Hey, new chapter! Thanks for the reviews, the follows and the favorites. I hope you like this one :)
Beta-ed by Sparkles21, thank you :)
Chapter 14
The house was awfully quiet that afternoon without the kids around to brighten the place up. Regina was in the kitchen, working through the paperwork she had brought from the office, though she wasn't paying any attention to what she was doing. In fact, she wasn't doing anything at all, she was just staring at the papers as her mind was stuck on a certain thief. So, when she heard the sounds of someone unlocking the door, followed by a crack of the door opening, she instantly stood up, grasping the cup of tea she had prepared for herself in one hand, and leaving the kitchen to meet the boys in the foyer.
"Hi, mom." Henry was the first to enter, kissing her cheek before preparing himself to go upstairs to his room.
"Don't you want to eat something?" Regina interrupted his pace, just to see him shake his head and let her know that they had already had a snack. She frowned, looking at her son until he disappears at the top of the stairs and until she heard a familiar sound of footsteps. She turned immediately, seeing Robin walking into the house carrying Roland in his arms, as well as the little boy's backpack, and stopping when he saw Regina approaching them to help him with a smile on her lips.
"Hi, mommy." Roland's sweet voice was the first to reach her ears, and she saw the little boy approach her with something in his hands, as soon as his father placed him on the floor. "I've something for you."
"A surprise for me?" she asked him, kneeling before him to be at the same level as the boy.
"It's a drawing I made in school," he replied, handing her the sheet so she could see it. Her heart just melted at the sight in front of her. In the drawing there were four people, each name written above the stick characters Roland had drew. She could see Henry at one end, followed by Roland, who was holding Robin's hand beside him, and on the other side of his father was Regina, with something next to her that she couldn't quite tell what it was. "The teacher asked us to draw our family. This is me, with papa and Henry," He pointed to the respective stick characters with his little index finger, "and this is you and the baby," Roland explained, making Regina's eyes shine because of tears that were forming in them. He had drawn the baby. Despite he was still reluctant about that subject, he had included the baby in his drawing of their family, and she wasn't even born.
Regina looked at Robin who was watching them, curious with her reaction to the drawing. Roland had already shown him his work in the car and he knew that she would love it. She was delighted looking again at the piece of paper in her hand, and then her gaze shifted to the little boy in front of her as she addressed him. "It's beautiful, honey. I love it." She leaned towards him, placing a kiss on his cheek before she stood up, her eyes never leaving the boy in the process. "I have an idea," she started, placing her hand with the paper on her belly. "since this is the first drawing of our new family, I thought I could frame it and hang it on the wall of the living room so everyone can see it. What do you think?"
"Yes! Can I help you?" Roland replied with enthusiasm, but being cut off by his father who approached them, placing a hand on his son's shoulder.
"No, I'll help Regina. It doesn't seem like a good idea for you to be drilling through the walls." He winked at the little boy, seeing Roland pouting his lips while Regina was staring at Robin with a small smile on her lips.
"But it's a huge help if you take this to your room," she said, handing Roland his backpack as he nodded and placed it on his back to go upstairs. Regina followed Robin into the living room, the drawing and the mug with her tea in her hands, and she approached the coffee table, placing both things on it as she headed towards a drawer where she knew she had a frame for the drawing in.
The silence between them was awful as she sat beside him on the couch, and she was glad that it had been him to break it. "I hope you don't mind, I thought you weren't home yet, so I took them to Granny's." His words caused her to frown, and her hand fell on the top of his as her thumb was drawing circles over his skin.
"Robin, you know I don't mind when you take them anywhere. Why should it be different this time?" she stretched an arm to grab her mug, taking a sip from her drink, the hot water causing a warm fuzzy feeling in her chest. "They're your sons too."
"I took advantage and talked to Henry." he replied, with his eyes fixed on their hands between them.
"And how did it go?" Regina asked, curiously.
...
