Epilogue

Ten years later

The door fell closed behind her with a silent thud, her mouth curling up into a grin when she heard Roland talking excitedly to his dad in the living room. Something about Corky, the dog of David and Mary Margaret.

She paused for a second in the hallway, listening to her husband mumbling something back to their son, while their daughter was making screeching sounds, probably patting her chubby hands against her father's cheeks.

Sometimes she still couldn't believe how lucky she'd been - finding Robin all those years ago. How lucky she was that he had fallen in love with her, and she with him. Everything fell into place so easily. Marrying him, getting along splendidly with his mother, finding a great facility for her mother, going back to school to finally fulfill her dream to become a kindergarten teacher, having two wonderful kids with the man she loved.

Of course there were bad days too. Especially at the beginning. When she'd been looking over her shoulder all the time, fearing her past would come back again to haunt her. The nights she'd woken up screaming. The days she'd feared he would stop loving her - because of her baggage.

But he never wavered. He was by her side all the way. Her rock. Her anchor. His love the constant she could always count on.

A tear slipped down her cheek, and she brushed it away, letting out a shaky breath. Sometimes being this lucky still brought tears to her eyes. Taking in another deep breath, she straightened and rounded the corner. She was only a few steps into the living room when Roland ran at her with full speed.

"Mommy!"

She staggered slightly when he crashed into her, grinning down at him as he looked up at her with a huge smile on his face.

"Hey, sweetie." She leaned down and ruffled his hair, laughing when he scrunched up his nose.

Her husband was sitting on the floor, Peyton beside him. Their daughter was immersed in playing with her wooden blocks, not even looking up when Roland ran back to his father and jumped into his lap.

Robin was grinning at her from ear to ear, Roland wearing the same grin on his face, the resemblance being a little uncanny. She shook her head as Robin winked at her, and crouched down to press a kiss on her daughter's forehead.

"Hey, Peyton."

Their daughter only looked up for a second, throwing her a toothless grin before she averted her attention back to the blocks.

"I'm just gonna change," Regina said towards her husband, walking up the stairs and into their bedroom.

She'd just stepped on the gallery and was about to descend the stairs when David came in, being enthusiastically greeted by her offspring.

"Uncle Dave!" Roland yelled, running over to him and throwing himself at his legs.

"Easy there," David replied, leaning down to haul him up into his arms.

Peyton was looking up from smashing the wooden blocks together, drool slipping down her chin as she was chewing on one of the toys. Her brows furrowed in concentration as she stared at her brother and David, but then she apparently made up her mind and threw the toy away, falling forward and starting to crawl over to them as fast as possible.

"Hey, pumpkin," David greeted her when she reached him. "Ready to go."

Peyton plopped down on her ass in front of him, smacking her hands against the floor, letting out an excited giggle.

"Hey there." Her husband stepped behind her, his arms coming around her, pulling her flush against his chest.

"Hey there yourself," she replied, leaning back into his embrace.

"How was your day?"

"Eventful."

"The little rascals kept you on your toes?"

"As usual."

"So ... you are more than ready for our free weekend then?" he inquired, his voice lowering suggestively, shooting a pleasant shiver down her spine.

"That I am," she murmured, scraping her nails over his forearm, a smirk pulling her lips up when she felt him shudder.

It still took about half an hour until they'd assembled everything so that David could take Roland and Peyton with him, then there was a round of wet smoochies, excited shouting from their son, and unintelligible babbling from their daughter while David walked out of the apartment with Roland on his arm, and Peyton strapped securely into her buggy, and then the door fell shut behind them and sudden silence fell over the room.

"Same schedule as always?" Robin asked, wrapping his arms around her and hauling her against his chest. His mouth titled up into a lopsided smirk, the dimple on his cheek making her heart skip a beat as he leaned down and pressed his lips on hers, the kiss turning passionate in the blink of an eye.

"Of course," Regina replied slightly breathless when he released her, and grabbing his hand she pulled him into the bedroom.

David would bring the kids back on Sunday night, and until then they would savor every single second they had the house to themselves. Starting with a few hours between the sheets. After all the stork wasn't the one who brought Peyton and Roland into their lives, and maybe it was time to add another member to their family.

The End

Thank you all so much for joining me on this ride – for your reviews, favorites and follows. I know it took me a little longer to finish this story. But I did finish it. :-)