Happy birthday to the wonderful MackezieW! Hope you have a birthday as sweet as you!

Regina woke to the sound of knocking on the door. She doubted that Belle had had much of a chance to tell anyone she was going away for the holidays, given their abrupt last-minute planning, but still, didn't they see that her car wasn't in the driveway?

Oh wait, she slowly realized as the knocking continued incessantly. Belle left her car in the driveway so I can use it while I'm here. Whoever was knocking probably thought Belle was still home and wanted to speak to her for one reason or another. A neighbor, perhaps? Anyone else would just send her a text or at least ask before just stopping by announced, right?

She got out of bed and stumbled to the nearest mirror to check her appearance. Whoever was waiting for her outside could wait for one minute while she made sure she was presentable. She didn't want people here to think that people from LA were slobs, after all, because not only would that leave a bad impression, but it was the furthest thing from the truth. True, there were occupations of all sorts in her beloved city, and of course, everyone was different, but many of the occupations of the people in her inner circle were related to the film industry in some way or other, and many of them, especially some of the more glamorous celebrities, wouldn't be caught dead in a pair of sweatpants- and neither would she. Even the attire she had worn for the plane was immaculate- or at least, it had been before she had carelessly gotten into bed without changing her clothes first. She would need to iron it ASAP- that is, if an ironing board was something Belle kept handy. Honestly, knowing Belle, she was always so lost in reading books and fics that she couldn't imagine her doing anything about her appearance. She was probably the type of person who curled up in a set of sweats by the fire to read, and Regina couldn't blame her. If she had always lived in a house like this, she would honestly do the same thing, and there was a part of her that was terrified by the mere thought of that kind of life. What was happening to her? She had been in the United Kingdom for- she looked at her watch and was startled at the time, which she had changed so it would match the actual time in England: 12:30?!

Knowing what time it was certainly gave her motivation that she hadn't had before. Quickly washing up so she at least felt fresh before she took a nice, relaxing, well-deserved bath that evening, she dressed in a fresh skirt and blouse and balanced herself on the wall to put her shoes on as she hurried down the hall to the front door. "I"m coming, I'm coming!" she called, hoping that whoever was so intent on seeing her could hear her. Who knew? Maybe- hopefully- whoever it was would hear her voice, realize it wasn't Belle, and go away, leaving her in peace. She would be frustrated by the unnecessary intrusion, it was true, but it was better than the unwelcome intrusion of a complete stranger, right?

At last, she opened the door and leaned against the doorjamb when she saw the man on the other side of the door. She had to admit that he was attractive, surprisingly so, but she was still a little annoyed at his insistent determination to apparently break down Belle's door just like the Big Bad Wolf in the famous fairy tale. "Yes?" she asked. "What do you want? Really, it must be urgent if you're so determined to tear down the door when someone's sleeping."

"Sleeping? At this hour?" the man repeated, clearly dumbfounded. Then he seemed to remember something, his eyes widening as he said profusely, "My sincerest apologies, milady. I forgot you were coming from so far away. In Los Angeles, this is still a rather early hour, is it not?"

She nodded. "It is, especially when you add the jetlag to it. So if you'll excuse me-"

"Don't go back to bed, or you'll never adjust to GMT," he admonished. "You'll spend your entire time here sleeping instead of enjoying your holiday. Is that really the way to repay the kindness Belle showed you by letting you stay here? Not many people would let a complete stranger into their home when they weren't there, after all, let alone allow them open access to everything in it."

He had a point, she had to admit. She was used to waking up early for the earliest call times at the studio, after all. She could wake up early for a day or two if it meant adjusting to the local time zone and making sure she made the most of her vacation. Ursula and Ella had been eager to book it for her and requested that she come back with a whole host of stories to tell and pictures to show. She couldn't do that if she slept each day away. After all, the tourist attractions were probably closed each evening, and she doubted many people would be out and about at night, meaning the best thing to do was suffer through the jetlag until it faded and she had adjusted to the local time zone. At the same time though, his overabundance of knowledge about who she was and what she was doing there unnerved her. What was it about the men she had met so far in England and them knowing way too much about either her or her friend? What were the chances of that happening? It was probably best to just ask him about it. He had been overly blunt with her, after all. "How do you know so much about me and what I'm doing here?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

He huffed. "I'm Belle's older brother, if you must know. I'm here to make sure nothing untoward happens to her house- or any of her things, for that matter- while she's away. It's my duty as her brother to protect her, and the best way I can do that at the moment is by making sure you don't take advantage of her generosity."

She was torn. On the one hand, that was sweet of him to protect his younger sister. However, he also knew absolutely nothing about her. Crossing her arms over her chest, she accused, "That's awfully presumptuous of you, you know. You know absolutely nothing about me, unless Belle's told you something. Even if she has, Belle and I are friends. I've known her for long enough to know that it's incredibly unlikely that she would say anything negative about me, even if she was thinking it. Belle always judges people by who they are, not where they come from or anything else about how they may seem at first glance. A lesson I think you need to learn from her," she finished, giving him her most malevolent glare. "It's incredibly presumptuous of you to come in here and assume you know everything about me. I get that you're just trying to protect your sister, but this is not the way to do it."

