I don't even know when the last time I updated this was, I am slightly ashamed at how slowly I have been updating lately, but I promise to try and update quicker now, even though Uni starts in a couple of weeks, so that probably isn't going to happen. *hides in corner

Anyway, I hope you like the chapter. :D xoxox

She stared at him with wide eyes, she was in shock, what was actually happening? Looking down to the box she saw the ring sat in the plush velvet cushion, it was beautiful she had to admit but he had taken her by complete surprise with his question, "marry you?" she breathed. She didn't know how to answer, part of her wanted to scream yes and allow him to sweep her off her feet, but the other part of her wanted to run, to move away from him and give him his life back, let him enjoy his younger years whilst he still had them without being tied down to her. "Marry you?"

"Yes," he grinned, "don't leave me hanging," he stated awkwardly, looking down at his feet before meeting her eyes again, a hopeful look in his own, "Regina?"

"I don't know," she whispered playing with the duvet, "I mean we haven't really talked about the idea of…"

"You're having my baby Gina I kinda thought it was obvious," he joked, flashing her a smile as he sat down on the edge of the bed and placed the ring box on her bedside table, "you don't have to give me an answer right now, but I want you to promise me that you will think about it."

"Robin…"

"Just think about it," he kissed her cheek before standing up and picking his jeans up from a nearby chair.

"Where are you going?" she asked looking at him in alarm.

"I'm giving you some space, I don't want to force you into anything and I think going back to my place is the best thing for us right now."

"Don't go Robin," she whispered. She didn't want him to leave, she wanted him to stay and hold her all night, for him to comfort her and tell her that everything was going to be alright and he was going to protect both her and the baby.

"Regina, I have a lecture in the morning anyway, so I think it is probably for the best that I go," he pulled a shirt over his head and moved back over to her pressing a kiss to her lips, "sleep well," he smiled, his hand dropping to her bump as he rubbed it gently, "you too little one, go easy on your mommy for me, I love you both very much."

"Do you have to leave?" she breathed, her hand finding his as she played with his fingers gently. She had changed her mind quite drastically, before he had pulled the ring out she had been about to tell him that they had to go back to what they were before this weekend, that they couldn't risk getting caught, but now she just wanted him to stay with her.

"I think we both know the answer to that," with one last kiss to her forehead Robin picked up his duffel bag and headed out of the room. She sighed as he closed the door behind him and picked up the box that he had left her on the bedside table, she looked at the ring and smiled, tracing the diamond that was embedded into the band. It was perfect, not too big and not too small, just the right size for her. She took it out of the box to get a closer look at it, biting her bottom lip as she toyed with the silver band and noticing an engraving on the inside.

Love is strength

Sighing she placed it back into the box and put it where Robin had left it before lying her head down on her pillow one hand coming to rest on her bump as she shut her eyes and tried to get to sleep.

After what seemed like hours of her just lying there she gave in and shuffled out of bed, grabbing her robe from the back of her door as she opened it carefully and peered out into the living room. She saw that the desk lamp on the coffee table was switched on and her mother had her glasses perched on the edge of her nose as she read a book. It reminded Regina of herself and she smiled fondly leaning against the wall.

As if she sensed her, Cora looked up from the sofa bed and smiled at her, "are you okay dear?"

"Isn't it a little late to be up?" Regina asked, walking further into the room and going to get a glass of water from the kitchen, still looking at her mother as she did.

"I couldn't put my book down," her mother chuckled, "I saw Robin left a few hours ago."

"Yes, he has an early start in the morning and didn't want to wake me, plus he didn't have many clean clothes here with him so it would save him having to go home in the morning," she sighed.

"Are you okay?" Cora furrowed her eyebrows and Regina felt her bottom lip tremble as she looked at her, she felt like a teenager who was scared and confused, not a thirty-one-year-old woman who was scared and confused.

She nodded and took a deep breath, "yes, I'm fine, I just couldn't sleep that's all."

Cora moved the side of her duvet and Regina smiled before moving over and putting her drink down on the coffee table. She slipped under the covers with her mother who hugged her lovingly playing with her hair, "something's wrong isn't it," the older woman sighed, "tell me."

"Robin proposed," she whispered, staring straight ahead as she felt her mother tuck her hair behind her ear.

"Did you say no? Is that why he left?" Cora questioned and Regina simply shook her head in return, "what was your answer then?"

