With one arm around her waist, he pulls her to him, his fingers tangling in her hair, his need for her almost overpowering. He turns his face into her hair and chokes out, "I love you, Regina, with all my heart and soul." He pulls away and sees a beautiful smile on her face, with a groan pulled from the very heart of him, he claims her lips with his in a searing kiss.
A wave of brilliant white erupts from them, light magic roaring to life and hurling away from them in an ever-expanding ripple. A gasp leaves Regina, making her pull back from him abruptly. She looks at him with wide searching eyes, and he holds his breath, looking deeply back into hers.
Her hands move from his neck to cradle his face, and her eyes fill with tears as she lets out his name in a broken sob, "Robin."
"Regina?" Dare he believe?
She lets out a laugh, and her smile widens even as her eyes spill over. "I remember."
He breathes out harshly and hauls her into his arms, and holds her to him fiercely. Closes his eyes and promises, vows to himself he will never lose her again. He loves this woman so much. So much he can barely breathe from it. He's had to live without her for seven months, and it's every one of those seven torturous months that he will work each day to make up to her. To them.
The thought of almost losing Regina had pushed him to his emotional limit. There was one other time when he lost what he held most dear to him, and while the loss of Marian those many years ago had been heart-breaking, the thought… the very thought that Regina, his beautiful, incredible Regina,had been lost to him had been crushing and intolerable. He didn't know what he would have done if he would have lost her.
Pulling away from their embrace, Robin takes her face in his palms, her long hair tangling in his fingers, and he declares, "Regina, I love you."
He watches her face light up and he notices something. He can't help it. He tells himself it is just the fact that it has been so long since he's been this close to her that her hair, softly brushing his fingers, smells so good. And it is just the tears that are making her brown eyes seem so large and brilliant, just as they make her lips seem so hypnotically full and kissable.
Her eyes are wide and she sucks in a breath. "I have for so long, and when I thought… when they said you could be..." She starts to speak, but he shakes his head to stop her, and continues. "When I thought I lost you, it nearly killed me. But I knew -I knew you were out there, somewhere. I don't know how, but I did. Gods above, I missed you so much."
He smiles at Regina now through the tears that fill his own eyes. She takes a deep shaky breath, so he tries for humor, an attempt to make her smile that brilliant smile he has not been able to stop thinking about. "I want you to know I fully intend to never let you out of my sight again. From this day forward, you shall be locked in this house with me and our children. Forever."
Chuckling, she lifts her hand; she holds it to the side of his face, and peers lovingly into his eyes before leaning forward to press her brow to his. "Nice try, but we both know that's not going to happen," she teases back before becoming serious once again. "And I love you and have missed you, Robin, so much."
Their noses bump together, his thumbs caress her cheeks, her fingers tangle in his hair, and for a moment they breathe one another in.
There is then a soft cooing next to them, and peering down, Regina's breath catches in her throat as she gazes down at her infant daughter now fully awake beside her. Her eyes are open and her arms are flailing, with one fist occasionally making its way to her mouth, to be chewed on enthusiastically. Wren.
Her baby girl.
Gently smiling down at the small face, her daughter's steel-blue eyes suddenly lock on to hers with a lancing stare. Regina's mind blazes through these last months. Remembering her pregnancy, the days she'd awoken nauseous, the night she felt her first movements, the way she used to trace the outline of her tiny foot on her skin as the baby stretched in her womb, and her birth. The moment Regina never thought she would ever experience. The day her daughter came into the world. She never cried, not once. The doctor laid her on her chest and those little eyes looked up at her, wide and solemn, as if she knew all the secrets of the universe. She remembers taking the infant's small hand in hers, and tracing along her tiny fingers.
"Wren," she whispered then, in awed reverence, as she whispers the name now.
Her daughter.
Her and Robin's daughter.
The moment has a profound effect on Regina. Her chest is tight and her heart is pounding. She lifts Wren up in her arms, holding her up, and takes a moment to look at her. From her soft sandy-blonde hair, to her tiny feet covered by her lavender sleeper, every inch of her is magical perfection. The love she and Robin share brought to wondrous life. She brings her up so Wren's head is resting on her shoulder and starts rocking gently, and softly patting her back. She doesn't notice until Robin's hand reaches up and wipes away her tears that she is crying, and once she starts, she can't seem to stop. Her tears keep falling and her body is taken by soft shudders.
"Come here." He leans forward and takes her and the baby gently in his arms. She holds tight to the baby with her left arm and wraps her right arm around Robin's back, resting her head on his shoulder.
