AN: not to long of a note, to guest reviewer from last chapter, I'll admit I did some research on tattoos bc I don't have one. Yup. Yikes. Ouch. But regina's tough.
Thanks to those who reviewed, favorite, and followed. I hope you continue to enjoy what I have planned. You may need a tissue for this chapter. Time to start fixing shit, beginning with this chapter. Please excuse mistakes, only edited this once.
This chapter is for broken hearted OQ and Hoodie after leanne's article. Bc this is fixable and I want this fic to show that. I am going to share this bc I feel people need it, I will be bringing back the real robin hood. What I wont tell you is how I will do it and what his past entails but hope you enjoy it. How about dimples queen with some regal believer? Or maybe regina/little john friendship is your style?
Chapter 11: Blood Does Not Always A family Make.
And then one day
A magic day he passed my way
And while we spoke of many things
Fools and kings
This he said to me
"The greatest thing you'll ever learn
Is just to love and be loved in return"
Nature Boy- Nat King Cole and sung by many others
It was around lunch time on Thursday afternoon and Regina was in her office buried under mounds of paperwork. Weeks had passed since everything occurred but she still found herself unable to catch up budget reports and thinks a like. Most of the time, Henry would stop by for lunch but today Leroy and the other dwarfs had invited him on a fishing trip. Who was she to say no? It was summer time and Henry deserved time to be kid. As long as he was safe and home for dinner, she wouldn't begrudge him a little summertime fun
The week had been a rather quiet one. Sunday morning she had woken up and discovered that Rob had left at some point during the night or morning without a word. She had texted him and had yet to receive a response, which was odd for him. Usually he texted without hesitation and this had let her to hoping that he was ok, especially if he went out in that store, because she couldn't lose someone else she cares about. Not that she would let him know that. Sighing, she looked down at her budget reports and just as about her vision was going blurry, there was a knock at her door.
"Come in." Yelling at the door, she gave permission for whatever guest was at the door. Hearing the door open, she looked up.
"I do hope I'm not going to have a fire ball thrown at my head." Rob had a sheepish look on his face as he entered the office, take out bag in hand.
"That depends on what your excuse is for calling me back." Regina retorted back as she put the report she was working on into the done pile.
"I brought lunch." Rob said hopeful, swinging the takeout bag back and forth but Regina just glared at him with her arms crossed. Deflating a little, he could tell this was not going to work. "I had some business to take care of."
"Some business to take care of?" Cutting him off, she wasn't buying what he was offering. "Care to elaborate?"
"No." Rob stated, not wanting to give any further detail.
"No, what do you mean no? I don't like games Rob and friends don't hide things. We are friends, aren't we? What's going on?"
Rubbing his palms over his face, rob sighed before answering her. "Trust me when I say I can't tell you."
With a tilt of her head, she pinched her eyes at him in suspicion. "I don't like secrets."
"I know you don't." Getting up, Rob put the bag on the desk and began emptying its contents. Then he looked up at her. "I can't tell you right now but when the time is right I will. ok. Let's leave it at that and have some lunch together. I brought you that salad you like that tastes like grass."
" Fine. But we are not done with this conversation and what is it? Kale salad?" She asked with a raise of her eyebrow to which he nodded yes. "It does not taste like grass and it's good for you."
"You keep telling yourself that your majesty." He opened up his bacon cheeseburger and started to open the ketchup packets to drown his fries. "But I could go to greenery in the back yard and get the same thing."
"Well, at least I'm not going to die of a heart attack from the cholesterol and fat in that one burger." She sassed at him as she poured a little light vinaigrette dressing on her grilled chicken kale salad.
"I'm as fit as a fiddle." Rob mumbled as he chewed his bite that he just took.
"Did they not teach you manners in your realm?"
"In our land, it's a compliment to chew with your mouth open and burp. It means you enjoyed your food." Rob joked and laughed at the disgust on her face.
"You're disgusting." She countered back at him before she dug into her salad.
"and you're an uptight royal." He quipped, munching on a fry and swallowing. "You've never just let go a good burp?"
"No. Mother probably would have slapped my fingers with a ruler."
"Shame really. I'm not sure I'd like this mother of yours." Rob leaned back in his chair as he laid his burger back into his container and rubbed his belly in contentment.
"You probably wouldn't. Not many people did." she shrugged as she pushed some kale leaves around before lifting a bite into her mouth. "Thank you for this by the way. If you hadn't brought this I would probably be eating the granola bar I threw into my purse before leaving."
"No problem." Smiling, he took another bite of burger and the two continued to eat in contented silence. A few minutes later, she thought she heard him say her name. "Did you say my name?"
Before he answered her, he wiped his mouth with a napkin. "No."
Another second and she heard her name louder and then louder again. "If it's not you then…" That's when she saw a blurred figure appear in the mirror behind the conference desk. Immediately, she walked over and the fuzzy figure began to clear. "John?" she questioned as his curly wild hair and beard came into view.
"REGGIE!" he bellowed at the mirror, poking it.
"John, you don't have to scream. I can hear you."
"Reg! This bloody small magic mirror works, thank god." He said back, a little exacerbated.
"I told you it would. Is everything ok?" Now she leaned against the table, concern coating her voice.
