His kiss was so wonderfully gentle, the hands framing her face holding her to him but not pulling, not forcing just supporting. This was her decision, her choice and she knew, were she to pull away now, he'd understand and he'd do nothing more than hold her if that was what she wanted…but she didn't and she hadn't felt as right about anything in her life as she did about him.

She was shivering, trembling against him even as they sat before the fire, even with his touch sending heat burning through her, she shook. "Are you okay?" he whispered, his breath shuddered against her parted lips and he accepted her kiss when she moved back in for more, allowed her to take what she wanted but still stroked soothing hands through her hair, down across her neck, his other hand traversing the length and width of her silk covered back.

She nodded when they parted again, a hand coming up to cover one of his whilst the other clenched in the material of his shirt, tugging and holding all the same as though she was afraid he would disappear at any moment. "I'm fine," she whispered back, their knees touching just as their foreheads did, "I'm fine..."

He lifted her with him, pulling her up to kneel properly and allow him to press her against his chest, both heaving together, his arm winding around her waist and his face falling to rest in her neck as he encouraged her to do the same. "What do you need Regina?" he repeated his earlier words, stroking at her back.

"I need to feel something else for a while," she choked, her lips brushing over his skin as hot tears dropped and trailed their way down beneath his shirt. "I need to feel…"

"Loved?" he asked, holding her against him with one arm and using his other to gently twist a lock of hair between his fingers, feeling the way her breath stuttered at his question, the way she nodded somewhat hesitantly after forcing herself to inhale a deep breath, letting it out on a slow exhale as he whispered to her, "do you trust me?"

"Completely" her answer was instant, her eyes glassy in the light of the fire as she pulled back enough to look at him, a small smile tugging at the corners of her lips to mirror the one spread across his. She met him halfway for another kiss, her arms still around his neck, a warm hum rumbling low in her throat, swallowed as she opened her mouth to him. His tongue slid slowly across her own, their lips pressing around them in a way that had her practically vibrating with need for him.

His hands moved from her hair, one cradling her jaw whilst the other continued down her body, tickling across her collarbone, down her waist with a feather light touch and toying with the hem of her shirt, the back of his finger stroking across her quivering stomach. She seemed to catch on rather quickly, her mouth still moving against his own as she removed her arms from around his shoulders to cover his hands with her own, encouraging and giving the permission he sought.

The material was pulled up slowly, his palms flat against her abdomen, bringing the material with him as he felt every curve, every breath that she emitted against his mouth. She was intoxicating and he'd already fallen fast.

He trailed kisses from her mouth, along her jaw, down her lovely neck to the join of her shoulder and neck, busying himself with delicate sucking kisses there for a moment before looking back up to find chocolate eyes so very vulnerable in their lust filled haze. Her top was bunched just beneath her breasts and one of his hands was palm flat against her soft skin, the other holding the material in place as he asked, one last time "are you sure Regina?"

She took a moment to look at him, to see the kindness in his eyes, the swollen lips parted as he breathed heavy breaths that washed over her face. He was wonderful, he was kind, he was all she'd ever wanted and he was here. "I'm sure Robin," and though nerves churned within her stomach, she couldn't stop herself from whispering "make love to me."

"You didn't have to stay you know," she told him quietly, watching as he placed her water on the table beside her bed before lowering himself down into the seat next to her bed and she didn't miss the way he glanced once more to where Emma and the baby were standing in the hallway before he was turning back to her with a smile that coloured his blue eyes.

He placed a hand atop the one she had resting upon the bed and replied sincerely "I wanted to." He squeezed her fingers with his own gently as he amended "I want to."

She bit at her bottom lip, eyes narrowing slightly as she studied him for a moment before asking "but what about Marian?" and when his eyebrows raised and his face scrunched in contemplation, she added "she'll be livid."

"Aye," he agreed on a laugh that wasn't quite as sincere as his earlier words, a lack of warmth where pure affection should be, "I've no doubt about that."

