Prompt: Roland feels left out in his family and decides to make a drastic decision.

Roland loved his sister. He really did…but sometimes, she was loud. Well, actually, she was always loud. Also, she took up a lot of his Mama and Papa's time. They were always feeding Addy or comforting her as she cried or trying to get her to sleep. Before she was born, Roland used to read a book with his Mama every night before he went to sleep, but now that special moment had become a rather infrequent occasion. On more than one instance , Roland has wandered over to his sister's nursery, book in hand, to see if his Mama was ready to read with him.

"Will you read with me, Mama?" He had asked.

"I promise, in just a minute, honey," She replied. "I just have to get your sister to stop crying." she added, not bothering to look at him. She was more focused on shushing the screaming infant in her arms. Roland frowned and sadly walked into his room. He crawled into his bed and opened up the book. He was only six, so he wasn't the best at reading but decided to just look at the pictures. He waited and waited, but soon realized that his Mama wasn't coming. Roland could still hear his sister screaming. Frustrated, he rolled onto his side and sighed. He was awfully tired. He decided he'd just rest his eyes for a moment and his Mama would be there soon. Eventually, however, his tiredness overtook him and Roland fell asleep, the storybook still in his hands.

Later on in the week, Roland woke up on Saturday morning practically bouncing out of bed. Today was the day that his Papa was going to take him out to the forest with the rest of his uncles and teach him to shoot. Roland knew that his Papa was amazing with a bowen arrow and Roland wanted to be exactly like him. Last Christmas, his Papa had bought him a smaller replica of his own bow. Roland had been so excited when he unwrapped it. He was going to be just like his Papa. After getting dressed, Roland ran down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"Papa! I have my bow! I'm ready to go." he exclaimed.

"Roland! Shh, I just got your sister to sleep." Robin replied in a hushed tone.

"Sorry Papa, but I have my bow. When can we go meet Little John and Uncle Will?" Roland asked. "You promised to teach me to shoot." Robin's face fell. He did make that promise.

"I'm sorry, my boy." Robin began. "But I have to stay and watch your sister. Mama got called in to an important meeting and Henry is with Emma, so I have watch Addy."

"But-but you promised," Roland said, his lip quivering.

"We will go." Robin told him. "It'll just have be later after Mama gets home. Is that alright?" Roland nodded sadly, even though it really wasn't alright. "We can do something together at home though." Robin offered.

"I think I'm just going to play in my room."Roland replied sadly before lumbering up the stairs and into his bedroom. Stupid baby. Addy always ruined everything.

Things went on like that for a while. His Mama and Papa seemed to always be busy. If Addy wasn't upset, Mama had to go to work. Roland also knew that Henry was getting ready to go off to college, so he was always studying for a big test that he was going to have to take, so he didn't have time to play with him either. His Mama and Henry had also been gone a lot on weekends to see different colleges, leaving Roland once again on his own. However, today was going to be different. Today was his school concert and both Mama and Papa had promised to be there. They had both been so excited when he told them and that made Roland excited as well. He even had a solo in the show that he hadn't told his parents about. He wanted that to be a surprise. Before the show began, Roland peeked from behind the curtain and looked into the audience. He didn't see his Mama or Papa or Henry or even Addy. Roland felt himself get more nervous. What if they didn't make it? What if they didn't get to see his solo?

"Alright everyone, let's all get to our places so we can start the show." The teacher announced. All the kids rushed to their places, climbing onto the bleachers. Roland took his spot on the front bleacher, directly in the middle. The lights in the auditorium turned dark and spotlights pointed at the stage. The teacher began to conduct and Roland had no choice but to start singing, even though he still didn't see his parents. After two songs, it came time for Roland's solo. He walked up to the microphone that was much too tall for him. The teacher had to help him bring it down to his level. He looked out into the audience and swallowed thickly. He didn't have anyone there to support him. The music began and Roland waited for his cue, however when it came, he tried to sing but nothing came out. His hands were shaking and he was terrified. The teacher tried to help him by giving him the words, but Roland couldn't move. His eyes began to fill with tears and before he knew it, his little legs were carrying him backstage as fast as he could go. Still crying, Roland ran out of the building and headed home.

"They didn't come…" he cried to himself. "They don't care about me." It was in that moment that Roland realized that he wasn't just sad and embarrassed. He was angry. Why was everyone else so much more important than him? Then, a thought popped into his mind. Maybe he shouldn't be in this family anymore. He could run away. Roland didn't believe that anyone would truly care anyway. He grabbed his little red and blue rolling suitcase and stuffed some clothes and toys into it. Then he grabbed his favorite stuffed monkey and clutched it in his arms. "Come on monkey, we'll go find our own home…" Roland said sadly as he walked out the front door and started making his way to the forest. He had lived in the forest once before and he could do it again.

At the mayor's office, Regina was sitting at her desk, buried under a mound of paperwork that she didn't think she'd every get to the bottom of. Suddenly, she heard her cell phone ring and smiled when she saw Robin's picture flash across the screen.

