Snow hung back as the rest of Team Hero filtered out of Regina's office. She pulled up the chair opposite Regina's desk. "So, how did it go?" she asked.

Regina debated playing dumb, but quickly dismissed the thought. "It wasn't easy," she said. "Robin was waiting for me this morning on the front porch, so we went to the hospital and had Whale check her out." She paused. "We heard the baby's heartbeat. So, it's real now."

Snow smiled. "I cried when I heard Neal's heartbeat."

Regina had nearly cried hearing the heartbeat too, but she decided not to share that particular detail. "Zelena thinks it's a girl," she said.

"What do you think?"

Regina nodded. "I think she's right. For generations, it's always been girls on my mother's side. Why should this be any different?"

"How do you feel about that?" Snow asked.

Regina sighed. "Honestly, I don't know." She smiled. "Did you know that I requested a boy when I adopted Henry? I didn't want a daughter. Didn't want to risk doing to her what my mother did to me."

"You wouldn't have done that, Regina," Snow said softly. "You've always loved Henry for exactly who he was, not for who you wanted him to be."

"You were the closest thing I ever had to a daughter, and I tried to kill you. Repeatedly. So I'm not sure I can take much comfort in your confidence."

"Well," Snow replied. "I was a brat."

Regina laughed. "Your mother's child," she echoed.

"I was my mother's child. Who she became, not who she was when she met Cora. This baby will be the same with you. I know it."

Regina's brow furrowed. "Gold said something else," she said. "He told me that who I am is who he made me, and that's who I'll always be."

Her stepdaughter shook her head. "Who you are is who you'll always be, and that's so much more than what Gold or Cora ever made you. You're still the same person who rescued me from a runaway horse, the same person who fell in love with a stable boy even though her mother had other plans, the person who raised Henry to be strong and true, the woman who fell in love with Robin…should I go on? Because I can keep going."

"Please don't," Regina said, smiling in spite of herself.

"Who did you want to be?" Snow asked. "Before the curse, and marrying my father, and Daniel. Who did you want to be then?"

Regina sighed. "I just wanted to be free. I wanted to be able to make my own decisions and live the life I wanted, not the life my mother wanted for me."

"Don't you have that now?" Snow asked gently, and Regina was at a loss for a reply.

"Who you are is who you choose to be. And who you've chosen to be the last few years is someone that I want to see happy." Snow said firmly.

Regina didn't have a ready comeback for Snow's sunny optimism. "I don't know if that's in the cards for me. I think there came a point where all the evil I've done outweighed any good I could hope to accomplish."

Snow stood. "Well, I'm not going to debate karma with you, Regina. I'm just going to tell you that I care about you. And I'm going to go home and play with my son, and you're welcome to join me."

"Thank you, but I really do have work to do. Being mayor isn't an easy job, you know."

"Why do you think I gave it back to you?" Snow replied with a little bit of sass. "Emma's making tacos tonight. Come over about 7."

Robin was sitting on a bench outside the municipal building when Regina left for the night. She was already working on a tension headache, and seeing him sitting there staring at the ground made her temples pound.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I came to apologize for leaving like that this morning. It wasn't fair to you."

She shrugged. "It was a rough morning."

He met her eyes. "It wasn't fair to you," he said steadily.

She sat down next to him on the bench, weighing her words carefully. "No, it wasn't fair to me. But none of this is fair to you either."

"That doesn't make it all right," he said.

Nothing will make this all right, she thought. She stared at the cracks in the pavement on the courtyard, completely at a loss for words. She wanted to say something to make him feel better, wanted to make this whole situation go away, but she couldn't. She couldn't forget what he had said to her in New York. Couldn't forget how easily he had forgotten about her.

His thoughts seemed to follow hers. "I've been wracking my brains, trying to find a way to make this better for you. For us. And I don't know what to do."

"There's nothing you can do," she said. "What's done is done. And now we have to live with it."

"Nothing?" he asked, reaching over and taking her hand. "I refuse to believe that."

Regina disentangled her hand gently. Part of her, the remnants of the evil queen, wanted to punish him for how badly he'd hurt her, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. "Robin, you chose Marian over me. It doesn't matter that it was Zelena – I can't stop hearing your voice in my head telling me that you were with her and I needed to accept it. I don't want you here now telling me that you want me because you know she's gone again. I don't want to be your easy answer."

"You were never easy," he said with a smile, and she couldn't help but laugh. The quick wit was a part of the Robin she remembered, a part that she'd treasured. She was glad to see that it was still there despite everything they were facing.

They sat in silence for a moment, breathing in the cool Maine air.

"I was in love with you," Robin said quietly. "I still am, whether or not you believe it. And I will do whatever it takes to prove that to you."

Her heart leapt at his confession, but she couldn't bring herself to tell him that yes, she was still in love with him. Yes, she still wanted to be with him, despite Zelena, despite the baby, despite everything. She was still too raw, and still not ready to believe that he meant it.

"I don't know what it will take," she said sadly. "But I do know that I'm not ready yet to hear it."

"Well, when you are, I'll be waiting."

She stood to leave, and as an afterthought, reached out a hand to cup his face. She stroked his cheek with her fingers, reveling in the feel of his stubble. He laid his hand over hers and closed his eyes, breathing deeply. "Regina," he sighed.

"I have to go," she said, pulling her hand away. She walked to her car, feeling her palm tingle with every step she took away from him.