While Emma's thoughts were stuck on her ex-wife, Regina's thoughts were in a conflicting disarray.

She was busy preparing pancakes for her children, as she did most Saturdays, but unfortunately the familiar task allowed her brain the freedom to wander, worry and generally worsen her mood.

She was still upset about the state Damon had come home in yesterday, his painfully bruised face was no accident. His refusal to speak to her about had her worried they weren't as close as she had thought they were. Plus of course she had seen him kissing Ruby, whom she had heard nothing good about, and none of these things impressed her.

On top of that, and her ongoing Emma related baggage, today was the day she was supposed to bring her kids to meet Robin.

She had wondered about just taking Daniel, and then she had decided to take all three boys. This was further complicated by the state Damon was in, she wasn't ecstatic about having him meet Robin with everything going on. And it wasn't because she was ashamed of him, no, it was because she already felt distant from him, and she worried that something major like meeting Robin would drive a bigger wedge between them.

Her worries churning uncomfortably in her stomach, and her unborn baby adding to her ill feelings, she left the stove and poked her head into the hall.

"Boys! Breakfast!"

A thunderous roar, more befitting a herd of cattle than two young boys, sounded through the house as Daniel and Henry rushed down the stairs and raced to the kitchen table for their favourite meal of the week.

"Morning Mom." They chorused as they began helping themselves to the stacks of pancakes and drowning them in maple syrup.

"Good morning munchkins." Regina greeted them tenderly, stopping to kiss the tops of their heads as they shovelled food into their mouths. Their presence brought her some comfort, but the absence of her oldest son surprised her.

"Where's your brother?" She asked the boys as she turned off the stove and carried the last of the pancakes to the table.

"No idea." Henry answered through a mouthful of food and gave her an unconcerned shrug.

Regina gave him a smile, but inside her stomach twisted in knots. Don't jump to conclusions, she said internally and sat with her sons. Not being home on a Saturday morning does not mean trouble or missing. Maybe her oldest was out having a refreshing winter run. Or being beaten up. Or catching some disease from the local tramp. Or doing drugs.

Once breakfast was over, and the kitchen was cleaned up, Regina sat her boys back down at the table.

Carefully, choosing gentle and simple words, she reminded Daniel that Emma and she were his mothers. She explained that she and Emma were Henry's mothers too, but that he also had a father.

"Damon has a father too." Daniel interjected.

"Yes darling, Damon has a father too. And, you Daniel, you have a father as well." Regina said carefully, giving her son an encouraging smile.

"I do?" Daniel asked, seeming surprised, but unperturbed.

"He does?" Henry, who'd been disinterested until this moment, joined it curiously.

"Yes, his name is Robin, and if you want to, he would like to meet us all."

Regina held her breath, entirely unsure if she was going about this in the right way. And wishing all her children were present so she wouldn't have to explain this all again whenever Damon decided to come home.

"Robin's like a birdy." Daniel said with a bright smile. "Can my daddy fly too?"

"No darling, he can't fly but he does like animals and birds, just like you." Regina replied, hope beginning to grow that maybe this meeting might not scare her kids irreparably.

"Okay, I'm bringing all my pets to show him!" Daniel said excitedly and jumped up. "I'll bring Jeffrey, Sammy, Cupcake, Missy, Baby, Teddy Bear and Eeyore.." Daniels list of his "pets", in reality his vast collection of stuffed plush animals, trailed off as he raced upstairs.

Regina smiled to herself and turned to Henry, her only non-biological child. She saw him no differently than the others, him not growing inside her, like his brothers and the unborn baby gently kicking her presently, only made their bond all the more important to her.

"Any thoughts?" She asked him.

"Eh, I'm keen. My dads nice. I'm sure you picked a nice dad for Daniel too."

"Oh Henry, what a lovely thing to say." Regina welled up, tears immediately spilling onto her elegant cheekbones.

"Mom!" Henry said and went to her. He wrapped as much of her pregnant body as he could into a hug and let her lay her head on his shoulder. "Don't cry this much later, you'll scare away the new dad."

Regina laughed, squeezed her son tight and let him go. "Right you, go get dressed and make sure your brother brushes his teeth."

Henry rolled his eyes and loped off upstairs. Regina then wiped her eyes and went about collecting her keys and purse. After a few minutes she heard some scuffing sounds on the front porch. Mentally preparing herself and trying her very best not to immediately get mad, she went and stood in the hall. She folded her arms across her bulging belly and forced her expression into a neutral one.

