Regina sat with Henry on her lap, trying to get him to not pull out all her hair. Robin was across from her, shifting from foot to foot. Kathryn had left an hour prior and they hadn't said more than two words to each other since.
"So, we have to figure this out," she said. "Do you really want to do this with me?"
"It's what Neal wanted."
"That doesn't answer my question."
"Look, I want to take care of Henry, of course I do. He's my godson and I love him to bits. This isn't exactly how I saw my life turning out but I'll do it. It's just…"
"You don't want to do it with me."
"Well, do you want to do it with me?"
"You're not my first choice, no."
Robin rolled his eyes. "You do want him though, don't you?"
Regina looked down into those big green eyes, feeling her heart turn to putty once more. "Yes."
"So, we'll have to figure out how to do this, together."
Regina sighed, running her fingers through her hair. She thought back to 6 years prior, on the night she had decided she didn't want to see Robin Locksley anymore than she had to. The date had started off innocent enough. He picked her up at her apartment and they went to a restaurant, lowkey. They didn't have much in common, but Regina liked that in a date. Dating someone who was too much like you could lead to a boatload of problems.
Then his phone started blowing up and he spent the rest of the evening texting. Whenever she tried to ask what was wrong, he kept blowing her off. She started making flip comments and it was clear he was getting aggravated. It all ended in a huge fight in front of the restaurant and her taking a cab back to her apartment. Neal and Emma tried to convince her to talk to Robin about why he had acted the way he had, but Regina didn't see the need to. During their fight, he had called her stuck up and pretentious. She kept throwing in jabs about his truck, which apparently was a step too far in his mind.
As the years went on and they were forced to see each other over and over again, sometimes she would wonder why she just couldn't forgive him. After all, she had forgiven others for so much worse. Robin was just one person she couldn't shake. Emma always thought that was a sign.
"The opposite of love isn't hate, it's indifference. If you hate him, it means you still care."
Regina rolled her eyes at that each and every time. She didn't care about Robin Locksley. He could get hit by a truck and she'd have no opinion either way. They were just those people, ones that would never get along.
Yet for some reason, Neal and Emma thought it'd be a good idea to name them guardians of this child.
"We should live here, like Kathryn suggested, at least for a little while," Regina said, finally. "Get him adjusted to us as the new people in his life. She said the mortgage was covered and I can pay the bills outside of that."
"I can help."
Regina nodded, not wanting to argue with him. "There's the matter of child care. I know Emma and Neal have him in daycare, but sometimes I have clients after it closes. When you're in town, you can pick him up on those days."
"What do you mean when I'm in town?"
"Aren't you a soccer player?"
Robin averted his glance. "I was. I hurt my knee a few years ago and had to quit."
"Oh. So um…"
"I'm a gym teacher now," he interrupted. "But I do coach soccer after school, 3 days a week. So, we might have to get a sitter or someone to help out on the days our schedules overlap."
Regina nodded. She wanted to pry some more, but she could tell that it was a touchy subject. "Alright. I think Emma and Neal had a backup sitter for when I was too busy."
"I also have games most Saturdays in the winter and spring, but they're typically in the morning."
"That's fine, I rarely see clients on the weekends anyway."
"We can come up with a calendar, make sure we both have our nights out as well."
Regina looked down at Henry, unable to imagine that she'd be in the mood for dating anytime soon. Even so, she found herself saying, "Okay."
Robin took in her face. "Not that I'm seeing anyone right now, but…it's just important to balance both."
"I'm a psychologist, Robin. I'm well aware."
He sighed, tilting his head back and rubbing his eyes. "We need to figure out a way to not fight all the time. Could you maybe, for the next few days, just pretend like you don't hate me? I just lost my best friend, you lost yours. They've both left us their kid. Think we could focus on that?"
This was the most direct to the point that Regina had ever seen Robin. Even during their argument, he had been jokey, getting in sarcastic jabs every so often. In that moment, however, she could see how tired he was along with the sadness. She hadn't looked in a mirror since the night before, but she realized that's she probably looked the same. Emma and Neal had been her best friends for as long as she could remember. In the span of just a few hours, they were gone. Rather than focusing on her grief, she had a baby in her lap that needed all of her attention and a man across from her going through the exact same pain.
"Yeah," she whispered. "I think we can."