"I didn't give him one, I didn't know what to say or to think," she confessed, thinking that the last person she ever thought she would be confiding in over something like this would be her mother. In fact, she couldn't remember the last time they had engaged like this, the last time she had gone to her about anything but here she was doing exactly that and it was probably because her mother was the only one who knew about Robin, who had actually met him. Sure, she didn't know exactly who he was to Regina in a professional manner, but she didn't need to know that part.

"Well what was your first thought when he asked you?"

She looked down at her hands and played with the quilt, "I wanted to say yes," she breathed.

"Then I think you should do that, you should do what you want to do, what's going to make you happy, after all he is the father of your child Regina I think you have already been catapulted together in the most binding way two people can be."

"You mean you approve? Of a guy I'm dating?" Regina joked casting her mother a cheeky smile.

"I didn't expect to either but yes, he seems good for you, as though he will take care of you and your child. He's smart and as far as I can see probably has a bright career and future ahead of him."

"Thank you for saying that," Regina whispered, hugging her mother as close as she could with her baby bump in the way, "you have no idea how much your approval matters to me."

"What are you afraid of if you say yes?"

"Oh, quite a lot," she sighed shaking her head, "I've seen first hand how marriage can crash and burn and I don't want to bring my child up in a world where her parents stay together and miserable for her sake."

"Are you talking about your father and I?"

"Was I that obvious?" she smirked.

"Yes, but we weren't always miserable Regina, somewhere along the line we just fell out of love with one another, we couldn't help it, it just happened, but we had our good times and I wouldn't trade them for anything, I wouldn't trade my marriage with your father for anything because I got you, he gave me you and I will always love him for that."

"I just love Robin so much and I don't want to lose him by taking this step before he's ready for it, I don't want him having to be tied down to me," she sighed.

"Did you ever consider that he might want to be tied down to you and that is the reason he asked you to marry him in the first place."

"You don't think he's doing it just for the baby?" Regina asked worriedly, that notion had often gone through her mind, what if the only reason Robin was staying with her was because she was carrying his child. Would they be together like this if she wasn't pregnant with his baby or would they have simply maintained a professional student teacher relationship?

"I've seen the way he looks at you darling," Cora smiled shaking her head, "and that man is head over heels in love with you and I think that is probably what scares you more than anything, am I right? I think deep down you know how much he loves you and you're scared that it's too powerful to last."

"I think you might be right," she shrugged, "I just don't want to go wrong, I want to make sure that what I decide is right."

"What reason do you have that it would be wrong?"

He was her student? She was his teacher? Did her mother need anymore? Regina knew she couldn't give those reasons, but without them, she didn't have any, there weren't any reasons other than that, so remove their occupations and what was left was the perfect relationship, one she wanted more than anything to be a part of. She wanted to marry him. "I guess I don't have any," she whispered, "I should have said yes, I shouldn't have let him leave," she ran her hands over her face in despair, what was she thinking letting him leave like that after he had asked her such an important question? The least he deserved was an answer.

"I think he knows that you're scared Regina, he'll understand."

"I hope so." She didn't know when her mother had changed her opinion and outlook so drastically but she really wasn't complaining. Maybe it had happened when she had been lost in her own mind during both the journey to and from the restaurant and Cora had been left talking to Robin. He had clearly said something to get her to like him, he must have ticked all the boxes on that invisible list her mother kept to check whether guys were good enough for her daughter.

"He will, now I think you need to get some sleep," Cora stated, still gently playing with the ends of Regina's raven locks, "do you have to go into work tomorrow?"

"Yes," she nodded, "in the afternoon, my morning class are first years and they've gone on a field trip which I would usually have gone on, but my seniors have a deadline coming up and I felt that I should focus more on them," she yawned her eyes closing as she felt sleep grasping at her.

"Good decision. Now, sleep my darling, you can think about all this that is going on with Robin tomorrow when you are in a better state."

"Yes, you're right," she breathed, snuggling further into the mattress, it wasn't as comfy as the one in her bedroom but she didn't want to sleep alone tonight. She opened her eyes and glanced at her mother who simply turned the light off and lay down next to her, "night mom," Regina whispered.

"Good night Regina."

