Regina draws up her legs and tucks them beneath herself as she settles on the couch in her office. There is a mound of paperwork sitting on her desk, but she found that she wasn't much interested in that—not when she had a grocery list to plan. Tuesday night dinners had become a regular thing for the Locksley's and the Mills'—and in less than three hours, Robin and Roland would be coming over and it was her turn to prepare a meal that the four of them could enjoy. It occurred to her mid-way through the day that she could always cancel or even reschedule. It wouldn't have been unreasonable; she had a ton of work and a nagging headache, but Henry always looked forward to Tuesdays and she didn't want to disappoint him—or at least, that's what she told herself.

Catching her bottom lip between her teeth, she examines a Taco Bake recipe from a cookbook she'd found tucked away in a cabinet. She scans the list of ingredients—noting that she has already has most of them at home and most of them sound at least moderately appealing to her. She makes a mental note to pick up some cilantro and avocado to add to Greek yogurt for a topping and some other ingredients to make her own pico de gallo—two substitutions she feels might make up for the entire bag of Doritos the recipe called for. Taking a breath she scans the recipe again, catching herself off guard when she wonders what sort of wine might compliment such a dish…

She takes a short breath and turns the page, and tries to shift her thoughts away from wine to the Apple Cinnamon Taquito recipe that was suggested as a possible after-Taco Bake treat. But before she can dwell for too long on dessert recipe or the fact she'll be consuming a quarter of a bag of Doritos or why the idea of sharing a bottle of wine with Robin has a grin tugging at one corner of her mouth, her she hears her office door opens, followed by a sniffle and all thoughts of anything else fade away.

"Henry," she says as she turns herself toward the door, her voice piquing with concern. She takes a fleeting glance at her watch. "Aren't you supposed to be at tutoring?"

She watches as he shrugs his shoulders and his eyes all away from hers. He sniffles again, and then his jaw begins to tremble. "There's no point."

"You've been making so much progress," she counters gently.

Henry looks back up at her, this time with tears welling in his sweet, hazel eyes and a moment later, she's holding him in her arms, gently telling him over and over again that it'll be okay—even though she's not sure what it is. Her hand slips beneath his backpack, rubbing soothingly between his shoulder blades. Slowly, his arms link around her neck and she lifts him up as she stands, carrying him over to the couch.

She settles him there and then sits down beside him, draping her arm around his small shoulders and hugging him into her side. Taking a breath, she drops a quick kiss over the top of his head, wanting nothing more than to love away his tears.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

He pulls back a little and looks up at her—though he's small for his age, he looks so little—defeated and broken—and her heart breaks as his jaw again begins to tremble.

"I failed," he whispers after a moment.

"What?"

"My math test," he says, looking up at her. "I failed it."

"Oh," she murmurs as she pulls him closer. "I'm so sorry…"

"I studied and everything."

"I know…" And she does know. They spent hours that weekend studying for that test—and she knew without question that Henry knew the rules of long division inside and out, yet whenever it came to actually doing a problem, it all fell apart. "I'm sorry, sweetie."

"Ms. Blanchard had to fold my test when she gave it back to me," he tells her, sniffling back tears that want to fall. "She didn't have to do that for anyone else and everyone saw." Regina feels her jaw tighten and she takes a breath and strokes her fingers over Henry's hair, trying to focus on him and not a thoughtless and likely unintentional action that made him feel this way. "Then we had to go over it and make corrections."

"Well, at least now you know what…"

"Mom, I got every question wrong," Henry says, his shaky voice raising as he looks up at her. "Every single problem," he adds, his breath catching as his face scrunches. "Everyone saw."

"I'm sure they didn't notice…"

"They did!" Henry cuts in. "They did and now they know how dumb I am."

"Oh, Henry, no…don't say that."

"But I am."

"You're not," Regina insists, pulling him closer. "I know it's hard, but…" She presses a kiss to his hair as her voice trails off. She can feel his tears on pooling on her shirt—and she doesn't quite know what to say, so she just holds him for awhile, letting him cry on her shoulder until he doesn't have tears left to cry.

"I…think we should cancel dinner." She pulls back a little and it's her first instinct to nod in agreement, and suggest they spend the evening cuddling on the couch with some loud movie with lots of explosions that she'll surely hate, but willingly watch again and again, if it makes him happy. "I don't want Robin to know."

"About the test?"

He nods. "He's going to be so mad."

"I don't think he'll be mad at you."

