Once again and for the last time for this story, hello everyone. I know it's been a year since I said I'd be publishing this epilogue soon. But here I am, I hope someone still remembers this story because I want you to see how our beautiful family is a few years from now.
Please let me know what you think.
Happy reading.

Seven years after she left Storybrooke Palace, Regina still feels like she's in a dream she never wants to wake up from. But as proof that it is not a dream, the two-storey house number 23 stands right in front of it. She walks to the porch after parking her car in the back of her husband's car, the moment she walks through the door she will reach the biggest proof. Her life is beautiful enough to be a dream, beautiful in all its reality.

An unusually quiet greeted the woman at home while she took off her coat which protected her from the cooling air, and hung it on the hanger.

"I am at home!" She called into the house as she climbed the stairs to reach the hall.

"I'm in the kitchen."

"I thought you left me." She entered the kitchen laughing at the impossibility of her own joke, to find the blond man facing the counter.

"Not in any world." He smiled as he turned towards his wife. "Welcome, my love."

Regina used her lips to show how welcome after stepping into the space between them.

"How was the meeting?" He planted a kiss on her forehead, framed by black curls, before returning to stir the sauce on the stove.

"I have approved the project, we'll start next week."

"Oh, darling! I'm proud of you." Still stirring the pot with one hand, the other reached for Regina's hand on the counter.

"Your support means everything to me. Thank you. How was your case?"

"It's been postponed ten days, every time I think we're making progress, something goes wrong." The smile faded from his face, giving way to a distressed expression.

The brunette woman immediately pulled him from the meal and turned him towards her. She kept smiling as both of his hands were in hers.

"Since when do you let setbacks intimidate you? The man I know always finds a way."

"If I had let setbacks intimidate me, I wouldn't have had the honor of being the husband of the most beautiful, smartest, most compassionate woman in the world, would I?

"You're a fighter, Robin Locksley. My knight in shining armor."

After Robin kissed her again, Regina left the kitchen to change, but was stopped again as she climbed the stairs to the bedroom.

"Regina."

"I'll be back in just ten minutes, thief, do you miss me so quickly?" She went down the stairs again.

"I'm starting to miss you from the moment you're out of my arms, milady, but the problem isn't that."

"What happened? Where are the kids?" Although she felt the absence of bodies that did not jump on her when she entered the house, she did not think that there was a problem. Now her maternal feelings were starting to scream that something was wrong.

"Katy hasn't spoken much since I picked she up from school. She didn't tell me what the problem was. As soon as we got home, she went to her room. Maybe she'll tell you?"

The lines of worry in the man's blue eyes fueled her urge to run up, she just nodded and walked up the stairs again.

"Henry's with his friends, he'll be back for dinner." He called after his wife before returning to the kitchen.

Regina tapped her knuckles on the door that said Katherine under the wooden rainbow, and lowered the handle.

"Oh hello little lady. Have you seen my welcome hug?" She said when she saw the girl sitting on her bed with her dolls in her arms.

Her eyes didn't make the same move to meet her mother as her little shoulders moved upwards.

"Hm, maybe princess Elsa saw it?" She sat on the bed and picked up the blond-haired figure on the cloth. "She says it's here somewhere, but she doesn't know exactly where. I guess you'll have to say it."

"I don't want princesses and queens!" She said crossing her arms.

Realizing that the girl knowing her mother's former title was deliberately putting pressure on the queen, Regina was shocked by the seriousness of the situation.

"What's wrong honey? Your father said you didn't talk to him."

"He is not my father and you are not my mother." Maybe if the six-year-old girl was a teenager, she might have cried out angrily, but instead, tears welling up in her eyes like mother's chocolate eyes made her voice tremble.

"Katy…" She gently pushed her still-tilt head from her chin, forcing her to look at her. She caught the tears streaming down her cheeks with her finger. "Why don't you tell me what happened? If I can figure out where you got this idea from, I might be able to help you."

"Henry is your child, but I am not."

She recalled the difficult time when they were deciding whether to raise the child with this fact or tell them after they grew up, after they adopt Katherine.

"Honey, do you remember what I told you about family?"

"Family is not related by blood."

"Yes. Don't you think Henry is son of Aunt Emma?"

"Of course he is. Henry is very lucky to have two mothers."

"That's not how things work, baby. I think you're old enough to tell you our story. Are you mature enough to talk girl to girl?"

The six-year-old girl nodded.

"When Neal was in Aunt Emma's belly, i told you that you grew up in someone else's belly, remember?"

