Chapter 38

Regina and Robin had spent the last week juggling three children. They knew it would be challenging, but they had not imagined just how challenging. The sleep deprivation was definitely starting to take its toll on both of them, making every day that much more difficult to manage everything. Robin was constantly driving Henry between their house and the hospital as well as making sure both boys got to school on time. Regina had been focusing primarily on caring for Genevieve, but she also tried to spend time with the boys, helping them with their homework and eating family dinner together. She did not want either one of them to feel like they were being ignored or pushed to the side because of the new baby.

Genevieve was doing great. Regina was thankful that nursing came easily to her and she was able to feed her daughter without too much of a struggle. She had also begun pumping in order for Robin to also get up with their daughter when she woke up in the middle of the night for a feeding. Genny was sleeping in 3-4 hour spurts at night which Regina was grateful for. Regina tried to stick to the old adage that you should sleep whenever the baby sleeps, but that was easier said than done. She would try to get housework done or spend time with Henry and Roland as well when Genevieve would sleep in order to give them her undivided attention. The boys were doing great with their sister. Henry was helping with diaper changes and would keep an eye on her at times to allow Regina to make dinner or take a quick nap. Roland was doing what he could to help as well, he loved to bring them items they needed when taking care of the baby because it made him feel involved in all of it. It came as no surprise to Regina that Robin was amazing with Genevieve. He was constantly telling her to go relax for a few while he would care for their daughter. Her heart would soar watching Robin with Genevieve as it always had when he would be doing something with Henry and Roland. She could not have imagined a better father for their children.

Today was Friday and due to the current circumstances going on, family game night had been put on hold for the time being. Regina and Robin had decided they would try to have a movie night with the five of them in order to give the boys some sense of normalcy. Robin had just left to pick up the boys from school. That left Regina home alone with Genevieve. The newborn was fast asleep in her swing and Regina decided to use this time to check on dinner in the crock pot before taking a nap herself. Robin was going to take the boys for some ice cream to give Regina a little extra time for her nap. Genny had not slept well the night before, waking up several times which left her parents both exhausted. Robin had taken a nap earlier in the day in order to have the energy to pick the boys up and take them for ice cream. Now it was Regina's turn. She made her way to her and Robin's bedroom, placing the baby monitor on the nightstand next to her. Sleep pulled her under almost immediately.

When Regina woke up she panicked for a moment when she looked at the alarm clock. She had just slept for two and a half hours. There was no way Genevieve had slept that long. She threw the blankets off of her body and rushed to get out of the bed. As she opened the bedroom door she could hear the boys downstairs with Robin. Henry was talking to his sister and she heard Robin instruct Roland to set the table for dinner. Regina realized the reason she did not wake up when her daughter did was that Robin must have gotten her before she got too upset. She guessed he did it in order for her to get a longer nap. All she could think in that moment was how much she loved that man.

Regina made her way downstairs to find her husband and three children all in the kitchen. "Hello my love." Robin greeted her when she appeared in the entrance to the kitchen. She made her way over to him, giving him a loving and grateful kiss on the lips. "Genevieve just finished a bottle and dinner will be ready in just a minute." Robin told her as they pulled away. "Thank you." Regina replied before placing one more, brief kiss to his lips. She made her way over to greet her children before they all sat down to eat dinner. Henry placed Genevieve in her bouncer seat where she fell asleep almost immediately. Regina took a moment during dinner to look around at her family she had waited so long for. After years of pain, anger, and misery she now had a wonderful husband and three amazing children, all of which she loved with all her heart. She found her mind wandering in this moment to Emma, Hook, and the twins. Regina was incredibly grateful to have all of her children home and healthy, but her heart truly went out to Emma and Hook for what they were going through. A part of her felt guilty that after all of the horrible things she has done, how did she get so lucky to have a healthy daughter while the savior of this town was keeping vigil over her tiny daughters in the NICU. She was pulled out of her thoughts as Robin gave her hand a gentle squeeze. When she saw the look of concern in Robin's eyes, she gave him a reassuring smile that also contained an unspoken promise that she would explain later.

