Chapter 8
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from OUAT; I do however, own Robin and Regina's baby as my OC and any other OCs in this story.
Regina grabs her keys off of the counter before turning towards the front door, purse in hand. She reaches the door and starts to unlock it before catching sight of someone in the reflection of her keys.
"No," she says in her voice she perfected as queen, the one that makes the world fall in line with any and all of her commands.
"No what?" Robin asks with a smile on his lips, pretending he has no idea what she is referring to.
"You're not," Regina says, turning to face her husband, finding his goofy smile on his lips that makes her smile.
"Not coming along? I do believe I am," Robin smirks, knowing persistence is key with his queen and soulmate.
He's gotten a lot more protective of her ever since she told him that she is pregnant six days ago.
"What about Roland and Henry? They can't stay here alone," Regina tells him with a slight smirk of her own, hoping Robin will give in and stay with the boys.
"Granny said she'll be happy to watch them whenever we needed her to."
The once Evil Queen bites back a sigh as Robin gives her a face that means he thinks he's won. She does roll her dark brown eyes at him, though, just to make sure he knows her annoyance.
"Fine, you can come along. Just don't get in my way," she finally gives into the thief, resulting in his light blue eyes to sparkle.
"Oh, I wouldn't dream of it. So, where are we headed?" he asks, not sure where he is accompanying Regina to.
"I have to go to the hospital for a checkup to make sure the baby's doing all right. Then we have to go to the store to pick up some groceries. I have to go into the office later in the day to do some paperwork. And then we have to go to Henry's basketball game at seven," Regina answers, opening the door and heading out to her car.
"As you wish, milady. Boys, come on! You're going to go stay with Granny for a bit!" Robin calls upstairs to get his sons' attention.
Two pairs of feet come drumming down the stairs, and pretty soon Henry and Roland are outside, ready to get into their mother's car. Henry has his phone in hand, scrolling through his texts with a smile on his face. Regina notices this and decides to lightly tease her son about this when he gets in the car. Henry shuts the door to the car and clips his seatbelt all without looking up from his phone.
"Henry, who are you talking to?" Regina inquires, turning back to look at her son with a smile on her face.
"Grace," Henry barely mumbles, his cheeks flushing a light shade of pink.
"I didn't hear you, my little prince. Tell me one more time," Regina says with a slight laugh.
"I'm talking to Grace, Mom. We have a science project due next week, and she asked me when we were going to work on it," Henry answers before burying his face in his hands.
The very last thing the dark headed teen wanted was for Roland to find out he liked Grace in that way and tell the daughter of the Mad Hatter. That would ruin everything.
"You two can always work on it over here, lad," Robin speaks up as he slides into the passenger seat.
He couldn't help but overhear the conversation between his wife and oldest son. Robin knew it was only a matter of time before Henry began to court Jefferson's daughter. And the famed thief vows to help his son woo his crush however he could. He saw the glances Grace and Henry shared and knew they were each other's true love. The outlaw has learned to recognize that by now. After all, he has true love with Regina, and his best friend, Will Scarlet, had true love with Anastasia. One might say Robin Hood of Locksley has a knack for picking up on signs of true love.
"Thanks, Dad," Henry smiles before turning his phone off as Roland begins to peek over his shoulder.
For a four year old, Roland is very perceptive and picks up on the slightest details of a situation. Roland then settles back in his car seat, watching the trees rush by as his Mama pulls out of the driveway to drop him and Henry off at Granny's Diner.
Regina and Robin sit in the waiting room of the hospital for Dr. Whale to call them into the exam room. Robin's leg bounces up and down on the floor as he and Regina wait, his nerves starting to get the best of him. He's not really sure what to expect since he didn't have to go through this with Marian when she was pregnant with Roland. Yes, Regina and the baby's first checkup scares the famed thief quite a bit, making his heart race a million miles a second.
"Regina, Doctor Whale will see you now," one of the nurses politely says as she comes over to Robin and Regina.
Regina gets up and starts to walk towards the exam room, Robin following closely behind her. When she enters the room, Regina goes and sits on the exam table, swinging her legs as she waits. Robin sits down in the stereotypical green hospital chair by the exam table, holding one of Regina's hands and running his fingers on his other hand over her knuckles. Dr. Whale walks into the exam room with a smile on his face before he sits down in the chair reserved for him near the ultrasound machine.
"First of all, let me say congratulations to you both. I'm glad that you're getting a happy ending, Regina," Whale comments, pulling out the clipboard with Regina's information on it.
"Thank you, Dr. Whale," Regina says with a smile before giving Robin's hand a light squeeze.
"So, first I thought we would do the ultrasound and then move on to the blood test. Sound good, Your Majesty?" Victor Frankenstein asks as he grabs the tube of gel needed for the ultrasound.
"Whatever you think is best," Regina answers before laying back on the table.
"What is that?" Robin questions as Whale takes the top off of the tube of gel.
He grew up and lived in the Enchanted Forest for goodness sakes. He didn't know what mysterious magic could be in that container.
