Notes:

Hii, I'm back early this week. My Corona test was positive, I'm bored at home so this is the reason for me to update this story early, at least it has a good side, right? 😂 I don't want to give you spoilers, let's go to the episode and see what's going on!

In the previous chapter

"Henry!" Robin called out to the boy who had been secretly watching them for minutes, and Henry turned in the direction of the sound as if he had never seen them.

When he reached them, he could not tell whether his plan had worked out well or badly, he found two confused faces before him.

"Do you mind if I take you home?"

"My mom was going to pick me, but I'll call and tell you'll drive."

"Okay." The boy wrapped his arms around his mother. "Today was very nice."

"For me too, dear."

Regina stayed behind as Robin put his hand on Henry's shoulder and steered his car to the front yard where he had parked. She continued to stare at the 'Rx2+H' expression engraved on the trunk of the tree, whose location she knew by heart, though she could not see it from this distance.

It had been three days since their family day at the palace. Although Regina and Robin spoke to Henry separately, they had not communicated with each other in any way.

Although they wanted to solve all their problems at once and run to each other, they were sure that they would do more harm than good.

The Queen called her son, as she did every evening, and asked how his day had been. In the past few days, she hadn't been able to talk much with Henry because of her work about the agreement, and she missed her son very much.

"What are you doing tomorrow?" She asked in hopes of meeting.

"We will go fishing with Robin. He will introduce me to his friends."

"His friends?" Unwittingly, she made that Henry realize the surprise in her voice and the thoughts that followed.

She knew that all of Robin's friends had been with him for years. This means that the people who were introduced were once friends of Regina's.

"Hm-hmm. Is there a problem?"

"No, of course not. Then I'll see you another time." With a hasty lie, she decided to drop the subject and call Robin right away.

"Okay. How's Saturday?"

"Good."

After chatting for a while, Henry said he had homework and hung up. Regina called Robin immediately.

"Regina, hi!"

"Hi, Robin. We were talking to Henry, he talked about your plan for tomorrow."

"I thought we should spend some time as father and son."

"Of course. But Robin... Isn't this an early presentation?"

"I don't understand."

"Your friends... Who they are?"

"Regina..."

"No no Robin, not like that!" She hastily tried to clear up the misunderstanding. She wasn't jealous! Not because she is not jealous, but not right now. Most women don't like to fish, do they?

"There is no one you don't know. Will, John, David and Killian."

"That's the problem. They all know me. Most importantly, they know you. It won't be hard for them to put the pieces together or did you already say that?"

"I haven't said yet. I was thinking of telling them tomorrow. Does that bother you?"

"I'm thinking of making a press release very soon, and It is very important to me that this statement is because I want it, not to silence the gossip. I don't want Henry or anyone else to get the wrong impression. It's not that I don't trust your friends, but telling them would be taking a risk."

"I see."

"I'm sorry. I wouldn't want it to be this way."

"I hope we don't always act like this."

"I promise I'll get it done as quickly as I can."

"I could cancel the plan, guys don't care but Henry was so excited, I don't want to upset him. It may feel like I'm hiding it. Does anything come to your mind?"

"We can come up with many excuses, but I don't want to lie to him anymore. I can talk if you want, I'm sure he'll understand."

"It doesn't seem fair that you always make the worst conversations." Robin didn't want himself to be the hero and Regina to be the villain. They would have to learn to share parenting a child. "Actually, I have an idea, if you accept it, I'm sure we can make Henry happy."

The next day, as they had previously agreed, Robin went to their house to pick up Henry. His friendship with Emma was over the day Regina left him, and he knew it now, though he hadn't understood it for years. His friend was too busy raising his son.

He parked the car and took the flower from the next seat. After pressing the bell by the door and waiting for a short while, the blonde woman appeared.

"Robin! It's good to see you."

"You too, Emma."

"Come in, Henry isn't ready yet."

After the door closed, Robin gently handed the flower to his old friend. "Flower is for you. Although it will never be enough for my gratitude."

