For this Wild Card, I decided to write a follow up piece to my story from Prompt Party called "Drawn to You". Again, like my other sequels, if you haven't read Drawn to You, this will still make sense lol. Enjoy part 2!

Day 7: Wild Card #2 - Drawn to Love

"Regina, where are we going?" Robin asks, looking over at his girlfriend as she drives them down the street.

They've been together for six months now, ever since he caught her staring at him in the art gallery. He'd laughed then, learning she was an artist, and the creator of his favorite piece in the show. They'd gone out that day, laughing and learning all about the other over coffee in a nearby café. He'd discovered that her son, just like his, was a huge fan of comic books. They'd finished coffee and had walked to the closest comic book store they knew of, each picking out a particular copy for their children.

"Henry loves Thor," Regina tells him, walking to the next row of comics. She tells him her son already has so many thanks to her and her best friend, Tink, who always seems to come over with a new one for her son. "Who does Roland like?"

He thinks for a second, always getting their names mixed up. "He likes the blonde guy. Captain America?"

Regina giggles, nodding and saying Henry had gone through a Captain America phase and she'd be glad to look through Henry's old collection and find ones he's willing to part ways with.

"That'd be great," he tells her sincerely, "Thank you, Regina."

They continue thumbing through the stacks of comics, both finally settling on the perfect ones for their boys. After he'd paid for both comics, against Regina's protests, he takes her hand, linking their fingers and leading her out of the store. It was a great first date, indeed.

They've been inseparable since then, ending their first date with a gentle kiss and a promise to call. He'd called that night, telling her he couldn't stay away (which she agreed, saying she was quite taken with him as well), and they'd gone to dinner two nights later.

It's been wonderful, almost perfect even (minus their few and far between arguments that every couple has), being with Regina Mills. She's guarded around other people, always having her walls up to protect herself from getting hurt like she had in a past, but he's scaled those walls, breaking down her defenses and getting to know the real her. She's creative, witty, intelligent, funny, and loves with her whole heart. She's a wonderful mother; it's one of the things that attracted him so much to her in the first place.

They've spent time with their children together over the last half year, taking them to movies, the park, or different museums, both discovering that their sons had a lot more in common than loving comic books of their favorite superheroes.

"You'll see," she giggles, taking his hand that rests on the middle console. She'd claimed earlier that it was her turn to drive, since she was the one to plan this date. They'd dropped both boys off with his friend John, promising not to stay out too late, though his friend encouraged them to take all the time they needed with a wink and shove out the door.

Robin brings their joined hands up to his mouth, pressing a soft kiss to her knuckles. He loves this woman, hasn't told her yet, but he knows he does. He's never felt like this for anyone other than his late Marian. It's been almost four years since she died, and he truly never thought he'd have these feelings again.

Sighing, he sits back, forfeiting his attempts to guess where they're going and lets her take the lead. He takes out his phone, scrolling through his Instagram feed and reading funny memes off to her to pass the time.

Pulling into the parking lot, she breathes out an okay, we're here, and he looks up from his phone.

Sherwood Gallery. The place where they'd met.

He scans his eyes over to hers, silently questioning what they're doing there.

"There's some new pieces I wanted us to check out."

Robin nods, always up for an evening of art browsing, and opens his door, going around to her side. Opening her door, she steps out, leaning up on her toes to press a quick kiss to his lips.

"Shall we, milady?" he asks, holding out his arm for her to take. She does, smiling all the way inside.

{******************}

They walk into the gallery, linking hands and perusing the different paintings on display. She's nervous, shouldn't be - it's just Robin - but she has a surprise for him, and she hopes he likes it.

"You remember that painting I did of Henry? The one that was in the exposé the day we met," she says as they move closer to her surprise. She's been working on this piece for the last two months in secret, adding touches to it during the day while Robin was at work, and sneaking to the basement on the nights he'd slept over to get it completed in time.

He hums in acknowledgement. "The painting I couldn't take my eyes off of the day you couldn't take yours off me," Robin says with a grin on his face.

She giggles, swatting his chest playfully as he wraps his arm around her shoulder. He's such a flirt, and she loves him for it. Loves all of him, in fact, just hasn't told him yet. Regina steers their bodies to the left, signaling the next room in the exhibit with her chin. "Well, I have a surprise for you."

"A surprise?" he asks with a furrow to his brow.

She stops, tugging the arm that's resting around his torso so he halts his movements. She turns, smiling up at him before roaming her eyes to the right. He does the same, narrowing his eyes in suspicion as he turns his head to look at what she's gazing upon.

Hanging on the wall is her newest piece. The accompanying sister painting, if you will, to her Boy with a Book, the one she'd created of Henry lying on his stomach reading a book. Robin had loved that piece, couldn't stop talking about it for months, always complaining that he was upset someone had bought it before he could.

"I just loved it so much," he whines with a playful pout to his lips. "If a beautiful woman hadn't distracted me, dragging me off to coffee, I could've bought it."

"Hmm," she hums, wrapping her arms around his waist as he cleans the dishes from their dinner. He's cooked for her tonight, spaghetti this time, and she's offered to clean up, but he refused, saying this was his night to treat her. "Something tells me you liked the coffee more than the painting."

He chuckles, turning to press a kiss to her cheek. "I like the artist I got to take to coffee more than the coffee."

Shaking her head, she rolls her eyes. Always such the romantic. "That was a month ago, Robin," she giggles, "and you're still going on about that damn painting."

