Hi, here it's the next chapter, I try my best to update once a week and sorry for the delay, but the chapter it's pretty long, so I think you'll excuse me :P

I hope you like it!


Chapter. 4

Robin keeps his attention on Marian's text for a while after his awkward moment with Regina. He watches from the corner of his eye as she continues to sip her coffee, her eyes fixed on the surface of the table, and he thinks he's not the only one trying to avoid what he knows is yet to come.

He's not able to pretend they didn't have a past, that nothing happened all those years ago when they didn't split up in good terms. And she shouldn't either. They will have to see each other a lot more from now on, so they should clear some things between them, for the sake of their work if not for their will to become friends once again.

Robin really wanted that. He never expected he'd be lucky enough to have another opportunity to remedy their situation - nothing would make him believe she'd have a reason to make her get in touch with him again - so now that her work had made her do it, he can't lose the opportunity, he'll try his best to have her back in his life since he failed to do that the last time.

"Regina, I really can't do this," he sighs, after placing the phone back on the table and focusing his attention completely on her, even if she keeps avoiding to look at him, "Not before we talk about what happened."

His heart beats frantically in his chest as he waits for any reaction from her part, his hands playing with each other to keep him entertained, until she places the cup back on the small plate and her eyes shift to look at him, causing his breath to get caught in his throat.

She's trying to play it cool, he notices that. But, deep down, he knows she's as nervous as him. She continues to move the cup between her fingers, making it spin as she thinks about an answer to give it to him.

"You mean, about your son?" she replies, and it seems she remains as smart as she has always been, running away from unwelcome issues with clever answers. It really amuses him, makes him remember the old Regina for whom he had developed a huge crush back then.

"I mean us," he retorts, and if they still had the close friendship they used to have ten years ago, she'd be rolling his eyes at him, telling him there's no 'us' when it comes to them, and he'd mess with her just a little bit more before letting her win their small argument.

But it's not the case. They're not best friends anymore, for a really long time now, so she just clears her throat, straights her posture on her seat and tries to make him forget that topic, "I thought you were in a hurry."

He is, but it's not like he can't spare his time today to talk about this, knowing it's important for them to keep civilized through their meetings. If he doesn't clear things with her, he will keep thinking about their past every time he'll look at her, at those brown eyes that once used to stare at him with such adoration, or those lips he had the chance to kiss the night he messed everything with her... if only he could apologize for that one more time.

"And I'm working. I didn't call you to talk about that situation," she continues, reaching for her bag and taking from inside what appears to be an envelope.

She won't let him talk to her today, he realizes, and against his better instincts, he'll not push her to do it just for the simple reason he's really in a hurry. There's Marian messing with his life, even when she's not in his life. Would it really be that bad if she needed to take the bus to pick up Roland from school? It would certainly not cause so many problems as he's sure it will cause the fact he and Regina are avoiding to talk about important issues.

"Alright, but will you make time to talk about this?" he asks, because he has to make sure they won't forget about this so easily. He gave up from her before and he won't do it again, he just hopes she will do the same.

But she doesn't answer him, just sighs in response and focuses her attention on the envelope in her hand, placing it on the table in front of her before shifting her eyes to look at him, "Can you tell me about your son's situation? Who is he with? I'm guessing there wasn't any court intervention before."

"There wasn't," Robin agrees, thinking how recent this whole thing is, they haven't even agreed to a permanent schedule for Roland, and the moment he tells that to Regina, she immediately scolds him, and rightly so, arguing that the little boy needs that to help him to overcome the situation, not to mention that a schedule would help to prevent situations like this one, when Robin has to change his whole afternoon to pick his son when, initially, he would stay with his mother, "We just... we're unable to agree about anything."

And whose fault is that?

If only they were able to talk to each other without start a conflict that only ends up with one of them hanging up the phone, they would probably have a schedule by now. But, at the same time, there's something Robin knows. If it was easy, they weren't in this situation and he wouldn't need Regina to help him to get Roland's custody.

"So I take he stays with you tonight?" she asks, watching as he reaches for the menu and scans the options in an attempt to avoid looking at her, at the same time he shakes his head, informing her that he has to drop Roland at Marian's house after dinner. He hears her scoff, doesn't even make an effort to hide her indignation when she continues, "Robin, are you not in condition to drop him at school tomorrow morning?"

