Robin's feelings were not discussed again.
Thankfully, he took her immediate exit in a plume of smoke as the request that it was - to end the conversation and the topic.
Regina's birthday at the beginning of February came and went - thankfully without too much fanfare, Snow acquiescing to her stepmother's assertions that she didn't want any kind of party or celebration.
Roland came and sat with her at breakfast, snuggling up on her lap with his monkey and a hand-made card; Snow insisted on accompanying her for a picnic lunch, the way they had when she was a child; and Grace presented her with a beautifully drawn copy of one of Regina's favourite photographs of her and Henry.
Robin acknowledged the day with a smile, but nothing else, something that relieved and upset her in equal measures - at least until she returned to her chambers that evening to find that someone had left her a hand-gathered bouquet of flowers.
They made her smile every time she looked at them, and she couldn't even bring herself to pretend to be annoyed that he had raided her own gardens to get them.
A few weeks after that, Regina entered the dining hall to find that their numbers had increased once again - not only were most of the kingdom gathered, but there were extra royals at the head table - Philip and Aurora - now heavily pregnant - and Thomas and Ella, Alexandra bouncing on her lap.
"What is going on?" Regina asked in greeting.
"Hi!" Alexandra chirped happily.
Regina smiled at the little girl. "Hello Alexandra. Haven't you grown?"
"She's going to be taller than me," Ella said, with only a hint of nervousness in her smile. "Snow and David invited us. They have an announcement to make."
Regina froze, turning to her stepdaughter, who gave her a sheepish smile. "Really?"
"It's time," David said firmly.
He had a point.
Whale and Doc might not have agreed on all aspects of pregnancy care, but the one thing they did agree was that the child was due early June and, as such, Snow was beginning to show.
"Yes, but …" Regina faltered, her eyes darting around the hall. "Maybe we should have this discussion in private."
"Gina!"
In spite of her frustration, Regina smiled, crouching down to hug Roland. "Hi sweetheart."
"Can we play today?" Roland asked.
"Oh, that would be lovely," Regina said, "but I have to be the queen today, I'm afraid. I have a very important conversation to have with Princess Snow and Prince David."
Roland pouted, but nodded. "Okay. Later?"
"Later," Regina said, straightening up and ruffling his hair. "You two, with me please." She strode out of the dining hall, Snow and David close behind her, unsurprised when the other royals followed, Ella handing Alexandra off to Ruby on the way.
These kind of announcements were generally made from the public gallery, so that was where Regina headed, already prepared for the fact that her arguments would fall on deaf ears.
"I assume you've told them?"
Snow smiled, a hand settling on her stomach. "We have."
"Good." Regina spun around to face them. "You've gathered the entire kingdom for this?! There's a wicked witch out there, just waiting to pounce! And pretending otherwise would be dangerous."
"There's nothing dangerous about rallying our people," David said firmly.
Regina rolled her eyes. "You're announcing that you're pregnant. It's not like you invented the wheel."
Hurried footsteps caught her attention and she turned to see - not Ivy - but a cloaked figure rushing towards them.
As they reached the gathered royals, the hood dropped, revealing a familiar face.
"Belle!" Snow whispered, stunned.
"Are you okay?" David asked, taking a step towards her. "When your messages stopped coming, we feared the worst."
"We went off to see if we could revive the Dark One," Belle said softly.
The others looked stunned, but Regina had assumed as much. "What happened?"
"Neal was able to resurrect him at the cost of his own life," Belle said, tears sparkling in her eyes.
"Rumple's alive," Regina said slowly, testing the words.
"Neal's dead," Snow whispered.
Regina gave her a look but said nothing; of course Neal's death was tragic, but Rumplestiltskin would be a real help in dealing with Zelena.
"I think so," Belle said.
That got Regina's attention again. "To which?"
"Both," Belle admitted. "You see, when Rumple saw that Neal was dying, he … absorbed him. And Zelena got a hold of the dagger. Now she controls Rumple."
Regina closed her eyes. That, on the other hand, was the last thing they needed.
"Maybe now isn't the time to announce the pregnancy," Aurora said. "Regina is right; it's too dangerous."
Regina glanced at her, taking note of her paler than usual skin and the tremor in her voice. With a flick of her fingers a soft chair appeared beside her. "You shouldn't be on your feet."
"Thank you," Aurora murmured, easing herself into the chair.
Snow shook her head. "No, if we don't, we give into fear. If we do, we give the kingdom what they need. Hope."
"Dear, I can see where you're coming from," Regina said, trying to temper her frustration. "But we have a wicked witch and disappearing villagers. A royal baby, while good for morale, does not help with a war effort."
