"God, Regina can't we just give it to her? I can't listen to her cry anymore." Robin begged from his position next to Regina in bed.

"She'll stop soon," Regina replied unconvincingly.

"She's been crying for an hour straight. Can't we just give her the stupid binky?" He tried once more.

"She's going to be walking down the aisle with that binky in her mouth if we don't put a stop to it now." Regina retorted as she turned on her side to look away from her lover. She couldn't bear to look at those crystal blue puppy eyes that she knew he was utilizing to try and get his way.

"Our wedding or hers?" Robin asked with a laugh.

"Both!" Regina snapped. As she said that, Addy gave out a particularly harsh high pitched scream.

"That is it, Regina." Robin replied harshly. "I am putting my foot down. I can go in there and give her that binky or you handle it some other way. I can not bear to listen to my little girl scream like that anymore."

"Fine!" Regina yelled back as she threw back the covers and practically stomped over to the nursery. Before going in, she took a moment to compose herself because she knew that Addy would feed off of her energy. She wasn't mad at Addy or Robin. She was just exhausted and all she wanted to do was go to sleep. However, she wasn't willing to budge on the pacifier issue. Addy had used them as a crutch for too long. She was nearly 18 months old now. It was time. Three days ago, they had rounded up all the binkies in the house and hid them from the little girl. Regina had told her that she was a "big girl" now and big girls didn't need binkies. Needless to say, Addy didn't seem to believe her because, for the past three nights, her shrieks had rung through the house. It was clear that the little girl was actively protesting sleep, which meant that neither of her parents were getting to sleep either. It also meant that during the day Addy was a holy terror and a ticking time bomb when it came to tantrums. To sum it up, the past three days had been utterly exhausting and there looked to be no end in sight. After pushing open the bedroom door, Regina padded into the nursery and saw Addy standing up in her crib, her face bright red with tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Oh sweetie," She cooed as she picked the little girl up from her crib and held her close. Addy continued to scream, even in her mother's grasp.

"Binky!" She wailed.

"You're a big girl now, remember?" Regina prompted. "Big girls don't need binkies." Addy continued to scream. "Come on sweetheart, I know you're so tired." she cooed, rubbing the little girl's back gently. Regina reached into Addy's crib and grabbed her pink fleece blanket and wrapped it around her before taking a seat in the chestnut rocking chair in the corner of the room. She held the little girl against her chest and shushed her until Addy's screams became soft whimpers. "That's it, sweetpea, just close your eyes. Mama's got you." She rocked back and forth for what seemed like forever until she heard Addy's soft snores. Then, she rose out of the rocking chair slowly and padded over to her crib. She set the little girl down gently as not to wake her and said a prayer that she'd stay asleep for the rest of the night. After quietly shutting the nursery door, Regina walked back down the hallway to her and Robin's bedroom and climbed back into bed.

"You're not going to be able to do that every night," Robin muttered sleepily.

"She'll start doing it by herself soon enough," Regina retorted. "The binky was her comfort item and we just took that away,"

"Love, I don't know how many more sleepless nights you can handle," Robin said as he gently brushed his thumb against her cheek. "You know I'd help, but she doesn't want me. She only wants you."

"I'm fine," Regina groaned. "I'd like to get some sleep before our daughter wakes up and realizes her binky is gone and starts screaming again. I have to meet Snow at Granny's in the morning and I would like to not look like a zombie when I do so," she added before curling into Robin's side and burying herself further under the covers. Robin knew better than to argue with Regina, especially a sleep-deprived Regina. Instead, he pressed a kiss to the nape of Regina's neck and pulled her closer. He could use some sleep anyway.

At some point during the middle of the night, Robin felt Regina began to fidget in his grasp. His eyes fluttered open to look at the woman in his arms. She was breathing heavily, her face screwed up like she was in pain. "No, no, stop." she murmured.

"Regina, love, wake up. It's just a dream." Robin said, shaking her gently. Regina let out a gasp and sat up in his grasp. "Shh, it's alright. It was just a dream. You're alright." he whispered softly as he pulled the shaking woman back into his arms. "You're safe. You're okay." he said again as he ran his fingers through her hair. They lay quietly for a moment before Robin spoke once more. "That was the second nightmare this week. Do you want to talk about it?" Regina frantically shook her head. "Love, you know that if something is bothering you, you can always tell me, no matter what, right?" Regina didn't reply. She simply burrowed further into Robin's side and closed her eyes. Robin didn't want to push her, but he was worried. Regina had been waking up from these nightmares for weeks now. He'd try his best to comfort her, but clearly whatever was bothering her wasn't going away. Knowing there wasn't anything else he could do for her, Robin tried his best to fall back asleep and prayed that Regina didn't have to suffer through another nightmare tonight.