Of course, he is, is probably even more than Marian that claims to have a problem with her car to which he's sure that, if that's true, she'll not have the car ready the next day to drop Roland at school. Maybe Regina's right and he should really keep him for the night, he can tell Marian that excuse of her car and see how she'll react to it, "Yes, but-"

"So you should be able to keep him tonight," she interrupts, visibly forcing herself to calm down and making Robin wonder if this whole outrage is just because she's his lawyer (it's her job to advise him when it comes to the custody, after all) or because she's unable to erase the memory of their friendship of ten years ago, when she'd help him to fight his battles and fight it herself if he needed her to do it, "I mean, you tell me you don't have a schedule, so she can't really use that against you as long as she at least knows where he is," she explains, earning his attention with that, because he really dreads that his ex-wife can use anything against him to get Roland. He's not even comfortable to stand up to her too often, at least not as often as he should, and he hopes Regina will help him with that, encouraging him as she's doing now, "Not to mention how that will mess with the schedule your son should have before bed."

He can't help the corners of his lips to tilt up a little bit at her insinuation that Roland doesn't have a proper routine. She spoke too soon, but he can understand that her thought was well-founded, he just told her he and Marian didn't agree about which days he would have the boy at home, so how does he will make her believe he would worry about things like the bath before dinner or just a simple story before bed.

"Regina, do you have kids?" he asks, taking her by surprise with his question and watching as she fixes her eyes on the menu, still dangling in his hands, (that seems to be a pretty good escape for both of them) and then she's nodding slowly, as if she didn't want him to snoop into her life, and maybe she's right, maybe he shouldn't start asking questions too personal if he wants to get off on the right foot.

But he can't say it's not a surprise. Not that she won't be a good mother, but she's not married (at least she doesn't have a ring), unless it had happened something to the kid's father or she had gone through the same it's happening to him right now... That really not concerns you, Robin, he thinks. He knows it's not his business to be thinking about those things so it's better if he doesn't push her too much regardless that issue. They will have time for that, but not now when she's trying to do her work.

"So you know how difficult it is to survive without a routine," he settles for that. It's playful, lighthearted, and it doesn't seem he's trying to know more about her life. Besides, it makes her laugh. That pleasant, carefree smile he had missed all these years ago.

###

Why does he have to be that gentle that makes her sympathize with him already on their first meeting, when she should be focusing on her work and not on the way his eyes glow at the mention of his son. This just means he still has an effect on her, and she should've prepared herself for that when she knew it wouldn't be easy the moment she saw his name written on that piece of paper.

She notices how his smile widens every time he talks about the little boy, and it makes her rethink her choice ten years ago when she chose to raise Henry by herself because 'Robin was not deserving of him', he didn't seem prepared to such responsibility as being a father at his twenties.

She could have told him, see how he'd react to the news, but if he'd rejected her, she'd probably feel worse than what she felt when she made this decision. Besides, she can't really go back and change her choice, so she has to do her best to get through this without affect Henry, and then she'll be back to her life, alone with her sons and hopefully with another successful case for her professional records.

But for now, she hears as he talks about Roland's routine, how the dinner time seems to be the most eventful one, and she really can relate that to when Henry was the same age, it was always a challenge to get him to eat all his food, but she can't say the same about Dylan. Maybe it's a Locksley's thing.

"It gets better with age," she says, thinking how Henry had really improved when it comes to that issue and realizing that she can't really be saying those things, almost admitting she has an older son when if Robin finds out Henry's age, she'll have a hard time hiding the truth from him.

So she almost sighs in relief when he just tells her that he hopes she's right, together with that insufferable smile of him, and she takes the opportunity to turn the conversation back to what brought them there, the custody of his son and not the routines of the kids, "So I suppose you want his full custody?"

"Marian wants his full custody," he corrects, and she looks confused for a second before she realizes that this is the Robin she knew, or she thought she knew before their night had happened, so she shouldn't be this surprised when he explains that he just wants what's rightfully his, "I don't believe taking him away from his mother would be a wise decision."

It's not. Unless she's a terrible mother or gives him evidence of poor parenting. But it's not wise taking him away from his father too, and that was exactly what she'd done to Henry ten years ago, the same this woman wants to do to her son now.

So why this whole story makes her want to genuinely fight for Robin's opportunity to keep his son when she'd done exactly the opposite regarding Henry?

She wants to redeem herself, even when she knows that a child doesn't replace another.

"You're right," she agrees, taking a paper out of the envelope and placing it in front of him on the table, "So you have to fill a petition and explain exactly that."

She watches as he reads the paper in front of him, all the instructions regarding the changes that may occur during the process and that have to be mentioned further ahead, such as remarriage of a parent or just an introducing of a new person into the household of the child.

"I don't think these things will happen so soon," he tells her, offering her a shy smile that Regina knows intends to mask his discomfort towards the possibility of existing another man with the father's role in Roland's life. And she wants to tell him that, at this point, nobody will be able to replace him in Roland's eyes, but he has to be prepared for another man to enter his son's life because it's not like they will be alone forever. They are young, and that possibility should apply to Robin too. There's still time for him to meet someone special, but that's certainly not a conversation she'll have with him.

