ATTENTION: THE AUTHOR IS POSTING THE LAST CHAPTER ON MAY 5. TO THANK ALL THOSE WHO HAVE READ HER STORY, SHE IS ALLOWING THE ENTIRE STORY TO BE PUBLISHED UNTIL MAY 22.

THIS BOOK OR ANY PORTION THEREOF MAY NOT BE REPRODUCED IN ANY FORM WITHOUT PERMISSION. THE SCANNING, UPLOADING, AND DISTRIBUTION OF THIS BOOK VIA THE INTERNET OR VIA ANY OTHER MEANS WITHOUT THE PERMISSION OF THE PUBLISHER IS ILLEGAL AND PUNISHABLE BY LAW.

ROBIN STOCKED THE COMMON room with coffee, creamer, sugar, and added pastries he'd picked up from a new bakery down the road. He stocked crackers, cheese, and grapes hearing people favored the afternoon snack. The fridge was stocked, old food is thrown out, and he put in a few bottles of different creamers. He picked French vanilla for Maggie and Regina.

Thinking about her made his stomach uneasy. The last thing he expected was comforting a woman who was hard, cold, and ruthless in the courtroom and a complex mystery behind it. To see the torment in her eyes, even for a few minutes, changed his outlook on her. It became clear to him that she was skilled at hiding emotion and the core of who she is.

The woman he shared an office with was quiet, competent, and a workaholic. There were also hints of loyalty, determination, and a soft side that grabbed him. His weakness was vulnerability in women. It wasn't something he actively sought, but it irritated him. Annoyed him to know that it could get to him that easily. She got to him, he admitted.

Confronting her about a possible child had just been a curiosity. Piqued when Granny talked about her growing up. He hadn't meant to find that much about her personal life. Now, he was in this weird limbo with her. He'd left her alone after a moment of intimacy neither of them had been ready for. To give himself time to settle his mind, and her the privacy she clearly needed, he'd left her alone.

As the night progressed, he'd prepared for his meeting with Emma Swan. In between his progress, his mind had wandered back to Regina. To her story and what she'd revealed. How the hell would they deny a successful woman like her? It didn't make sense, but he wasn't in a place to pry.

He'd also rather not ever see that look in her eyes again. So, he'd pretend like the moment never happened and put it out of his mind. When the room was stocked and clean, he made his way into the conference room. He put a tray in the middle of the table with coffee, paper cups, and pastries.

He checked the TV and computer system to ensure that it was working for the meeting. He put in the files in a locked cabinet. Feeling like he'd wasted enough time avoiding it, he went down into the office.

Regina was sitting at her desk, typing on the computer. "Morning," he said absently. She glanced up momentarily as he moved around the room. He put in extra paper in the printer and went to his computer to send off documents to print.

"Morning," she responded.

"I set up the room, the computer is up and running, the monitor is good. The glitches Gold was having seem to have been fixed. I'm printing the docs now and I put the files in there already. Coffee and pastries are on the table, she should be here in twenty," he relayed.

"Great. I reached out to Strauss, he's meeting with me Thursday at three. If you can make it, we're meeting at the bank. I figured I'd be there early to meet with the loan officers."

He took the papers from the printer, put them in a folder, "I'll check my schedule later. I think I have a hearing, but I'll let you know. Ready?"

"Ready."

He followed her out thankful to avoid any awkward conversation. Lucky for him, she seemed to want to keep it that way. The conference room was a little warm, "Should I turn on the air?"

"The heater is on," she said taking the seat on the far right.

"What? Who the hell turned it on?" He turned to the control panel and turned it off. Made sure to set it so it wouldn't cycle back on.

"Gold, he turns it on in here in the morning until lunch, I forgot to turn it off," she pulled out her notebook. "Any idea whether or not she'll cancel?"

Robin sat at the head of the table, "I doubt it, her pride won't let her. I laid it out straight and I didn't tell her you'd be here," he said.