The next morning, Regina woke up early. Groaning, she pinched the bridge of her nose and shielded her eyes from the sun peeking its way through the window. This wasn't the first time that she'd had a headache like this and it wouldn't be the last. Pushing her pain aside, Regina extracted herself from Robin's arms and wandered into the bathroom to get ready. She looked in the mirror and frowned at the dark bags under her eyes. She opened up the medicine cabinet above the sink and pulled out a bottle of Excedrin migraine medication. She popped two pills into her mouth and swallowed them. She didn't have time to feel sick. She had things to do.

Regina got ready quickly. Dealing with her migraine had taken more time than she had assumed and she was running late for her meeting with Snow. Before leaving, she pulled on a light jacket and grabbed her bag before making the short walk to Granny's. Last night had taken a lot out of her. It wasn't the first night that she had a nightmare and it wouldn't be the last. When Regina had accepted Robin's proposal, she never realized how many memories and feelings it would bring up for her from her first marriage. The dreams were all similar. They either dealt with Daniel dying at her mother's hand or her wedding night where Leopold had consummated their marriage against her will. Last night had been a Leopold dream. Before starting to plan this wedding, Regina hadn't given her first wedding a second thought. She hadn't really planned any of it. Her mother and an army of servants had done it for her. She hadn't gotten a chance to pick her own dress, the venue, the food, really anything that mattered. Now, with this wedding, Snow had all these grand ideas. She wanted to give Regina her perfect fairytale wedding. She didn't know how to tell Snow that she had had her fairytale wedding...but it was far from perfect. There were so many aspects of this wedding that were too similar to her last wedding and it was freaking Regina out. It was making her want nothing to do with it.

When Regina arrived at Granny's, Snow was already waiting for her in a booth near the window. Snow waved at her and gave her a smile. Regina returned a weak smile and walked towards the booth to take a seat. "I'm so glad you're here," Snow said as Regina sat down. "So I thought today we could take a look invitation styles. I brought some patterns that I found online for you to look at."

"I-uhh, okay." Regina replied, her head already throbbing. "I just need some coffee. I didn't get much sleep."

"Addy still not sleeping?" Snow asked. Regina shook her head. "I remember when Neal went through that and it was hell, but you'll get through it." While they sat there, Ruby walked over to their table with a coffee cup and a full pot of coffee. She set the mug down on the table and poured a generous amount of coffee into it.

"Granny says it's on the house. It looks like you need it." Ruby told her with a genuine smile.

"Thank you," Regina replied, a bit of embarrassment evident in her voice. She wondered how terrible she truly looked if Granny could see from the other side of the room that she looked and felt like crap. Regina took a sip of the black coffee and Snow saw that as her opportunity to pull out her wedding invitation samples.

"Okay, so I don't know if you want to go more elegant and simple or have them be a little more ornate." Snow began. She pulled out the first one and laid it on the table. "This one is very simple, just white with some golden flowers. Very regal." Regina swallowed thickly at that word. She didn't really want to have anything to do with that word anymore. She wasn't the Queen and her marriage with Robin would be nothing like her marriage to Leopold. Before she even had a chance to reply, Snow had moved onto the next invitation. "This one is has a floral pattern and is definitely more colorful. I don't know how it would go with the color scheme that we've already decided on but we could always customize it." she added. "Then! This third option is my favorite. They look like cute little doves!" Snow exclaimed. "So, Regina, what do you think?" she asked.

"I-ummm-I guess the third one is okay." Regina replied. She really couldn't process the options that she had before her. Her head was pounding and there were huge black spots in her line of vision, which was a common occurrence for her when she had migraines.

"Regina, you don't seem very sure about this. This is your wedding. You have to have an opinion." Snow prompted. "I agreed to plan your wedding but I'm going to need your input." Regina shut her eyes in pain and let out a sigh. "There's no need to get upset with me. I'm only trying to help." Snow snapped back at her stepmother's obvious disgust.

"Snow, I am trying…"

"Well, it doesn't really seem like you care. Don't you want to have an amazing fairytale wedding?"
"I didn't ask for that!" Regina suddenly exclaimed.

"Well, excuse me for assuming that you'd want your wedding to your true love to be perfect." Snow said angrily.

"It's all too much…" Regina tried to explain.

"Weddings are a lot!" Snow yelled. "They're work, Regina. And I've been trying my best to help you, but you are being quite difficult."

"I never asked for your help." Regina replied weakly. Snow let out a sigh and Regina could see tears in the corner of her eyes.