"Look," David said, "we don't even know what this wicked witch wants."
"Actually, we do," Aurora said softly. "She wants your baby."
"She came to us while you were gone," Phillip admitted, putting a hand on his wife's shoulder. "Threatened us, and our unborn child, unless we told her when you arrived in our land."
"She thinks your baby could be … important," Aurora continued, when Snow and David merely stared at them. "I'm so sorry, she said she'd hurt us."
With a gust of wind and a brush of magic, Zelena swooped through the open balcony, breezing through Regina's protective spells, and alighted before them. "And I make good on my promises."
Before Regina could move, her sister's magic rushed passed her, enveloping the King and Queen of Sentisrota and turning them into flying monkeys.
With a screech, the two took off, soaring out of the window.
"What do you want with our baby?!" Snow demanded.
"Calm down, sweetie," Zelena said, freezing her in place. "You don't want to go into early labour."
David drew his sword. "Stay away from my wife!"
Zelena froze him as well. "Ooh, someone's testy."
Regina rolled her eyes, stepping in front of her stepdaughter. "Enough. This is between you and me." Her arm stuttered to a halt, her body seizing up under Zelena's spell.
Zelena smirked, stepping past her. "Now, let's see if this was all worth it."
Regina couldn't see what was happening behind her, unable to move, but she was disturbed by the glee that entered her sister's voice.
"Oh, yes. Yes it was. This child shall do quite nicely. So take good care of it for me; don't forget to eat well. I will be back for your happy day. And what's yours will be mine."
Her broom flew back to her hand and Zelena took off out of the window, her spell breaking.
Snow burst into tears as soon as she was able to, Ella and Belle rushing to her side. Regina strode to the balcony, a fireball forming in her hand.
"Don't," David called. "She'll just send it back."
Regina scowled, extinguishing it with a flick of her hand. "You do realise that she's been playing us since we got here? That protective spell hasn't done a damn thing!"
"Mama," Snow said shakily. "Why does she want my baby?"
"I don't know," Regina said darkly. "However it does buy us time. By the sounds of it, she wants him or her alive, so she's not going to attack until they're born."
"It might buy us time," David said, "but if that shield isn't protecting us, what's stopping her building her army?"
"I don't know." Regina turned as the door opened, admitting their own ragtag army of knights, dwarves and Merry Men. "But something tells me we're outgunned at the moment."
"We saw her arrive," Grumpy said, axe at the ready. "What happened?"
Snow took a deep breath, wiping her eyes. "Well, I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that we're expecting a baby. The bad news is that the witch wants the baby."
"What would the witch want a baby for?" Robin asked.
"How did she get in?!" Grumpy demanded, glaring at Regina.
Regina raised an eyebrow. "Clearly she's more powerful than I thought."
"Really?" Grumpy asked. "Or did you even try and stop her? I mean, she is your sister, right?"
"That's out of order," Robin said sharply. "Given everything the queen's done to keep us safe …"
"Except apparently she's not keeping us safe at all, is she?" Grumpy demanded.
"Enough!" Snow said sharply.
"Regina has our full confidence," David added.
"If you're all finished," Regina said dryly, "I would just like to point out that it's not just my magic she just blasted through."
"What?" Grumpy asked.
"Blue and the others added a layer of fairy magic over a month ago," Regina said. "So if you're going to accuse me of allowing her in, you need to accuse them as well. I can't overturn fairy magic. Blue can attest to that."
"If the witch wants the baby," Robin said, giving Snow and David an apologetic look, "does that mean the castle's safe until the baby's born? I mean she's not going to want to risk it, right?"
"That would be a reasonable conclusion," Regina said.
"Speaking of babies," Ella said quietly, "what about Aurora? The witch turned her and Philip into flying monkeys," she added for the benefit of the newcomers.
"That's an act of war," one of the knights murmured.
"I think we're well past that," Thomas said flatly.
"Alright, that's enough," Regina said wearily. "First of all, I don't know what happened to Aurora's baby, Ella. That's a question we likely won't get answered until after this is all over. I'll extend the protective spells over Sentisrota as well and …"
"What good will that do?"
"You intend to invade?"
Regina blinked, momentarily bewildered by two people accosting her at once. "No, I do not intend to invade," she said in response to one of the knights that must have accompanied Philip and Aurora. "Once we've got them back, they will go straight back to the throne. But we can't leave the kingdom without a leader, and we can't leave it unprotected. Unless you have another idea?"
The knight faltered. "No. My apologies, Your Majesty; they …"
"Of course," Regina said. "It's a shock."
