Hey, all... Sorry this took so long to get to you... I break promises. I was trapped without internet all week. Anyway, 11, 12 and 13 were all one big chapter but I split them up as best I could. Happy reading! -DR

11.

"So get this shit," Regina said while slamming her bag down onto the coffee table.

Robin looked up to see her palms flat on the wooden surface, and her body leaning towards him. With his eyebrows high, he placed a sheet of paper in between the pages of the book in his hand and laid it on the table. "What happened?"

"Sydney is an idiot, I swear he is a moron and he needs his ass kicked." She huffed.

"Calm down Darling, tell it from the beginning." He said softly while pushing the closed book further away from him.

"Emma made a surprise appearance in my office today." She jerked her jacket from her arms and took it to the pole by the door. Bending down, she slipped her shoes off and walked, barefooted, back to the table.

"Oh?"

"Mhm. I thought she wanted to talk but she had other plans."

"Good plans?"

"She took me right there in my office, Robin… Shocked me all to hell… And I was so surprised and excited that I physically could not tell her no."

"Good plan indeed," he smiled. "Speaking of our dearest little swan… when should we be expecting her?"

"Seven," she said flatly before looking up to the clock. "That gives me two hours or so to shower and get the food cooked."

"Lasagna then?"

"That was the general plan, yes." She slammed one hand on the counter-top and brought the other to rest on her hip. "Is that a problem?"

"Of course not, I love your lasagna… It's like cocaine… You think it might be a bad idea when it is presented in front of you but you give it a go anyway and by the time you think you shouldn't have, it's too late and you just need more and more of it to survive." He said sarcastically.

"Cute."

"I know I am, Darling. Now… Sydney."

"That idiot," she sighed. Walking to the reflective silver paneled refrigerator, she jerked the door open and began pulling items out and throwing the on the counter. "Emma had just finished me off and I had less than thirty seconds to breathe before that worm started pounding on my door, demanding I open up."

"So you still haven't got to top her yet?!"

"No! I had literally just planned out how to approach it without getting shot down again when his snake of a voice slithered into my office."

"Poor dear."

"I'm doing my best here. Anyway…" She slammed the door closed. "I stalled him long enough to pull my clothes back into place and regain my composure… I told him that I was busy and do you know what that imbecile did? Do you know what he did?!"

"What did he do?" He asked, rolling his eyes at her back.

She slid a large wooden cutting board onto the counter before turning to her husband. Her eyes were crazed and the vein in the center of her forehead began to rise. "He opened my fucking door!"

"No he didn't!" He gasped.

"Oh yes he did, Robin! And poor Emma had just made it to her seat. She just sat there looking innocent. It was well played on her part… Now, if only my office didn't reek of sex…"

"So he caught you?"

"Of course not; he is a moron... A legitimate moron; he wouldn't know the smell of sex if it grew limbs, crawled up on his shoulder and introduced itself." She said with a straight face.

Robin choked back a laugh, having seen how serious her features were. He watched in silence as she dug vegetables from their bags and rinsed them in the sink. "So what did he want?" He finally asked after a few minutes of watching her gears grind.

"He waited outside my office until Emma left and then requested my company in his office… his office. Robin, my panties were lying under my desk… I sat in his fancy-ass office… that I got him, let's not forget…"

"How could we ever forget that?" he mumbled.

"I sat in his office for an hour on my soggy… nevermind. Anyway, I got to sit there and listen to him bitch about being professional and how he has heard that I have been talking negatively about him to the other members of the staff." She tossed dripping wet peppers into a large bowl and scooted it across the marble top.

"And you said what?"

She stared at him, wearing a look of disbelief. "What do you think I said?!"

"Well I don't know…"

"I told him everything I have said about him. I told him that he is far too big for the shoes he thinks he has to fill and that he was overdoing himself. I thought he would die when I told him that he has no right at all to tell any other staff member how they should look or dress or how he thinks they should run their classes."

"Good god Regina," he laughed.

"Oh, it gets better." She said, holding her hand up. "He threatened to report me to the board."

"The board eh?"

"The poor fool has no idea that I happen to be the second seat on the disciplinary board." She laughed devilishly, drawing a knife from the block sitting by the sink. "He honestly thinks that he has some kind of power over me."

"So then what happened?"

"I told him, I said, you go right ahead, you ignorant little fool because I'll have your head on a chopping block so fast that you wouldn't even have time enough to clinch your ass cheeks in front of that board before I have you fired… I pointed my finger right up his nose and said You obviously have no idea who you are messing with, Mr. Glass and you have no idea what I am capable of. But you go right ahead and report me… you might want to have your office packed up before you do though." She snapped her fingers at her husband.

"Please tell me you used that phrasing."

"Verbatim," she nodded.

"OH! I love you!" He snorted, leaning back in his seat. "What did he say to that?"

"He stuttered something about respecting his rank. I am not quite certain… I strutted away in fine diva fashion before he let out his first word in response."

"Oh Darling," he sighed, still half laughing. "We really should work of your people skills."

"I have no problem communicating my thoughts."