"Well fine then...I won't assist you anymore. Have fun doing everything yourself. I'm done here." Snow retorted, pushing the binder full of wedding ideas towards her stepmother before storming out of the restaurant. After the princess had left, Regina dropped her head into hands. She hadn't meant to be so short with Snow. She was just overwhelmed and in pain. The throbbing in her head was overwhelming and consuming her every thought. She couldn't put any thought into invitations because she was focusing all of her energy on not screaming in pain. Regina was pulled from her thoughts by the sound of her cell phone ringing in her purse. She looked at the screen. It was Robin.

"Hello?" She answered quietly.

"Regina, we have a problem…"

"What? Is someone hurt? What's going on?" she asked quickly.

"Roland is at the sheriff's station." Robin said.

"What? Why?" Regina asked

"He got caught shoplifting…" Robin began. "I'm picking him up now, but I would appreciate the back-up."

"I'll be home in ten minutes." she replied. She couldn't believe this. Roland was only six but he knew better than to steal. Then again, his father did use to be a thief. God, she couldn't deal with this right now. Regina hurried home and practically flew in the house. No one was downstairs, so Regina scurried upstairs. She looked in Roland's room but it was empty. Then, she heard a strange noise coming from Henry's room. It sounded like...a moan. Was Henry sick? She opened up his door and practically screamed when she was going on. Henry and Violet were on his bed and Violet was on top of him, kissing him all over his bare chest.

"Oh God!" Regina exclaimed

"Mom!" Henry yelled as Violet scrambled off of him. Regina hurriedly shut the door and made a break for downstairs. She couldn't believe what she just saw. She knew Henry was growing up and that he and Violet had been together for a while but she never expected to see that. She felt like she was going to throw up and this time it wasn't just because of her throbbing headache, though it was growing worse by the second. Regina took a seat on the couch and put her head in her hands. As if on cue, Robin came through the door with Addy, who was screaming. Clearly, she was still protesting her nap because she looked more than tired.

"Papa! I'm sorry." Roland exclaimed, tears rushing down his face.

"What you did was very wrong!" Robin said sternly. "Stealing is not okay." While the chaos was going on in the living room, Violet rushed downstairs with Henry on her heels.

"Violet! Violet, wait!" Henry called after her, but the girl didn't stop. "Way to go, mom! Don't you ever knock!" Henry yelled. Robin looked between Regina and Henry, a confused look upon his face.

"What is going on?" Robin demanded to know.

"Violet and I were having a private moment and Mom barged in!" Henry yelled. "Now she'll probably not talk to me again. She's mortified!" Robin wanted to reply but Addy was screaming so loudly in his ear.

"Addy, honey, you have to stop crying," Robin begged. Meanwhile, Roland had taken to begging Regina for forgiveness.

"I can explain, Mama. Please don't be mad!" He cried in her face. Regina couldn't process any of the chaos going on in her house. Her head was throbbing. Each shriek from Addy sounded like a gunshot. She couldn't take the sound of Roland's whiny voice and she couldn't even look Henry in the eyes.

"Regina! I could use some help here." Robin said loudly to her. "Regina! Regina!" he yelled when she didn't respond.

"God, Shut up!" Regina yelled, which made everyone in family silent, except for Addy who was still crying. "I-I can't do this." she stuttered out before stumbling to their bedroom. She took a seat on the edge of the bed. She hunched herself over and breathed deeply as waves of nausea plagued her. She didn't have long to be alone because Robin had followed her with the still crying baby.

"Regina, what is your problem?" Robin demanded to know as he stormed into the room.

"Get her out of here!" Regina yelled. "I can't listen to the crying! Give her the stupid binky! Just make it stop." She was gripping the sides of her head now. "I can't do this! My one son is a thief, the other one is practically having sex and I have a toddler who won't stop crying! My head is pounding. Just leave me alone!" She screamed. Robin was about to argue back when Regina suddenly pressed a hand over her mouth and reached out for the trashcan next to their bed and threw up violently into it. Robin was a bit shocked. He hadn't realized that Regina had been feeling so sick. He took Addy out of the room and gave her to Henry, much to his dismay and hurried back to Regina. She was still hunched over trash can breathing heavily. Robin moved behind her and gathered her hair into his hands.

"It's going to be alright," he whispered. "We'll figure everything out. Just breathe." He rubbed Regina's back soothingly as she once again heaved into the can. Despite all the drama with their children, Robin had a feeling his biggest worry was going to have to be Regina. Parenting wasn't easy and it was clear that today, it had pushed Regina to the edge.

To Be Continued...