"It's the rules and it's my job inform you of them," she explains, feeling really helpless when she hears him mutter 'of course' in return. But it's the truth, and to avoid any more trouble, she has to keep a certain distance between them, "So I think it's all for today. You fill the petition and let me know when you do it?"

She reaches for her bag one more time, taking out from her wallet a card with her number and handing it to him, and she notices how he glances at the time on his phone, probably running late to pick up his son.

"I should give you my personal-"

"I will know it's you when you call me," she interrupts, because there's no point in him running late, and she really needs him to leave so she can have a moment to recover from this meeting before picking her son... their son, she thinks bitterly. And then he's getting up from his seat, has her doing the same just like her mother had always told her to do, and he must think this changed everything between them because he leaves her with a kiss on her cheek and a serious promise that he'll call her later to let her know about the petition.

Is he serious? This was not a date, she doesn't need him to promise her that he'll call her later when he really needs to do that since she's his lawyer.

The sound of the door closing behind her has her letting herself fall to the chair one more time, and her hands rise to her face to rub her eyes, at the same time she tells herself to stop judging everything concerned to Robin since if it was another person to tell her that, she'd be glad for the attention.

He was probably just being thoughtful. Excessively, unreasonably thoughtful, but, either way, that shouldn't affect her this much.

She glances out of the window towards the parking lot, to the spot where Robin had parked his car, and sees him seated inside, behind the wheel, just messing with his phone before his eyes find hers and he offers her a quick smile as he turns the engine on. Great, she was clearly observing him, and she remains watching him as he removes the car from the tiny space and makes his way down the road.

She should've left the coffee at the same time so she couldn't feel the need to watch him go, but there's still early for pick up Henry, and late for pick up Dylan first, so she decided that was better wait here than inside her car outside the school. She can always take advantage and buy something for Henry to eat.

Before she could even leave her seat to order something at the counter, the sound of her phone echoes through the room, together with the smiley face of her older son popping up on the screen.

"Hi, sweetie," she answers with a smile, mimicking the picture of a six-year-old she had chosen to go with his number. She should change to a more updated one, but she really loves that picture of him, laughing as he plays at the park, "Did you finish your classes?"

She hears as he confirms her suspicions, tells her he's ready for her to pick him up and says he will wait at the front door.

"Alright, I'm on my way," she hangs up the phone, walking towards the counter to pay for her drink, thinking that maybe she would even have time to take her son for ice cream.

###

It's half past three in the afternoon when he leaves Regina to pick up his son. He has to be at school at four, and he still has an at least half an hour ride to get there since Roland's school is conveniently near Marian's work and in the opposite direction of Robin's.

He'd been pleasant surprised when Regina had texted him the address of the coffee shop and had found out that it was pretty close to his workplace, that means she works close too, he hopes, not to mention that he'd be able to remain on that side of the town for the day. But then Marian called him, and now he has to drive to the daycare that he hadn't even agreed to put Roland in, in the first place, but Marian had claimed that it would be the best option since she's the one to pick him up most of the times.

What a lie. It should be that way at the beginning, but with all her excuses, Robin ends up picking him up a lot more.

So he finds himself thinking about his conversation with Regina, when she told him he should have the boy for the night, and this is one of the reasons for him to agree with her, because he'll have to drive half an hour to get home with his son after picking him up, and then another half to drop him at Marian's house when he should be already tucked up and asleep in bed.

This is not what Robin wants for his son. This probably just confuses him and makes this situation even more difficult, and makes Robin sound like an ungrateful person because he always ends up fighting with Marian and being accused of not wanting to be with his son when he has the opportunity.

And that's not true. All he wanted was to have a fixed schedule when he'd know which days he'd have Roland with him, and when he'd have to prepare everything to receive him at home.

He refuses to give into Marian's whims.

So here he is, comfortably seated in the driver's seat and sending a text to Marian, telling her Roland would stay with him tonight and without giving her room to argue. They don't have a schedule, just like Regina explained to him, so she can't do anything about it, Roland is still as much his son as hers and he can sleep in his father's house if he pleases. He's always asking for it, to sleep in his 'papa's house' and arguing that he has to take care of the little hamster Robin agreed to buy, more to keep him company than really because Roland's pleads.

He places his phone on the seat beside him, lifts his eyes before start the car, only to find Regina staring back at him from inside the coffee shop. And she's really staring, is not worried to hide it from him as he offers her a quick smile before makes his way down the road. He knows he will probably hit the traffic of the afternoon, so he can't really be even later, he has to choose one of the back roads if he wants to get there on time.

But his mind is on Regina.

