Once Upon a Time 1. Chapter 1

**Hello internet! So this here is an OQ story, with a healthy dose of Snow/Queen friendship times, because we never get enough of that. It's set a fair way into the future, in a time where fluffy stories like this one can occur. There will be as little angst as possible. **

**I hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own OUAT or its characters. **

* * *

Everything is just fine. No wicked witches, random portals, people who live inside teapots (or whatever it was that Elsa was trapped in) to disturb the peace. Just little problems, like Robin still being unaware of how to use any modern conveniences and burning down the kitchen.

At 6am.

On a Sunday.

Apparently, he was trying to get a head start on breakfast.

Which is why the family of four is standing in their pyjamas on the back lawn, waiting for the room to cool down enough for Regina to pop in and right everything again. Luckily, summer means that it's not too cold. It is cold enough, though.

"I am very sorry".

"You've said that already".

"Yes, but I am exceptionally –"

"Locksley, please, just… it will be fine, give me a minute to process".

Henry snorts from behind the two, Roland balanced on his hip. "Wow Robin, I don't think she's ever been this pissed".

"Henry, language!" says Regina, half-heartedly and quietly, fingers pinched at the bridge of her nose.

"Sorry mom. Do you want me to call anyone? Maybe we can have breakfast with Snow or something?"

At Henry's words, Roland wakes up enough to mumble "Pancakes!" before nuzzling further into Henry's shoulder and falling back to sleep. Apparently the thought of his home burning to the ground isn't enough to wake the 6 year old. Robin's shoulders droop, his fabulous breakfast plans becoming less and less likely to occur as the minutes tick by.

"Yes, Henry, good idea. Take Roland to the front of the house. I'll get the car out soon".

The 15 year old is already off, tossing a "sure mom!" over his shoulder before disappearing into the garage.

Robin turns to the beautiful woman beside him, her shoulders hunched and face hidden by her left hand, noting briefly that she does look a little green, but supposing that it's just the light at work. Or perhaps it was the fact that she was rudely awoken after very little sleep (Robin's briefly reminded of exactly why she didn't sleep very much and he finds that he isn't at all remorseful). One of his hands comes to rest on her now shaking shoulders, and she immediately turns into his chest, resting her head beneath his.

Oh gods.

He made her cry.

"There, there, my love. I am truly sorry. It's okay. Please don't cry".

A snort accompanies the last of his words, and it is then that Robin realises that Regina isn't crying. She's laughing. Very, very quietly. Until she's not.

Regina takes a step backwards, Robin's hands still attached to her shoulders. "You… I can't… you almost destroyed… you idiot!" Her eyes are leaking tears now, the beautiful sound of her laughter bouncing around the yard. Robin suddenly finds himself feeling awfully foolish.

"This is… funny to you? I could have… Regina, this could have been serious!" He removes his hands from her shoulders as they continue to shake, and though he's trying to keep a straight face, he finds that he is very much unable to do so.

A simple wave of her hand, and the smell of burning disappears. Robin, turning away from her, steps towards the kitchen, and, from the yard, everything seems fine. Well. She was making everyone stand out here for nothing, then. Typical.

"Right, of course. I knew it. Why would you have to wait for the fire to go out? You like fire," Robin grumbled, turning back around to be greeted by the sight of the love of his life, the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen, throwing up into a handily placed potted plant.

He was frozen for half a second, and then Robin burst into action, gently making soothing circles on her back with one hand, and softly stroking her upper arm with the other. Really, he didn't so much as burst into action as frantically attempt to calm Regina, noting in the back of his mind that she must have had quite a bit of warning, if her newly tied back hair is anything to go by.

Regina exhaled a small groan before leaning back into Robin's embrace. Eventually they find themselves sitting on the ground, the once mighty queen curled slightly in the thief's lap.

"Ew"

"Robin…" she groaned, not bothering to open her eyes.

"I'm sorry, I had to say it. I mean, I didn't. It was childish of me," his grip tightening around her. "But, ew."

"First you nearly burn down my kitchen, and now you're acting like your 6 year old son".

"And three quarters".

"Really, dear?"

"Sorry, my love," he mutters, nuzzling his nose further into her neck. "What brought that on, hey? The smell of burning eggs finally got to you?" he chuckles, trying to make light of the potentially serious situation. His mind takes him back to the months of Marian becoming sicker and sicker while she was carrying Roland, cursed to die, and him being able to do nothing about it.

Movement from the woman he's holding brings Robin back to the present, and he finds himself looking into those bottomless, expressive eyes.

"I wasn't feeling very well when I woke up, and using all that magic didn't help at all," she looks deep into his eyes, as if she could see the conflict there. As if she knew that he'd be more than a little worried. "I am fine, though. And I could do with some breakfast. From Granny's, perhaps?" A smile accompanied her words, as if daring him to refuse. So he didn't, and instead helped her to her feet.

"Very well, breakfast for the lady. And possibly a bath for that poor plant" he grinned; letting her know that he was just as determined as she was to have a wonderful day.

"Papa! Henry called Queen Snow and now we're having breakfast at their house and you need to hurry up because my tummy is going to eat me!" Roland had managed to appear from around the corner of the house, the promise of food drawing him from the vestiges of sleep and causing the excitable little boy to speak at almost inhuman speeds.

"Are you sure your tummy is going to eat you, little man?" Robin replied, catching Roland and picking the squirming child up.

"Yes, papa, of course it will. That's what Henry says happens if you don't have breakfast. Duh!" Roland stared his father unblinkingly in the eye as if to make his point very clear, before turning to an-attempting-to-not-laugh Regina and repeating the process.

"Duh, eh?" Robin repeats, remaining as serious as the situation demands. So, not very.

"Oh, he's absolutely right. Breakfast must be had immediately," said Regina, already moving across the yard with purposeful strides, her previous sickness apparently forgotten. Well, if she can forget it, then so could Robin. Roland manages to break free of his father's hold, leaping to the ground and running after Regina, catching her hand and dragging her even faster towards the car. Their laughter streaming into the morning air, they soon disappeared around the corner. Perhaps, Robin thought, their morning would work out after all.

* * *

Being at the White's apartment that morning was fun, and loud. Though Robin had been banned from actually making anything involving heat until Regina taught him more about the stove, he was allowed to sit at the kitchen bench, stir up scrambled eggs, and chat with David, while Henry and Roland immediately went over to the living room and started up some kind of car racing game on the TV.

After driving her family of four over to the White household, Regina was immediately whisked away by Snow so that they could apparently handle something to do with Neal, who had just figured out how to walk and was now becoming something of an issue.

The women ended up seated next to one another on the floor, Neal toddling between to the two of them, taking his toys from his designated play area to Regina and Snow, babbling incoherently while waving them around and then neatly placing them on the floor, before moving back to grab some more.

"… And he burned the kitchen down? Really?" Snow was chuckling lightly, the story amusing her to no end.

"Well, a little. I let him stew for a while before I fixed it. And then I ruined a plant." Regina was reluctant to tell Snow that part of the story, but she had learned over the years that trying to keep secrets from Snow was difficult, even if it was sometimes for the best.

"Ruined a plant? Stepped on it or-"

"Threw up in it".

"Ew," Snow grimaced and snorted out a short laugh.

"Snow! I swear you're no better than Robin!" Regina said, swatting at the girl as Neal came back over with a stuffed giraffe.

"So…"

"So?"

"You were sick. In the morning. And…" Snow proceeded to poke Regina in the breast, eliciting a yelp of pain, "sore breasts," Snow waggled her eyebrows at this point, while her step mother used her hands as barriers to stop further attacks.

"I have no idea what you're implying," said Regina, grabbing a nearby baby blanket to use as a shield. In fact, she absolutely did know what Snow was implying and was just trying to stop this conversation before it started. Again.

"Have you told him?"

"Told him what?"

"Regina!"

"Snow."

"Come on, you've known for what, two weeks now? He'll be excited!"

"I haven't 'known for two weeks'! I have been sick, occasionally, for a while, but that does not mean anything. Perhaps it's a stomach bug that only manifests itself once a day!"

"That makes no sense, Regina," said Snow, turning completely to face the woman who was attempting to ignore her as Neal placed a rattle in his step-grandmother's hand and patted it almost reassuringly.

"Oh, what would you know about it," snapped the former queen rather petulantly, before she realised just who she was talking to.

"Really, Regina?"

"Sorry," she sighed, finally looking over at the woman who was, probably, her dearest friend. As odd as that may be. "Look, I don't want to… I don't know… jinx it or anything. It's something I've always wanted, and if I'm wrong and I am just sick then…"

Snow reached out, grabbing Regina's hands between her own. "Regina, come on. I have some tests in the bathroom. You could take one now, and then just think about it later or something. Or whatever. Come on!" she said, pulling her stepmother to her feet, picking up Neal, and moving out of the baby's room, towards the kitchen.

"Robin!" said Snow, stepping right up to the man sitting at the bench.

"Snow, how are you this fine morning?" said Robin, turning fully towards the pale brunette and suddenly finding an excited, babbling nearly-two-year-old being placed in his lap. His hands automatically went to hold the boy in place, confusion twisting his features.

"Oh, I'm fine, lovely day to burn down a kitchen, isn't it?" said Snow sweetly, David laughing softly from the other side of the bench.

"Ah. I'm in trouble with two people now. Wonderful," he said, bouncing Neal gently on his knee.

"Leave him alone, Snow," scolded Regina gently, moving to place a kiss on the side of Robin's head. "You're not in trouble with anybody," she murmured, before moving away with the woman beside her, who was incessantly tugging the former queen upstairs.

They were lying side by side on Emma's old/ current/ whenever she feels like it bed, waiting for the timer that Snow had set on her phone to end.

It was torture.

"How long can 2 minutes be?!" sighed Regina, though it was more like a soft screech. Not especially pleasant.

"Calm down, Regina," said Snow, checking her phone, "only 5 seconds to go".

The timer beeped.

Neither of them moved.

"You get it"

"Regina…"

"Please?"

"Ok, just wait here".

Regina wasn't the kind of person who would easily admit it, but she was nervous. Using the toilet with Snow standing right outside the door was awkward enough, but then she had to put the fairly gross stick on the sink. Hygiene demanded she throw it away. Whoever thought of such a disgusting test needed a punch in the face.

"Do you want me to tell you?"

"Oh god, it's negative, this is the absolute worst thing that has ever-"

"Regina".

"-happened to me, I can't believe you let me get my hopes up for nothing, Snow White, what was I- OW" she was cut off by a sharp pinch to her forearm, which had somehow ended up covering her face. "What the hell, Snow!" Regina said as she sat up, ready to destroy the stupid girl at the next available opportunity.

