A/N: This is the second part of my gift for sassgina-and-awesomehood. Sorry for the wait, hope you (and all the other readers) enjoy!
Four Christmases they never had (and the one they did)
Chapter Two
Regina sighed, absentmindedly thumbing through the diner's menu – why she thought going out to a restaurant alone on Christmas day would be a better idea than sitting at home (albeit, she would've been starving) was now beyond her.
But at least at home, no one would be giving her pity glances – which is all she's gotten from that one waitress she'd seen and all the other occupants of this diner. Honestly, she was a little peeved. They were all eating out on a day that should be spent at home with their families, Regina thought, surely they're all experiencing some mishaps today. Then Regina frowns, because even if that was the case, she's the only here experiencing that mishap alone.
"Are you ready to order, ma'am?"
The sudden appearance of the too-tight of a shirt waitress (Ruby, her name was) almost made Regina jump from her seat – gosh, was there no dress code in this diner... and 'ma'am', really?
But she gives the young lady a tight-lipped smile, "Uh, sure…I'll have the turkey sandwich on rye with honey mustard and curly fries on the side. Extra ketchup."
"And to drink?"
"Oh," Regina ponders, "umm…I'll take your apparently world-famous chocolate milkshake."
"Oh," the waitress says then, "it actually is the best…are you from around these parts?"
"Yes," Regina says, a not-too-real-smile still plastered on her face, "I actually live a couple of blocks away…I just…I don't get out too much." Or she does get out plenty, but she was just currently trying to avoid going to places where she might know people…pity from strangers she could handle, but it'll be worse from people she actually knew (but Ruby didn't need to know that).
"Oh," Ruby says again. "Okay then, well I'll get your order ready."
Regina nods, "That will be great. Also, where's your restroom?"
"Through the corridor there, and then down the stairs to your left."
"Thank you," Regina replies, standing from her perch on the barstool of the diner's counter to make her way to the ladies room.
Once in said corridor, Regina fishes her cellphone from her purse; choosing a familiar name on her contact list, she hits dial and waited through the ringing. She wasn't expecting an answer, of course, but she did want to leave a message:
"Hey, honey," Regina says to the phone, "it's Mom. Uhm…I just wanted to greet you Merry Christmas again. I know we spoke last night but that was technically Christmas Eve. (Pause.) Anyway…I hope you're having a great day. I miss you and I can't wait to see you. I love you, Henry."
With that said, she sighed; putting the phone back into her purse, she continued on her way down the corridor.
The door of the diner dings open and Robin walks into the familiar setting. He smiles at some of the familiar patrons and leans over the counter, calling out, "Ruby! Oh, Ruby!"
Receiving no response, Robin sets his eyes on the plate just sitting there on the counter – he walks over to it and grins, promptly sitting himself on the stool and grabbing some fries off the plate.
A couple of minutes pass, Robin has already taken two big bites of the sandwich and a big gulp of the chocolate milkshake when Ruby finally saunters out of the kitchen, a brown bag in hand.
"Robin," she says, "what are you doing?"
"Ruby!" Robin greets, swallowing his recent bite quickly. Then he gestures to his meal, "I thought I ordered all this to go."
Ruby sighs, setting the brown bag in front of him, "You did." Then she looks behind him, "Robin, you're eating her lunch."
Robin grabs the curly fry he'd just placed in his mouth and places it back on the plate, turning around in his seat quickly to the sight of a (beautiful, definitely stunning) dark-haired woman standing there behind him.
Regina gives the man a small wave, "Hi."
Robin was flabbergasted, "You ordered a turkey sandwich on rye with honey mustard, curly fries, and a chocolate milkshake."
Regina shrugged, "Is there a problem with that?"
"No, it's just…," Robin tries to explain. He opens the take-out bag Ruby had set on the counter, "I usually order the exact same thing."
"Oh wow," Ruby interrupts then, staring at Robin and this woman (and the way they both couldn't seem to keep their eyes off of each other). "You guys are like soul mates or something. Sandwich soul mates."
Robin looks at her then, "I think I hear Granny calling you."
Ruby smiles slyly at him and nods her head, "Fine, but we both know I'm the one with keener senses than you. And I can sense what's happening here." Then she whispers to him, "Merry Christmas!" And takes her leave.
Regina raises an eyebrow at the whole exchange, unsure of how she feels about this entire situation; but this Robin was now staring at her, so she says, "You always order the same thing, huh? With extra ketchup?"
"Who doesn't like ketchup?" Robin says, a smile grazing his lips (as Regina takes note of his deep dimples). "Here," he continues, motioning to the chair beside him and setting the items from the bag down on the counter, "take my lunch…as I've obviously already half-eaten yours."
Regina sits, and says to him, "Oh, you're too kind." But then she looks at him, "I thought you ordered yours to go."
"Well," Robin says, "I could take it to go…but is that really what you want?"
Regina stares at him, wide eyed, "Wait…what?"
