about the person who took the boy. And he gladly tells her everything, every single detail, because he knows that one day she will want to find him, he doesn't know how much time it takes, but she will come to her senses, he's sure of that.
But Regina shakes her head at that.
She gave the baby his best chance and she will never regret it or search him, she promises herself, she will never ever regret what she has done.
But eventually, she starts regretting it.
At first she thinks that it's just loneliness that makes her think about the baby because she's in another land now, where are no black knights, who did whatever she desired, she isn't planning a murdered anymore, and sadly, no one cares about her, so she feels lonely.
Days pass and she thinks more and more about the way her life could've turned if she kept the baby. She thinks about it and sometimes a single tear runs down her pink cheek but then she fakes a smile – even when she's all alone by herself she fakes smiles – and turns her thoughts to other things.
But one day, she can't push these thoughts away. She spent a long day in the office, doing town work but somehow all her thoughts were about other things. She was thinking about her past, about things she had done and the only thing she regrets.
So when she walks out of the office, she doesn't go the usual way which leads to her home. She heads through the dark Storybrooke to her vault.
When she reaches her destination, she looks around herself to make sure that no one is following her and then she unlocks her vault door and walks in. Once she's inside, she locks it, in case someone did follow her.
She throws her purse on the floor and then rushes to the lockers, where she's keeping everything she's brought from the Enchanted Forest. She feels the need to read her dairy, she needs to remember what she had written about her baby all those years ago, because perhaps the curse brought him here and maybe he's here, in Storybrooke. Maybe she can find him…
She finds her dairy quickly and then turns pages until she finds what she was looking for. She sits down and starts reading, but there are no names, nothing, just the story how her Father gave her son away, the story she's painfully aware of.
Tears fill her eyes but she fights them back because it was her decision, she made it to protect her son, it's for the best, but somehow she feels a hole in her heart. She feels something what she's never felt before and it scares her every single day.
Suddenly sadness surround her and she closes her eyes as if to push it away, to stop it from getting into her head but it's useless, but she tries to keep her breathing steady, tries to keep herself calm and sane even when those thoughts kills her from the inside.
But then, as lighting from a clear sky, an idea hits her.
She could adopt the baby. Of course, it wouldn't be the same, the pain would be still there, but perhaps it wouldn't hurt that much… Perhaps she wouldn't feel so lonely anymore.
A smile spreads across her face as she closes her diary, puts it back in the drawers and locks it and then she's running –actually running – to her house.
She needs to adopt a baby as soon as possible.
Regina has called to every adoption agencies around the town and unfortunately, none of them could help. Annoyed and irritated, she finally decides to ask for help from Mr Gold.
And thanks to him, after a few days Regina has a child in her arms. She's holding a small, innocent baby boy in her arms and suddenly the tears fill her eyes.
This whole baby thing has made her an emotional mess.
She looks down to the baby and fighting back the tears, she smiles because she could've been holding her child like that, if she didn't give it away, but now the life has given her another chance and here's no time for regret. The past is the past and she's leaving it behind, she has to concentrate on the present now because she has someone who needs her as much as she needs him.
She promises to herself that she will give him, this baby named Henry, everything, he will be the happiest child because she will do everything for him; she will do everything what she hadn't done for her own son.
"We're going to be very happy together, yes?" She says in a soft voice – it's still new to her too, this completely new soft side of her - as she puts the baby into the blue crib and he answers with a small yawn making her smile again.
When the baby finally falls asleep, she doesn't leave the room. She curls in the armchair and watches him, she does it every single night because one part of her still can't believe that this baby is real. She can't believe that she's really gotten another chance for happiness.
Eventually, she ruins everything one more time. And now she's watching as her son Henry, who is already eleven years old, walks away with his birth mother because Regina's failed again.
Just a few hours ago Emma broke the curse and now everybody knows the truth, they know that she's the Evil Queen, the one and only who caused them all this pain.