"It's positive, Regina".

"What?"

* * *

Robin was mildly worried about his lady love. She had come down from the upper level of the apartment that morning, stone-faced, with a gossipy-looking Snow whispering in her ear. And had then proceeded to be near-mute for the majority of breakfast, saying as little as possible and eating even less. She'd allowed Henry to drive home, then sent the boys out with Robin to shop for groceries and go to the park. They'd spent so long out that they'd just decided to have dinner at Granny's and grab take-out for Regina, who Henry had decided would want a cheesy bacon burger. Robin grabbed fries for her as well. By the time they got home, it was nearing 9pm, Roland was asleep, and the house was dark.

Robin sent Henry upstairs with Roland, after they put the few groceries on the counter, telling him to prepare the little boy for bed, while he searched for Regina. Resting on the bench was a note.

_Got tired, went to bed. Already ate. See you later. –R xx_

Robin shrugged, and placed the take-out in the fridge. Perhaps she'd just had an off day. Starting off rather early after very little sleep and nearly having your house burn down probably wasn't good for her.

Making his way upstairs, Robin checked on the progress of the boys. Roland was just spread out on his bed, still wearing his day clothes. Clearly Henry hadn't done a fantastic job of getting the little boy ready for bed. Robin tiptoed into the room, removing Roland's jacket and shoes, and gently shifting the boy under the covers. As he was leaving, Robin heard a muffled "g'night, papa," before the 6 (and three-quarters) year old fell properly asleep.

Robin knocked lightly on Henry's door, cracking it open to see the teenager reading a comic.

"Henry, I told you to get Roland ready for bed".

"Yeah, I would have, but that kid is heavy as. He's big enough to get himself ready for bed," said Henry, who had the decency to look at least a little sheepish. Clearly, he was attempting to test his boundaries. Robin did not feel like clarifying them tonight.

"Look, Henry, if you don't feel like doing something, then don't agree to do it! Simple as that."

"Sorry, Robin. I'll do better next time." Henry had the decency to close his comic book and look the archer directly in the eye. Not in a challenging way, just to show respect.

"Ok, Henry. Don't worry, it's fine. See you tomorrow. Good night."

"G'night," said the boy, immediately becoming immersed in his fantastical world once more. If the whole thing was as good as Henry was making it out to be, perhaps he should start reading them to Roland.

Robin carefully shut the door, and prepared himself to make the last of the trek to the room he shared with Regina. He felt like he'd done something wrong, even though he knew, intellectually, that he hadn't. As he arrived at the door, Robin saw light shining out from beneath the frame. So she was still awake. That was good. He carefully made his way into the room.

* * *

Regina had needed the day to herself. As soon as Snow had told her the results of the test, she needed to know for sure. She booked an appointment with the town's OBGYN (she absolutely refused to let someone like Whale anywhere near a potential child) for that afternoon.

The doctor said that the blood test would be back in a few hours, and she would be happy to call Regina with the result if that was what she wanted? And it was what she wanted, because hospitals had never been her favourite place anyway and sitting on her back porch in the sun eating a PB&J sandwich was much more relaxing than sitting on a cold chair in a cold room.

By 3pm she had confirmation of what she already knew: she was pregnant. 6 weeks along, according to her hormone levels. After this was confirmed an ultrasound was scheduled for the next day. Apparently Storybrooke General didn't have much to do.

By 6pm she was exhausted, and after having a bit of fruit for dinner, Regina had a long shower and got dressed for bed, but not before digging out a pregnancy book she'd bought almost 15 years ago. At the time it hadn't been remotely necessary, but she'd wanted to know a little of what the process involved, thinking it might help her with Henry.

It hadn't.

By the time her boys were home, her eyes were so tired that the words had started blurring together, and Regina just managed to hide the book in her bedside table before Robin stepped into the room.

"Hey," he said, a little nervously. It was clear to Regina that the first thing he noticed was just how tired she looked – she'd seen herself before she'd started reading, (she'd looked tired then), and her eyes hadn't been anywhere near this sore at 6. "I'll just… get into my nightclothes, shall I?" The question seemed to be more for himself than her, but Robin waited for his queen to nod before moving towards their wardrobe.

She hadn't thought about this. Hadn't given a moment's extra thought to how she'd tell him. She'd heard stories about women doing something cheesy and cute for the father of their first child when the news came to life – but this wasn't the first child that she or Robin would be raising. None of those ideas would work.

Half way through agonising over the whole situation, Robin came to bed, slipped under the covers, and immediately gathered her in his arms. She relaxed immediately, comfort and veritable exhaustion washing over her in waves. She was tempted to fall asleep immediately. But she also knew that if she didn't tell him about the child then she wouldn't be able to go to sleep. So she propped herself up on her elbows, and readied herself for the conversation.

"Robin, I have something to tell you," she said, looking into his eyes through her lashes.

"Does it have anything to do with your sickness this morning?"

"How did you-"

"I'm not just a pretty face, milady. Besides, it's not that hard to figure out. Now, what has you so troubled?"

"I… I'm pregnant," she whispered, so softly that Robin couldn't be sure what exactly she had said.

"You're what?"

"I'm going… I'm having a baby, Robin".

The stunned silence that followed was not what she was going for.

In fact, it caused a fair amount of panic to bloom in her chest.

"Please say something, Robin. I understand if you don't want this but it's something that I've always-"

Regina found herself gathered into what was simultaneously the tightest and the most gentle hug she had ever experienced. She could feel the love radiating from him, and immediately knew that everything would be ok, no matter what his response was. He then followed it up with the most reassuring kiss in the world.

"That is fantastic news, Regina," murmured Robin, drawing back from her and holding her face into the palms of his hands. "Perhaps I'll make you breakfast in bed tomorrow as a celebration," he said, wiping a stray tear from her cheek.

"Oh no," she said, reaching to the bedside table behind herself to turn off the light, and then sinking beneath the covers. "You are not allowed near the stove without supervision from myself. Or Henry."

"I can use the toaster without too much trouble," he huffed, slotting himself behind her, one hand coming to rest over a belly that was nowhere near round.

"You can make cereal. As long as it stays in the kitchen."

"I said I was sorry."

"I know," she said, turning around just enough to place a soft kiss on his lips before settling again.

"You're beautiful," was the reply.

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

Perfect.

In every way.

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**Hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought/ that you read it in a review, and hit follow if you want to see more.  
Thanks! **


	2. Chapter 2

Name change: Practically Perfect - Six Impossible Things After Breakfast

Changed the name because I have a plan now guys, and it involves six chapters. Get excited.

Anyway, thank you for the amazing response, and especially to everyone who reviewed!

I'm not really used to running with story ideas, so let's see how this all goes.

Disclaimer: I do not own OUAT.

* * *

Robin The Hood, formerly of Locksley, the greatest thief of his age, hadn't done anything wrong for the past few months, thank you very much, and was quite certain that he deserved a bit of slack.

Because he had tried.

Quite hard.

And he had once again, ruined breakfast.

But Regina was still asleep and there were no alarms, so really, Henry was getting upset over nothing.

Really.

"Robin, seriously, I thought you could deal with the kitchen now! What the hell happened?"

It was obvious, Robin thought, what had happened. The pancake stuck half to the roof and half to the stove was evidence enough of that.

"Henry, I am dealing with it-"

"There is water all over the floor."

"Clearly, I did not intend for this to occur, Henry. I was just trying to do something for your mother, who is very tired at the moment and requires a significant amount of support." Regina's recent tiredness was nothing to worry about, according to the books he'd been reading, but it was cute.

Henry rolled his eyes. It was an odd habit that generally accompanied some of Robin's more flowery language. He'd have to ask Henry exactly what the eye-rolling signified. All in good time.

"Look, Robin, how about I just clean this up while you go and keep mom occupied. I'll get cereal together or something. Unless you managed to spill the milk everywhere as well?"

Graciously accepting defeat was one of Robin's greatest qualities, and it was with a quiet dignity that he removed himself from the kitchen. But not before sticking his tongue out at the back of the boy before him.

The thief stole upstairs, and back to the lump that occupied the exact middle of the bed he shared with his soul mate. How Regina could breathe under all those blankets was a mystery to Robin. He supposed she was close enough to the top of the covers for airflow to be fairly consistent. He hoped she was, at least.

Slipping his shoes off, he lifted one side of the blankets, sliding in behind his love, intending to wrap her up in his arms. Well, that was the plan, until she unrolled from her sleeping-ball and shuffled as far away from him as possible, muttering somewhat sleepily about the cold. Alright then.

Robin had just closed his eyes and relaxed into the pillows when he felt suspicious movements from the foot of the bed. Movements that felt like a 7-year-old's attempts at stealth. Robin elected to strike first, and thus he opened his eyes, only to find an extremely close pair staring right at him. Robin would deny it later, but he might have screamed a little bit at that point, leading to the most unfortunate event of the morning – the incredibly rude awakening of one Regina Mills.

A groan rumbled out of the covers.

"What. Is. Going. On?" the quite-possibly-furious disembodied voice that belonged to his other half, said.

"You're awake Regina! Yay! It's the first day of school, aren't you excited?"

Roland might have just saved the day.

A moment passed, in which the lump beneath the covers rolled over and surfaced, an untamed wavy mass of hair quickly coming into view.

"Is it really, master Roland? Are you quite certain?" said Regina, who had now shifted into a position that was ideal for child-grabbing, unbeknownst to the boy.

"Yep, and that means I get to see all my frien-"

The boy was cut off by a vicious attack from a mighty tickle monster – her hands grabbing him around the waist, throwing him to the bed with a crash and descending menacingly. Or at least that was how Robin narrated the whole affair. Soon, woman and child were both breathless and giggling in the middle of the bed, holding on to one another's hands to stave off further attacks.

"Ok you two, it is the first day of school, and unless you go and get something to eat right now, Roland, you won't get any breakfast," cautioned Robin, only somewhat aiming to cause an overreaction in his still-young son.

"None at all?" said Roland, his eyes widening to a seemingly impossible size, hinged on every word his father spoke.

"Not one bit!" exclaimed Regina, smiling at Roland and in much higher spirits now that he had awakened her.

Roland squirmed out of her grasp as fast as he could possibly manage, and practically sprinted the length of the hall and down the stairs, trying to get to breakfast as fast as possible. Robin smirked and shook his head. Children could be so easy to coerce sometimes.

Another groan rumbled from his true love's side of the bed. Robin turned back to the source.  
"What's wrong, my love?"