"I'm glad I got a hold of you. Things could be better Reg." Rob sighed as he rubbed his tired looking eyes. "We need your help."
"With what? You look like shit, by the way" coming closer to the mirror, her jitteriness only increased at his words and her stomach lurched into her chest at his next words.
" Thanks for that…It's Roland. He's not good and we don't know what to do."
With Rob on her tail, insisting she not go to the Enchanted Forest alone, she made her way to her vault and retrieved the apprentice's wand. With a slow swirl, she called forth her magic and the wand glowed purple before she summoned the door to the land she hated with a passion. But this was for Roland, she was worried about him, and she would do anything for her little knight.
After the door appeared, she thought of Roland with the Merry Men as her and Rob stepped through the doorway. Once through the portal, they stepped right into the outskirts of the merry men camp. Not even looking to see if Rob was behind her, Regina ran, stopped once she made it to the middle of camp, and hollered for Little John who poked his head out of tent. Quickly coming out, he barreled his way to her and embraced her into a bear hug. "It's great to see you, Reg."
"You too." She laughed as he let her go.
Nodding his head, Little John gestured towards Rob behind her. "Whose this?"
Turning, she introduced them pointing towards him. "Oh this is a friend, Rob. And Rob this is Little John."
"Hmmm…" Little John hummed in suspicion before reaching out for a handshake. "Nice to meet you."
Taking his hand, Rob nodded in greeting as Little John continued to eye him before turning his attention back to Regina when she called his name.
"Where's Roland?" Regina asked as John turned them to sit down on a log by the low fire of the afternoon.
"He's out with tuck collecting firewood and foraging. I wanted to talk to you alone about what's going on."
Gripping his arm, she squeezed it in comfort, scared about what John was about to share with him. "Tell me, what's going on. You look so tired."
"Aye. I am." Little John nodded his head as he continued to stare ahead at the fire. "Roland is having a tough time. During the day he is ok, a little quiet and says he misses his Papa, but ok. Most nights are another story." Pausing a moment, he looked towards Regina with sadness in his eyes. "He's been having nightmares and more recently wetting the bed with them."
Regina sighed, blinking back the tears threatening to make their presence. No child should have to go through this. "How long?"
"The nightmares have been going on longer. The wetting his bed, about two weeks. We've tried everything Reg but nothing seems to help." He was choking on his words by the end. "He calls out for Robin but he'll never come again."
"Did he tell you what the nightmares were about?" she questioned, concern lacing her tone.
"No." John whispered as he kicked some dirt around with his boot. "Says they are too scary. We tried to get him to open up about it but he just won't."
"He shouldn't have to go through this. Robin should be here. I'm sorry, John." She murmured in guilt.
"Hey." Cutting her off, John put his arm around her shoulders in comfort. "None of us blame you for one second. Robin loved you and being the honorable man he was, he would have never let you take that lightning bolt. Don't you feel like it's your fault for one moment."
"It feels like it is." She mumbled as she batted away the tears that fell.
"Well its not and knowing Robin the way I do, he wouldn't want you to feel this way, ok. End of story."
Nodding, she leaned further into John. "So how can I help?"
"We thought it might be good for him to spend some time with you are Henry. Maybe take him for a long weekend and see how it goes. Maybe he will open up to you. Then take it from there. I think Roland needs ALL of his family right now." John looked towards her once he said family.
Regina smiled at him in appreciation and nodded her head. "I would love to have him."
"Good then its decided. Why don't you stay for dinner? Fresh turkey tonight."
"I don't have to gut it do? I am the Queen in this realm." She sassed at him.
"If we let you do that, we never eat." John deadpanned at her.
"True." Regina laughed.
Sitting in silence for a few minutes, the two just stared into the embers of the fire before they heard the scream of a little boy.
"R'gina!" Dropping the fire wood he was carrying, he ran to her and she swooped him up easily, clutching him close with his arms around her neck, legs around her waist, and head buried in her neck.
"Hello, my little knight. I missed you." Whispering into his ear, she couldn't even think about letting him go ever again.
"I missed you too, my majesty." To see her better, he pulled back a smidgen and laid his little hands on her shoulders. "Why are you here?"
"To see you of course." Nuzzling her nose against his, she gave him an Eskimo kiss.
His face lit up. "Really!" he screamed in excitement.
"And you know what?" she asked him, finger poking his stomach.
"What?" he asked happily.
"Your uncle john and I were talking and we thought you'd like to come back to Storybrooke for a visit. I'm sure Henry would be excited to see you and your sister! Would you like that?"
"I would LOVE that!" Both laughed as they hugged each other once again before Regina put him down and they made their way over to a log to sit down.
They had stayed for dinner that included a hearty Turkey stew, which to Regina's surprise, was actually quite delicious. Regina had introduced Roland to Rob and the young boy had taken to him quite instantly. Watching the two play together, the same could also be said for Rob. Right now the two were sharing quite the game of hide and seek together. During the missing year, Roland had loved that game then too.
Suddenly, John had sat down next to her and presented her with a mug of Ale to which she had accepted with a smile as a thank you. The two sat sipping their ale until John broke the silence. "So. It may not be my place to pry but you and Rob, are you a thing?" Now he looked at her with a raised eyebrow, pointing back and forth between the two.