"You didn't?"

"Don't get heated about it, if I'd told her you'd be here, you bet your ass she would've canceled. You did some number on her," he said setting up the computer.

"I met with her twice and each time I tried to explain the implication of the charges, what she was being sued for, and how I could help. Define doing a number on her," she shot back.

"How exactly did you tell her?" he wondered. Setting up the screen, he adjusted the projector until it was centered. "There looks good."

"I don't know what you mean," she said pulling the files out of the locked cabinet.

"Your tone, Regina. We talked about this, you're short and impatient. I don't want to tell you how to do your job," he interrupted her before she could speak. "Just take it easy, pretend you care about her life, relate to her if you can."

He watched her cheeks redden, her movements jerking as she readied herself, and sat back with her arms crossed. "Fine," she muttered.

Given their intense last hours, he decided to ignore her mood and focus on the case. Luckily, ten minutes later, Emma Swan was led into the room by Gold. "Here you are, my dear."

Emma stood at the entrance to the room wringing her hands together, she wore jeans and a t-shirt under a jacket. Her blonde hair cascaded down past her shoulders in curly waves.

Robin stood, "Emma, come on in and have a seat. You remember Regina Mills?" He tried to pass it off like she was expected to be there.

"Yea," she mumbled.

"Coffee?" he offered. "Help yourself," he said.

Emma accepted the coffee but didn't give the pastries a second glance. "So, I'm here," she declared.

"Thanks for coming, I know there have been some misunderstandings," he said knowing it wasn't quite the truth. "Did you connect with Shanda?"

"Yea, she called me, and I filled out an application for cash assistance. Look, I'm not someone who depends on the system. I'm not a fan of it and I know it's temporary. I wouldn't even do it if I didn't need it."

"I know," he insisted. "I wanted it to be an option and a little boost while you figure out your work schedule."

"Thanks," she shrugged.

"How's your son?" Regina asked.

Emma's eyes softened when they glanced from her back to him, "He's doing good in school, he's fed, and he's happy."

"I didn't mean…" Regina trailed off. He could see the vulnerability with the mention of children. He'd have to remember that. He tried to think back on cases she'd worked with that involved children. At the moment, he couldn't remember any that stuck out.

"It's okay," she said.

To avoid any further awkwardness, he interrupted. "Now that you've applied for the cash assistance, we can put that aside. Emma we'd like to talk a little bit about how to manage your finances. Strauss, your landlord expects you to pay the two and a half months back rent payments. He's under contractual obligation to pay his mortgage and you are to pay him. So, I'd like to talk to you about a few options."

"What options?" Emma asked leaning forward.

He pulled up the bank loan requirements on the screen, "The first option would be for you to apply and qualify for a loan. It would be a one-time cash payment and you'd be caught up in rent with the landlord. The interest is a bit high, but most of these loans tend to be."

"What if I don't qualify," she asked?

"Well, there's the other option which is to vacate the apartment and find alternate residency. But you've stated that you didn't want to uproot your son. I understand that, but you should count this as an option in case you don't qualify. There are apartments that don't ask for a steep down payment. But we'll come to that if we need to later. There is a timeframe," he began.

"Timeframe? When?" her brows furrowed.

"The court will decide that during the hearing. We filed an extension and you have about ten days or so before the hearing. Most judges will give you between twenty and twenty-two days. So, that gives you a month to come up with the full payment," he explained.

Emma pushed at her hair, she huffed out a frustrated breath, "I won't qualify for a loan, my credit is messed up, and I don't know how to come up with that kind of money in time."

"Emma," Regina said to get her attention. He watched Regina's face soften fractionally, her eyes meet hers. "I know it's hard, but you won't know until you try. The bank is willing to review your application."

"I don't want to waste my time taking off work knowing that I won't be approved. I have to work as much as I can to keep food on the table," she argued.

Robin said, "We can do it around your schedule. Say a Saturday morning, I'll take the time and I'll come with you. We'll work with the bank and set up a meeting. You don't work until the afternoon, right?"