Robin shrugs and smiles at her easily, "It's just…I only ordered it to go because I really just don't fancy eating out alone on Christmas day...in public, nonetheless." Then he stares at her, "Not that there's anything wrong with that, of course."
"So…," she says, unsure of where he was heading with this conversation.
"So...you're alone, I'm alone. And it is Christmas," Robin replies.
Regina frowns slightly, even though she has no reason to (he had every right to assume she was alone). Her single lunch order is all but indicative that she wasn't with anyone on this day. Still, she raises an eyebrow, nonetheless, still wary of this stranger in front of her, "I don't…"
He smiles again, finding her confusion just slightly amusing (but definitely adorable) and asks, "How is it that you find yourself alone on this day, Milady?"
"Milady?" Regina asks, looking incredulous – but it was still a step-up from the 'ma'am' she'd received earlier. "I…"
"It's alright if you don't want to share," Robin says then, sensing her hesitation, and just continues with his meal.
Regina stares at him, at this ease he seems to have with this definitely odd situation. If he could be so comfortable, she thought, why couldn't she? There can't be harm in any of this, it was one day…and she'd probably never seen this man ever again.
So after a big gulp of her own chocolate milkshake, she says, "It's just that my son is with his mother right now."
"Oh," Robin says then, snapping his head towards her so quickly that he thought he almost got whiplash.
And she almost laughs at his deer-caught-in-the-headlights expression, so she continues (before he chokes on his curly fry), "His birth mother. I adopted him as a baby, but they've recently reacquainted…and well, if you're a parent, you'd know how hard it is to deny your children anything."
"OH," he says again, nodding his head eagerly now. "Well, that's a sticky situation." Then, after taking another bite he says, "But I know how you feel. And I do know what you mean. It would seem were in a very similar situation. You see, my son is also with his mother right now."
"Your ex-wife, I presume," she states, grabbing a fry off her plate without looking at him.
Robin laughs, "I'll try not to take offense that you're assuming I can't keep a woman."
"You're not wearing a ring," she states obviously.
"Ah…so you're checking out my ring finger, huh?"
Regina tries to fight the urge to roll her eyes. He must think he's so cute (and gosh darn it, he is, she thought). So, she tries to steer the conversation, "I'm Regina, by the way. And it's Robin, right?"
"Robin Locksley, at your service," he replies, wiping his hand on a napkin before extending it towards her.
She takes his hand and gives it a firm shake, "Pleasure."
As she turns back to her meal, he continues, "So, your son…how old is he?"
"Henry. Henry…he's nine, almost ten," she replies easily – talking about Henry was always easy. "He's getting so big, I mean…and I can't believe he's almost as tall as me now. I honestly don't know where time has gone."
"Almost a teenager then," Robin says. "From my own experience, and the woes I gave my mother at that age…I commend you. Luckily, I've got some ways to go with regards to my own boy. Roland's only six years old."
"I bet he's adorable," Regina comments, already imagining a kid with dimples.
"His perfected puppy dog eyes routine make it very hard not to give in to him every single time," Robin says.
She laughs then, and they continue to converse. Moving topics from their respective sons to the weather, the hellish shopping conditions of the holiday season, and just about everything else in between. Nothing too personal, though, and Regina still hasn't even given him a last name.
They talk and converse, until a shrill ringing of a phone suddenly erupts from Regina's purse.
"Sorry," she says quickly, looking at Robin apologetically whilst fishing her phone out.
She stares; surprised at both the time (how was it already almost five o'clock, she thought, had they really been talking for four hours?) and at the caller.
Bringing the phone to her ear, she says, "Henry, honey. Hi!" (pause) "Really? Are you serious?" (pause) "No, honey. I mean, you don't have to be sorry." (pause) "Yeah, honey…that's fine. I will pick you up and…" (pause) "I'll be waiting for you when you arrive." (pause) "I love you, too, honey. Bye."
She ends the call and looks at Robin. "I take it your son's coming home?" he asks her.
"Yeah," Regina replies, still somewhat surprised at the turn of events. "He said he insisted that Emma...Miss Swan, his birth mother, bring him home now for a short time before Christmas day actually ends. He said he wants to keep our tradition of going skating before we order too much Chinese food for dinner and then just play Monopoly all night long."
Robin beams, happy for her, "Go, have fun with your son." Then he looks at his watch, surprised, "Wow…we've been here awhile. It would seem I would need to be going now, too, actually."
Regina nods along; gathers up her things, dropping some bills on the table – before finally taking a deep breath and staring at Robin. "I've…Merry Christmas, Robin Locksley." A smile. "Thanks for..."
"...for suggesting being alone together on Christmas?" He smiles back at her, "It was no trouble, Milady. Happy Christmas, Regina."
"Mom!" Henry calls out, spying his mother amongst the crowd.
Regina turns quickly from the bus arrivals board to see Henry beaming at her and jogs to meet his eager hug, "Hey, sweetheart! How was your trip?" Then she sees the blonde woman following him, "Hello, Miss Swan."