"It's gel for the ultrasound, Robin. It's what allows us to see the baby and check on his or her progress," Dr. Whale explains before handing the opened tube to Robin.
"Why are you handing this to me? I don't know what to do," Robin asks, clearly confused by the doctor's decision.
"Well, Mr. Hood, I thought that you would want to be the one to rub the gel on."
"Well, okay. Where does it go?" Robin naively asks, looking between Regina and the doctor.
Regina motions to her stomach and Robin feels a little bit stupid for not realizing that earlier. They were checking on his and Regina's unborn child. Where else would the gel go except for on his wife's stomach?
"Oh, I see why you let me do it, Dr. Whale. Thank you," Robin says with a small smile before he gently pulls Regina's shirt up to expose only her stomach.
The thief rubs the gel on Regina's stomach softly, not wanting to hurt Regina or the baby as he does so. As Robin continues, he decides to narrate what he's doing to the baby.
"Okay, little one, I'm rubbing this special gel on Mama's tummy where we can see you on this screen. We love you so much already," Robin whispers to their unborn child, which brings a few tears to Regina's eyes.
Robin is now finished, so Dr. Whale begins to rub the ultrasound wand over Regina's stomach, producing black and white images on the screen much to Robin's amazement. Eventually after a while of searching, Dr. Whale finds what the three of them are looking for.
"There," he says and points at the screen. "That's your baby," the doctor smiles, leaving his finger on the screen where Regina and Robin can look where he's pointing.
"Wow," Regina breathes, taking Robin's hand in hers once more, squeezing his hand out of pure joy.
"That's our baby," Robin adds in out of amazement, watching the small image on the screen.
"I'll be right back with printouts for you to take home. Then when I get back I'll do the blood test," Dr. Whale says, turning off the ultrasound and walking out of the room.
Regina pulls her shirt back down over her stomach before resting her free hand on her still flat tummy. Robin's other hand soon joins hers, and he presses a quick kiss to her lips, making Regina smile through the kiss.
"I love you, Regina. You are the most amazing woman in the world, my love," Robin smiles after the kiss, softly caressing her stomach with one hand.
"I love you too, thief. Our baby is going to be so loved. Between me, you, Henry, Roland, the Merry Men, and even the Charmings, I don't see how he or she won't be spoiled rotten," Regina says with a laugh, thinking of all the different designs she and Robin can do with the bedroom down the hall from their room for the nursery.
Their baby, after all, is going to be a little prince or princess and deserves only the best. Just like his or her Mommy. After about ten minutes have passed, Dr. Whale still has not come back into the exam room where Robin and Regina are waiting, and that makes the ex- Evil Queen impatient.
"So, are we just supposed to sit here and wait?" she questions with a sigh, leaning back against the headrest again.
"I suppose so," Robin answers, moving to sit on the edge of the exam table.
Dr. Whale comes back in with the printouts in one hand and a syringe in the other.
"Sorry about the wait. The printer decided it wanted to act up. Here you are, Robin. Now, Regina, are you ready for your blood test?" Dr. Whale apologizes, sitting back down in the chair near Regina.
"As ready as I'll ever be," Regina says in a slightly sassy tone before moving her arm closer to the doctor.
Dr. Whale takes a blood sample from Regina's arm before heading off to the lab to get it processed. He assured both Robin and Regina that he would call them within the hour to tell them the results of the blood test, giving the soulmates just enough time to shop for groceries they would need for the week. With that, Robin and Regina walk out of the hospital's front door into the parking lot to get in Regina's car.
About an hour later, Dr. Whale calls Regina on her cellphone. Regina wastes no time answering the call, stepping into her and Robin's bedroom where she can hear the doctor over Roland and Henry's excited chatter.
"Hello?" she starts off, making sure Dr. Whale is on the line.
"Hi, Regina. It's Dr. Whale. I've called to tell you that your blood test result is in. Would you like to hear it now?"
"Yes, Whale. I think that's why you called. What is the result?"
"Well, um, phew. This is difficult for me to tell you. Uhm, uh," Whale fumbles over his words.
"What's wrong, Dr. Whale? Is there something wrong with my baby?" Regina all but demands, panic rising inside of her.
"No, no. The baby's healthy as can be. The problem is, your blood work shows that you have a blood clotting disorder that may affect the baby before he or she is born," Victor Frankenstein starts off before Regina starts gasping and breathing heavily into the phone.
"How could this have happened?! I've never had any blood clots before," Regina asks the doctor, a tint of hopelessness in her voice.
"Well, Regina, these things happen for different reasons. It might be the side effect of a curse or potion."
"The infertility potion," Regina gasps.
"Yes, the potion you took when Cora wanted you to produce a child. That may have something to do with it. There is a cure for it, though. You can have Robin give you a shot everyday of a certain medicine I'll prescribe you, and it should keep blood flowing to your baby. Are you up for it?"
"Anything to save my baby. Thank you, Dr. Whale," Regina says with tears starting to stream down her face.