She agreed, playing with the braid of her blonde hair.

"You were born a month ago when we met. When you looked at us with your little eyes, we already loved you to the moon and back." She raised her little hand and kissed it. "You grew up with us. You've been with us ever since… Henry is just like you. He grew up in my belly, but I couldn't be there for him after he was born, so Emma raised him."

"Is that why he has two mothers?"

"Yes, Emma isn't his mother by blood, but that doesn't make her any less his mother… Your grandmother is your father's mother, but I call her mother too because she mothered me more than the woman who gave birth to me. She loved me, she was always there when I needed her. Just because we're not related by blood doesn't make her any less my mother. Just as it won't make me any less your mother. Do you understand, honey?"

"Yes, mommy."

She couldn't help smiling when the words she would never tire of hearing reached her ears.

"Who plays your favorite games with you?"

"You and daddy."

"Who's giving you a good night kiss?"

"You and daddy."

"Who cooks your favorite dishes?"

"Um… Daddy?"

Katy joined in as Regina laughed. "Yes, your daddy does." She said. "And judging by the smells coming from below, he's making pasta for his little butterfly again. Before you go to dinner, do you want to tell me what's upsetting you today?"

"The kids at school made fun of me. They said that no one will come for me to the parents' meeting tomorrow because you are not my family."

"Oh, my baby." She lifted her crying daughter from her bed and held her in her arms. "Now you know that's not true. We love you more than anything."

"I know mommy, I love you too. I am sorry."

"There is nothing to be sorry about. It wasn't your fault. We've already canceled all our work for tomorrow, dad and I will be at school, we'll talk to your teacher and your friends' families, okay? They won't treat you like that again, it's bad behavior."

She felt her head move against her chest. "Now can I take my welcome hug?"

She chuckled as she moved from her lap and wrapped her arms around her neck. Regina thought there was no sound in the world she loved more than her childeren's smile. "Welcome, mommy."

Changing her dress to comfortable pants and a T-shirt, Regina descended the stairs while holding her daughter's hand in her floral jumpsuit. Henry, who was helping Robin set the table, took a break from work when he noticed his mother and sister.

"Where have you two been? We almost ate dinner without you."

"Henry daddy made the pasta for me, you can't finish it!"

Hearing the voice of his daughter, who has regained her joy, Robin came out of the kitchen. "I've reserved an extra plate for you, butterfly, don't worry."

While the younger one was sticking her tongue out at her older brother, the elder took her in his arms and tickled her and carried her to the table in airplane position. Taking advantage of a moment of solitude, Robin approached his wife.

"Is everything okay?"

"It's not something we can't fix, my love."

"Together."

She wrapped her fingers around her husband's fingers as the brown orbs stared at the blue ones with great love after even twenty-four years later. "Together."

While the two lovers were standing in the hall of their house and lost theirself in their romantic moments, for a moment, they forgot about their childeren, one younger and one older but younger than his sister. However…

"Mom! Henry is trying to eat my pasta!"

"By together, you mean fighting together our two naughty, right, thief?"

"Oh…" A breath escaped his lips. Then he answered hesitantly. "No?"

As the two black eyebrows changed from a straight line to a wavy one, the shard of fire in her eyes darkened. He replaced his answer with a new one before the man could even finish his first word. "Of course I did, milady."

"That's my man."

It was clear where Henry and Katy's habit of messing with each other came from. Of course, children couldn't be docile when even their parents were naughty.

The couple shared a small laugh and hurried to intervene before the children scatter pasta at each other—and all over the hall.

"Henry, stop messing with your sister, honey."

"But mom…"

The young man's objection was interrupted by a sharp look from his mother.

"And you, young lady, can't be amused while being spoilsport."

The girl wrinkled her nose with a sigh. While her father was busy serving food and her mother mixing the salad, she did not hesitate to stick her tongue out to her brother.

"I want to talk to you about something." Regina said after everyone was seated.

"I swear it wasn't my fault, Alice put the spider in the classroom." Katy put down her fork in panic and scrambled one word after another.

"Hey what I want to talk about-wait a second WHAT?" The brunette woman screamed when she realized what her daughter had said. It wasn't their naughty daughter, Katherine and their friends, David and Mary's daughter and also her best friend Alice's first offense.

"Katherine?"

"The Katherine thing…" Henry whispered so only his sister could hear. When Regina and Robin called their children by their full names, there would surely be a serious problem.

"My stupid mouth."

"Katherine!" Giving her full attention to her daughter, Regina raised her voice one tone after the word she said.