"Merry Christmas, Regina," Miss Swan greets.
"Merry Christmas to you, too," Regina replies back, smiling at the woman. "Thank you, for bringing Henry." She then takes a moment to stare at her son, two days without him and she felt like he already looked so different. She hugs him close again and stares back at Miss Swan, "Will you be needing a place to stay?"
"No, no," Miss Swan says. "I have a place to stay. I'll just pick up Henry again tomorrow morning and I'll drop him off morning of New Year's Eve as planned?"
"Yes," Regina nods. "And thank you again, for coming all the way here and letting us spend some of Christmas together."
"It was no problem," the blonde says. "I should be thanking you for letting me get to be with Henry for this length of time." Then she turns to their son, "I'll see you tomorrow again, kiddo! Enjoy tonight with your mom."
"Thanks, Emma," Henry says, moving to give her a hug. "I'll see you tomorrow."
Mother and son wave as Miss Swan exits the surprisingly busy bus station and once out of their sight, Regina turns to Henry and says, "I already have your skates in the car."
"That's great, Mom," he says, "Skating...and then, I can't wait to stuff my face with some dumplings tonight right afterwards!" Then he stares at her, "I really am sorry about not even thinking what being alone on Christmas would be like for you..."
"Henry," Regina says, "don't be sorry." Then she shakes her head, smiling slightly, "It wasn't half bad..."
"Oh yeah?" Henry says curiously, "What did you do?"
She continues to guide him towards the parking lot, pausing slightly because she was unsure of how to respond, just as they hear: "HENRY! HENRY!"
Regina looks over her shoulder to see a little boy running towards them, sprinting really. She watches as Henry looks over, smiles, and says, "Roland!"
Regina's face scrunches as she repeats, "Roland…"
Then her head snaps back towards the little boy as she hears a very familiar voice, "Roland, buddy…slow down."
"Papa! Papa!" Roland exclaims, as father and son reach Regina and Henry, "Henry...this is Henry...Henry is my friend from the bus ride!"
Robin nods his head, tries his hardest to focus his attention on his son (or at least, his new friend) but all he sees is Regina...of all the places in the whole world, she was right here – and he could hardly believe it. He smiles at her and felt butterflies in his stomach at the way she can't seem to take her eyes off him, either.
"Papa," he hears again, but it was the tugging at his shirt that finally draw his attention back to Roland. "I was saying that Henry was telling me that him and his Mommy will skate tonight. I want to skate, too!"
"Roland…," Robin starts off, kneeling in front of his son. "Skating is their Christmas tradition, it wouldn't be nice of us to ask them to share that time with us."
Henry looks at the man quizzically, drawing his attention, "How did you know it was our tradition?"
Regina interjects then, touching Henry on his arm slightly before focusing her attention on the little curly-haired boy, "You know what, Roland? Me and Henry would not mind at all if you joined us for skating tonight." Then she looked at her son, already knowing his answer, "Right, Henry?"
"Yes," Henry replies easily. "I was going to tell you about Roland but I'd lost him when we came down from the bus…but I had been telling him about skating and I thought that maybe we could all go, and his Mom on the train said yes if his Dad agreed."
Robin nods his head (almost too eagerly), "Sounds good to me, skating is always enjoyable." Then he extends his hands towards Henry, "Robin Locksley, by the way. It's nice to meet you, young man."
And also does the same to Regina, who was clearly pretending they were strangers (he could play that game; if there was anyone he'd ever want to meet twice...it would definitely be her).
She takes his hands again, shakes it, and says, "Regina Mills. It's nice to meet you (again)."
"Alright," Henry and Roland both exclaim, giving each other a high-five.
They somehow work out the whole situation, like eventually getting to their respective cars and driving to the ice rink; and in record time, too – because not thirty minutes later from their second official meeting did Regina find herself side-by-side with Robin again.
The boys were already on the ice, both parents ensuring all laces were tied properly before dealing with their own; and now they're half tying their laces and half trying to pay attention to what was happening on the rink.
Robin finally breaks the silence, "I can honestly say that I'd never thought, not even for a second, that I would be here on Christmas day."
"You mean you're surprised that planning on stealing someone's lunch from a diner would lead to all this?" Regina asks, teasingly.
"Oh well, yeah. Who knew that 'The Great Turkey Sandwich Heist' could possibly have led me here?" he jests back. Then as he helps her rise off the bench, holding her hands in his, he adds, "But I think, if I'd known it would, I'd have stolen it sooner."
Regina beams, hoping to the gods above that she wasn't blushing as much as she knows she is (from the way her face feels like it's about a million degrees too hot).
"Mom!" "Papa!" The simultaneous precious voices of their sons suddenly draw their attention. They both wave at the boys eagerly, and she says to him, "Come on then, let's go."
Robin lets go of her hands and curtsies jokingly towards the ice rink, "So, this skating thing…you any good?"
Regina raises one eyebrow at him, "Well…I would definitely advise you not to get in my way."
"Oh, milady, I wouldn't dream of it."