Glancing towards him, she looked at him with wide eyes. "No. God no. We are just friends. Why do you ask?"
John shrugged. "Ever since you guys got here, he can't seem to not keep looking to check on you, as if he is your protector."
"I don't need anyone to protect me, john." She spat before taking another sip of ale. "But we are friends and he seems to do that without question."
Looking down at his mug, John nodded at her comment before looking up again. "I sat near him at dinner and we chatted a bit. Seems like a nice chap but…" John paused a moment, unsure if he should say what he wanted to.
"But what?" Regina questioned him.
John looked to her before answering. "but he eerily reminds me of Robin. Is that just me? Maybe I just miss my friend and projecting that onto him."
"me too but there I times I get the same feeling as you do. Did Robin have a brother I didn't know about?" she laughed at her question awkwardly, thinking that she was glad she wasn't the only one who noticed.
"yes." As john went to take a swig of ale, he laughed gruffly into his mug. "but looks nothing like Rob and is a bit of an arse."
"Oh." Regina said with a hint of sadness, realizing there was so much her and Robin never got to talk about."I guess it's just pure coincidence then." She laughed, trying to cover up her emotions, not really sure if she believed her own words.
"Yes pure coincidence you act with him just as you did with Robin during the missing year."
She looked at him a little miffed. "What are you getting at John?"
"What I'm getting at is Robin would want you to be happy and the way I saw you two interact, even just today, says this could end up more than friendship eventually. If we go by how you acted with Robin."
Her stomach dropped as their interactions, especially the ones early on, flashed through her mind. It hit her like a freight train. She hadn't even realized it but John was right. Could she, if she doesn't now, eventually feel something for Rob? How could she ever move on from the one who was prophesized as her soul mate? No, that would be just wrong. "My heart is buried in the ground with Robin. It's t-t-too soon. I c-could never." She muttered in embarrassment or guilt, not sure of which one.
"Hey. Look at me." John placed his hand on her shoulder to get her attention and it did cause her to look up, a single tear escaping and dropping quickly to the ground. "There's no reason to feel guilty. All Robin ever wanted for you was to find your happiness, whether he was a part of it or not. Of course he always preferred to be a part of that but I said eventually not tomorrow, ok. After you have had the proper time to heal, no matter how long that is, no one would begrudge you, especially Robin."
Looking down at her mug, she swirled what was left in her mug as she nodded in reply.
John sighed before he continued. "In the future, you and Rob could stay friends or you could become more. Either is ok. But you have to promise me one thing?"
Regina looked up at him, seeing a playful grin on his face. "What?"
"If it does become more, promise me you'll let me have the "big brother" talk with him that if he hurts you, I'll punch his face in."
Looking up at him, she laughed as he gripped her into a friendly side hug. "You'll be one of the first in line."
Things turned into a party of celebration and remembrance of Robin, something that was interrupted all those weeks ago. They sang and danced around the camp fire. Then eventually it turned into the many tales of Robin Hood. One after the other, each merry man shared a story of Robin and it was magnificent to hear. At some point, Roland had come to sit next to her and cuddled into her as stories of his father continued. Right about when John was telling the story of when they stole Robin's clothes as he bathed in the river, she looked down and noticed Roland was fast asleep.
Being careful not to wake him, she gently lifted him and tucked him into the bed inside his tent. Brushing back his curls, she kissed his forehead and wished him sweet dreams, hating that he was having to go through this. If anything, it was most unfair that this little boy had to grow up without his father and she started to get choked up at the thought. Waiting a few more moments, she stayed and made sure he stayed in a restful sleep before she got up and left the tent.
It seemed most had decided to retire to their tents with the plans for an early morning on the books. Rob had offered for them to stay as it was late. Rob said he would happy to just sleep by the fire being that it was a beautiful night, if he could just be spared a blanket and pillow. John was happy to oblige.
After Rob was situated, john led Regina over to a tent that seemed just a bit larger than the others.
"It was Robin's. It's the only extra one we have. We left it up. We just couldn't take it down. If you're too uncomfortable, I can clean up my tent and you could stay in there and I could stay—"
Regina cut him off with a lift of her palm. "I will be fine in here and I am not surprised you don't clean up after yourself." She teased him with a smile to which he chuckled in reply.
They wished one another goodnight and she hesitantly opened the tent flap to make her way inside. Once inside, she scanned the very simple contents of the tent. A bed with fur blankets sat in the corner with a small nightstand next to it, candles decorating the top. Beside that was a small chest. Sitting down on the bed, she took her jacket and shoes off and went to tuck herself in underneath the blankets. Immediately, she noticed that the bed still smelled of him and it made her heart ache. How she missed that smell of forest.
Sighing, she closed her eyes and tried to get some sleep but she started to shiver again, even under the heavy Pallets. Rolling her eyes in annoyance, she got up and went to look for another blanket in the chest. It did tend to get chilly at night in the Enchanted Forest (she even scoffed at her own thought). Upon opening it, right on top was his forest green cloak that he wore in this world. What the hell, she thought as she grabbed it and swung it around in order to cover herself. Like magic, her shivers stopped. This made her really recognize that anything that was Robin's was the only thing that could warm her up. That and she had begun to notice the coldness stopped when she was around Rob. What that meant she didn't know. Was it a side effect of losing your soulmate? Maybe people aren't meant to lose their soulmates? Why did the shivers get better when Rob was around? There were many questions with no answers and she was too tired to figure it out.