She tells him she might just have to create a smaller version of the portrait for him to keep on his desk. He shuts the water off, drying his hands on the dish towel and turning to face her. Leaning against the kitchen counter, he pulls her to him, placing his arms around her torso. His hand runs down, cupping her bottom before roaming back up, coming to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear. She closes her eyes, sighing at the contact as her head tilts back, settling into the contact. She got so lucky, staring at this stranger in an art gallery.

"It was a great painting," he defends, leaning down to kiss her lips. She smiles into his lips, nodding and promising to make a smaller one just for him. Unbeknownst to him, she'd started on it last week, vowing to herself to have it completed for his birthday in a few weeks.

"Regina," Robin breathes, pulling her from her memory. "Is this…"

"Yes," she nods, cutting him off before he can even finish his question. "You loved Boy with a Book so much, I thought I'd give you Family with a Book."

He covers his mouth, untangling his other arm from around her shoulders as he moves closer to the canvas. He sighs, turning his gaze to her, then back to the painting. He scans over the portrait, pointing and smiling at all the little details she'd put in it.

She smiles, can already tell he loves it. There on the canvas sits Robin on the floor with Roland in his lap and Henry by his side. His arm is draped over Henry as Roland holds a book in his lap, reading to the two older boys. It was a sweet moment, one she'd walked in on a few months ago. She'd just finished cleaning up from dinner and was walking back to Henry's bedroom to tell them it was time to say goodnight. Before she could get the words out though, a lump formed in her throat. Roland was practicing his reading skills, sounding out words in a book probably a little above his reading level, as Henry and Robin listened on intently, helping when need be. Robin was running one hand through Roland's curls as the other rested around her son's shoulders, pulling him closer into their sweet moment.

It was beautiful, and she knew right then that she had to paint it. She'd started that night, just sketching out their bodies to give her a good place to start. Over the next two months, she'd worked on it religiously, filling in and shadowing where need be until it was finally complete.

"I love it," Robin vows in a reverent whisper, turning to look at her with amazement in his eyes. "It's beautiful, Regina."

She smiles, taking his hand and leading him to the bench where she'd sat so many months ago, sketching his face without him knowing (or so she thought). She tells him how the gallery loved it when she'd brought it to them, and they'd invited her to have another display in their next show. The new exposé won't be until next month, but until then they are going to feature some of the upcoming artwork from all the artists that will be featured. "I have a few more pieces that I showed you the other night that I need to finish to go in the show, but this was the most important."

{******************}

He's dumbfounded. Truly amazed with the talent that his girlfriend possess. The lifelikeness of him and the boys blows him away; he can almost hear Roland's stumbled reading and Henry helping him stretch words out through the painting itself. He's always known she was talented, it's one of the first things to draw him to her, but this is… stunning.

"I'm so proud of you," he says as he situates himself on the bench, his knee grazing against hers. It's funny, sitting here, knowing this is where they'd met. It seems like the perfect spot to tell her what he's been planning on saying for the last few weeks.

As fate would have it, the gallery had hung her painting in the exact same spot as Boy with a Book, so he can still see it from where he sits. Looking over her shoulder, he smiles at the canvas one more time.

"Thank you," Regina says, brushing her hair behind her shoulders. She moves slightly, bringing his attention back to her face. God he loves her face, loves her everything. She's so beautiful, and he can't believe he's lucky enough to call her his girlfriend; hopefully one day down the line he'll be able to call her more than that.

"Regina," he says seriously, turning his gaze back to her brown eyes. He adores those eyes, knows he was born to gaze into them. They are so expressive, show so many of her emotions even without her opening her mouth. "There's something I need to tell you."

"Okay…" she says tentatively, narrowing her eyes at him. He can't help but to chuckle. He's making this more weighted than it need be. It's serious, yes, but telling her how he feels shouldn't feel like he's telling her he has a life threatening illness.

Taking a deep breath, he finally blurts out, "I love you," closing his eyes before quickly opening them, his blue eyes latching onto hers. "I've known it for a while, and you don't have to say it back if you're not ready, but I just needed you to know how I feel."

Regina smiles then, bringing her hand up to cup his cheek as she bites down on her bottom lip. She leans in, pressing her plump lips to his. He twists his body, angling himself so he can access her kiss more easily. His lips part, covering hers in a warm embrace. She moans quietly, pulling back before they make too much of a scene in the middle of the art gallery.

"Robin," she breathes, smiling brightly in his direction as her eyes mist over. "I love you, too."

He smiles, rubbing his thumb along her jaw before placing a soft peck to her lips. She tells him she's known she was in love with him for a few months now, since that night she found Roland reading to him and Henry. That was a good night; it was around then that he started to realize he was in love with her as well.

Regina giggles, standing and taking his hand. She tugs on it, tilting her head toward the front of the building. "Could I interest you in going somewhere else? Coffee perhaps?"

He chuckles, remembering he'd used those exact words six months ago to ask her out in this very same spot. Thinking back to how she'd responded, he echoes her words from that day, shaking his head and saying, "I think that sounds like a great idea," before leaning down and kissing the top of her head.

Smiling, she links their hands, walking them back toward the front of the gallery. Before they make it out the door, he can't help himself, and he leans in, whispering an I love you into her hair.

Regina stops, turning to smile up at him. She loops her arms around his neck, pulling him down closer to her. "And I love you, baby. So much." She captures his lips then in a gentle kiss, sighing into their joined mouths.

Pulling back with a smile, he says, "Come on. Let's go get that coffee."

As they make their way from the gallery, Family with a Book still on display, Robin links their hands together once more. He turns to glance over his shoulder at the painting, then back to Regina, reveling in this little family they're slowly creating - the one that has already stolen his heart.