Designing Love

by Sbstevenson2

Robin Locksley is the owner of Locksley Advertising who hires Regina Mills, an interior decorator, to redesign his office space, Fortunately for Robin, he finds more than just her design skills catch his eye. Fluff, a little angst. Rating will change to M later ;)

8. Chapter 8

For those of you who don't know, there was a handful of OQ fic writers who had their stories reported for having content that was above an "M" rating. Since this story was sent to the powers above that be by the OQ Snitcher of 2018 lol, here is an EDITED version of this chapter. If you would like the full version, please head over to my page on AO3 and enjoy!

Take a lesson from me, kids, and always read the fine print because I 100% thought an M rating allowed sex to be written haha *shrugs* you live and learn, I suppose.

This is another beast of a chapter, so settle in and get comfy ;)

Please leave a review and let me know what all you liked!

{********************}

Chapter Eight

It's after nine-thirty when his phone goes off. He's pleasantly surprised to see that it's a text from Regina. He hasn't heard from her since she was leaving work but figures she was busy with Henry considering today was the last day of school.

Can Henry and I stay at your place tonight?

Well that's an odd request, seeing as she's only spent the night a few times. And usually only because the four of them have fallen asleep in the living room watching a movie and ended up sleeping there all night, the two of them wrapped in each other's arms. There have been a few cases, however, where Henry has slept in the guest room, and Regina has crawled into Robin's bed, doing delicious things to his body, and him to hers, before curling into his side. Those nights were his favorite.

Of course. What's up?

When he gets no reply back from her, he begins to worry. After about thirty minutes of nothing from her, he sends another text.

Everything alright? Now you've got me worried.

As soon as he hits send, she's there, knocking on his door.

Opening up the door, his breath is lost to him. She looks so small and scared, hair thrown in a messy bun, makeup a little bit smeared around her eyes, and not making eye contact with him. Henry, however, is looking right at him. His headphones hang from around his neck, while his iPad is clutched tightly under his arm, overnight bag in the other hand. His gaze seems a bit bleary, like he's ready to crawl in to bed at any minute, but he also looks confused, out of sorts, as it were.

"Hey, Henry, why don't you take your stuff into the guest bedroom. You remember where it is?" He asks, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. He has the overwhelming need to wrap his arms around both of them, despite not even knowing what has happened. Can tell by the looks of the pair of them that is wasn't anything good.

"Yeah," Henry replies, a little solemnly, Robin notes. "Thanks." With that the young boy walks off, leaving Robin and Regina alone in his entryway.

"Regina?" Robin asks anxiously, noticing the tears that have welled up in her eyes, but haven't fallen. "What's happened?"

With that simple question, Regina begins to cry. She covers her mouth with her free hand, assumedly so Henry doesn't hear her. Robin goes to take her hand down and lead her into the living room, but she pulls her hand away, wincing and rubbing her wrist.

That's when Robin sees it. Sees the red marks on her wrist.

"Regina. Please talk to me, love," he says gently, pointing toward the living room and easing her bag from her other hand. "Let's go have a sit in there and we can talk, yeah?"

Looking into his eyes for the first time since he opened the door, she nods once and starts walking toward his couch.

Sitting next to her, he gives Regina a few minutes to gather her thoughts.

After several moments of her staring at the same spot on his coffee table in silence, eyes fixated on the half empty beer bottle he'd pulled out earlier, and him staring at her wrist she's been rubbing, she finally speaks.

She sniffles before saying, "Daniel came over tonight." Her bleary chocolate eyes turn to finally look at his. He can tell she's trying not to cry again.

"What happened?" Anger welling up inside of him at the thought of Daniel hurting her.

"I didn't invite him. He just showed up." She goes on to recount the whole incident to him, tears filling her eyes once again. Tells him how Daniel brought flowers over and was trying to be charming, but then got angry when Robin's name was mentioned. She tells him how he slammed her into the counter and started kissing her.

"I tried to push him off of me and get away," she continues, a few tears slide down her cheek despite her now calm voice, "but he wouldn't let me go. He grabbed my wrists and held them in place above my head."

She tells him how Daniel was kissing her all over and rubbing his hand on her breasts. Says she kneed him in the groin, tried to get free of his grasp, but that just made him hold her down even harder.

Robin is beyond livid at this point. How dare a man treat a woman like this. No one deserves to be treated like that, especially Regina.

"I asked him what he was doing, and he said... taking what was his," she says through gritted teeth, clearly trying to reign in her tears. She leans forward, picking up his beer from the table and fiddling with the label a moment before taking a deep swig. She then offers the bottle over to him, and he takes it from her outstretched hand, taking a pull of his own as she says, "He said I was his and not yours."

Well, that… just isn't right. She doesn't belong to anyone. She's a human, not a toy. Sodding prick.

She goes on, finishing by telling him that her only saving grace in all of this was Henry. "He came out after hearing Daniel yell," she says, a tremble to her voice, adding that he jumped away and tried to act innocent in front of their son. She kicked him out after that but knows he only left because Henry was there to witness it all. Another tear rolls down her cheek, catching on the scar above her lip before she brushes it away with the tip of her finger.

Robin can't take it anymore, he needs to comfort her. He can't sit by and let her cry like this. He places the bottle down again and hesitantly leans toward her, whispering, "Come here, love."

She falls into his chest, a muffled sob escaping from her lips as she apologizes. "What on Earth are you apologizing for?" He's fighting back his own angry tears now, never wanting her to feel like she has to apologize for showing bloody emotion. "You've done nothing wrong!"

She tells him she's sorry for showing up like this without explanation, she just couldn't stay in her apartment tonight with Daniel acting the way he was, wasn't sure if he'd come back or not. And well, that just won't do. He won't have her feeling guilty over that.

"You have nothing to be sorry for. You are always welcome here." He tells her, rubbing comforting circles in between her shoulder blades and taking a calming breath for himself.

They sit there for a few moments, both seeming to slow their heart rates. They finish off the last bit of his beer in silence, passing it back and forth while he listens to her breathing slow down. The apartment is quiet, both boys already asleep (he hopes Henry is anyway, hasn't heard from him since he went back to the guest room when they got here), and the only noise that can be heard is the humming of the dishwasher he'd turned on after dinner.

Regina takes a deep breath and leans into his side. Wrapping his arm around her shoulders, he kisses the top of her head, breathing in the scent of her coconut scented shampoo.

"Where do you want to sleep tonight?" He doesn't want to assume she's going to sleep in his bed. She's upset, and scared, and she might not want to be near him all night. And that would be okay by him. He just wants her to feel safe, no matter where she sleeps.

She turns her head from where it's been resting in the crook of his shoulder and looks into his eyes. "I think I'm going to climb in bed with Henry and make sure he's okay."

"Sounds good," he murmurs softly, untangling his arm from around her and standing up. He stretches his hand out toward her, and she smiles softly, placing her hand into his so he can help her up from the couch.

He walks her back to his guest bathroom, fingers interlocked on the way there. She says she needs a moment to pull herself together and clean up before getting into bed.

"I at least need to brush my teeth," she says with a ghost of a smile, claiming she can't kiss her son goodnight with alcohol on her breath.

He smirks despite himself, can't help but linger on the fact that she'd even think of such formalities at a time like this.

"Alright, love. Goodnight." He places a kiss to her forehead, saying he'll be in his room if she needs anything.

She nods in response, leaning up to kiss his cheek and whisper a goodnight to him.

Stroking his fingers through her hair, he leaves her be, heading toward his room to ready himself for bed.

{*****************************}

Carefully pulling back the covers and slipping in beside Henry, she settles onto the pillow next to him. He's become a heavy sleeper over the past few years, thankfully, so she doesn't have to limit her movements too much like she would have when he was a toddler.

Rolling onto her side to look at him, she lightly brushes his messy brown hair to the side. His eyes peek open groggily and her hand stills, moving it to rest by her side again.

"Love you, Mom," he mumbles into the darkness of the room, their faces illuminated only by the sliver of moonlight shining through from behind the window's curtain.

He reaches over and places his hand atop of hers that rests between their bodies, giving it a gentle pat.

Sighing into a smile, she vows, "I love you too, Henry. So much."

She leans over, kissing him on the forehead. Henry's lips curve into a sleepy smile as his eyes slide shut again. His mouth falls open and he's once again asleep.

Jealous. Regina wishes she could fall asleep that easily but knows sleep with most likely evade her tonight.