"I'm exhausted," she replied, a slightly childish lilt affecting her voice, as she wilted back into the safety of her covers.

"You've had almost 12 hours of sleep."

"Barely enough."

"Well, I suppose that you could call in sick to work and-"

Robin paused under the withering glare of one Regina Mills, who then proceeded to wrench herself from the bed.

"I will not miss a single day of work," she said, her tone dripping with disapproval, daring Robin to take the situation further. In fact, it was said with such menace that he had to mentally steel himself in order to not take a step backwards. Marian had never suffered from such significant mood swings while she was pregnant. Not that Robin would ever mention that to anyone.

"Of course not, my love. How about you get dressed and we'll have something ready for you when you come down?"

A grunt answered his words, and Robin left the room, seeking the comfort that would come with the smiling faces of his boys.

By the time Regina made it down, the kitchen was pristine (not that she expected it to be any different) and a bowl of cereal had been made up for her (not that she was going to eat Fruit Loops, but the sentiment was nice). Robin was fairly sure that everything would be fine (and if the thumbs-up from Henry as he and Roland began the walk to school was any indicator, everything had worked out rather well).

* * *

Snow White was on her way towards Town Hall, lunch for herself and the mayor clutched in one hand, her bag slung over her shoulder, and the other hand holding the budgetary documentation she'd been tasked with discussing today.

Regina had insisted that they would work during this "lunch meeting", but Snow was determined to ensure that no work would actually be completed. Or even started. Primarily because she didn't feel like talking about the school's budget. Ever.

For a moment, Snow was stumped, standing outside the Mayoral office, trying to figure out why she had suddenly become the person in charge of the budget at Storybrooke Elementary. She wasn't even technically teaching there at the moment, just looking after some administrative stuff and doing supply work.

Then she remembered that the Principal, having been a mouse back in their land, is terrified of everything, but especially so of Regina.

And apparently every other member of staff feels exactly the same way.

Cowards.

Truthfully, Regina hadn't been the easiest person to deal with since she'd found out she was pregnant a couple of months ago – one morning, she'd cycled between sobbing, laughter, and death threats because Snow had forgotten that Regina could no longer drink coffee, and had brought Mochas from Granny's for them to a previous lunch date.

Snow opened the door to Regina's office, and moved over to the imposing desk at the back of the room, placing their lunches and the rest of her things down, before she realised that Regina was not actually seated at her desk. Surely she wasn't out. Even though her former step-mother apparently loathed the mere suggestion that she may have to spend time with her, Snow knew she wouldn't miss an official meeting, regardless of how boring it might be.

Snow's unvoiced call was answered by what she could have sworn was a very soft snore.

She stopped moving about, listening intently, and the sound repeated itself, so she moved away from the desk, and towards the mayoral couch.

Which is where she found her, clothes slightly rumpled from lying down, her head rested on one of the throw pillows that usually sat in the exact middle of the couch.

On the one hand, Regina most likely needed her sleep.

On the other hand, it was possible that she hadn't come in to work only to sleep.

It was with this reasoning that Snow stepped around to face the not-so-imposing-former-queen, crouched in front of her, and then gently begun to jostle her shoulder.

"Regina. Regina? Hey, I know you didn't come into work to sleep." The woman in question remained (apparently) blissfully unaware. So, Snow raised her voice slightly, and intoned, "I brought fries!"

Regina's eyes instantly opened, locking with those of the woman crouched in front of her.

"Where are they?"

"On your desk."

"Could they be here instead?"

Snow smiled, nodded, and said, "Yes, but only if you sit up."

Regina (somewhat resentfully) obeyed, and soon the lunches were in front of the couch and Snow was seated by Regina, who was munching away on her fries. Which were supposed to be their fries to share, but Snow elected not to say anything while her friend shovelled food into her mouth at an almost alarming rate.

"So," said Regina through a mouthful of fried potato, "About this budget…"

The princess groaned internally. This was not a conversation she wanted to have. She wondered if she could lie her way out of it.

"Oh, don't worry about that," said Snow, "I looked at the budget just now and I think the school gave me last year's! I should have checked before I arrived." Regina just glanced up from where she was eyeing the rest of lunch, shrugged, and grabbed a container.

Oh. Snow could lie her way out of it. Usually that didn't work.

"I am so glad you brought food," said Regina, shovelling a mountain of pasta into her mouth. She'd opened both containers, and was picking and choosing what she wanted. And apparently, she wanted everything.

It seemed that Snow would have to eat later.

"That is generally one of the key ingredients of lunch," Snow replied, trying to get a response from the woman next to her that was more than a few words. It worked. Sort of.

"I just don't get it, you know? When I'm not sleeping, I'm starving! How did you deal with this?" the older woman said around a mouthful of salad, pasta, and fries. Ew.

"Well, I don't think I was ever quite as tired as you seem to be," said Snow, who was oddly fascinated by Regina's ability to eat so much at once.

"My magic is gone as well, you know. Maybe I'm experiencing withdrawal symptoms as well as normal pregnancy symptoms. I should ask someone." Regina seemed to pause for a moment, consider just who (if anyone) she both trusted in the town and would have the requisite information, and came up short. Oh well.

"I'm sure you'll be alright soon enough, Regina," said Snow. The woman beside her didn't seem too worried about the situation, so that probably meant everything would be fine.

Regina managed to make quick work of lunch, continuing to be a completely useless conversational partner in the process. Once she had finished, the mayor got up and put all the takeout containers in the bin.

"Oh, I'm stuffed. Thanks Snow," smiled Regina, who snuggled back into the couch as she sat down. "Did you bring lunch for yourself, or just me?" she said innocently, having no idea that she'd just eaten enough for two fully-grown, quite hungry, people.

She didn't have the heart to tell her, so the princess just said, "I already ate, don't worry about it," which could have fallen on deaf ears, as she noticed that the mayor's eyes were now closed again.

The older woman's body began to relax, sleep overtaking her, and soon Snow found herself absent-mindedly running her fingers through her step-mother's hair, which, being attached to Regina's head, had found its way into her lap.

Snow checked her watch, and realised that it was now almost school pick-up time, as well as the time she had to be getting back home to relieve Charming of his Neal-sitting duties for the day.

Loathe to wake her step-mother while she was this comfortable, Snow fished her phone off the table in front of the pair. The screen opened to pictures of Neal and Henry, ones she'd been showing Regina before she'd fallen asleep. The way the mayor had cooed over everyone was absolutely wonderful.

Scrolling through her contacts, she chose the most logical candidate for Regina-minding for the afternoon.

"Robin?"

"Snow? Hello. Why are you whispering?"

"Regina's asleep on her couch and I need to get home to Neal," said Snow as she carefully and quietly shifted out from underneath Regina, replacing her lap with a pillow. "Can you come and look after her?"

"Well, I was going to pick up Roland… but I'm sure Henry wouldn't mind doing that for me. I'll be right there."

Snow thanked him and hung up the phone, waved goodbye the unconscious woman on the couch, and grabbed her bag, making her way back home.

* * *

Robin moved through the contacts on his phone (a device he was still having trouble with, but one that Roland had seemingly mastered if his ringtones were anything to go by), and selected Henry's name. He hoped he wasn't interrupting an important class.

"Hello, this is Henry speaking."

"Henry, this is Robin."

"Hi Robin! What's up?"

"Your mother finds herself somewhat under the weather, and I find myself having to transport her home. Someone needs to transport Roland home after school, however, and I fear that I may not get the chance."

"So you want me to-"

"Look, I know it's a lot to ask, and I wouldn't normally do this-"

"No, wait, it's fine, dad, I'll just-"

Dad? Did he just-

"Did you just-?"

"No. I didn't… erm… Robin. I'll take Roland home. You go keep my mom happy."

"You called me dad."

"Shut up."

A dial tone was the next thing Robin heard. So like his mother, the way he harboured secret affections for those around him and then denied it when he slipped up.

Robin laughed quietly, before putting his phone away and making haste towards the offices of the mayor.

* * *

Regina woke for the third time that day to find that Snow had apparently left, and was now replaced by Robin. Who had placed his hands on her still-fairly-flat belly, and was whispering to it.

It was adorable.

"… and I hope you realise that you will be the most loved child in the whole world."

She must have moved then, or possibly gasped with delight, demonstrating her return to the waking world, and prompting Robin's next move.

"And she is the most ticklish person I have ever had the good luck to meet." She saw the grin too late to actually stop him, and found herself unable to grab his hands, as one of his had already locked hers to the couch. Damn.

"Robin, no, come on, don't…" she said, placing as much plaintiveness into her tone as she could.

"Ah, it appears that the lady is awake," said Robin, turning his head to regard the pinned woman on the couch before him. "I wonder if she'd appreciate some tickling?" he said, as his hand descended towards her stomach.

"No! Robin! Stop." His hand remained hovering a few inches off her, his eyes regarding her intensely. "What must I do to stave off such a malicious attack?" she asked, with false gravitas.

"The lady must provide one kiss to her attacker."

"A steep price."

"One worth paying, I would suggest."

She smiled at the man before her, who was now grinning widely, and before he could blink, her lips were on his. But only for long enough for the Hood to be distracted enough to release her hands. As soon as she hand an opening, Regina launched an attack of her own, pushing Robin away and standing from the couch, declaring herself victorious with a vaguely maniacal laugh accompanying her words.

"I concede, milady," said Robin, as he stood as well and encircled her with his arms. He was leaning in for another kiss when Regina slipped out of his arms and went to grab her purse and heels, slipping them on.

"We'll have plenty of time for that at home, Locksley," she said, winking at him as he stood beside her. In response, the thief stuck his arm out for her to take, and the two walked out of her office together, grabbing Regina's coat on the way.

As they reached the front door, and the promise of chilled air beyond, Robin stopped them and said, "You know Henry called me 'dad' today?"

"What? No. Really?" said Regina, her voice light and surprised.

"Yep"

"I didn't think he'd ever…"

"Neither did I."

"I suppose life can be surprising," said the mayor, squeezing the arm of her soul mate a little tighter for good measure.

"Yes, it can."

A moment passed, where the two just locked gazes, their eyes full of promises, past and future. Robin would break the silence first, holding the door open for Regina.

"Shall we, my love?"

"We shall, dearest."

* * *

I hope you liked it! Let me know your thoughts in a review.

If you're on tumblr and feel like following someone, I'm pirateofpenzance there too.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi everyone! ****Thank you so much to everyone who read and reviewed, it means the world to me. To the person who asked for more Roland/ Regina interaction, I tried, and I hope you liked it!**

**Also FYI, I have no idea what happens at a town hall meeting, as I do not live in a town, so what I've written is most likely highly inaccurate. Enjoy!**

* * *

"Do you smell that, Regina?" asked Robin, distracted from her distracting fingers by a not-so-nice smell coming from somewhere in the house.

