Chapter 1 - Baking and Decorating

I think we all need a bit of loving fluff in the aftermath of what happened in 5x21, don't we?

This is set around the end of season 3, so no Marian, no Zelena and no baby. The good times, basically.

Thank you Lindsay for being my beta, as ever, and the prompt, and Hollie for reading this through!

Hope you enjoy and thank you for reading :)

Regina is up far, far before Robin, Roland, Henry... Everyone, and in the kitchen. She's a pro at apple-based goods, but after the apple-turnover-meant-for-the-savior-except-that-went-wrong debacle, she stays far, far away from her comfort zone and decides on a double chocolate fudge cake. Nothing but the best - and cavities - for her outlaw's son.

She gathers all the ingredients and lines them up, the recipe book open on a stand on the counter. She briefly considers using her magic to create the most delicious cake ever known to man, but she remembers Roland's little voice calling her out the last time she attempted to 'make' something. "That's cheating!" he'd called out, earning a grin from Robin and, of course, he was in agreement with his son. So she peruses the recipe, again and again, to the point she's sure she can recite it by heart.

She is pouring the cake mixture into a bowl when she hears a shuffle and the clearing of a throat behind her. She turns her head and smiles, the sight quite welcoming. "Good morning," she smiles, smoothing the contents of the bowl with a wooden spoon.

"Milady." He walks over to her, putting his hands over her silk-covered hips (still in her pyjamas), his bare chest against her back. "Good morning." He puts his chin on her shoulder and watches her work for a moment, before deftly picking out a candy from the garnish bowl and eating it.

"I saw that!" She exclaims. "So much for a famed thief, eh?"

"Ah, but the difference here, your majesty," she rolls her eyes at that, "the difference is that I wasn't trying to steal this sweetie. If I was, I can guarantee that you wouldn't have a clue it was gone until afterwards."

Oh so that's how it is, is it? "What makes you so sure, thief, that that I wouldn't know?" She turns her head then, and he places a single, sweet kiss to her jaw.

"Believe me," he whispers. "I just know."

He puts his hand on hers then, making her leave the spoon in its place, turning her round, pressing her to the counter. "You look radiant today, my love."

"Okay, enough of that!" She laughs, tipping her head back slightly. He kisses her throat, just the once, before lifting his chin back up to claim her lips. They kiss for a moment, before Regina pulls away and tells him to get out of her kitchen. "I am cooking up a masterpiece!" She says, turning back to the mix.

He looks her up and down. "I'd say you already have."

"Robin! Go!" He backs out of the room then, hands up, though she can't see it. He knows she's laughing. He's barely out of the room when he hears a "where is it, thief!?"

"I have no idea of what you are referring to," is his reply, all mock innocence. She turns to face him then and she can't see the bowl, but she bets he has it.

"The candy! The candy bowl! Where is it!?"

He smirks, giving the game away straightaway. "I suppose I could be convinced to give it back."

"What will it take this time?" She sighs, exasperated. This isn't the first time.

"Just a kiss from a very beautiful woman."

"Let me just grab the phone book then, shall I..."

"Ah, perhaps I should have been more specific. Not just any beautiful woman, but my beautiful woman."

She flushes at that, but mutters a "wonder who that is," which has him coming back over to her with the candy.

"Well I think you know. Kiss?" And she gladly gives in, using their kiss to distract and whip the candy bowl from his hands.

"Now can you please go!?"

"I'm going. But didn't I say you'd not notice?"

"Yeah, yeah, okay. You're insufferable when you're like this... Wipe that smug look off your face!"

"Wipe it off for me," is his retort and she raps him gently on the arm.

"Stop flirting and... Make yourself useful. Go wrap Roland's last gift." She'd fallen asleep on the sofa at the last one, and Robin had found her, sitting up, head lolling. He all but instructed her to bed. He acquiesces with one last kiss to her brow and pads through to the living room.

Regina checks the clock. 9am. They're going to be greeted by the excitement of young souls soon. She arranges the cake in layers, as instructed by the book and she admires her handiwork for a moment before putting it into the oven.

"Wrapped," she hears from the lounge, prompting her to walk through.

"Thank you. Breakfast?"

Not long after Regina has begun breakfast does she hear an excitable "Papa!", signalling that Roland is indeed awake and a gentle 'oof!' tells her he's barrelling into Robin. She leaves the pancake batter she's working on for a moment to go and see the birthday boy.