And suddenly, she doesn't even know why, she remembers every time Henry has told her she isn't his mother, she remembers every time he said he hates her, she remembers every time he ran away and it breaks her heart even more now.
She wanted the best for him but look what she's got.
As always, in the end of the day, she's the one hurt.
Her heart breaks into million pieces when she no longer can see Henry. But, of course, she doesn't blame him for leaving her, she did a huge mistake, she knows that, but still, the feeling that her second chance of happiness just walked out of her life, makes her a mess.
She's trying to sort out everything she's done wrong, she tries to be a better person and slowly, step by step, day by day, her relationship with Henry grows. He doesn't push her away anymore, he's still cold but not as cold as before and that's a huge achievement. She thought that perhaps they will find the peace together.
But then, as always, something has to happen and things are ruined again.
And things turn upside down when she returns to the Enchanted Forest without Henry. Everyone else is worried about the wicked witch, about the castle and how to survive this assault while the only thing in Regina's head is Henry. Things were getting better, she even felt a little bit of happiness that one moment, one second, and then she was thrown into this stupid world again. And she's stuck here with two idiots and countless people that probably want to kill her.
If she could, she would've cursed another dark curse without a thought, just to come back to her little prince, but her true love is in the other world with no memory of her, and she can't do that, she could never do it to Henry, never.
And now, when everyone is talking about the plan how to catch the wicked witch, Regina's eyes are focused on a small boy running in front of her while her thoughts are far away. His brown hair is all over his face as he laughs and cries out when one of their new fellow travellers catches him.
"Regina?" Suddenly someone calls her name and she finally turns her attention to Charmings who are glaring at her. "You should be listening," David sort of disciplines her but once Regina sends him a dead glare, he is turning back and talking with other's as if nothing has happened.
Regina turns back and continues to look at the running boy as her thoughts once again wanders to the darkest parts of her head. Her heart aches and she has to close her eyes if she doesn't want to cry in front of many people who would be more than happy to see the queen broken.
But she's not sure, if she can take it, if she can live without Henry.
Angrily she pushes herself up from the ground (they are sitting in a campsite, on the grass like some savages) and then quickly walks away before anyone can see her and stop her. Tears start running down her cheeks no matter how much she tries to stop it. She's still a Queen, not the same Evil Queen she was years ago, not the one people used to see and fear, and now her soft side takes control of her emotions more often than she would like.
Once she's sure no one can see or hear her, she lets a quiet sob escape her lips as tears finally stream down her cheeks freely.
She doesn't even feel how she sinks down on the grass and pulls her knees up to her chest, rocking herself back and forth a little. She tries to calm herself down, she really does, but unfortunately her mind is a mess, and she's not able to stop it.
Even the strongest break sometimes.
Suddenly she feels someone touching her – a touch's so soft, like a feather – but her eyes open widely, angrily. She mentally curses herself from letting someone see her like that, vulnerable and broken, but as soon as she sees a little hand resting on her shoulder, all her anger fades away.
She turns her head to the side, so she can see who it is, and, of course, it's that little brown haired boy, who just a few moments ago was running around with one of his father's friends. But now he's looking at her with little eyes wide opened, he looks almost scared when he meets her eyes but he doesn't move his hand even an inch. He's trying to comfort her.
"Don't be sad," The boy finally whispers, lifting his other hand to her cheek and wiping away a tear which is running down her face.
Regina's heart skips a beat but then aches even more: the boy isn't older than four years old but he's so mature, he's comforting an unknown woman, a scary one, who doesn't deserve it at all.
His father has really taught him well.
"Thank you," Regina mutters after a while because she wants to say something to him but nothing seems appropriate.
The boy, his name is Roland, if she's heard correctly, sits down on the ground beside her, crossing his legs. He then takes Regina's hand and gives it a gentle squeeze and the Queen can't help but let a small smile form on her face because it's a really nice thing to do, he's too mature for his age.