"Papa, can I go in and play with my toys now?" a young voice asked.

Regina looked down and smiled at the speaker, a little boy no older than five who was standing next to Belle's brother holding his hand. He was looking up at the older man with such a beseeching look that Regina had no idea how on earth Belle's brother could resist it.

However, it seemed that that was exactly what the older of her two visitors was going to do. "Roland, you can't play with your toys in Aunt Belle's house right now. Her friend-" He looked back at her, a sheepish expression on his face. "Apologies, milady, I have not yet asked you for your name. Belle may have mentioned it, but I must admit that I was so appalled at her proposed holiday plans that it has now completely evaded my memory."

"Funny that you're asking for my name, considering you haven't introduced yourself to me either," she pointed out. "Especially since you're the one who was so rudely banging on the door not all that long ago."

He sighed in defeat. "You're right. My apologies. Robin Locksley, at your service." He bent and picked up the boy standing beside him, their matching smiles and dimples giving her a clue to the context of his next sentence. "And this is my son, Roland."

"I'm five!" the little boy cried, holding up all of his fingers on the hand that wasn't holding his father's to show her proudly.

His father might be the rudest person she had ever met, but she had to admit that she was already a goner for this little boy. She knelt down so she was looking him in the eye, beaming."That's so grown up! I bet you help your papa out a lot, don't you?"

"Yeah!" Roland cheered, nodding vigorously, but Robin chuckled, shaking his head.

"He's being a good boy and being very polite right now, but don't be fooled. This polite young man is in fact a cheeky little monkey when he wants to be." He tickled his son's stomach, making the child giggle. "Aren't you?"

"Noooo!" the boy protested, trying valiantly to ward off his father's attack.

"I don't believe it for a second," he said, hoisting his son so he was situated a little higher on his hip. "Well, we'd best be going, Roland. We don't want to keep Miss…" he trailed off, and in that moment, Regina realized her mistake.

"I'm Regina," she introduced herself quickly, holding out her hand, which he shook. "And you're not keeping me from anything." He raised his eyebrow at that, and she amended, 'Well, not anymore anyway." She turned her attention to Roland. "Would you like to show me the toys you like to play with at Aunt Belle's house?" She wanted more than anything to spend time with this little boy, and this way, she could do that without having to interact with his annoying father much. She would just play with Roland and ignore his father, and everything would be fine.

"Uh huh!" Roland acquiesced to her request, nodding his head vigorously.

He took her hand and started leading her into the house, but before he could drag her too far, she glanced back at his father. "That is, if it's all right with your papa?"

He nodded, and she could see the small smile on his face which indicated that yes, he found his son just as adorable as she did. "Lead the way, Sir Roland."

She didn't have to wonder long why he addressed the younger boy with that title, for within the house, Roland showed her a whole assortment of toys dedicated to helping him pretend he was a knight in shining armor. Legos to build a castle, knights, horses, and all manner of courtiers and princesses to live in the castle were all tucked tidily into a cubby… but Belle's tendency to keep a clean house didn't last long.

Roland insisted on getting out each of his toys to show her, despite his father's protests and reminders that he would have to clean everything up. In addition to the Legos, he had a wooden horse, as well as a knight costume and wooden sword ("But I like my arrows best, Gina, just like my papa!" he proudly told her).

At that last comment, she had looked over at his father, eyebrows raised. She had known he was a handsome man, his gorgeous sapphire eyes, dimples, and just the right amount of stubble on his chin leaving her with little doubt as to the truth of that fact. However, he and his son were both dressed casually in sweats, so it was impossible for her to know any details about his physique… not that she wanted to. Not at all. After all, he was just Belle's rude jerk of a brother who had woken her up that afternoon- nothing more, nothing less.

Not long afterwards, Robin announced that it was time for them to leave.

"NOOOO…" Roland whined, clutching the small horse he was holding. "I don't wanna leave, Papa! I wanna stay and play with Gina!"

"Roland, I'm sure Regina has more important things to do than spend an afternoon playing with you," Robin said. "After all, she's only in England for a handful of days. She has things to do, she doesn't have time to play with us every day."

"Yes, I do," Regina interjected. She had no idea why she was doing it. After all, Robin was right, she had things she wanted to see while she was here, and she had come to get away from men, not go from thinking about one to thinking of another, even though she was determined that it was just because of his adorable son. But, she reasoned with both herself and the two boys in front of her, "If you need to run errands or anything like that while I'm here, feel free to drop him off with me. He and I will play, you can get errands done uninterrupted- it's a win-win situation for everyone."

He still looked skeptical, and she had no idea why. She was offering him free babysitting, what could he possibly have against that? Then she realized that she hadn't discussed that part with him, and quickly rectified her error. "You don't have to pay me, I'll do it for free."

He raised his eyebrows. "Are you sure? He's a good boy," he praised, looking down at his son. "But he's energetic too. He can be quite the handful if you're not prepared for it."

