I've stated since chapter 2 of Madam President that Regina can't have kids, so I received a prompt on Tumblr asking for Regina's POV of when she confesses that truth to Robin. It's a little sad, but I hope fluffy enough that you guys like it anyway!


The coffee has been brewed and poured. Cream and sugar are sitting in their respective bowls next to the filled cups. She's even brought that cherry biscotti he likes so much and placed it on a plate before him. She'd done the dishes while he showered, cleaned up the kitchen a little, even rearranged some of the spices in the cupboard, all to distract herself from the arrival of this dreaded moment.

But she has no other task to hide behind, and they're both sitting there, staring at each other on opposite ends of the couch. She has to talk now.

Except Regina doesn't want to talk.

It's embarrassing, mortifying, really, and it shouldn't be. It should be normal, natural, but she knows that discussing the subject will lead to the reason she doesn't need contraception, and now that she's realized she loves him, that she wants him forever, she's terrified that he won't want her back, not when he finds out she's... damaged.

"Regina?" Robin asks, his voice soft, concerned, "Is something wrong?"

Good, now she's gone and worried him with her nervous silence. She sighs, frustrated.

Here goes.

"Nothing's wrong, I just... I need to talk to you about something..." she says shyly, adding a low "before I lose my nerve," that has him smiling a little, his hand settling over hers as he scoots closer, his thumb rubbing over her own.

"You know you can tell me anything," he insists, and Regina sighs again.

"I think we should stop using condoms," she blurts out.

"Oh," he mutters, clearly not having expected that to be what she wanted to discuss.

"I just feel like they're unnecessary. I trust you, and we're both clean, keeping them only puts us both at risk of getting caught. What if someone sees you buying them? What if the press gets a picture?! They know your face, and they know you're with me all the time because of your job, they could start asking about us, and I really don't want to fall into their speculation, and-"

He stops her incessant ramblings with a sweet kiss, parting only to say, "Okay," against her lips.

"Really?" she asks.

"Of course, if you're certain?"

"I am," she reiterates.

Robin chuckles. "You're quite adorable when you're nervous, you know that?" he tells her, reaching up to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear.

"I have my moments," she says with a smile, relieved that he's agreed so easily, that he's not asking que-

"So, what type of birth control will we be using now, if you don't mind me asking?"

Well... that lasted all of ten seconds.

She grows nervous, fidgety, anxiety curling its dark tendrils around her, squeezing so tight she feels like she's suffocating. But she has to tell him, he deserves to know.

"You needn't worry about that," she starts, and Robin frowns, confused, and she just wants to kiss him and let him hold her and forget this entire thing even happened. She needs his comfort, his affection, even if she's not worthy of it.

"Regina?" he prods when she's been silent for a couple of minutes, "Are you alright?"

She takes a moment, tries to find the words, but all that comes out is a dry sob that just worries him more, his eyes intent on her face as he waits for her answer.

"No, I'm not alright," she admits, taking a deep breath and allowing her self-preservation instinct to garner one last attempt at avoiding this entire situation, "but it's getting late, I should go."

She moves to rise from the couch, but Robin is taking her hand in his now, entwining their fingers and squeezing gently, his other hand ghosting over her cheek as he wipes away a stray tear she hadn't realized was there, and suddenly it's like the floodgates have opened, and she can't tramp down the hurt any longer, can't hide her pain from him the way she wanted to.

"Regina, let me help. Please," he begs, "whatever it is, we'll fix it, but please tell me what's wrong, you're scaring me."

And she is, she can see it in his eyes, in the way they move frantically over her face, his mouth half open as he hovers and tries to find a way to make it better. He's always trying to make things better for her, to make her happy, and it all just hurts, makes her feel so very guilty, because she's been in love with him for over a month now, and she can't tell him. Instead, she's telling him of her painful secret, of how broken she is.

"I can't have children," she finally confesses as the tears overwhelm her, and she finds herself hunching over, her arm around her stomach as she weeps. Robin's hands still, even his breathing seems to stop, waiting for her to finish.

"Daniel and I, we... we tried multiple treatments, different doctors, even IVF, but... it never took."

Her words are mumbled around hiccups and more choking sobs, and she feels cold, because Robin has stopped touching her, probably because he's realized she's not worth touching, not worth caring for...

"Oh, my darling," he says then, wrapping his arms around her and moving her so that she's halfway on his lap, and his warmth is back, enveloping her and easing her breathing as she tries to stop the tears from falling, wiping them away furiously.

"It's alright to cry," he consoles, "don't stop yourself from feeling, Regina. I'm here."

"Y- you're not... mad at me?" she stutters against his chest.

"Why would I be?"

"Robin, you've been c- committing yourself to a s-s- secret relationship with someone wh- who can't even g- give you a family. There's no future with m- me."

He says nothing to that, only clutches her tighter against him, kissing her hair and breathing deeply, his slow exhales helping her relax enough to lessen the crying.

"I'm so sorry for upsetting you, I should've let you tell me when you were ready," he says then, and how is it that he's the one apologizing to her, when all he's done is be wonderful?

"I wanted to tell you," she insists, "I was just... scared. Still am. I mean, why would you want to be with me when I'm...?"

"When you're, what? Stunning, intelligent, kind, amazing?" he interrupts her question, adding his own lovely adjectives over the self-deprecating ones she'd been about to utter, and it makes her smile sadly.

She's about to tell him he doesn't have to say those things, that she'll understand if he wants out, that he shouldn't stay just because he feels bad for her, but it seems he can sense what she's about to say, because he stops her with a beautiful speech that makes her heart flutter.

"I'm sorry you've had to deal with all this pain on your own. If I'd known, I would've said it sooner, but listen to me as I say it now, please. It makes no difference to me whether or not you can give me a child. You're not a baby factory, Regina, you're a person, and an incredible one at that. You have the most beautiful soul, and the most wonderful mind. A little biology fluke doesn't diminish your value, and it isn't going to change how I feel about you, not in the slightest."

"You mean that?" she asks, sounding like a scared little girl seeking reassurance, and Robin leans in close, looks into her eyes and smiles softly as he answers.

"Every word," he promises. "Besides, I already have a child I adore, and you may not have given birth to him, but you've been raising him since the day you met him."

She laughs a little at that, because it's true, she's inadvertently been mothering Roland since Robin introduced them, and she's loved every single second of it.

"We don't need nature to tell us whether or not you can be a mother," Robin continues, "you already are. And I love your relationship with my son, how you bring so much joy to each other. You've made my life brighter because of it. As far as I'm concerned, you and Roland are all the future I need."

He moves his head up then, nose skimming up the bridge of hers and over her forehead as his lips plant a lingering kiss right between her eyebrows, and the tenderness of the gesture has her crying again.

"Thank you," she breathes into his shirt, clutching at him and reveling in the way he strokes her hair, runs his hand down her arm, until their fingers are entwined over his stomach and they lean back on the couch, her body still snuggled into his, her head resting on his shoulder.

"I'm not going anywhere, Regina, not ever," he says vehemently as she plays with his hand, and she can't see his face from this angle, but she can feel the sincerity in his words, raises her head to land a kiss on his cheek before resuming her lazy twirling and caressing of their fingers.

His reassurances help settle her nerves, have her relaxing and finally believing in the possibility of a second chance at happiness.

And the next day, when Roland comes running into her office, his little feet pattering as he screams her name excitedly and jumps into her arms, Regina finds herself agreeing with Robin's words...

They're all the future she needs.