His hands gripped the mug as he took another gulp of black coffee, silently pleading for the caffeine to kick in.

Only ten minutes until his shift started and he still felt like the walking dead. Honestly he had no one to blame but himself for that. He'd stayed up long after Roland had gone to school in order to finish up on housework he should've done over the weekend and now he was paying the price for it.

Even still he didn't regret his choice.

There were only three days a week he didn't have to live like a vampire. He'd be damned if he spent them doing something other than spending time with his son.

He yawned as he adjusted the badge on the left side of his chest. Working the late night shift wasn't exactly a picnic but it allowed him to be there for Roland before school and after which was a godsend.

His beat partner, Mulan, smirked at him as she reached into the breakroom cabinet for a mug of her own. "What's the matter Locksely? Up late dreaming of pants less single moms?"

Robin rolled his eyes. He shared one crazy story and she still hasn't let it go.

"I told you it meant nothing," he said for the umpteenth time.

Mulan chuckled as she filled up her mug with coffee. "Say whatever you want Robin. I can tell you're still thinking about her."

He just smirked into his coffee as he took another sip. It wasn't as if he could deny it. The pants less, frantic mother he'd let off the hook on Friday had slipped into his thoughts on more than one occasion over the weekend. Despite his best efforts he'd found himself daydreaming about her whiskey brown eyes. Wondering if she'd made it to her son and if he'd turned out to be alright.

He hoped that they were.

But it wasn't worth dwelling on. It wasn't as if he was ever going to see her again. Even if she did still have his sweatpants.

"I can't believe you actually gave her your sweatpants," said Mulan, shaking her head.

"Well I couldn't let her walk into the hospital in nothing but a silk teddy."

"If that's even where she was going." Mulan arched an eyebrow at him. "You never know; she could've just been charming her way out of a speeding ticket."

Robin shook his head. "No. I know a scared a parent when I see one."

It was Mulan's turn to roll her eyes as she sipped her coffee. "Oh please tell me you're not gonna launch into one of your rants on the mystical bond between parents."

"Well now that you mention it –"

She cut him off with a harsh groan. "I'm gonna go heat up the car."

She dumped the rest of her coffee in the sink before heading towards the door.

She called to him over her shoulder. "One thing we can both be sure of Robin? That's one pair of sweatpants you're never gonna see again."

"Ha!" He let out a sarcastic bark of laughter.

Despite his response he felt a bout of disappointment at her comment. Of course it wasn't as if he'd expected to see her again but he couldn't say that he wouldn't be delighted if he got the chance.

He downed the rest of his coffee in one gulp before placing his mug in the sink. Stretching out his shoulders he made his way to the front entrance of the station. The sun was setting as he stepped out the front door. It was almost night. Time to get to work.

"Officer Locksely?"

The voice stopped him in his tracks. The sound of it brought up images of a gray silk teddy and papers laid over bare skin.

He turned and saw her. She looked good. Put together. A hell of a lot better than he remembered. Her hair was no longer in a messy top knot but shiny and straightened out down past her shoulder. Her lips were painted a striking shade of red and she was fully dressed this time. Her red, professional blazer matched her lips and contrasted perfectly with the black slacks and button-down blouse she wore. In her arms was a brown paper bag.

She wasn't alone though.

She had a young boy with her. Black hair like his mother but that was where the similarities ended. He looked no older than ten but what Robin first noticed is the brightly-colored cast wrapped around his left forearm.

He smiled at them.

"Regina Mills."

He saw a blush rise in her cheeks as an embarrassed breath escaped her. "So you remember me?"

Robin shrugged his shoulders. "Well you'd be pretty hard to forget."

Her cheeks continued to redden. "Yeah I guess that would be true." Her eyes flickered down to the paper bag in her hands as if she'd suddenly remembered it existed. She held it out to him. "I thought you might like these back."

He took the bag from her, peered inside and let out a hearty chuckle. His sweatpants.

Regina chuckled along with him. "They're clean, I promise."

He looked back up at her. "Well I appreciate their return. Thank you." His eyes fell on the boy with her. "Who's this?"

"I'm Henry!" he chirped, a wide grin on his face.