"So I'll be prepared for it then," she shrugged. "This way he gets to play here like he wants, and you get to have a few child-free hours to get adult things crossed off your list." It also had the added bonus that she would need to spend barely any time with him. Not only had he been incredibly rude when he tried to break down the door earlier, but she was on this trip to stay away from men. She absolutely didn't need any distractions from that goal, especially someone like him. Too much exposure to those eyes and that smile… she knew she'd be a goner far too soon.

He sighed and said his next words so quietly so Regina could barely hear them- probably for Roland's benefit, she realized. The little boy was still sitting there playing with his toys as if his father hadn't announced that they were leaving. It was clear to her that he wanted to stay, and that her suggestion would be one he would absolutely love. "How do I know this isn't some twisted plot to kidnap my child and make it so I'll never see him again?" he whispered. "Belle says she knows you and clearly she trusts you, but I don't. You need to prove yourself to me before I even think about leaving my only son in your care. Your intentions may be good, Regina, but I can't afford to allow just anyone to watch my son."

She tried to convince herself and act like the words didn't affect her, but surprisingly, they did. She had only had limited interactions with the younger generations, but playing with Roland that afternoon had been easy. It had come as second nature to her so much that it was beyond her comprehension. Her offer of free childcare had been sincere, and if he didn't take her up on it, she was sure that she'd find plenty of other things to do with her time. So then why was her heart so downcast at the thought of not seeing the father and son duo again? "Understandable."

"We're not coming to play with Gina again?" Roland repeated, his lower lip quivering.

Regina started to walk away, sure that Robin would want to explain the situation to his son without the woman he had so easily become attached to, but she felt her hand being tugged back toward them. "No, Gina, don't go!" Roland pleaded.

She sighed and knelt, glancing up at Robin periodically to make sure that what she was doing, what she was saying, wasn't stepping over a line that he didn't want crossed. While she may disagree with him on some things (banging on a door to demand entry when someone was trying to sleep came to mind), she knew that if she was in his shoes, she wouldn't want to have someone undermining her parenting. "Roland, I want to play with you, but your papa doesn't think it's a good idea." Realizing something that could maybe help him understand, she asked, "Have you ever heard of the phrase 'stranger danger?'" When he nodded, she continued, "Yes, I am a friend of your aunt Belle, but you don't know me. While I am safe, your papa just wants to make sure you don't get hurt."

"Oh…" He turned to his father. "Papa, please?"

Robin sighed. "We'll see."

Regina could see the hesitation in his eyes and hear it in his voice, but it was completely lost on Roland. He took his father's answer as a resounding yes, and his joy was a sight to behold as he jumped up and down and whooped. It was as if he had gotten to have Christmas a few days early. The thought that this little boy had enjoyed showing her his toys and playing with her so much that he didn't want to leave and didn't even think that not getting to play with her again was a possibility warmed her heart. She hadn't even remotely anticipated that that would be the case after a single hour of play. She didn't know if that was just the way Roland was, or if all children were like him in their open trust of the adults in their lives. It was foolish to the extreme, but it was a nice thought to have at the same time. She couldn't remember a time when she had gotten to just openly trust everyone in her life. It was a byproduct of the way she had grown up, the constant control her mother had exerted. Yes, her father had always been on her side, but in standing up for what she wanted, she had always been on her own.

With that, the Locksleys left, and Regina looked around at the floor, the toys Roland had played with strewn all over the place. The sight made her smile. Robin may have come into her life in a whirlwind and in an unconventional way, but she had to admit that it was a welcome change… or his son was, at least. She could definitely live without his father's rudeness. They had left without exchanging any form of contact information though, which Regina had to admit was for the best. She needed to focus on herself, not Belle's adorable nephew.

Her phone dinged with an incoming message, and Regina glanced down to see that Belle had sent her a DM. How's it going?

Regina sighed. She knew she couldn't tell Belle about the interaction she had had with her brother and nephew. She had never talked about them, so mentioning them now wouldn't be the best idea, given that Belle was a family girl. Everything she created for their favorite ship was a testament to that. She was always pairing Ruby Lucas' character with someone (both men and women) and giving them at least one child to love. Even though she had never spoken of Roland (for reasons that were obvious to Regina- after all, there were laws in the States protecting the privacy of children, especially online), her love for the little boy was evident in everything she created. If Regina told Belle just how rude her brother had been, she would likely never believe it, and the last thing Regina wanted was to alienate her friend. So what should she- could she- tell her? Honestly, I haven't seen much of anything yet. Being jet-lagged is a real pain.

A few minutes later, her phone buzzed with a reply from her friend. Tell me about it. It's only 5 am here and I'm wide awake. I'm honestly surprised you are.

Here was her opening- but did she dare take it? Deciding silence was best for the time being, she only said, Habits are hard to break, I guess.

They spent a few minutes checking in on their respective properties, Belle making sure she knew the emergency number in England and where things like the fuse box were, should anything go awry, while Regina did the same. They exchanged recommendations for their favorite restaurants before Regina finally looked at the time and knew she should go out and enjoy the day since she was awake. Grabbing her purse, she set out, determined to find her next British adventure- one that hopefully wouldn't involve a certain blue-eyed acquaintance. As long as she avoided him and other rude people like him, her vacation would go just fine.