"But you're still here?" and it was more of a statement than a question but still he answered with a nod and a "yes," his fingers curling around her hand to touch her palm, "I'm still here."

They remained looking at one another for a long while, lost in a moment neither wanted to break and she wondered if this was why he'd stayed away from her, the inevitability of them because there had always been something between them, something very obvious that had surfaced that night when she'd been mourning her father and it had felt as though the one thing she'd been missing from her life had clicked into place when he'd lain atop her, when she'd felt him within her. Everything had fit together and then he'd gone.

She was just about to speak, her lips parted gently when she heard a heart-wrenching wail coming from the hallway and instantly Emma was filling the doorway with eyes wide and a screaming baby girl in her arms. "I didn't do anything" she instantly assured as she moved over to Regina, regardless of whatever conversation she was having with Robin as she lowered her daughter gently into her arms. "One minute she was fine and the next…" she finished without needing to explain as Regina chuckled and looked down to her girl.

"Is someone a little hungry?" she cooed, stroking a finger up and down the baby's stomach and feeling such love for her when she quietened a little at being back in her arms. This was going to be her first time breastfeeding and though the nurse had told her that it was quite instinctual "just guide your baby to the breast and she'll know what to do" she was still rather nervous. She wouldn't let it show, no, instead she ensured that the baby was securely in the crook of her elbow before moving to unbutton the pyjama top that Emma had gotten for her from the gift shop and instantly the blonde was up and moving.

"I'll just uh…" she looked anywhere but at Regina, "wait out here okay?"

Regina only shook her head and chuckled before turning to find Robin standing, "I should give you some priva-"

"You don't have to go Robin," she told him softly, focusing back on moving her daughter towards her breast and forgetting her filter as she joked "it's nothing you haven't seen before." She practically froze the moment the words tumbled unbidden from her lips, the only movement coming from the tiny little bundled being in her arms as she squirmed, reminding her mother that there were more pressing matters at hand than her own mortification.

Thankfully he had the good humour to reply with his own laugh and a statement of "true," that held something of a soft tone that she couldn't quite identify before she heard him lowering himself back down into his seat.

She didn't take long, her hungry little girl, and when she finally latched on, Regina couldn't help but gasp softly and stare in wonder at this little human being. For most of her life she'd been told, by an overbearing and cold hearted mother, that she was worth nothing more than what her looks could get her. It was something both Regina, and her father, fought to prove completely untrue. In recent times though, with all that had happened, she'd begun to hear the echoes of her mother's voice once more, taunts that came to her in the middle of the night and stuck but now, holding the little life that she had created, sustaining her (their) child with her own body, all of those thoughts began to fade into nothing.

"You're a natural," she heard from beside her, his voice soft and his eyes warm when she turned to glance at him, struck by the way he was watching them. She wanted him to know, wanted him to revel in this with her, in the absolutely perfection that they'd created.

It was as she opened her mouth to say something, anything that could help in getting this secret out of her, that they both heard something of a scuffle in the corridor and turned to find Marian practically falling in through the doorway, closely followed by a panting Emma who was glaring at the back of the brunette's head as she made her way over to the man slowly rising from his chair and exclaiming "there you are sweetheart!" in a voice so very forcibly sweet that it had the blonde cringing as she looked to a confused Regina and gritted out "bitch is quick" through heavy breaths.

Marian was fussing about Robin as though she hadn't seen him for weeks as opposed to mere hours. It was as Regina began wondering why it had taken the woman so long to get here that the question was answered for her when Marian explained "your parents told me that I should wait," she smiled though the tremor in her voice gave her frustration away, "practically held me down at one point." Regina shot a look at her friend when Emma practically choked on a laugh, though her own lips were curling upward without her permission. Rose and David Locksley had always been two of the nicest people, save her own father, that Regina had ever had the pleasure of meeting. She'd instantly liked them and, Robin had once told her, they'd taken to her quite strongly too. It seemed the same couldn't be said for Marian.

