"Regina, you're freezing!" Robin exclaims when he feels her body shivering against his.
"Just a little cold," Regina insists, but Robin isn't buying it, not with the way her lips shake as she speaks. He wonders how long they've been sitting by the river just watching the snow covered trees and holding each other. He chides himself for forgetting that Regina isn't used to sleeping outside in tents as he is. He should have insisted they go inside sooner.
"You're shivering. Why didn't you say something?"
"I was enjoying being here with you."
"Come on." Robin stands, dragging Regina with him, his arm around her shoulders pulling her close and trying to keep her warm.
"Honestly Robin. I'm fine."
"We are going back to your house now. You need a warm shower and a cup of tea, and then we can go pick up the boys."
"Will you be joining me for this shower?"
"If you'd like."
"In that case I approve of your plan."
Robin lets out a soft laugh, presses a kiss against Regina's snow covered hair. It still catches him off guard sometimes how much he loves her. His heart aches, feels so full with it after so long where the only love in his life was his son. Some mornings Robin still wakes up expecting this to be a dream, expecting Regina to be gone. He shakes the idea from his mind. She's here beside him, her breath warm against his neck when she turns to look at him with a content smile. That smile is everything, and to know he put it on her face fills Robin with such joy.
Robin is grinning widely at Regina then, can never seem to help himself from smiling when she is. He stops walking for a moment so he can properly kiss her. Her arms wrap around him, one glove covered hand squeezing his waist, the other resting on his neck. Even covered in layers of clothes, the feeling of Regina's body pressed against Robin is intoxicating. He moans into her mouth and feels her lips curve into a smile. Regina pulls back to look at Robin, and her expression is all playfulness and mischief. The next thing Robin knows there's a flash of light and then he's standing in Regina's arms in her shower.
Regina is grinning at Robin, and he thinks he must look too shocked for too long because her smile fades, and then she looks so afraid. Robin stares at Regina, wonders whether she thinks he would be angry at her for this. He flashes her a smile, leans his body closer to hers, and presses his mouth to hers. Robin removes his gloves and tosses them on the bathmat next to the tub. As soon as his skin is bare, he weaves his fingers through Regina's hair. He loves the feel of her hair, loves even more the way she moans into his mouth when he massages her scalp and lets him kiss her and kiss her until he can see the fear leave her.
Regina is pressed between the wall of the shower and Robin's wet body. Her head rests on his shoulder, and when Robin glances at her face he decides that sated, content smiles might be his very favorite of Regina's smiles. She sighs loudly, warm air blowing against his neck.
Robin kisses Regina's head, the spray of the shower still raining down on them. "Satisfied?" he whispers in her ear.
"Mmmm."
"I'll take that as a yes."
Regina picks up her head and reaches up for a lazy kiss, slowly, softly letting her tongue run against Robin's mouth. He wraps his arms around her waist loosely, body feeling relaxed and pliant against Regina. "Do we have time to soak in the tub before getting the boys?" Robin asks.
Regina chuckles softly. "I should never have introduced you to bubble bath."
"You don't seem to mind too much," Robin teases as he reaches out to switch the water from shower to tub. Robin sits down as the water begins to fill, pulls Regina with him so that her back rests against his chest and he can encircle her in his arms. She reaches for the bubble bath and adds some to the water. Robin takes in the scent of cherry blossoms that fills the air as his hands slide up and down Regina's abdomen, coating her slick skin in bubbles.
Regina reaches for Robin's hands, intertwining his fingers with her own. "We didn't accomplish much today," Regina says as her thumbs running over the backs Robin's hands.
"We were very efficient in warming you up though weren't we?"
"I suppose we were." Regina's movement stills, and her back becomes stiff as she whispers in a voice too high pitched for Robin's liking, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have used magic on you without asking."
"You will never hear me complain when you magic me into a shower with you."