After dinner, the boys cleaned up while Regina headed upstairs with Genevieve to feed her and put her to bed. She enjoyed this quiet time she got to spend bonding with her little girl. Despite the sleep deprivation and the increased craziness in the house, this little girl also brought even more love and joy into their home. Regina loved being a mom, after all it was becoming Henry's mom that was the main catalyst to her becoming who she was today, a hero. It still seemed weird to her to think of herself as a hero. Genny finished feeding and her eyes were quickly falling closed, so Regina placed a kiss to her head and set her down in the crib, quietly making her way out of the room.

Upon arriving in the living room she was greeted by the smell of popcorn and found a spot on the couch next to Robin, resting her head on his shoulder as he wrapped an arm around her waist. Henry started the movie once his mom got settled. Roland and Henry had chosen to watch Inside Out, they both had been bugging their parents for months to see it, so they were both really excited. Regina and Robin snuggled on the couch, sharing popcorn while they watched the movie. It surprised both parents how much they enjoyed the movie as well, both of them finding themselves laughing out loud a few times. When the movie was over they sent both boys to bed before heading to bed themselves.

"So what were you thinking about at dinner tonight?" Robin asked as they cuddled in bed. Regina tilted her head up from his chest to look up at him. "I was just thinking how grateful I was for our family that we have made." Regina said with a smile. Her eyes immediately gave her away to Robin, "And what else?" he asked, knowing there was more to this. It drove her nuts sometimes that he could read her like an open book. She had spent years building up walls, not showing her vulnerability to others and Robin tore right through those walls. It was one of the things that made her fall in love with him, but it could also be incredibly frustrating when it was something she did not really want to talk about. Robin never pushed her to talk about it though, he merely would let her know that he was there for her and encourage her to talk to him when she was ready.

"I was just thinking about how grateful I was that Genevieve was here, happy and healthy with us and I couldn't help but think about Emma and Hook. How is it that someone like myself, who did so many horrible things for so many years get to take her healthy daughter home. Meanwhile the so called savior of this town is forced to watch her twins, born too soon, struggle in the NICU? Part of me feels guilty, like it should be me having to go through all of this as some kind of payment to the universe for all of the horrible things I have done." Regina finally opened up to him. It killed him that she was feeling like this. He placed a kiss to her hair, collecting his thoughts on the matter before he spoke. "That's not who you are anymore Regina. These things just happen, there's no rhyme or reason to them most of the time. No one is being punished here, it's something that happened and we may never know exactly why. Don't think for a minute that you deserve anything less than happiness just because you have a past. I wasn't exactly a saint either before we met. We all have things that we regret in our past, what matters is that we are not making those mistakes anymore and we are doing what we can to make up for them." Robin replied, rubbing gentle circles on her back as he spoke. Before Regina could respond they were pulled out of their moment together by the sounds of their daughter's cries. "I got her. Just think about what I said." Robin told her before giving her a gentle kiss.

After he left the room, Regina rolled to her other side thinking about what he had just said. Maybe he was right or maybe she just hoped he was right. Either way she knew that she wanted to continue to work to redeem herself for her previous wrongs. If nothing else than to continue to build the trust and relationships she had gained by becoming a hero. Despite how tired she was, she found herself struggling to fall asleep.

A short time later, Robin made his way back into their room. He crawled into bed and scooted over to Regina draping an arm around her waist and placing a kiss to her hair. Regina was still awake so she moved one of her hands to rest over top of Robin's, interlacing their fingers. "Did you really believe what you said earlier?" she asked after a few minutes spent in silence. "Yes, my love I do. You deserve to be happy and I am going to do everything I can to make sure that you are." Robin replied. "I love you." Regina said as she turned her head and body a bit to look at him. "I love you too." he responded before placing several kisses to her beautiful lips. Unfortunately, Regina was still recovering from giving birth and their kisses could only become so heated before she pulled away not wanting to push Robin too far and not be able to give him what they both wanted right now. They settled back into their previous position, curled up with Regina's back against his chest as they both fell into a deep slumber.

