To say that Robin was furious was an understatement; there were no words to describe how he felt. This was definitely not how he'd expected the day to go by any means. The arrival of his parents took him by complete surprise. However, it was seeing Regina's mother as well as the redhead (whom he later found out was her sister), along with Graham, the man she'd been dating (and was almost engaged to) just before moving to Las Vegas, that really threw him for a loop. After he put everyone out, he quietly ushered Roland out to the backyard, knowing that the boy would have many, many questions.

"Papa, who were all those people?" Robin sighed heavily as he kneeled down in front of his son.

"Those people were Regina's mum and a few of her friends," Roland frowned.

"Is it true Papa?"

"Is what true my boy?"

"Are you having a baby with Regina?" Robin sighed and nodded.

"Yes, but this is not how I intended for you to find out; are you angry with me, son?" Robin loved Roland more than anything and had planned to tell him about the baby at some point. He would obviously be involved in his child's life, but Roland's feelings on the matter took precedent.

"I…I dunno. Why didn't you tell me, papa?" Roland shrugged his shoulders and looked up at his father.

"I was going to Roland but…I was scared,"

"You were scared?" Robin nodded.

"Mmhm. I was afraid of what you'd think; that you'd think I loved this baby more than I loved you," Roland paused for a moment.

"So, is Regina going to be my stepmom?"

"Stepmom?"

"Uh huh; that's what happens, right? You have a baby with someone and you marry them. That's what happened to my friend Marie and her brothers. Their mom got married again and they have a stepdad," Robin sighed as he placed his hands on his son's shoulders.

"Not all people who have a baby together get married, Roland,"

"They don't?" Robin shook his head.

"No son, I'm afraid they don't,"

"But…how are you gonna take care of the baby?"

"Well, Regina and I will take turns having the baby; kind of like what happens with your mum and me,"

"Oh. So it'll be like you're divorced but you never got married," Robin chuckled as he stood up, wiping the dirt from his pants.

"Yes, it'll be something like that," He smiled down at his son, pulling him close to his side.

"Roland, I want you to know that just because I'm having a baby with Regina-"

"I know, I know; you won't love me any less," Roland parroted.

"You learn fast,"

"My friend said that's what all parents say when they're having a new baby," Robin shook his head; children this day and age he thought to himself.

oOoOo

As they walked through the back door, the last person he wanted to see was Regina. However, when he looked at her, he knew something was wrong. If her stance wasn't a dead giveaway, the fact that she could barely stand was even more alarming. He managed to get to her just as her knees gave way.

"Papa, what's going on?" Roland stood near the back door, completely frozen in place.

"Roland, go upstairs and wait for me there, okay?" Roland quickly nodded, fear evident in his eyes as he hurried up the stairs.

"Regina! Regina, what's wrong?" There were tears in her eyes and she was holding her stomach.

Something was wrong with the baby.

"Regina, I need you to tell me what's happening," He could feel her body shaking; her breathing was ragged, though she was doing her best to regulate it.

"Are you having a panic attack?" Marian used to have them when they first got together, so he'd learned the signs early on.

Regina gave him a half nod, a half shake of her head; she gestured to her stomach.

"Is something wrong with the baby?" Regina nodded; when she tried to open her mouth to speak, all that came out was a painful moan. She gripped his biceps as she pitched forward in pain; he silently cursed himself for the way he'd acted before. He had a right to be angry but if he'd known this would happen…

"Stay calm Regina, I'm calling an ambulance…just stay with me," Robin carefully pressed a kiss into her hair as he guided her to the sofa. He pulled out his cell phone with one hand and shakily dialed 911.

"911 what's your emergency?"

"Yes, I need an ambulance…my girlfriend, she's five-and-a-half months pregnant and she's having a panic attack and there's pain in her belly,"

"Okay, sir, what's the address?"

"602 Whorford Lane,"

"I'm sending EMTs to the address; they should be there in less than ten minutes,"

"Thank you," Robin hung up the phone and turned his attention back to Regina. Her eyes were closed as she tried to calm her breathing down. Robin wrapped his arms around her as she opened her eyes. He leaned forward to press a kiss to her cheek and whispered in her ear,

"It's going to be alright Regina, I promise; the baby's going to be fine," She turned her head to face him, tears coming down her cheeks.

"What's wrong?" She was shaking; her eyes started to droop as she tried to whisper something.

"What's that love?"

"I'm sorry," It came out as a whisper, a murmur of a thing before her eyes fell closed.

