A/N: Here's another entry for OQ Prompt Party based on a personal prompt for Building a Family: Robin and Roland move in (to) Regina's home. I hope you all enjoy it!

-Mac

Finding Home

"Alright, sweetheart, we're going to pick out items for your new bedroom," Regina said, holding Roland's hand as they entered Storybrooke's biggest furniture store.

He looked around, his brown eyes wide. "There are a lot of options. How am I going to pick?"

"Don't worry, my boy," Robin said, taking his other hand. "We're all here to help you. Right, Sophie?"

Sophie nodded, leaning past her father to give Roland a reassuring smile. "Yep! We're going to help you make the best room possible!"

Regina squeezed his hand. "So are you ready to start looking?"

"Yeah!" he exclaimed, eyes lighting up as he bounced. He tugged on her hand. "Let's go look!"

They headed toward the children's section and Regina let go of Roland's hand, telling him to look around. "Just stay where your father and I can see you," she told him.

"Okay," he replied. He then took Sophie's hand. "Can you come help me?"

"Sure! Let's go," she said, leading him over to where the beds were on display. Robin took Regina's hand as they followed their children.

She looked up at Robin. "Do you think he'll find something or will this be too overwhelming for him?"

"I think he'll find something," Robin replied, giving her hand a squeeze. "Especially with Sophie helping him."

They watched as Roland and Sophie looked over a bed shaped like a racecar. After a few moments, he shook his head and she led him to the next bed. Regina leaned closer to Robin again. "What do you think he's going to pick?"

"I'm not entirely sure," he said, "but I'm hoping he leans toward some of these combination sets with some drawers and a desk built in. I think he would like them and it would save us from having to buy a few more items."

"Well, I guess we'll have to see. I know we both just want him to have a room he feels reflects him and he is comfortable in," she replied.

He nodded, kissing her forehead. "Exactly."

"Papa! Regina! Over here!" Roland called out, waving his hands as he jumped up and down. They chuckled, moving toward the energetic young boy to see what he had found. Regina smiled, eager to see what his room in her house would look like and to welcome him to his new home.

They were going to officially be a family at last.

Roland ultimately chose to go with a combination set. It had a bed under a bookshelf and with drawers lined next to it. A desk also was contained in the set so Roland could do his homework right in his bedroom, just like Sophie worked at her desk in hers. He was very excited and couldn't wait for the set to be delivered to Regina's house.

Once he had chosen his bed, the salesperson was able to show them some sets that matched it. They chose a couple more dressers and another bookcase for his room as well. Robin and Regina briefly argued over who was going to pay for it before deciding she would pay for the things at that store and Robin would pay at the next one.

They left to head to pick out paint for Roland's room as well as any decorations he wanted at the hardware store. Robin guided his son to the wall of paint swatches. "So, Roland, what color or colors do you want to paint your room?" he asked.

"I don't know," Roland replied, his eyes widening. "There are so many!"

Regina leaned down, rubbing his back. "I know. But maybe we can narrow it down. What colors don't you want?"

"I don't know," Roland replied, his eyes widening. "There are so many!"

Regina leaned down, rubbing his back. "I know. But maybe we can narrow it down. What colors don't you want?"

"Pink, red, purple," Roland said, his eyes going over the colors. "Oh, and black. It's depressing."

They all chuckled and Robin nodded, crouching as well. "Alright. So we've ruled out those colors. How about we try to narrow it down to three color choices?" he asked.

Roland bit his lip as he looked over a bunch. "Green. Blue…and yellow," he said.

"Those are great colors," Sophie said. "Your room is going to look amazing!"

"But there are still so many colors," he replied, eyeing the wall again. "How am I going to pick the right ones?"

An idea flashed through Robin's mind and he picked Roland up, placing him on his hip. "Well, you don't have to make your final decision right now. We can pick some swatches to take home and we can see what works best in your room."

Roland's eyes lit up and he relaxed. "That sounds good."

They searched and found a bunch of swatches in the colors that Roland had indicated. He seemed even more excited, bouncing up and down once Robin had put him down again. "What about you, Sophie? Are you going to paint your room too?" he asked his sister.