She was right.

An hour later, Regina still can't sleep. She can't stop thinking about the way Daniel pinned her hands down and made her feel so unsafe, so vulnerable, in her own home. Daniel has never acted like that – not once in twelve years did she ever see any abusive tendencies like that. Granted, she never did anything to make him jealous that she can remember, either, so she never would've had a reason to see that side of him. It's amazing how, even after all that time, people can still surprise you. Shaking her head, she gets up from the bed and tucks the covers around Henry, placing a kiss to his forehead. Closing the door gently, she makes her way across the hall to Robin's room.

She knocks lightly, then cracks his door open.

He's sitting up in bed with the bedside table's light still on, reading.

"Can I come in?" she sheepishly asks.

Closing his book and looking up at her, he says, "Of course, darling. Come on." He pats the spot on the bed next to him, shifting his body slightly.

Climbing in, Regina settles her head on top of his chest, breathing in his comforting scent. He always smells slightly of laundry detergent, Spring Rain to be exact, and pine mixed together. It's an odd combination, but somehow he pulls it off. It's his own unique scent, and Regina finds it beyond comforting, especially in this moment.

"Thank you for letting us stay here tonight." She's tracing small circles against his chest, his heartbeat in her ear soothing her.

"You're welcome, love. Stay as long as you need to."

Smiling and letting out a gentle sigh, Regina looks up at Robin, saying, "Is it ok if I sleep in here? I feel… safe… with you."

And she does. Being in his arms right now is the most reassuring feeling Regina could ask for. He's not pressuring her to do anything, to make any decisions. He's not asking too many questions. He's just being there for her. Comforting her. This is exactly what she needs.

Smiling down at her, he says, "You know you are always welcome to sleep right next to me. If that's what you need tonight, or any night, to feel safe, then I'm more than willing to be your pillow."

She chuckles at that. He has the ability to do that. He makes her smile when she's had a bad day and makes her laugh when all she wants to do is cry. She can be her true self around him, let her walls down and just be free. It's one of the things she loves about him.

Loves?

Well… that… maybe, maybe she does.

Thoughts of loving Robin stick in her mind like a piece of caramel on the roof of her mouth. Images of him racing the boys on the swings at the park, and movie nights on the couch, cuddling into his warmth while the boys sleep on a pallet on the floor, the late night phone calls, and the feel of his body on top of hers swim around in her head. She lays there in complete silence, mulling over what and how she truly feels and continues to trace patterns along Robin's chest.

This probably isn't what she should be thinking about right now, should probably be thinking about Daniel and what she's going to do, but thinking of Robin is so much more calming in this moment.

After a few beats of silence, her thoughts tossing between Robin, and Daniel, and even Henry, she speaks.

"Henry asked me to leave Daniel months before I actually did, you know?"

She can feel Robin's hum in his chest while his thumb rubs slow, calming lines up and down her bicep. "I didn't know that. What made him ask you to do that?"

"It wasn't anything like tonight, if that's what you're wondering." She sits up a little, using his chest to push herself up and looks into his eyes. "He's never done anything like this before. I think Henry could just tell I wasn't happy, and he was old enough to voice his opinion for once," she says, rubbing her hand on his chest, picking at invisible lint on his t-shirt as she speaks. "I guess he's even more observant than I thought."

"That he is." Robin takes her hand in his. "He's a very smart boy."

Smiling wistfully at him, she agrees, saying he is definitely smarter that she gives him credit for sometimes. "I just wish I'd had the guts to listen to him sooner and end things for good. Wish I'd been braver." She whispers that last part into the stillness of the room and lays back down, settling a bit further under the covers this time. She looks up at him before placing a kiss on his chest and saying, "I wish you'd come into my life sooner, too."

He looks down into her eyes and smiles, saying, "Well, maybe sometimes it's all about timing." Dropping a kiss to the top of her head, he inhales the scent of her hair and sighs, leaning his head back against the headboard and rubbing his fingers up and down her spine.

Stretching her head up to be closer to his, she agrees, murmurs a maybe it is and places a soft kiss to his lips. "Thank you, Robin. For everything."

He kisses her back and says, "You're welcome. Now, it's late, and I know two young boys that will be up with the sun. What do you say we get some sleep, hmm?"

She snuggles into his chest and pulls the sheet up to her shoulders saying, "Sounds perfect."

With that, Robin reaches over to turn the lamp off, cascading the room into darkness. With their whispered goodnights to each other, she finally drifts off into a restful sleep.

{*****************************}

Looking down at her sleeping form the next morning, Robin can't get over how beautiful she is, even snuggled down into his comforter, hair a little messy from a deep sleep, and her mouth hanging ajar. Last night had been an emotional one for her and in turn, him. He couldn't understand how any man could treat a woman like that. Staring down at his girlfriend, Robin feels a surge of anger go through him. Daniel better pray Robin never sees him or he's not sure what he will do.

Feeling Regina stir, Robin slides down deeper into the mattress to wrap his arms around her.

"Good morning, love," he says softly, placing a kiss her to the top of her head.

Regina sighs, "Morning," while stretching her arms above her head and curling herself into Robin's chest.

Smiling at how adorable she is groggy and a little sleep drunk, he wraps his arms tighter around her before asking, "What would you like to do today?"

"Mmm, I would love to stay in bed all day and watch a movie or… something... with you." She grins coyly, gently rubbing her hand along his forearm. "But unfortunately, we both have to work today. And I have to take Henry to summer camp later."

He ahhs at that, bumping his nose to hers, "That's right." He says he really doesn't want to work, would rather spend the first day of Roland's summer break out in the sunshine, at the park, perhaps. It's Saturday, after all, but duty calls.

Robin's Sleep Tight campaign is almost finished, so his whole team is coming in today to work on it for a few hours. They're hoping to be completely done with the project ahead of schedule. Regina and her farmhouse team are having to go antique shopping today to get some decorative items for her clients. The local antique stores always have the best sales on Saturdays, so her team agreed they'd all go today. Hopefully the items they find will placate Mr. and Mrs. King. They've been basically insufferable up to this point, especially Mrs. King, so hopefully these affordable, but timeless, antique finds will make her somewhat happy.

She giggles at his dramatic resistance to doing his job, saying no one ever wants to work on the weekend. Adding an it should be illegal before she says, "And the boys will be up soon, anyway, so I guess we can't stay here all day."

Pressing a lingering kiss to her lips, her slight moan in the back of her throat keeping him there just a bit longer, he finally pulls back and agrees. "You're right, darling. We can watch that… movie… some other time." He grins smugly. "How about I make you lot some breakfast then?"

"That would be lovely." She smiles contently, looking down at his tattoo, her eyebrows slightly furrowing. "I've been wondering… what's the story behind this?"

Placing a kiss atop her head, he takes a deep breath. "Ah, well," he laughs, "that would be a drunken mistake at nineteen." He tells her Neal had dared him to get a tattoo one night after losing a bet they had going on a football game. He chose a black crest with a lion inside because it reminded him of his grandfather. "My grandad had a lion tattooed on his arm, never quite knew why, though." She chuckles at that. "But at the time, as drunk as I was, a lion seemed like a good homage to pay to the old man. At least it wasn't a naked girl or something horribly embarrassing like that."

Laughing, she sits up, still holding his arm in her lap. She traces the outer rim of the crest, saying, "You're right about that. It's not bad, I like it. We've all been there, though, haven't we? Drunken nights getting tattoos?"

His head tilts, eyebrows shooting up as he questions if she has any drunken mistakes inked into her skin that he has somehow missed in all the times he's seen different parts of her glorious body.

She giggles, saying she doesn't, but she'd gone with Emma to get both of her tattoos. "She was drunk for the first one, a butterfly on her ankle. You know, typical drunk teenage cliché." He laughs, rubbing his thumb along her arm. She tells him she also went with Emma to get her flower tattooed on her wrist, but they were completely sober for that one.

Regina lays back down, cuddling into his side, still tracing the outline of his tattoo for a few minutes. After a while, Robin's stomach lets out a low rumble and she giggles, saying, "I guess we should get up and make breakfast now."