"But he wasted so much time…"

"It wasn't a waste of time, Henry," she says with a soft sigh, hating that he feels this way and hating that others have made him feel this way. "Because you," she begins as she lifts his chin. "You are not a waste of time."

"But…"

"And I am sure Robin will say the same thing when he and Roland are over for dinner tonight," she tells him with a smirk, as she stands and tugs at his hand. "Now, we have groceries to pick up and the dishwasher needs to be unloaded and I am positive that there is still a pair of dirty socks on the stairs that need to be picked up." She gives his hand a light squeeze as she pulls him up. "And, on top of that, I am fairly certain there's a comic book waiting for you in the mail box that needs to be read as soon as possible."

She's in the kitchen, slicing into the avocado, when the doorbell rings and there's a surprising flutter in chest—they're early. She wipes her hands on a dish cloth and then tosses it to the counter, walking briskly toward the door in hopes of reaching it before Henry. She reaches for the knob and sighs; he didn't rush to the door as he usually does and his bedroom door is still closed. Nonetheless, she smiles as she opens the door and just as expected, Robin is standing there with Roland on his hip and a grocery bag in the opposite hand. Roland holds up two brown glass bottles in his fists and smiles brightly as he hoists them up so that she can see them. She laughs a little and lets them in, peering down into the grocery bag as Robin sets Roland down.

"Where's Henry?" Roland asks before either she or Robin can say a word.

"He's upstairs," Regina tells him, glancing quickly from Roland to Robin and then back. "Why don't you go up and find him—he's feeling pretty down today and I think he could use a friend."

Regina laughs a little as Roland nods and Robin grabs the bottles of root beer as Roland bounds toward the stairs. Robin looks back at her and offers a sheepish grin as he holds up the bottles of root beer, just as Roland had done a moment before. "I thought, perhaps, Henry might like a little pick-me-up after that math test."

"How did you know about that?"

"Ms. Blanchard came in to tutoring to see Henry, and since he wasn't there, she and I chatted for a bit."

"Ah."

"And there's something I'd like to talk to you about," Robin says, glancing towards the stairs. "Perhaps out of earshot." Regina nods, taking the grocery bag from him and carrying it to the kitchen. She sets the bag on the counter and reaches inside and pulls out a tub of vanilla ice cream, a can of whipped cream and some chocolate sauce. "I've been told that I make a pretty mean root beer float," Robin explains, as he reaches into the bag to pull out the last items as he follows her to the refrigerator. "So, I thought that, perhaps after dinner, we could make floats. I don't know if you're much of a root beer drinker, but I brought a couple of bottles of the adult variety because…if your kid is having a rough day, that means you are, too…and perhaps you might need a bit more than some ice cream."

"I actually do like root beer," she admits as a smile tugs onto her lips. "A guilty pleasure." Robin chuckles softly as his blue eyes shimmer with kindness. "And this is…incredibly sweet of you to do."

"It's nothing…"

"No," Regina cuts in. "It's not nothing. Henry's not used to…having people care about him. So, it really means a lot to me that you thought of him."

Robin nods and again flashes that sweet smile. "He's a great kid, Regina. It's easy to care about him."

At that, she smiles and nods and when he reaches for her hand to give it a soft squeeze, she finds it hard to breathe. He's standing so close and smiling so sincerely and, under different circumstances, she might allow this little moment to continue to see where it might lead.

But instead, she clears her throat and steps around him. "So, uh, what did you want to talk about?"

"Oh…um…Ms. Blanchard and I spoke at length about Henry's test and she and I have…a theory."

"A theory?"

"We think Henry may have something called dyscalculia."

Regina feels her chest tighten and she shakes her head, "I…I don't know what that means."

"It's a bit like dyslexia, but affects the way he processes numbers rather than words." Robin pauses to give her a moment to process what he's said, watching as she nods and swallows hard. "It's a learning disability…"

"Oh…and…what would that mean for Henry?"

"Only that he'd have to learn to adjust to it, to learn some strategies to help him cope with it," Robin says easily. "It's typically diagnosed in earlier grades, but…"

"But Henry's never had stable schooling, much less anyone at home who'd care enough to notice," Regina says, feeling her jaw tighten as guilt pinches at her core. "What else?"

"Ms. Blanchard feels—and after working with Henry for the past few weeks, I would agree—that his biggest struggles are multi-step procedures…"

"Like long-division."

