Regina and Robin had tentatively laid down plans for him to meet the kids. She didn't want him, still a relative stranger, to come into her children's new home and invade their privacy. Their home needed to be a place that was always their fortress, a place they could retreat to. And introducing Robin into their lives was going to be upsetting enough already.
But Regina felt a strong inclination to allow Robin this opportunity. She had used her considerable resources to run background checks on him at work, and had stalked his fairly inactive social media. Sure, it might seem crazy, but she had no intention of letting someone near her family that she mistrusted. And all she had found about Robin was that he was a good and decent guy. Successful but humble, honest, and hardworking.
She hoped she wasn't making the wrong decision. She knew Damon's biological father's treatment had fucked him up irreparably, and she didn't want that for her other sons. Robin was so different to him, but the idea of a third baby daddy in their lives was undeniably a headache.
Henry's dad, Neal Cassidy, was a good bloke, and he made an effort to see Henry several times a year. He was sort of like a godparent, and it worked for everyone. Henry seemed cool with it. Whenever he missed his dad, Regina and Emma had always encouraged their son to call him, and Neal had never failed to be there when needed.
Damon's "dad", however, was a whole other story. Victor Whale, the "It" boy from Regina's high school, the captain of the football team, class bully, and the rapist who fathered Regina's oldest child. Despite suffering both physically and emotionally from the rape, Regina had never regretted her decision to keep her son.
When she looked at him, she didn't feel bad, she didn't think about her horrific experience, all she felt was love (or mild irritation, depended on what he was doing) and thought of him as her son, nothing less and nothing more. It was the same with Henry and Daniel, no matter how she got them, they were hers.
However, the problem was Victor's ongoing presence in their lives. Thanks to ridiculous laws, he had the right to visit Damon whenever he wanted, though thankfully he hadn't a way to take him from Regina. She had also used her lawyering skills to limit Victor's access to Damon, after the boy had expressed fear at his father's presence.
Despite being his rape victim, Regina had tried not to dissuade her son from seeing his father if he wanted to. However Victors true colours had shown almost immediately, and his verbal abuse and emotional manipulation had made him an enemy to Damon long before he even knew the circumstances of his conception.
As it was, Damon had a lot of anger issues and anxiety about his father, and Regina suspected the trouble he was getting in now was fuelled not only by her split with Emma, but those ongoing issues as well.
So, with all of this history in consideration, Regina thought she had a solid 50/50 chance of things working out with Robin. She hoped for an arrangement similar to the one they had with Neal. That would be ideal. And to be fair, even if it ended badly, it couldn't be much worse than attending dinner with a man who raped you under the bleachers at your school every couple of months could it?
She seriously doubted it could be worse than that.
And so, after weighing everything up, she had decided to introduce Robin to the family, and she'd figured it out the way she thought was best to do it.
She had made reservations at a café on the other side of town for the coming Saturday. She didn't want to go back to Granny's, or anywhere that people would know her, or the boys, well. The less prying eyes, the better.
She was going to tell her sons that morning, explain what was happening, and then meet Robin for lunch, and let him meet their odd little family.
She felt confident that her plan was the best it could be. Her only qualms were in regard to a certain leggy blonde who had recently done her best to destroy their family.
What was she supposed to do about Emma?
Of course it was Emma's business, the boys were as much hers as they were Regina's. Especially legally. She had adopted all of the boys besides Henry, whom obviously she'd given birth to. And Regina had adopted Henry. So they were equal guardians. But, considering the circumstances, Regina was unsure if she wanted to include Emma.
She couldn't predict how her former soon-to-be ex-wife would react. Even though Regina had always been the mother hen, and Emma stern, her coldness seemed to have eclipsed her compassionate nature, and turned her into someone Regina struggled to recognize.
She was confusing Regina endlessly. On one hand, she was showing up on her doorstep in tears, 'missing her kids', and on the other hand, she was fucking her new girlfriend in the kitchen and neglecting those same kids, who were sitting in the very next room.
And then there was her callous reaction to Damon's arrest.
Regina didn't trust her, obviously, she lied to her for an entire year while she fucked someone else. But surpassing that, she was confused by her. Her choices just weren't adding up.
However, she wasn't sure her heart could go through figuring it all out, so, for the moment at least, she was limiting her thoughts about Emma solely to the Robin Hood situation.
By Friday afternoon, less than 24 hours before this meeting was supposed to take place, Regina was at her desk, finishing the week's paperwork, and still undecided about telling Emma.
Unbeknownst to her, her boss, and partner in the company, Mr Gold, was down in the in his office, also keeping something from Emma. Though unlike Regina, Emma's ignorance to his doings was of no concern to him.
"Belle, please sit." The thin, older, man leaned forward in his chair, pressing his long fingers together as he watched curvaceous young woman seat herself across from him. His dark eyes glinted as she too leaned forward, her large, pale bosom barely contained by the tiny blouse she was wearing. It was unbuttoned scandalously low and the material was visibly straining against her voluminous cleavage.
"Mr Gold, am I in trouble?" She asked, looking up at him through lowered lashes.
"Trouble? Dearie no, I am simply worried about you." He assured her, his gaze still resting on her cleavage. "You're so young, are you coping with taking on Emma Swan's family? Her oldest son is only a handful of years younger than you."