He'd woken to a lovely smell, in fact. Comfortably wrapped in the sheets of their shared bed, he'd stretched out to its other side and found it cold and empty, omelettes clearly cooking downstairs. Robin made his way down to the kitchen, but not before stopping to briefly check on Roland (asleep on his stomach, covers kicked across the room and monkey toy firmly grasped in his right hand) and Henry (who he couldn't actually see under the mountain of covers, but was probably still in bed as well).

Upon making it downstairs, Robin was greeted by the sight of his true love absentmindedly humming to herself, cutting up fruit on the island bench (something his boys claimed to hate, but Regina insisted they had to eat), before quickly turning back to the stove from where the smell was clearly emanating. As she turned, the thief got a brief glimpse of her now medium-sized baby bump.

She was breathtaking.

Robin had crept up behind her and distracted her to such an extent (with well-placed touches of his lips) that she dragged him into her study, the only room in their house that the boys found boring enough to stay away from. It also had a very comfortable couch, which happened to be the one upon which they were now seated.

Robin had almost forgotten why he'd paused their pre-breakfast time together (though she clearly hadn't thought to even slow down) until the strangely familiar smell brought him back to the present.

"Regina?"

"What?" grumbled the woman in reply, starting work on the buttons of his shirt.

"There's a smell…" he groaned as she grasped him in a rather sensitive area. "Like a kind of burning – Regina, stop."

By the end of his sentence, she'd managed to undo all the buttons on his shirt and was about to make her move on his belt. "Robin!" she whined, pouting as sexily as she could as he gently moved her hands out of the way of his pants.

That was when the beeping started.

"Wha-"

Fire alarm.

They'd forgotten. She'd been making breakfast.  
Oh dear.

Regina scrambled out of his lap as he stood and they both raced towards the source of the noise.

The sight that greeted them wasn't pretty, smoke billowing from both the stove and the oven, water overflowing from the sink onto the floor, taking plastic containers and some of the lighter dishes with it.

They stood at the door to the kitchen, Regina apparently frozen with fear. Or perhaps she had recollected, as Robin just had, that she hadn't been able to perform magic for some time now, and therefore would not be able to snap her fingers and instantly solve this.

Seeing his true love about to take a tentative step into the loud, smoke-clogged room, Robin held on to her shoulder, his hand soon joined on her other side by that of her 16 year old son. Apparently fire alarms are the only thing that will draw teenagers out of their rooms at 7am on a Saturday.

"Whoa, Robin, what did you do now?" laughed the boy, apparently completely at ease with his kitchen burning down every few weeks.

His comment was mostly ignored, except for the meaningful look that Robin shot his way. Henry nodded, understanding what he needed to do, and gently leading his mother into her study and away from the alarm.

An action that left Robin alone to deal with the shouting alarm as well as the thick, black smoke. He turned off the oven and the stove, then the tap, and finally opened the window. It was clear by this point (at least to Robin's mind) that the only way to deal with the smoke detector was to destroy it. There were probably other ways, but a firm hit from one of Regina's thickest cookbooks and the thing just stopped. Hopefully the alarm hadn't been going for long enough for the Storybrooke Fire Department to make an appearance.

"Wow, Robin, that's not how you're meant to do it," laughed Henry, who had had the foresight to bring a mop and bucket with him so that someone (presumably Robin) could clear away the mess.

"No one has ever told me how to deal with those things. I was just… improvising," said Robin, waving Regina's now dented copy of Julia Childs's '_Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 1'_ in the air.

Henry merely rolled his eyes, and handed the mop over. "So…" he started, eyeing the oven and clearly trying to think up an excellent joke.

"It wasn't me," defended Robin, who was finding mopping more difficult than he would like it to be, having to stop every few seconds to pick up wet food or wet plates. It was fairly disgusting.

"Wait, are you suggesting mom did this? Really?" said Henry.

"I'm not suggesting it, it's true! I distracted her and we forgot about breakfast. Both our faults, really." Robin said this with as much propriety as he could muster. Thankfully, Henry either didn't realise what he was trying to cover up, or was wilfully choosing to ignore Robin's implication.

"What was in this pan?" said Henry.

"Omelettes."

"Aw, man, really? I love her omelettes," whined Henry, dumping the contents in the bin before starting a fairly massive cleaning job.

"Morning, papa," came the sleepy muttering of his boy from the door to the kitchen, "I heard a noise, what's happening?"

Robin smiled at his son, he'd always been a heavy sleeper. "Just breakfast Roland, nothing scary. Don't worry about it."

"Where's mama?" yawned the boy, squeezing the monkey toy he still secretly adored so much tightly to his chest.

"In her study," Henry tossed over his shoulder, before turning back to scrubbing the life back into his mother's favourite pans.

"Okay," mumbled Roland as he shuffled almost blindly over to the study.

"So," began Robin, "what do you want for breakfast?"

Henry looked around the kitchen, before spying the unburnt pile of fruit on the kitchen island. "I suppose fruit will do," he said, before turning back to his work.

* * *

She'd been trying not to cry about this for a good minute and a half. And she'd been doing a really good job, too, before she heard Henry mention the charred remains of her omelettes. They had been wonderful, with just the right amount of cheese and bacon. They would have been delicious.

The more Regina thought about her lost food, the closer she got to vocalising her feelings, and before she knew it, Regina was hiccupping out her sorrows. Though she was doing her best to muffle them, everyone could probably hear her.

"Stop it, baby," she muttered to the child floating inside her, stroking her belly lightly. It was easy to blame the child for her mood swings, especially since it was, most likely, fully responsible.

She hadn't heard him enter over the sound of her own crying, but she definitely noticed Roland's presence when he took her left arm, lifted it into the air, and snuggled himself into her side. It was quite clear that he was still half-asleep.

"Morning, mama," said Roland, who placed one of his hands on her tummy and started feeling around it. He had insisted that he had to be the first one to feel it kick, and therefore checked every time he got anywhere near Regina's bump. It was fairly cute, though Regina knew that kicks one would be able to feel from the outside probably wouldn't occur for a little while longer.

"Is our deal still on?" said Roland, suddenly wide awake and sitting up straight, staring deeply into her eyes. It was rather cute, in Regina's opinion.

"Which one?" she said, out of a combination of confusion and a desire to keep this conversation going so she wouldn't have a reason to get emotional again.

"Where I get to feel her kick first," Roland made a classic 'duh' face. The mayor made a note to look into where he might have picked that up.

"Oh, she's a girl today, is she?" she smiled, teasing him just a little. His decision on the gender changed almost hourly, it seemed.

"Yeah, you're a girl, so she's gotta be a girl," he said so seriously that she was finding it incredibly difficult to hold back her laughter.

"Right, of course," nodded the queen, who moulded her expression into one that was as serious as she could manage.

"So?" bright, inquisitive eyes surveyed her, glancing from her belly and back to her face very pointedly, as if daring her to refuse him.

"If you're there when it happens, then I suppose that it could be arranged," she said as amenably as possible.

"Is that code for yes?" said the boy, narrowing his eyes slightly.

"Yes," she said mirthfully, "It is code for 'yes'. Now, hurry up and get dressed, we're going to town hall today!"

"For the meeting?"

"Yep," she said, wiping her face as she stood.

"Can't I stay with Henry?" said Roland, whining only slightly.

"No dear, Henry has to study with Grace today," said the former queen, who only just then became aware that there could be a developing attraction between the teenagers. She'd have to ask.

Roland drew her attention back to him. "You mean kiss Grace," he whispered, as if sharing some great secret.

A secret that, even if true, Regina certainly did not want to know anything about.

"Pardon me, sweetheart?" she said, locking eyes with the 8-year-old, daring him to say anything that would destroy her perfect world where her son never grew up and most certainly never, ever did things like that.

"I've seen them," he said with an exaggerated wink as he took a cheeky step away.

"Excuse me, Roland?" her voice was raised now. It's not as if she could keep away her own thoughts with loud noises.

"Nothing!" he shouted as he sprinted away, monkey toy firmly in hold.

It was going to be a long day.

* * *

"Why do we even have these stupid meetings anyway?" groaned her blonde-haired daughter. She made a face that little Neal, who was holding her hand, did his best to replicate, to Snow's deep disapproval.

"Because the townspeople need to voice their concerns, Emma. They appreciate being able to do so," said Snow, secretly enjoying her daughter's antics. Also the fact that she had a daughter. The former princess was 100% sure she'd never get over that.

"I just don't see why I have to be here. There could be a criminal outside right now and I need to catch them!"

"And I need to help her catch them!" said David, who had been rejected as chief hand-holder by Neal this morning, and instead demoted to chief giraffe-toy-holder.

"Look, Emma, I don't want to be here any more than you do, I don't even work for the school at the moment," said Snow. She smiled good-naturedly, but really, really did not want to be here. Even after her multiple complaints, apparently the princess was still the official spokesperson for the both schools in town.

Damned cowards.

A commotion outside the entrance to the Town Meeting Hall drew the attention of the Charming clan away from the various faces they had been making at their poor set of circumstances this morning.

The Storybrooke City Council had passed a quasi-rule after an incident last year during which Regina had been reading her copy of '_The Fault in our Stars'_ (even the mayor found her citizens boring, apparently), and had burst into loud sobbing halfway through the meeting and needed to be excused. Because of this, a guideline, enforced by Archie Hopper, had to be introduced.

Councillors who attended the quarterly meetings could only bring in council-specific material, and it all had to be in your hands or visible for a brief bag inspection from the doctor. Nothing too invasive, but since the mayor was the main culprit, she was the only one who ever got checked.

Predictably, Regina had found a way around that rule.

Sort of.

She was arguing loudly with the former cricket at the door, and as the Snow and her family neared, they could see why. She hadn't brought a bag with her, and all Regina held in her hands was a notepad and a copy of the meeting schedule.

However, unusually, her baby bump seemed to be rather book-shaped this morning.

"She didn't even try," muttered David. They were now close enough to hear the therapist and the former queen speaking.

"How far along are you Regina?" said the cricket, eyeing her obvious illegal cargo.

"I'm almost 5 months, thank you for asking Doctor Hopper, if you'll excuse me…" said Regina, attempting to push past. Snow could just tell this was going to end badly.

"Ah, I was just asking because I have it on good authority that babies don't occupy a square space whilst they're in the womb." Archie said, tapping lightly on the book that was so clearly not a child.