"Papa always holds my hand or hugs me when I cry but not everyone likes hugs, so I'll hold your hand," Roland explains as he looks straight into Regina's dark eyes.
She should have told him to walk away, she should have told him his papa wouldn't be happy that he's spending time with the Evil Queen but instead she keeps her mouth shut because at the moment, comfort is what she needs the most.
"I like hugs," Regina says quietly after a while.
Roland reaction is quick – he moves closer to her and then his little arms are wrapped around her slim waist, his head rested against her chest.
"I like hugs, too,"
Within a short time Regina and Roland became very close to each other. Regina likes to spend time with the boy; she likes when he's around playing and joking or just talking nonsense. It makes her heart warm with love, it distracts her thoughts from Henry and her lost boy.
But Roland isn't the only one who got close to the Queen. His father, Robin of Lockley, has quite good relationship with Regina as well. They tease each other when people are around, but when they are alone, they both show completely different sides of each other.
Almost every night they have a heart-to-heart conversation. They talk about their past, sometimes Regina tells him about Henry, sometimes they cry, sometimes Robin talks about his lost wife, or sometimes they just sit in silence because they need it. They understand each other so much.
And this night is no exception. After Roland has fallen asleep in Regina's bed during story time, Robin and Regina are sitting in the balcony of her bedchambers drinking wine together. Tonight is Robin's night to share a story, so Regina doesn't have to think, she just relaxes and listens to him.
"I don't know what to tell you anymore," Robin shrugs after a while of silence and Regina laughs quietly. He smiles at her but then the smile disappears, he closes his eyes as if he's in pain, as if he remembers something what hurts him so much, "Well, I haven't told you one thing but it's very personal and you can't tell it to anyone,"
"Oh, come on, Robin, as if I have friends and all we do is gossip," She rolls her eyes but when she sees his serious expression, she promises not to tell anyone.
He looks at her for a moment, just stares into her eyes not saying anything, enjoying their silence but then, with an inhale, he says quietly, "Roland is not my biological son,"
Regina gasps – actually gasps – because it's something what she hasn't expected.
Robin nods his head at her, takes a deep breath and continues, "Roland doesn't know that and I wish he would never find out because his little heart would be broken then,"
Regina closes her eyes for a moment as unwanted thoughts about her own baby, the one she gave away, come back into her head. Roland was given away just like her baby, and Roland really got his best chance with Robin, so perhaps her son was also that lucky and got someone like Robin to be his father.
She doesn't even feel when a few tears run down her cheeks as she stares nowhere, drowned in her thoughts, but then Robin rests his hand on hers and she snaps out of her thoughts. She finally turns to him, her eyes wide and full of… sadness.
"Are you okay?" Robin asks then, although she should be the one asking this, it's his story after all, and she nods her head quickly wiping away the tears from her cheeks.
"I just can't understand how someone could give away a boy like Roland," She lies because she can't tell him the truth. No matter how much she's told him about her childhood, about her marriage with King, about the things she's done when she was the Evil Queen, she can't told him about the baby.
Robin nods his head and moves closer until he's close enough to wrap his arm around her and pull her closer. She feels that it's hard for him to talk about it, so she doesn't push, she doesn't ask anything, she just rests her head on his shoulder and closes her eyes, listening to his heartbeat.
One night, when they are back from the Enchanted Forest and got their memories back, when things seem to be quite good, Regina lets herself have some fun. So that one day she and Robin, her now friend or boyfriend – she doesn't know it herself yet – go to the park of Storybrooke to spend some time together.
And after a very pleasant evening, they're back at her home. They are laying on her couch in the living room, side by side, talking about every kind of nonsense and laughing at themselves until they're too tired and lazy to get up. So that one night, Robin stays.
It's the middle of the night when she starts shaking in her sleep, saying something what can't be understood and moving her hands in the air as if to protect something or someone from something bad. That's the moment when Robin wakes up. He immediately sits up and looks at her with wide confused eyes until he realizes that she's dreaming.