The next morning Regina woke feeling less tired than she had in a week. Genny thankfully had only woke one more time during the night and she even slept in until 7 o'clock in the morning, allowing Regina and Robin some much needed sleep. Clearly the lack of sleep from the previous night had taken its toll on the newborn as well who normally woke at least 3 times a night and was up by 5 o'clock in the morning. Regina fed Genevieve and changed her diaper before taking downstairs to join the boys for breakfast.

Since it was the weekend, Robin decided to make the boys a big breakfast of pancakes, sausage, bacon, and eggs as they did not have to rush around to get off to school. After breakfast he planned to take Henry to the hospital to see his two other little sisters. The teenager had been to the hospital every day since their birth, wanting to spend equal time with both sets of parents and his new siblings. Hook had sent Robin some new pictures this morning and told him that both girls were doing well and Ansleigh was doing better, but they still had to grow quite a bit before they could go home. Robin and Regina cleaned up breakfast before he left to take Henry to the hospital, giving his wife and two children staying at home kisses before he left. Henry took his turn giving hugs to his younger brother and mom before giving his little sister a gentle pat on the head and a kiss on the cheek.

Regina laid Genevieve down for her morning nap in her swing which they had set up in the living room. She turned on a movie for her and Roland and they played Candyland. It was nice to spend some quiet time with her youngest son. "So how is school going sweetie?" Regina asked, while they talked about their days when they got home from school she wanted to talk to him while she was not trying to get a bunch of other things done. "It's okay." Roland replied. "What's wrong?" Regina questioned, sensing the tone in her son's voice. "I just want to stay home with you, daddy, and Genny. I miss you guys while I'm at school." he explained. Regina's heart broke at his confession. "Oh sweetie, as much as we would love to have you stay home with us, you have to go to school. That way you can learn as much as you can so you can try to out-smart your older brother." Regina reasoned with him. "Okay. I guess I'll go to school, but only so I can be smarter than Henry one day." Roland replied. Regina leaned over to kiss the mop of curly hair on top of his head. She realized as she did this that the young boy could use a haircut and made a mental note to put it on the list of things to do.

On the way home from the hospital, Robin and Henry stopped to pick up Melody. With everything that had been going on, the two teenagers had not been able to see each other in weeks. Plus, Melody wanted to at least meet one of Henry's new little sisters. "Hey." Henry said as Melody got into the car. "Hi. Thank you for picking me up, I can't wait to meet Genevieve." Melody replied. "You're welcome." Robin replied. Henry and Melody held hands on the way over to the mansion, having missed each other's company.

They arrived back at the house at the perfect time, Genny had just eaten, had a diaper change, and was awake. Robin greeted Regina and his daughter with a kiss before wrapping an arm around Regina's shoulder. "Melody, would you like to hold her?" Regina asked. "Yes please. Just let me wash my hands first." Melody replied. She went into the bathroom that was just down the hall to wash her hands before making her way over to where Regina stood with the newborn in her arms. Regina handed Genevieve to Melody, and watched as her sweet daughter immediately took to the young girl, snuggling closer to her once she was placed in her arms. "She's adorable." Melody told them. "Thank you. She seems to be really fond of you already." Regina replied. "She takes after her big brother that way." Henry said as he made his was over to her with a beaming smile on his face at the girl he loved holding his little sister. He gave his finger to Genny allowing her to wrap her little fingers around his index finger. "Remember, just because I got to date at this age doesn't mean you can. Got it little sis. You're not allowed to date until you're at least 25, maybe not even then. I also reserve the right to turn away any potential boyfriends if I don't think they're good enough for you." Henry said, his overprotective brother instincts kicking in. Melody just shook her head telling the little girl she held in her arms to ignore her older brother.