Pausing, he watched her consider it, her fingers tangled in her blond hair, she chewed her lip, and sighed, "Right. Okay, I can do that."

"Good," he said. "Now, moving on. The judge will likely rule in favor of your landlord due to breach of contract. I went over your lease agreement. They can legally charge you a five-percent fee for late payments. It also states they can evict you after the third missed payment. You're about six days from that date. Strauss jumped the gun on the lawsuit," he said.

"He told me that if I wrote out in written form that I would pay late, he'd give me more time. I did that, but he didn't want to honor it after he filed with the court," she argued.

Robin jotted down some notes, "I'll check that out, do you have a copy of the note you sent?"

"Yea, I texted his number. He said that if I kept him updated, he would work with me. Last month, I texted him apologizing for not being able to pay again. He never responded to my text and a week later, I was served."

"I'll need a printout of the text messages between you and Strauss. Regina, will you take care of that?"

"Yes, may I borrow your phone? We have a computer we can use to print them out," she explained. Hesitantly, he watched Emma hand over her phone. "Is his name in your contacts?" Emma nodded and Regina walked out of the office.

"Are there any paper documents that he gave you? Notices?"

Emma shook her head, "No, just the texts and the phone calls. I didn't keep any of the voicemails. They weren't really anything more than asking me to call him back," she said.

"Good. Okay, we'll check on the application with the bank, we'll go this Saturday if you can make it to apply for the loan. I'll check with the court on the hearing date and we'll work on clarifying the contract obligations. Do you have any questions?"

"If I don't qualify for the loan and I can't pay the fee from the court, what are my options? I can't take Henry to a shelter again. I won't," she said indignantly.

"Don't worry, Shana will be there to help you. Until then, let's work one problem at a time, okay?"

"Thank you," she said.

"It's what we're here for," he said and put a hand over hers.

Regina came back with two documents handing one to her with her phone, "This is your copy. Keep it for your records in case they ask for them. I'd suggest keeping a folder with the papers you were served with. Any correspondence with us and with the judge. It'll make things easier," she said.

"Alright," she muttered. "Is that it? I have to be at work soon."

"That's all we have right now," he said. "When we hear anything, one of us will give you a call."

"Okay," she said. Taking her coffee with her, she walked out of the conference room until directed to the exit.

Regina sighed, "She's scared and stressed out, has her son to think about, and still works harder than anyone to make sure he's happy. It's sad and unfair."

Turning, he watched her turn off the computer system, close the cabinets, while he gathered the tray. "She's strong enough to overcome it all. Just needs a little support, that's all. You did good," he commented.

"I didn't do anything," she said.

"I disagree. You calmed her down from having a breakdown and you showed you care," he said. In the common room, he poured out the coffee, put the tray away, and dumped the rest of the pastries in the open box on the counter.

"I wish I could do more sometimes, but we can only do so much. It seems like there are some that just need a hand and the system can't or falls short," she said as they walked down to their office. "I've seen it happen over and over. A flaw that I wish we could change. You were good with her," she said as she made her way to her desk and put down her papers.

"I did my job, it was easy to do it. She needs help and I called someone who could help her. Genuinely help and not push her aside because their job description didn't fall within the realm of the help she needs."

Regina shook her head with a chuckle, "I was so wrong about you."

He sat and rubbed the tension out of his face, "Yea? How so?"

"I figured you for a flirty, a man who enjoyed teasing women, and maybe a bit of a creep," she admitted. He watched playfulness dance in her eyes and her lips curve into her pretty cheeks. "The truth is, you care about people and you go out of your way to help them."

"I'd want someone to help me," he said simply.

"It's more than that," she said. "You care more than most would, you take time out of your life, and you don't push the problem off to the next person. You invest your time and you make them a priority."