He recovers quickly and starts shaking her slowly, not wanting to scare her even more.
Her eyes open widely as she sits up in the bed, looks around the room still shaking from her nightmare, still sleepy. But then her scared eyes find Robin's and she collapses back on the bed, exhaling with relief, her hand falls on her chest as she takes a deep breath in, trying to calm herself down.
But the tears are running down her cheeks already, and it breaks Robin's heart, so he slowly wraps his arms around her, and when she doesn't push him away, he hugs her tightly, pressing her to his chest and murmuring that everything is alright, that she's safe with him.
It takes a while until she finally calms down but once she's not crying anymore, she pushes Robin away and rushes from the couch to the bathroom without saying a single word to him.
The bathroom door close shut as she presses her back against it and curses herself for everything. She knew she would have a nightmare (she has a lot nightmares since they got from the Enchanted Forest and all her dreams are about the baby she gave away, she sees people hurting him, haunting him, sometimes killing him and she can do nothing, she's just watching it) but she let him stay anyway.
And as much as she would want Robin not to care about it, he does and it doesn't take a minute until he's standing outside the door and calling her name, asking if she's okay.
She inhales, exhales, inhales again until she's calm and then opens the door of the bathroom. She finds Robin with a worried expression on his face, and she can't help but curse herself again. He's such a good man and she's going to scare him away with all her demons.
But he's still there.
"Are you okay?" He asks gently and she gives him a small nod.
"We should go back to sleep," It's all she says before takes his hands and leads him back to the living room.
After a moment, they are in their previous position, side by side, with a soft blanket over their bodies. Robin wraps his arm around Regina's shoulders and she moves closer to him. She hadn't been so close with anyone, close not just physically but emotionally as well, and she's not surprised at all when he asks if she would like to talk about it.
She answers with a shake of her head. She's not ready to tell him it yet, perhaps she will never be. And she opens her mouth to say that it's hard for her to talk about her nightmares, but he shushes her with a soft kiss on the lips.
"You don't have so say anything. Just know that if you want to talk, I'm here to listen,"
She can't be more grateful for his words; a small smile spreads across her face as she closes her eyes and drifts off back to sleep.
Regina and Robin walk into the house, hand in hand, laughing at every kind of nonsense. They had another evening out, a diner at Granny's first, then a walk around quiet Storybrooke and then he escorted her home just as he promised to Henry.
They walk further into the house until Regina sees Henry's bag on the floor and rolls her eyes. She opens her mouth to discipline him but then stops herself because she remembers that it's Henry's week at Emma's. So what is he going here?
She immediately thinks the worst, that some kind of evil is trying to ruin their short peaceful time again, but then she sees Henry walk from the kitchen, and he doesn't look scared or hurt. She smiles to him in relief but he doesn't return a smile and it has her slipping her hand away from Robin's and walking closer to Henry.
"Are you okay?"
"We need to talk," It's all Henry says before he turns on his heel and walks back to the kitchen.
She feels dumbfounded. She hasn't seen him like that since they came back from Neverland, since they got back on good terms, and it scares her that perhaps she has done something wrong again and it hurt him in any way.
"You go to the living room, we will join you in a moment," She says to Robin before rushing to the kitchen.
When she walks into the room, she sees black notebook placed on it, it's her diary, she recognises. She looks at Henry, who's now sitting on the chair beside the table, with wide eyes because she doesn't understand. Why does he have her diary?
"I cleaned your vault and I found it," Henry finally breaks the silence, explaining, "I'm sorry, it just dropped and opened and there was written a word baby and I… I read it," He is obviously ashamed but he's found the strength to tell her that no matter how mad she can get.
Words fail Regina as she stares at Henry, not knowing what to say. Of course, she could say it isn't true but she doesn't want to lie to him anymore. Their relationship has just started to grow and a while ago he's asked her to trust him, has told her that he isn't a small boy anymore, and she promised she would never lie to him again.
But perhaps he hasn't read about the baby, perhaps it was something else because she wrote about a lot of things.