Melody stayed for dinner, catching up Henry and the rest of the family on what she had been up to. All the while she held Genevieve, aside from the short periods of time where Regina had to feed her. Melody even changed her diaper with a bit of assistance from Henry. It amazed her how tiny Genevieve was and could only imagine how small that meant Kensington and Ansleigh were. Henry had sent her pictures of his other two little sisters and she could not wait to meet them as well. After helping to clean up dinner, Henry and Melody went into the living room to watch a movie and play board game with Roland. It was a very enjoyable day had by all of them, but what none of them were aware of was the sinister presence that had been lurking nearby.

Morgana had been hiding across the street when Melody arrived at the mayoral mansion. After they had been in the house for some time she thought it safe to approach the home. She did her best to peek in the windows to get a closer look at her prey. Morgana also wanted to get a closer look at one of the women who had been protecting her. She could sense the power radiating from the woman, it was strong. What amazed her though was another magical presence that was almost as strong as her mother. The tiny infant being held in Melody's arms possessed great powers, that much was clear. This plan may turn out to be more of a challenge that Morgana had originally thought. She snuck around the house until Melody's parents picked her up, following the family back to their home. She spent the night exploring the property and watching Melody as she slept, continuing to plot her plans for the young girl. A few weeks from now, her prey's precious little world will be shattered, leaving nothing but pain and misery much like Ariel and Eric had left her with.

While Melody was at the Locksley's she felt like she was continually being watched but every time she looked around she did not see anything. She knew she should have said something to Regina or Henry, but she did not want to bother Regina since she just had Genny. She was having too much fun getting to know her boyfriend's baby sister and to see him with her was even sweeter. She knew that she needed to tell her parent's though since she did not tell Henry's. Looking up from her school books, she looked over to her mom who was getting something to drink in the kitchen.

"Mom?," Melody sounded hesitant which worried Ariel. "Sweetheart, what's wrong?" Ariel asked looking over to Eric, who was now listening from the living room. "I feel like someone is spying on us and I don't know where it's coming from," Melody said closing her books and moving toward the living room. As she entered the living room she curled up on the couch with her dad. "When did you start feeling like this?" Eric asked her as he pulled her farther into his arms and Ariel sat on the other side of her placing a kiss to her head. "When I was at Henry's," she paused not knowing what else to say. "Melody! Why didn't you say something to Regina or Robin?" Ariel exclaimed.

Melody did not know what to say to her parents she felt bad not having told Regina when she had the chance, especially since her mom had gotten up from the couch and placed a call to the Locksley house to let Regina know what Melody had just told them. As it was getting late, even though it was a Saturday night, they all headed to bed after Melody gave both of her parents a kiss on the cheek. "Eric, why didn't she tell anyone sooner?" Ariel asked after laying down in bed next to her husband. Staring up at the ceiling Eric replied, "I don't know but she needs to stop keeping everything bottled up and opening up to us or Henry, at least." Ariel sighed, rolling over to snuggle into Eric's arms, "I know but she is a teenager girl and that's just the way they are. Hopefully, we can all protect her from Morgana and we can get back to our normal lives."

Melody had gone to her room but was reading instead of sleeping when a text from Henry came through.

Henry: Why didn't you tell us you felt someone watching earlier? You know Mom would have done anything to protect you. You and your parents could have stayed here so we knew you were safe.

Melody: I knw, thats y I didn't tell u. Ur mom just had a baby. U dont need anymore ppl in ur house w/ a newborn. I promise, I'm fine.

Henry: I know. I just worry about you and with Morgana lurking, I worry even more. I'm headed to bed. Goodnight, sweetie. I 3 you!

Melody: Nite! 3 u 2!

A/N: So we know the last few chapters went up later than usual and we're trying to get ourselves back on track. This means you guys get a new chapter about 36 hours after we posted the last one. I hope you guys love it! Please continue to follow, favorite, and review! We love to read what you guys think.