She was still wittering on when Emma stepped forward, Robin's sigh of relief when Marian stopped talking was almost inaudible though Regina caught it and wondered on it curiously, and suggested that the two spoke outside as they were keeping baby girl Mills from getting her beauty rest. Regina looked down and found that her daughter was in fact beginning to drop off, her hungry pulls growing few and far between as she curled her tiny hand into a fist against Regina's chest. She couldn't help but drop her head down to press a tender kiss to wispy dark strands, breathing her baby in before whispering "sleep my love," and smiling as she began to do just that.

The two were gone by the time Regina looked up once more and she wasn't sure whether she was relieved or saddened to see Robin leave after having him close by for the first time in so very long.


"Who's the most beautiful girl in the world?" Emma cooed at the baby in her arms, pulling absolutely hilarious faces at the little brunette that had Regina chuckling from her place on the couch, "is it you?" she stroked a gentle finger against the wonderfully soft pale pink Babygro that covered her stomach, "I think it is."

"She grows up conceited and that's on you," Regina teased as she rubbed her palms up and down her thighs, her legs bent with her feet on the sofa that she lay on length ways. Her head was on the arm rest, a pillow between the rounded surface and her neck. She was bone weary and more than ready to lay her baby on her chest and take a much needed nap together – one of her absolute favourite pastimes.

Emma had kept her girl suitably entertained and, just on schedule, her little beauty's eyes began drooping as the blonde swayed them both in an almost hypnotic rhythm that had Regina's own eyes feeling heavy. She smiled warmly when her friend began slowly stepping towards her and held out her arms to take her baby back.

There was a little fussing at the change of person but after she'd been brought down to rest against her mother's chest, the baby settled with an adorable sigh and fell slowly into slumber as a warm palm rubbed up and down the length and width of her spine. Regina was dropping tender kisses to dark whisper soft strands when Emma began pulling on her jacket and making her goodbyes. "Thank you for coming over," she told the blonde extremely sincerely, "and thank you for all your help with the nursery."

They'd managed, between nap times, to install most of the furniture Regina hadn't been able to get to before the baby came and it was starting to resemble something of a room now. "No problem," Emma waved off her thanks, shrugging as she continued "call me tomorrow and we'll set up another little play date." And then, as though the last couple of minutes had been too long, the blonde darted forward and bent at the waist to press an adoring kiss to soft downy curls. She looked at the child on Regina's chest for a few moments more before shaking her head and telling her "seriously Regina, you make beautiful children."

The brunette chuckled with a roll of her eyes, glancing down at the proof of such a statement before looking back up and telling Emma to "get out of here," her hand resuming it's stroking on the baby's back as she watched Emma laugh before turning out into the hallway. She nestled herself down a little further into the couch, her eyes already dropping closed as she began singing a quiet lullaby to ensure that she wasn't going to wake up in only a few minutes with a cranky little girl.


It was the smell that woke her first, that had her brow furrowing even as she inhaled a deep breath through her nose. The baby was still sound asleep atop her, that much she could tell from the steady rise and fall of the tiny back her hands were still rested upon and she couldn't help but smile first of all, thinking of how lucky she was that this was her life now. This tiny little miracle cuddled into her with loosely clenched fists resting on either side of her angelic little face was hers to keep forever. Then she caught another whiff of whatever it was that had woken her.

She shifted slowly and as gently as was possible so as not to jostle the baby. She wasn't surprised that Emma had stayed, was sure that the blonde had sneaked back in not long after she had fallen asleep. She hadn't wanted to leave in the first place, not whilst Regina was still a little sore and recovering from giving birth. She'd barely left the brunette's apartment in the entire two weeks she'd been home.

She padded slowly across the room and into the hallway, her steps practically silent on the carpeted floor. The food smelt absolutely delicious and the sound of it sizzling in the pan had her smiling to herself as she grew closer to the kitchen. She could hear the sound of metal scraping against metal and was already picturing a plateful of sausages and bacon and, hopefully, eggs when she rounded the doorframe to her kitchen and stopped dead in her tracks, her heart stuttering in her chest and her arms tightening around the baby still sleeping in her arms.