"Yes," Robin nods. "And he has trouble translating or connecting verbal math problems to written ones." Regina looks up and lets out a shallow breath, shaking her head as she tries to understand. "What I mean is that Henry can listen to a math problem and better understand it than he can when it's written down. In both ways, he struggles with the steps, but he has more success explaining problems than writing them down."

"Oh…so…what does that mean for him?"

"Well, I don't quite know. Ms. Blanchard wasn't sure either, but she had some ideas—one of which was additional tutoring." Regina nods, again, still processing. "Things like math games might be helpful, too, and using it in scenarios that he's already comfortable with."

"Like when he helps me cook."

"Exactly," Robin says. "He can also use things like multiplication tables and manipulatives so he can visualize a problem. Ms. Blanchard has some in her classroom and said that Henry could take them home for extra practice." Again, Regina just nods. "After she and I talked, I did a bit of reading and…"

"You did?"

Robin nods, "Yes, and I was thinking that, perhaps if it's okay with you, I could work with him a bit after tutoring. Maybe spend an evening or two each week with him, working on math."

"You would do that?" Robin nods, smiling gently. "Then, yes, if…if it's really not too much trouble." She feels a smile once more tugging at the corners of her mouth. "It'd mean a lot to Henry. He really enjoys working with you, and he was worried that you'd be upset with him, that you'd think he was a waste of your time."

"Because he failed a test?" Robin asks, his brow furrowing as Regina nods watching as worry settles in Robin's eyes. "Oh…"

"I told him that you wouldn't think that, but…I think it would help hearing it from you."

"Of course," he tells her, smiling warmly, once more reaching for her hand and giving it a soft, reassuring squeeze. "We'll figure this out." Her breath catches her in her chest and once more she feels a little flutter in her stomach, and all she can manage to do is nod and squeak out a quick 'thank you' as Robin winks and drops her hand. "So," he says, turning away from her and looking toward to the counter where a bowl of forgotten Greek yogurt and slices of avocado sit.
"What's for dinner?"

"Um, a taco bake recipe I found…" she says, swallowing hard. "I was going to make an avocado topping and some homemade pico."

Robin grins and she watches as he tosses a cube of avocado into his mouth. "Tell me what I can do to help."

"Well," she begins, taking a step toward the counter as her shoulders relax. "You can start by chopping the cilantro…"

After dinner, the boys clear the table as Robin and Regina get out the ingredients for Robin's infamous floats. Regina watches as Roland hands Henry plate after plate to load into the dishwasher—he was much quieter than usual tonight, focusing mostly on his food and avoiding eye contract. Robin had tried to talk with him, but he'd mostly answered in one-word responses, giving most of his attention to Roland—the one person who had no concept of the failed math test.

"Can I help scoop the ice cream?" Roland asks, looking away from Henry and watching as Regina pulls the top off of the tub of vanilla.

She grins and nods, waving him over and lifting him onto a chair as she places four glass mugs in front of him, then hands him the scooper. Glancing up she grins at Robin, who's turned his attention to Henry. Robin leans against the counter, watching as Henry slides the used silverware into the proper inserts on the rack, working slowly and likely trying to avoid having to talk to anyone.

"You know, I talked to Ms. Blanchard today…"

"Oh…"

Robin glances quickly at Regina, then looks back to Henry. "She said you can retake that test."

"It won't matter," Henry murmurs. "I'll still fail."

"You don't know that…"

"Yes, I do." Her chest tightens as she watches Henry continue to load the dishwasher, and her hand folds around Roland's helping him to drag the scooper through the ice cream and drop it into the first mug. "I'm useless…"

"No," Robin interjects, reaching out and lifting Henry on top of the counter. "Listen to me. You're not useless and you're not a waste of my time. Some things are harder for certain people. Just because you couldn't do those math problems on that test doesn't mean you can't do them." Henry's brow furrows as he finally looks up at Robin, and Regina watches as a grin stretches over Robin's lips. "Your mom and I talked about it and tomorrow after school, you and I are going to grab some burgers at Granny's and a do a little math."

Regina's bottom lip catches between her teeth as Henry's nose crinkles. "The burgers sound great, but the math…not so much." She helps Roland to fill the last mug and then reaches for the chocolate sauce, drizzling it over the ice cream, just as Robin had instructed. "But okay," Henry agrees with a nod.

"And I promise, you're going to do better the next time around."