Belle looked up, her brow creased. "It's so hard. She was supposed to love me. Take me away from here. And now she wants them instead. It's not fair."
Gold shook his head sympathetically. "She's promised you so much, and given so little." He reached across the desk to take her delicate, manicured hand in his own. "If you ever need help, I'm here for you."
Belle smiled and squeezed his hand. "Thank you Mr Gold. I am so grateful for everything you've done for me."
Gold nodded, then dismissed her, reaching for his telephone as he watched her leave.
He dialled a number he knew well and then listened to it ring for several seconds before it picked up.
"Hello, this is Emma." Emma Swan answered her home phone, and her cheerful tone sounded noticeably fake.
"Ms Swan, hello. Mr Gold here dearie, I'd like to invite you to dinner tomorrow evening, both you and the lovely Belle." Mr Gold said, a sly smile crossing his features. "Please don't disappoint me."
"We'd love to." Emma agreed, her tone even more forced.
"Perfect." Mr Gold turned in his chair to look out the window, the snowy light shining a coldness across his features. "And look good dearie, I need you two to schmooze a potential client for me, we're expanding, and I have just the building company in mind."
Emma confirmed these instructions and he ended the phone call, entirely satisfied with his work. Slowly he turned off his computer and piled a few papers into his briefcase until Regina knocked on his open office door.
She was carrying a Chanel handbag and her briefcase, and a well fitted knee-length dress, in a stunning shade of red that Gold heartily approved of. It was almost time for school to end for the day, so she would be on her way home.
"Ah, Regina, what may I do for you?" He asked, leaving his desk to join her in the hall.
"I want you to give the McCullough case to Weaver. It's a good case, and will be a big platform for local press. I don't need the boost, he does." Regina explained as they exited the building.
"Consider it done dearie." Gold agreed, pleased Regina had noticed. "If there's nothing else I can do for you, I will bid you good evening."
"Good bye gold." Regina gave him a small smile and hurried down the steps.
She reached her car and watched Gold get in his classic Cadillac, and drive away. It might have been the turmoil she already had inside, but for some reason she felt distinctly unsettled after speaking with him. But worried she was getting paranoid, Regina shook off those thoughts and pulled out of her park. She drove to the school to pick up Henry and Daniel, and then altogether they went to the grocery store and did the weeks shopping, before finally arriving home. Damon always took the bus home, and Regina could tell he was in, thanks to the rock music pulsing from behind his closed bedroom door.
Seeing her 2/3 of her kids helped lift her mood and later, as she made empanadas from scratch to serve with gazpacho for dinner, she decided that she wasn't going to tell Emma about the meeting. At least, she wasn't going to tell her until after the kids had met Robin.
"Boys! Dinner." Regina called from the bottom of the stairs after she'd finished setting the table. She went back to the kitchen/dining room and untied her apron as her children thundered down the stairs. She pulled the pan of empanadas out of the oven and carried it to the table, all smiles until she saw her eldest son for the first time that day.
"Oh my god." She exclaimed, immediately angry and concerned. She set the food down and hurried around the table to where all three boys were sitting and took Damon's chin in her hand.
"What in hell happened to you?" She demanded, her touch gentle as she inspected the damage to her sons face. His left eye was swollen shut, the ugly black and purple bruise covered his eye, brow bone and extended down, his usually sharp cheek bone puffy and blackened. There was also a cut above the brow. His lip was split had swelled, and despite his obvious efforts to clean up, there was dried blood at the corner of his mouth.
"Nothing." Damon whispered with a wince, his voice cracked.
"That's not nothing." Regina fretted, taking her hands off of him, afraid she would add to his pain.
"It's nothing." Damon repeated firmly, his good eye, the iris vivid blue, held Regina's gaze strongly, and implored her to drop it.
Regina glanced at the younger boys, both whom looked concerned, and nodded. "Alright. Let's have our dinner." Regina sat in her chair, her mind a whirl of worries. "I'm going to treat your cut after we eat, and we'll talk about this then, okay?"
Damon sighed and looked down at his food. "Okay."
Dinner was pretty quiet after that, and later on, once the dishwasher was loaded, and Henry and Daniel were tucked away in their beds, Regina had Damon sit on the kitchen counter and she cleaned his wounds.
No matter how much she pressed him, he wouldn't tell her anything. He cringed while she cleaned his wound and his entire face radiated heat the wounds. He was in real pain, and he wouldn't tell how it happened. This meant it was something terrible, and his silence made Regina apprehensive.
Once she'd done all she could do, she sent him to bed and started making phone calls.
First the principal, who knew nothing, then Granny, of the diner, guardian of the whoreish girl she'd seen tonguing her son, who knew nothing, and then the Fa's. They didn't know much, however Mrs Fa informed Regina that Mulan too had come home with injuries, hers including a black eye and a broken wrist.
Regina thanked her and hung up the phone, utterly worn out. There was nothing g more she could do, so she went to bed, determined to get to the bottom of the issue the following day, certain that something had gone terribly, horribly wrong.
And she'd have to tell Emma. Another thing to look forward to. Telling her estranged wife their son had been beaten up and that she, Regina, wasn't good enough at being a mother to figure out what had happened. Oh and her oldest son didn't trust her enough to tell her.
And she had to tell the kids about Robin Hood before lunch.
Great. A promising day ahead then.