As she went to close the chest lid to slip back into bed, a glitter of gold caught her eye. Moving a side the other essential items in the trunk, her breath caught in her throat at what she saw on the bottom of trunk. Lying right there in front of her, on the bottom of the trunk, was the quiver of golden arrows she had given Robin during the missing year. She carefully reached and pulled the quiver of arrows out and clasped it against the chest. Taking a single arrow out, she climbed back into bed with Robin's cape still around shoulders and placed the arrow next to her, rolling it in her fingers. She smiled before she finally let sleep take her, knowing she would eventually give the arrows to Roland and she was toasty warm.
The following morning, Roland was so excited to go back Storybrooke they didn't even stay for breakfast. All he could talk about were Granny's special apple pancakes and seeing Henry after he had jumped into her bed and cuddled with her. So her, Roland, and Mr. Rob, the name Roland now used for him, made their way back to Storybrooke and met Henry for breakfast. If she snuck the arrows and cape out with an invisibility spell, well that was her business.
After their bellies were full with pancakes and eggs, Rob excused himself claiming he had things to do and Regina should spend some time alone with the boys. He promised he would catch up with them later.
So Regina spent the day with Henry and Roland doing whatever they wanted. For most of the morning and early afternoon, they spend the day at the park running around, feeding ducks, using their imagination on the playground, and whatever else they could think of doing. After the park, Regina took the boys home for a quick lunch before they made their way to the grocery store to buy ingredients for the lasagna Roland had requested. As Henry loved Regina's lasagna, he quickly agreed this was a good choice.
Now they all sat around enjoying the fruits of Regina's labor that lead the delioucousness that was her lasagna. As she ate, she just watched as Henry and Roland shared stores between themselves. This is how it was supposed to be, only there was someone missing. This thought led her to look at the empty chair at the end of the table where Robin would have been sitting. Henry must have noticed that she got quit. "You ok, Mom?"
"I'm fine sweetheart." She cleared her throat. "So…What did you boys want to do tonight?" Both of them just shrugged with answering her. "Ok. How about a movie then?"
"Can we have popcorn!?" Roland asked with childhood excitement as they didn't have this in the Enchanted forest.
"Of course we can." Regina replied as she watched his face light up in Glee.
The trio quickly finished eating, cleaned up the table and kitchen, and then changed into their pajamas for the evening. After they had chosen a movie, the little rascals, they all snuggled on the couch together with Regina holding the popcorn in the middle to share. As both lays laid their head on her shoulders, she couldn't help but think this is the best day she had in awhile.
Once the movie was over, Henry had gone to his room to play some video games while Regina tucked Roland into bed. Snuggling together on the bed in the spare room, the two read The Cat in the Hat Together. Regina couldn't help but chuckle as she remembered Robin would question what would a cat want with a hat when Roland chose it to read. Somewhere in the middle of the story, she looked down and noticed Roland had fallen fast asleep. Not only tired from their busy day, the nightmares he was having was obviously keeping him from getting a restful sleep. Gingerly, she escaped the bed without waking Roland and tucked the blankets more securely around him. Once he was tucked in, she bent down and kissed him on his forehead. "Sweet dreams, my little night." She whispered to him, hoping it would help to keep away the nightmares.
After she had stopped in Henry's room, warning him not to stay up too late, she too made her way to bed and opened up the latest book she had meant to begin long ago. Eventually sleep had overcome her and she too joined the dream world, hoping not to have any nightmares herself.
But it seemed wishing away Roland's nightmares had not worked because around 2 AM she was awoken by sniffles and someone poking her arm as they whispered her name. Looking up, she blinked away the sleep from her eyes and waited for her vision to adjust to the darkness. Once her vision cleared, she saw Roland with big fat tears falling from his eyes. "I'm so sorry R'gina." He whimpered as he sniffed his nose and wiped away snot on his pajama sleeve "So sorry."
"What's wrong sweetheart? Did you have a bad dream?" She asked as she sat up and went to take Roland in her arms after he nodded his head in conferment. After she clutched his close, that's when she felt the wetness of his pajamas hit hers. Oh no, he wet the bed she thought and her heart instantly broke and she maybe hated herself a little more for causing this boy pain.
"I'm sorry, Regina. I'm so sorry. It was an accident. Please don't be mad at me." He cried then sniffled again before he buried his head into her neck.
The collar of her pajama top began to become moist from his tears. "shhhh. It's ok. Of course it was an accident."
"I wet the bed like a little baby would." He mumbled into her neck. "Please don't be mad at me Gina."
"I'm not mad." She said as she pulled away from him just a bit to look at him and wipe the tear tracks away.
"Really?" He questioned with a nervous gulp. "But I'm supposed to be Papa's big boy and your brave little knight."
"Really." She paused giving him an Eskimo kiss. " And you're still Papa's big boy and my brave little knight. Let me ask you this, did you have a scary dream?"
Roland just nodded his head in reply, looking embarrassed as he fiddled nervously with one of shirt buttons.
With her index finger, she tilted his chin up to get him to make eye contact. "Sometimes these things happen when we get scared and that's ok."