"Robin—"
He shifts their bodies so that Regina is turned sideways in his arms. Her eyes are still downcast, so Robin gently lays a hand on the side of her cheek and coaxes her to meet his gaze. "I trust you Regina. Your magic is a part of you, and I trust it just as I trust you."
Regina shakes her head. "I've used it to hurt so many people."
"I. Trust. You." Robin insists. "You've chosen to use your magic for good now, and I know that is what you will continue to do. Well, for good and for seducing me, but I think that counts as good, don't you?"
"Robin," Regina sighs.
"The feeling of your magic around me is incredible, and I know that you would never use it to hurt me. I told you, I used to hate magic. But your magic feels like loving you does, so completely right. So you never need to apologize for using it with me, because I love it just as I love every piece of you."
Regina shakes her head at Robin, but then her face is breaking into a smile and Robin is so relieved that maybe she is finally understanding how completely he loves her. Regina leans back against him, her hands pressing to his chest. She sighs and tells him, "I still shouldn't have used magic without asking you." Regina's eyes darken, and Robin wonders whether she is thinking of the past, whether she is thinking of using magic against others or having magic used to control her.
"Well consider this permission." Robin presses a soft kiss to Regina's lips, winds a hand through her wet hair, and feels her relax more against him. Her hands drift down from over his heart, across the planes of his abdomen and down his sides, and then circling around him, hugging him loosely, their chests pressed together.
If Robin hadn't spent the last thirty minutes doing his damned best to make Regina scream, she would be itching for another round. But she's still so loose and relaxed, and the feeling of Robin's muscular arms around her just make her feel content and safe and loved.
"How are we going to figure out what we're fighting?" Regina asks Robin as she runs her hands up and down his back.
"I wish I knew, but what I do know is that we will figure it out together. This isn't your burden alone. Nothing has to be anymore."
Robin watches Regina, knows she still cannot trust that she isn't alone. He leans forward and kisses her lips softly, nuzzles his nose against hers. Kisses her again, cradles her face between his palms, and tries to put all the love in his heart into his touch.
"Turn around," he tells her, when he finally is able to make himself pull away. "I'll wash your hair."
Regina turns around in the sudsy water, her back still pressed to Robin's chest.
She moans when his hands begin massaging shampoo into her scalp. Robin smiles, his fingers working through her hair. "You're hair is getting long again."
"You always seemed fond of it long."
"I was fond of you," Robin replies. He thinks of the arguing and banter of the missing year, would joke with Regina about it now, but it hardly seems the time, not when she's so open about her insecurities, not when all he wants is to tell her over and over how much he loves her.
"I was awful to you."
When Robin moves to face Regina, the guilt on her face is so clear. Robin aches to help Regina leave the past behind her. "You thought you had lost Henry forever. I can't imagine how much pain you were feeling." He brushes his fingers over her cheeks softly. "I don't know why you allowed me a glimpse of that pain early on; perhaps it was because you thought you were about to enter an eternal sleep."
Regina doesn't look away from Robin, and for that he is so grateful. They've never talked about this with the exception of a warning back in the forest that if Robin were ever to speak a word of what happened in the castle that she would make him pay. Now she stares at him with wide eyes, her expression open and a little bit fearful. Robin smoothes Regina's sudsy hair behind her ear and smiles gently at her.
"I knew you were hurting terribly. You don't need to explain any further."
"Still, I am sorry Robin."
"Apology accepted."
"Why were you always trying so hard to protect me?" Regina asks, thinking back to Robin's perpetual insistence that he accompany her on dangerous missions. "I was cruel to you, and you were still trying to keep me safe."
"I was happy that I was able to be there to help keep protect you when you cared little for your own safety."
"But why would you want to keep the Evil Queen safe?"
"The woman I met was not the Evil Queen. She was deeply hurt, but beneath that pain still so loving and beautiful. How could I not care about a woman who always had time for my son, no matter how sad she was herself, who read him bed time stories and healed his every injury? I knew you well enough even then to know the cruelty was merely an act to push me away. I know you liked me," Robin adds with a little smirk, trying to lighten the mood a bit and put Regina at ease.