"Regina? Regina, wake up…Regina? Regina!"

oOoOo

"34-year-old Regina Mills, Twenty-Two weeks pregnant, started having panic attacks and pain in her abdomen. We found faint traces of blood on her clothes and what appears to be amniotic fluid. No signs of preterm labor; blood pressure's through the roof," Robin stood in the middle of the waiting room looking completely helpless as the paramedics rattled off Regina's condition before wheeling her into a nearby trauma bay.

"Rob!" He turned around at the sound of August's voice.

Instantly, Robin tightly wrapped his arms around his friend.

"August, what are you-"

"Ursula called; what happened?" Robin sighed heavily as they made their way towards the waiting area.

"She was supposed to meet Roland today,"

"How'd she end up here?"

"It's a long, long story mate,"

"I got time," Robin sighed, running a hand through his hair as he took a seat. The chairs in the waiting room were comfortable, but there was no way he was relaxing until he got word on Regina's condition.

"Roland was so excited to meet her, though she was a bit nervous about it,"

"I'll bet; you two have yet to go on an official date and already she's knocked up and meeting your kid," Robin shot August a look.

"I didn't mean it like that but Robin, ya gotta admit this is a little crazy,"

"I didn't say it was; Regina and I know what's going on, that's all that matters," August nodded.

"So, what happened when she got there?"

"Well, she'd called and said she was on her way but was running behind, which was perfect because it gave me time to talk to Roland. And then the doorbell rings; I go to the door thinking it's her…but it's my parents," August's eyes widened in surprise.

"What?"

"Yeah, and get this; her mother, her sister, and…the man she was engaged to, or, well, the man who proposed to her before she moved to Vegas," August let out a low whistle.

"Did she know-"

"No idea; she was just as blindsided as I was. You should've seen the look on her face; like she'd saw a bloody ghost,"

"How'd your parents and her family end up on your doorstep?"

"I've no idea how that happened,"

"So does her mother know your-" Robin shrugged his shoulders and sighed.

"I don't think so; mum said they met sitting in the airport. She happened to overhear mum's conversation, they started talking and, they put two and two together,"

"Huh," August nodded slowly.

"What is it August?"

"Don't you think it's a little…"

"A little what?"

"I dunno, coincidental that both your parents and her parents just so happen to meet sitting in an airport and just randomly start talking and find out that their kids are dating?" Robin sighed heavily; his head rested in his hands.

"So you think they planned this?" August shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm just sayin', what are the odds that the day you decide to tell your son that you got another woman pregnant and that he's going to meet her that both you and Regina's family just happens to be in town?"

"Bloody fuck," Robin muttered.

"How bad was it?"

"Hm?"

"The meeting, how bad was it?"

"It was terrible; I was a complete arse to Regina, I barely remember talking to my parents. The guy, Graham, he was pretty pissed,"

"She essentially jilted him and moved to Vegas only to get pregnant by some random stranger a few months after moving here,"

"That's not how it happened August,"

"Oh, so what happened? Because I recall you telling me you two met at a Mexican restaurant when she cut in front of you; ya ended up having a couple drinks, getting wasted and ya took her back to your place to fuck," Robin winced at the crassness of August's words.

"…okay, that's exactly how it happened, but-"

"Robin, you get no judgment from me," Robin shot August a look.

"Okay so, you get a little bit of judgment from me. Robin, we came out here to do a multimillion dollar deal and you've spent most of that time not doing your job,"

"I can't help it that Marian-"

"I'm usually the irresponsible one, not you," Robin smiled; this was true. Something like this was expected from August, not him.

"You're right and I'm sorry; we did come out here for work and I've been a lousy partner to you. Once I make sure Regina's okay, I'm gonna start doing better, I promise."

"What happened to her?"

"After I found out she'd almost been engaged I asked everyone to leave. I needed time to think, and to explain everything to Roland,"

"How'd he take it?"

"Surprisingly fine, asked some basic questions 'is Regina gonna be my stepmum," y'know, the usual," August nodded.

"Then what happened?"

"Well, I came back inside and she was, having a panic attack, doubled over in pain," Robin leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

"It's gonna be okay," August reached out and gently placed a hand on top of Robin's.

"This is her first baby; she's tried so hard to get pregnant before…this child is essentially a miracle," August reached out to gently pat Robin on the back.

"Regina seems like a tough girl from what you've told me about her,"

"She is," Robin nodded, still worried about his unborn child.

"The baby's gonna be fine Robin,"

"I hope so,"

oOoOo

When Regina opened her eyes, she found Robin sitting beside her bed.