Why was she staring? She seemed genuinely interested, it felt like she wanted to tell him something, but he had left her before she could even get the chance. He'll wait to see if that's truth when he calls her. But not now, he doesn't want to seem so desperate to talk to her, even if he actually is.

He spots Roland's daycare after another twenty minutes driving his car, and he notices that Marian hasn't texted him yet, but he doesn't really care, he made his choice and he'll make sure Roland will stay with him, as long as the boy wants it too. He's sure he will. At least, it's what he ends up always asking for, even if the reason is because he's too tired to leave his father's house so late in the evening.

He enters the parking lot and parks the car, a smile on his face as it always is when he's about to see his son, and he heads for the front door with his phone in his pocket, just in case he needs to talk to Marian one more time.

"Daddy!" he sees his son as soon as he reaches the hallway of his class, making his smile widen instantly at the sight in front of him. Roland is always this enthusiastic when he sees Robin, running towards him and launching himself into his father's arms to hug him tightly, and this time is no different, he runs down the hallway and wraps his arms around Robin's neck, giggling as his father holds him in his arms and kisses his cheek, "It's you today."

Robin tries to ignore the impact of his words, it makes him sad to hear those words coming from Roland, but he's too happy to let that tear him down, is decided to push the thoughts about Marian out of his mind and focus just on the little boy in his arms, laughing and wriggling as Robin tickles him with his beard against his baby skin, "You tickle, daddy," he giggles, and how Robin had missed these moments. No matter how many times he's able to see Roland during the week, it's not the same as actually living with him.

"I missed you, little man," he says, and Roland gives him another hug as Robin starts to walk towards the hangers to get the coat and the little bag Roland takes to school every day, "How was school?"

"Good," Roland shrugs, releasing Robin from his embrace so his father could place him back on the floor to grab both things and help his son to put on his jacket, "I'm gonna stay with you, papa?"

He's looking at Robin with his pleading eyes, almost begging him for it than really asking, and if it was completely up to Robin, he'd answer him what he knows he wants to hear, but it's not, so he has to talk to Marian before giving him false hopes, even if he's decided to keep him.

"I... I will talk to mama about it, okay?" he answers, feeling more upset with Marian than he was before. If she thought about their son, she would tell him to keep him for the night without Robin having to ask, but she wanted everything in her own way, without caring if he would have to mess with Roland's schedule to give into her will.

Roland is already running back towards his teacher to say goodbye, pointing at Robin at the door and probably explaining he'll leave with his father, so Robin waves to announce his presence and holds Roland's hand when he walks back to him, so they start to make their way back to the car.

"I'm sure little John will be happy to see you," Robin says as he opens the back door to help Roland into his seat, and is immediately presented with an excited giggle from his son, who asks if he can play with the hamster as soon as he gets home, "Alright, and then bath?"

It's not difficult to convince him about the bath time, he actually likes it, so the ride home is pretty peaceful. He hears as his son talks about his day at school, the games with his friends and the new things he'd learned, but Robin has been thinking about this whole situation - and about what he'd told Regina about the custody. He told the truth when he said he didn't want to take his son away from his mother, but at the same time, he wonders if they would be able to share the decisions about Roland or if it would be just better if one of them had the full custody.

If it was his, he would allow Roland to stay with his mother, of course, he just doesn't believe they would be able to make decisions together when they can't agree on a simple schedule. He probably has to think about this a little bit more, before start to fill the petition Regina asked him, probably should talk to Marian about this, even if he knows what she wants and that doesn't include Robin in his son's life. At least, not as much as he wants it.

He doesn't want a mere day a week to be with the boy, or just to be Marian's chauffeur when she needs him to pick up Roland from school, so he will counter that. Will ask for the full custody if that means he gets to see his son, and will not push Marian away from Roland when he knows that that is the worst thing someone can do to him. Push him away from his parents. That would make everything harder. Roland doesn't understand (at least fully) what is happening, doesn't know why his parents are fighting all of a sudden, and why Robin left their house one night and never came back. And that bothers Robin too because he's the one who left, so he's the one to blame.

"Daddy, I can do it," Roland interrupts his thoughts, stretching his hand towards his father so he could give him the key for him to open the front door of their house.

He likes to do it. Likes to feel he's a big boy. And he is, is growing more and more each day, and Robin hates to admit it, but he's not a baby anymore, is a child who will need both parents' attention to help him grow.

He needs to be there for Roland.

And he is here now, walking into Robin's house and tossing his bag to the floor to run towards the rodent waiting for him in the kitchen. Roland will want to get him out of the cage, Robin knows it, so he'll take advantage and clean it... if the ring of his phone didn't interrupt him in the process.