She smiles back at him. "Maybe."
Robin's palm cups Regina's cheek as he tells her, "You never need to hide when you're with me."
"I felt something for you when we were in the forest," Regina admits. "But losing Henry hurt so much."
"I know," Robin whispers. "I felt something too."
"I know you did. That's why I couldn't…" she shakes her head.
Robin rubs his thumb along Regina's cheeks, pulling her back to the present. "I know, but that's all the past now. You have Henry back," Robin reminds Regina. She sucks in an unsteady breath, and reminds herself that her baby remembers her again, that he will be sleeping in his bed tonight. "And you have Roland and me here as well. You have people who love you."
Regina nods, hates that tears fill her eyes. She blinks, hopes that Robin won't notice the tears mingling with the water, but of course he does, his fingers wiping the new moisture from her cheeks.
The image of Regina holding a sleeping curse in her hands invades Robin's mind. "I love you so much it frightens me sometimes," Robin whispers as he rest his forehead against hers. "I don't know how I would survive losing you."
"It's all right," Regina tells him, her hands coming to rest on his cheeks, and it brings him such comfort. "I'm not going anywhere. I promise."
Robin lets out a sob, his chest suddenly aching. "I love you more than anything," he gasps before another sob tears through him. He thinks of the pain of being parted from Regina when Marian returned, and he thinks he hardly deserves the comfort she offers him.
"It's ok," Regina soothes. "I'm here Robin, and I love you."
Regina is smiling so lovingly at Robin, her fingers gentle and soothing on his jaw. He loves her so much and hates himself for how he's hurt her, for every moment that he wasn't there with her. "I will spent the rest of my life making certain that you know how cherished you are," Robin promises.
Regina can't speak around the lump in her throat. Robin is talking about spending his life with her, and she wants that too, she does, but everything has happened so quickly, it is still so hard to believe this is real.
Robin sees the fear, and he knows that there are no more words he can say to make Regina believe so he leans forward slowly, allowing her to lean in to meet his lips. She kisses him, holds nothing back, he can feel her pressing against him, offering herself to him. Robin vows to himself that he will do anything to protect the heart that he had once broken.
It takes Snow a moment to get to the door. Between Neal and Roland, even with Henry's help, she and David have their hands full.
When she opens the door Snow can't help but smile at the sight before her. Robin's hand is on Regina's back, and she's turned towards him, their sides pressed together, smiling and whispering to each other.
Regina startles a bit when she sees Snow, her back straightens, her smile becomes more reserved. But she doesn't pull away from Robin, lets his hand remain on her back as they walk into Snow's apartment.
"Papa! Gina!"
Robin crouches on the ground so that he can catch Roland in his arms. He stands up, tossing the little boy in the air and making him shriek with joy. Regina watches them for a moment, Roland, smiling and laughing, and Robin, who loves his son so much, who is such an incredible father. It makes Regina's heart feel so full to see them together. And then Henry is walking over to her, and she wraps her arm around his shoulder and feels so overcome by being surrounded by so much love.
Robin somehow knows, and his hand comes to rest on her back again. She turns to look at him, and he is smiling at her sweetly, eyes full of understanding and love. He knows that she doesn't like big displays in front of other people, so he offers her this steadying, reassuring touch. How well he knows her, how he always respects her boundaries, makes Regina more overwhelmed by how very close she feels to Robin. She has to push back the wave of fear that hits her as she thinks of losing him. He knows her, knows her fears and her darkness, has seen her at her weakest, and this is a sort of intimacy that she has never known before.
Robin's hand squeezes tightly on Regina's shoulder, and he's pulling her back to the here and now. He's smiling at her, a big bright smile, and she can feel nothing but happiness looking at him, can do nothing but return that smile.
David walks over to them, still holding a sleeping Neal in his arms. "Did you two find anything in the forest?"