"The offer still stands," Regina reminded Sophie. "You can absolutely paint your room as well. You can also get things to redecorate as well."

"Thanks, but I'm good," she said. "I like my room as it is."

Robin nodded, figuring that Sophie would likely want to redo it in a few years when she became a teenager. But he still added: "If you see anything you would like, though, don't be afraid to let your mother or I know, okay?"

"Okay, Daddy," she said, giving him a smile.

"Alright," he said, taking her hand as well as Roland's. "Let's go see if there is anything else we need here and then I'm treating everyone to dinner."

They all cheered and Regina fell into step next to him, kissing his cheek. Love surged through him. After everything they had been through, they were finally going to live the life they had dreamed of all those years ago – together as a family.

It was a dream come true.

Roland's new bedroom was set up within a couple weeks. He had decided to paint it a soft green color with blue accents and found monkey wall clings to decorate the room. The bed was set up across from the door and they placed the dressers and bookshelves they had bought around the room. And in one corner, Regina had set up a little play corner for him with his toybox and all his toys.

It was now officially his.

Now Regina turned her attention to Robin.

"Here," she said, opening the door to an empty room. "You can use this as your office or your mancave or whatever."

"Mancave?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

She shrugged, feeling sheepish. "I don't know what you want to call your personal space here in my house."

"Certainly not mancave," he replied. "I am not a bear."

"Well, then, your office?" she asked.

He shrugged, looking thoughtful. "I've never really had an office before. And don't we need a spare bedroom?"

"There's space in the attic," she replied. "We can always convert that."

"To the spare bedroom? I'm thinking right now that it would likely be my parents who use it the most, right?" he asked, grimacing a bit.

She realized he had a point – she had no other family that would visit and need to stay the night. All their friends lived close enough that they would just return to their own homes at the end of any get-together. There was a chance Will could be the exception but Regin had a feeling he would rather spend the night with Belle than them. So it would likely only be Robin's parents using the spare bedroom for the foreseeable future and she did not want to put the people who were essentially her in-laws in the attic.

"You're right," she agreed, looking around the empty room. "We should probably turn this into the spare bedroom. Would you like to convert the attic into a space for yourself?"

He sighed, gently gripping her arms as he smiled softly at her. "Thank you for trying to be considerate of me but I think I'd rather put a pin in having a space of my own for now."

She hesitated, not wanting him to give something up just because it would be a bit harder to do than making a room for Roland. "Are you sure? You're coming from living on your own to being in a full house…"

"I did live with Roland, remember?" he teased her gently. "I wasn't entirely alone."

"You know what I meant," she replied, rolling her eyes as a bit of annoyance flooded through her.

He nodded. "I know. Look, I've dreamed for a long time about what it would be like to build a home with you and our family. And now it's come true. I want to enjoy every moment of that, every moment I can spend with you, Sophie and Roland."

She melted at his words and leaned closer to him. "I've dreamed about making a home with you too."

"And now we're doing it," he said. "Let's enjoy it and if it turns out we both need personal spaces for some brief respites, we can address it then. Deal?"

"Deal," she agreed, sealing it with a quick kiss. He returned it, chasing after her with a few more kisses before she gently pushed against his chest. "Let's go start dinner, okay?"

He nodded, taking her hand. They headed downstairs as he gave her hand a squeeze. "I love these domestic moments," he said.

"I do too," she replied. "And we have plenty more of these to look forward to for the rest of our lives."

"Sounds absolutely wonderful," he said, giving her another kiss before they headed into the kitchen. Pure happiness filled Regina and she was certain she spent the rest of the day with the biggest, goofiest smile on her face.

And she did not care.

Roland actually moved in before their father.

Daddy did sleep at the house but for the most part, he was helping set up his new headquarters in Storybrooke. He and Mom had explained it would only be for a few weeks, so it made more sense for Roland to move in ahead of him so he was with family rather than needing to stay with a babysitter. Once most of the work was done on his new offices, Daddy promised to go back to a more normal work schedule and would be home more often. Sophie looked forward to what that meant – breakfasts and dinners with her father as well as being able to spend time with him whenever she wanted because he would just be a room away rather than a mile.