"But I'm your little knight, I shouldn't get scared." He said like it was the most common knowledge that everyone knew.
"Even brave knights gets scared every once in awhile." She poked his noise with her index finger.
"Really?" he questioned.
Regina nodded her head before she decided to tell him a story that would hopefully make him giggle. "Yes. One of my knights used to be deathly scared of snakes, so some of the other knights decided to play a little joke on him. One afternoon, after he fell asleep in the courtyard, his friends took advantage of him by placing a rubber snake right next to his head where he was sleeping. Upon waking, the first thing he saw was that snake. He shrieked at the top of his lungs and scrambled to his feet In order to run away from the snake. When he stopped running, he looked down and noticed he had wet himself while the others looked on and howled in laughter at him. He immediately ran after the other knights in retaliation."
"That's not nice." Roland replied. "Did your knight get revenge?"
"Oh he did and his prank was even better. While they were in the river bathing, he stole the others clothes and made them walk through the kingdom with no clothes trying to cover themselves with weeds and branches. " She bopped her nose with his as he laughed. "And until we came to this world, he was my most trusted and strongest knight. He was the smartest too." She paused at that letting Roland take in the story as his giggles subsided. "Why don't we take and get you cleaned up, ok."
"ok." he said quietly as Regina lifted him on her hip and he snuggled into her as she carried him into the bathroom. After she placed him to sit on the toilet, she turned to fill the tub, making sure the water wasn't too hot. Then she turned back to Roland. "Why don't we get you out of those yucky PJ's, hmm?" she asked him before going to help take his shirt over his head. "I stink." He groaned after his head popped out of his shirt.
"Well it's a good thing I still have that strawberry soap you love so much."
He giggled. "It's smells so good. Like you could eat it."
"except we better not do that." Regina giggled too as she helped him out of his dirty pajama pants, leaving him in his little batman underwear. "Want to help me swirl the soap in?"
He nodded his head vigorously and then helped to swirl the water around as Regina poured a good helping of the soap in. After throwing some toys into the tub, he took off the final of the dirty clothes and Regina helped him into the tub. Regina started by wetting his head, pouring water over it with a cup. "You know, little john tells me you've been having nightmares for awhile?
Roland confirmed her suspicions with a nod, not looking up in embarrassment as he played with the toy boating, pushing it back and forth through the water.
"You want to tell me about them?" She asked as she leaned with crossed arms on top of the tub, hoping that getting him to open up would lessen the nightmares.
Without a word, he just shook his head, poking at the rubber duck that made its way in front of him.
"You know, people tell me that if you talk about the nightmares, it helps to make them go away." Sadness enveloped her heart as Roland just shrugged his shoulders in defeat as he squeezed the duck. She sighed, knowing what his nightmares were probably about and that only one thing would probably make him open up. So she had to change tactics and maybe open up herself as well. It broke her heart that someone his age had to go through this. "You know, I've been having some bad dreams too and they scare me. It's ok to be scared. It's how we face it that matters."
At this, Roland peaked up at her, clearly a little nervous. "Really?" He asked as she nodded in return, waiting to see if he would ask any further questions. "What are your scarey dreams about?" he asked, looking at her in curiosity with a tilt of his head.
"Your daddy and missing him." She whispered, trying to hold back her tears and not wanting him to see her sad and upsetting him more.
"Me too." Roland looked away and swirled some bubbles in front of him. "Bad things always happen to him. Like he gets hurt. I wake up scared and wish he was here."
"Me too." Regina tried to comfort him by running her fingers through his hair gently. "But know that little john, the merry men, and I are here for you Roland if you ever wake up scared ok. We will scare those nightmares right away, ok?"
"ok." he whispered in reponse.
"You know what I think would help?"
"What?" he asked, looking at her with wide eyes.
"Do John and the other men talk about your papa and tell you stories? Like they did around the fire yesterday?"
"Sometimes."
"well how about I ask them to tell you more stories and I'll try to talk about him more too. We could also go visit him tomorrow, if you'd like that, and I could call Zelena so you could see your sister tomorrow too. Would you like that?"
"Yeah." He smiled. "I would like that."
"Good." She then kissed his forehead. "Lets finish your bath and get you back to bed. It's late."
"Can I sleep with you tonight?" he asked a little sheepishly.
Cupping his cheek as she kissed the other, she replied, "Of course, my little knight. Maybe we can keep each other's nightmares away."
Regina helped Roland finished getting cleaned up before she helped him out of the tub, smelling his hair saying he did indeed smell like strawberry shortcake. After helping him into a clean pair of super hero under wear, Roland asked about his dirty sheets and of course Regina had already used her magic to send them into the washing machine, along with his dirty pajamas, and replaced them with new ones. Then she helped him into his chosen batman pajamas because he was also known as the black knight and he was Regina's little knight.
After he was all dressed and she dried herself off a bit, she took his hand and they made their way back to her bedroom. Unable to help herself, she peaked in on Henry, glad to see that they hadn't woken him up.
Once they entered her room, Roland scurried up onto bed as she dragged the covers back and they both snuggled under the covers. "Goodnight roland." She said running her fingers through his hair and kissed his cheek. "I'll be right here if you need me, ok. I'm not going anywhere."