"Nothing," Robin says. "It was a dead end. Thank you for watching Roland and Henry while we looked."
"Not a problem at all," David replies, though his frazzled appearance and the wiped away spit up on his shirt suggests otherwise.
Robin smiles, remembering what it had been life when Roland was that small. "We're happy to return the favor any time."
Snow looks over at Regina then, sees her small gasp at Robin's easy offer that he and Regina would babysit Neal, as if such domestic tasks together are routine and common place for them. Snow has noticed of course that Robin barely spends a night in the forest anymore, and it fills Snow with giddiness at the idea that Regina finally is getting her happy ending.
Regina catches Snow grinning at her. Regina rolls her eyes of course, but Snow has known Regina far too long to not see how happy Regina is to have the family that surrounds her - even Snow.
"We were just going to make some hot cocoa, if you all want to stay for a while," Snow offers.
Regina smiles at Snow. "That sounds lovely dear. Can I help you in the kitchen?"
"Thank you."
Regina follows a still grinning Snow to the kitchen. "Not a word Snow."
"I didn't say anything."
"You didn't have to. I can see the smugness on your face."
"I'm not smug Regina. I'm happy for you. It's nice to see you happy. That's all."
Regina considers the woman beside her, thinks of the little girl who had idealized her, the young woman Regina had hunted, the woman the Regina has tentatively begun to see as a friend. "You probably don't believe me," Regina tells Snow, "but I'm glad you're happy too."
And Snow, stupid sentimental Snow, reaches out and grabs Regina's arm. "Of course I believe you. We've left the past behind us Regina. We're moving forward now, as a family."
Robin and Henry had been half shocked when Regina followed Robin's suggestion immediately upon arriving home that she go change into something comfortable while he and the boys begin preparing for dinner.
"Watch this!" Henry tells Robin and Roland, hitting the on button on the microwave.
Roland watches with awe as a marshmallow grows and grows.
"Uh Henry," Robin asks. "Does your mother normally allow this?"
Regina strides into the room perfectly timed, wearing a yoga pants, a sweater, and a pair of red fuzzy socks that Robin bites his tongue not to comment on. "She most certainly does not."
Henry rolls his eyes.
"Henry knows the rules. He makes the mess, he cleans it up." Regina walks over to where Roland is bouncing on his toes to try to see better. "Those rules go for everyone in this house," she says, ruffling Roland's hair.
"You look comfortable," Robin says, his arms slipping around Regina's waist, his chest pressed to her back. He runs his hands up and down her arms, rests his chin on her shoulder, and watches their boys.
"Can I eat it?" Roland asks Henry when the microwave timer goes off.
"Of course," Henry says, taking the sticky mess out of the microwave and handing it to Roland.
"Oh dear," Robin whispers as Roland shoves his little hand into the marshmallow. "This is not going to end well."
"We could always make it bath time before dinner," Regina suggests as Roland brings the plate up to his mouth, covering half his face in sticky goo.
"That's probably a good idea," Robin agrees as he watches his son coat himself in marshmallow.
Robin lets Roland enjoy his marshmallow until his hair is a gooey mess, and then Robin draws the line, grabbing his son in his arms and twirling him around and upside down, until the little boy is shrieking with laughter and can hardly remember to not be excited for bath time.
When father and son go upstairs, Henry insists that he and Regina should use the time to make cookies for dinner.
Henry is mixing the dough, stopping every 30 seconds to shove a spoonful into his mouth.
Henry can see Regina watching him out of the corner of his eye. "What's up Mom?"
"What do you mean?"
Henry raises an eyebrow at Regina incredulously at her attempt to deny she had been staring at him.
"Fine dear. I just want to make sure that it's all right with you that Robin and Roland have been staying with us. I don't want this to become a long term arrangement without talking to you."
"Of course it's ok Mom. You and Robin are in love. It makes sense that you would want to live together."