"I'm sorry mom." The little one immediately corrected herself.

"Now I want to know what this whole spider thing is about."

"We just wanted to make a joke, but…"

"But?" Robin said.

"The classmates were scared. The teacher asked who did it, we didn't say anything to anyone."

"What did we talk about scaring the class, butterfly?"

Katy was somewhat relieved that her father was calmer than her mother, but her resentment with her classmates prevailed.

"Then they don't make fun of me!" Her small brown eyes filled with tears, and in a harsh but broken voice, she again revealed the problem that occupied a great place in her little heart. When she lowered her head, the thin strands of blond hair fell on her face, hiding her tearful eyes from her family.

Robin and Henry were in a confused and worried mood because they didn't know what the mockery was about. While a flash of fire suddenly fell in the heart of Regina, who had just been angry. She quickly pushed back her chair and took big steps to reach her daughter. Kneeling in front of the chair, she gently gripped Katy's chin, forcing their eyes to meet. She had to take a deep breath to stifle the lump in her throat as she saw tiny droplets slide down her cheeks.

"Baby, why didn't you tell us until this became such a big problem? We could have intervened earlier."

"I didn't mean to upset you." She said while sniffing.

"What problem are you talking about?" Robin got up and walked over to his wife and daughter.

"I will tell you later." She turned her head to her husband and whispered. She then turned back to her daughter. "Hey, sweetie. Do you know what will upset us the most?"

She shook her head.

"These little tears of yours. Our little girl's broken heart." She said. "We want to protect your brother and you from everything, but we can't always do that, no matter how much we want to. There is evil in the world as well as good, but I want you to know that if you tell us, we will do anything to help you. Whatever upsets you, small or big problem, anything. You can tell us and we can get through it together. Okay?"

She nodded her head this time. The tears no longer continued.

"We'll settle this tomorrow and it won't upset you again, I promise. We are your family and that will never change, no matter what anyone says."

"I'm sorry mommy. For the spider, i mean."

"Honey, it's okay." She gently wiped her wet cheeks and gave a few small kisses. "Also, I'm glad you can take care of yourself."

After sharing a chuckle, Regina returned to her seat. Robin sat down where she was just now and took his daughter's hand.

"I don't know now what the problem is, but we have the same thoughts as your mom and I won't let anyone upset you when I find out. You mean everything to us, my little butterfly. We love you so much."

"No matter how spoiled you are, I love you too, little one." Henry called out to her brother.

Katy sticks her tongue out at her brother again, then wraps her arms around her father's neck. "I love you so much too."

"Now we can get to the main topic we need to talk about." The brunette woman settled into her chair. "How would you like to go camping this weekend?"

"Yay!" Katy shouted excitedly, clapping her hands together.

"It's dad's birthday on the weekend." Henry said.

"Yes, I thought we could celebrate at camp." She turned her brown orbs into blue ones and stretched out her hand across the table. Her fingers were immediately met by Robin's. "If you want to."

"I always want everything with you. There is nothing I want except my beautiful family." He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it.

"We're going camping! We're going camping! We're going camping!" The three of them laughed at the dancing girl, who was sitting in her seat, repeating the phrase melodiously.

"Will we see a race today?" Henry asked his father, who had started to unpack things from the trunk after parking the car at the entrance to the campground.

After putting one of the camping tents on the ground, the blond man looked at his wife, who was straightening their daughter's cardigan, smiling. A few years ago he could not have imagined hearing such a question, just as he did not think he could ask for more when he looked at his life now, but this time it was true and real.

Now he's back at his nearly grown son, how much he's grown. Not being able to witness his infancy and childhood was still a great wound, but he was proud of the young man he had become and the little impact he had on his life.

He answered the question loud enough for his wife to hear. "I think that's a question you should ask your mom, I'm always up for competition."

He watched as Regina who kneeling in front of Katy. She slowly turned her head towards her, straightening her slanted stance and regaining her upright stance. Although his wife hated being called a queen-ex-queen, she had the majesty and nobility of a queen. It wasn't something that had been added to her by royalty or the crown, it came from her soul. And as much as Robin enjoyed messing with her, so was Regina's queenly soul was too proud to be quiet for a challenge.

She met with a sly smile as she combined her husband's blues with her own brown orbs. "Do you think I don't understand what you're trying to do, thief?"

"Never, milady, I would never make fun of your intelligence."

"But you're making fun of me that I know you better than yourself."

"So, are you going to prove me right?" Robin said.