She also looked forward to spending more time with her brother. They did get along pretty well and she couldn't wait to do more big sister things with him, such as teaching him fun games and sharing secrets with him. Sophie imagined that life with Roland was going to be very similar to what it had been during the summer when they spent so much time together.

Boy, was she wrong.

Having her brother living in her house proved to be a harder adjustment for her to make as she saw her routine almost completely upended. She and Roland shared a bathroom, which became a problem in the morning. For a little boy, her brother spent a lot of time in the bathroom and that made her rush through her morning routine. Mom scolded her a few times when she barely had any time for breakfast and Sophie tried to explain the problem but found her mother was hesitant to address the situation with Roland.

In fact, Sophie found her mother was way more lenient with Roland.

Mom wasn't terribly strict but she had rules that had always been enforced with Sophie. Toys could be played with in the living room but needed to be brought back to the bedroom before bedtime. And if they were being used in the bedroom, they had to stay there and could not spill out to the hallway. If they were left anywhere that was not the bedroom, there was a sliding scale of consequences. Once was assumed to be an accident and would be returned with a warning. Twice would require Sophie to stop whatever she was doing and clean it up. If it happened more than twice, the toy was taken away for longer periods of time. And so Sophie had learned early on to always make sure to pick up her toys.

Roland, though, left his toys everywhere and Mom didn't do anything except to remind him to pick up his toys. He always said he would but then wouldn't do it. It annoyed her to see her brother get different treatment and it especially annoyed her when Roland started to leave his toys in the hallway. She had to be careful when going to the bathroom and tripped a few times over his toys at night.

One of her biggest issues, though, was the TV. They only had the one in the living room and so they had to share. However, Sophie quickly learned that when her mother said share with your brother she meant give up all your shows for your brother. Roland had a packed TV schedule and insisted he needed to watch every show that aired on one particular channel, most of which were too young for Sophie's tastes. Even if he was busy playing and not really watching the TV, he would get upset if she tried to change the channel. Mom would then take his side and so Sophie kept missing her shows. She was so behind, she started to ask Lily and Henry to tell her what was going on because she was unable to watch them – even if she taped the shows, she never was able to get the TV to herself.

It was made worse by the fact that despite being half her age, Roland practically had the same bedtime as her – 8:30 PM – and hogged the TV until he was in bed. Sophie tried to ask for her bedtime to be pushed back so she could watch at least one show but Mom insisted she needed to go to bed then to get the recommended amount of sleep. When Sophie pointed out that Roland went to bed at the same time, Mom only said that was the bedtime Daddy had set so she was not going to change it.

"Your brother just moved into a new house," Mom told her. "It's a lot to adjust to so we need to keep his routine as normal as possible."

"But what about my routine?" Sophie asked, her heart sinking and feeling near tears. "I need to adjust too."

Mom wrapped her arm around her, holding her close. "I know, but you're older and understand this better. This isn't going to be forever, Soph. We're going to start adjusting Roland to a new schedule once your father's hours stabilized at work again. So we also need you to set a good example for him. And I promise, things will start to even out."

For the first time in her life, Sophie didn't believe her mother.

BANG! THUD! THUD!

"OW!"

Robin sat up, frowning. Pushing back the blankets, he jumped out of bed and headed out of the bedroom. He found Sophie sitting on the floor as she clutched her right ankle. She rocked as tears streamed down her face, making his heart jump into his throat.

"What's wrong, sweetheart?" Robin asked, kneeling next to her.

"I tripped over Roland's stupid robot and now my ankle really hurts," she cried, sniffling as she pushed the offending toy away from her. "He always leaves his toys out in the hallway!"

Robin pressed his lips together, knowing his son knew better than to do that. "Roland!"

"He's in the bathroom," Sophie asked, wailing now. "Like he always is. He takes forever in there!"

"What's going on?" Regina said, emerging from their bedroom. Her face went white as she took in their daughter. "Sophie! What's wrong?"

Robin gently prodded Sophie's ankle, frowning. "I think she sprained it. She probably won't need a cast or anything but she should definitely stay home today so she can keep it elevated. I want to keep an eye on it just in case it gets worse."

