Baby Robin and Baby Neal both sat on the rug playing. Although Neal was technically older than Robin, she was beginning to surpass him in size. Both babies were working on learning how to stand up and try to walk. Neal's parents and Robin's mother watched as Neal stood up, then Robin, then Neal again, then Robin, until soon the babies were competing to see who could stand up the longest, occasionally making noises at eachother and clapping their hands in excitement.
"That's my boy!" David said, cheering on Neal "You're the strongest baby here".
Snow elbowed David and scolded him "We are not making this into a competition" she said "they will reach their milestones when they reach them".
Zelena had a slight frown on her face at being reminded that Robin would be coming at her milestones in an unpredictable fashion. Right now, Robin had strength to stand up but was lacking in experience. This type of disparity was going to cause some issues throughout her childhood. Snow sensed what was up.
"About Robin, I have been thinking the last few days about how her education will have to be a little different. As you know, Regina's curse gave me false memories that make me kind of an expert in education" Snow said.
"Where do your fake memories say you went to school, anyway?" David asked, curiously.
"Mostly Storybrooke University" Snow answered "but with a few distance courses from the University Of Maine. I actually have the transcripts the curse created but I doubt the University of Maine has any record of me taking those courses".
Neal was now playing with a toy school bus while Robin started playing with some rubber toys.
"Anyway" Snow continued "when it comes time for Robin to go to school, I'd like to help advocate for her. Of course that's still a little ways away, I don't want to plan too far ahead all at once".
"Thank-you" Zelena said, although she was a bit stressed out thinking about this.
Robin began hitting Neal hard with a rubber toy. Neal started crying.
"Robin, NO!" Zelena shouted, snatching the toy.
Now Robin was upset and screaming too. Zelena thought maybe she had reacted a little harshly. Snow and Zelena both picked up their babies and died to calm them down.
"Oh, Mommy loves you" Zelena said to Robin, apologetically, while bouncing her up and down "it's because I love you, I can't have you hurting the other babies. Please understand".
Robin probably didn't fully understand but the bouncing soothed her. Still she soon wanted to be laid back down and started reaching for the floor.
"Oh, alright" Zelena said "but you have to play nice this time".
Neal had calmed down too and both babies were soon back on the rug, inspecting the toys around them. Snow returned to her conversation with Zelena.
"I don't want to overwhelm you" Snow said "but you know she's going to also need special attention in her physical development. You know, David and I are friends with the gym teacher Frederick".
"I saved him from being stuck as a golden statue for life" David added.
"Didn't you sleep with his wife?" Zelena asked. She knew this was a terribly inappropriate thing to bring up but she had a nasty habit of speaking before she thought it through".
"We don't talk about that!" Snow said, sharply.
"Anyway" said David "We can certainly talk to him about helping with Robin's physical education".
"Thank-you" Zelena said, though she was overwhelmed. She decided to look at the newspaper, the Daily Mirror, to distract herself from the stress.
"What are you going to do while Robin's in school?" Snow asked.
Zelena let out an irritated groan. She was finally at her breaking point with all this talk about the future.
"Not you too" She groaned "The cricket thinks I should get a job! What in the blazes would I do? Work at a school like you?"
Suddenly, she looked up and saw Robin get up and take her first steps. Zelena cheered and picked up Robin to give her a big hug.
"You took your first steps! Mommy is so proud!" she said. Robin laughed with glee. Snow and Charming looked on, smiling.
After Zelena eventually laid Robin back down, the newspaper that was still in her hand managed to recapture her attention.
"Oh Gods" she said "the writing in this paper is rapidly going downhill. The comic strips are reusing the same two drawings over and over, the trivia is poorly researched, the puzzles are easier than the baby game of putting shapes in the correct holes, and the actual news is written like it was put through a blender".
"You know, I think the Daily Mirror might have an opening for a quality assurance manager" David said.