"Yea, I do. My clients should be my priority or what the hell am I doing here? I take it seriously when people tell me their stories. They trust me to help them and I make sure I don't break that trust," he said.

Regina nodded, "I suppose I'm guilty of not extending my trust in my professional life because I struggle with it personally. It's hard to trust when you have things happening around you that prove trusting never ends well. You believe in the system, work it for years, and it turns on you."

He met her eyes knowing she was talking about the failed adoption. He couldn't take seeing that look in her eyes. "I want to ask what happened, but I know it's not my business," he said softly.

"I can't—It's not that simple," she said. "Anyway, I'm talking about Emma. She needs trust and you can provide it. I'm happy for her and I know we'll do right by her."

Nodding, he knew she was right. "Yea, we will. So, you want to help me get that crap out of my car?"

Seeing her eyes change from sadness to joy, he watched her laugh, "Alright."

MULTIPLE TRIPS FROM HIS CAR to their office filled up the empty floor space between the filing cabinets and the edge of his desk. "Tell me this is all we need for this party," he grumbled half out of breath.

Regina shook her head, "Not quite. You've never planned a party for two hundred people," she said. "This is just round one of shopping. I'd never leave it all to you. You'd have called it quits if I had," she laughed.

"What the hell did I buy?"

"Centerpieces and table cloths," she said. "That's just the basics. We still need to order flowers from the florist, I need to make a run to the craft store for the room decor, the order for chair covers should be here in a few days, and I have yet to figure out the center table décor," she said looking like she was mentally checking off a list in her head.

Scowling at the bags, he shook his head, "This is the last party I'm planning," he protested.

With laughter in her eyes and her face, she let out a throaty laugh he found sexy, "Not if Gold has anything to say about it."

He sighed, "I'm a lawyer."

"We wear many hats," she smiled. "We do what is expected of us."

"Uh-huh, I didn't sign up for party planning duty," he complained. "What are you laughing at?" He turned to watch her struggle to compose herself. It was a switch from the woman last night. The woman who looked lost and incredibly sad. This woman looked vital, lovely, and amazingly attractive.

She pressed her lips together and cleared her throat, "Nothing, you just look so annoyed."

"That's funny?" he asked rising from his chair. Leaning against her desk, she stood and took a step back in retreat.

"A little," she smiled.

Edging out from behind his desk, he opened a bag and pulled out a table cloth, "So, the tables will be draped in Ecru?"

Sobering, she stood by him silently allowing him to celebrate. He'd tricked her into getting close so he wouldn't have to chase her. "Exactly, it'll go with the centerpieces. Sunflowers died orange, black, and yellow."

"Let me guess, we have to paint them," he guessed.

"Yes, we have paintbrushes designed for the job."

Subtly, he put the cloth back in the bag, set it aside, and turned to her. Their eyes met, and he smirked. "I prefer your laugh to the near tears yesterday," he said evenly.

Averting her eyes, she said, "It was stupid to be upset about it, it's the past."

He didn't comment on it but took a step toward her and grabbed her arm as she tried to step back. "No, you don't," he brought her closer. Wrapping his arms around her, he held her in place. "You like laughing at me?"

Her throat contracted from swallowing, he could see her nerves, A laugh hid under the surface, he could see the beginning of it. "I wasn't laughing at you."

"No?" he grinned. Sliding one of his hands to her side, he dug his fingers into her, and she started giggling uncontrollably as he tickled her. "You want to laugh?" She twisted her body right and left trying to get away, he kept on, "Hmm?"

"No," she said in between breaths. "Stop! Please," she begged. He kept on a few more giggles and finally stopped. Her hands fisted on his shirt, "I'm sorry," she laughed.

"Sure, you are," he teased. Their eyes locked for a moment before he eased in and took her breath in a surprising kiss. A long, deep, bone-melting kiss that left them both breathless. When he lifted his head, he met her eyes, looked down at her lips wanting to taste again. Instead, he took a breath, "Let's move all this stuff to the supply closet," he suggested.