"You promise?" he asked.
"I promise." She choked a little on her words, indeed knowing that he was asking her, maybe not even knowing it himself, not to go away like his mommy and daddy and she would do her best to never break this promise. "Pinky swear promise." Holding up her finger to him, she wanted to seal the deal officially.
With a bright child like smile, he linked his finger with hers. "Good night, roland. Sweet dreams." Then she pecked their linked fingers before letting go.
"Goodnight Gina. I love you." He whispered sleepily as he cuddled into her.
Wrapping her arm around him, she gently caressed his back in order to sooth him back to sleep. Her eyes were glassy as she kissed the top of head. "I love you too, Roland."
The next day…
In the morning, Regina woke up to Roland still sound asleep and cuddled up next to her. She smiled gently at him as she stroked his curls and kissed his head, happy that he was here. Eventually, she heard the slumping steps of teenage feet and then the door creaking open to reveal Henry. Without a word, she pulled back the sheets to invite him in and he happily joined them, cuddling into her on the other side.
"Everything ok, ma." He asked as she pecked his head good morning. "Roland started off in the guest room."
"Yeah." She sighed. "He had a nightmare. He finally opened up a little last night that he dreams about Robin getting hurt."
"Poor, kid." Henry commented with sadness in his voice. "He shouldn't have to go through this."
"No, he shouldn't." Regina replied.
"I guess we just have to be there for him and make sure he knows that he's not alone. That he still has family."
"You're right and I'm so proud of the loving and caring young man you're becoming Henry." She complimented her son, thinking of how happy she was to have him.
In the next couple of minutes, Roland woke up, thankfully still dry, and immediately said that he was hungry. So before Henry went over to Emma's for the day, they all sat down to have a breakfast of Omelette's together. Then after Henry left, Regina and Roland got dressed so she could take him to his father's gravesite.
Once there, Roland placed the wildflowers he had picked for his father and told him everything he had been doing in the Enchanted Forest. Sometimes he would pause and Regina wondered if he did that to see if his father would answer him. But he always continued on and told him of all the adventures he was having with john and the other merry men. Once he finished with his stories, he told his papa that he missed him a lot and that he loved him very much. At this point, Regina couldn't hold her tears back anymore seeing Roland talk to his father's grave.
Roland looked up at her with wide eyes. "Don't be sad, Gina. Everything will be ok."
"I'm sorry, Roland. I just miss him." She replied as he met his eyes and hugged him closer.
"Me too." Roland whispered as he and Regina turned back to the gravestone. "but papa is watching over us with the rest of the angels and Uncle John says he will always be with his, right here." Lifting himself up on his tippy toes, he pointed toward Regina's chest and to her heart.
Tilting her head up, she sighed, wishing she had the mindset of a young child. She would never tell Roland what really happened to his father and take away all hope. That happened to her and she would not let that happen to him. So she looked back down to him. "Yes he is Roland and he would be very so proud of you and Little John is right, he will live on through us in our hearts." Maybe, no matter Hades said, Robin lived on through his children, through their love that was very real without illusion, and that could never be obliterated.
After a little more time, the two said goodbye with a blowing kiss and turned to leave the cemetery. Thinking Roland needed a bit of cheering up, she took him to the play castle she had built for Henry and he instantly fell in love with it. Eventually Zelena showed up with baby Robyn and For most of the afternoon he played and visited with his sister. Regina tried to make conversation with her sister but mostly concentrated on the children. Eventually Zelena and baby Robyn left, which Roland was a little sad about but Regina assured him he would be seeing more of his sister now.
Roland came and sat with Regina for awhile until Rob happened to come by and see them. Immediately, Roland asked him if he would play dragon and the Queen with them and of course Rob could not say no to the boy. So Mr. Rob, Regina, and Roland spent the rest of the afternoon together with Roland playing Regina's brave knight who was protecting his queen from the ugly dragon.
When Regina said it was time to get home, Roland was so excited to have Mr. Rob around that he asked if he could come to dinner. Rob of course gave her a cheeky smile to which she just rolled her eyes before she had agreed.
So for the rest of the evening, the three ate home made pizza, played games and legos, and watched movies as they ate ice cream together. Honestly, after seeing how Rob interacted with Roland, she was surprised to see that he was so good around children.
The rest of the weekend was filled with fun, laugher, spending the rainy afternoon at the arcade, animated stories over meals, and sweet Roland snuggles that even Henry took part in at times even though he was at the age when snuggling with mom was "not cool." As Roland slept cuddled against Regina's side in her bed, as he was too scared to sleep in his own, she couldn't help but dread bringing him back to the merry men.
Monday evening came way too quickly as she found herself with Roland standing in front of the door to Sherwood forest, not wanting to go through. She wanted to keep Roland with her and protect him from the cruelty of the world but he has known the merry men all of his life and won't take that away from him. She tried to do that with Henry and that got her nowhere, only leading to Henry pulling away from her. Henry was right, Roland needs all of his family around.
So with Roland's hand in hers, she guided him through the door to where Sherwood Forest and the Merry Men awaited. The door pulled them through and they landed right in front of the camp with all the men excited to see Roland back. After Roland hugged john, he scampered off to greet the other men while Regina talked to John, filling him in about what happened over the weekend. Even though he did have an accident, after the talk they shared, he seemed to be doing better
After her and john were done talking, Regina went over to wish the merry men a goodnight. Roland came up to her with wide eyes as he spoke. "Regina, aren't you staying?" he asked with worry in voice.