After a few moments, Regina looks down at Wren who is looking up at her, then to Robin whose eyes are wet and the brightest blue she's ever seen.
"Robin, I know it must sound ridiculous, but it's like I'm seeing her for the first time," she chokes out as she pulls away a bit more, and she rests her hand on the side of the baby's face, with her thumb caressing her soft cheek. "She's ours," she says in complete awe.
He smiles at the sight of them.
"That she is," he murmurs, tucking a strand of Regina's hair behind her ear. "And she's just as beautiful as her mother." He pulls away a little and looks at the tiny being lying content on Regina's chest.
"I never thought I could..." Tears slid down her face and Regina swipes at them with her spare hand, then holds Wren a bit closer. Places a kiss on her soft hair and breathes her in. "I guess True Love really can break any curse."
He knows to what she's referring. She had told him before of the curse. Before she had married the king, and she had gone to see her. Unbeknownst to her mother, Cora wasn't the only enchantress Regina knew of. There were whispers of an old woman who lived deep in the Enchanted Forest, Madam Mim, they had called her. It was there Regina found solace in a potion to guarantee that any child born of her would be made from only that of the truest of love. It had not been done in hope, then; Daniel's death too raw a wound to contemplate True Love anymore, and the potion a guarantee that she would not be trapped by bearing the king's child, or any child, for that matter. She had told Robin because she truly felt that the curse was too powerful for even their love to overcome, and she hadn't wanted him to wonder why they would never conceive a child.
They are sitting huddled together in the morning light, when there comes giggling and laughing from downstairs. Regina suddenly is overcome by an intense warmth.
Henry.
"I've got you, Henry!"
"Ha ha, you'll have to catch me first!"
Her son. It's been so long, once again, since she's seen her son. Almost a year, and this time she hadn't even had memories of him to hold on to, and the thought burns through her that it had been so unfair, not just to her, but to him as well.
Robin notices her eyes dart to the door at the sound of their boys, and he holds out his hands. "Let me have her, love. Go see the boys. They've both missed you so much." He is smiling down at the little girl as he takes her from her mother's arms, setting her against his chest now. "I'll get her changed and bring her down."
Regina leans into him and places a kiss to his lips. "Thank you."
He nods to the door once, and says, "Go on."
She gives him one last radiant smile, and then shifts her legs off of his, and quickly makes her way downstairs.
Eight months.
It has been at almost eight months eight months since she's seen her son, and months before that it had been almost a year. She is furious that things beyond her control have stolen nearly two years of her son's life from her. Pushing those thoughts aside, she reminds herself that he is here now. They are both here now, and she holds tightly to that thought, so the anger she is feeling deep down doesn't surface, and the righteous hatred for the person who's done this does not take any more time away from them. There will be ample opportunity for that later.
They are playing in the living room when she gets downstairs. Roland is chasing Henry around the couch with a small foam sword in his hand, laughing and calling out, "Halt, you evil Orc! I'mma gonna get you!"
Henry scoffs, stops in his tracks, and turning to the young boy holds his sword aloft out in front of him. "Give it your best shot, kid."
Roland yells, and runs at him. He doesn't use the sword to attack, instead takes Henry down with a shoulder into the stomach. Henry is much bigger, and absorbs much of Roland's weight, bringing them to the ground gently, as Roland laughs and attempts to wrestle him.
Regina waits, and watches, with tear-filled eyes. He's so grown up, she thinks. He's already a teenager, and she's so proud of him. Acting as a big brother to Roland, though nothing officially bound them together. She remembers all he's told her, all he's done for the little boy. It makes that warmth in her chest burn brighter.
He's laughing now. Calling out, "Alright, you win," and "I surrender!" Roland sits up in triumph, with a "yay!"
It's then that Henry sees her. "Hey, mom."
The tears fall then, and she wipes them away quickly, but he notices, stands, and starts over to her. "Is something wrong?"
She shakes her head, looking into his eyes, and pulls her against him. "No, sweetheart. Everything is perfect."
There must be something in her voice, because he pulls away from her. "Mom?" She smiles at him, a wide smile that he matches with one of his own, and he knows. "Mom!"
"Oh, I've missed you, Henry." She tells him, as he wraps his arms around her. He is shaking. She gently rubs her arms up and down his back until the tremors stop.
"I missed you, too," he finally mumbles into her shoulder.
She pulls back and takes his face in her hands, so she can get a look at him. He's taller. His voice is a bit deeper and his hair is shorter. And is that gel? Regina narrows her eyes at him, and mock-commands, "Stop growing."