Agreeing they should make pancakes and eggs to celebrate the start of the boys' summer vacation, they stand from the bed. Robin can't help but smile at the sight of her. Her hair is slightly mussed from sleeping, and she's wearing a t-shirt and leggings that she brought from home. She looks so much smaller than normal but no less gorgeous. He thinks he could look at her every day and never tire of it. He's come to realize over the past two months that he's more than besotted with this woman, he has already completely fallen for her. He's in love with her, every part of her. The way she loves Henry and Roland, how she laughs at his corny jokes, the way she lets her walls down around him, her passion, her commitment to all things she does, everything. Now he just needs to find the right time to tell her how he feels.

{***************************}

Walking into the kitchen, Regina immediately goes to the refrigerator to pull out the boxed pancake mix before Robin stops her mid reach.

"Ah, ah, ah, milady," he says, taking the mix from her hands and shutting the refrigerator's stainless steel door. "I believe I said I would make breakfast."

He's smirking at her, and she can't help but look at him with amused, narrowed eyes. "Yes, I suppose you did. Thank you."

"Not a problem, you sit back and relax and let me pamper you… at least until the boys come bounding through those doors," he finishes, pointing his wooden spoon in the direction of the bedrooms.

After a few minutes of Robin cooking, and Regina warming her hand around a large cup of coffee, the sound of bedroom doors opening and little foot patters on the wooden floor can be heard.

"Gina!" Roland exclaims, hopping up into Regina's lap as she sits at the kitchen table.

"Good morning, baby! Did you sleep well?" She asks, brushing his unruly curls to one side.

"I sure did! And it's summer break!"

Laughing, Regina tells him she knows and asks what he wants to do on his break. Before he can answer, Henry comes in, dragging his feet and rubbing his eyes. He definitely doesn't have the energy of a five year old up at eight a.m. anymore.

Setting Roland down on his feet and pulling Henry into her side, she says, "Morning, sweetheart. Did you sleep okay?"

Shrugging, Henry says, "Yeah. I slept fine, but I'm still tired."

Looking guiltily at him, she smooths his hair down and pulls him into her lap. He may be ten, almost eleven, but he's still her baby and she feels the need to comfort him as much as possible. She knows he didn't go to bed too late, no later than he has plenty of times on the weekends, but she assumes he didn't sleep as well as normal from being in a different bed and seeing what he did last night.

Regina looks up and sees Robin giving her a sympathetic, knowing look. Softly smiling at him, she changes the subject.

"What do my boys want to drink with their pancakes this morning, hmm?" She questions, nuzzling her nose into Henry's hair.

Henry says he wants milk and adds an all too innocent with a little chocolate in it? to the end of his sentence. Sighing with a smile on her face, she agrees he can have chocolate milk this morning to celebrate summer break.

Looking over to the next boy, she questions Roland as to what he wants. Roland jumps up and down excitedly, claiming he wants chocolate milk, too, just like Henry!

Robin lets out a laugh then, agreeing to let Roland had the chocolately treat with his breakfast.

"What about my other boy?" Regina teases, looking over the Robin, "What do you want to drink this morning?"

Plating the newest stack of pancakes onto the plate, Robin turns to look at her with mirth in his eyes and his jaw hanging slightly open in mock aghast. The two younger boys are chortling together, pointing at Robin and teasing him, saying you're a boy, too! Chuckling and shaking his head, he says he's going to have some orange juice.

"Sounds delicious," she tells him, gently removing Henry from her lap as she stands. "I'll fix those chocolate milks first for these two."

Walking over to the refrigerator, Regina drops a kiss to Robin's cheek on her way, saying she'll pour their juice after the chocolate milks are made.

"I'll get them, love," he tells her as she opens the refrigerator door. "You just worry about the boys."

Pulling out the dark syrup from the door, she hums her acknowledgment and makes the slightly chocolate filled drinks. It's the first day of summer break, after all, they can splurge a little bit, but not too much. She knows how hyper Henry can get after having too much sugar, especially first thing in the morning, so she can only imagine how active Roland would be if he had too much chocolate.

After stirring the boys' milks, which Roland had attentively watched her do with wide set eyes, claiming it was like magic watching it go from white to brown, Regina goes to place their drinks on the table and sit back down. Robin did say he wanted to pamper her this morning, and who is she to refuse such an offer? She'll let him finish cooking while she just enjoys being with the their sons.

While Henry goes to help Robin cook the pancakes, Roland comes to sit in Regina's recently vacated lap, pouting the biggest pout she's ever seen. "I don't want Henry to go away," he tells her, looking up at her with his puppy dog eyes. Henry will be leaving later today for his camp, so Roland only has this morning to play with him.

Kissing the top of his head, she whispers, "Me neither," into his ear.

Henry sets his spatula down on the counter and walks over the Roland, giving him a pat to his shoulder and assuring him that he'll be back before he knows it and that they can play pirates as soon as I'm home, which causes both parents to smile. She's so thankful, once again, that her and her boyfriend's son get along. Dating someone with kids can be messy, and this situation could have been a lot worse, but she knows she lucked out in the man-with-a-kid department.

"What are you going to do at camp, Henry?" Robin questions, bringing the syrup and butter over to the table. Their plates are already in front of them, so Regina picks up a knife and starts buttering and cutting Roland's pancakes for him.

Henry tells the group that he's been looking forward to this camp for months now. It's a Young Authors camp that he won a trip to. Each year his school system does a "Young Authors Competition" where students can enter a writing of their choice, as long as an adult did not help them in any way with the writing. Each school's winner gets invited to go to the Young Authors camp where they spend part of their days in writing classes catered to their creative minds. Along with getting to brush up on his writing skills, he will also get to enjoy classes of his choosing like swimming, as well as other sporting activities like horseback riding (which he says he's the most excited about, causing Regina to smile).

"You're gonna ride horsies!?" Roland exclaims with a mouthful of pancake.

Robin gives him a gentle warning of remember, we don't talk with our mouths full before telling Henry that his camp sounds awesome and he can't wait to hear all about it.

"What will you guys do while I'm gone?" Henry asks, looking at the other three people at the table.

Roland chimes in saying, "I want to go feed the ducks!"

Chuckling, Regina says, "That sounds like a reasonable request," turning her eyes to Robin for confirmation. Roland loves feeding the ducks down by the pond, so she figures they'll be doing that at some point over the next few weeks while Henry is away.

Robin mhmms and tells Roland they can go to the pond one day soon.

"Not at the pond, Papa!" Roland furrows his eyebrows, as if the pond is the most unreasonable response he's ever heard.

"Well, then," Regina laughs, "where are we feeding these ducks, Ro?"

Looking at the adults as if they've lost their minds, Roland tells them, like they're idiots for it needing to be explained to them, "The ducks on the moon, Gina!" bursting into a fit of giggles.

Regina looks over to Robin with an arched eyebrow who simply shrugs his shoulders and rolls his eyes, chuckling at his son's silliness. Shaking her head, she looks over to Henry to see he's trying to cover his laughter with his hand.

Reaching over to where he sits to tickle his sides, she asks him what's so funny, to which he responds with a chortled, "Nothing, Mom! Stop!"

Roland looks over and says he wants to be tickled too, so Regina switches from one boy to another, reaching over to his seat and tickling Roland's ribs with just as much fervor while Henry dives back in to his breakfast once he's caught his breath. In Roland's attempts to get away from the tickling that he'd asked for, he laughs and grabs Regina's wrist with a Stop, Gina! That tickles! that sends a burst of pain through Regina's hurt wrist. It hadn't bruised yet, it's just sore to touch, so she's hoping it won't turn black and blue, after all. She pulls back her hand suddenly, bringing her other hand to rub it. Looking around the table, she notes that Henry seems to be too occupied with his pancakes to notice her pain, and Roland is obliviously still laughing at his tickled ribs. But Robin is looking at her dead on. She shakes her head to let him know that she's fine before he can say anything to Roland and alert Henry to her discomfort.

Picking up her orange juice, she takes a sip before saying, "These pancakes are really good, boys. You did a great job!" Henry perks up, saying a thanks mom after swallowing his bite, while Robin continues to look at her wrist from across the table, giving her a small smile and a mhmm, delicious when the two younger boys look to him for a response.

After breakfast, the boys put their plates in the sink and rush back to Roland's room, claiming they need to play as much as possible before Henry leaves this evening.

Once Robin and Regina are alone, the air changes between them. Regina knows that he's wanted to talk all morning about what happened with Daniel, especially once she hurt her wrist playing with Roland. She doesn't exactly want to, but she knows they need to have this conversation.