Oh no. Here we go.

"Doctor Hopper! How dare you… if…" Regina faltered slightly, not prepared to deal with this. Clearly Pregnant Regina and Sassy Regina weren't getting along today, because one was definitely flustered and the other was definitely not coming out to play. "If you are implying something about my child, I will have you know that babies come in all shapes and sizes, and I cannot for the life of me believe that would impose your ideas of how a 'perfect' woman should appear while pregnant-"

Snow was now close enough to see the slightly wild look in Regina's eyes, and cut off her rant by stepping up beside the woman and grasping her upper arm very gently, but firmly. By this point in the conversation Archie was so red with embarrassment that his face almost matched the colour of his hair. "Regina, come on inside. I'm sure you won't do anything too distracting this time, right?" soothed Snow, nodding appreciatively at Archie as she spoke.

Regina huffed slightly, and closed her mouth. Then she strode inside, slipping the novel out from under her shirt and waving it around in plain view of the good doctor. Who rolled his eyes and waved everyone else through without a second glance. The poor man.

Snow seated herself to the right of the mayor, her daughter and husband following suit.

"What book do you have this time?" said Snow, nudging Regina a little as the mayor began to read, who promptly dropped the book into her lap and pulled the chair she was sitting on as far in to the table as she could. Smooth.

"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about, Snow. It would hardly be proper for a mayor to bring a novel with her to a town hall meeting," said Regina, who set about shuffling her notes in preparation for her opening statement.

Snow rolled her eyes and settled back into her own seat. As long as Regina didn't end up a sobbing, snotty mess half way through the meeting, then everything would be fine.

It turned out to be almost than that.

It started with a snort. Snow was in the middle of a brief presentation on schooling matters when the quiet sound was emitted from the woman next to her. The princess shot a look to her left as Regina straightened herself out and pretended to not have a book in her lap by nodding and picking up her pen. Snow was not fooled. She shared a brief look with Robin, front and centre in the audience next to his son, who had also noticed the slip-up. She continued her speech, continuing to glance at her friend.

It wasn't long before question time began, and even Snow decided to zone out. Until she felt the mayor's hand grip her own, very, very tightly. She looked to her left to find Regina's shoulders shaking, her head on the table, and the entire hall very, very quiet.

Gosh darn it.

Not again.

Emma was the first to actually react, standing and requesting a brief recess while the Council "got their shit together" (somewhat inappropriate words considering the toddler seated on her father's lap next to her), which prompted Snow to pull Regina out of her chair and to the ante-room down the hall, Robin and Roland hot on her heels.

"What happened?" asked the archer, Roland trailing into the room with his gaming device. He'd been obsessed with it ever since David had bought it for him for his birthday a few weeks ago.

"I don't know!" said Snow, who helped Regina take a seat. "She was reading a book and then she was just crying!" The woman in question had her head in her hands and was refusing eye-contact with anyone. Another '_The Fault in Our Stars'_ incident, then.

"Oh dear, this is her second meltdown of the day," whispered Robin as he crouched in front of his true love. Snow seated herself next to Regina, Roland on her other side as they all tried to get her to calm down with soft words and gentle touches.

"Don't cry, mama," murmured Roland, which, to Snow's surprise, actually got some words out of Regina.

"The… the horses," she breathed, her voice shaky and quiet, face still turned away from the trio.

"Horses, Regina? Were you reading _'Black Beauty_' or something?" said Snow, placing a comforting hand on Regina's shoulder.

"First…" the mayor said, her eyes locking with Robin's before her, the mirthful tears now clear on her face, "Athos gambled away both his and D'Artagnan's horses, and then Aramis sold his, and then… and then Porthos gets them to eat the last horse and they only have the harnesses left!"

Silence dominated the room.

"Ew!" said Roland, "You can't eat horses!" he exclaimed, shuffling away from the woman who he lived with as if she would turn around and eat him at any moment.

"Really, Regina. '_The Three Musketeers_'?" sighed Snow as she relaxed back into the couch, apparent crisis both averted and also non-existent.

"That's… that's not funny, Regina," said Robin, coming up to sit on Regina's other side, manoeuvring Roland onto his lap.

"Yes… it is!" exclaimed the former queen as she wiped tears from her eyes with a tissue Snow had found in her pocket.

"We should probably go back to the meeting, papa," said Roland, "People will be mad we stopped the proceedings." Roland managed to surprise the group with his complete and correct pronunciation of 'proceedings' as he grasped his father's hand and tugged him out of his seat and towards the entrance.

"Yes, Regina," said Snow, smiling as she stood up as well, leaving Regina as the only adult still on the couch, "we mustn't disrupt the 'proceedings," which she dutifully emphasised, "any longer." Snow finished this sentence with a small flourish as she turned back towards the exit, which basically meant that no one was looking at Regina when she emitted a small cry.

Everyone was back at her side almost inhumanly fast, however.

The queen's hand were clasped to her protruding stomach, worry clearly etched into her features.

Snow was the first to find her voice, "Regina, are you alright? Does it hurt? Say something, come on," Snow also became the first to panic out loud, "Oh my goodness Regina, do we need to call an ambulance? I don't have my phone, I'll go grab it-"

"No!" said Regina, who was smiling again as she placed her hands on a specific part of her belly, "I think… she's kicking," she said, wonder in her eyes.

"Really, my love?" said Robin, finding his voice as he reached a hand towards her, before it was stopped by Roland's arm as he flung it out.

"I get to feel first!" said Roland.

"Ah," said the former queen, winking at Robin, "that was our agreement, was it not?"

Snow was appropriately confused, and both she and Robin had the same question on their minds, one which they voiced together – "An agreement, Regina?"

The teacher inside her was sorely tempted to shout jinx at that. She needed to focus.

"It's right here, Roland," said the mayor, taking his hand and placing it where she must have felt the first blow.

The way his little face lit up as he felt something was adorable, and he exclaimed, "Wow, that's the coolest! Can I hi-five her back?"

"No, m'boy, come, we have to get back to that meeting. How about you take the princess back for em, and we'll be along momentarily."

Sensing a private moment was about to occur, Snow quieted Roland's protests by switching his gaming console back on and shoving it into his hands, before pushing him gently back to the meeting.

The sounds of quiet laughter and soft kisses followed them out of the room.

* * *

**I based Regina's reaction to the horse situation in _The Three Musketeers_ off my brother's reaction to the same thing – he found it so funny that it was the only thing he talked about for days. **

**Sorry for the delay, this chapter just wasn't working until my lovely friend Eliza helped me figure out the town meeting scene.**

**Leave a review if you'd like!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi everyone! Sorry for the wait. But it's bigger than usual so hopefully that makes up for it! I hope you enjoy it.**

* * *

Roland of House Locksley, first of his name (probably, Roland hadn't asked), king of the sitting room, and protector of the many toys he owned, stood proudly on a kitchen chair, overseeing the important work being undertaken by one Henry of House Mills.

"Come on," whined Roland, dramatically whispering to his "sorta-brother" as the elder boy artfully arranged breakfast on the tray they'd spent a good part of the morning preparing, finishing with a flourish as he lifted the tray into the air.

"Is it done?" said the boy.

"Yes, Roland. Come on, we better get this upstairs before it gets cold," said Henry, inclining his head as apparent encouragement for Roland to alight from his perch. Roland could not be so easily swayed.

"And you didn't burn anything?" said Roland, who definitely knew that the answer was no, but he really, really didn't want to ruin this (enough breakfasts got ruined in his house).

"I burned everything, but it's fine," said Henry lightly, turning quickly and swanning out of the room before Roland could blink.

"Henry!" exclaimed the boy, who had been left to scramble down from his stool.

"I was joking, Roland. Eggs, pancakes, bacon… everything's great. They'll love it."

Roland carefully inspected each part of the breakfast tray as best he could whilst they ascended the stairs, and found everything in order. It was Regina's last day at work, which meant this was the first day of many breakfasts in bed, so the boys had snuck out of bed at 6.30am to start.

Now, 1 hour later, they stood at the top of the Mayoral staircase, ready to sneak in and wake up the parents.

"Ok, Roland. You're the boss. What's the plan?"

"Well, mama's really grumpy in the morning if she didn't get beautiful enough while she was asleep," said Roland quite seriously as he tapped his chin thoughtfully, "but she was pretty yesterday so I think we can go in." The boy turned to Henry, decision made, to find his brother wearing a look of bemusement (a concept that Roland had recently come across thanks to his silly papa and his smart mama). "What?"

"People don't get more beautiful while they sleep, Roland. I think you meant beauty sleep. And it's just an expression. It doesn't really mean anything. Unless you're Aurora or something," by this point, Henry had shifted the tray into the crook of his right arm and was reaching for the doorknob to his parents' room with his left hand.

Roland, seeing competition for being the first in that morning, quickly jumped in front of Henry and opened the door wide. All the while continuing their conversation that had become almost exponentially louder once the door was open. "Well how come Aurora needs to be more beautiful but no one else does? Why would they even call it beauty sleep if no one gets more beautiful? Is it just normal sleep? Can I have beauty-"

"Roland!"

The loud groan came from a lump in the bed, and it seemed very cross to Roland. Clearly his father hadn't become beautiful enough last night.

"Papa!" exclaimed Roland, now excited to share his work (well, Henry's work and his supervision) from this morning. "We brought breakfast for you and Regina, do you want some?"

"Roland, it's early! Leave your papa alone," came a calmer voice from the direction of the bathroom. Which did confuse the boy for a moment, as he was quite sure that she was under the covers, but as Roland turned to the source of the voice, he found Regina, looking completely ready for her day at work. Well, sort of ready. No shoes yet, but she was wearing that business dress that papa had said she'd need when she got this huge. Mama had gotten really angry with his papa when he said that, for some reason. Roland couldn't see why, it's not like she was that fat, and the dress was pretty.

"Wow, mom, you're up really early today!" said Henry, setting the tray down on her bed, nice and close to Robin. Roland's father perked up as soon as the food was near him.

"Yes, well, it is my last day. Oh, you boys brought breakfast! How sweet!" said Regina, swiping a piece of fruit from the tray. "Henry, I thought our resident driver-in-training might be able to get me in a little early so that I can get everything done on time," said Regina with a smile. Roland turned back to Henry, who now had the biggest grin he'd ever seen on his face.

"Really, mom? Awesome! I'll be ready in 2 minutes!" said Henry, practically tripping over himself in his haste to get dressed and everything.

"You gonna have some breakfast, mama?" asked Roland, sliding a piece of toast towards her.

