10 years before…
Sitting on the bed of his truck Robin stared out at the lake, watching the moon's reflection shimmer across its surface. Three days ago he'd sat in this exact same spot feeling like the whole world was his oyster. Now his world was shattered.
"Stage 4 lung cancer," he croaked out. "It's already in both his lungs now."
"Robin… I'm so sorry."
He feels Regina place her arms around his shoulders pulling him closer. Sucking in a deep breath, he wills himself not to cry. He's done more than enough of that today. Hadn't been able to stop since his father had told him the truth.
He can't help it. He's so angry… and heartbroken. At his father for dying and keeping it from him. At the universe for daring to steal another parent from him. But also, because he knows the future he'd planned has vanished, right before his eyes.
"There's nothing he can do? Chemo?" asks Regina, her eyes already starting to water.
"It's too late for that," Robin replies. "All the doctors said it's basically a waiting game now so…"
He hears her let out a painful sigh. Regina had always loved his father. They were always able to make each other laugh and smile. Robin was almost certain that his father loved her a little more than he loved him, not that he'd ever blame him.
Blowing out a shuddering breath, Robin shakes his head. "I can't leave now."
He feels her go still at his side, no longer rubbing those comforting circles on his back. Turning his head, he sees her staring up at him with her big brown eyes. She presses her lips together and he knows she's trying not to cry as much as he is.
"What about school?" she whispers, hoarsely.
He shrugs. "It'll just have to wait. I just can't leave him now and I can't go to school everyday wondering if when I come back…"
He trails off, unable to speak when his throat goes tight at the thought of his father dying while he's miles away. That couldn't happen. He couldn't let it.
Regina nodded, understandingly. "It's okay, I get it. We'll just put off school for a while."
"We?" Robin knits his eyebrows at her, surprised. "You… you would stay with me?"
Staring at her with wide eyes, his question comes out soft and hesitant. They'd spent so many nights dreaming of their future, making plans. He'd seen how hard she'd worked, late nights studying and weekends on extracurriculars. There was nothing she wanted more than to get out of this town. He knew he had to put his dreams on hold but he hadn't thought for one second that she'd be willing to stay with him.
"Of course, I'm staying Robin," she says, pulling him closer. "Something like this… you can't go through it alone."
"What about Harvard?"
"It'll always be there," she easily replies, with a shrug. "I'll just defer a year and stay here with you. We'll take care of your dad together."
"You'd do that for me?"
"I'd do anything for you Robin, you know that," she says, reaching up to wipe a tear from his cheek. "I love you."
"I love you too."
He probably should've gone home that night. He knew his father was waiting, would probably fall asleep in the chair waiting for him to come home but he didn't want to leave the lake yet. When he did he'd have to start confronting all the problems in his future. And at that moment all he wanted to focus on was the present.
He spent all night in the back of his truck with his arms wrapped tight around the girl he loved, thankful that even as the rest of his world went to shit he still had her.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Pulling up to the softball field, Robin clenched his jaw nervously.
The game was well underway by the time he parked his truck by the field. He could see throngs of his old classmates on the field and in the bleachers cheering for the players as they ran their bases. Climbing out of his car, he tried to shove down his irritation at the fact he was there. He hadn't wanted to come. Seeing Regina had been hard enough the night before, he didn't want to chance a repeat, he wasn't that much of a masochist.
He should've stayed home as planned but then David had called with his conspiracy theory. Robin rolled his eyes at the thought of it. The idea that Regina had hidden a son from him, it was ludicrous. Just the type of rumor you'd expect coming to a high school reunion, and it annoyed him to no end that he was the subject.
And yet, his cousin had seemed so adamant that he come, even leveraging Roland's pick up in his demands. David and Mary-Margaret were supposed to drop Roland off after the game was finished but now they claimed to have plans with old friends so he'd need to pick up his son at the field. It was pure manipulation and he was going to call them on it the first chance he got.
Naturally, he spotted David in the dugout waiting for his turn at bat. His cousin had been such a jock in high school, Robin had no doubt he was using this reunion to relive that glory.
Approaching the fence near the dugout, he let out a two-tone whistle attracting David's attention. The sound of a bat striking a ball rang through the air and the crowd roared in excitement as his cousin walked over to him, adjusting his baseball cap.
Robin got straight to the point. "Where's Roland?"
"In the bleachers with Mary-Margaret."
"Thanks," he replied, immediately turning around to walk away.
"Hey!" David shouted, incredulously throwing up his hands. "Are you serious?"
Robin turned back to him, annoyed. "What?"
"You're really not going to ask about the kid?"
"No David, I'm not going to ask about Regina's kid," he sighed. "Because despite what you assumed… he's not mine."
"You don't know that," said David, shaking his head.
"I do, actually," insisted Robin. "He couldn't be."
David leaned over the fence, narrowing his eyes at him. "Really? Because from what you told me he absolutely could be. I mean… she was your first right?"
Robin glared at him, irritated that he was even entertaining this conversation. Yes, Regina had been his first. He still remembered that night like it was yesterday, the two of them in the back of his truck still reeling from the news of his father's diagnosis. It was branded in his memories. He'd never forget.
"You got to admit the timing adds up," David pointed out. "The kid's nine years old, we're at a ten year reunion."
"Well maybe you misheard," said Robin, shrugging his shoulders. "Look, I'm not gonna talk about this with you anymore. He's not my kid."
"How do you know?"
"Because I know she wouldn't do that to me!" Robin snapped. "Regina wouldn't have hid that from me. She just… wouldn't have."
David stared at him, sympathetic. He remembered seeing Robin and Regina together. The love between them, the trust. If you'd have told him ten years ago that they wouldn't be together in the future he never would've believed it. Same way his cousin still couldn't believe it now.
"Maybe you're right Robin," he mumbled. "Maybe she wouldn't have hid it from you… normally. But you were going through a lot back then, with your dad and not going to school. And after all the stuff you said at graduation… would you blame her if she did hide it?"
Robin gritted his teeth, his mind going back to that fateful moment when he'd made possibly the worst decision of his life. The look in her eyes as she'd stared at him, helpless and heartbroken. He hadn't hurt someone as badly before, or ever again.
Even so… she wouldn't have hid something like this from him. She just… wouldn't.
"I've have to get Roland," he mumbled. "Good luck with your game."
He turned away, leaving his exasperated cousin at the field. God, this reunion was a nightmare. He couldn't wait until it was over.
Heading towards, the bleachers he tried to push the images of pregnant teen loves and secret children out of his head. He found Mary-Margaret cheering near the front of the crowd. When asked about Roland, she told him that he'd headed off with a new young friend to play a round of catch near the outer field.
He spotted his son just near the edge of the field just where Mary-Margaret said he was, a mitt over his hand tossing a ball between himself and an older kid.
A grin spread across Roland's face when he saw his father appear. "Daddy!"
Robin plastered on a smile for his son as he walked over. "Hey buddy! How's it going?"
"Good!" said Roland, waving his mitt. "I made a new friend!"
"Oh yeah?"
Robin eyed the older boy standing next to his son. He was tall, much taller than Roland, with floppy dark hair and hazel green eyes. He acknowledged Robin with a skeptical smile and half-hearted wave, clearly disappointed that Roland might be leaving.
"Hi there," said Robin, offering him a smile. "Who are you?"
"I'm Henry… Henry Mills."