"Thank you, they are very beautiful. I don't know what it was for though." She took out a vase for flowers.

"For not leaving Henry alone. I wouldn't trust anyone else but you, too. Regina made the right choice."

"Robin... I'm sorry. I'd like to tell you, but-"

"I know. Don't feel bad." He smiled.

Her smile was answered by Emma.

"I'll tell Henry to hurry up. Make yourself comfortable."

As he was looking at the photos in the living room, a few minutes later he heard Henry's voice and turned.

"I'm ready Robin! We can go."

"Someone is excited, I guess." The man walked to his son while laughing. He took his bag.

"I never went fishing."

Robin's happy mood suddenly gave way to a sad one. They often went fishing and camping with his friends. If they had stayed as a family, he would have included his son in these meetings, he could teach him how to camp, tell stories by the fire. He had to get used to and accept that the lost years were irreparable, but it was so hard...

"So we're going to go often now."

After saying goodbye to Emma and leaving the house, Henry took his seat in the front seat as Robin loaded the bag into the trunk of the car.

"Do you like to camp?" Robin turned his head to Henry for a moment and asked.

"We went a few times with my mom, but she doesn't like it much, so sometimes I go with my friends."

"Maybe we can go together in the spring. We used to go with your mother—I mean Regina."

Although Henry tried to accept them, he had more ways to call them mom and dad. Robin sometimes forgot this, because Regina was a natural mother to the child, and because of her already endless love for her son.

"Does Regina like camping?" The boy asked in surprise.

The blond man laughed at his reaction. He imagined Regina, Henry's acquaintance, trying to walk through the woods in high heels, probably clamoring for a nail that would break as she set up the tent.

"Why did you laugh? It's hard to imagine her in the forest." He joined him with a smile. "She is a queen."

"She wasn't always like that." He continued to smile, but if Henry could see his eyes directly, he would have noticed the sadness there. "We used to compete to see which of us could set up the tent faster… I couldn't beat that queen you saw even once."

"I wonder if she would come with us?" He asked hopefully.

Robin just smiled slyly at the question.

"I think you will have the answer to that question soon."

"Robin, doesn't the lake stay on the other side?"

You're a little late noticing, Henry. ;)

"Yes."

"We have a place to stop by. Just have a little patience."

The boy continued to follow the road, trying to figure out where they were going, but what they could do in this part of town seemed illogical-Wait a second!

"We are going to the palace!" Unable to contain his excitement, she screamed. "She's coming with us?! I can't believe!"

"It looks like you're going to do more than just imagine the queen in the woods."

When Robin saw his happiness, he made a mental note to talk to Regina about spending more time together.

Soon after they arrived at the palace, the great door opened without them having to say anything. The Queen introduced Henry and Robin to all the security guards and gave the license plate of the car. Entering and exiting the palace would never be a problem anymore. Now that her two favorite men had discovered this, Regina's surprises obviously didn't end today.

He parked the car in front of the palace steps, and they were greeted by Graham as usual.

"Mr. Locksley, Mr. Swan welcome. I will inform our queen. Would you like to wait inside?"

"I think here is appropriate."

Just moments after Graham had hurried inside, Regina's voice could be heard from the hallway which visible through the open door.

"I'll be back by tomorrow evening. Don't call unless it's urgent, Graham."

"Your Majesty, are you sure you don't want your bodyguards?"

"I am sure. Don't bring that up again."

She shifted her focus from the man walking beside her to those who waited for her. She thought Robin was very handsome in jeans and a leather jacket without his suit. She had almost forgotten this view. When her gaze found her little son, she thought to him as his father's son. Henry had decided to wear a gray sweater and black pants today.

But today's real surprise wasn't for Regina. The woman they had seen wrapped in silk fabrics for years wore black jogger and a white T-shirt. She had boots that covered half of her ankles and a black jacket. Her straight hair was falling over her navy blue shawl with a white line detail surrounding her neck. When she got outside, she took off her sunglasses and pushed them on the top of her head.

"Good Morning."