"I would, Roland, but I already ate this morning and I'm very full. Sorry, darling," she said, raising a hand to gently stroke his hair back.

"Oh, ok," said the boy as he gave a thoughtful pause. "Mama, can I drive you to work tomorrow?" said Roland completely seriously. He knew he could reach the pedals and see over the wheel if he just stood up in front of the seat. Driving Regina to work couldn't be too hard.

"Oh Roland, your mama's not going in tomorrow," said his papa through a mouthful of bacon and pancakes. Well, at least Roland's papa hadn't completely disregarded the idea. It was a very good one.

"Oh, ok. Maybe I could drive the baby in then?" said Roland, turning back to his mama.

His parents laughed, leaving Roland a little confused.

"Sorry, dear," said Regina, as she bent down to his height as best she could (that silly baby kept getting in the way of everything), "but you're not quite old enough to drive yet. And the baby isn't even born! Maybe in a few years."

"Years!" said Roland, his jaw dropping. That was so unfair! And so, Roland said as much.

"Roland, my boy. It is fair," said his papa, "Driving is boring anyway. And you have to get to school! Come on, help me finish this wonderful spread and then we can go together, eh?" said his father. Which seemed like a great option to Roland, so he hopped up next to the tray and began to tuck in. All that directing Henry around the kitchen had exhausted him.

"READY MOM!" came the loud call from downstairs.

"Coming, Henry!" said Regina more quietly (but loudly enough to be heard by the teenager downstairs). "Goodbye, Roland," said his mama with a kiss to the boy's head. She then said goodbye to his papa, which is something that Roland definitely did not want to see ever.

Bacon was much more interesting than kisses.

* * *

Her last day of work. Possibly ever (if her new arrival took up too much of her time, that is). And Regina Mills was perfectly bored out of her mind.

She'd spent the whole week preparing her office so that everything that could be filed had been filed, and everyone that needed to meet her had scheduled meetings for never. Hopefully, anyway.

All of her wonderful preparation left her with absolutely nothing useful to do, aside from waiting for her unborn child to move into an uncomfortable spot so that she could shift them back into position. Which really wasn't that exciting, and was, in fact, more painful than anything else.

Regina began to search through her desk drawers, looking for something to throw away perhaps, when she discovered Henry's old business drawer. That's what he'd liked to call his special drawer filled with pencils, craft paper, glue, googly eyes, and a whole host of other incredibly useful items. He'd used to like pretending to be her assistant, before he'd been old enough to start school, and being an assistant meant that many pictures of dogs and houses had been dutifully filed at the bottom of said drawer.

"Well," said Regina to no one in particular, "it can't hurt to just… make sure that everything still works," as if justifying her actions to the empty office would make them any less childish.

The mayor had just pulled out everything she was going to use for her soon-to-be-masterpiece (it would be mainly scribbles and googly eyes, so part of a very worthwhile and valuable undertaking), when a loud banging on her office door pulled her attention back to her actual job. The mayor called for the person in question to enter, bringing Snow straight through her door.

"Regina! Good morning, and happy last day!" said Snow, a little too brightly. Regina knew she'd approved Snow's appointment as principal of both the primary and secondary schools in Storybrooke two weeks ago. Regina also knew that Snow was still bitter about the whole thing. Or at least the way she'd been unofficially performing the role, unpaid, for several months before she was actually appointed. Seeing her this happy was almost cause for concern.

"Good morning, dear. How are you? Having fun as principal?" said Regina, trying her best to shuffle the supplies around on her desk in an effort to make it appear as though her day had been very productive so far.

"Oh, well, I suppose. It's nothing different to everything those cowards were getting me to do before," she huffed as she dumped her things on the floor in front of Regina's desk and took a seat on the guest chair.

"Of course. Right," said Regina, eyeing the stack of paperwork that Snow lifted (with some considerable effort) onto a clear part of the desk. "Well, what can I help you with today? Not all that paperwork, I hope." Hopefully, trying to make a joke out of the situation would work somewhat to put Snow into a more amicable mood.

"No, this is mine. But the school is far too loud and you don't have anything to do, so I thought we could hang out. Also I do love seeing little Mary Margaret whenever I get the chance," said Snow, flipping to the first page of some sort of official looking document.

"Little Mary- Snow, I am not naming my child after you. We don't even know if it's a boy or a girl yet!" said Regina, grunting slightly at the end of her sentence as the little person jabbed a mystery appendage into her diaphragm (though from the size and the force involved, it was probably a leg).

"I would never expect you to name your child after me. That's ridiculous! It was only a suggestion. Besides, Mary Margaret is a unisex name." At this point, Regina knew Snow had to be joking, mainly because her grin was so wide that even tipping her head forward and pretending to read her paperwork couldn't hide it.

"Yes, of course," said Regina. "I'll just get back to my very important project, then," she finished, picking up her glue stick and gluing the back of a googly eye for placement in the middle of the page.

Snow lifted her head, smile almost gone, but hint of mischief remaining. "I can see how important that is. Looks difficult."

"It is difficult," said Regina, smooshing the eye onto the page. So productive.

"I'm sure," replied Snow, tipping her head back to the page in front of her, actually intending to read it this time.

They went on in silence for a while, and after sticking a dozen or so eyes on the page, Regina lifted her head once more.

Trying to be casual, she said, "Can I ask you a question, Snow?"

"Yes of course, Regina," she said, leaning forward eagerly, betraying her thankfulness at being released from her paperwork.

"Well, we have thought of a name. It's-" a loud crash muffled her voice. Regina had forgotten the construction happening outside. Hopefully it wouldn't last too much longer.

"That is so sweet, Regina! What a perfect name!" said her step-daughter/ friend. Hmph. Who would have thought that Snow would be happy with anything other than a reference to one of her relatives.

"Well, I was just considering last names, especially for the baby," said Regina, being super casual, "and I was thinking, well, Robin doesn't have a last name, really."

Regina averted her eyes, trying her best to let Snow know through body language that she didn't really care one way or another. When of course the exact opposite was true. It had been a nightmare enrolling Roland in school without a last name, and eventually they'd just decided to write down "Mills" as a kind of stopgap. She didn't want to overstep her bounds this time (if there were any bounds, that is). But she also didn't want to have a child with no last name. That was just embarrassing.

"Well, David and I just kept our curse-given last names… and Neal took mine," Snow said thoughtfully. Regina understood - Nolan was too tied up with Kathryn to be a good choice. "But I suppose Robin never had one of those?" enquired Snow, reaching one hand over to grasp Regina's. So thoughtful.

"No… I mean, sort of… look, I was thinking I should just get him to sign this form so that he has one," she finished the sentence as quickly as possible, retracting her hand so that she could shift her chair back, grab her handbag, and finally place the form on the desk in front of Snow (being 7-and-a-bit months pregnant certainly hadn't made life any easier for the mayor).

"So… Snow, what are your thoughts?"

"This is a marriage licence," said Snow, a look crossed with shock and something else that Regina couldn't quite place (but she was fairly sure it was bad) directed towards the former queen.

"I am quite aware of what it is, Snow White," said the mayor, now upset that Snow clearly wouldn't support her decision, "and if you're going to judge me on my life choices then maybe I should-" Regina was almost in tears before the teacher-turned-principal shushed her with a gentle hand placed over one of her own.

"I'm not judging. I am very happy for you." Regina turned her face to her former stepdaughter, and found no trickery there. Perhaps momentary shock was responsible for Snow's initial expression. She continued, "and I'm glad you felt that you could tell me about this."

"Oh don't be ridiculous, Snow," sniffed the mayor, "it's not a big deal, this form was just easier to deal with then some of the others."

"Of course it was," said Snow completely seriously, who hopped out of her chair and made her way around the mayoral desk to give her friend a hug. Regina proceeded to bury her head in Snow's shoulder. Good grief this was embarrassing.

"Do you think… do you think Robin would want this?" asked Regina, whispering the question into the air behind Snow's head.

Snow pulled back, placed her hands on Regina's shoulders, and offered a tissue that she seemingly pulled out of thin air to the pregnant woman. "I think, Regina, that he would do anything for you, because he loves you. But," she paused as if to consider her next words, "you could just as easily get a retrospective birth certificate or something. You don't have to marry him."

Sniffing, Regina averted her eyes briefly before looking intently into the greeny-brown of her friend. "I think I'd like to, Snow."

"Then that's the best thing to do," finished Snow, breaking from Regina's gaze as she stood to move back to her seat. "Now, I'll just get this paperwork and then David and Emma can come and pick us up, alright?"

"Alright," replied the mayor, who had now turned back to her craft paper and googly eyes. Ready to wait for the future to come to her.

* * *

"I saved a cat today."

"I got 6 paper balls into the trash can," came the cheeky reply, coupled with a tiny shoulder barge that sent the deputy almost straight into an expensive looking vase.

"Watch it, Emma! I could have been seriously injured," said David, as he straightened his jacket.

"Oh yeah, alright, little old me bumping into my dad might cause him to what… explode?" she said with a giggle, reaching out for the door handle to the mayoral office.

"Hey, human combustion is a serious issue," called out David as he followed his daughter into the room beyond the door.

"Hey Mary Margaret, Regina. Everyone ready to go?" said Emma. David turned to his right, retrieving jackets and bags from the hatstand and the front of the room.

"Did I hear you two talking about human combustion?" said Snow, packing up her papers into an appropriate order and placing them into their relevant folders. David strolled over to help her with the files, kissing her on the cheek as he did so. Gods he missed her sometimes.

"No, dearest. Well, yes. It was a joke," said David, his arms now full of jackets and files so that his wife could stand easily.

"Not a very good one," came a grumbled reply from across the table. The prince looked up to see the mayor looking a little cross and… a little stuck?

"Regina," said David, "are you stuck?" If looks could kill… well let's just say that David had seen that look actually kill people before. Thank the Gods Regina hadn't been able to access her magic for a while.

"I appear to be somewhat… I might need a little assistance getting out of my chair," she said, reddening almost beyond belief. Wow, definitely stuck.

"I got it," said Emma, clearly slightly uncomfortable after being stuck with nothing to do for a few seconds. She rounded the desk and turned Regina's chair to the side so she could be pulled directly out of it without bumping the table. "Ok, Regina, just grab my arms here… yep like that. On three, one, two, and, three."

She tried. Really, properly, tried. It didn't work. Regina was just as stuck as before. The redness spread out from her face.

Snow was mildly surprised. "Haven't you tried to get out of this chair today? What about a bathroom break?" She clearly was remembering her constant bathroom breaks with Emma and Neal.