He tells Roland to wait, doesn't really want a missed hamster in his kitchen, and walks towards the foyer to pick it up, sighing when he hears the voice on the other side of the line, "What was that text, Robin?"

"Hi, Marian," he greets, trying to ignore the way she continues to ramble without giving Robin a chance to speak, but, well, he was already expecting it. He feels lucky for managing to get home before Marian called him, otherwise he would have been having this conversation in the car, in front of Roland, and that wouldn't be better. This way he can choose for the privacy of his room, while Roland entertains himself with the TV, too much distracted to pay attention to his father's conversation, "He asked me to stay."

"No," she says immediately, arguing that he's four and he doesn't get to make the decisions, he doesn't know what it's best for him. Of course, because the best for him is to make a half an hour ride to his mother's house when he should be asleep instead, that makes sense, "He's closer from school here. You can have him for the weekend," there's that excuse again, always being used against him, and he has to fight the urge to tell her for the umpteenth time that he didn't choose that daycare, she did it. But now Roland has his friends, so Robin won't insist on changing schools, but he hates to hear her using that explanation, "In fact, I'll be out for the weekend so I need you to stay with him."

"I'll stay with him," Robin tries to hide his anger towards Marian, towards the fact that he gets to see his son when she needs him to, and not because he's his father and should be able to spend time with the boy. But that will change, he remembers the talk with Regina, so he won't let Marian dictate his life anymore, "And I'll stay with him today."

"Robin-"

"I'm his father, Marian, and I can have him during the week," there's a silence when Robin remembers the boy is still in the living room, and he probably can't really hear him since Robin is locked in his bedroom, but it doesn't hurt to prevent it from happening, Roland doesn't need to hear their fights, "I'll drop him on my way to work, you know it's better than drop him at your house tonight, he'll be tired."

That should convince her of his idea. It's not like she doesn't care about Roland, and he's sure she knows he's right about that. Roland will be deep asleep when he gets to her house, so what it's the point of that if Robin can drop him at school in the morning?

"That's why I wanted him at home before dinner."

Robin runs his hand through his hair in despair, exhales heavily and tries one more time, "Marian, I want to be with him."

He doesn't know what to say anymore. Doesn't want to keep Roland against her will, that would be already halfway to piss her even more, but he doesn't want to give in to her every time, doesn't she should do the same sometimes?

"Alright," he hears her sigh from the other end of the line and he still can't believe she'd given in, this time, "We'll talk later about the weekend."

He offers her an 'of course' that is meant to comfort her, but she hangs up without another word, leaving Robin is his bedroom, phone in his hand and a sad smile on his face.

He's happy for having Roland, of course, he is, but he'd rather get through this without fight with Marian every time. They will probably overcome this, eventually, but till then, he wished they could be civilized, because of Roland, or even because of them, it's just exhausting having to argue every time he wants a day with his son, it's worthless. He should be able to enjoy his time with Roland without feeling that pang of guilt for having argued with his mother again.

He stands from his bed and leaves the room, heading towards the living room where he knows Roland is watching his cartoons, and at least he feels comfortable at the feeling he'll be able to tell his son he can stay with him today.

###

The following day goes by fast for Robin. He drops Roland at the daycare before work, and that's enough to leave him with a smile on his face that lasts for the rest of the day.

Tonight, Roland will be staying with Marian, (actually he will be staying with her the rest of the week because Robin will have him on weekend) so the blue-eyed man takes the chance and invites his lifelong friend Neal to a drink at the pub beside his work. He has news to tell him, most of them related to a certain brunette, who happens to be now his lawyer and had managed to mess with his nights already.

He barely slept that night, between thinking about his situation with Marian and the one with Regina, and apart from that, he has to admit he can't get out of his head the image of big brown eyes staring at him from the window, with the same glow he recognizes from ten years ago.

She stills look beautiful, even more now that life brought them together one more time - just to make his life harder if he continues to think about Regina this way - but he can't help himself, he recognizes a beautiful woman when he sees one and Regina is definitely in that category.

"Hey, mate, long time no see," he hears Neal greet from behind him, patting his shoulder and making the stool where Robin is seated turn with the movement, "Where have you been?"

"Working," he smiles at his friend, at the same time he gestures towards the bartender in an attempt to call him so he can write down their order.

They both settle for beer, their drink of choice, but since is a weeknight and Robin has to be up early to go to work the following morning, he promises himself he'll just drink one, to go with their talk because he knows he'll need it.

He's already expecting a lecture when he informs Neal about Regina, his friend knows everything that happened between them so he expects him to say he can't get too much attached to her if he'll have to see her a lot more from now on, as well as how he'll have to keep things professional if he doesn't want to make the same mistake twice.