"Mommy is always right, daddy, you always say that." The blond-haired girl, who was a true mother's daughter, came out from behind Regina and stood beside her. The brunette woman immediately grabbed the small hand extended to her and officially included the girls' team in the game.

"Mom is always right, but dad isn't alone in this game either." Robin was ready for competition when the young man took a step towards his father.

"Is that so, Henry?" Regina raises an eyebrow, giving her son a warning look.

"Hey hey you can't do that look." Robin rushed forward.

"Why can't I? I can do anything I want, Robin, and you know that very well." She too took a few steps towards her husband.

The blond man knew that he could not beat his wife in the tent pitching, the bickering, or in getting the children to her side. Regina was a Robin Hood's wife when it came to pitching, yes he was going to give himself a credit because, hey, Regina Mills is his wife! He deserved some bragging about a woman like her choosing him.

She had a wits that could not be beaten in a battle of words, and most importantly, and most importantly, his children-and Robin himself- were too fascinated by her love to choose anyone else-even if it was their dad-. While he was a prisoner of that love either, he could not be angry with them, he knew that he would compete alone in this war, but this did not scare him, on the contrary, it contributed to happiness. He wanted nothing more than to be in this game with his family.

So, responding to Regina's steps towards him, he walked to her too. "Because when you do that look, you can get everybody on your side. This is cheating."

"What if I want to take you on my side? She closed the last few steps of distance between them and whispered, giving her breath between her husband's lips so that their children would not hear.

He replied before pressing his lips to the seductive pieces of sin. "I can tell you have already won."

"I'll start the timer if you're ready." Henry set his phone and stood between his two parents. After getting approval from his parents, he counted down and officially started the race.

During the five years Henry spent with his family, he had witnessed this race several times, and he knew that his mother was really a master at it, as his father recounted the first day they spent time together. However, it was Robin who taught Regina how to set up a tent. You know what they say, the student becomes the master.

"You know mom will win, right?" Katy, who was watching the race with pleasure, spoke with pride while her older brother was checking his parents on the one hand and the meter on the phone on the other.

"You know, butterfly, you don't have to compete with me, you know I support dad so he doesn't get lonely."

"But you still didn't take mom's side, did you? I will compete with you as I wish."

"You are exactly your mother's daughter." As Katy opened her mouth, he completed the sentence instead her. "And you're proud of that, I know."

"Hey Henry, watch your mom I don't want her to cheat!" Robin interrupted the conversation between his son and daughter as he aligns the anchors to hold the tent firm on the tent he's laid on the ground.

One step ahead of Robin, Regina had already finished hammering two of the bars. Unable to resist her husband's move, she dropped the hammer in her hand and came to her husband on the other side of her children, took Robin's last iron from the package and threw it to the right place. Before returning to her area, she brushed back the hair that had fallen on the man's forehead and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Don't mess with me, focus with your tent, spoilsport."

"Don't try to distract me."

Regina chuckled as she turned to hammer the other two anchors of her tent.

Three apples fell from the sky.

"Stop daddy, make a wish first!" All the family members were sitting around the little table by the fire when Katherine stopped Robin, who was getting ready to blow out his candles.

The blond man turned his eyes first to his little daughter, then to his son. He thought of a wish. Then he turned to his wife, who was sitting next to him. What could he wish for?

"Wish for a new arrow set!"

While her father laughed at her daughter's suggestion, her brother mocked her. "It's not Christmas Katy, it's a birthday wish."

A little girl ate one, and a young man ate one.

"I know what to wish for." He held out one hand to his children, Henry and Katy wrapping their fingers on either side of his hand. His other hand wrapped around his wife's fingers. He closed his eyes. I hope this feeling never ends.

The blonde girl was a partner in blowing out her father's candles as she was included in everyone's cake.

"Happy birthday, dad." Henry reached up from his seat and hugged the man.

"Did you wish me a new Barbie house, daddy?"

"Didn't we just buy you a new set last month? You insatiable little butterfly…" Henry got up from his chair to tickle his sister, and Katy, who had experienced this moment many times, got up from her chair before her brother and started running around the tents.

Watching her children run and laugh, Regina turned her loving eyes to her husband.

Two lovers who shared a life ate the other one.

"What did you wish for?

"I wished my wife would never knowingly lose againist me in a tent pitching race ever again."

The brunette woman laughed before resting her head on her house, his shoulder. "Happy Birthday, my love ."

The story that started with the dream of two souls under an apple tree turned into a tale with a happy ending.

And the endd!
Thank you to everyone who read this story and supported me. I hope we meet again in other stories.