"So," Robin starts, turning off the sink where he's been cleaning the dishes, and makes his way over to sit next to her at the kitchen table.

"Yeah," she sighs, pulling her legs to sit criss cross in the chair. "I guess you want to talk about Daniel?"

Taking her hands in his, he looks into her eyes and tells her, "I do. But only if you're comfortable with it. You've told me already what he did, but I'm wondering now what you're going to do?"

Crinkling her forehead, she says, "What do you mean?"

"I just mean, love, are you going to call the police? Put a restraining order on him? Forbid him from seeing Henry? I'm not sure what the next step in this whole thing would be."

Taking one hand out of his embrace to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear, Regina glances away from his intense stare before whispering, "I don't know, Robin."

She can feel the tears swelling up in her eyes, so she pushes those down and clears her throat. No sense in crying about it, she just needs to make a plan.

Placing her hand back in Robin's, she looks at him again. She tells him she feels like she should talk to Daniel before she decides on anything. He's never done anything like that before, so it seems a little rash to call the cops on him.

"Maybe I just won't talk to him for a few weeks and see where things go once Henry comes back from camp," she says, shrugging her shoulders. She can tell Robin doesn't exactly agree with this plan, but she's sure his plan would include beating the shit out of Daniel if it were up to him.

After a moment, he says, "Alright, darling, if that's what you want to do." He rubs his hands up and down her forearms. "Just know, if he tries anything again, though, you can point him in my direction. I'll be happy to have more than a conversation with him."

Smiling, Regina stands from the table and makes her way over to the sink, telling Robin she knows he would and she appreciates it, pecking a kiss to his cheek.

They agree that while Henry is away at camp, and even when he's back, if she feels worried that Daniel will come back to her apartment and hurt her, she's to get in her car and drive straight to Robin's. Robin even suggests her leaving some clothes here in case she needs to get out in a pinch, but Regina assures him that won't be necessary.

With them both feeling satisfied, for now, with this plan, they make their way into the kitchen to finish cleaning up breakfast and prepare themselves for work, much to Regina's chagrin. She, just like Robin, would rather stay inside all day with the boys, soaking up every last minute she can with Henry before he leaves.

Rinsing out the skillet he'd used to cook in, Robin looks over to where Regina stands next to him, drying a plate. With a cheeky grin on his face, he says, "Oh, by the way," turning to look at her with raised eyebrows, "I heard a certain someone finally went on a date with Neal."

At his wagging eyebrows, Regina rolls her eyes. "Yeah," she chuckles. Emma had finally been convinced to go out with Neal last week. She's not exactly sure what her friend's reluctance had been. Neal is a nice guy, which was honestly, probably Emma's hesitance. She's always been into the bad boys, but Regina tried to get her to see that that hadn't worked out so well for her in the past. "She said she had a great time, too."

"I knew she would."

Laughing at Robin's smugness, setting them up had been his idea after all, she swats him with the dish towel she's been using.

"Oi!" He exclaims, taking the towel out of her hands and smacking it against her backside. "Just admit it, I was right. I knew they'd get along great."

"Yeah, yeah," she giggles, yanking the towel from his hand playfully and drying the last of the dishes. "She said he already asked her out on another date, too, so hopefully this goes somewhere."

Turning to face Regina, he lets out an atta boy and an overly dramatic fist bump into the air, causing her smile to grow. She rolls her eyes at his antics and turns toward the sink.

Wiping her hands on the dish towel, Regina sighs and says, "I should really be getting home. I'll need to get ready to meet up with my team after I drop Henry off at Emma's."

Robin comes to stand behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and nuzzling his nose into the side of her neck, causing the hairs on the back of her neck to stand up and a tingling sensation to run down her back.

"Alright," he says, placing soft kisses to her neck and down to her shoulder.

"Robin," she states, rolling her eyes but loving the feel of him wrapped around her. She starts rubbing her hands along his forearms before turning in his arms. "I really do have to go." She sighs, smirking and looking into his blue eyes.

She places a few soft kisses to his lips before saying she needs to go get some work done, but she's got some décor to bring by his office later.

At that, his face lights up, and he tells her he can't wait.

After a few more stolen kisses by the kitchen sink, Regina reluctantly pulls away and goes to get Henry.

{******************************}

After a few hours of working with his team on their bubble bath campaign and a few texts sent to Regina, she finally arrives at his office.

He's sitting at his new desk typing several emails to his team when Belle buzzes in to let him know Regina is here. By now, Belle knows she doesn't have to call Regina Ms. Mills. Robin told her weeks ago of their relationship and told her there was no need to be so formal.

When Regina walks in, his breath is knocked out of him, much like it always is when he sees her. He doesn't think he'll ever get over just how drop dead gorgeous she truly is.

Today she's gone a little bit more casual since it's a warm summer afternoon. She's in dark denim pants with a heather gray t-shirt and a black vest. Her hair is clipped back into a low ponytail and he finds himself staring at her hair. He doesn't think he's ever seen it pulled back like that. He likes it. It's cute.

She's carrying a potted green plant in one hand and a box in the other. Rushing over to help her, he greets her with a peck to the lips.

"Afternoon, my love."

Smiling, she greets him as well, handing Robin the box that he now sees contains candles and an assortment of books. Luckily, she carried the plant with her hurt hand; the heavy box surely would've injured it even more.

"I'm just dropping these off." She nods her head in the direction of the box he's currently carrying over to the conference table. "The books are for the other offices, so I need to take those in there. Mary Margaret is coming up with some other boxes, too. Most of it is for the smaller offices, but this plant is for in here."

"Wow," he says, looking shocked at all the new items being brought in. "I feel like I'm a thief, stealing all these goods from your design warehouse."

She's mentioned before that she has a small warehouse where she keeps different antiques and decorations she uses in her design spaces. Some items are for customers to keep, while others are just for show during the reveal and the client can choose to purchase them or not.

Laughing, she tells him simply, "Well you can't steal something that's been given to you."

He ahhs and tells her, "Well, I'll take any and all décor you wish to gift me with then."

He makes his way over to her as she finishes telling him where to put the plant and places a quick peck to her lips. He can't help himself though, he needs to feel her again. Yes, she slept curled into his side all night and they've already shared several kisses since she walked into his office not even five minutes ago, but he has a feeling that he might just combust if he doesn't kiss her again.

With that thought, he takes her by the waist and pulls her to him.

She lets out a surprised gasp, but it quickly turns into a giggle as she places her hands on his biceps and gives them a little squeeze.

"Robin, what are you doing?" She laughs, rubbing the sides of his arms.

"Giving you a proper kiss," he states, placing his lips over hers fully. Her lips are soft and full and he loves the way they feel on his. Alway matching up perfectly together. He's lost in this moment, rubbing his hands down her back, giving her bum a light squeeze, then bringing his hands back up to pull her hair down, out of that ponytail, and nestle his hands in it.

Regina moans into his mouth, which he welcomes with a moan of his own. They haven't had sex yet, which he's fine with because he wants her to be totally comfortable, especially after what Daniel did, but he loves her and hearing her moan does things to him.

Before he can pull away on his own terms, he's pushed back slightly by Regina when they hear a light clearing of someone's throat.

Looking over her shoulder, as Regina covers her face and buries it into Robin's pec, he sees Belle and Mary Margaret standing there with matching grins and raised eyebrows.

"Ah, yes, Belle," Robin says smugly, handing Regina her hair clip back, "Did you need something?"

Regina finally lifts her head from his chest, smoothing down her hair from their impromptu make out session, and pulling it back up quickly before turning to face the grin twins in the doorway.

"Uh, Mrs. Nolan just needed to know where to put the boxes," Belle states, still grinning, and tilting her head in Mary Margaret's direction.

"Oh! Yes," he hears Regina say. He can't help but smirk at how flustered she seems over being caught making out with her boyfriend. Belle and Mary Margaret (and everyone else they work with) already know they're dating, but Regina is a private person, so he cuts her some slack. He'll poke fun at her later for it. The smack to the arm he's bound to receive will be well worth it, he thinks. "You can put them in the second office on the left."

"Sure thing, boss," Mary Margaret says, turning and snickering all the way out the door as Belle follows behind her.

"Oh my god," Regina says, covering her face again as she turns to face Robin.

Sharing a laugh, Robin places a kiss to her forehead before tracing the curve of her nose with his.

"It's alright, baby," Robin assures her. She's laughing along with him, but he can tell she's still embarrassed if the flush of her cheeks is anything to go by.