As if Robin doesn't know that himself.

Of course, he doesn't want to mess things up this time. All he wants is to have Regina back in his life, as a friend or just a support when it comes to Roland's situation.

"You called me to talk about work?" Neal teases, at the same time their drinks are placed in front of them, causing Robin to immediately take a sip of his beer to handle where this conversation is about to go, "How come I don't believe that?"

"Me and Marian broke up a few weeks ago," Robin blurts out, waiting for Neal's reaction, which didn't take long to make itself noticed when he almost chokes on his own drink and stares back at Robin, who was trying to seem calm since the worst is yet to come, "We divorced, actually."

"How... what about Roland?" Neal asks, placing his cup in front of him and focusing completely his attention on his friend. This was bad, very bad, Neal was already staring astounded at Robin, so he didn't want to imagine the man's reaction when he tells him about who his lawyer is for Roland's custody.

"We are working on his custody, actually, which leads me to another issue," Robin stops himself, thinking this probably needed more time to be explained properly, but he has to talk to someone otherwise he'll probably make another mistake, he needs some advice so he knows how to deal with Regina's situation, "I had to find a lawyer as you must know, I just didn't expect my lawyer to be... Regina," he mutters almost to himself, but he's sure Neal had heard him when the other man's eyes widen in response, the cups with the beers long forgotten between them.

"You don't mean... your Regina?" Neal asks unbeliever, already knowing the answer before Robin nods to let him know he's thinking right, he's really talking about his former best friend for whom Neal knows Robin had fallen in love with and then had messed everything.

"I wouldn't say 'mine' but-"

"Robin, this is good," Neal interrupts him, a genuine smile on his face as he takes the blue-eyed man by surprise, and, what does he mean when he says this is good? This is far from good, or it should be, Robin is completely confused with this whole situation, "I always knew you two were destined to be."

"Whoa, stop there," Robin immediately stops his rambling. Is he crazy? This hardly means Regina is ready to forgive him or to accept him in her life again. Not to mention that Robin doesn't know how he feels about her anymore. They are different people, they are not the two young adults that had slept with each other in college, they are parents now, with their own families that would be caught up in the middle if something happened between them... which is very difficult to believe in the first place, "This is about Roland, Neal, I didn't even think about her that way."

"What a bunch of lies, Robin," the other man insists, sipping his drink once again before continue with his line of thoughts, "You were completely crazy about her before the whole thing happens, do you want me to believe you didn't feel anything when you met her after all these years?"

Robin sighed at that, because yes, he had felt something when he saw her enter that coffee for their meet, or even when he heard her voice on the other end of the line when she called him in the first place. He'd missed that voice, would recognize it anywhere, anytime, but the moment she said she'd be his lawyer, everything in his head just went blank. He didn't know how to reply to her, what he should say in a situation like that when their 'separation' had been so tough, so he'd let her do the talking and had just agreed to meet with her at the coffee, hoping the time he'd have till then would help him to think.

"Yes, I... I never thought I'd see her again," he confesses with a smile, that quickly disappears from his face when he remembers that they haven't met again to start a new friendship after ten years, but for her to help him with the situation of his son, "But... she has her life, Neal, I don't want to intrude."

"You could have been part of that life," the other man states, knowing that would, at least, help him to open his eyes about Regina's situation since at college he didn't know how to do that. Robin rolls his eyes at that, mutters a 'Yeah, thanks a lot' and sips his beer in an attempt to mask the discomfort those words really caused him. Both of them had made mistakes when they chose to sleep with each other that night - she shouldn't have hidden that that was her first time with someone and he shouldn't have allowed that to happen in the first place, nor should have let his ex-girlfriend kiss him, nor should've given up on Regina so easily... alright, he needed to admit he had most of the fault, but now there was nothing they could do about it so why his friend insisted on reminding him of that situation, "Is she single?"

God, is he serious?

"I don't know, Neal," Robin sighs, trying to convince himself he hadn't tried to find out the same thing when he shook her hand to greet her at the coffee. He doesn't even know why he did that, he knows that he'd lost that right a long time ago, but he couldn't ignore the fact that he still cared about her and would want nothing more than to know that she's happy, "But she has kids."

"So there's a father somewhere."

Alright, this was crossing the line, they were talking about her personal life and Robin didn't feel comfortable at all. Maybe it hadn't been a good idea to tell Neal about this whole thing since he just seemed to want to push him into Regina's arms once again.

"Probably it is, yeah, but I don't think that concerns us," Robin replies, feeling a stab in his heart when he admits that probably Regina really has someone waiting for her at home every day, the father of her child, who had the chance to have this type of life with her.

Who is kidding? He thinks about these things, even if he doesn't want to admit it out loud.