Regina groaned and turned stretching out her limbs as her hands came to rest on her bump, she caressed it slowly for a couple of seconds before running her hands over her face and wiping the sleep from her eyes. She was tired and aching, but the smell of coffee was wafting through the air and she turned her head as she opened her eyes and remembered that she was in the sitting room on the pull-out bed. She spotted her mother in the kitchen and realised that she must be making herself a cup of coffee, Regina just wished she could still drink the stuff, but she wasn't allowed, caffeine during pregnancy was a no and decaf was hideous.

Her mother seemed to sense that she had woken up because she turned from the coffee machine to look at her, "good morning, how did you sleep?" she asked, coming over with the drink in her hands as well as a glass of water. She sat on the edge of the bed and passed the water to Regina, Regina took it, not having realised how much she needed something to drink until that moment

She sipped the water and nodded, "it was fine thank you. How about you?"

"Yes, fine," she agreed, "it has been quite a while since I've had my little girl climb into bed with me though," Cora laughed and Regina shook her head.

"Sorry, I should have gone back to my own bed, I just…"

"Regina I didn't say that I minded, you're my daughter, it just made me miss the times when you were younger and you'd had a nightmare or there was a storm and you would come into our room and curl up between us."

Regina smiled at the memory, she had remembered doing things like that, she would make herself so small, one hand clinging onto her mother and the other onto her father as though they were going to protect her from all the evils in the world, she missed that feeling as much as her mother did, but now she had someone else whose job it was to do all those things, Robin and soon they would have their son or daughter who would look to them for protection and she would protect her baby with her life.

After her mother made sure that she ate her healthy breakfast, Regina headed into her room to get ready for the day, she was going into work early to catch up on some paperwork considering she hadn't really done any over the weekend, she had been far too busy, both with her mother and with Robin, so she felt as though she needed to make up for it.

She opened her wardrobe and took out a pair of black dressy trousers which had a disguised elastic waistband ideal for her pregnancy, she had ordered them online when she was sick and tired of wearing ugly baggy clothes to hide her bump. Now that people knew she was embracing it fully, she paired the pants with a red silk shirt, also from the maternity range, then finished the look with one of her black suit jackets.

She had just finished her hair and makeup when the box on her bedside table caught her attention. Sighing she stood and picked the box up, taking the ring out she looked at it for a couple of seconds before deciding to slip it on her finger. It fit perfectly and looked as though it belonged there, which it did because he had bought it for her. She smiled and brought it to her lips, kissing the diamond before putting the empty box back down and grabbing her bag.

She was all set to get go to work, she just hoped that her mother wouldn't cause much trouble whilst she was gone. She said that she was going out shopping, what harm could that cause? She just hoped she wouldn't come home to find her whole apartment changed around, her mother tended to move pieces of furniture, deciding that they might look better in a different position, but she didn't want anything to move, she liked it the way it was.

"Mom, I'm going to work now, do you want a ride into town?"

"Darling, are you sure you're safe to be driving?" her mother asked as she fastened a silk scarf around her neck and straightened her jacket, "I can always drive you."

"In what car mother?" Regina laughed as she filled her flask with boiling water and allowed the tea bag to distil. She was trying a fruit tea that Robin had brought for her, she wasn't so sure it was going to be her thing but she told him that she would give it a go.

"Well, maybe I could drive your car and drop you at work and then when you're done pick you up."

"Urm, no," Regina shook her head, she didn't need to think about it, there was no way she was allowing her mother to get behind the steering wheel of her beloved Mercedes. She popped the lid onto her travel flask and turned to look at her mother.

"Regina…"

"Mom, it's my car and I think I'll be fine driving it for a couple more months yet," she argued, picking up her keys from the bowl on the side board, "but I can take you into town," she smiled as she grabbed her coat.

"Fine," Cora sighed standing and leaving the apartment with her, "how do you expect me to get back here?"

"I don't know, take a bus," Regina scoffed, locking the door behind her.

"A bus?"

"Hmm, you know the contraptions that carry people from place to place, much like a car but more social and you have a driver," she joked, "since you are used to being driven places I thought you might feel right at home there," she laughed, knowing that it was quite the opposite and that her mother had probably never been on a bus in her entire life.

"Yes I know what a bus is, but I would rather walk than subject myself to one of those vile things."

"Walk then, or just get a cab," Regina shrugged, "or if you are going to be that long I can pick you up on my way home."

"Fine."

"Right, just keep in touch with me and let me know what you are doing."

"Who is the mother in this relationship?" Cora scoffed.

"You are, but it seems that the roles are being reversed," Regina smirked as they stepped out of the lift and headed to the parking bay.