But then she realizes that she has to tell Henry anyway. Perhaps not now, but if he didn't find out about it, eventually, she will have to tell him it.
"Mom?" Henry prompts as Regina stays silent for too long. "Is it true?"
"What is true?" She asks and her legs go weak; she has to sit down as well.
"That you had a baby,"
Regina closes her eyes for a moment, takes a deep breath in, then out, and then in again trying to calm herself. But then her eyes open and she moves her gaze up and looks at Henry, who's waiting patiently for her to be ready to speak.
"Yes."
Henry's eyes widen but he recovers quickly when Regina closes her eyes again and tears start running down her cheeks. She shouldn't be crying in front of her child, she knows that, she should be strong but she can't.
She hears the chair moving and then Henry's arms are wrapped tightly around her as he whispers, "Oh, mom," and holds her even tighter.
It takes a moment or two until she stops but she tries to do it as quickly as she can because she's a strong woman and crying shows weakness and she's anything but weak.
Henry pulls away from her and looks into her eyes, takes her hands and squeezes it gently.
"Let's find the boy, mom" He says hopefully making Regina let out a humourless chuckle.
"I made a decision a long time ago. I gave that child his best chance, just like Emma did to you, and I'm not going to ruin it," She shakes her head. "And it wouldn't be easy to find him. There have been two curses, perhaps he's not here, perhaps he hates me, or perhaps he's not even alive." She adds, quietly.
"No, mom," Henry shakes his head. His enthusiasm could convince her but this thing hurts her a little too much, she doesn't want to set her hopes too high because she knows that her child may have gotten a good life and she doesn't want to take it away from him. It's better if she stays away and does nothing.
"Drop it, Henry," She mutters, her voice strong but her eyes pleading. "Or at least drop it for now, I can't let Robin know it. Not yet. We can talk about it later…" Perhaps he would forget it or perhaps she will have time to find other excuses.
"Fine, but we'll talk about it," He doesn't give up and Regina has to give in. At least for now.
She nods her head in agreement and then Henry hugs her again. She closes her eyes for a moment but then he's pulling away from her.
"Were you going to tell me?" He is serious again.
"I don't know," She shrugs, "Probably not."
Henry nods his head in agreement; it's Regina, his mom, and he knows her quite well, so it's obvious she'd have never told him something like that. He's hurt but at the same time glad because at least she's not lying to him.
"I should go back to Emma," Henry says after a moment, a little unexpectedly.
"You don't want to stay?" The disappointment can be heard in her voice, she hoped that Henry would stay at her place for the night.
"I need to think about everything, and you're having Robin with you," He adds with a smirk and she rolls her eyes at him, letting a small smile form on her face.
"Well, can I at least drive you home?"
"No, mom, I'll be fine. Enjoy your evening," He hugs her one last time before grabbing his bag from the floor and rushing out of the house.
Regina stays in the kitchen for a while, just standing there emotionless. She should have disciplined him for reading her diary, then things could be completely different. If she would've done that, he would be mad, perhaps wouldn't even talk with her for a while, but at least he wouldn't know how evil she really is.
"Is everything alright, milady?" It's Robin who snaps her out of her thoughts.
She blinks for a few times but then turns around until she finds Robin standing in her kitchen, worried again.
"I heard how Henry left and then you didn't come. I got worried." He says making Regina smile a little, he's such a good man. "Is everything alright?"
Regina thinks about his question for a moment: everything is quite alright, well not actually but anyway, but the mood has died completely and she would really like to spend some time alone with her thoughts, she really needs to think.
"I'm not feeling very well," She confesses and walks closer to him, "I think we should meet other day, I won't be a good company right now,"
"Do you really not want to talk about it?" He asks concerned, his hand touching hers.
"Robin, I-"
"You can trust me," He cuts her off when she looks at him. Yes, she knows she can trust him but it's not something she wants him to know. Not yet anyway.