Henry laughs. "Soon I just might be taller than you."
She chuckles and shakes her head, pulling him back once again into her arms. She closes her eyes, and holds him just a bit tighter than before.
"Regina?"
Opening her eyes, she looks down and Roland is next to them. Henry breaks from her embrace, and Regina kneels down. Taking Roland by the arms, she then brushes his dark curly locks away from his face, "Hi, Roland."
"Why are you crying?" His small hand comes up to wipe at her cheeks.
"Because I remember you now," she tells him.
Roland's eyes light up before he tilts his head to the side. "But shouldn't that make you happy?"
"It makes me very happy," Regina says. His arms reach out, and she takes him up in her arms as she stands. He sighs and buries his head in her neck, clinging tightly to her, and her free arm reaches to gather Henry back to her. She rests her head on her older son's and closes her eyes. Her precious Henry, her little prince, and her dear, sweet, loving Roland, who'd spent his time in the Enchanted Forest making her laugh and making the loss of Henry more bearable. Her darling boys. Both of them.
While she's upstairs feeding Wren later that afternoon, Regina takes a moment to speak with Emma. In addition to the Boston house being left in shambles, Emma had gone to speak with Natalie, and in arriving at the address Regina had given her, found it empty. Neighbors next to the home claimed it had been empty for years, foreclosed long ago, and the only people ever in or out were the ones from the realtor agency.
This news makes Regina's brow crease in worry. True, she had never really been in her home, but Natalie had stopped there once. Told her she had to just run in and check on the kids. Regina hadn't noticed anything unusual about it until now.
Not wanting to hover over her, Robin occupies himself in the kitchen. After he puts a kettle of water on the stove to boil, he pulls two mugs out of the cabinet, and takes out two herbal teabags from a canister. When the water finishes, he fills the cups to steep the tea. He looks up to see Regina coming into the kitchen, a look of frustration on her face. "How's the little one?"
Regina lets out a breath, and places her hands on her hips; her features soften somewhat at the mention of their daughter. "She's asleep."
Robin nods, and places a mug for her on the counter in front of her. "What did Emma have to say?"
Coming up to the counter, she answers, "They're coming home tomorrow."
"Have they found anything?"
"As far as clues go no, but there may be something."
His eyes meet hers. "What it is?"
Regina's eyes fall to the counter, and she bites her bottom lip hard before looking back up at him. "Natalie is gone."
"Natalie, your friend from Boston?"
She nods, and lets out another breath.
His brows furrow. "What do they mean gone?"
"Emma and Killian went by her house earlier and everything and everyone is gone." Regina lets out a breath of exasperation and places her hands on the counter. "I don't understand it, Robin. If it's she who is responsible for all this, I have no idea why. I don't recognize her from Storybrooke or from the Enchanted Forest."
He comes around the counter then, stands beside her as one of his hands falls to the small of her back. "Where has she gone, then? Didn't you say she has a family?"
"She does!" Regina says, raising her voice in pure frustration. "At least I thought she did." She rubs her forehead. Pictures, she thinks. She's seen lots and lots of pictures of a family but never the family. "It would make sense that Natalie," she pauses, and waves her hand in the air, "or whoever she is, would be on her way here now. She obviously knows that I'm gone. If she really has it out for me I'm sure she'll try and finish whatever it is she started."
"I still don't understand any of this, at all," Robin says, his tone mirroring hers. "Why go to all this trouble to take your memories, take you away from Storybrooke, just to befriend you?"
Regina drums her fingers on the counter. "It doesn't make sense," she agrees, shaking her head slightly.
Robin straightens, and asks, "So how do we find out who she is and stop her?"
She slides her hand across the counter to take his. "There's nothing really we can do but wait."
"No," he sighs. "Definitely not." Robin clenches his jaw. "I will not sit idly by while there is someone out there who threatens my family. That's not something either of us is likely to do well."
Her lips pull into a knowing smile. "True."
He leans down and places a lingering kiss on her lips. Regina can feel his love for her and their family, and both his fear and fervid desire to keep them all safe, in the kiss he presses on her mouth. When he looks at her there is fresh determination in his gaze. "What can we do? There must be something!"
"Well, I can place my own protection spells around the house that will at least keep us all safe for now." She squeezes his hand. "I'd say we could keep watch around the town line, but if she's already gone she might already be here."
Robin's gaze focuses out the window. "Still, a watch doesn't sound so bad. I can gather my men, get David's help as well, and we can set up patrols on the lookout. Have you a picture of her?"
Regina's eyes widen. "I do."
Well? Thoughts?