"Robin…"

He started at the sound of her voice, jumping and letting out a little yelp that she'd find adorable in any other circumstances (and, in all honesty, she did find a little adorable even now) before moving a pan of bacon from the heat and turning with his hands raised in surrender, large metal spoon in one and the other palm out. "Before you accuse me of breaking and entering," he joked lightly, "Emma let me in before she left, told me to get you to eat something other than, and I quote, 'that damn healthy fibre bar shit'."

She couldn't help but chuckle softly at that though her brow was still furrowed in confusion as she asked "so you came here to cook me breakfast?"

"Oh," he exclaimed on a nervous laugh before shaking his head, "it wasn't my initial plan, no."

She looked from him, to the pan in front of him and back again before asking "then why are you here?"

"Now that," he pointed the spoon towards her with a smile, "is a question for after breakfast."


"Does she have a name yet?"

Regina looked up from the sausage she'd been cutting into, her jaw stilling mid-chew as her mind caught up to her body. In all honesty she'd been lost in her confusion as to why he was here, her question still not answered from earlier and it seemed he was in no hurry to. She finished her chewing and swallowed her mouthful of food before nodding gently, the guilt that had bloomed in her chest for the past nine months growing once more.

"Will you tell me?"

He'd plated their food and accompanied her when she'd moved to lay the baby down in the soft cot that had been attached to the end of her bed to ensure the baby space and to keep her close-by without the danger of hurting her should Regina move in the night. He'd watched, smiling all the while, as she'd pressed her lips tenderly to beautifully soft skin, had inhaled the scent of the child's hair before placing her down to sleep for a little longer. Having him that close during something like that was almost torture. She wanted him beside her, taking part - not just watching.

"I will," she told him after a long pause in which she could feel nothing but the dread of the truth bubbling up within her, bursting to be told. She needed to tell him, he needed to know. "But first, there's something else you should know Robin. About the baby." Her eyes had dropped to her plate as she'd worked up the courage to form the words, to voice them but as she looked up, she found them stuck in her throat at the sight of his eyes and what was in them – hope.

Her heart was pounding in her chest, a little nausea tightening her throat because this was going to change everything no matter how it went. She swallowed deeply, eyes closing for a moment before she inhaled a deep breath and opened her mouth right as a loud wail sounded from her bedroom. They were both up instantly and moving to get to the crying baby, Regina taking the lead as Robin followed closely behind.

"Hey sweetheart," she cooed, chuckling softly at little flailing arms and reddened cheeks, "were you feeling left out?" she scooped the baby up, one hand cradling her head and neck as she pressed her palm flat to her daughter's back. "Yes you were," she held her against her chest, her little cries loud in Regina's ear as she bounced on her knees.

Robin was standing in the doorway, watching once more though his gaze was different now, the same thing in those eyes that she'd seen at the table and it was almost automatic, the way she began moving towards him once her daughter began calming, watchful of the way his stance changed, the way he prepared himself.

She didn't even ask, just shifted the baby enough to keep her steady as she held her out towards Robin who accepted her into his arms easily. He held her in the crook of his arm and Regina's heart melted at the way she nuzzled against him, seeking the warmth of his thick grey sweater just as easily as she did her mother's.

He outstretched a finger to trace the slope of her nose, flicking gently off of the end as he smiled down at the baby in his arms, rocking soothingly from side to side in a move that seemed so natural to him. "She's beautiful Regina," he glanced up to lock eyes with her, the blue practically sparkling as he smiled at her, tears in his eyes, "just like her mother."

Her lips parted, her breath hard to find as she moved closer to him and the baby. It took absolutely no thought at all when she found herself whispering "her name is Scarlett," he repeated the name softly and almost breathlessly as she continued, a lone tear falling from her eye when she confessed "and she's your daughter."