"Alright." David whispered as he turned the truck off in the driveway of the mayoral mansion on Mifflin Street. "You quietly take Regina and I'll bring Olivia."
"Okay." Victor opened his door.
"But! Quietly!" Charming whispered a little louder as he got out himself.
"Got it." Whale whispered back.
David led Victor to the front door as he carried Olivia's carseat and Regina slept in Victor's arms.
"Be careful." David whispered as Victor began to ascend the stairs up to the master bedroom and David followed behind, going to the nursery.
"Give her a kiss for me." Victor whispered to David as they parted ways. "I'll wait in here for you so you can remove the covers before I set her down...My hands are kinda full."
"Okay. I'll be right in." David silently turned the light on in the nursery and walked in as Victor entered Regina's room.
After a few minutes, David came in behind Victor, who stood not too far from the door, Regina still peacefully sleeping in his arms.
"You got the covers?" Whale asked.
David remembered that her shoes were still on and they were stilettos that he didn't think looked very comfortable. "We should take her shoes off first."
"Here. I got it. You take her."
"Why?"
"Because I know where she keeps these ones. They're her special shoes."
"Really?!" David asked frustratedly as Regina was now in his arms. "She could've put them back tomorrow."
"Have you seen the house?" Victor whispered as he took off the second shoe, ignoring the disgusted look he received from David. "Okay. I'll be right back."
Victor went to go put Regina's shoes in her walk-in closet and he removed the covers from the bed when he returned. David set her down gently and Victor made sure her pillow was in the right place feom the other side of the bed. Victor helped David pull the covers over her. He walked around to her side of the bed and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead before leaving the room. David watched him leave before leaning over and kissing her as well. He began to leave but he stopped when he heard Regina mumbling something.
"What?" He whispered, hoping she'd speak up.
"She would've been 18 today." He sighed as he looked down at her, her eyes still closed.
Unaware of what to say, he knelt down next to the bed to be at eye level with her and she barely opened her eyes. She hummed quietly as he rubbed her head and gave her a weak, comforting smile. As she closed her eyes, he stood up and left the room, looking back at her whil he turned the light off and shut the door.
Both men met in the lobby near the front door.
"So, someone clearly needs to stay and look after them. Regina's way too drunk to get up when Olivia starts to cry at three o'clock in the morning." David said, now that he knew his baby's exact sleeping schedule, having dealt with it for a while.
"Alright, fine. But who's gonna stay?"
"Well, it should obviously be me. Since I'm Olivia's father."
"Yes, but I don't have a car to get home." Victor had a good point. David thought for a moment. "Look, why don't we both just stay since I told Regina we wouldn't fight over her and that way, you can stay and take care of Olivia."
"And that way, you won't have to walk home."
"Exactly."
"Fine. I'll take the floor in the living room."
"No. Why don't you take the couch and I'll take the floor." Victor tried to convince.
"No. I'll take the floor. You're a doctor and you're gonna need some sleep before you go on your shift tomorrow."
Victor thought about it. "Fine."
They got extra blankets from the closet and David kept the baby monitor by his side as they settled in.
"Thank you."
"For what?" David wondered.
"For helping me look for her."
David opened his and looked up at him on the couch. "Of course...You would've done it, too."
Victor gently smiled and folded his hands under his head. "Good night, Charming."
David rolled over on his side and closed his eyes, holding the baby monitor in one hand. "Good night, Whale."
"David? David, wake up!"
David jumped awake as Victor shook him on the floor. Sitting up, his eyesight came into focus as he realized Victor was holding Olivia and kneeling beside him on the floor.
"Wake up."
"I'm up. I'm up. What is it?"
"She's gone."
"What?!" All of a sudden, Charming was wide awake. "What do you mean she's gone?"
"I mean gone. Not here. I checked her bedroom and...she left."
David rubbed his eyes with one hand and pinched the bridge of his nose. Olivia began to cry and David stood up.
"I'll go get her a bottle. Regina keeps some in the fridge. I'll be right back."
Victor sat down on the couch and began bouncing Olivia to try and get her calm down a bit. She didn't stop crying completely, but her sobs weren't as violent and there were less tears.
"Here." David handed him the now-warmed-up milk and Victor laid the baby on his left forearm to feed her. "Do you have any idea where she may be?"
"How should I know? She doesn't talk to me anymore." Victor answered, annoyedly.
"Well, she doesn't talk to me either. The only thing she talks to me about is Henry and Olivia."
"Well, I don't know what you want ME to say."
David scoffed and rolled his eyes at him from behind the couch. They heard a noise come from outside and both turned their heads toward the window. Unable to see anything, David walked over to it to look to the side.
"She's back."
"She is?"
"Yeah." David rushed to the front door and opened it just before she could put her hand on the handle. "Where have you been?"
She stepped in and he closed it behind her. She saw Victor feeding the baby on the couch.
"We were worried." The doctor said over his shoulder.
"Well, you can stop worrying." She snapped. "I just went to go get my car."
"Where was it, by the way?" Victoe wondered.
"THAT...is none of your business."
"Regina-" David began, but he stopped when she turned around to look at him.
"What?" She asked in a softer tone.
"We just wanted to make sure you were okay."
"I was fine." She hesitated to answer Victor's question. "It was at Jefferson's. I went over the other day to, uh...discuss some things with him. One thing led to another and we somehow ended up driving his car to The Rabbit Hole. That's all you need to know."
"Fine." David said defensively, still standing by the front door. "No big deal...Just wanted to make sure nothing happened to you and...Olivia missed you." Regina turned away from him and looked at the baby in Victor's arms. "That explains what you were doing for the last 3 days, but what have you been doing the last three weeks, Regina? No calls, no answers...Not even a warning telling me that you were gonna disappear like that. Were you even thinking about us?"
"'Us'? Who's 'us'? There is no 'us'!"
"When it comes to our daughter...there is!" David snapped.
"David!" She looked over her shoulder at him again. "Not now!"
He stared at her for a few seconds before she began to feel uncomfortable and looked back at Olivia as Victor finished feeding her. She smiled, trying to forget about David behind her, and walked around the couch to take Olivia from Whale.
"Hi, Olivia! Hi!" She said as Victor handed her over prior to her sitting down next to him. Regina turned to mother mode and Victor and her made faces at the baby in her arms.
"Okay." David said angirly as he looked at them from behind the couch. "You know what? Give me a call the next time you need me, because clearly you don't."
"David-" Regina rolled her eyes.
"No, it's fine. You just need me to watch Olivia so you can go out acting like a teenager. So the next time you feel like drinking until you can't stand up, call me! I'm here for my daughter." He turned around and opened the door to leave, but before he left he said, "And next time, I'll still make sure I look everywhere for you. Because I'll be the one who always comes back!"
At that, he slammed the door and Olivia began to whine. Victor looked at Regina, whose focus was on her little angel and he saw that look in her eyes. The look that the Evil Queen always wore. It was the careless and unloving look. Except for her love of Olivia, of course. That nothing and no one else mattered but her child.