"My son," elaborated Regina.

The one who went to the emergency room. So she wasn't lying, Robin thought to himself. He suddenly found himself feeling very smug. It was nice to have his instincts proven right.

He held out his hand. "It's good to meet you Henry. I heard you had a bit of an accident."

"Mmm-hmm," the boy hummed, proudly nodding his head as he shook Robin's hand with his good arm. "I broke my arm in three places!"

"Three places?" Robin's shock clearly showed in his tone. He looked back towards Regina. "Must've been a pretty bad fall," he gently commented.

A grimace pulled at her lips as she nodded her head. "Ten feet, out of his best friend's tree house." She patted her son's shoulders, possibly to comfort him but more likely to comfort herself as she smiled down at him. "But the doctors said he was very brave and the cast should be off in a few weeks."

"Well that's good news," said Robin, sending her what he hoped was a reassuring smile. God, she must've been worried out of her mind that night.

He turned his attention back to her son. "Well your cast looks great. You have a lot of autographs."

Henry smiled as he looked down at his cast. It was bright green and covered with badly scrawled signatures in different color inks. "My whole class signed it today," he said. "It's pretty cool."

Robin nodded his head in agreement. "Think there's room for one more signature on there?"

"Yeah!" said Henry, excitedly offering up his cast.

Robin grinned as he pulled a pen out of his shirt pocket. He asked Regina, "Think blue is alright?"

She nodded at him, an approving smile on her face. "Blue is perfect."

He quickly signed Henry's cast, leaving a get well note and a crude smiley face. Henry grinned as he looked it over and Robin felt his heart warm up.

"Thank you," said Henry gratefully.

Regina patted her son on the shoulder. "Henry why don't you go wait for me in the car? I'll be there in a second."

The boy happily skipped off to the black BMW parked just a few spots away. Regina watched him climb into the backseat before turning back to Robin with a grateful look on her face. "Thanks for that."

Robin waved her off. "Don't worry about it. He seems like a good boy." He held up the paper bag. "Thanks for these."

Regina shook her head. "Your precinct is actually on our way home from his school. It was the least I could do."

She paused for a beat. "And thanks for the talk you gave me on Friday." She sighed. "I wasn't exactly thinking clearly. Probably should've taken a moment before barreling down the road."

"When your kid is in trouble 'taking a moment' is never going to be your first instinct," Robin solemnly replied. "I'm glad I caught you though," he added.

Regina softly scoffed and nodded her head. "Me too," she said with a smile.

They both paused for a moment before Regina jerked her thumb back over shoulder. "I should get back to my son."

She turned to walk away and Robin called out to her. "Regina!"

She immediately swiveled back to face him, a mixture of hope and surprise in her eyes. "Yes?"

"Well Henry's probably not gonna be allowed back in that treehouse, is he?" mused Robin.

Regina rolled her eyes with a soft laugh. "Not until he's twenty."

Robin chuckled at her joke before shrugging. "Well if he's getting antsy there's a ball park a few blocks over. It's pretty nice. They show kids movies on Fridays using the big screen. I like to take my son there every once in a while. When I get the time off."

Regina nodded her head, a smile growing on her face. "Really?"

"Yeah," said Robin, the smile on his own face growing wider. "We're going next Friday to see Zootopia. We could meet you there. Show you around."

"That sounds lovely," said Regina, full-on grinning now. "You could text me the details at this number."

She pulled a crisp white business card from her purse. Robin took it and gave it a cursory glance.

REGINA MILLS, Event Coordinator.

She let out an anxious breath. "I guess I'll see you there."

"I certainly hope so," Robin smoothly replied.

They parted ways then. Regina heading back to her son, trying to calm the rapidly fluttering butterflies in her stomach. And Robin heading over to his police car with an unmistakable grin on his face, tightly gripping the brown paper bag in his hand, suddenly feeling twice as energetic than he had all day.

He hopped into the passenger side as Mulan suspiciously stared at him from the driver's seat. "Why's there a goofy grin on your face Locksely?"

Robin shrugged his shoulders. "No reason that concerns you."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "What's in the bag?"

He turned to her, a smug look in his eyes as he replied, "Just some old sweatpants."

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