"I am all too aware." He stood up and walked over to where she stood, surrounded by raw vegetables. "How about you go cool off, take a dip, and I'll do this," he said softly while pulling the knife from her fist.

"I don't let you cook when it's just us, why would I let you cook when I have someone to impress?" she scoffed. Aggressively, she threw a box of flat noodles onto the counter, sending shards of them in every direction.

"Fine, I will just set it all in the fridge and you can finish when you aren't a ticking time bomb."

"Fine!" She huffed. "I'll be down in a bit. You don't have to put anything away, just don't touch it… don't touch anything! It will be fine… on second thought… put the meat away, I may be a while."

"Well okay then," he chuckled, watching her practically run out of the kitchen and disappear. Standing perfectly still, he could hear her stomping up the stairs at the back of the house. "I do love that woman," he laughed, throwing the tray of ground meat onto a shelf.

#

"Okay so do I want to park in front of her house on the street or do I want to park at the shop and walk down?" Emma asked herself while sitting at the agonizingly slow light at the end of her street. "If I walk down, people will see me… but people will see me parked outside too… I do drive the only old yellow bug around here…" she tapped her fingers on the steering wheel and watched the cars pass in front of her. Looking down at her dash clock, she shook her head. "I'm more than an hour early… damn it," she huffed.

Punching a few buttons on her dashboard, loud music began vibrating the whole car.

If you ever get close to a human and human behavior
Be ready, be ready to get confused and be in my head after
There's definitely, definitely, definitely no logic to human behavior
But yet so, yet so irresistible and me and my fear can…

"Oh Bjork, you are my only love," she said, looking down at her radio.

As she turned the corner onto Regina's road, she slowed her speed and looked around. "Well, no one is out and about," she decided while turning down the music. Looking around one final time, she slowly crept up in front of the large red-brick home. Kicking her shift into park, she jerked the keys from the ignition and leaned back in her seat. After taking a deep breath, she popped the door open and got out before she could change her mind.

Slowly she strolled up the creek-stone walkway leading up to the solid, white door. She thumped her fist on the cool wood before turning away quickly. She could feel the temperature rising in her face. Damn it woman, pull yourself together… It's just dinner…. With her family… after you fucked her in her office just hours ago… no big deal…

"Well, someone is ahead of schedule," Robin said warmly. "I can appreciate that."

Turning around, she saw that he was leaning casually against the frame wile resting his hand lightly on the edge of the door. She noticed the way his hair was parted perfectly down the middle and that it fell neatly to both sides of his forehead. Looking him up and down, she admired the way his sleeves were tight around his muscular arms. She almost shook her head at the sight of his argyle print dress socks. Stereotypical.

"Yea, sorry," she said, looking up at him. "I can come back if you want, it's cool."

"Nonsense. Come in, silly girl," he smiled, pushing the door wide open. "But please, take your shoes off… I just had the carpets cleaned."

"Sure," she whispered, sliding her feet from her shoes. As she looked up, she was oddly aware that her mouth had fallen open slightly but she was too distracted to do anything about it. She stared up at the obnoxiously tall ceiling above her. A giant glass chandelier hung loosely in the middle of the hallway she was facing.

"Haven't you been here before?" He asked, watching her look around.

"Uh… yea. But I was pretty out of it that night… I don't think I even looked around at anything," she said, still looking around. "This place is beautiful."

"Well thank you. We remodeled it ourselves."

"It's pretty amazing… Seriously like, it looks so small from outside… and this wood… what is this?" She walked over to a corner panel and ran her fingers down it. "padauk?"

"Very nicely guessed," he smiled.

"Thought so. Mother of the winged fruit… This stuff is really expensive…it's from Africa… You hardly ever see this stuff used as interior paneling," she said, turning.

He stood here, staring at her with a slack jaw. "I am impressed that you even know what you're saying."

"I work with all kinds of materials. And I have quite a few bonsai trees. I love nature and around here… there isn't a lot of variation so I made my own." She said dreamily.

"You are very interesting indeed, Miss Swan."

"Eh. I do my best," she shrugged.

"Well, Regina is still in the bath and she hasn't started preparing supper yet but you are more than welcome to wait in the kitchen."

"Sure," she nodded, following him down the hall.

When they made it into the kitchen, she was in awe yet again. "Wait, wait." She shook her hands.

"What is it?"

"Your hallways are padauk but you have mahogany cabinets… And marble tops?" She asked, running her hands across the counter space.

"Yes?" He looked at her sideways. "Why is that surprising?"

"Do you realize how dense that wood is? I'm surprised that those cabinets are still hanging on the wall…"

"They are set into the brick behind the drywall… This place is pretty much a fallout shelter." He laughed.

"What the hell do you do for a living?" She rounded on him, leaning her hip against the island.

"Well… I was a lawyer… I'm great with money, Regina too… but now I write grants for different places. I have a contract with the university so…"

"That's cool."

"I also do interior design work as freelance."

"I never would have guessed that." She smiled, looking into the sitting room. A thick red and silver curtain took up a good majority of one white wall, opposite the large, red plush furniture. In between the rooms was a light wood, round dining table with matching chairs. "She said that you had better taste than she did."

