Roland passes down a family tradition to Sara.
As quietly as he could Roland tiptoed down the mansion hall. The carpet was soft making his footsteps nearly silent, yet he still held his breath as he passed Henry and Regina's room. He knew that neither of them would be pleased to see him out of his bed so late. He'd spent the night at the mansion before when his father had taken him but now that his father was gone he spent all his nights there under Regina's watchful eye. She'd put him to bed hours ago but like he'd done every night for the past three weeks he'd waited until the house grew silent and he knew that she and Henry were sleeping before slipping out of his room and heading down the hall to his sister Sara's.
It was still strange to think. His sister. Less than a month ago he'd had a father but no sister. Now he had a sister but no father. The adults tried their best to explain to him why that was but it only served to confuse him further. In the end he'd learned to just accept that Sara was now here and his father wasn't.
Trying to remain as silent as possible he slipped into her nursery. It was still a little bare. No more than a new crib and dresser were in the room. Regina had said that one day when there was time she and Roland would decorate the nursery together. Fill it with things that would make his new baby sister smile and laugh. That day hadn't come yet.
Stepping up onto the stool beside her bassinet he peered down to look at her. She was a small thing his baby sister. Hardly bigger than that plaything Henry told him was called a football. Her skin was soft and pale but her hair, what little she had anyway, was flame red and curly. Like most nights when he snuck into her room she was awake. Silently lying on her back as if waiting for the moment when he would come to see her. He smiled down at her and saw her eyes light up in return. She was happy to see him. Good.
As carefully as he could he lifted her up into his arms making sure to protect her head just like Henry had taught him. She gurgled a bit and Roland quietly shushed her, hoping she wouldn't wake up Regina with one of her crying bouts. To his relief Sara remained silent only reaching up toward his face curiously.
With soft steps he carried her downstairs, carefully taking each step one at a time so he wouldn't trip. He took her through the kitchen and out the door, to the backyard where, like he'd done every night for the past three weeks he sat in the grass with his sister under the open sky. Tilting his head up toward the stars he searched for the three small lights that signaled Orion's Belt and pointed them out to her.
"Look Sara," he whispered gently. "There's Orion's Belt."
His little sister only blinked in response but in his heart he knew she'd understood him. One by one he pointed out all the constellations he knew, or at least the ones he could remember, and showed them to her. Orion, Hercules, Leo and Lyra. Every night he pointed them out to her.
He looked down at her once he was finished. "When Papa was here he used to teach me the stars."
His heart started to hurt as he whispered to her about the nights he and his Papa used to spend lying on their backs beneath the sky. He whispered to her about the way he'd point out the stars and tell him their stories. Reminding him that as long as he could read the sky he could never be lost. It made his heart hurt to think that he'd never have nights like that with his Papa again and like he'd had so many times in the past month he felt his eyes begin to burn with the need to cry. He didn't cry though. Instead he blinked back his tears and smiled down at his baby sister.
"If Papa was here he'd teach you the stars," he whispered. "But he's gone. So I'll teach them to you instead. That way you'll never be lost."
He pressed a kiss to her forehead after his promise. His father had known all the stars in the sky. So for weeks after his father's death he snuck Sara out into the yard to make sure that she did too. And he continued to do so until he and Regina finally got the chance to decorate Sara's room.
The first thing she'd decided to add?
A skylight.
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