Chapter 7

Robin walked into the house only to be met with silence. It was too quiet for his liking. He headed upstairs to see the bedroom door ajar. "Regina," he said pushing the door wider. He stood there stunned. Regina was packing things in boxes. Specifically, his things were going into them.

"What are you doing?" he asked. She just ignored him continuing to pack his things. "Regina, I asked you a question."

She turned around with puffy eyes. "I told you I wasn't going to wait. One of us is leaving this house and it's you."

He shook his head in frustration. "What about Roland? Are you going to kick him out too?"

"Of course not. It's his father I have a problem with. I wouldn't dare kick that sweet boy out," she said. She turned around and waited for his response.

Robin closed the door. "This is ridiculous. Regina, I have given you no indication that I wasn't committed to us. You got this idea in your head and ran with it. Do you doubt that I love you?"

"No," she said not turning around. She couldn't give in now. "It's doesn't change facts however," she continued.

Robin held the bridge of his nose. "If you really want to know, I was going to take you somewhere special. I was going to propose Regina. Things got screwed up."

She faced him with her arms crossed over her chest. "Don't make up something to worm yourself out of this. I don't buy it. Stop lying to me."

"I'm not lying," he practically shouted. "Just ask-

"Robin," she interrupted. "Your things will be downstairs. I suggest you make yourself comfortable at Granny's." She magicked the rest of his things in boxes and moved them downstairs.

He just stared at her in disbelief. There was no way he was leaving. Instead of arguing with her, he said, "Come with me tonight. I have something planned and there's point in letting those plans go to waste."

"I'm kicking you out and yet you want to continue these so-called plans. At least tell me where we're going," she shot back.

"The gazebo near the stables," he answered. "Be ready at 7." He turned to leave. "I'll be in the guest room. Not at Granny's."

Once the door closed Regina let out a breath. The conversation got more intense than she anticipated. She searched for her phone and texted Emma.

Emma picked up her phone and the text read: "Are you free to talk?"

"What's the latest?" Emma asked.

Regina's text came through. "Going to the gazebo near the stables at 7. What do you want to do?"

"I'll think of something. Follow my lead when we get there."

"See you at 7."

Emma chuckled to herself.

"What's so funny?" Neal asked coming from the kitchen.

"I'm just so happy," Emma answered. "How about you and I do something tonight? Just the two of us."

"Okay," he said slowly. "What did you have in mind?"

"Just a nice dinner. My treat. It's the least I can do. I'll arrange everything," she suggested.

"Really? Emma, that's not necessary," Neal countered.

"Hey, I'm going to be your wife and it's time I start acting like it. So being your wife means I get to take out the man I love. How about 7 o'clock?"

"That's fine. Where are we going?" he wondered.

"It's a surprise. Just dress up," she said. "I better go." She kissed him on the cheek and headed out the door.

That night, Robin waited in the foyer for Regina to come down. He heard heels click against the steps. She was wearing a knee length black dress with six-inch heels. Her hair was flipped at the ends and her make-up was flawless.

"You look beautiful Regina," he said.

"Thank you," she said. "Shall we go now?"

The drive was silent. Regina purposefully avoided making eye contact with him. The stables were coming into her field of vision. She always felt a small pain coming there because of Daniel but chose to focus on all the good memories afterwards. The four of them always had a good time riding horses.

Robin helped her out the vehicle and led her to the gazebo. She was impressed. The table was set with two wine glasses and silver trays. A vase sat in the middle of the arrangement.

"You really outdid yourself," she complimented. He kissed her shoulder.

"I did. I'm going to prove myself to you," he said.

Halfway through the dinner Regina wondered what was taking Emma so long to get there. Whatever she was planning it better be good.

No sooner had she said this, she saw the Blue Fairy walking toward them. What was she doing here? Robin noticed Regina's scowl and looked behind him. His own eyebrows creased in confusion.