She sighs out a yeah, yeah before adding an, "Oh, I almost forgot." Regina walks over to the potted plant on his conference table and walks it over to the corner of his office that houses two black leather chairs. She places the plant holder on the glass table in between the chairs. "My mother called to remind me that she and I are having dinner tonight once I get back from taking Henry to camp. It completely slipped my mind."

"Oh, that's alright." Slightly disappointed because they were supposed to have dinner, but he knows she hasn't seen her mum in a few months, so he'll give her up for a night.

"But I still want to try and come see you," she says, smirking and slinking her body over to his. His eyes cast down to watch her hips sway over to him.

"God, you are so sexy," he breathes, wrapping his arms around her once she makes it over to him.

Biting her lip, she tells him she'll try to come over when she's done if it's not too late.

He assures her that it's fine, says he'll see her tomorrow because he knows she hasn't seen her mum in a while and that she'll more than likely be out with her until late into the evening. He kisses her lips again before she says, "I need to get home and finish packing Henry. He's got to be there for check in by four o'clock."

"Sounds good, love," he says, rubbing his hand down her arm and interlocking their fingers.

He walks them over to his office door, stopping just short of the hallway. "Text me when you're headed back."

Regina smiles, assuring him that she will, says she'll text him after dinner as well.

She stands on her tiptoes to kiss him one more time before she leaves his office.

{******************************}

They arrive just in time for check in to the Young Authors Camp. Standing just outside the welcome desk area, Regina dries her tears from her cheeks. "I know it's only three weeks, but I'm going to miss you." It's the longest she's ever been away from her little boy, and while she knows three weeks isn't technically that long, it feels like a lifetime to her.

Henry sets down his duffle bag and places his hands on her shoulders. "I'm gonna miss you, too, Mom."

Smiling at her little boy, who's actions seem more of an understanding grown up than her ten year old, she places a kiss to his cheek. "You're going to have a great time, though!"

They stand there for a beat in silence. She can tell something is on Henry's mind. Emma mentioned when she picked him up that Henry had been unusually quiet all day, but the blonde assumed it had been nerves over going to camp. Something is definitely off with him, has been the whole ride out to camp. It was an hour long drive, so she'd tried to make small talk in the car, discussing what he was excited for and what he was nervous about. She attempted to calm his fears of camp, like having to share a room with someone he doesn't know, by telling him he's lucky this camp was housing them in basically an upscale cabin. Tells him funny stories of the camp her parents sent her to once where she had to sleep in a tent (she never went back again) which caused Henry to laugh, saying he can't imagine her sleeping in a tent. They even sang to the radio and talked about what she was going to do while he was gone.

Even after all of that, however, she can tell he's bothered by something. She has a pretty good feeling that it's Daniel, but she was honestly hoping the excitement of camp would overrule having to talk about last night's events.

He finally speaks up, saying, "Are you okay, Mom?"

"Of course, sweetheart," she tells him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and kissing the top of his head. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"I just mean," he pauses. "Did… did Dad hurt you last night?"

Her heart breaks at that question and the worry written all over her son's face. Pulling back to look in his eyes, Regina places her hand under his chin, bringing his face up to look at hers. She's always been honest with her son, has always told him that honesty is the best policy, so, then, she has to follow her own advice it would seem.

"Yes. He did." At his widened eyes, she assures him, "But I'm okay, honey."

She tells him, leaving out most of the details, that Daniel was upset and took his frustration out on her in an unsafe way. "He hurt my wrist, but, see?" she shows Henry her wrist, still a little red, and moves it around in every direction, "I'm fine!"

Henry's brows furrows, a serious look on his face. "I don't want to go to camp anymore." He picks up his duffle bags and starts to walk toward their parked car with a determined scowl on his face.

"What?" She laughs out in disbelief, turning to catch him by the arm. "You, sir, are going to camp. You've been so excited for this for months. You earned this trip. You're going."

"I need to stay home and protect you."

Smiling down at her vigilante of a child, she tells him she'll be fine. "You're father is not going to bother me while you're gone."

Huffing and sliding his eyes to the side and back to hers, like the almost pre-teen that he is, he crosses his arms before saying, "Well, will you at least stay with Robin until I get back?"

With an amused smile on her face, she asks, "Will it make you feel better if I stay with him?"

"Yes!" He exclaims, as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.

Chuckling at his insistence, she brings him into another hug and buries her nose into his hair that has been warmed by the sun's rays. She's touched by his worry and wants to calm his fears however she can. "Okay, then. I'll stay with Robin."

She was already planning on spending most nights with Robin and Roland, whether that was in her apartment or his, but if telling Henry that she'll spend every night with him gets him into that camp, then that's what she'll say.

He mumbles out an okay before pulling back. His eyes are shiny, and, well, no, she can't have her baby in tears.

She asks him, "Why the tears, hm?" and he scrubs at his eyes, saying he's not crying but that he's going to miss her. He's going to be gone for three solid weeks, the longest they've ever been apart, so she knows he's probably as nervous as she is about it.

"It'll be fine, Henry. You're going to have so much fun!" She's going to miss him too, more than words can express, but if she gets emotional and tells him that, she knows he'll never go inside.

Kissing his head again and running her hands down his arms, she takes him by the hand saying, "Now, come on. There's a late luncheon for parents in there, and I want to get my free food."

Turning to walk toward the camp's door, Henry chuckles out a mooom and heads inside with her.

While eating lunch, they talk with the family next to them about the writing projects that got both kids into the camp, which seems to relax Henry a bit more. Henry's was a piece about superhero children joining forces to take down the villain who was older than the heroes; turns out it was a paradox to children standing up to bullies. He'd left a note at the end of his paper, a personal message, about how bullying is wrong and that if anyone reading his story has been bullied, they needed to talk to someone, said that he was available to speak to if they didn't feel comfortable talking with an adult about it. It was adorable, and sweet, and so incredibly like her son. Always standing up for people. The girl next to them, Violet, had won for her school by submitting an informational piece about the rainforest and how humans were destroying it one tree at a time.

Violet's family finishes their lunches and take their leave, going to her cabin to get her things settled. Regina and Henry decide to sit there a little bit longer, talking about how Henry was excited to ride the horses but also to take swimming lessons.

"What about your writing classes?" Regina asks in mock astonishment. She knows he's excited for his writing classes, but those horses seem to be in the forefront of his mind. She chuckles when he raises his eyebrows in surprise.

"Oh yeah!" He bellows, "Those will be fun, too!"

Laughing, she stands to take their empty plates to the trash can.

When she gets back to their table, Henry is engrossed with a game on his iPad. The camp said it was okay for students to bring personal devices, but she has a feeling he won't be using it much once he makes friends and gets busy with all his classes.

"Alright, baby," she says, checking the time on her phone and then pushing it into her back jean pocket. "We need to go get your things settled in your room."

Standing, the pair make their way to his cabin. It's nice, much nicer than any tent she'd stayed in as a child. There are four beds and a bathroom, just the perfect size for children to share. Upon seeing that he was going to have three roommates instead of just one, Regina has to reassure him that it will be fine when he starts to fret.

They unpack his belongings and plug in his iPad to charge before heading back out to walk around for a little bit and check out all the activities the camp has to offer. She has to leave soon if she is going to have time to shower and get ready for dinner with her mother, but she isn't quite ready to leave her baby boy just yet.

He's still nervous but seeing other kids already riding horses and running around a big field together settles his nerves a little bit. "I can't wait for classes tomorrow," he tells her.

"Well, good," she says, running a hand through his hair. "They'll be a lot of fun, I'm sure."

She's glad he seems to be feeling more comfortable already. She knows he's going to love this camp if he just gives it a real chance. Might even have a hard time getting him to leave when the three weeks are up, she muses.

Regina tells him it is almost time for her to go. They leisurely make their way back to his cabin, stopping by the snack machine to get him some food to nibble on at night, so she can grab her purse.

One of his roommates, Nicholas, is already there, so she introduces herself to his parents while Henry greets the other boy before turning toward her son. "Okay, sweetheart, I have to go now."

Looking up from his roommate's tablet, he stands and wraps his arms around her waist, squeezing her for good measure. "I love you, Mom."

Leaning down to press her cheek to the top of his head, she whispers that she loves him, too.

