"Belle!" Lily yelled as she entered the hospital room. She ran to the bed but couldn't get on it, Rumple helped her and Lily hugged Belle as much as her tiny hands allowed her to. "I missed you so much!" Lily said and then turned to Rumple. "You too!" Lily said and hugged him too.
"We missed you too, little one." Rumple said and took Lily in his lap.
"How are you?" Regina asked, concerned.
"I'm fine, well, better, anyway. Thank you for coming." Belle said and hugged Regina.
"Anytime." Regina said and sat on the edge of the bed.
"How's Zelena?"
"Good... She's worried about you... And, also, she promised Lily that she'd take her in Disneyland."
"There's the Zelena we all know and love." Belle commented and they both chuckled lightly. It was true, ever since Lily was born, Zelena took the role of the cool aunt really seriously, she'd buy Lily everything she wanted, took her to places, and she'd spoil Lily enough for the both of them. Regina wasn't a bad mother, she'd buy Lily what she wanted or stay with her in the park for fifteen minutes longer but she also made sure that Lily knows what 'no' means and that she won't get what she wants by throwing temper tantrums or by crying and screaming.
After a while, they heard a knock on the door.
"That's probably The Charmings." Belle said and soon Snow, Charming and Neal entered.
"Oh, sorry, we didn't know you had guests." They couldn't see Regina's face, only her back. Regina turned around and was greeted with a shocked expression on Snow's face. Snow first glanced at Regina, and then at Lily and then back at Regina.
"She's... You're..." Snow couldn't finish the sentence.
"She is my daughter, and I am here to stay until Belle gets better... And staring is rude." Regina said, getting annoyed.
"Right, sorry." Snow said and went closer to the bed to greet Belle. Little Neal went to Rumple and he tugged Lily's sleeve.
"Hi, I'm Neal... I'm a prince!" He said in greet.
"Hi, I'm Lily... And mommy says I'm a princess! And everyone else calls me the little one or... well, princess." Lily said matter-of-factly.
"Do you wanna play with me?" Neal asked.
"Yes!" Lily answered and they went and sat on a couch.
"Daddy!" Neal called.
"Yeah, buddy?" David asked, getting closer to the kids.
"This is Lily. Lily, this is my dad." Neal said and David sat on the couch next to them.
"Hi, Lily, it's lovely to meet you."
"I don't have a dad." Regina, hearing these words and how sad she sounded, was by Lily's side in less then a second.
"Lil... Do you need a dad? Are you not happy with me and your aunt?" Regina asked, over thinking the decision of not telling Robin, what if keeping him from Lily only ends up hurting Lily?
"No, I am very happy! I love you! And my aunt!" Lily answered. She was only three, she didn't understand why everyone had a dad and she didn't but she knew that her mother loved her and would do anything for her.
"You know what? You don't need a dad." David said, deciding to interfere. "I didn't have a dad, either. It was just me and my mother. And I turned out okay, I became a knight and then I married a princess, that's her," he pointed at Snow who smiled at them, "and my point is that yes, children who have a father and a mother are lucky, but we're lucky too, because we have our mothers."
"So, it's okay if I don't have a dad?" Lily said looking up to him.
"It's okay, munchkin." David said and then Lily went to him and hugged her. Regina caught his eye and mouthed a silent 'thank you'.
Regina went back to her place on the bed, once she was sure that Lily'd be okay.
"She's going to be fine." Belle said, recognising the sad look Regina tried to hide.
"She's three, she's three and she's wondering why she doesn't have a father. No three year old should go through that." Regina said not looking up to her or to Snow.
"Regina... You are doing a great job raising her, you've been through this before... with Henry."
"Yes, and look how well that turned out." Regina said sarcastically.
"You've done incredible job raising Henry, he's this smart, amazing boy because of you." Snow said.
"Let's not discuss this anymore." Regina said in a tone that meant that it was not for discussion.
The morning went good, the kids and David played together while Belle, Regina and Snow were catching up and Rumple had a much-needed sleep.
The knock on the door surprised them all, after a 'Come in' from Belle, on the other side of the door were none other but Robin Hood and Little John.
"Robin... What... What are you doing here?" Regina asked. "Little John! It's so good to see you again!" Little John was one of the Merry Man that Regina actually liked, sometimes, during the year they spent in The Enchanted Forest, he'd talk to her when he'd notice she was lonely or nervous or just feeling down, he was also one of the few who supported her relationship with Robin.
"It's good to see you too, Regina." Little John said and hugged her. Normally, she didn't like to be hugged, she'd tense at the contact but she hasn't seen any of these people in over three years.
"Robin, what are you doing here?" She asked, positioning herself to protect Lily and Neal who were on the couch, she knew he wouldn't hurt them but then, again it's been three years since she last saw him.
"I came to check on Belle, but, now that you're here, we really need to talk."
"No, we don't." Regina answered and started to move, possibly to be able to transport herself via magic or just go through the door.
"I am not letting you disappear again!" Robin said furiously and grabbed her wrist. That motion put everyone in a state of panic, Charming and Snow stood behind Regina to show that they'd protect her and Rumplestilskin stood beside Regina, magic gathering on the beginning of his fingerprints.
"Let go." Rumple warned, his voice dangerously low.
"Dammit, Regina! I don't want to keep losing you! First, in The Enchanted Forest, we were fine at the beginning but then you were ready to bite off my head! Then, we get here and you run away into a different town! Then, last night... I just want to talk to you..." Robin said, his voice breaking as he got near the end. He loosened his grip on her wrist, but was still holding it.
"Fine... But not here... Snow, Charming, can you watch Lily?" Regina said, not breaking eye contact with Robin, it felt good to look into his eyes again, they were still clear blue, they were still soft, warm and inviting, the only thing different about them was that now there was so much sadness in them.
At affirmative responses from them and Rumple going back to the chair near the end. "Wait... Belle, you and her have similar opinions on Robin, what do you think she'd want me to do?" Regina said, breaking the intense eye-contact with Robin an turning around so that she could take a look at the young librarian.
"I don't know what she'd tell you, probably to have an honest conversation with him... And, Robin, if there's a hair missing on her head, the mysterious her, that means very much to Regina, and I have planned your murder multiple times and we could definitely not get caught. Do you understand?" Belle said, referring to the conversations she and Zelena had whenever one of them had a bad day, they did it for humour and fun... well, most of the time anyway.
"Is it strange that I don't even doubt that?" Regina asked to no one in particular. "Hey! Darling, you have to answer her, otherwise she won't let us go." Regina said to Robin not realising that she called him 'darling' until she heard it. "Sorry." Regina mumbled.
"I understand, Belle." And with that Regina took his hand, the one he was holding her wrist with, in hers. "Hold tight." Regina said and they disappeared, purple smoke rounding them.
Okay, I'm sorry for not updating this sooner, but my computer's broken, and all of my writing has been destroyed, so I just finished writing this and I wanted it up as soon as possible. Also, I should be getting my computer tomorrow and I'm alone for the weekend (YAY, finally) so I'll definitely write more and the updates should get more regular(once a week... on Wednesdays)... And review, please. (Reviews get me to write). Enjoy your weekend! -K