They noticed Emma and Neal behind her. Both of them looked utterly clueless to Emma and she just waved.

"Emma, Neal…what are you doing here? And why is Blue here?" Regina asked.

"Emma, what's going on?" Neal questioned.

"This is my surprise to you. It's been a long road for us and I'm so grateful that I have you back in my life. I thought we would make it official tonight. Just us and it just so happens Regina and Robin are here to witness it," Emma said.

"Witness what?" Robin asked. Regina bit back a smirk. She had to admit she would never have thought Emma capable of pulling this off.

"Our wedding. Of course we will have a bigger one but I can't wait any longer. Actually I'm glad you both are here. If it wasn't for you, Robin, I might not have given Neal another chance," she explained. She turned to Neal. "What do you say?"

Neal's mind went blank. An intimate wedding so soon. "Listen Emma-

"Neal…it's not polite to keep your bride waiting," Regina said. "It also explains why Blue is here. I know Henry will be upset he missed this but what better way to surprise him."

"Regina," Robin started wishing she would be quiet especially if Neal was about to spill.

"Oh come on Robin. Who are we to stop this?" Regina inquired. "Now where do we stand?"

Blue told them where to stand and asked Emma and Neal to hold hands. Neal's heart was beating fast. He should have sat her down and exposed everything.

It was time for Emma to say vows. "Neal, you are the best thing that ever happened to me. You are the only one that saw me for me. I never knew what love was until I met you. You're my true love. I can't wait to be your wife and start our life together."

She had tears in her eyes and it ate at him. He couldn't take it anymore.

"Stop. We can't do this. I can't marry you without telling you the truth," Neal said dropping her hands.

"What? What are you talking about?" Emma asked pretending to look shocked.

Neal dropped his head. "The ring wasn't yours. It was Regina's. Robin was supposed to propose and he asked me to hide it. Then you found it and I didn't want to crush your happiness. If I had known you actually wanted to get married I swear I would have proposed sooner."

She looked between Robin and Neal. "What is going on?"

"Yeah, Robin…what is going on?" Regina questioned.

"I told you. I was telling the truth. I was going to propose and it was supposed to be this romantic gesture. When I saw Emma had your ring I didn't know what to do really. So Neal and I tried our best to come clean about everything but things kept going wrong. Regina, all of this was for you."

"Where's the ring then?" Regina asked.

"Emma lost it," Neal said. "I'm sorry. Don't blame Robin for anything. It's all my fault."

They heard Emma laugh. Robin and Neal looked at her bewildered. "This isn't funny," Neal said.

"Actually it is," she said. She looked at Regina who magicked the ring.

"I believe this is what you're looking for," Regina said.

"The ring," Neal said.

"How observant of you," Regina said.

Robin let out a sigh. "How long did you two know?"

"Only a few hours. The jeweler thought Emma was the lucky lady," Regina said.

"So all this…making us panic and running around like chickens with their heads cut off, it was just a game to you and Emma," Robin said getting annoyed.

"It was harmless fun," Emma said.

"Fun? I nearly got kicked out of the house. I've bent over backwards to make sure this night was perfect," he told Emma. "Do you have any idea how hard this has been?"

"I sure do," Neal interjected. "Look, you've had your fun. Now we can put this behind us."

"I don't know," Emma said. "I kind of like making you suffer."

"Funny. Real funny," Neal muttered. He looked to Robin. "At least you have your ring." Robin glared at him.

"We'll be going," Emma said. Emma finally looked over to Blue. "Thanks Blue for helping."

"She was in on it too," Neal said.

"Just this part," Emma said.

"I'm going to get you back," Neal muttered. Emma rolled her eyes.

"Regina, it's been fun," Emma said.

"Yes it has," she said as she watched them go.

She looked at Robin who had an unreadable expression on his face. "This was all your idea, wasn't it?"

"Yes," she admitted. He narrowed his eyes and walked away from her.