After scraping his key in the lock and pushing it open, Damon waltzed in the door, in a seemingly very good mood. Albeit hard to tell thanks to his bruised and swollen face. His injuries did look slightly better after a nights sleep, however their unknown origin made them glare at Regina in an accusatory way. And he reeked of marijuana.

"Oh hey mom." Damon squinted at his mom and smiled as much as his wounded face would allow. "You waiting for me?"

"Well you did miss breakfast." Regina said coolly.

"I'm sorry. Was seeing some mates." Damon muttered, his smile dropping.

"The same mates you were arrested with?"

Damon looked down and shuffled his snowy shoes. "Yeah."

"Alright then." Regina said, officially certain she had lost contact with her sweet boy. The red eyed, beaten, high, nervous teenager in front of her had no trace of the son who had crawled into her bed so neither of them would be alone for the first night spent in their new house.

"Go shower and change please. We're meeting Daniel's donor/dad today." Regina hadn't meant to be so blunt and cold, but once she said it like that it couldn't be taken back.

Damon's good eyebrow shot up. "We're what?"

"You heard me." Regina said, her lower lip trembling as she realised she sounded uncomfortably like Emma.

"Fine, don't talk to me about it like I'm a human being or something." Damon muttered and went for the stairs.

Regina almost snapped back at him, but she bit her tongue. She didn't need to do any more damage to their relationship right now.

Instead she went and picked up her cell phone. Since she had completed telling the children about Robin, she now had to tell Emma about Damon's face.

With a deep sigh she selected Emma's number and rang it. She'd rehearsed in her head what she wanted to say but admittedly after that interaction with her oldest son she wasn't sure she could stick to a script on a conversation concerning him.

"Hey Regina, what's up?" Emma's voice came across the phone, a lot less cold than expected.

What was up? Everything.

"Hi Emma, I just wanted to ring and chat with you about the boys, do you have time?"

"Of course, is Henry okay?" Emma responded immediately, a new sense of urgency coursing down the line.

Regina's grip on her phone tightened.

"All three of our sons are okay." She managed to respond through gritted teeth.

Was it her imagination or was Emma more interested in the son she'd given birth to then the rest of their brood lately? God that woman fucking confused and enraged her.

"Alright, what do you want to talk about then?" Emma asked, no trace of shame in her voice.

"Something happened to Damon yesterday. He came home with a black eye, bruised up face and split lip. This morning he snuck out of the house and came home reeking of weed. He's doing drugs in the morning Emma and won't tell me what happened to him." Regina paused and took a breath. "I haven't punished him as I thought his court results would be enough. But I think I may need to bring on the discipline."

Emma audibly sighed. "Or cut him some slack? He's going through a lot."

Regina put the phone down and counted to three. Emma sounded bored. And dismissive. She put the phone back to her ear. "Well excuse me for trying to be a parent instead of finger banging my girlfriend in the kitchen while the kids are home."

"Maybe if you were a better parent our son wouldn't have a criminal record!" Emma practically shouted, immediately defensive when Regina brought up her most recent indiscretion.

"I don't have to listen to this." Regina said angrily. "We are both his moms."

"Yes but we are not both single and alone. I have to go, Belle is waiting." Emma snapped and hung up.

Regina listened to the dial tone for several minutes, processing the way the woman she had married and loved, trusted, and cherished for years had just spoken to her. God, what a morning.

As she stood there she seriously considered cancelling with Robin. She wasn't sure if she could handle it all today. She rubbed her belly pensively and scrolled through her contacts, looking for the number she had only recently saved.

"I'm ready to go!" Daniel announced, his cheery voice accompanied by a cheek-to-cheek smile. He walked into the room, dressed in a yellow jacket and pink gumboots, holding one of Regina's old handbags which was filled with all of his favourite plush animals.

"Me too!" Henry chimed in, appearing behind his brother. As per usual he was dressed smartly from his striped scarf down to his polished boots.

"Me three." Damon said quickly, sliding into the room behind his brothers. His curly hair was still wet from the shower and his facial wounds were as glaring as ever. He didn't look his mom in the eye, instead smiling at his brothers as he scooped Daniel, his bag, and the toys up into his arms. "Let's go boys!"

Regina offered her sons a weak smile and inwardly steeled her resolve. She had to do this today. This meeting wasn't about her. It was about Daniel. It was about her sons.

Her own wrecked emotions couldn't be a factor.

She would do this. She had to. She quickly took her thumb off Robins number and tucked her phone away into her designer purse.

"You all look wonderful, let's go my loves!"