sorry I'm late.

Waking up at almost eleven on Sunday mornings wasn't usual for them. But after a kind of night like the one they had just spent, they surely deserved some rest. They were naked, tangled up in a tight, warm embrace, barely covered by a thin baby blue sheet that reminded Regina of Robin's eyes. The same eyes that opened up first, to find the woman he loved laying right next to him. She was giving him her back but, even though he couldn't see it, he was sure she had a huge smile printed on her lips. He felt the sweet smell of her skin tickling his nostrils, so he allowed himself to delicately kiss her shoulder, her back, her neck. His kisses were feather light but they still were enough to wake her up: he felt her turning to face him, with her beautifully brown eyes still closed, just to hug him tighter and bury her face in his neck.

"I'll let you sleep some more, let me just check if my mother set the kitchen on fire." he giggled, kissing her hair.

"Please don't go. Stay with me a little, you know I like being cuddled in the morning." she said so sweetly and innocently that he just couldn't say no. She kissed his neck, loving the feeling of the warmth of his skin against her lips, then she finally opened her eyes to meet his. "Good morning." she smiled, kissing his lips once, twice, four times.

"'Morning, my love." he hugged her tighter "You should keep sleeping, you know? We… kinda lost control last night."

"We?" she laughed "Robin, three times."

"Three wonderful times." he closed his eyes and, for a moment, he allowed himself to remember all the beautiful things and feelings they lived the night before. Definitely one of the best nights he had spent in his life, with the woman he loved more than anything. They had fallen asleep around three, completely spent and sated, full, completed.

"I feel tired."

"Sleep, my love. I can handle my mother." her eyes immediately flashed open at his words, as if a thunder had just shaken her and she'd lost every chance to rest peacefully.

Shit.

"Oh, God, no!" she said, burying her face under the pillow. Robin couldn't help but giggle as she, for the millionth time, proved herself a baby:
"What?"

"Your mother! Do you think she heard us?"

"Well, let's just say you weren't exactly the quietest." he smiled, caressing the naked skin of her back.

"Oh God, oh God!" she said, her voice muffled by the pillow "I won't ever be able to look her in the eyes again."

Robin giggled: "Don't be silly. Believe it or not, my mother knows what sex is. She knows we're adults, we're old enough to make love, and I'm sure she's happy we made up for last night at dinner."

She came out, her face completely red: "It was a horrible idea, I knew it. We should have waited, and—"

"Oh trust me, with that blue dress you wore you should thank God I've been able to resist till we were home." he saw her blushing, then smiling as he leaned closer to kiss her. "Sleep, my love, sleep some more." he held her in his warm embrace until he made sure she was sleeping again, peacefully.

He put his boxers on, his robe, then opened the door, just to find a wonderful smell waiting for him, coming from the kitchen. Hmm… apple pie. And… cookies. He walked in the room where his mother was waiting for him, busy at putting more cookies in the oven.

A cake, a tart, pancakes and muffins were already on the table.

"Is the president joining us for breakfast?" he joked, his voice still sleepy.

Angela Locksley giggled: "Well, I think you guys need to eat after what happened last night." she winked at him and Robin's cheek turned a bright shade of red.

"You…"

"I just imagined that you made up last night, after we came home. Just like me and your father used to do."

"Oh please, save the details." Angela laughed as she sat next to her son and took a pancake from the plate.

He couldn't lie to his mother, but that wonderful smile he couldn't get off his face wasn't helping him at all. He was happy, the happiest man alive probably.

"So… do you like Boston? It's better than Atlanta, isn't it?"

"Not particularly. Atlanta is less chaotic and people don't look like they've just escaped from an asylum." Robin giggled. Yeah, it's something her mother would say.

"I'd love to visit it with Regina someday."

"Oh yes, you should! I'm sure she'd love it." before he could nod to agree, they heard the door of the bedroom opening. Regina came out shyly, wearing her white robe and, hopefully, the underwear.

"Morning, everyone!" she exclaimed, still finding a bit hard to look at Angela the way she used to do before.

"My love, I told you to sleep some more…"

"I know but I woke up again and you weren't there, so…" she blushed, shrugging as she gave him a small smile. Her eyes fell on the table and what she saw made her immediately want to lick her lips. "My God, Angela, it looks delicious!"

"Please, have a seat dear. Take whatever you want, I made everything for you, with love." she smiled sweetly and Regina's heart sank. No woman had ever treated her with such care, as if she was… a daughter she loved. In Angela Locksley she had found the mother she had never had and always wanted, the sweet and kind person that prepares you breakfast and wishes you a good day as she greets you with a smile every morning, instead of the usual criticism about her life choices.