"How were that pancakes?" Robin jutted his chin toward the boys' plates when he saw Roland swallowing the last bite of food in his mouth.
"Delicious!" The little boy instantly responded, shifting to sit on his knees, while Henry was just staring at the food, sticking a fork in it.
"It seems Henry doesn't share your opinion," Robin addressed his son, but his eyes were focused on the other boy who didn't show any reaction at the comment.
"Can I eat his pancakes then?" Roland made his best puppy eyes, staring at his father with his pout on his lips to try to get a positive response from him, but it just made Robin chuckle with that picture.
"Nice try my boy, but no. Henry is still finishing." Roland sat down again, crossing his little arms in front of his chest in signal of displeasure. "But," Robin continued, seeing his son lifting his big brown eyes from the table to him, "you can do me a huge favour. Can you give this money to Ruby to pay the check?"
Roland loved Ruby and he always wanted to give her the money, like the big boys did, so Robin knew that it would be a good distraction for him. In seconds the little boy stood up from his seat, stopping beside Robin to ask him to give him the cash so he could meet Ruby at the counter.
"So, looking at our plates, I think we both need to talk," Robin addressed Henry after he checked if Roland was with Ruby, and finally, the boy lifted his eyes from his food to glimpse at Robin's plate (equally full). "Alright, I start," Robin continued, seeing that the boy wouldn't say anything. He shifted in his seat, placing his hands on the table and clearing his throat. "I want you to know that it's not your fault what me and your mother are going through."
"You're already cheating," Henry muttered, making Robin frown at the boy's words and replying with a confused 'why?'
"Because you're talking about me and not about you," Henry answered him, looking at his blue eyes.
"That's because I'm the adult and my kids are my main concern," Robin stood up, moving to sit beside Henry. "and you're struggling with something that is not your fault. This subject would come up, sooner or later, it just happened to be in a conversation between you and your mom." He noticed Henry was considering that option. He was just a kid, and he shouldn't have to worry about their problems. "Besides, you saved me from making a fool of myself," Robin added to lighten the mood. But it still hurt him and that didn't escape to Henry.
"I'm sure my mom would love to marry you." The boy tapped Robin on his shoulder, giving him a little smile of encouragement while he placed one of his hands on top of Henry's and returned the smile. "I know what she said, but you heard what she told me before that," Henry continued, looking straight into Robin's eyes. "She won't let me marry before she gets married herself, so you better start thinking about it," he bantered Robin, seeing a frown on his expression, but a chuckle leaving his lips. "What do you say? Operation penguin?"
"Penguin? That doesn't even make sense." Robin played with the boy, laughing now that he was more secure. What really helped to make Henry feel better was the feeling that he was helping the others. Robin could notice, and he wasn't capable of pulling him down, but he knew that it wasn't the right time to think about marriage. "Maybe soon, but not right now," he continued, seeing Henry shrugging with a piece of pancake in his mouth as he was finishing his meal.
...
"I think it went quite well," Robin answered Regina, after he told her the whole conversation. He couldn't help but put a small smile on his lips as he remembered the operation Henry had created.
"Thank you for having spoken with him," she returned him the smile, her eyes shining at the sight of the man she loved smiling again at her. "He's pretty attached to you."
"Just like Roland is to you," Robin replied, making her heart melt at the thought of the little boy.
"I know, but Henry is at that stage when he needs a male figure in his life, and I couldn't ask for a better one for him than you." She squeezed his hand that was below hers and he stared at her eyes, seeing her brown orbs filled with passion. "I'm glad we're all so close," she couldn't help but look at their hands, still enlaced between them. He hadn't left her grip, it was a good sign. "Are you staying for dinner?" She didn't want to have to ask. She wanted the answer to be obvious like, of course he would stay for dinner, this was his house as well. But after last night, she wasn't sure how he was feeling and she didn't want to push him, so she chose to ask.
"Sure." was just his reply, but it was enough for her, so she leaned forward in her seat with a smile on her face as she placed a kiss on his temple and grabbed Roland's drawing, turning it to him.