Regina moved into her lecture room and sat down behind her desk before turning on her desktop computer and opening the register for the class she would be giving later. She saw Robin's name and bit her bottom lip, she was worried, she hadn't spoken to him since the night before, he hadn't texted her or called her and she hadn't to him either. She knew he was trying to give her the space she needed to make her decision but all it was doing was getting her worked up.

With a sigh she opened the first paper she had to mark and began to read over the answer, making notes with her red biro on sections that needed adjusting and in green on ones that were particularly good and that the student should keep, before going onto the next person's paper. She was so absorbed in her marking that she didn't notice someone coming into the room until her left hand was jerked upwards causing her to let out a scream and turn her head, her reading glasses falling off her face as she did, "Zelena!" she yelled, trying to pull her hand back.

"You're engaged?" the red head asked, her eyes wide as she looked at the ring and then back to Regina.

"Yes, not that it's any of your business. Please may I have my hand back?"

"It's a pretty ring," the other woman shrugged, dropping her hand and smirking, "a little small, but it's pretty in a dainty kind of way."

"Clearly it isn't that small since you noticed it," Regina scoffed taking a sip of her tea and resisting the urge to spit it back into the cup, it really was disgusting, and now cold.

"Hmm, so are you going to show me what he looks like?"

"Why would I do that?" Regina asked boredly as she flicked the page continuing to mark and trying her best to ignore the annoying woman who had seemingly took it upon herself to sit on the edge of her desk and pick up the photo frames that were on it.

"Why don't you have a picture of him on here?" she questioned, the picture from Regina's 20 week ultrasound in her hands which had Regina defensively reaching out and taking the frame from her before stroking a finger over the picture of her baby and placing it back down.

"Would you please stop touching my things and get your butt off my desk?" she huffed swatting the red head's legs.

"You are avoiding my question. Is he ugly? Is that why you don't have his picture up?"

"No!" she spat, "he isn't ugly, I just didn't put his picture up because I didn't want nosy people like you trying to interfere in my life. You already make enough comments about the way I look and I don't want any of your disrespect directed towards my fiancé, so if you have quite finished would you just get out of my classroom!" she snapped, not meaning to shout that much, but Zelena had a way of getting to her, she was already on edge with the idea that people could find out about her and Robin as it was without Zelena butting her nose into her business and posing the risks.

"Okay, sheesh calm your boots," Zelena held her hands up and stood from the desk before walking to the door, when she reached it she turned and looked to Regina, "I was just going to say that the picture of your baby is cute."

"Thank you," Regina whispered not looking up, just wanting her to get out and leave her be. When she heard the door close she let out a sigh of relief and began marking again, she needed to get at least half of the papers done by the time she was supposed to give her lecture, she just hoped that it was going to be possible.

The students began filtering in and she was looking out for Robin, she needed to see him, needed to make sure that he was alright, but she didn't want to make it look too obvious so she simply sat at the front of class and watched the students take their seats.

She was aware of him coming into the room and looked up, he looked tired but he smiled at her none the less before sitting down, she smiled back and stood up, her hand going to her bump as she moved to the front of the class. "Good afternoon everyone," she greeted, leaning on the front of her desk, "I have read through a few of your projects and I have to say I'm rather impressed, with most that is, a few of you just aren't cutting it," she sighed shaking her head as she picked up the papers that she had in the pile of shame and slamming them down on the surface of her desk.

"And it's a shame because I know you have it in you, I know, that you all have the potential to be great historians but you aren't putting the work in, some of you think that you can get by with minor input and get major output, but that isn't how it works in this world. You can't expect to not do your best and gain the highest grades because that just isn't going to happen, I can tell from a mile off which students have given everything they could in this assignment and which have just remembered at last minute that they had to write me an essay."

"I gave you ample time to do this and every opportunity to come to me for help but no one did which means that I thought you were all okay with this assignment, please raise your hand if you were confused by the task set," she stated looking around the lecture hall and seeing a couple of hands raise here and there, but for the most part people remained still. "Very well then, the students who raised their hands please come and see me tomorrow morning and I will give you an extension and another full explanation of the task. As for the rest of you, you better hope that what you provided me with was sufficient because you will not be resubmitting this essay."

She knew that her students probably hated her, but quite frankly she wanted what was best for them, if she didn't she wouldn't have given them that opportunity to admit they didn't understand and resubmit. She expected them as seniors to know what her standards were by now, she had been teaching them for the most part of three whole years and they should know what was expected of them.