"I had one before you came here. However, your presence is quite calming," said Regina. David saw his wife's face struggling to hold back a giant grin at that. Snow was so easy to please sometimes. "Getting up didn't really occur to me this afternoon," Regina continued. "Though now that you mention it, my bladder is almost painfully full, so if someone could please…" she waved her hands around as if to indicate for someone else to figure the situation out. Her beet-red features were quickly morphing into exhaustion and discomfort. Grumpiness would be sure to follow. They would have to act quickly.

"Um, ok," started Emma, trying to create a plan on the fly without hurting anyone's feelings. "Look, David, you're strong. You can pull Regina out of her chair, and Mary Margaret and I will pull the armrests apart so she's not stuck anymore. How's that?"

David half expected Regina to lash out at Emma because of the weight thing, but she kept quiet, clearly embarrassed beyond belief. He set down the items he'd gathered, and moved around the desk.

"It might be easier if we roll you out where we can all reach you, Regina," said Snow as she came up behind the chair.

"Oh no, Snow, I do not need my chair moved out into the middle of my office just because-" her sentence was cut short as the chair was swiftly scooted into the middle of the black and white tiles.

"Ok," said David, grasping Regina around her wrists, "I'll pull, you two pull, and then we won't have to pull. Everyone got it?"

"Great plan, David," said Emma, "where'd you get that one? Must have been some genius-"

"Emma," said Snow, warningly, as she took hold of one of the armrests.

"Sorry, mom. On three?"

After a quick count of three, David grasped Regina's arms more tightly and tugged her gently… out of the chair.

"Yay!" said Snow as she wheeled the chair back behind the mayoral desk.

"I'll just take Regina to the toilet maybe?" said Emma, trying to be helpful and not offensive.

"I'm sure I know exactly where the toilet is, Emma," said Regina. David nodded over Regina's head at Emma. He could feel exactly how tightly she was gripping onto his arms. Sitting down for that long without moving must have done a number on her legs.

"Let her take you, Regina," said Snow, "David and I need to take everything down to his truck and she'd just be in the way," she said, throwing a wink Emma's way.

"Oh yes," groused Regina as she reached out for Emma's arm to lean on, "give me the useless one, great idea," Emma looked like she wanted to say something, but she let it slide and just escorted the mayor from the room. Good.

"Did you have a nice day, darling?" said David, stepping towards his too-good-to-be-true wife.

"I learned some things. I think I'll be able to tell you about them tomorrow, if you're lucky," she said teasingly, a hint of a smile gracing her lips as she leaned into his embrace.

"I saved a cat today," he said, grabbing everything they needed and exiting the office.

"I'm impressed," she said, tugging him down to the car.

"You should be," he replied, happy to be led.

* * *

Robin of Locksley had finished Roland's bedtime story (now a fairly uncommon occurrence due to Roland's newfound belief that he was a "big boy"), and was now almost ready for bed.

As he finished cleaning his teeth, the former thief switched off the bathroom light and slid into bed beside his wife, who was sat up in bed, reading what looked like a report. He hoped it was short; sometimes she could stay up for hours reading those things.

"Regina," he drew out her name a bit, turning it into an almost-whine. He knew she would hate it ("Names are spelled a certain way for a reason, Robin!"). He was half-right – she just ignored him and charged into what she wanted to talk about.

"I had a conversation with Snow today," she began, placing the paper to one side and turning her head to face him. He answered with a "mm-hmm", and a nod, a clear indication for her to continue. "Well, I realised some time ago that you don't have a last name. And it was somewhat of an issue for Roland." She took a deep breath, as if she was nervous to continue.

"They are not exactly common fare back in our land, my love," he said, sitting up himself so he could look into her eyes and pay attention to their babe at the same time, "And besides, if you're doing all this worrying because of the baby, just give her your last name. It's a fine last name, works with most first names." She was silent to that, and Robin was confident he'd hit the nail on the head. If she was already worried about enrolling this unborn child in school, then it would be better to calm her down now, rather than wait for the meltdown later.

"Well, I mean, yes. I… I thought you might want a last name," she said, eyes averted. Worrying about the baby he expected, but worrying about him? Highly irregular. Well, not too irregular – but this issue seemed to be one that had been plaguing her mind for a while, though Robin could not figure out what it was.

Deciding to tread carefully, and not wanting to step on any toes (though gaining a second part to his name wouldn't be all that terrible), Robin replied, "That sounds like a wonderful idea, Regina. Did you have anything in mind?"

A small, nervous smile graced her face as she pushed a lock of her hair behind one ear and reached for the form she'd set aside earlier, passing it over to him. He noticed that once she'd passed it, the former queen looked away, then immediately turned her eyes to his, as if to search them for some kind of response. He supposed he'd better provide one.

"The title of this form…" he began, secretly ecstatic.

"It's nothing, Robin, ignore it," she said. As if he'd ignore it. Regina Mills wanted to marry him.

"Ok," he conceded, willing to pretend ignore it for now, "You've filled it in as Robin… Mills. That's your last name."

"It is."

"It is a fine name."

"You've said so yourself. If you don't want it, we could pick a new one, I suppose."

He huffed slightly, and gave the form back to her, then slid from the bed. This would be the perfect opportunity. As he rummaged around in his one drawer he'd been allowed to claim, he heard a tiny sound from behind him. A tiny, mournful sound. Followed by a telltale rip. It occurred to Robin, as his hand clasped around the box he'd been searching for, that he hadn't said yes or no to the marriage. Damn.

As Robin of Locksley (soon to be Robin Mills, if he hadn't just screwed up the evening) turned back to his wife, he was greeted with a pregnant, blubbering mess.

And the mess was tearing up the licence into little pieces right in front of him.

"Oh no, no, no, Regina what are you doing?" he said, rushing back to the bed and landing next to her, trying to gather the paper, as if pushing it back together in a pile would somehow make the pages whole again.

"No, Robin, this was a stupid idea and you clearly agree. Just… I need a few minutes," she said, brushing the paper from the bed and attempting to rise. Until Robin placed his arm across her, effectively acting as a kind of bedtime seatbelt.

"Let me go."

"Would you let me speak, first, Regina? Please?"

She stared at him, daring him to speak. Well, at least it was an improvement from the heartbroken and scared shoving he would have expected from her a few years ago.

"Regina, I love you. And that marriage paper thing was a wonderful idea. I simply got out of bed in order to get you this," he said, pausing momentarily to observe her face. She believed him. Good.

Instead of using words and possibly ruining the moment, Robin opened the little box. Inside was a ring that he'd seen and knew would suit her. Not overly ostentatious, but not too understated. People would notice it, but it wouldn't weigh her down. Hopefully, anyway. If she accepted it.

More tears overflowed. Mentally, Robin wasn't jumping to any conclusions, but his heart was breaking just a little at the apparent sadness that was crossing the queen's face.

"Oh Robin," she said a little croakily, sniffing back tears as best she could, "I ruined your form!" she said, collapsing just a bit into his arms, sinking into his embrace.

He was somewhat used to the mood swings at this point, but Robin had never really felt as though one could have been avoided until now. "It's alright, my love, shhh," he soothed, closing the box with one hand and then bringing both his arms around her for a hug.

"It won't fit," came the muffled voice from his shoulder. He looked at the ring, and then at her somewhat chubby hands, folded into his chest. He agreed.

"We can put it on a chain or something, if you want it, that is."

She immediately sat up straight, nodding her head almost shyly. "I'd love to wear your ring, Locksley. Just maybe not right now."

"That's fair enough," he said, "now it's time for bed, however, so snuggle down and I'll get the lights. They sunk into the bed together, paper gone, ring on the bedside table, both wrapped in the arms of the person they loved most in the world.

"I love you, Robin. So, so much."

"And I love you, darling."

They fell asleep, wrapped in each other's arms.

* * *

**Ok so that's the end of that chapter. I hoped you liked it! Don't forget to review!**

**Someone asked if Regina and Robin were married… and the answer is, not yet! Soon enough though. I don't know if it's obvious, but I have never been married, so I don't know if there are multiple forms that people would have to sign. Let's just pretend that Storybrooke has a form that marries you and changes names and all that jazz.**

**Also a guest asked about last names and stuff in their review. I hope this chapter clears some things up for you.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hello everyone! Here's chapter 5, which will be the second last chapter.**

**Sorry for the super late update. At least it's within a month of the last one, right? The next one will be along ASAP (I've already started, and I'm pretty excited for it).**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Snow White was having a great Wednesday so far. She'd gone to Granny's got some take-out breakfast, and taken a brisk walk in the cold winter air to the mayoral mansion. She entered at 8:45am on the cold January morning, happening upon Robin and Roland as they were getting ready to go.

"Good morning Aunty Snow!" said Roland, giant smile dominating his features as his father struggled with getting the boy to put his jacket on, "What's in those boxes?"

"Good morning, Roland. I'm making breakfast in bed for your mama today," said Snow, shifting the boxes in her arms. She wouldn't exactly be making breakfast in bed. Was take-out in bed a thing? "How are you today?"

"I'm late, and papa's late, and mommy was too sleepy to get out of bed, just like always!" said Roland, who had finally managed to get his jacket on, "Did you bring waffles?"

"Come on, my boy, get your shoes on," said Robin, looking somewhat frantic, "Good morning Snow," he said as politely as possible while he tried to help Roland with his shoelaces (the child, of course, wanted no help with the task at all, despite being unable to complete it by himself).

"Running a bit late this morning, are we?" said Snow, wanting to help but not really knowing what she could do that wouldn't slow everything down.

"Yes, well, Regina had to go to bed early, because she can't function with less that 12 hours of sleep a day anymore, and I fell asleep on the couch while I was watching the game, so I didn't hear my alarm go off. It was Henry who woke me up as he was leaving for Emma's apartment!" he said, finally having finished with Roland's left shoe, now faced with the mess the boy had managed to make of the right.

Snow was somewhat jealous of Regina – she'd gotten little to no sleep in the last month or so whilst carrying both Neal and Emma. Though the sleepless nights that had plagued her had more to do with the villain of the hour who wanted to kill her child, rather than a symptom of an achy back or restless child.

"And now we're late!" exclaimed Roland, seemingly ecstatic about the fact, "Can I see the boxes?"

"It's alright, Robin," said Snow, smiling down at the boy on the floor, "I'm sure David won't mind if you're a few minutes late".

"It's not David I'm worried about, it's Town Hall. I've booked a room for ten thirty am and I need to get everyone there before then!" having finished with Roland, Robin turned towards Snow, an idea apparently blooming in his mind if the crazy eyes were anything to go by.