Bending down, Regina met him face to face. "I have to go back to storybrooke and you are going to stay here with the merry men, like you have been."
"Nooooo! Don't leave me!" Roland whined as he climbed up onto Regina's lap and clutched her close, hands balled into white fists around her shirt. "You promised you wouldn't leave me!"
"Oh Roland, I love you so much and I promise I will be back but what about John and your other uncles. They love you so much. And what about your little friends John said you had made, they would miss you."
"We could visit." He sniffed before wiping his nose against her shirt. "and I don't have any friends."
"What do you mean by that?" she pulled away a little to look at him. "John said you were around other kids and playing with them."
"No." he said sadly. "They're mean to me."
"What do you mean they're mean to you?" she asked with concern.
"They call me names." He muttered softly, barely high enough she could hear.
"What do they call you Roland?" she asked, trying not to get angry. She would roast those kids parents for their kids causing this child any distress. No one hurts him. But Roland didn't answer her and just looked down at his boots, playing with a lose shoe lace in embarrassment. Taking his chin in her fingers, she gently lifted his eyes to meet hers. "What do the other kids call you, Roland?" she asked gently
Tear threatened to fall and his lips trembled as he answered her dejected. "They call me little orphan boy, that orphan kid, or…" he paused for a moment as he choked on his words. She gave him a moment to finish, but she could already feel the anger invading her veins with her blood at a low simmer, waiting to boil over. "That kid with no parents."
Roland bawled now and buried his head into her shoulder once again. "Oh Roland. You have parents and they are always with you and they love you very much. So do I, and the merry men ,and henry, and Miss Emma, and the charmings." Stopping briefly, she had to swallow the lump that developed in her throat. "You will never be alone." She whispered. "I won't let that happen.' Taking a moment, she let Roland whimper in her arms rocking him back and forth, now understanding even more that this was adding to the cause of the nightmares. He was afraid of losing more people he loved, like her.
Eventually, Roland pulled back and rubbed his with his small fists and wiped his cheeks as he sniffled away the remaining tears. He looked up at her. "Regina?" he asked.
"Yes baby" she answered him, wiping away the tears he missed with her thumbs.
" 'Member when you told me why Henry has two mommies?"
"yes…" she drew out the word with curiosity, not sure where he was going with this.
"You said that Henry grew in Miss Emma's tummy but her and Mr. Neal couldn't take care of him, so you 'dopted him and he became your son and you his mommy and you love him just like he did grow in your tummy?"
"Uh huh." She said, a little stunned and not taking her eyes off of him, beginning to understand where he may be going with this.
"well…my mama and papa aren't here to take care of me…so…" he looked down and played with the collar of her shirt as he said the next part. "maybe you could 'dopt me like you 'dopted Henry." As she gasped while being stunned by his words, he looked up at her with hopeful eyes.
Her own eyes turned glassy with threatening tears, as she cupped his head with both hands, the tips of her thumbs rubbing his chubby cheeks. The little boy in front of him was choosing her and asking for her to choose him in return. How could she refuse him? This little boy deserved all the love in the world. He too deserved his best chance.
"Is that what you want, Roland?" she asked, needing to make sure he was certain.
"You do everything mommies are supposed to do." He shrugged his shoulders as if the whole world already knew this. "and when I am with you, I feel like I did when I was with papa. Like I'm home."
"Oh, Roland." She hugged him close to her again as she whispered into his ear. "Nothing would make me happier to officially call you my son." Over Roland's shoulder, she saw little john crying and flicking away his tears. Pulling back, she told Roland to go over with tuck and that she wasn't going anywhere except to talk to talk to his Uncle John.
Before she got up, she watched Roland run over to tuck and then she made her way over to John with hesitant steps who was blowing his nose with sounds that could rival a balloon losing its helium. "John." She started, her voice cracking a bit in nervousness. "You heard all of that, didn't you?"
"I did." He answered her.
"I would never want to take Roland away from you…" She wanted to reason with him, knowing that she didn't want to take him away from the people he had known his whole life.
"Stop!" he cut her off a little gruffly and held up his palm to her. Had he done that when they first most, he would have been roasted. "I know." His tone turned gentle again and a sad smile crossed his face.
"I would never want to take him away from the people he has known his whole life. I know he needs you and the other men and to know where he is from…" she continued to ramble on until John cut her off.
"If you'd stop rambling." He sassed as she glared back playfully in return. "I could finish saying I know and seems like what we thought our boy needed is totally different from what he actually needs."
A soft smile graced her face when John said "our boy." "Which is?"
"He needs all the support he could get but it seems he needs more full time the woman who protected him from flying monkeys, the woman who read him bed time stories and played games with him when her heart was hurting over losing her son, who baked apple pies with him, who soothed him when he cried, who kissed his scuffed knees better when Robin couldn't. He needs the only woman who showed him what it was like to have a mother."