"Thank you." she just said, before biting a biscuit.

"It's nothing." Angela smiled. "So, today is a beautiful day and I really, really need to buy some new clothes." she said, all excited "I was thinking that maybe we could go shopping this afternoon. I know we still have one whole week but… what do you say Regina?"

"Absolutely." she said promptly, ignoring Robin that was squeezing her hand under the table, as if he wanted to stop her from saying a word. "It'll be fun, right, Robin?"

"You have no idea what you just agreed to do." he said in all seriousness, walking into their room already dressed up, while she was still in her underwear. Regina looked at him with a puzzled look printed on her face and he quickly explained himself: "My mother spends whole hours in a shop, she tries on two thousand dresses and ends up picking just one. Trust me, I know that woman, it's exhausting keeping up with her when she goes shopping."

Regina laughed: "Well, I understand her. It's just a girly thing. It takes time to buy a dress, you know?" she said as she zipped her skirt "Maybe for you men it's easier because your clothes are all the same but—"

"Okay, now you're scaring me. You're saying the same exact things she says!"

She laughed again, then she slowly approached him, until their lips were barely an inch away:
"Don't be a baby. At some point we might… leave your mother in some random shop as I go buying some new underwear. I ran out of panties, you know." she smirked "And you may come with me." she saw him biting his bottom lip and she blushed, but she continued anyway: "And I may try on something for you, so you can give me your opinion." she traced a path of soft kisses from his ear down to his chin. Robin moaned, then suffocated a giggle:
"Okay, you got me at new underwear." he smiled "But promise me you'll try on some babydolls too."

Regina returned his smile, then left a big kiss on his cheek and nodded: "I promise."

Yes, he thought, it could be fun.

Robin was right: they had only been able to visit three shops and Angela had spent at least half a hour in each of them, without buying absolutely anything. Regina was amused, while Robin was feeling like a child forced to follow her mother doing shopping. He would have much preferred a walk in the park.

At some point, Regina took his hand, smiled at him and, with her usual innocence, she dragged him to the changing rooms. The smile on Robin's face was able to light up the whole city after a blackout, but he had completely misunderstood her intentions: "Wait here." she said before disappearing behind the curtains. He didn't even notice what she had taken from the stands as he was totally busy fantasizing about all the things they could do in that stupid changing room, behind the curtain that was dividing him from her naked body.

"You like it?" she walked out of it almost naked, covered in a simple, thin red bikini that looked amazing against her olive skin. Robin had to steady himself against the column not to fall and bite his tongue not to curse. She was beautiful and, in that moment, he swore it was like he was looking at her for the first time.

"I thought that, maybe, one day, we could go on a vacation. To the beach. What do you think? You like it?" she asked again.

"Oh… yes." he managed to mumble. Regina giggled, turning around to show him the back. It was then that he noticed: the bottom left much little to the imagination, as the one she had tried on was more like a thong than a normal bikini. He normally would appreciate such view but… she was going to wear it in public. On a beach. With other people. "But... maybe you should buy a swimsuit." was that… redness on his cheeks? Regina had to keep herself from laughing out loud.

"I don't remember you wanting me to wear a swimsuit in the bedroom."

"That's because that show was reserved for my eyes and my eyes only. On the beach there will be… people."

She finally allowed herself to laugh, then she threw her arms around his neck. "I'm only interesting in having your attention, not that of the others. And, at the end of the day, the one who's gonna come back home with this ass… will be you, Locksley."

In spite of his jealousy, he was glad she finally accepted her body for what it was and she felt confident in showing it. It meant that she finally considered herself the beautiful woman that she truly really was and he couldn't help but being happy about it.

"You should take a blue one, too." he whispered, bringing a lock of her hair behind her ear. "It's a color that, as you may have noticed last night, drives me insane on you." with that low, deep tone he pulled away from her, allowing her to close the curtains and change herself.
It was then and only then that Regina Mills was able to catch her breath again.

She only came out when she made sure Robin wasn't there. She had a thing or two left to do and he… he just couldn't know. Not even Angela. At least not yet.

She walked in a very particular shop, as she took her phone from the pocket and composed a number.
"Rothman." said the voice from the other side.

"Linda? It's Regina. I need to see you, we have to talk."

"Victor again?"

"Yes. I wanna visit him in prison."

dum dum dum! you may want to read the next chapter before killing me.