Pt. 2 of Day 1 of OQ Prompt Week
#22: Work on any wip/ the next chapter of a fic you started + Personal prompt: The Guardians Has time after sleeping with each other found them at odds again
Well, it's been a minute, hasn't it? I apologize. Hopefully I'll be able to post more of this regularly.
Robin's car roughly pulls into the parking space outside of Glass Slipper Nursery. It's his own fault that he's late. He hadn't paid attention to how late practice had gone until one of his students' mothers came over to the field. The nursery is 15 minutes from the high school and it was already 5:20. Even with his best speeding, he's arrived at 5:32, two minutes past closing.
Quickly exiting her car, he fumbles through his pocket to find his wallet in case there's an unfamiliar face at the desk. Just as he's pushing the door open, the director Ashley Boyd is heading out.
"Oh!" Robin sighs. "I'm sorry, Ashley. I completely lost track of time…"
Ashley cocks an eyebrow, her desperately young face looking confused. "Did Regina forget to grab something for Henry?"
"No, it's my day to pick him up."
"Regina was already by here, she collected him."
Regina frowns, scanning his mind. They've barely spoken in the weeks since their hookup, not by his choosing. The only way they communicate is their giant white board calendar in the kitchen. They alternate picking up and nights off. Today's Thursday and Regina's due to have clients until 7 so yes, it's Robin's night to pick up and do the bedtime routine.
"Are you sure?" Robin asks. "Regina should still be at work."
"I can double check?" Ashley offers and Robin nods. She gestures for him to come in and he follows her. The receptionist is gathering her belongings. "Kayla, do we have any late students?"
Kayla shakes her head. "No, in fact all the teachers were out 5 minutes early." She spots Robin and picks up the sign in/sign out clipboard, scanning it. "Says here Henry Cassidy was picked up by Regina Mills at 4:34 PM."
Robin fumbles through his pocket and checks his phone for any missed texts or calls, only to come up short. A surge of anger shoots through his veins.
"She did this on purpose," he mumbles to himself.
Ashley cocks her head. "What was that, Robin?"
"Nothing, nothing." He shakes his head. "I apologize, I think I remembered tonight was Regina's to pick up."
"It's no problem, have a good night."
"You as well."
Robin disappears out the door, waiting until he gets in his car to let out a small grunt of frustration. He knows he hurt Regina and a large part of him feels terrible for that. As far as he's concerned, he did everything in his power to show that it was a one-time thing. To her, it was the start of something. A huge miscommunication that is bound to lead to some hard feelings, but does it have to bring them back to where they used to be? This is exactly why he fought off sleeping with her for so long. They've made such great strides since Emma and Neal died, so much closer to adopting Henry. But how are they ever supposed to co-parent if they can't seem to get along?
He tries to take the 10-minute drive home to cool down. Maybe it was a huge miscommunication, maybe the text didn't send. Regina isn't purposefully wasting his time or fucking with him.
Robin walks through the door, greeted by the smells of spaghetti and meatballs, one of Henry's favorites. He's truly gotten into "big people" food now. The only thing he's not a big fan of is spinach, which Regina is still pushing for it for "eye health". Robin thought that's what carrots were for, but he's accepted to being wrong when it comes to anything Regina has to say. Sometimes he wonders if she makes stuff up purely to mess with him.
Henry sits in his high chair, using his fingers to cut up noodles slathered in tomato sauce. His face is already stained in red, as is the bib tied around his neck. He gives Robin a big smile before getting distracted by a bit of meatball at the edge of the tray. Robin matches his smile, walking closer and running his fingers through his hair.
"Hey bud," he murmurs. "How was your day? I missed you?"
Robin presses a kiss to his hair, taking in that sweet baby shampoo. He glances at the table where Regina sits, phone in hand, not acknowledging him. Robin is sure that moments ago she was playing and talking with Henry, making funny faces. Now that he's around, she can't muster up so much as a smile. Robin crosses the kitchen to the white board calendar. Sure enough, "Robin pickup and bedtime" is scrawled in Regina's perfect script in bright green Expo marker. Beneath it "Regina work til 7" stands out in a regal shade of purple.
"I thought as much." Regina doesn't even acknowledge him. He turns to face her. "Regina." The seriousness in his voice is enough for her to glance up from her texts. "Thought you were working late tonight."
Regina shrugs. "Two of my clients cancelled so I figured I'd get some extra time with Henry."
"And you didn't think to text me?" All he gets is another shrug. "I nearly got into an accident trying to get to the nursery."
"Clearly you were running late, so we avoided paying a fee this way."
"You didn't know I was going to be late, Regina."
"It must have slipped my mind."
Robin throws his arms in the air and Henry copies, pasta falling to the floor. Regina sighs, rising to her feet to look for some wipes. "Funny how that works."
"What do you want me to say, Robin?" Regina's eyes lock with his. "I got done with work early. I wanted to see Henry. So, I picked him up."
"And you didn't let me know. What if I got there and Ashley was gone? I would've been out of my mind!"
"I'm sure you could've used your two braincells to figure it out," Regina mutters, grabbing hold of the paper towel.
Robin scoffs, the anger continuing to build. "You're not even going to apologize?"
"I guess it was…what have you called our whole thing…a miscommunication?"
His jaw drops open and she must have known she crossed a line because any stubbornness slips from her face. It's too late, though. Like their one time together, it's already out in the air. Robin stomps forward, snatching the paper towel from her grasp. He stomps over to the sink and allows the warm tap to fall over his hands.
"I can clean that up," she says, her voice softer.
"No." It's his turn to be spiteful, angry. "It's my night anyway."
"Robin…"
"I'm serious, Regina, I need to be alone right now."
He keeps the tap running until he hears her stalk out of the room. Robin quietly gets to work cleaning up the mess. Henry finishes eating and drinks a bit of his milk. As Robin gives him a bath, he feels some semblance of his anger slowly melt away. It completely evaporates as he watches Henry attempt to stack some rubber blocks in the living room. After a few stories and some more milk, Robin tucks him into his crib and heads into the hall. Regina's door is shut, she hasn't been downstairs since their standoff. Robin is starving, he had to skip lunch. There's some salmon in the fridge that he could quickly heat up in a skillet and he's pretty sure there's a bag of frozen veggies hidden somewhere. He gently raps on the door.
"Regina," he says, his voice calm. "Are you hungry?" Silence is his only reply. "Henry's asleep. I was thinking fish."
Nothing. His olive branch thrown to the ground and stomped on. As if he didn't have a reason to be cross with her earlier. He scoffs, walking away from the door. Throwing the fish into the skillet, Robin is left wondering if this is their fate now. Petty squabbles and the silent treatment. He never signed up for any of this, but it was easier when they all got along.
Robin just isn't sure how much for of this he can take.