Friday: "All Grown Up"
159. Robin and Regina's daughter's first prom
She's beautiful. Regina and Sophie both.
Regina talks softly to their daughter as she brushes through Sophie's long, raven hair. She looks so much like her mother, and always has. The only thing she inherited from him are her dimples, the rest is completely her mother. His little girl is all grown up now and preparing to go to her senior prom.
Robin smiles watching his girls together. They've always shared such a sweet bond. Sophie is a great mixture of the two of them - strong and independent like Regina, honorable with a love for the outdoors like him - but despite having so much of her parents inside her, she is truly her own person.
She'll be leaving for college in a month, leaving him and Regina to deal with their empty nest syndrome, and Robin isn't quite ready to say goodbye to his little girl just yet.
"Papa, you're doing it wrong," Sophie protests, squirming on the kitchen stool as Robin attempts to braid her hair back. It utterly confuses him that he can't seem to wrangle a handful of hair into a twist. It shouldn't be that hard; he's seen his wife do it a thousand times, and it looks so easy.
He ties the rubberband around the end, smiling triumphantly at his handy work. It's a bit messy, there's a few pieces sticking out in random places, but it's up. That's what counts, right? His little girl doesn't seem to agree as she feels it with her hand, glancing into the mirror that rests on the counter top. She twists her lips, giving him an encouraging smile, one that seems to say 'at least you tried,' and he laughs, shaking his head.
Shrugging, he tells her, "This will have to do, little love. It was all in your face." He sighs, looking at his creation. "Its… it's not so bad," he claims, trying to sound confident. "At least it'll stay out of your eyes for archery practice."
Sophie gawks at him, a tiny pout too reminiscent of her mother's to be anything but comical, and shakes her head, causing a few loosely braided strands to fall from their confinement. He stares in shock, bringing a hand to rub down his face, scratching at his jaw. "Guess I'll have to try again," he says, blowing out a dramatic breath that causes Sophie to giggle.
Reaching up to take out the rubber band and undo what's left of his braid, he can't help but to laugh along with her. "One more try," he chuckles, beginning to brush through her hair and part it into sections once more.
Regina stands at the stove, cooking eggs for her family, and looks over her shoulder, giving Robin a warm smile. She rolls her eyes when she sees the poor attempt at a braid he's making again, setting the spatula down as she plates the eggs. "Let me do it," she laughs.
Sophie giggles, looking up to Robin. "Mama can teach you how to do it, Papa!"
The three of them chuckle, turning to greet Roland and Henry as they zombie walk into the kitchen, not quite ready to start their early day.
"I'm going to learn," Robin declares indignantly. "If it's the last thing I do."
Regina snickers, leaning up to press a soft peck to his lips. "You will, babe, you will." She pats him on the shoulder, stepping in front of him and taking the brush from his hands as she fixes the messy braid he'd already concocted this morning.
Regina pins Sophie's hair back, smiling softly at him through the mirror when they catch each other's gazes.
He winks at Regina, remembering how many times his wife had shown him how to braid their daughter's hair. He'd finally gotten it right, became quite the braid master if he does say so himself, and found himself doing his daughter's hair most mornings while Regina got ready for work. Smiling at the memory, he takes a step into the room, telling his daughter how beautiful she looks. She giggles and says she doesn't even have her dress on yet, but he vows he doesn't need to see it to know she'll be the most stunning girl in the room.
Robin makes his way downstairs, greeting the Charmings as they arrive with their son, Neal. He's dressed in a black tux with a mint green tie to match Sophie's dress. He looks nervous and Robin smiles, patting him on the back.
Regina descends the stairs, joining the rest in the foyer. She hugs Snow and David and plants a kiss to Neal's cheek, telling him Sophie will be down in a second.
The boy's jaw drops as the teenage girl appears. Her long, mint colored dress flows behind her. The top is strapless, but not overly sexy, Thank the gods. It's covered in white lace that cascades down onto the mint, poofy skirt of the dress. He doesn't know what all the terms his wife and daughter have spewed out since the day they picked the dress mean - sweetheart neck, tulle, lace overlay… but despite not knowing what it all means, he knows his daughter is the most gorgeous girl there is (besides his wife, of course). He truly doesn't know how he got so lucky.
