AGE 30: The Day of Marian's Funeral
It was two hours before Marian's funeral when Robin went missing. As soon as she got the call, Regina knew exactly where to find him.
She pulled up to the park, less than twenty minutes later dressed in her demurest black dress and found him at the edge of the rose garden, sitting on a bench, dressed in the black suit she'd picked up for him.
He sighed when her heard her walk up and she grimaced when she saw him up close. Robin had always been full of life, of energy and optimism but when she saw him that day… he just looked tired.
And she knew better than anyone why that was.
She sat next to him on the bench and didn't say a word. Instead she just let him be, gave him a moment that she was sure he desperately needed. Pressing his lips together, Robin looked out at the garden.
It was a special place where his wife had agreed to spend their lives together.
Regina knew he was going over the memory in his head, trying to remember every detail of the day he proposed to her. The sights, the sounds, the smells. Just the general memory of what it felt like to have her near.
She'd done the same thing when Daniel died. Lingered at the places he'd touched, trying to soak up his presences when he was no longer there.
It was a long while before he finally spoke.
"I'm not running."
"I know," she whispered.
"I'm just trying to figure out how it happened," he mumbled, his breath coming out shaky as tears welled up in his eyes. He gestured to garden in frustration. "She stood here, right here, alive and happy and healthy and now… now she's gone. Now she left me."
A sob breaks through then and she scoots closer to wrap her arm around his shoulders, ignoring the lump that was rising in her throat.
He dropped his head in his hands, letting the tears fall freely down his face. "I don't know how to do this. I don't know how to keep going without her."
Regina blinked back the tears in her eyes and tried to suck in a deep breath. "You don't have to go on, not yet," she promised.
Robin let out a sharp breath. "She made me promise to be happy."
"And you will be… one day," Regina reminded. "But you have to have to grieve first Robin."
She rubbed comforting circles on his back. "So grieve, and struggle, and you find your way back on your own terms and in your own way."
Resting her chin against his shoulder, she adds, "Take all the time you need. I'll be here, I promise."
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