"But there's another thing I wanted to know your opinion," Robin tries to change the topic, taking out of his satchel the papers Regina had given him with the instructions for the petition, "I'm considering to ask for the full custody."

###

Regina sits on the couch with an almost sleeping Dylan against her chest, right after she reads her two boys their usual good night story and leave Henry tucked in his bed. Dylan is grumpier than usual, so she decides to snuggle on the couch with her younger son, hoping that will help him to fall asleep more easily and would allow her to have a peaceful night of sleep. She needs it, especially when she hasn't been able to have that the night before when she had just remained awake thinking about her meet with the blue-eyed man and the fact that that same man is her son's father. And she shouldn't have. She shouldn't spend so much time thinking about that man, about what they could have been if he hadn't left her the following morning, or if she had told him about Henry when she found out she was pregnant. That moment had been an emotional roller coaster.

She'd missed her period for two months now, two months after she'd slept with Robin and had rushed to tell Emma they'd done that without any type of protection. They were drunk and she wasn't on the pill since he'd been her first one and completely unexpected, and she'd been sick. Morning after morning she'd leave their room towards the bathroom. Regina just knew it, even before her friend had dragged her to a pharmacy to buy her a pregnancy test. She hadn't known how to react when she'd seen the evidence right in front of her, the two pink lines right there in her hand, letting her know that her suspicions were really true. She was pregnant and it was Robin's.

She talked about abortion with Emma, that way she could complete her studies and would focus on starting a family later, but soon she admitted to herself that she wasn't able to do that to her child, the mistake had been hers and not the baby's so he shouldn't pay for her actions, not when she had other options on the table like adoption. It would probably provide him a better life and would allow her life to go back to normal, under the circumstances. But that would mean she'd have to drop college anyway, not to mention she'd have to talk about that with Robin. He'd have to give his approval since this baby was his too.

So she had kept him, had made an appointment at her doctor immediately and had fallen in love with this child from the moment she saw the baby on the screen, or what apparently was her baby.

"You'll have to tell Robin anyway, you know?" Emma said as Regina continued to examine the ultrasound picture, imagining if she would have a boy or a girl, or how the baby would look like when it got older. Brown eyes, blue eyes? Or brown hair like hers and Robin's dimples, "It'll be hard to hide when your belly starts to grow."

"He won't see me when that happens," Regina placed the picture inside her wallet, stopping in front of the mirror and staring at her still-flat belly. She'd have to find a way to support herself and this child, and that would be difficult to do if she kept paying for her college and didn't look for a well-paid job. Not to mention she'd have to look for a place to rent, she couldn't return to her mother's house now that she was free. She didn't even know how to tell her mother in the first place that her life would change completely in a few months.

"I can't keep study, Emma," she turned to her friend, placing a hand on her stomach and rubbing it back and forth, "It'll be just me and this baby, I have to work if I want to support both of us."

"I get it, but Robin should help, he knocked you up," Emma argued, leaving her seat on the bed to move towards her friend, who had walked towards the wardrobe to pull her suitcase from the higher shelf, "I do that."

"I'm not invalid," Regina protested, letting her remove the bag anyway and moving to take Emma's previous seat on the bed.

She won't lie and say she couldn't use help when the baby was born but she certainly didn't need it. Plenty of women had succeeded as single mothers, she would be just another one in that group, and she would make sure she would be as successful as any of them.

"And I don't need Robin, we can't be a family, anyway, so it would just bring me more trouble," Regina continued, watching as the blonde placed the bag beside her friend on the bed and moved to stand right in front of the brunette, her arms crossed in front of her chest and a suspicious look on her face, "Besides, we already have our family, right?" she talked to her belly this time, addressing her baby, oblivious that the look on Emma's face had changed completely, "It's you, me and your crazy aunt Emma."

"Hey, don't encourage the kid to call me crazy," Emma teased, pulling Regina from the bed and into a tight hug, and murmuring how proud she was of her and that she wouldn't be able to make the decision Regina was making at that moment. She would put her life in standby to raise this child, without any help - apart from Emma, who couldn't do much - and she would start from scratch, without a house or a proper job, and without any experience when it comes to be a mother, "Promise me you'll tell me if you need help, any help," the blonde reinforced, and Regina knew she was referring to money, as if she would be able to ask her for that type of help.

It wasn't fair, she'd messed up, she'd have to fix it, it wouldn't be Emma to blow her savings even if she insisted that her part-time job as an assistant at the station guaranteed her good money. It was hers, not Regina's, "I'll be fine."

"Regina..."

"I'll, Emma," she assured, squeezing her friend's hands before the blonde pulled it away from her grasp to place it on Regina's belly and mutter something to the baby.