"This is your home too Henry, and I would never invite someone to live with us if it made you uncomfortable."
"I already told you, I like Robin and Roland. Things are different now than when it was just the two of us, but it's still good. We're still good. And you deserve to be happy."
"I am happy. Are you Henry? I know the last couple of years haven't been easy for you, and I am so sorry for that sweetheart."
Henry shrugs. "Sometimes I think about it, and everything seems crazy. Like everyone in Storybrooke being a fairytale character - that's kind of crazy. But it's not a bad crazy, I promise. I'm just happy to be home now, you know?"
"I am so happy to have you home sweetheart," Regina says, her arm wrapping around Henry's shoulders.
"I love you Mom." Henry says, his voice breaking. "I missed you so much." His throat feels tight and his eyes burn. He wants to tell her again that he's sorry for pushing her away, that he doesn't want anything to be broken between them. But she looks at him like she knows and understands.
"I missed you too Henry. But you're home now, and even though fairy tales are real and I'm…"
Henry shakes his head. "You're my mom. That's all that matters to me."
"Henry," Regina sighs.
"No, it's the truth. I was wrong, and I'm so sorry."
"You have nothing to be sorry for sweetie."
"But I am. I lost so much time with you because I was wrong."
"No Henry. I needed to change so that I could be a better mother to you. I'm sorry I hurt you, and I am so sorry that I made you feel like I didn't love you and made you scared to stay with me."
"I had nothing to be afraid of though. It's my fault," he says frustrated, feeling like he's suddenly about to break into sobs. He's cried over this already, and still it feels like it's like a weight he carries. His heart aches with the fear that they will never get back to where they had been before Emma, before the curse broke.
"Oh Henry," Regina reaches for Henry's hand and gives it a tight squeeze. "You did nothing wrong. I promise you that. And you helped me change in so many ways. It's not your responsibility to take care of me, but I want you to know that loving you is why I changed. You taught me what love was, you showed me how to open up my heart again. From the first moment I held you in my arms, I loved you with my whole heart. Being your mother is the best thing I've done in my life."
"I love you, and I can't imagine having a better mom," Henry says, his eyes trained on Regina's. Her heart is racing at how her son is looking at her with so much love and regret. She gave him the mother he asked for, the mother he insisted was better than Regina ever could be. She gave them the perfect life together. Henry had that, and still he's here with Regina.
"And I can't imagine having a better son," Regina says, smiling at Henry and laying a hand on his cheek. "We're ok now. I promise you that. You have nothing to be sorry for, and I am going to be the mother you need me to be."
"You always have been," Henry tells her. "I was happy when I was little, and I'm happy now. And I know we got lost in the middle, but we're ok now, right?"
Regina smiles, because Henry is here and he still wants her to be his mother. She feels giddy with it, her smile growing, lighting up her whole face. "Oh we are more than ok my little prince. We are perfect. The same perfect team we've always been." And then Henry's smile is mirroring hers, and he looks lighter and unburdened. She did that, made it better for him. It's all she wants, all she's wanted since the moment she first held him.
"I made you go on so many silly operations with me," Henry says, overwhelmed now by how much love and happiness he can remember from his childhood. How had he ever let himself forget. "Remember Operation Flying Ice Cream?"
"And Operation Spooky Chipmunk," Regina adds, unable to keep a grin off her face at the recollection of five year old Henry's obsession with the chipmunk that lived in their backyard. "I loved every mission and every minute with you Henry. Never doubt that."
"I don't Mom. I promise."
"Then we are perfect," Regina tells Henry.
Henry smiles at Regina, and she marvels at how his chubby cheeks have given way to the face of a young man. "I am so proud of you," Regina tells him, brushing his hair back from his eyes. "You've become such a mature, incredible young man."
"I'm not that old," Henry says, because for a moment he feels his chest ache with the realization that he is growing and things are changing even as he tries to get back everything he had with his mom.
"You will always be my little prince no matter how old you are. My beautiful baby boy."