"I don't know about that…"

"Well, I do," Robin cuts in. "And you trust me, right?" Regina grins as a small smile edges onto Henry's lips and he nods. "Good. Now, I don't know about you, but I think you've spent enough time worrying about that math test. How about you worry about making the perfect float instead?"

Henry nods and grins again, looking back at Roland who is drizzling chocolate sauce into the last of the mugs as Regina twists the tops of off of the boys' root beers. She holds one out to him and he giggles as Robin slides him across the counter, using his hand as a bumper to keep him from falling off the edge. Regina laughs and leans in, pressing a soft kiss to Henry's forehead as he takes one of the bottles, then she hands the other to Roland.

"I've never had a float with chocolate sauce in it."

"Neither have I," Regina tells him.

"It's my secret ingredient," Robin confesses, a small chuckle behind his words. "So, you two will have to promise me that you won't tell a single soul."

"It's so good," Roland adds, as Robin uncaps the two root beers for Regina and himself, and then instructs the boys to pour in the root beer. They do and he adds the whipped topping, then squirts on a bit more chocolate drizzle as Regina drops spoons into their mugs.

"I also think we should discuss Halloween costumes," Robin adds, winking at Regina as Henry's eyes widen.

"I've never actually had a costume."

"You haven't?" Roland asked, his eyes widening too. "Last year I was a hobbit…"

"Like from Lord of the Rings?"

Roland nods. "I had a cape and everything."

"Mom, can I show Roland my Middle Earth Lego set?" Henry looks up at her hopefully as Roland's eyes light up, and she sighs, unable to say no and glad to see him so excited. "Please?"

"Okay," she nods, "But…try to be careful with the floats."

"We will," Henry promises as he and Roland hop down to the floor and grab their floats.

"Careful…"

Henry nods and slows his pace, and Roland does the same. Regina laughs a little as they head toward the stairs, and she looks back at Robin with a grateful smile. She doesn't say anything, but he nods in understanding as he continues to make their floats.

As promised, Robin spends a few extra nights each week working with Henry. They sometimes meet at Granny's and other times he comes over, but tonight, they're at his cabin. It's cozy and quaint, nestled into the woods at the edge of the town. It's odd to be there—though it's not the first time—but odd to be there like this, with her preparing dinner in his kitchen while she watches Robin with the boys, practicing fractions with Legos.

The extra tutoring has helped, and though Henry still struggles, he's less frustrated than he was before—and not nearly as defeated when he doesn't catch on. As promised, Ms. Blanchard allowed Henry to retake the test two weeks later, and he scored a C-minus—something he'd proudly exclaimed as he bounded into her office, brandishing the test in front of her. She'd smiled and swept him up in her arms and pressed a kiss into his cheek—so relieved that his efforts were working. In addition to practicing with Robin, she'd turned cooking into a game—making him measure things and figure out adjustments, and she'd even bought him a special measuring cup that had a grip on the handle and all of the measurements in bold red print. She couldn't help but notice that Henry's confidence was growing and though he still was unsure of himself a lot of the time, he was much more willing to try.

She brushed some melted butter over the ham and cheese pockets and then sprinkled them with seasoning as she slid them into the oven, then turns her attention to the stove to stir hollandaise sauce—something she managed to convince Roland was a cheese sauce. Filling a pot with water, she sets it on the stove and brings it to a boil before dropping in the fresh-cut asparagus, looking back over her shoulder and watching as Robin high-fives Henry—she doesn't quite know what they're doing, but Henry's smiling and it makes her heart feel light.

Smiling, she turns away from them, wiping down the counters and rinsing out measuring cups and utensils. Over the running water, she hears them all laugh from the adjoining living room and feels a warmth rising in her chest, accompanied by a feeling she can't quite place.

When dinner is ready, she calls them into the kitchen and the boys help set the table while she plates the food and Robin pours drinks—milk for the boys and sweet riesling for the adults. A few minutes later, they're all at the table and Roland is suddenly unsure he wants to try the ham and cheese pockets, which leads them into a frivolous conversation about different types of cheeses. This one is gruyere—and it has a funny name and it's not yellow, and that's the cause of Roland's skeptical. Henry, who eats almost anything, assures him he'll like it because it's not all that different from the type of cheese they use on pizza. Robin chuckles as Roland concedes, more than satisfied with Henry's explanation, and finally tries it and she finds herself laughing as his brown eyes widen and he takes a bigger bite, nodding approvingly at her as he mumbles something to her that she can't understand between bites.