"I can call the school and let them know she will be out sick," Regina agreed. "What did she trip on?"

"We can talk about it later," Robin said, gently picking Sophie up. "I'm going to take her downstairs. Can you make sure Roland isn't on his tablet and loitering in the bathroom rather than getting ready? He tends to do that."

Regina nodded as Robin carried Sophie down to the living room. He placed her down on the couch and propped up her ankle. "I'll go get you an ice pack and then we can talk about breakfast," he said.

"Thank you, Daddy," she said, sniffling.

He kissed her forehead before heading into the kitchen. Robin found an ice pack and wrapped it in a towel as a thousand thoughts raced through his head. He had been so busy with moving into both his headquarters and into Regina's house, he hadn't taken the time he should've to sit down with Regina to go over some of Roland's bad habits that Robin had been working to undo in his son. Part of him had probably figured that Regina would be able to see through his son's deceptions and big doe eyes but given what Sophie had told him, he saw that even the great Regina Mills was not immune to the charm of Roland Locksley.

They were definitely going to have to talk about it now that his schedule was going back to normal.

Regina entered with Roland, who was pouting. She told him to sit down before turning to Robin, sighing. "You were right. He was playing video games in the bathroom rather than getting ready."

"He knows better than that but I guess he thought he could get away with it while I was working all those crazy hours," Robin said, shaking his head. Thinking of Sophie's likely sprained ankle, he turned to his son. "Just like you know not to leave your toys in the hallway. Your sister hurt her ankle tripping over your robot."

Guilt filled Roland's eyes and they started to water. "Is she really hurt?"

"Well, she won't be able to go to school today but she should feel better by tomorrow," Robin said, reassuring his son. But Roland wasn't getting off the hook that easy. "And when you come back from school, you're going to clean up your toys, got it?"

"Yes, Papa," Roland said, eyes downcast now.

Robin nodded before motioning to the living room, saying he would check on Sophie. As he left, he heard Regina ask Roland what he wanted for breakfast and that it had to be quick because they had to leave for school soon. Robin knew she would keep Roland on schedule and so he decided to focus on Sophie for now.

He placed the ice pack on her ankle, which was starting to swell, before turning to her. "Alright, sweetheart, what do you want for breakfast?"

"Can I get some sunny side up eggs, please?" she asked. "And maybe some bacon?"

"Coming right up," he assured her. He left the living room, crossing to the kitchen as Regina ushered Roland out of it. Robin paused and hugged his son, telling him to have a good day at school before he went into the kitchen to make Sophie breakfast.

Once her eggs and bacon was ready, he found a tray and carried it into the living rom. Robin got her all set up and handed her the remote. "Here you go," he said.

"Thank you," she replied. "Now I can catch up on my shows."

"You haven't been able to watch them?" he asked, wondering how busy the house had been while he was off trying to set up his new headquarters.

She shook her head. "Roland hogs the TV."

"Oh," he said, unsurprised. His son always had free reign of the TV at their house and it was likely that Roland wasn't used to sharing. Robin then frowned. "Did you tell your mother?"

"Yes," she replied. "But Mom usually sided with him, saying that I had to be patient while he adjusted to living in a new house and that she would start teaching him how to share the TV soon."

That certainly sounded like Regina. But there was still one thing that didn't add up. "Well, you get to watch TV when he goes to bed, right?"

"No, because we have the same bedtime!" she exclaimed, her cheeks turning red and her annoyance clear in her voice.

"You do?" he asked, surprised. He then turned suspicious as he asked: "What time is that?"

"Eight-thirty," she replied, confirming what he suspected.

Robin nodded. "I'll talk to your mother."

Sophie thanked him before eating her breakfast. Robin headed back toward the kitchen and made himself something to eat. Not long after he sat down, the front door opened and Regina entered the kitchen. "I called out," she said. "I know you're here and Sophie's in good hands but I couldn't go to work knowing she's injured."

"Do you want something to eat?" he asked, starting to stand.

She motioned for him to sit back down. "I'll get myself something. Make myself useful for a change."

He paused, tilting his head at her tone and how she was putting herself down. "You feel guilty."