She frowned slightly when she didn't get a response from her son and ex-lover, who were still staring at her in surprise.

"Why are you looking like that?" She bent down and looked at herself. "It isn't nice, is it? I'll go and change it."

Robin grabbed her arm as she moved to turn back.

"You look very beautiful. As before."

"So I don't look beautiful in my dresses?" She smiled flirtatiously.

Henry remained silent so as not to disturb the two of them flirting. Two people who love each other so much shouldn't be apart. It was time to move on to the next step of the operation.

"You always look beautiful. This state of yours just reminded me of some memories."

"Thank you." She gave the man a heart attacking smile.

"I learn a new truth about you every day. You are unbelievably cool." Henry expressed his surprise as Regina reached over and gave him a small kiss on the cheek.

"Is that a good thing?" Her smile surpassed even the sun.

"This is how young people compliment." Robin accompanied Regina's smile as explaining.

"Oh, okay. I can get used to it."

"Why do you like to compliment more like Shakespeare?" Henry asked before leaving the front seat of the car for his mother and sitting in the back.

"Two of the brightest stars in the whole sky had to go away on business,

and they're asking her eyes to twinkle in their places until they return.

What if her eyes were in the sky and the stars were in her head?

The brightness of her cheeks would outshine the stars the way the sun outshines a lamp." The man said Romeo's words while looking into her eyes with great love.

The woman next to him joined him in the continuation. Together they gave life to an old love.

"If her eyes were in the night sky,

they would shine so brightly through space that birds would start singing,

thinking her light was the light of day.

Look how she leans her hand on her cheek.

Oh, I wish I was the glove on that hand so that I could touch that cheek."

Love, which sprouted like a sapling that broke through the dried soil and started to come back to life, caused a loss of time and space. Halfway between the lips that were coming together, the fruit of love, didn't want to spoil the moment, but he had to bring them back to reality.

"Ahem."

Regina snapped back out of the moment's spell at her son's voice, leaning back and turning her head out the window, knowing that not even her make-up could hide the redness of her face.

"From Romeo and Juliet." Before Robin could look into his son's eyes, he quickly explained and turned.

Oh, his parents really looked like they had stepped out of a work of Shakespeare!

As he passed the tree-lined road, the boy who is looking out the window of the car noticed that there were very few houses in the area. He could now see the lake through the thick pines. They must have been close.

Since her mother had not given directions even once since they got in the car, her father must have been in this house often enough to know the road by heart. It was obviously going to be a day full of memories for them.

"You can park the car in the garage."

Henry turned his head to the other side excitedly, counting the seconds to get out of the car while admiring the view of the lake in front of him.

Wait a second! He could only see the back of the house, but they were so close to the lake so...

"The house has a pier to the lake?!"

"There's even a rowboat." Robin elaborated while laughing at his son's excitement. "Still exists, doesn't it, Regina?"

"Yes. You can use for fishing if you want. There was fishing rod in the warehouse." She nearly hit her son as she got out of the car. "Henry, honey, take it easy, you're going to fall."

"I want to see it right away!"

Regina and Robin shared the peace that filled them with happiness, and she is laughed as she walked over to the man who was behind the car.

"Can you take the bags in the trunk, Robin? I'd better open the door before Henry goes crazy."

"I'll be right behind you, go ahead."

The queen took the key from her purse and opened the entrance to the house. "Continue on the right, you can go up to the pier from the terrace." Before she could even finish speaking, the boy had already left.

She dropped her bag on the hanger and saw Robin coming to the door and offered a helping hand.

"I got it." He walked past her, following the path he knew by heart, and reached the kitchen.

In the distance from this row, Henry's voice was heard. "This is wonderful! Come and see!"

He was so excited that he forgot that his parents had spent their days here, but they could share in their son's enthusiasm, everything they had dreamed of at home was now coming true.

Before joining Henry on the pier, they opened the windows to replace the stuffiness in the house with the scent of forest.

"Better than I remembered."

The boy, who approached the ladder leading down to the lake, turned to his mother. "I wish the weather was warm. It would be nice to swim."