"Good morning, Roland," she says, as he turns and all but jumps onto her.

"Hi Gina! I'm five today!" So proud.

She grins and nods. "Yes you are. Getting almost as old as your father."

"He's ancient. Literally." Henry joins them with a quick remark that has Robin laughing.

"Well yes, good morning to you too," he adds, getting up. "I do believe a certain queen made pancakes!"

"PANCAKES!?" The boys cry in unison.

"Queen?" Regina has her hands on her hips at that one.

"Pancakes queen," Roland offers and he's so pleased with himself that it makes Regina's smile just as wide. They run off to the kitchen, as Regina calls a warning to be careful, leaving she and Robin alone together.

"You put a shirt on then," Regina laughs, running her hand down his torso. It's forest green and the perfect colour for her forest thief.

"Yes," he smirks.

"Shame." Then she kisses him, no heat, something just pleasant and caring.

"How's that cake doing?" Robin asks nonchalantly as Regina's eyes widen.

"Oh, sh..." He doesn't hear the end of her colourful language as she rushes out of the room, makes the boys wait outside (Robin included) and she retrieves her now slightly toasted cake from the oven.

She sighs sadly, tears stinging her eyes. She wanted Roland's first birthday with her, their first as a family, to be perfect. This cake was meant to be perfect. But she forgot. She neglected it, and she just feels like it's a metaphor for many of her actions in life.

Robin takes a tentative step into the kitchen and, when she doesn't force him to leave, he steps up behind her and weaves his arms around her waist.

"It smells divine," he says, nuzzling into her hair (and she's sure he means her hair then).

"But look at the edges, Robin. I ruined it." A tear does fall then and the gentle hitch of her breath alerts him to it. He turns her round and kisses the tear to stop it falling any further.

"It's okay," he soothes, running his hands gently up and down her arms. "We can sort this. Look." He picks up a knife and simply trims around the burnt bits.

"The colour's all uneven," she sniffs.

"Then we cover it with icing. And it will be fine. Trust me, love."

And she does. Always has done, with her heart from the very beginning. She nods lamely, allowing him to kiss the top of her head.

"Is this still a secret for my boy?"

"Yes, of course."

"Because I think," he plants a gentle kiss on her lips. "I think he would love to help you decorate it. That would be a wonderful present for him."

Regina considers for a moment, then nods. "All four of us. When it's ready, of course."

Roland loves decorating the cakes. He also loves picking his favourite candies from right under his Papa's nose and eating them when he's not meant to, and Regina remarks that he's just like his dad, something he can't disagree with. They make Roland's name on the top of the cake with marshmallows, jelly tots and chocolate chips and have decorated the sides as so too, soft strawberry icing holding it all in place.

Roland, fascinated with the technology of this new world he's living in, insists his Papa takes a picture thing on his talking thing (cellphone, Regina reminds him) of him and his cool new cake, to which he obliges. Robin then turns the lens onto his beloved and her son, as they cuddle up for a photo, after which Henry holds his hand out to take the device.

"One of you and Mom," he says and they're happy to do so. Robin puts his arms around Regina and kisses the side of her face while she erupts into laughter, due to the two boys 'grossed out' by their display of affection.

"Let's have one together," she suggests, so Henry takes over, takes snap after snap of the group of them smiling, posing, laughing.

Later, when Regina is looking through the photographs, taking a break from putting up party decorations, she has the biggest smile on her face.

"Robin, look," she shows him one she didn't realise had been taken, of the two of them sharing a chaste, smiling kiss, with his arms around her. "I didn't realise this one had been taken."

"You look breathtaking," he smiles, kissing her cheek.

"In my pyjamas..."

"Precisely. You look natural. Beautiful."

"And you're very handsome," she grins, twisting her head to kiss him, before holding up a banner. "Can you help me reach this?"

Roland's party is a great success. Regina's cake is a focal point (because Roland had made sure everyone who walked through the door knew that 'Gina' made the cake), it's delicious, and, when it comes to blow the candles out, Robin tells him to make a wish. He tries to tell them all what it is, but Robin tells him that it's his secret.

Roland loves all his gifts too, the mini bow and arrow his favourite (besides the cake) and when his Papa and Regina put him to bed that night, he tells them how he loved his birthday and how it needs to be his birthday again tomorrow. Robin tells him he'll have to wait a whole year, and although Roland looks a little put out by this, he shrugs and says if he really has to wait a whole year, then he'd like to make cakes again before that.