"I trust you." She kisses him on the lips but pulls away quickly. "But I think you should go,"
"Okay. See you tomorrow, then," He pulls her for a quick hug, kisses on top of her head and then in a minute he's out of the door.
The moment the door close, Regina's cheeks are covered in tears.
The other morning she's sitting in the kitchen and drinking her black and strong morning coffee, with her make-up on, with no sign on her sleepless night, when the door are unlocked and in a moment Henry is standing in the kitchen. To Regina's surprise, he's not alone. Emma's with him.
"What a good way to start a day," She says sarcastically looking at Emma.
Henry rolls his eyes at her, she's such a pain in the ass sometimes, and she scolds him but he ignores her look and sits down to the table. Emma does the same and then they're both looking at Regina.
She can't help but laugh, it's such a stupid scene.
"What are you two up to?" Regina finally asks and takes a sip of her coffee. "Another operation?"
"I told Emma about you," Henry says making his mom almost chock with her coffee. Her eyes widen as she stares at him in disbelief. He couldn't do that.
Anger raises but she controls it, clears her throat then, her expression comes back to neutral and she speaks quietly, "You shouldn't have told her. It was my secret."
"Mom, Emma finds people. She can find your s-"
Before the boy can finish his sentence Regina stands up and walks to the sink. She completely ignores him because she doesn't want to listen to him, it's nonsense. No one can find him. Or perhaps she doesn't really want to find him. She doesn't know it herself.
"Henry," She says calmly when she turns around and looks at her son and his other mother, "I know what Emma does. I know about operations and all that other stuff you two do and believe me, if I would want to find him, I would've done it already. But I don't want to, I don't need your help. The baby is gone. I gave it away and I can't be happier for that. I have you and it's all I need."
Henry looks at her shocked, but then says, "But we can –"
"You can't." This time her voice isn't gentle. She's getting angry and she wishes she could stop that because if Henry doesn't give up, it may cost a lot of plates and cups because she's going to crash them all. "I don't want to find him."
"Mom"
"NO" She shouts making both Henry and Emma jump from fear, you know, she was an Evil Queen once.
Regina looks at them, regretting her actions, but then shakes her head to herself and walks to the sink again. She pours herself a glass of water, drinks it and then turns back to her son and her friend who are sitting there quietly now, waiting for her to say something.
"I'm happy you want to help but I don't need it," She says, her voice soft and calm again. She sits back down to her previous place and looks at them again, "You two have to forget about this and not do anything about it. And if you two understood, I would like to spend some time alone," She adds.
Henry and Emma stand up almost immediately and then quickly walk out of the house with a quiet goodbye, leaving Regina alone once again.
Once the door closes behind them, she sighs and puts her head in her hands, closing her eyes tightly. She really does need some time alone, otherwise, she may go crazy.
A few weeks pass since the day Henry find out about Regina's biggest secret and of course nothing has changed. He obeyed his mom and never mentioned the baby again although Regina knows he's up to something because her diary has disappeared for a few times and he spends a lot of time with Emma, and they seem mysterious again.
But it doesn't bother Regina as long as they don't ask her anything, and she says quiet, doesn't ask them anything as well. But on the other hand, she realizes that if Henry found out about it and told Emma, someone else may find out too, so she finally decides to tell Robin because she doesn't want him finding out about it from someone else.
She finally decides to do it on their so called date although it's more like a heart-to-heart conversation, because they still do it, from time to time, they still tell stories like in the Enchanted Forest.
And now Robin and Regina are sitting on comfortable folding chair by the fire at Merry Men's camp site. The weather isn't the best, it's cold and windy, but neither of them seems to mind because they are together and it's all what matters.
Regina looks around the quiet camp site and smirks because it's quiet on purpose, she is sure. Robin has told her that the Merry Man are away hunting and Roland is with them but Regina is quite sure that Robin has asked to leave them alone for a while because after all, it's their some kind of date.
