"Good morning, Regina?" A warm, deep, voice interrupted Regina's anxious thoughts, and brought her attention back to the diner. In front of her stood a tall, handsome man, he appeared strong and a little roguish, and looked so much like her son Daniel, he was unmistakeably the man she was supposed to meet today.

"Robin?" She asked, pulling herself together and standing to offer him her hand. She couldn't take her eyes off of him, she couldn't believe how familiar he looked.

"So good to meet you, thank you for agreeing to see me." Robin Hood sounded a little nervous, but his eyes were kind, and he shook Regina's hand confidently.

As they both sat, across the table from one another, Regina finally managed to stop staring, and notice that Robin's own gaze seemed to keep darting toward her rounded middle section, apparently her attempt to hide her baby bump with a loose coat wasn't working.

Instinctively she put a hand on her pregnant stomach protectively, and frowned, suddenly concerned that she was being very stupid, meeting this stranger.

Robin instantly picked up on her shift in disposition and his face became instantly apologetic. "I'm so sorry, I don't mean to make you uncomfortable, I just, well, is that mine?" He asked, his tone still courteous, but underlined with an excitement Regina found too pure to resist.

"Well, not legally." She said, but her tone came out sharper than she had intended.

"I mean, yes, technically this is your baby." She added with a softer tone and offered him a small smile.

Robin returned her smile and folded his hands on the table. They looked well worn, and Regina had noticed they felt a little rough when she'd shaken his hand.

"I honestly don't know what to say." Robin began, the conflict of this meeting clear on his face.

"Why don't we start with you telling me about yourself? Is Robin Hood actually your name?" Regina interrupted, keen to be the one directing the conversation.

"Believe it or not, you are not the first person who has asked me that." Robin admitted with a chuckle. "Yes, apparently my mother had a wry sense of humour."

"Have you asked her why she named you after a fairy-tale?" Regina asked, interested.

"Unfortunately I didn't get to meet her really, I was orphaned when I was 4." Robin spoke honestly, and he waved away Regina's attempt to apologise for bringing it up. "It's no matter."

"So, you own a business?" Regina changed the subject, embarrassed at her previous faux-par.

"Yes I do, when I left the orphanage I apprenticed with a local carpenter and worked my way from there. Now I'm supposed to just sit in an office while people make my designs and ship them off, but I've never been much good at paperwork." Robin told his story with a shrug and paused to allow the waitress to deliver Regina's order, and placed his own.

"May I ask a little about you?" He asked as Regina took a sip of her tea.

She nodded and replaced her cup on its saucer.

"I'm a lawyer, I was married, but we're in the middle of divorce. And I have three, beautiful boys." Regina told him, her face lighting up when she mentioned her children.

"I'm sorry about your marriage." Robin offered her as he accepted the coffee brought to him by their waitress.

"Me too." Regina replied dryly.

"Your sons, how old are they?" Robin asked before taking a sip of his coffee.

"18, 10, and 7." Regina said, slowly starting to feel at ease with the man sitting across from her.

"The oldest, Damon, is my biological son, then Henry, the middle, is my ex-wife Emma's, and then the youngest, Daniel, much like the child I'm carrying at the moment, are, mine and yours." She explained to him, leaving out the messy history with the older two children's fathers.

Robin looked genuinely interested as Regina spoke. "What an amazing family, sorry I didn't realize you were married to a woman, I had been curious for your reasons for using a donor, but I guess that explains the need."

His words weren't unkind, Regina being married to a woman didn't seem to faze him at all, and that kind of acceptance never failed to impress Regina, especially as she'd already faced a lifetime of bigotry.

"It certainly does. So why did you decide to be a donor?" Regina asked him, curious, especially since supposedly he'd 'had a change of moral ground' according to the woman from the clinic.

Robin surprised Regina by actually blushing. "The harsh truth of the matter, is I donated back when my business was struggling take off and I needed to pay my rent. At high class clinics like the one I went to, they pay a decent amount for quality donations. And my family has a near perfect medical and very good genetic history."

Regina felt sorry for Robin, he looked so ashamed. She reached across the table enveloped his hands in one of hers. "It doesn't matter what motivated you. My family wouldn't be complete if you hadn't done it."

Robin squeezed her hand but shook his head. "I was young, I didn't think about the possible children, I thought only of making a quick dime. Only recently have I learned the value of family, that's why I recently reached out to the clinic. I hoped they hadn't been used, I was worried my reasons would have consequences."

"Well they have been used." Regina removed her hand, her tone cold, automatically defensive.

"Yes, and I can see that it didn't matter. I'm so glad something thoughtless I did, has become so meaningful because of you." Robin fiddled with his cup awkwardly. "I'm sorry, I've interrupted your life pointlessly."

"Nonsense." Regina replied curtly. "It wasn't pointless. I admire you following up on something you weren't satisfied with."

She reached into her handbag and pulled out her wallet. From it she passed the photos of her sons that she carried with her everywhere she went.

Robin looked them over, his eyes becoming shiny with emotion when he reached Daniel's photo. "He looks so much like me, but thankfully has enough you to make him beautiful." Robin's voice was rough with emotion and all but convinced Regina that this man had not entered her life with anything but genuinely pure intentions.

"His name is Daniel." Regina told him softly. "The others are Damon and Henry."

"Daniel." Robin repeated, sniffing as he quickly wiped his eye. "It's a good name."

He handed the photos back to Regina and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket.

"This is my son, Roland. He's four." He informed her, turning his phone on to show her a photo of a curly-haired, smiling boy as his lock screen.

"You have a son?" Regina was taken aback. "He's lovely." She ran a hand over her 3-month old bump, and wondered what this whole interaction would mean for the future.

"Yes, I do, and I'm sorry if it seems like I was hiding that, I just didn't know how to do any of this." Robin apologised again.

"It's totally fine. Is there a Mrs Hood?" She asked tentatively, Robins lack of mentioning her leading her to believe there probably wasn't.

Robin shook his head ruefully. "There was, but she walked out on us two months ago. Her abandonment of me, and mostly of Roland, is what made me realize how much parents matter. And then I became worried about the donations from years before."

"I'm sorry. And I don't blame you." Regina said honestly. "I just don't want you to think of your choice as a mistake. My children aren't mistakes."

"No, I could never think that, not now that I've met you." Robin agreed with a smile.

Their meeting had reached a good place and Regina wanted to quit while the going was good.

"I have to go. I have appointments to meet, but I'm we met today, and well, you have my email, I guess contact me if you have any more concerns." She knew she sounded formal but she didn't know how else to end the conversation.

She put some money by her cup and stood, Robin followed suit and walked with her to the door.

"Regina, thank you." Robin said, completely heartfelt as she walked past him onto the cold street.

She turned back to him, a smile playing around her lips as she spoke.

"You're welcome, Robin Hood."