She will not cry in front of her son, his roommate, nor his parents, but god, she doesn't want to let him go. It's silly, she knows. It's three weeks, and he's going to have a great time. Already seems to get along with his roommate in the five minutes he's known him, although having a zombie game on his iPad helped a little in that.

Clapping her hands onto his shoulders, she looks down into his hazel eyes. "I'm going to miss you," she tells him, pursing her lips together. "Remember to call me every day."

"I will," he chuckles, going to pick up the cell phone she'd gotten him just for this trip. Ten is still too young to have a real phone in her opinion, but this cheap little pay-as-you-go phone will be good enough for him to call her at night before bed.

Henry leans up then, pressing a kiss to her cheek. She returns the kiss before turning to pick up her purse and sling it across her body.

She tells the other family that it was nice meeting them before looking at Henry one last time.

"Be good. And careful," she tells him sternly. "But most of all… have fun, sweetheart. And don't worry about me. I've got plenty to do."

Henry smiles then, reminding her to tell Robin and Roland he will call and talk to them as well.

Hugging and kissing him one more time, she leaves with an, "I love you," falling from her lips.

Making her way to her car, she sends Robin a text, letting him know that Henry has been dropped off and she's headed home to shower and change for dinner with her mom.

Are you okay after leaving him? He texts back, to which she smiles, saying she's fine, she just misses him already.

He sends her another text telling her he knows, that they'll just have to distract her for the next three weeks and for her to be careful on the drive back. He tells her to try and have fun with her mum tonight and he'd see her tomorrow, says not to worry about coming over tonight since it'll be too late.

I know you'll most likely be exhausted after the long day you've had between work and driving Henry to camp… and the dinner with your mum I know you are just dying to get to. He adds the last bit with a winky face emoji, causing Regina to snort out a laugh and shake her head.

He tells her that him and Roland will come pick her up to do something in the morning.

Smiling, she responds with a Sounds like a perfect plan. Thanks babe and sets her phone down, buckling in for the hour long drive back home.

She's nervous for dinner. Fidgety even, turning the radio station half way through each song, readjusting the temperature of the air every few minutes and strumming her fingers along the steering wheel. Regina hasn't seen her mother in several months. Her mother has always been, and probably always will be, a fan of Daniel's. She's positive she could tell her mother how crazy he went the other night, and she'd still love and defend him. He's always seemed more like Cora's son than Regina her daughter.

She contemplates and goes over every single situation she might find herself in tonight with her mother. She thinks about what she needs to wear in order to look presentable, how conversations might go, what she needs to order, and most of all, how she's already dreading this dinner. If it were up to her, she'd just go grab dinner to take over to Robin's, or maybe grab a quick bite to eat with Emma. But, no, she's made these plans and she would never hear the end of it from her mother if she cancelled.

Once arriving back home, she needs to take a shower and get ready. Cora always expects perfection and will let Regina know if she doesn't look how she expected. So, Regina feels the pressure to wear the right outfit. She glances down to the wrist Daniel had slammed into the cabinet last night, noting that it, thankfully, was still just red and not bruised. It really only hurt if she bent her wrist too much, anyway. She could definitely conceal that for dinner. Cora made reservations at a local, high end bistro, so Regina knows she needs to look very put together.

After showering, blow drying and straightening her hair (mother never was a fan of her curls), and applying a full face of makeup, Regina finally makes her way into her closet. She's always been very organized, something Cora had instilled in her from the get go, so her closet is organized by clothing type. Walking over to her dresses, Regina scans her options. There's lots of black dresses and different shades of red. There's a few other colors, like the blue dress she wore on her first date with Robin, but tonight she thinks she'll go for one of the red toned ones.

Slipping on a deep plum colored sleeveless dress, Regina pairs it with simple black pumps. After applying a final coat of dark red lipstick, Regina looks at herself in the mirror. She looks good, if she does say so herself. Regina takes pride in taking care of her body, and she loves form fitted dresses. They make her feel classy, professional when need be, but beautiful (and even a little sexy).

Satisfied that this ensemble will please Mother, she grabs her keys and purse and makes her way to dinner.

Cora is already there, waiting of course, when Regina arrives.

Glancing at her cell phone's clock, she sees she's actually right on time. Eight o'clock on the dot.

"Regina," Cora greets, standing from the bench she was sitting on. Kissing her daughter's cheek she says, "I almost didn't think you were going to make it."

Biting her tongue and kissing her cheek back she says, "Yes, well, it's exactly eight, but I'll try to be early next time."

With a small grunt of dissatisfaction at Regina's attempt to sass her, Cora turns and walks into the restaurant, telling Regina their table is ready and to follow her.

Taking a deep breath, Regina makes her way to the table. There's already a bottle of wine waiting for them and complimentary rolls. Rolls that Regina will certainly not be eating because, heaven forbid, Cora see her eat any extra carbs with her meal.

"So, how are things going?" Cora asks as the waiter makes his way to the table.

After ordering their meals, a salad with grilled chicken and strawberries for Cora, and a grilled chicken breast atop a bed of rice for Regina, she goes on to tell her mother about work. She mostly talks about the farm house project and how the clients have made a lot of changes, but she's almost finished with it. Talking about work with her mother is easy. It's the main thing Regina has done in her life that Cora is proud of. She doesn't have a terrible relationship with her mother, but it's not the best either. So, talking about work is manageable.

She goes on to talk about Henry and his winning the Young Authors competition. Cora beams at that, commenting how talented of a writer Henry is.

"If only he were better at Math. He'd already be a shoe in for the best Ivy leagues in the country."

"Yes, well," Regina says, taking a sip of her wine to wash the chicken down, "he made a B in Math this year, which is great, so I think he'll be fine for college. He is only ten."

Granted, that B was on the lower side, but her mother doesn't need to know that. Her baby's mind wasn't designed for numbers. He's a reader and an artist. A writer. And he's inventive as hell. Plus, she and Robin have both been helping him with his math, and plan to continue working on it over the summer when he gets back, so she has no doubt he'll be able to do better in the subject next school year.

"Of course, dear," Cora says dismissively. Regina can't help but pick up on the judgmental tone of her mother. Clearly Cora isn't saying what she really wants to, but Regina isn't sure she wants to hear her mother's honest opinion. Henry is very smart and beyond creative. He's been in the gifted program at school since he was six, and he's passing all of his classes.

After a few minutes of talking about Cora's job, she tells her how her father is sorry he couldn't make it tonight. He's out of the country on a business trip trying to shoe in the purchase of a new horse for the ranch, and Regina says she understands. She knew he was gone already, in fact. Regina makes it a point to talk to her father weekly, whereas she only speaks to her mother every couple of weeks.

They finish their meals in relative peace, but once the plates have been cleared, Cora speaks up.

"So, tell me about this new boyfriend of yours."

Swallowing down her last sip of wine, Regina eyes her mother cautiously.

"Robin? I didn't think you knew about him." Granted, her father did, so he has probably mentioned it, but she still wasn't sure why she was just now mentioning him.

"Daniel mentioned him the other day when I ran into him at the derby." Ah, Regina thinks, of course.

Sighing, she smiles at the thought of Robin. "Yes, he's a wonderful man."

"And how did you meet him?" It seems almost odd, Cora asking about him so casually. She loves Daniel and after every break up, she was the one convincing her to go back to him.

Nevertheless, Regina recounts how she met him through work. She tells her mother that he owns his own advertising company and how he is a client, which earns her an astonished look from her mother.

"A client?" Cora tuts, "Regina, dear."

"Well, yes, but it didn't start right away." She tells her how Roland and Henry go to the same school and they became friends through their children. "After we spent time together, the four of us, for several weeks, he finally asked me out," she finishes, smiling ear to ear. She finds talking about Robin makes her very happy, and she's afraid of what her mother might say next. It's part of the reason she hasn't told Cora about Robin just yet. He's been her happy little secret, and she didn't want her mother to try and convince her otherwise.

"Well, his job is certainly impressive. Not as impressive as an upscale accountant, but…" Cora says, waving her hand dismissively in the air.

Sighing and shrugging her shoulders, trying not to roll her eyes, Regina brushes her mother's comment off. Her mother's judgemental attitude is causing the anger to rise up in Regina, but she takes a deep, calming breath to try and push it down. She will not let her mother take her joy away, no matter how hard she tries with her flippant remarks and judgmental looks.