The conversation soon changes to Halloween costumes and Henry excitedly tells Robin and Roland about the Captain America costume Regina's been making for him. Robin's eyebrows arch and Regina nods, confirming that she is actually making most of the costume—though, they've purchased a mask and a shield from the Halloween store in town. Roland excitedly exclaims that he'll also be an Avenger—Hawkeye—but he'll be using his own bow and arrow with his costume, a detail that he seems all too proud to include.

"Perhaps," Robin begins, glancing in Regina's direction. "We could all go trick-or-treating next week, together."

"Yeah," she nods as a smile edges onto her lips as he glances between them. "I think that'd be fun."

"It would be," Henry agrees, grinning at her with a curious expression on his lips. "You guys can keep each other company while Roland and I get our candy." He's undoubtedly trying to play match-maker again—and she's surprised when she finds herself not completely against the idea. And upon that realization, she finds her stomach beginning to churn, as all the reasons she should be against it begin to swirl through her head.

It's a couple of days before Halloween and once more, she finds herself falling behind in her mayoral tasks. There's a scheduled Halloween parade and all of the local businesses will be passing out candy to the children of Storybrooke—and while that seems simple enough, there are a thousand little things she needs to do to ensure that all of that happens.

When Robin volunteered to take Henry for a Saturday to allow her some time to catch up on her work, she'd jumped at the offer—and then back peddled a bit, not wanting to impose and making promises to return the favor. He's smiled—that kind, sweet smile—and squeezed her hand and told her it was the kind of things that friends did for one another, no repayment would be necessary, though he appreciated the offer. Still, she'd hedged a bit—she wasn't used to this sort of generosity—but he'd insisted that Henry was no trouble, in fact, Henry would be doing him a favor by keeping Roland occupied and out of the way.

So, that morning, she'd dropped Henry off at Robin's shop. Before she'd even made it to the door, he and Roland were climbing into a canoe that was on display, pretending to be rafting down the River Wharfe as Henry begins retelling the fable of the river and Roland's eyes grow wide as he asks if the river can really eat people. Regina laughs as she waves to Robin and sets out toward City Hall, ready to lose herself in approving vendors ensuring barricades are properly placed.

She spends the day this way—engrossed in preparations for Halloween—and for the first time in all her years in Storybrooke, she finds herself looking forward to this annual tradition. She planned the whole thing, mostly on her own, and kept Henry in mind. She picked the kinds of candy he likes best and the street vendors would be selling snacks and other little things that he would enjoy. The parade was filled with floats that she knew would make him smile, and for the first time ever, they'd have a fireworks display at the end—something she knew that Henry would love.

Grinning in satisfaction, she glances out her window at the lowering sun. Her grin pulls tighter as she pushes herself away from her desk, as she decides to pick up burgers and fries for Robin and the boys. It's a sort of thank you, she supposes, as she heads away from City Hall in the direction of the diner. She picks up her pace as she turns onto Main Street, eager to pick up to food and take it over to Robin's shop just down the street from Granny's. Her anticipation builds as Granny rings up the order, chuckling softly when she confirms that she and Henry will indeed be dining with the Locksley's yet again, and denies that there's anything going on between her and Robin. Granny rolls her eyes and smirks, reminding her, yet again, that she could do a lot worse than Robin Locksley. Regina nods, laughing a little as she leaves, and then continues on her way down Main Street until she reaches Robin's shop. There's a small patch of grass at the side of the store, which is situated on a corner and there, Robin stands with Henry and Roland. There's big round target set up and Robin is standing behind Henry, easing back his arm as he holds a bow. She watches as he says something to Henry, who nods in reply, then Roland hands him an arrow—the kind would a big orange suction cup on the tip—and she watches as Henry places it in the bow. He looks to Robin, who nods his approval, and then Henry eases back his arm, just as Robin had shown him a moment before, and then the arrow goes sailing. Her breath catches as the arrow hits the target—and she watches as Roland jumps up and down, clapping his hands together as Robin rushes forward, scooping Henry up and swinging him around. She can hear them all laughing and cheering and tears form in her eyes, watching the scene unfold…

"Mom!" Henry calls out as she catches a glimpse of her. "Mom, I hit the target!"

"On the first try," Robin calls out, waving to her as he smiles broadly, still holding onto Henry.

She nods, suddenly unable to find her voice, as tears brim in her eyes and an overwhelming wave of emotion hits her—and for the first time, she realizes it all means.