"We can come back any time you want." She rubbed his son's arm. "There are good things to do in winter, too. Why don't you come and help me get some wood while Robin checks out the boat? We can light the fireplace. Maybe I got marshmallows."

She laughing at the pure joy on her son's face, wrapped her arm around his shoulder and led him inside.

"Robin said you like camping."

"Oh, did he?"

"Hmm. I know you set up the tent faster than him."

His mother's laughter echoed in the warehouse downstairs. "He can't get over that, can he?"

"I don't think he can." He joined her as he tossed a pile of wood into a bucket.

"Some things are not easy for Robin Hood to accept."

"Robin Hood?"

Noticing that she was calling him by his old nickname, the woman straightened up and clapped her hands together, trying to shake off the dust.

"This is a story about the time we met. We never told you, did we?"

"You said you met in college."

"Mm, not exactly. We met at the camp." She lifted the bucket from the floor and headed for the stairs again. "It's cold in here, you'll catch a cold."

"But you were in the same school, right?"

"Yes."

Getting ready to light the fireplace, Robin listened to the sounds of his two favorite people as they went upstairs. When he left his place to retrieve the bucket, he heard Henry's question about them.

"Our faculties were side by side." As he added, he took the heavy bucket from Regina's hand.

"So it was just a coincidence, you met at camp and realized you were in the same school?"

"It was a camp organized by one of the school clubs. Everyone was from the school. We went with Emma." Regina said. "Robin was also there with his friends."

"How did you convince my mother to go camping? I have to beg to go, she accepts so as not to upset me, and she gets cranky until we come back." The boy laughed as he remembered the moments when his mother had screamed at every insect that landed on her.

"Actually… She was the one who wanted to go."

"I will use this against her!"

"She wanted to go to see someone she liked, but I think she regretted going."

Knowing what she was talking about, Robin pressed his lips together not to laugh, but his laugh was too strong to be dammed.

Regina joined in his laughter as the memories flashed in her mind. This incident was still funny, and it will be funny fifty years from now.

"A game was arranged by the lake, and Emma joined the game to be paired with Killian. They were about to win, and Emma suddenly started screaming and running. She said that a lizard passed by her. She panicked even more when Killian reached out to stop her. As a result, they fell into the lake together."

"Oh my god it must be so embarrassing." Henry finally joined them as they laughed, and when he returned he would be delighted to remind his mother of the event.

"For her yes. It was funny for us."

Robin went to light the fireplace while Regina made her way to the kitchen to put the groceries in the fridge.

Their son who is still standing in the same place called out to the couple who forgot their meeting story. "Don't think I'll forget your story."

He heard his mother giggle in the kitchen. His father turned his head to him for a moment. "I wouldn't dream of that."

"Would you like a snack before going fishing? I can make a sandwich before dinner."

She got two confirmation tones from inside.

The father lighting the fireplace, the mother preparing the food, the excited child. That was the closest scene to family that house had ever seen.

As they say, if the walls can speak... If those walls can speak, they would have called the memories that had accumulated over the years it had housed the Mills family, it would simply call loneliness.

Henry and Cora Mills had only been to this house a few times together. Their daughters, Regina and Zelena, had few memories of the four of them being happy together because the day these four always ended up in a fight when they got together.

So at first Henry would come alone with his daughters, taking them away from their mother for a few days. Years later it became a home where only Regina and Zelena came. The number of visitors decreased slowly from four, first to three, then to two, often to one. It consisted of walls representing loneliness with its peaceful atmosphere.

But that day, every tree that surrounded the garden, every drop that filled the lake knew that this house would now accompany a family. For the first time in years, it would represent happiness, not loneliness.

Notes:

Could you imagine Regina being a camp queen? Our queen is pitching a tent, omg! I wanted to choose a special place for our first family vacation, I promise we will have the best time here.
Thank you for reading, and please let me know what you think. Your comments motivate me a lot.
I'm home for ten more days, so I can update the next episode early. Until then, take care!
Mwah!