Regina gasped, taken back by John's words. "But…but Robin would want him to know Sherwood, to be with you…"
Again, john cut her off but by grasping her shoulder's this time. "He will be and he will know Sherwood because we will come up with a visiting schedule. He needs proper schooling. So maybe during the school year he could visit on weekends and a longer stay during summers. We'll celebrate holidays together. If I'm being honest, with the Evil Queen gone, Storybrooke is safer right now. There's gouls, goblins, and ogres rampaging these lands, so we need to help the remaining people here. When it's safe, maybe we can return to Storybrooke. We can do this together."
"ok." regina nodded as she wiped her nose on her sleeve and sniffled.
"Robin would want what was best for his boy and right now, that's you, Reg. That's apparent. I haven't seen him this happy in weeks. He deserves his best chance and right now that seems to be with you." He squeezed her shoulders again. "We will come up with a more definite schedule later by talking through that mirror of yours. It's easy to get back and forth with that wand. But right now, you need to take our little lad ?"
John enveloped her into a bear hug before she went to collect Roland and say goodbye to the men, letting him know that he would be back for a visit soon.
The bell above the door at the diner jingled, causing Henry to look up and see his mom being tugged in by Roland, who was happy to see Henry. With curious eyes, he watched as Roland and Regina made his way towards them.
"Roland, why don't you go say hi to Granny and Red. I'm sure they will be happy to see you. You can tell them what you want to eat?" she told Roland, wanting to steal a few minutes alone with Henry. After she watched him skip over and climb on one of the stools, she sat down and looked at Henry who was smirking at her.
"So…I thought Roland was supposed to go back to the merry men, tonight?" he asked before he sipped on his soda.
"yeah." She cleared her throat. "I wanted to talk to you about that."
"ok." henry replied, prompting her to continue
"Before I ask, I want you to know I won't do this without your ok. I wanted to talk to you before I made a definite decision."
"Mom, spit it out." Henry's patience was growing thin as his mom rambled.
"Well…I wanted to know what you thought about making Roland a more permanent part of our little family?" she questioned a little nervously as she fiddled with the silver wear in front of her.
Henry smiled at his mom, instantly knowing where she was going with this. "like you adopting him?" he asked.
A little tentative, she nodded her head in response, anxious as to what he would say.
Taking a moment, Henry thought about this as he tapped his finger against his chin and then a wide smile graced his face. "I have always asked you for a little brother and it feels like he was supposed to be a part of this family. So I think it's a great idea."
Smiling, she reached across the table and squeezed his hand. "You sure. Say the word henry…"
"Mom." He cut her off. "I'm sure. You did say before that one day I'll have more family than I know what to do with."
"I did say that, didn't I?"
"You did and maybe this is supposed to be apart of that. Besides you're a pretty great mom. You gave me my best chance. So…"
She smiled at him but Before Regina could even respond, Roland came back over and scrambled into the seat next to Regina asking what they were talking about. The two laughed and Regina said they were talking about how the three of them were going to be a family, which made Roland very happy.
With Roland back, they all looked thru the menu and ordered their dinner when Ruby came over. While waiting for their food, Henry took Roland over to the jukebox and showed the very animated boy what songs were available. As Regina watched them, she didn't notice that Rob came down the stairs and was standing next her watching as well. "I thought the little lad was supposed to go back tonight?" he asked her, causing her to jump in her seat. "Sorry about that."
Regina just glowered in annoyance at him. "plans changed." She explained as she stirred her ice water with the straw. "Both the merry men and I will take care of him but I'm going to adopt him."
Rob tried to hide it but his face lit up with a smile. "Really?" he asked.
"Yes." She cleared her voice and flicked her eyes back up to him. "He asked me actually. How could I say no?"
Rob studied her a moment before he replied. "Is that something you want too."
Her eyes started to glass over as she nodded with a sad smile. "Yes. I love him as if he were my own by blood. When Robin was here, it felt like things were headed this way. All of us becoming a family but…"
"but what?" Rob stopped her before she continued. "What makes you hesitant?"
"I'm not sure if this is what Robin would have wanted?" she answered him.
"Let me ask you this?" he said, trying to get her attention and she did look up. "Robin would want what was best for his son, yes?" Regina nodded and waited for him to go on. "He wasn't doing so well but then you had him for a visit and things seemed to get better, yes?"
"Yes." She smiled.
"Then isn't it clear he should be here and what he needed?"
"Which is?" Regina prompted him with a hand gesture to get to the point.
"The touch of a mother." He said to her with a knowing smile.
After he said this, hair stood up on her neck and memories of Robin saying those exact words in her mothers crypt flashed before her eyes. She was so stunned by this, she didn't even get a chance to respond as Rob said he had to run and almost literally ran out of the place. Staring at the door, she couldn't help to ask herself who this man because there is something he was not telling her but it seemed like she would have to save this conversation for another time.
A few moments later, Ruby brought over their food which prompted the boys to return to their booth and take Regina out of her reverie. Immediately, the boys started to dig with vigor into their food and Regina had to tell them to slow down. As she watched them eat and chat between themselves, she couldn't help but think this is the closest she has felt to being content since Robin sacrificed himself. Yes sitting here with her two boys helped to heal her soul.
Uh oh…Regina is getting suspicious. So? Good? Let me know what you think. Hope this heals the soul a little after today bc there's no reason Regina and the Merry men couldn't have raised Roland together.