Regina looked towards Robin who was smirking at her, she shook her head, knowing that they had broken down the question when he had come to her and asked her for help, it was the same amount of help she would have given to any other student should they have come to her, but they didn't and that was why his paper was sat on the pile with the highest mark in the class, alongside Mary Margaret's paper.

"Right then," she smiled, a different air to her voice, "now that all that is over we can progress with the lesson and… oh my god!" she screamed, causing the whole class to jump out of their skin as she scrambled on top of her desk and stared down at the ground with wide eyes.

"Miss Mills?" she heard Robin's concerned voice call out as he stood from his seat and came over to her, followed by a couple of other students.

"S…Sp… Spider," she shuddered pointing to the huge black and orange spider that was crawling along the floor and heading towards the leg of the desk.

"Spider? You're afraid of a spider?" Robin asked and she saw the amused look on his face wipe straight off when he actually saw it, "holy shit," she half thought he was going to jump up on the desk with her, "that's a tarantula."

"What?" she squealed backing further to the edge of her desk, "Robin move it please, get it away from me."

"I'm not touching that thing. Reg… miss, I think you should get drown from the desk," he stated, she could see the concern on his features as he watched her.

"Someone come and pick up this thing this minute!" she shouted, watching as Killian, who was laughing, came forward and scooped up the spider, "do you think this is funny Jones?!" She snapped.

"A little bit miss, I mean it's just a spider."

"Dude take it outside," Robin scoffed shoving him towards the door, "can't you see she's scared of it."

"I don't even know how he got out, I was supposed to be taking him over to Milah's because she has a new tank."

"You brought that thing into my classroom!" she shouted as Robin helped her down from the desk and she sat down in her chair clinging to the table, she half thought she was going to go into premature labour from the shock alone.

"Sorry miss, it wasn't as though he was gonna hurt you, Bernie is harmless."

"Bernie just scared me half to death," she breathed closing her eyes as she tried to get a hold of herself, her heart was racing and she felt her hands shake.

"Regina," Robin whispered coming closer to her and all of a sudden gasping, "you're wearing it?"

"Not now, now is not the time for this," she shook her head, sitting up straighter, "Killian go and see Mr Blanchard, he can deal with this I don't have the time or the patience to put up with it right now and if you bring that thing in this classroom or within an inch of me again I might just have to squish it."

"Miss that's animal cruelty that is."

She wouldn't squish it, god she wouldn't put any part of her body or clothing anywhere near it, but she wasn't up for Killian's bullshit today, especially when he was bringing large spiders into the University, "get out Killian, I will email you the lesson plan just take that thing away from me."

"Fine."

The rest of the lesson went by without a glitch, sure the students had been slightly riled up by the earlier occurrence, but apart from that they worked well up until the lecture was over and she dismissed them, oblivious to the person looking through the door window watching as she taught.

Once they were all out of the classroom except Robin, he stood up and made his way over to her, he looked around before wrapping her in his arms and pulling her close, "I'm guessing by that ring on your finger that the answer is yes," he grinned, his nose rubbing against hers as he looked into her eyes, she could feel his breath wash over her lips as he spoke, causing her to shudder as she brought her own arms up around his neck.

"Yes," she grinned a smile breaking out on her face as she stroked his neck, "my answer is yes, I love you so much," she pressed her lips to his tenderly, only for him to deepen the kiss and lift her clean off her feet, spinning her around causing her to laugh as she buried her head against his shoulder, "I love you," she whispered.

"I'm not gonna lie your lack of answer had me worried for a while last night."

"I had a talk with my mother and she told me she approved," Regina smiled as he tucked her hair behind her ear gently before his hands went to her bump.

"I did approve."

They both turned to the door and Regina's mouth went dry when she saw that her mother was stood there, clearing her throat she smiled at her, "I was just telling Robin my answer to his question, he came to pick me up from work," Regina excused, not thinking of any other reason that he would be there, she patted his cheek playfully.

"Oh did he now? So he isn't one of your students then?"

Regina's heart went to her mouth as she stared at her mother in shock, oh god, this couldn't be happening, not now. "He…"

"Don't even try to deny it..." Cora started, only to be interrupted by another voice causing all three of them to freeze in place.

"You're sleeping with and got pregnant by one of your students?!"