"Hello?"

"Hello, my love." Robin said. "I was just calling to see what you wanted to do for dinner."

"Maybe Granny's tonight. I'm so tired. Just the thought of cooking is making me even more exhausted." she replied, honestly.

"I think that can be arranged." Robin replied with a laugh. "We'll have to pick up Addy anyway. Granny was watching her so that I could do some work with the Merry Men." Suddenly, Regina heard a chime from her computer that she recognized. It happened every time a reminder popped up. She looked at the screen and gasped. It said "Roland School Concert." Oh God, She had forgotten. Why hadn't this reminder gone off earlier?

"Robin! Please tell me you went to Roland's school concert?"

"What do you mean? Isn't that next week?" Robin asked.

"No! I just got a notification that it was today." Regina replied, his voice full of panic.

"Oh God...How did we forget?"

"I don't know. But he's probably still waiting for us at the school. All the kids were supposed to stay after to practice before the concert." Regina told him.

"I'll go and get him. Goodness, he's going to be so upset." Robin replied. "How are we going to make this up to him?"

"I don't know," Regina sighed sadly. "I don't think I've ever felt like this horrible of a mother. He's gonna hate us."

"The best that we can do is apologize and try to make it up to him." Robin replied. "I'll call you when we're on our way home, okay love?"

"Okay." Regina replied. Aftering hanging up the phone, Regina dropped her head into her hands. She felt truly terrible for missing Roland's concert. With Addy needing so much of her attention and Henry going through the tedious process of applying for college, so much of her time was taken up. Roland had kind of fallen through the cracks. There were only so many hours in a day, but that didn't excuse her from practically ignoring her middle son. Feeling sick to her stomach, Regina decided to just head home. She wasn't going to be able to focus enough to get anymore work done anyway. She packed up her stuff and headed home. The house was quiet when she got there. Henry was still out with Violet, which was actually good because she didn't want him to be here when they talked to Roland. She had a feeling this was not going to be an easy conversation. She sat down at the kitchen counter as she racked her mind for what to possibley say to her young son. Suddenly, her phone began to ring again. Regina immediately picked it up. "Robin, did you get him? Are you on your way home?"

"He wasn't there."

"What do you mean he wasn't there?" Regina exclaimed.

"They said he forgot the words during a solo and ran off. They tried to find him but he was too fast." Robin told her. "Is he home?"

"I don't know." Regina replied. "Roland! Roland! Are you home sweetie?" She yelled as she ran up the staircase. She ran to Roland's room and opened the door. "Roland?" She looked around. He wasn't there...and neither was his suitcase or his monkey. He didn't go anywhere without that monkey. It had taken two weeks of convincing to get him to stop bringing it to school.

"Robin, he's not here! His suitcase is gone and so is his monkey," Regina said, her eyes welling with tears. "I-I think he ran away."

"Oh God… I'll be home soon. Just wait for me and we'll go out together." Robin replied.

"I'm going to call Emma and Hook and the Charmings, the more people the better." Regina replied.

"Okay, that's a good idea." Robin told her. "Regina, we will find him."

"Okay…" She replied through a sob. "I love you."
"I love you too." Robin answered before hanging up the phone. After hanging up, Regina called everyone and told them that Roland was missing. Instantly, the gang told her that they'd be over in a couple of minutes to look for him. Regina was left in the little boy's room alone once again. She looked around and smiled when she found his favorite green cloak from the Enchanted Forest lying on the ground. He didn't use it much anymore because cloaks weren't something many people wore in this land. However, the little boy liked to use it as a cape when he'd play superheroes, so he had kept it. Regina held it up her face and instantly, Roland's sweet smell hit her. She had to find him if it was the last thing she did. If something happened to him, Regina didn't know what she'd do with herself.

She was drawn from her thoughts when she heard the front door open. "Regina?" A voice called. It was Robin. She raced down the stairs and flew into his arms.

"We have to find him."

"We will." Robin told her. "Everyone is outside. Get your coat and let's go." Regina nodded, pulled on her coat and followed Robin outside. They decided to break up into groups. Emma and Hook would head to the beach. Snow and Charming would look in town and Regina and Robin would head to the forest because Robin knew the forest better than anyone.

"We only have a little time. It's getting dark." Robin told everyone.

"And the weather isn't looking too great…" Emma remarked as she looked at the dark clouds in the sky.

"Let's just go. Make sure to call if anyone finds him." David said before everyone headed their separate ways.

"The forest is so big, I don't know how we'll ever find him." Regina said.

"We have to." Robin told her. "Isn't there something you can do? Something magical?" Regina thought for a moment.

"A locator potion!" She exclaimed. "It'll lead us right to him." It was then that she realized she was still holding Roland's green cloak in her hands. She quickly conjured up a bit of the locater potion from her vault and poured it over the cloak, which lit up and began to float away, presumably in Roland's direction. "Now we'll be able to find him."

"And not a moment too soon," Robin replied as he felt raindrops begin to fall and a loud crack of thunder echoed through the sky.