They take pictures of the young couple, and as Regina snaps her camera and Snow cries, saying how beautiful they are, Robin leans his shoulder against the door frame, watching his baby girl.
He can still remember the first time she said Papa and how his whole world had lit up and changed forever, and now here she is, dating a wonderful young man and planning a future at college.
"There you are," he beams, bending down to join his little girl on the carpet in her playroom.
She's playing with the new dolls she'd gotten for Christmas, and she holds one up. "Play with me, Papa!"
He chuckles, reaching down to pick up the Ken doll that rests next to her tiny foot. He gives said foot a light tickle, causing her contagious laughter to blossom out of her. They spend the next hour taking Barbie and Ken on adventures from the sea, to the Enchanted Forest, to the mall, and anywhere in between. He doesn't know where she comes up with all of these ideas, but he loves these little moments of playful imagination.
He leans in, placing a kiss to the top of her head before standing, saying, "I'm going to help your mum make dinner."
Sophie gives him a nod, picking up his discarded Ken and murmuring something about needing to change his outfit before going to Wonderland.
Robin shakes his head, chuckling under his breath as he watches his daughter get lost in her own world again.
"Love you, Papa," she states, grinning up at him, her missing front tooth making her smile even more adorable.
He smiles warmly down at her from the doorway, touched by her words. This little girl has him completely wrapped around her little finger, and she knows it. He wouldn't have it any other way, though. "I love you too, sweetheart."
Making his way from the room, he smiles to himself, wishing Regina could find a way to keep their children small forever.
Shaking his head and avoiding the lump growing in his throat, he makes his way over to Sophie. Robin takes Neal's place as Regina comes to stand on the other side of their daughter and Snow takes a few pictures for them. They all switch places, Regina taking pictures for the Charmings before they are kissing their kids goodbye and sending them off to the prom.
Later that night, after a quiet meal, some good wine, and a few tears shed from both of them over the photo albums Regina had pulled out where they could reminisce over all three of their children and how grown up they've become, they settle into the living room.
Robin turns on some soft music, walking over to Regina and gently closing the photo album she's still teary eyed over. He reaches out, saying, "M'lady."
She smiles up at him brightly, taking his hand and allowing him to walk her to the center of the room.
"She looked beautiful," he whispers to her, swinging her body into his. Regina's head comes to rest on his chest as she hums in agreement. "You did a great job with her hair."
Tilting her head back, Regina smirks, claiming, "I used to style mine like that in the Enchanted Forest."
Chuckling, Robin spins Regina around. She curls back into his embrace and they spend the next few minutes letting the music soothe their aching hearts. "I can't believe she leaves next month," Regina says sadly, looking up at him with fresh tears in her eyes. "All of our babies are grown up now."
Giving her a empathetic look, Robin twitches his lip up on one side, then leans down, running his nose against the length of hers. She turns into the gesture, motioning her face upward like a kitten who is begging for another back rub. He dots a kiss to the tip of her nose before resting his forehead against her own.
Regina sighs, talking softly about Henry and Roland, letting him know they were both coming home next weekend to visit.
"That'll be excellent," he says, "Having all three of them here will be nice."
His wife smiles up at him, nodding in agreement. The song ends as does their swaying, and Robin leads Regina to the couch.
They curl up together, Regina's legs pulled up onto the cushions so she's cuddled into his side. He smiles down at her, loving how they haven't changed in all these years.
Things in Storybrooke may have settled, no more villains or monsters after them all, but Regina is still the same woman he fell in love with so many years ago. Their hair may have started to gray, but they still have that fire and passion between them (Snow often making jokes that they'd be the ones to end up pregnant once all their kids went off to college).
He loves his wife, and he hopes their deep affection for one another never fizzles out. As Regina reaches up, scratching at his chest and leaning up for another kiss, he thinks to himself that he doesn't think it ever will.
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Thoughts? :)