"I'll go," Thomas said, his voice shaking. "He's my brother. Father won't be happy."
"Should I accompany you back?" David asked.
"No," Thomas said immediately. "Stay with your wife. Regina, could I ask …?"
"I can write him a letter," Regina said. "Although how well that will explain things, I don't know. As to what good expanding the shields will do," she said to Grumpy (because of course it was him), "I don't know right now. I'll need to think of something else, clearly."
"What about blood magic?" Robin asked. "You said that was the strongest magic."
"Except Zelena and I share blood," Regina said, rolling her eyes again, "so she can break that blood magic."
"Right," Robin agreed, "but can you not do it with someone else's blood? Someone who doesn't share blood with her?"
Regina was silent for a moment, thinking over the idea. It wasn't something she'd ever considered before, but … "That might actually work."
"Did she do anything?" Snow asked. "She touched my stomach; did she do anything to the baby?"
"I don't think so," Regina said. "May I?"
Snow nodded, allowing her stepmother to place a hand against the tiny bump.
Regina closed her eyes, letting her magic talk to her. "First of all, she didn't do anything, so you don't need to worry about that. Second of all, you have another true love child on your hands."
"Is that why she wants our baby?" David asked.
Regina grimaced. "Possibly. But I wouldn't like to say why."
"Philip woke Aurora with true love's kiss though," Thomas said. "Wouldn't their baby be a true love child?"
"Not necessarily," Regina said.
"What is a true love child?" Robin asked.
"Children conceived through true love can develop magic because of it," Regina said. "Emma's one; she had exceptionally powerful magic, not that she ever explored that potential. This baby will have magic; I wouldn't like to say if Aurora and Philip's will."
"Would have, you mean," Thomas said darkly.
Regina strode over to where Aurora had been sitting, running a hand over the chair. "I'm not getting any sense that the baby was harmed. If she's got any sense, she'll freeze the pregnancy so she doesn't have to deal with that."
"Do you really believe that?" Thomas asked flatly.
Regina sighed. "I can hope. Everything I did … I never knowingly harmed a baby. I would have kept Emma with me," she added before David could say anything. "I don't think I could have actually harmed a baby when it came down to it; I'd like to think that Zelena's not worse than me in that case. I would speak to Blue and see if she can pick up anything I can't."
"We're still announcing the pregnancy," Snow said, wiping her eyes. "I'm not letting that witch control my life."
Regina sighed. "Good for you. I'm going to find someone to help me with the blood magic."
As everyone dispersed, Robin approached her. "I'm happy to offer my assistance, milady."
"Not you," Regina said, a little curtly. "I need someone without any living relatives. I don't want Zelena going after Roland to get inside."
Robin grimaced. "I hadn't thought of that. Is there anything I can do?"
"No," Regina said. "But thank you all the same."
She wasn't avoiding him per se, but she was avoiding any meaningful conversations, those heart-to-hearts that had broken through her defences and made her forget all the reasons why letting him in was a bad idea.
And now he had feelings - completely oblivious to the fact that fate and magic had conspired against him to bind him to a monster.
No, keeping him at a distance was certainly the best thing she could do for him.
Ivy met her outside the western library. "I thought you'd be coming here. She has gone, hasn't she?"
"She's gone," Regina said. "She won't be back until the baby's born, but I'm going to make sure that doesn't happen."
Ivy nodded. "Would you like me to keep people away from here?"
"Please," Regina said. "Snow's going to stick to her guns in announcing the baby and holding the celebration - no doubt she'll want me to make an appearance."
"I'll see if I can stall her," Ivy said. "Anything else I can do?"
"Actually," Regina said thoughtfully. "There might be. Come inside."
Ivy followed her into the library. "You know I'm not any use with magic, Your Majesty."
"I know that," Regina said. "I don't need you to do magic. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you don't have any living relatives, do you?"
"No, Your Majesty," Ivy said quietly. "Mom passed away not long after I started working here, as you know, and Daddy passed a good ten years before that."
"And you're an only child," Regina said.
Ivy nodded. "Yes, ma'am."
"I need your help with something," Regina said. "Wait until I tell you what it is before you agree; you're under no obligation to do so, understand?"
"I do," Ivy said. "What is it?"
"I need to add blood magic to the protection spell," Regina answered. "I can't use my blood, obviously. Are you alright with me using yours?"
Ivy thought for a second. "How much blood would you need?"
"Only a few drops," Regina said. "You likely won't even need healing afterwards, although I will if you like. I'd say you need to stay in the castle afterwards, but you haven't left it yet."
Ivy smiled. "I have nowhere to go, Your Majesty. Of course I'll help."