Just then the waiter interrupts to bring the bill. Being the nice daughter she is, and because it's expected of her, Regina takes out her card to pay. They sit there in a weighted silence until the waiter brings her card back. Thanking him, she fills out the tip portion, signs her name and closes the black book, setting the pen on top of it.

Looking back up to her mother's cold stare, she says, "What is it, Mother? I can tell something is on your mind."

"Well, I just think you should stop wasting your time with this advertising man and go back to Daniel." She sighs. "He loves you so much, and you've been together for so long. You're made for each other. And just think about poor Henry, dear. He needs to grow up in a stable environment, with both of his parents together, happy, not tossed between houses with boyfriends coming in and out of the picture."

Yes, because her having a boyfriend is the problem here.

"His name is Robin," Regina shortly replies, blowing out a small breath of frustration. "And I am thinking about Henry. I was miserable with Daniel for so long, and Henry's much happier now that we have our own place. It's been almost ten months, Mother, please let this go. I'm not going back to Daniel."

"But you love Daniel," Cora says, as if it's the most obvious thing in the world, like Regina is a child who needs things explained slowly to her. "You need to stop playing games with his heart, dear, and just go back to him. He misses you, and I know his son misses seeing him every day. Think of all the things Henry could be doing with Daniel. We can sell your apartment and I can get some movers – "

No. That's it.

Mentioning Henry and claiming she knows how her son feels are completely over the line. Cora doesn't know how Henry feels, Regina does. She's his mother. She sees him every day and knows what makes him happy. He's been more outgoing and done things he never would have tried in the past since they moved into their new apartment. Regina is pissed. She cuts Cora off by holding up her hand and slowly curling her fingers into her palm, saying, as calmly a possible, "I don't love Daniel, Mother. I haven't loved Daniel since Henry was four years old. I would hope my own mother would recognize that by now."

Cora scoffs out an, "And this new man?" ignoring her last statement. She's sitting up taller now, looking down at Regina as if she were still a child. "This… Robin?" She says, flippantly waving her hand around as if his name doesn't even matter to her. "You love him? You barely know the man. Certainly not like you know our Daniel," she says indignantly.

"Yes!" Regina hisses heatedly, leaning into the table, hands gripping the edge of the table in an attempt to keep herself calm in public as she grits out her answer. "I do. I am in love with Robin." She's angry at her mother for not even considering that she really is over Daniel and that she really is in love Robin.

In love with Robin, her mind echoes.

Huh. She, well… she doesn't just have feelings for Robin, after all. She's in love with him.

She's known for a few weeks now, but actually saying it aloud really solidifies it. She's in love with him. This beautiful, loving, caring, wouldn't hurt a hair on her head, makes her laugh every day, man. The man who chases their sons around the park and builds forts in the living room for them. The man that holds her at night, whispering sweet words into her ear as his hands and tongue do incredible things to her, bringing her to heights she's never known. The man who she knows, even decades from now, would be making her laugh, just like the old couple she'd admired so many years ago. Robin has the it factor. He's it for her. He makes her feel comfortable and confident in herself, never makes her feel self conscious, and always does nothing but love and support her through everything. He's the best man she's ever met and she wonders how she got so lucky as to meet him… and why it took her so long to realize how she truly feels.

Sitting back in her seat and breathing heavily at the rush of emotions she's just experienced, she tells her mother, "I need to go."

Forget sitting here any longer being insulted for having an opinion that doesn't match her mother's. She needs to see Robin, needs to tell him how she feels now before she loses her confidence. She just hopes with every fiber of her being that he feels the same way. Assumes he does based on his actions and words, but well, she just isn't sure.

She stands abruptly from the table, grabbing her purse and ignoring Cora's critical, raised eyebrows as she says, "Sit down, Regina. No need for the theatrics. We're simply having a conversation."

Taking a second to look at her mother disapprovingly, she whispers crossly, "Have a good night, Mother." She walks away, leaving Cora at the table alone. At least she already paid for dinner.

{********************************}

He's sitting on his couch, nodding off during the commercial breaks of House Hunters. He had put Roland to bed an hour ago, and he'd found himself flipping to HGTV. It's a habit he's formed when Regina isn't there with him. It makes him feel like a part of her is there, plus he's found some of these people really complain about the dumbest things, and he likes to see which house they finally end up with.

As the complaining couple finally picks house number two, there's a knock on his front door. With furrowed eyebrows, wondering who it could be at ten o'clock at night, he stands and makes his way to the door.

Looking through the peephole, a smile spreads across his face. Regina.

Opening the door, he goes to greet her with a, "Hello, lo – "

His words are cut off by her lips crashing onto his. Her heated kisses sending shivers down his spine and to other, more sensitive places, on his body. His arms wrap around her as her hands run through his hair. She moans into his mouth before pulling away.

Breathing heavily, she gives him the sexiest grin he's ever seen. She lifts an eyebrow suggestively, and with a sultry voice, she asks, "Is Roland asleep?"

"Y - yes." He breathes out, still trying to catch his breath from that kiss.

"Can I come in?" She purrs, pushing his chest slightly so he fumbles into his entryway. As soon as the door is closed, his lips are back on hers. It's heated, and sloppy, but so, so hot. Her hands are roaming all over his body, while his hands roam over hers. Their hands move up and down each other's backsides before she grabs ahold of his shirt and his hands tangle into her hair. He's fighting the urge to take her right there against the front door.

Reality crashes on him as she bites at his lower lip, and he realizes she's supposed to still be out with her mum. Assuming something went wrong, he pulls her head back slightly from his face and pants out an, "Okay, slow down, love. What happened at dinner?"

He sees her sigh a little as she steps back from him, his question acting like a bucket of ice cold water to cool her down. She takes his hand and walks them into his living room. He sits down on the couch, a new episode of House Hunters has started, though they can't hear it because he'd turned it down low when she knocked on his door. She joins him on the couch, smirking at his show choice and sits next to him.

She finally turns to face him, her right leg dangling over his thigh and into the space between his legs, and caresses his cheek. His hands rest on her knee caps as he looks into her eyes. He can see the desire in them and hopes she can see the same in his.

"She tried to convince me to leave you and go back to Daniel."

Well, then. Bollocks.

"Oh," he states, his shoulders falling slightly. He knows she doesn't have the best relationship with her mother, but it's also not the worst. She's mentioned before that her mother has always been the one to convince her in the past to go back to Daniel, so to say he's a little worried is an understatement. He loves Regina and never wants to be without her. Maybe he should have told her the moment he realized how he felt. Perhaps then she wouldn't be so easily persuaded by her mother.

"But she helped me realize what I've known for a while." He hears her say, a slight grin playing on her face.

He looks into her dark eyes. "What's that?" He asks, hope bubbling up in his chest.

"That… I love you," she breathes out, her fingers nervously fiddling with sleeve of his shirt. After saying those three words, her eyes fall to watch her fingers play with his sleeve. She can't seem to take her eyes off of it. He realizes she's nervous, apprehensive to finally admit her feelings, and, hell, he can't have that.

"Oh, Regina," Robin sighs, his heart bursting at hearing her say those three little words as if an arrow has just struck the organ through it's center. He feels the same way and knows he needs to reassure her that his feelings match hers completely. Have for some time now.

He was planning on telling her tomorrow night after he took her to dinner, but, well, this works, too. He grabs her hands in order to draw her eyes back up to his. "I love you, too, darling." He's beaming at her as her eyes sparkle with emotion, a smile just as bright lighting up her face.

Looking deep into his eyes, her own welling up with tears, she says softly, "For so many years, I didn't know I was looking for something more. Didn't think I deserved more." She's twisting her fingers in his now, interlocking one hand as he brings his other up to tuck her hair behind her ear and cup the back of her neck.

Looking at her questioningly, he implores, "Why would you ever think that?" as he scrunches his eyebrows together and finishes with a, "You're an incredible woman. A tad stubborn at times, but..." He grins at her in jest, leaning closer to peck her plump lips.

Laughing, she tells him about the old couple she'd seen outside her home when Henry was four, the old man helping his wife into the car and laughing at something she'd said, saying they just had something, a look in their eye, a comfort with each other, that she never felt with Daniel. She realized then that she was stuck in a relationship that she no longer wanted to be in, but saw no way of getting out, especially with her mother breathing down her neck.

"I could never quite pinpoint what that couple, or any other happy couple I ever met, had," she says, tracing a line down his stubbled jaw and onto his bottom lip, giving it a gentle tap, "Until I found you," she tells him, scrunching her nose and smiling cheekily at him.