"That's no lie." He chuckled. "I coordinated everything based on her favorite colors… She loved it."

"Oh I'm sure. So far, this place is just to die for," she smiled.

"Well, it was a- hey, I'm really sorry that I got you pregnant, let me smother you with the finest things in life kind of thing."

"I see."

"Not really," he smiled, nudging her with his arm. "She did most of this. I just paid for the place. She is too classy for words but I have the sense to know what works together and what doesn't"

"Speaking of pregnant… where are the kids hiding?" She asked, looking around.

"They won't be around for a bit… Belle has them until seven or so."

"Why?"

"Full of questions… Well, she is the nanny, you could say. But really, the boys love her to pieces. She and I have been friends for ages… she saved me from a dark moment of my life… many, many years ago. She is the boys' god mother."

"That's interesting… she isn't that much older than I am… how old are you?" She asked, cocking a brow.

Dramatically, Robin brought a hand to his chest. "A lady never tells." He spoke in a high, femme voice.

"Oh course not." She laughed.

"I am old enough, Dear but age is just a number… it is about how you feel… not when you were born so, for the sake of my physical and mental health… I must decline you a response."

"Fine, fine," Emma smiled. "So… what's for dinner?" She asked looking at the array of things set out on the counter top.

"Lasagna… her specialty."

"Oh. That's cool."

"Is that an issue?"

"Nope. I haven't had lasagna in years. Like, literally years… Anyway, do you think she would mind if I started cutting stuff up?"

"Why on earth would you…?" He started at her. "She specifically told me not to touch it… So, you could probably get away with it," he winked.

"I hate standing around making pleasant chit-chat. And, I can get away with just about anything." She smiled, stepping over to examine what she had to work with. "So, it looks like there are some peppers, onions and tomatoes out here… So… this should be interesting…"

"Oh? And you are doing what?"

"Okay, here is the deal… I'm going to raid your kitchen and find some things to make into a side dish." She said firmly, looking up at him.

"Do you cook?"

"I wanted to cook for a living… but not on a line. So, yes… I can cook… quite well."

"Well, Darling, you have maybe another fifteen minutes before she comes down the stairs so I would suggest you work quickly… you are welcome to use anything that you see," he said, leaning back on his hands.

"You got it, bub." She began swinging open all the doors to the cabinets and then she moved to the refrigerator. She dug out a hand full of carrots, a heap of sweet peas, three ears of corn and a zucchini. "Where do you guys shop? This stuff looks great." She said, rolling the vegetables across the counter.

"We like to go to the farmer's market in town… organic produce is the best way to go."

"See, I have always wanted to go there but I can never find the damn thing… I need a skillet and a sauce pan."

"Under the stove… It's a nice place really, it's behind the old courthouse."

She filled the saucepan with water and threw it on the stove before taking up the knife that had been sitting on the counter. "Thaaats why I can never find it… I never go down that far… well, now I know."

Robin watched the blonde fly through cutting all the carrots into strips. She threw them all in the warm skillet and went back to the refrigerator. "Eww. All you have is margarine? Don't you know that shit is poison?" She whined, holding the deep yellow brick.

"Butter is in the tub, second shelf."

"Oh. Well." She smiled, grabbing the tub and dropping a spoon full of pale, sweet butter into the flat, silver pan.

She diced an onion and threw it in top of the carrots before skinning all the kernels from the ears of corn and throwing them in as well. "Lid?"

"Under the stove Darling." He watched her pop the glass lid down on the skillet before turning to the thick, dark green zucchini. "Where did you learn to cook?" he asked, laying across the counter top like a cat.

"I uh… well… I left home when I was pretty young… I was in the foster care system and the folks I was living with could hardly support the other girls they had so I split and let them keep my check to feed them… I just kind of picked up on cooking… Takes my mind off the real word." She said quietly.

"Like books?" He asked before he could stop himself.

She looked up at him with furrowed brows, "Yes… like books…"

"She told me."

"I'm not surprised by that," she said, pushing green and white disks into the boiling sauce pan. "I mean, I feel a little awkward but not surprised."

"Just assume that anything that you would tell your dear friend Ruby, Regina would tell me," he smiled.

"Well, that makes me feel better," she scoffed, turning pink-faced.

Emma shook her head and grabbed a large bowl from the open cabinet. Filling it with cold water and a few ice cubes, she then leaned her back against the counter and sighed audibly.

"Don't let it weigh on you too much, we have been together for a good long while and I have to say… you are the first."

"What?"

"She tells me of her one night stands with various women but you… you are the first that she has actually allowed into our home for reasons other than a sexual encounter," he said softly.

"Hmm." Using a slotted spoon, she dug the zucchini from the pan and set them into the cold water before poking around in the skillet. "Well… that's cool, I guess."

On the outside, Emma looked clearly lost in thought. On the inside, she was losing it. Does that mean that she wants a relationship then? I mean… here I go, meeting the family, cooking food… in their kitchen. Jesus. What does it mean? I'll just ask her when I get the chance. Yup… I'll ask her.