"He drew the baby, do you know what this means?" she asked, her voice was filled with hope, and she knew he was thinking the same as her. "He's starting to accept her," she didn't even notice that her hand fell on her belly, caressing their little girl.
"And now we just have a problem." His words made her smile vanish, the hope in her eyes replaced with concern, but she didn't interrupt him as he continued,
"Look at the drawing, don't you feel like something is missing?" she turned the sheet to her again, looking at the stick characters drawn by the little boy, and everything seemed perfect in her eyes, what was missing to him? "Henry, Roland, Robin..." he started to point to each one of them in the drawing, seeing she wouldn't get there, "... Regina, and..." he stopped, looking at her and waiting for her to continue, but as he imagined, nothing came out of her mouth and she just whispered something, almost to herself. But he had heard her words, he knew she had already got there. "Yes, a name," he confirmed her words, shifting to approach her so both could see the drawing, and pointing to the words above the stick characters. "For some reason, each one of us has his name above the head, and the poor girl doesn't," he finished, making Regina giggle at his observation.
"I think we have time to think about that," she said, reminding both of them that she was just in the middle of the pregnancy.
"I know, but we can start to have some ideas," he replied, while she started to place the drawing in the frame.
"I'm open to suggestions," she handed him the frame with the drawing inside. "And I promise I'm going to think about that too." Robin stood up, nodding while he made his way to get the hammer to hang the frame on the wall.
#
The kids were sleeping, the dishes from the dinner were clean, and Regina could be on the couch just relaxing from the messy day she had been through. She had started the day without Robin, but she had managed to find him and talk to him early that morning. Now, she was lying on the couch, waiting to know if it would be another night like the before, without Robin by her side. She'd been replaying their talk before the dinner in her mind, and it seemed like everything was getting fine between them, but then at dinner, the good mood of before had vanished and had been replaced by the awkward silence between them. Now, Robin had been upstairs for the past thirty minutes trying to put Roland to sleep. The sound of footsteps on the stairs started to get more and more clear as it was approaching the living room. She knew it was him, and she sat straight without standing up from her seat when Robin stopped at the door.
"The boys are both asleep," he whispered, looking at Regina's lovely frame. She was covered with one of his old t-shirts that looked adorable over her round belly. "I...I'll be going." He turned to the foyer without a second glimpse at her, it was too painful for both of them, and he had already reached the door handle when he felt her hand on his bicep, asking for him to look at her.
"Where are you staying?" It was just her question, her voice thick from the emotion, and her eyes stared into his deep blue ones when he turned to face her.
"Don't worry about me, I'm fine. I'm staying at Granny's," he answered her, an attempt to calm her worries. All his feelings worked for him to not leave her alone that night again. "I need to go, I left my things there." It was a stupid excuse he had found, more to convince himself than exactly her.
"Go get it and come home," she begged, trying to make him see that she wanted him with her. She wanted him home.
"I already paid a second night the-"
"I don't care about the money, Robin," she interrupted him. He could see a tear rolling down her cheek and he didn't even realise that his hands had cupped her face, his thumb wiping the sadness off of her beautiful features. "Stay here."
He was shaking, she could feel by his palms in her face, and she barely could breathe with the anticipation to see what he would do. The door was half-open behind him, the cool air touching her bare legs, and the idea that he could simply turn his backs on her and walk away was taking up her thoughts. She just waited, waited until the distance between them was nothing more than an inch, and his head tilted down to take her lips in his.
It seemed like forever since they had kissed like that, it was not a hot or eager kiss, it was tender, sweet, and he was kissing her so smoothly, like he was afraid of hurting her more than he already had. His lips slide over hers, showing all the love they felt for each other.
So, what you thought? :)
We had angst, fluff, and the starting point for the name of the baby. I'm still thinking about that, if you have an idea feel free to write it in reviews. Thank you for the reading.