"So," Robin says as he finishes fixing the fire and leans back into his chair. He turns to his beautiful girlfriend -now girlfriend officially, he has asked her a week ago - who's sitting right beside him, with her arms wrapped tightly around herself. "Are you cold?" He asks and stretches his arm and Regina gladly moves closer into his embrace. Her eyes close instantly as she enjoys his warm.
"Not cold anymore," She looks up at him with a small smile playing on her lips. Robin smiles back and leans in to kiss her.
"Good," He mutters against her lips and then with one little peck pulls away from her.
Regina sighs as she looks at Robin again and finds him staring back at her. She tries to find strength and tell the story about the child, she's decided to do it, there's no turning back now, but suddenly all her courage is gone. She feels so small, so weak, vulnerable and it scares her more than she would like to admit.
"Tell me about Roland," She asks quietly. Perhaps it would make her braver… Perhaps if he opens up about something what hurts him, she'll find strength to do the same.
Robin looks away for a moment and Regina wants to say that it's okay if he doesn't want to talk about it but then he starts speaking, "Roland is my everything. He's my boy no matter what happens." His voice is full of love and adoration, "When Marian brought him home, I was scared and confused, actually I wanted to give him away but one look at him changed everything. She said that an old man gave the baby and asked her to take care of him. He was so tiny. And that blue blanket he was wrapped in, it fit him perfectly."
A blue blanket?
Regina's breathing stops for a second. Her son was wrapped in a blue blanket, she remembers it too well. And her son was given away by an old man, her father.
What, if Roland is her son?
No, no, it's crazy. It has to be a coincidence.
"Regina?" Robin's soft voice snaps her out of her thoughts and she looks at him confused but her eyes give away that she's scared of something. "Are you okay?" He asks.
"Yes, yes, I'm sorry," She nods her head. "It just… Do you have that blanket here?" She asks and Robin looks at her with confusion written all over his face for a moment, but then he nods his head. "Can you… Can you show it to me, please?"
Her voice shakes and she's grateful that he doesn't ask anything anymore. With a small nod he stands up and walks to his tent while Regina closes her eyes and starts playing with her fingers. Deep breaths, she reminds herself. One deep inhale, count to ten and exhale, and then one deep inhale again…
She's trying to calm herself down, to focus on her breathing but it's so hard right now. What, if Roland is her son? Of course, it would be crazy, but many crazy things have happened during her life.
No, no, of course Roland isn't her son, it would be too easy to find him.
But just in case… She needs to see that blanket so she's sure.
She feels Robin's presence near her, but she doesn't look up, she feels scared. But then Robin sits down on his chair again and no matter she wants it or not, her eyes catch a blanket in his hands and that's it.
Her eyes fill with tears as her whole body starts shaking. Her breathing stops. Her heart stops beating. She becomes as pale as a paper.
Even the world stops turning as well.
She stares at that blanket, the one and only, and of course it's her son's blanket, she could never be wrong about it.
And suddenly she isn't thinking clearly anymore.
Because she finally found him. She finally found her son.
And it's Roland. That cute brown-haired boy she adores so much is her son. How is it even possible?
She stretches her shaking hands and takes a blanket from Robin, who looks more than confused, and then presses it to her chest as a quiet sob leaves her mouth. She lets her eyes close, letting hot, fat tears run down her cheeks.
She finally found her son.
But then Robin is calling her name, he's grabbing her hand and shaking her but she can't answer, she can't hear what he's saying because everything in her head is screaming, burning and breaking. She really did find her son.
And it's reality.
She finally finds strength and looks up at Robin, who's staring at her, not understanding anything. She opens her mouth, wanting to explain what's happening but nothing comes out, she's speechless, the words are stuck in her throat.
Robin is worried, he's holding her hand tightly and saying something to her but her thoughts are too loud and she doesn't hear him. The only thing she knows is that she can't be here with him.
She has to run away.
Now.
So she waves her hand up in the air and disappears in a bubble of purple smoke.
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