"Yes," she admitted softly. She turned to face him, leaning against her counter. "Listening to you scold Roland earlier made me realize how soft I've been on him. Sophie had tried to tell me but I wasn't really listening. I was so focused on just making sure that Roland was settling in and was happy."

Robin stood and approached her, rubbing her arms. "Of course. Because you love Roland and didn't want him to be unhappy."

"I didn't want him to hate me," she replied, not looking at his eyes. "I didn't want to be seen as the evil stepmother."

"Regina, you are the furthest thing from an evil stepmother and he knows that. He already sees you as a mother and loves you," Robin told her.

She smiled as she finally met his eyes. But her smile quickly dimmed. "But I hurt Sophie in the process. I was so focused on Roland, I ignored that this was a period of adjustment for her and I wasn't fair to her."

"I can't judge if that was true or not," he said honestly. "But I do know that you and Sophie have a strong relationship. I'm sure you will find a way to make amends and she will forgive you."

"Thank you," she said before sighing. "Though she's probably wondering where her mother went. I always prided myself on not being too soft but also not being too tough. But I was definitely too soft on Roland."

He pulled her in for a hug. "Don't be too hard on yourself. I didn't prepare you for how sneaky Roland can be. You are certainly not the first he has tricked."

She leaned back, frowning. "What?"

"Roland can be quite devious when he thinks he can get away with it," he said, rubbing her back. "Let me make you breakfast and I'll do something I should've done when we first talked about moving in – lay out Roland's schedule and tell you about all his tricks."

Regina looked a bit dazed and he guided her to the table. He made her some eggs and bacon as well as gave her a fresh cup of coffee before sitting down next to her. "So, let me start with the fact that my son's bedtime during the school year is seven-thirty," he said.

She nearly spit her coffee back out but managed to swallow it before scowling. "He told me it was eight-thirty."

"He once convinced his Uncle John that it was ten-thirty," Robin said, chuckling a bit at that memory. "So he knew what he could get away with when it came to you."

"I thought it was a little late but I didn't trust my instinct," she replied, covering her eyes. "I should've listened to Sophie. She saw everything so clearly."

She then lowered her hands. "What about the Puppy Power Brigade?"

"The show he's seen several times and owns on DVD?" he asked, raising an eyebrow as he figured out what his son was constantly watching when Sophie wanted to watch her shows as well.

"Of course he does," she replied, shaking her head. "He probably owns a lot of the shows he watches, right?"

Robin nodded. "Probably."

She groaned. "Great. Now what do we do?"

"First, you stop beating yourself up," he said, taking her hands and rubbing the backs with his thumb. "You meant well and Roland took advantage of that."

"I still felt like I could've been firmer with him," she told him, though he believed she was starting to let go of her guilt.

He smiled. "You still can be. This wasn't just some temporary arrangement. This is for the rest of our lives. So we can reset and you can show Roland that he won't be able to push you over anymore. And together, we can work to stamp out some of these bad habits before they get worse."

Regina took a deep breath and nodded. "You're right. We'll wipe the slate clean and start over."

"Good," he said. "I think we should use our day to not only take care of our daughter but to decide what rules we want to have for our newly combined household. I want to be a united front with the children, Regina, and I don't want them thinking they can play us off each other."

"I want the same," she told him. "So I think coming up with house rules is a good idea. But we should probably also include the children. Give them some ownership too."

He nodded in agreement. "We can come up with our non-negotiable rules and then get their feedback."

She picked up her mug, taking a sip of her coffee. It seemed she was in a better mood and she reached out to take his hand again. "Thank you."

"This a learning curve for all of us," he said. "We're probably going to have more growing pains as we move forward as a family. But honestly, if the worst of it is just our kids being kids, then I think we're going to be fine."

"Yeah," she agreed. "I think we're definitely going to be fine."

He kissed her hand before pulling his back. They finished breakfast and then agreed to go spend some time with Sophie before coming up with their new house rules. She snuggled between her parents with a happy sigh and Robin felt it deep in his soul. This was everything he had ever wanted – sharing a home with Regina and spending time together with their family.

Life had taken them on some detours but his dream had finally come true and he was never going to take this for granted.

Never.