Biting his lip to conceal a smirk, he says, "It's totally different when you find a person that makes you feel…"

"Complete." She finishes his sentence for him through a breathy exhale. He matches her exhale and pushes out a yeah, exactly into the space between them. "You do that for me, Regina." He tells her he had that with Marian, too, that feeling of rightness, and he says, "I just never thought I'd have that again."

Sighing happily, she agrees, saying she never thought she'd find a love this like either, but, "I'm damn sure glad I did."

Grumbling out a low chuckle, he leans in, as best he can with the way they're sitting, and places a soft kiss to her lips. It's soft but sensual. They've just taken their relationship to a whole new level, and he wants to kiss every inch of her skin right now, making sure she knows that every bit of her is perfect for him.

Moaning, Regina pulls up her dress a little bit so she can sling one leg over him to straddle his lap, deepening their kiss. His hands find purchase on her ass, while her hands start to lift his shirt. They break apart long enough for her to pull his t-shirt over his head and discard it somewhere on the floor behind them.

His hands are roaming now, moving from her ass to her back, into her hair, and back down again. She's kissing along his lips and neck, sighing, and letting out soft moans. He moves his hands up to her dress' zipper, but stops before he undoes it, looking into her eyes questioningly.

"You sure?"

"Yes," Regina breathes out as she's nodding her head. With that, Robin slowly pulls down her zipper. He can't see anything back there, but the feel of her skin under his fingers is enough to have the proof of his feelings pressing into her thigh.

As he stands up, her legs wrap around his waist, and he carries them to his bedroom, kissing along her neck and lips the whole way there.

Not wasting a single second, he lays her back and climbs onto the bed, pulling her legs so she sinks lower onto the mattress. She's gorgeous and seeing her like this, he's reminded again how much he loves her. He's looking at her so reverently, like she's a goddess sent from Zeus himself to give him all the love and passion in the world. She stares back at him with a smile on her lips, the weight of this moment crashing down on her. There's a moment where it feels as if their souls connect, and they both know what is about to happen. They've both wanted it, and tonight they're finally going to give in. They're going to love each other fully.

An hour later, they lay there, him still inside of her, breathing deeply. She begins rubbing her hands up and down his arms, while he places soft kisses to her shoulder and neck. When their breath starts to return to normal, he looks up at her.

"Wow," he says as she giggles, bringing her hand up to rub through her own hair, moving some of it to the other side. She's covered in a light sheen of sweat and needs her hair off of her neck to cool down some.

"Yeah," she breaths, propping herself up onto her elbows. "That was..."

"Amazing," he finishes for her, placing a kiss to her ribs.

"Yeah. It was." She smiles, pulling him up so he can kiss her lips, slightly tasting herself on his tongue again.

"Makes me wonder why we didn't do this a few weeks ago," she smirks, running her hand along the outside of his arm.

"Well," he says, leaning down to press a kiss to her lips, "you were suffering from nerves and a bit of apprehension… and I wasn't going to push you."

Smiling, she brings her face up to meet his, placing a lingering kiss to his mouth, moving her lips down to his neck to suck on his pulse point. "True," she breathes out, telling him she loves him all the more for not pushing her.

Another nip to her shoulder and he slowly pulls himself up and out of her, removing his condom and throwing it away in the bathroom trash can.

He joins her back in the bed, and she curls into his chest, body feeling completely boneless for the moment. The hand resting on his stomach is her injured one, and he lifts it up gingerly, caressing his thumb over her skin delicately and placing a kiss to the red mark on the top of it.

She smiles softly into his chest, burying her cheek further into him and placing a kiss to his shoulder.

After a few minutes of laying there, just enjoying the feel of each other, Robin looks down at her.

"I could use a shower. Care to join?" He asks, wiggling his eyebrows.

Laughing softly, she agrees, "We are quite sticky, aren't we?" she asks, twitching her eyebrow up quickly.

Standing from the mattress, he takes her hand and they scurry off into the bathroom, giggling like teenagers sneaking in past curfew.

{***************************}

After a hot shower and even hotter shower sex, they finally towel off and get dressed. Roland has a tendency to wake Robin up in the mornings, and even though the door is locked, he'd hate to explain to his overly curious five year old why it took his papa so long to open his door in the morning if he had to spend time throwing on clothes.

Since Regina didn't plan to come over tonight, Robin loans her one of his t-shirts. He's laying in bed while she stands across the room and slips it on. He looks up as she's making her way over to the bed, and he can't help the way his heartbeat speeds up seeing her in his t-shirt and a pair of his boxers, which decidedly look far sexier on her than him. She's gorgeous, a bloody goddess, and he can't believe he gets to sleep next to her.

Lifting the covers for her, she climbs in and lays her head on his chest. He's only wearing sweat pants, and he shivers at the sensation of her nails lightly rubbing over his bare chest, tracing patterns on his skin.

Lifting her hand to his lips, he places a soft kiss to her fingers. "I love you."

"I love you, too." She leans up to place a gentle kiss to his lips. It lingers for a moment, longer than a peck, but not intending to start another round of sex. It's sweet and full of love, and Robin wants nothing more than to kiss her like this every night.

"You know what's funny," he says with a chuckle, causing Regina to look up at him.

At her hmm? What's that? He smiles and says, "Well, I just find it amusing that you beat me to the punch on this whole I love you thing."

"What do you mean?" she chuckles, shifting her body to look at him more fully.

He twists his body, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear and cupping her cheek. "I was going to tell you how much I truly love you tomorrow after I whisked you off to a romantic dinner."

"Oh, Robin," she breathes out, reaching up to take his hand from her cheek and interlock their fingers. "I'm sorry." Her eyebrows scrunch in sympathy, telling him she's sure his big I love you reveal would've been beautiful.

"I feel bad now," she half teasingly breathes out, leaning over to place a kiss to his lips.

Wrapping his arms around her and pulling her closer to his body, he chuckles, saying, "Oh, it's alright, my love. The way you did it ended up working out much better for us in the end."

She laughs out at that, swats his chest and wags her eyebrows, saying, "Yeah, it did!" causing him to laugh along with her.

Taking a breath, she runs her hand through the top of his hair before placing a soft kiss to his lips.

She lays her head back down on his chest, letting his heartbeat lull her into a relaxed state.

After a pause of sleepy silence, she tells him softly, "Tomorrow is Sunday." He hums his acknowledgment, running his hand from where it's nestled in her hair down her back as she tells him, "We don't have to work, so we should do something together with Roland… if you want."

"Of course, darling. That sounds like a wonderful plan. We can ask him in the morning what he wants to do. Though I'm quite sure he'll be sad remembering Henry isn't around to play with." Robin says, inhaling the smell of his woodsy scented shampoo lingering in her hair, the thrill of that sensation sending a tingle down his spine.

Sighing, she tells him Roland isn't the only one who will be sad Henry isn't there.

He knows that being away from Henry for three weeks is going to be rather hard for her. It would be for any parent.

Hell, he had tried to let Roland go stay with Marian's parents in Rhode Island once for a week when he was four and that alone had been enough to have his nerves on edge. It didn't last long though, ended after only about two days. They'd had to call Robin in the middle of the second night with a screaming Roland on the other end saying he missed his papa and his bed and wanted to come home. Robin had gotten in his car right that instant and made the two and a half hour drive despite the late hour to pick him up.

He knows it's a bad habit, but Roland isn't even six. Week long trips out of state are a big commitment compared to the slumber parties he's gone to over the last year. It's been the two of them majority of Roland's life so it's hard to be away for too long for either of them.

"When can you talk to him?"

Regina shrugs her shoulder up, saying, "He promised to call every day. Hopefully he'll call tomorrow when I'm with you guys, and Roland can talk to him." She traces a circle above his heart before sliding her hand down to rest on his stomach.

"He would love that," he says as a yawn escapes her lips. "Get some sleep, love, and we'll talk to Henry tomorrow."

"Ok," she yawns again, making him yawn, too. "Goodnight, Robin. Love you"

His heart swells hearing her say those words. He doesn't think he's ever going to get tired of hearing her say it. "Night, babe. I love you, too." With that, they both drift off into a peaceful sleep, wrapped in each other's arms.

{**********************}

Thoughts? :) ...and again, if you'd like the read the real version, please check out AO3. Thanks!