Deeper in the forest, Roland was running as fast as he could. He was terrified. It had gotten darker much faster than he had expected it to and he hadn't accounted for the rain. He realized that he didn't have a tent like he normally did when he stayed with his Papa and his Uncles. He also didn't have any water or food. Roland realized he had made a huge mistake. He had also never been a big fan of thunderstorms. They scared him. They were loud and the lightning was too bright. And, now he was completely soaking wet and cold. Roland started to run to try and find shelter, but he ended up tripping over a tree root. He fell to the ground, his knee taking the majority of the impact. Roland hissed at the pain as he brought his knee up to examine it. There was an angry red brush burn staring back at him. "Ow" Roland cried, clutching his knee. He just wanted to go home. He wanted his Mama to clean off his knee and kiss it to make it feel better. He just wanted to be in own bed with fresh, dry pajamas. This had been a mistake...a big, big, mistake. Limping on his bad knee, Roland had found his way into hollowed out old tree that had fallen. It was dirty and smelly, but at least it was dry. He shivered in his wet clothes and clutched his monkey tight to his chest. "It's gonna be okay, monkey." he whispered. "We're okay." Suddenly, another pang of thunder rang out and Roland jumped. "I want to go home," he whimpered. "I want to go home."

Luckily for Roland, Regina and Robin had almost found their way to him. They were racing after the cloak, completely drenched. "We have to be almost there." Robin replied, breathlessly. Regina didn't reply. She was too focused on following the cloak and finding Roland.

"Roland!" They both yelled. "Roland, where are you?" Then, out of the corner of her eye, Regina caught a glimpse of a tiny red and blue suitcase that she recognized to be Roland's.

"Roland!" She screamed as she darted over to the fallen tree.

"Mama?" Roland replied, peeking his head out of the tree. "Mama!" he exclaimed, realizing she was in fact truly there. He crawled out from inside the tree and ran straight into Regina's arms.

"Oh God, you're okay. You're okay." She exclaimed, holding him close to her chest.

"I'm so sorry, I ran away, Mama." Roland sobbed.

"It's okay," She told him. "You're safe. That's all that matters." Robin was by there sides in an instant and took his son into his arms.

"Oh my boy, you're safe. Thank God." Robin cried. "Please never scare us like that again."

"I'm sorry," The little boy cried out once more.

"We'll talk more when we get home." Regina said. "Let's just get out of this rain." The three of them wandered out of the forest and back to mayoral mansion. Robin made sure to call everyone else so they could stop looking and go home and get dry as well. Once inside the house, Regina took Roland upstairs and got him changed. She also bandaged his knee and kissed it, like a mother should, to make it stop hurting. When Roland was situated, Regina got herself changed and Robin did as well. Then, the three of them settled in on the couch for a long overdue talk.

"Roland, honey, we are so sorry that we missed your concert." Regina told him. "I don't know what happened. We were just so busy...and we made a mistake."

"I was supposed to have a solo…" the little boy replied sadly. "But I got too nervous and I forgot all the words and you and Papa weren't there, so I got scared and I ran."

"Oh baby, I am so sorry." Regina said pulling him into her arms.

"Roland, Mama and I are very sorry that that happened." Robin told him. "We don't know how we'll make it up to you, but I have to know. Why did you run away?" Roland shrugged his shoulders.

"You can tell us, honey. We won't get mad, no matter what." Regina told him.

"I didn't think you guys cared about me anymore." he said in practically a whisper. Regina felt like someone had just shot her in the heart. It killed her that Roland felt that way. She loved that little boy with all her heart.

"Why would you think that?" Robin asked softly.

"Because." Roland answered. "You never have any time for me anymore. You're always taking care of Addy or helping Henry with college. Papa, you promised to teach me to shoot a bow just like you and you didn't. And, Mama, you used to read with me every night and now you never do." Regina and Robin looked at one another sheepishly. Roland was right. They had been ignoring him, not on purpose, of course, but they had been ignoring him.

"Oh sweetheart, we're so sorry that we made you feel like that." Regina told him. "It's just...Addy is a baby so she needs a lot of attention. And, applying for college is very stressful so we wanted to help Henry as much as we could. But that doesn't excuse us in anyway for making you feel that way. Roland, we both love you so much."

"You do?" the little boy asked.

"Of course we do." Robin told him.

"How about we have a Roland day?" Regina suggested. "You get to choose whatever you want to do with just me and Papa."

"No Addy or Henry?" Roland asked.

"No, it'll just be the three of us. A special day just for you." She replied.

"I think that would be fun." the little boy agreed. "Mama?" he asked.

"Yes, baby,"
"Am I still your little knight?" he asked.

"Always and forever, my love." Regina replied as she took the little boy into her arms and held onto him as tightly as she could, not wanting to ever let go. Tonight had been scary for sure but it was a wake up call that they all needed. Regina and Robin would make sure no matter what that Roland felt loved and included in whatever they did...they loved that little boy too much to ever let him feel like that ever again.