"Welcome back; you gave everyone quite the scare," Regina looked up; her doctor, Kathryn, was standing at the foot of the bed.

"The baby-" her hands immediately went to her stomach; Kathryn sighed heavily, causing Robin to become alarmed.

"Is everything alright?"

"The baby's fine for now, but we do have some serious things to discuss," Kathryn looked around the room for a swivel stool and pulled it next to Regina's bed.

"What is it?" Regina tried to sit up in bed.

"Just take it easy Regina; like I said, the baby's fine for now. We've got you on antibiotics and an order of strict bed rest for the next several weeks…"

"But," Regina could tell that there bad news coming next.

"But, you've got something called Oligohydramnios,"

"Oligohydra-what?" Regina's frowned.

"What does that even mean?" Robin asked, his brow furrowed deep in confusion as well.

"It means that your amniotic fluid is low, not dangerously low, but low enough to warrant concern,"

"What caused this to happen?"

"We're thinking that this was caused by a placental abruption; that means that your placenta has started to detach itself,"

"Does that happen often?" Robin's voice was full of concern.

"No; only about one percent of pregnant women are affected. It can happen at any time after 20 weeks; you're 22 weeks. Your case is a bit rare; we usually see placental abruptions in conjunction to low amniotic fluid during the third trimester,"

"Well, what are the options? How do we fix this?" Robin asked.

"There is no real 'fix' to a placental abruption; luckily for you, only a small part of the placenta has detached. We're gonna monitor you for a few days, pump you with antibiotics, give you some water because you're showing signs of dehydration. I also wanna keep an eye on your blood pressure; EMTs said it was through the roof when you came in," Regina glanced at Robin.

"I may have been the cause of that," Kathryn shot Robin a look.

"I'm gonna be honest with you, there is a chance that she could lose this baby. So I'd suggest you do everything you can to keep her as calm as possible.

"I will," Robin nodded.

"As for you Regina, I'm gonna keep you here for about a week to monitor your progress, but once you go home, strict bed rest for the next couple of weeks,"

"What are the chances of miscarriage?" Regina's voice was laced with fear; Kathryn grabbed Regina's hand and squeezed.

"Like I said, I'm not gonna lie, there is a possibility of miscarriage, but that's why we gave you the antibiotics. I want to try and get you as close to full term as possible. If the antibiotics work well, we'll start you on steroids,"

"Steroids?" Robin asked.

"It's a precaution; the goal is to get her to 37 weeks, but we have to be realistic. Your placenta has started to detach itself from the uterine wall. It's only slightly started to detach, but in the event it fully detaches itself, an emergency C-Section would be necessary. In the event that does happen, we need the baby's lungs to be as mature as possible," Robin nodded.

"That would explain the steroids,"

"Look, she's a long way away from needed steroids. If you keep your stress levels down, try and relax, drink plenty of water, she could make it to full term. Don't worry guys, we're gonna do everything we can not to deliver the pre-term," Kathryn gave Robin and Regina smiles of reassurance before leaving the room.

oOoOo

Once they were alone, the apologies began.

"Regina, I'm so-" Robin reached across the bed railing to took her hand.

"I'm sorry Robin," She sighed heavily as she shifted in bed, unable to look at him.

"Regina, you didn't do anything wrong; I should've let you explain,"

"What was there to explain? You saw what happened today; my mother came out of nowhere and just…" Robin moved closer to the bed, reaching out to touch her arm.

"No one was expecting what happened today; Regina, please look at me," Slowly, she turned over to face him.

"I should've told you about Graham,"

"Why didn't you?"

"His proposal came out of nowhere; I just…"

"Did you love him?" Regina sighed heavily.

"I, I cared about him but no, I didn't love him. After Daniel, my fiancé died, my mother, she pushed me to get into another relationship. I wasn't even going to go on a date with him but, he was so nice so I said yes," Regina cringed.

"Do you hate me?" Robin smiled softly.

"No, I don't hate you; but I won't say that learning you were almost another man's wife doesn't bother me,"

"If I had known he was coming-"

"Sh. Don't beat yourself up over it; you shouldn't be stressing right now. You've got our little one in there to worry after," Carefully, Robin reached out his hand, placing it on her stomach.

"It's a miracle we didn't…" Tears began to well up in Regina's eyes.

"Hey, none of that; we're here now, and this is true… for all of us,"

Chapter 11 to follow…

I know, I know a really short chapter, but I wanted to get something out to you guys as soon as possible because I've kept you waiting for far too long.

Until next time,

Xx