"Now, Regina, what this means is that you can't do a lot of stressful things. That may make the blood clots happen more frequently, regardless of the medicine. "
"I'll come by and pick the shots up after Henry's game, Dr. Whale. I can't thank you enough," Regina tells the doctor before hanging her phone up and sitting on the bed, burying her head in her hands.
Robin walks in not too long after, concerned when he finds his wife crying on the bed with her phone in her lap.
"Regina, love, what's happened?" he sweetly asks, slipping onto the bed beside her, wrapping his strong arms around her.
"Something terrible," she sniffs, pressing her face against his shirt.
"Why don't you tell me what's wrong and I'll help you through whatever it is," Robin compromises, wanting to make Regina happy again.
She takes a moment to breathe before relaying her phone conversation with Dr. Whale to her husband.
"So, because of a mistake I made when I was young and naïve, we may lose our baby," Regina cries, her tears staining Robin's green long sleeve shirt.
"Regina, we all get a second chance. And the doctor said the medicine would help. Have faith, Regina. Our baby is the product of true love and the bonds of soulmates. He or she will be fine," Robin assures, rubbing small circles on Regina's back.
"Thank you, Robin. Can you promise me one thing?"
"And what might that be, milady?"
"Can you promise not to tell Henry and Roland about this? I don't want them worrying," Regina says in her no-nonsense tone, making it clear to her thief not to inform the boys.
"Of course, Regina. It'll be our little secret," he replies with a small wink.
That night during Henry's basketball game, Will slides onto the bench next to Robin, patting the older man on the back.
"Congrats, mate," Will says with a smile, passing Robin a bag of popcorn in the process.
"On what, Will?" Robin questions, not knowing what his fellow thief is referring to.
"I heard about you becomin' a dad again and all," Will answers, taking a sip of his Diet Coke after his statement.
"Where did you find that out? Regina and I haven't told anyone but the boys yet."
"Robin, mate, you forget. Anastasia and Regina are practically best friends. Regina told Ana the day after Christmas about the two of ya's little one."
That makes both men laugh a bit. Of course the two once evil queens, Ana as the Red Queen and Regina as the original Evil Queen, would be best friends. They had several things in common, choosing power over love and happiness as one them. Both of them also fell in love and married handsome thieves, their true loves and soulmates, respectively.
"Well, thanks, mate. So, how are Michael and Penelope doing?" Robin replies, mentioning Will and Ana's five month old twins to make Will smile even more.
"They're bloody fantastic. Both of 'em love spendin' time with me and Ana and love wakin' up at all hours of the night. Penelope more so than Michael, though. But, I wouldn't trade their unusual sleep patterns for the world," Will tells his friend, watching as Henry takes two free throws due to the foul on the other team.
"Roland was the same way. I remember all the sleepless nights at camp after he arrived," Robin chuckles, his mind filling with images of baby Roland.
Robin lets out a small sigh as he thinks about how much his conversation with Regina made him worry earlier. No matter how much he tried to act strong for his wife, deep down he was scared too. Will, being an excellent judge of character and emotions, picks up on Robin's sudden change in mood.
"Is there something you want to talk about?" Will asks Robin before the leader of the Merry Men lets out another sigh. "Or not talk about?" he adds in after the second sigh.
"Will, Regina has a blood clotting disorder and has to take special shots. She thinks she may lose the baby due to the potion she took in her early adulthood," Robin finally gets around to saying.
"Aw, mate, I'm sorry. Look, you have to be strong for Regina. Everything is going to be all right," Will assures, patting Robin on the back in encouragement.
"How can you be so sure, Will?"
"Look, you and Regina are two of the most stubborn people I know, aside from Anastasia and meself. You both will fight for that baby and do whatever it takes to protect the little one. And 'sides, this world has the best medicine to treat stuff like this. Regina and your baby will be fine, mate," Will makes known, once more turning his attention back to the basketball game.
"I think you might be right, Will," Robin says in a grateful tone.
"I know I am, mate. Now, pass me the popcorn, will ya?" Will responds with a smirk as Roland and Regina come back from the concession stand.
Robin complies to his friend's wishes before making room for Roland and Regina on the bench. He feels quite a bit better after talking to Will. If there is one thing that can be said about Will Scarlet, it's that he can give anyone a good pep talk if they deserve it to lift their spirit out of the dumps. Yes, Robin Hood of Locksley is glad he made a friend for life in Will. He now feels certain that he and Regina could do anything they set their minds to, including raising their son or daughter once he or she is born.
Author's Note: And there's the chapter! I hope everyone enjoyed it; it was a fun chapter to write. Now, before you all hate me for making Regina having blood clots, let me explain myself. I was just trying to make it more realistic in the fact that she did after all drink an infertility potion. Don't worry; everything will work out just fine in the end. The only thing that comes out of Regina's blood clots is a more protective Robin, so expect more Daddy! Robin fluff. Okay, all that's left to say is thanks for reading, and school starts back in a couple weeks, so updates will be less frequent. I'll try and update as soon as I can.