Henry looks at his mom, and he understands that they are both afraid and relieved and happy all at the same time. And he just wants to make her smile and convince both of them that everything is all right. So he wraps his arms around her, and for a few minutes he rests his head on his mom's shoulder and takes in the familiar feeling.
"My sweet boy," Regina whispers against her son's hair. He looks up at her, his eyes a little wet, and she pulls him in against her side. Henry rests his head on Regina's shoulder and closes his eyes. Regina watches Henry, marveling at how content he seems to be here with her.
The sight in front of Regina when she walks into the dining room holding a pan of lasagna takes her breath away.
Roland is sitting on Robin's lap,fresh from his bath and wearing flannel pajamas and a terrycloth robe that once belonged to Henry. Henry is sitting across the table from them and is engaged in an animated conversation with Robin.
"Maybe it isn't magic," Henry suggests. "Maybe it's just global warming."
"Global warming?" Robin asks. "How would that make it snow? Seems more like global cooling to me."
Regina smiles as she walks more slowly into the room, wanting to take in the scene before her, easy, normal dinner table conversation. They look like a family. Her family.
"No, we learned about it in science class," Henry informs Robin, "Global warming can cause all kinds of crazy weather stuff."
Regina chuckles at the confused expression on Robin's face.
He turns at the sound of her laughter. "Thank you," Robin says when Regina sets the dish on the table. "Are you certain we can't help?"
"There's nothing else to do but eat."
Robin smiles at Regina as she sits down next to him, and that smile still makes Regina feel so warm and filled with joy.
Roland slides off Robin's lap to return to his seat and grab his plate. Robin intervenes as Roland reaches for the serving spoon. "Let my help you my boy," he says, taking the plate from Roland's hand and dishing out pasta and roasted vegetables.
"Ew Papa. I don't want vegetables."
"But you need them to grow big and strong," Robin informs his son, setting the plate down in front of him. Roland frowns at his plate for a moment, before ignoring the vegetables and digging into the lasagna.
Robin reaches his hand out to take Henry's plate. "Thanks Robin. Can I have extra veggies?"
Roland's eyes light up. "You can have mine!"
"Pretty sure your dad wants you to eat those. Besides they're delicious."
"That's not true," Roland insists. "Vegetables are yucky."
"Not these," Henry says taking his plate back from Robin. "Thanks."
Roland picks up a a roasted carrot on his fork, eyeing it suspiciously, before nibbling at the edge of the carrot.
Robin exchanges a grin with Regina as they watch the boy's antics.
"Can you even taste it like that?" Robin asks.
"Mmhmm," Roland says, scrunching up his nose. "And I don't like it."
Henry takes a break from shoveling vegetables in his mouth to look up at Roland. "That's ok, you can help my mom cook next time. We invented this recipe together, because it was my favorite."
Regina laughs. "If by favorite, you mean the only way I could get you to eat vegetables, then yes that's right sweetheart."
Henry sticks out his tongue teasingly at Regina, who grins then sticks her tongue out at him in reply.
Robin watches the exchange, loves seeing Regina like this, reunited with her son and so happy and free with him. This woman with her walls down is so different from the woman he first met, and he loves her all the more for seeing each facet of her.
Regina grins at Henry again, can't stop smiling at her boy, before turning to Roland. "Tomorrow you should definitely cook with me. I bet we can find a vegetable recipe you'll like."
"No you can't," Roland insists.
"I like a challenge," Regina says raising an eyebrow at the boy. "It took Henry and me weeks to find this one. I don't give up."
Roland giggles at Regina's serious expression then goes back to his lasagna.
Robin reaches out to take Regina's hand. He loves this little family they're forming, wants to spend every night at this table. He wants so much to get to know Henry and to watch Regina and Roland grow to love each other more each day. Robin wants this to be his forever. He thinks that it can be as Regina stares back at him with the same contentment and joy in her eyes that he feels.