"Take care of her for me and try to be good for your mommy, okay?"

Henry had been good, had been more than good on the nights he'd let her recover her sleep after an especially busy day, or when she needed to leave him with the nice old lady at the diner beside her workplace because she needed to pick up an extra shift. And he would always stay without a problem, without making her feel a terrible mother for returning to an already sleepy Henry, and she was sure that helped a lot. She didn't know what she would have done if Henry didn't let her leave him so easily, she couldn't subject the old lady to look after a crying baby that would probably disturb her clients on top of that, not to mention she wouldn't be able to focus on her work knowing her son would be crying for her on the building next door. It wouldn't do, and only she knows how that extra money had helped, a lot.

She was lost in her thoughts when she felt her phone vibrating beside her - she'd removed the sound so there was no chance to wake up Dylan - and she considered to ignore it and just focus on the baby on her lap, but he wasn't even asleep yet, so there was no harm if she picked up the call, "Yes?"

"Regina?" she hears from the other side, causing her to straight her posture at the sound of his voice and her son to start whimpering at her sudden movement.

Calm down, Regina, what was that for?

"Ugh... bad timing?" he asks, probably hearing the whines coming from her son as she tries to stand, at the same time she balances the phone between her ear and her shoulder and mutters something to soothe the baby, "I can call tomorr-"

"It's fine," she assures, now holding the phone in her hand while she paces the room in an attempt to lull her son to sleep. He'd stopped complaining, but now she was sure that would be an eventful night, between Robin's call and Dylan's tantrum, she knew she wouldn't get much sleep tonight, either, "I was just... It doesn't matter, I'm sure what you have to say it's more important."

"Nothing should be more important than our kids," he replies, and she holds her breath at that, at the several meanings she can get from those words, and it just comes to her head the image of her older son, and how Robin will be mad at her if he ever discovers she had... she is hiding Henry from him. Maybe now he's a good father and his son is the most important thing in his life, but would be the same ten years ago? Would he give in part of his life to raise a child with her?

At the time, she was sure that no. They weren't even together, how would she believe that he would do whatever it takes to be part of his son's life?

She takes a deep breath as she tightens the grip around Dylan's little body, and she walks towards the mirror on the wall, turning so that she could see her son's face, only to see in the reflection his eyes almost closing, "I... He's pretty much asleep and I'm sure what you have to say it's about your son, too."

"It's about the petition," he agrees, and she pictures him seated on the couch, studying the papers at the same time he talks to her, "But we can talk tomorrow, I shouldn't have called in the first place."

Why he has to be so stubborn? She's telling him he can talk to her so that means she can talk. It's probably even better now because if he calls tomorrow and happens to be Henry to pick up the phone (as he likes to do sometimes), she'd be in trouble, a big, big trouble, "Robin, speak. Do you have any question about the petition?"

"I already filled it, actually," he answers, and she replies with a genuine 'great', because the sooner he gives her the papers, quickly they can start to take care of the case, and quickly the whole situation with his son will be settled down, "Do you want me to meet you somewhere? Or I can leave the papers at your office tomorrow?"

Regina sighs inaudibly at that, at the prospect of seeing him again after only two days, but tells him that they can meet the next day, and he can choose the place this time because she 'could use a bit of fresh air after a day inside the office', so she will be waiting for him to send her the address just as she had done to him the first time they had met.

"Alright, I'll choose a nice place so you can clear your head," he says, and she can spot the playful tone in his voice, making her laugh genuinely before she forced herself to stop as she remembers the baby sleeping in her arms. She can't let Robin get too close, they have to maintain a professional relationship for everyone's sake.

"Thank you, I'll be waiting then."

She walks towards Dylan's room to put the sleeping baby in his crib, but the phone is still against her ear, none of them willing to hang up the call, so they just remain in silence while Regina tucks her younger son beneath the covers.

It's just when she's back in the living room that she addresses Robin one more time, not really knowing why they're still talking to each other, "I just put him to bed."

"I'm sorry if I woke him-"

"No, he was in a bad mood already," she assures, her gaze fixed on the black screen of the TV, but she doesn't turn it on, she's just pleased to hear Robin's voice on the other end of the line.

"I should let you rest too," he offers, making her feel a pang of disappointment in her chest to hear his goodbyes.

She shouldn't, but she was enjoying talking to him, relishing in the old sensation of having him just a phone call away, "Thank you for letting me know about the petition."

"Anytime, milady, have a good night."

"You too," she replies, hanging up the call and letting her phone fall to the spot on the couch beside her. Damn it, she's already letting this whole thing caught up with her. She never thought she'd feel so weak every time she hears his voice, let alone having to face him in less than twenty-four hours.


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See you in the next chapter.