"What?" said Snow, taking a tiny, tiny step backwards. Not that Robin was scary. Ok, he was. A little. She took another. Just to make her feet level with one another, of course.

"You can get Regina there! Yes, perfect. Wonderful. Thank you so much, Snow," he said, his voice moving towards the door, following its owner, as he pulled Roland with him to wherever they were going.

"Wait papa, I want the waffles!" said Roland, a sentence that Snow only just managed to catch as the door slammed behind the two.

"What?" said Snow again, staring at the closed door incredulously. Ok, Town Hall, 10:30. She could do that. She'd text Robin later to ask exactly why she needed to, but that could wait until after breakfast.

Snow walked through the mansion, now unhindered, and not distracted at all by some of the nicer paintings that were strategically placed throughout the ground floor.

Making it to the kitchen after a few minutes (but not too many, the waffles and hash browns still being quite hot), Snow unpacked the breakfast spread that she'd sort of prepared for Regina. Well, ordered at the very least. Locating the in-kitchen radio and tuning it to Storybrooke-1 (which just happened to be doing a top-ten Disney countdown), Snow flitted around the kitchen, locating bowls and utensils and humming quietly to herself when-

"Robin! Robin, no, wait!" Snow heard over the top of the radio noise, coming from upstairs. The brunette quickly dumped the container she was holding back on the counter (regrettably spilling some potato sort of everywhere), and ran up the stairs, taking them 2 at a time.

Many things went through her mind as she went to the aid of the woman upstairs, such as, _Where has this burst of fitness come from?_ and, _I hope Regina is ok_, and _I wonder which room is… this one? Wait, no, this one… ah ha, there we go._

Snow was greeted with the sight of her stepmother and friend, struggling to her feet and looking frazzled and distressed. She immediately stepped to her side, grasping the older woman by the shoulders.

"What… Snow!" said Regina, immediately casting her eyes to her friend, grasping at her and gulping in air, "Snow, where is Robin?" she finished, glancing around the room somewhat.

"He went to work about 5 minutes ago Regina," said Snow calmly, gently helping Regina back onto the bed, the exhausted woman acquiescing after a moment. "Now, take some deep breaths, and why don't you tell me what's wrong?" She fished a packet of tissues out of her pocket, and used on to gently wipe the tears from the pregnant woman's eyes.

Regina's breathing evened out, and she began to look somewhat sheepish.

Ah, so nothing was wrong. Probably. That was good. Not good for Snow's nerves, but good.

"I may have had a… an unconscious vision of a terrifying scenario," she said, rubbing her belly with one hand and shifting around the bed, eventually shuffling away Snow and settling back into the mountains of pillows with a huff, picking at invisible lint on her clothes.

"You had a bad dream Regina?" said Snow, unsure that she had heard the former mayor correctly. She slid up the bed until they were sitting side by side.

"Yes, that is what happened," said Regina as she snuggled into Snow's side and rearranged the younger woman into optimum cuddling position. So, comfortable for Regina, not so much for the former princess.

"Would you like to talk about it?" said Snow, rubbing slow circles on Regina's arm.

"Ok… if I must," she began, pulling the covers securely around herself and her friend, "I was in my childhood home-"

"The mansion where you saved my life?" Snow interrupted.

"Yes, Snow, that one," said Regina snappily, "what other one would I be talking about?"

"Right, good point, keep going".

"Ok, so Robin was there with me for some reason, I don't know why, and we were…" she paused, "having a picnic-"

"A sexy picnic?" said Snow with a wink that she knew Regina wouldn't be able to see, so she added a squeeze to her shoulder for good measure. Retaliation came in the form of a light pinch to Snow's thigh, which she probably deserved, really.

"Stop it! Then Robin said 'I have to go to work now', and made his way over to David who was on a horse and Robin got on the horse as well and they rode off into the sunset while all the trees were singing 'Someday my Prince will Come'" she finished with a huff.

There was a moment of silence while Snow tried to piece the events of the morning together, and match them with the dream. She finally managed to work everything out.

"So Robin said goodbye this morning, left the house, and you inserted a song from the radio into your dream where our husbands were true loves?" a giant smile spread across Snow's face, giggles threatening to break out past her not-so-stoic façade.

"Snow White! Don't you dare laugh! Singing tress and dashing princes in love are nothing to laugh about!" said Regina, attempting to be snappy, but once she caught sight of her friend's face, couldn't help herself, and also started to laugh.

Snow was glad that Regina was able to see the funny side of this, at least. She thought the matter over, and was about to suggest they go downstairs for breakfast, when Regina said, "I'm not sure what the appeal is, really. David's not that pretty. I don't know why Robin would go off with him".

Snow moved back down the bed until she could see Regina's face, and said, quite seriously, "David is the most dashing man in town," a snort of laughter only sort of messing up her sentence a bit. A little. "Besides, if you don't admit that he's positively gorgeous, then you won't get any breakfast," said Snow with a wiggle of her brows.

"You brought me breakfast?" Regina's eyes snapped first to Snow's face, and then to the door, as if staring that way would bring it closer.

"Yep," said Snow, as she slid off the bed and back towards the doorway.

"Are those waffles I smell?" replied Regina, getting out of bed with comparatively far less grace, and much more haste.

"…Yep!" said Snow, now blocking the doorway with her body. The former princess knew that the pregnant woman would say almost anything to get downstairs now.

After a minute-long staring contest, Regina said, quietly and quickly, "Your husband is the most handsome man I have ever seen," managing to not make any eye contact at all.

"That's gross Regina, he's mine," said Snow, slipping out of the room and down the hall, before being barrelled into by the greater-than-expected weight of her former step mother.

"Get out of my way, waffle-bringer".

* * *

Emma had picked Henry up from high school this morning, taken the kid to town hall, made sure that Mary Margaret and David were doing everything in good time, and even helped with decorating the room that Robin wanted to use. Well, she'd put a chair out for Regina to sit on if she wanted it. It counted.

Basically, she'd had a busy morning, and couldn't really be expected to be much more useful than she was at that moment. So a nap seemed in order.

Henry didn't agree.

"She's gonna be late, ma," said the kid, kicking Emma's feet off the chair she was resting them on (almost causing her to, like, die, or whatever. It felt like it, anyway), and taking her feet's spot.

"What, your sister? How do you know? You were right on time. I think," she said, closing her eyes and tipping down her imaginary giant Sherriff's hat. If she imagined she had a giant hat, it made the whole 'chasing cats out of trees all day' thing seem kinda noble. Or whatever.

"No, Emma, my mom. It's 10am. She takes ages to get ready. And grandma Snow likes to talk. They're probably still chatting over bagels or whatever," he huffed, looking uncharacteristically nervous.

Emma eyed the kid sitting across from her. She felt for him. Sort of, anyway. She'd never had a wedding, and even one as low-key as this was gonna be was turning everyone into stress monkeys. Emma's shoulders shook slightly with silent giggles as she imagined Henry as a monkey. That'd be hilarious.

"Emma! Are you even listening?" said Henry, leaning forward in his chair to emphasise his already louder-than-necessary voice.

"Yeah, kid, I'm listening. Look, what do you want me to do? Call her and tell her she has to come to this room right now or else?" she said, looking questioningly at Henry.

"Yes!" he said, still loud, "And you've got to be secret about it, it's a surprise!" he finished, waving his hands in the air, and also somehow waving her phone in front of her face.

"Wha… Henry, give that back, come on," she reached over, but he was already out of his seat.

"You want it? Come get it!" he said, backing away from her, clearly anticipating trouble. Sherriff "magic-hands" Swan, had other ideas, however. A flick of her wrist, and bam. Phone back in her hand. Problem solved. Emma tipped her giant imaginary hat, just as she noticed that her phone was making sounds. Ringing sounds. Then picking up sounds. Then Regina saying "Hello?" sounds.

Giving Henry her best you-won-this-round-you-little-shit glare, and answered it in a super cool sherriff-ey tone, "Hey…" though it might have come out as a less-than-casual squeak.

"Sherriff Swan? Are you alright?" said Regina, sounding almost concerned, which was a little weird. Time to get this over with.

"I was… um… just wondering what you were doing today and if you'd like to come to Town Hall?" said Emma. Mission totally accomplished. She could hang this phone up super soon. Awesome.

"Well, at the moment I'm having breakfast with your mother. Is that going to be an issue?" came the testy reply. Uh oh.

"Uh, yeah, totally, no… I mean, Henry. He's with me, room 316, and he's really, super sick," said Emma, earning herself a glare from Henry. And she probably had one coming down the phone line if the silence was anything to go by. "So you totally need to come in right now to pick him up," aw yeah, on a roll, nothing's gonna stop Emma Swan from being the greatest manipulator of all-

"Can't you bring him here?"

Oh. Oops.

"That's a good point," said Emma, now stumped. Usually when she lied about things, she prepared a bit. Knew enough about the target to get them to do things she wanted, all that jazz. Clearly her skills were a little rusty.

A huff came from the other half of the conversation.

Without a word, Henry grabbed the phone, shook his head in disappointment, and began to coerce his mother into coming to the Hall, as son as she possibly could. He totally should have made the call himself. Whatever.

Emma sat back down just as Roland and Robin came in to the room, the child bearing flowers and the father on the phone. Emma managed to pick up bits of the conversation, and worked out that her dad was being a bit useless by not showing up. She was pretty sure he was officiating the whole thing, so that was a bit inconvenient.

Back to sitting in a sherriff-y way, with her big fake hat, then. Hopefully that would last longer than last time.

* * *

Roland was completely, absolutely excited. Today, he got to wear really fancy clothes. And he got to be the ring bearer-er for his mama and papa's wedding. He wasn't quite sure why he needed to carry the rings for everyone, but his papa insisted that it was a Very Important Job, so Roland was going to it well.

When Roland and his papa arrived, Emma and Henry were already there. The room didn't really look ready for a wedding, thought Roland. He'd seen them on TV. At least the room was sort of white. That was good. While his dad argued with David on the phone with Emma standing next to him, Roland walked over to his big brother.

Henry was the best brother in the whole world. One time, Henry had let Roland play one of the really scary games on his Xbox all by himself and it was the coolest. Henry could also drive people around now, like when he drove Roland for ice cream after school last week.

Ice cream is the best.

Roland sat in the chair across from Henry, making sure to keep the box with the two rings safely in his pocket. "Do you think Aunty Snow will be here, Henry?"

"Yeah, I think so, Roland," said the teenager, putting his phone in his pocket, and devoting his full attention to his little brother. He felt very important.

"Will she bring waffles?" said Roland. He was totally jealous of his mama for getting them all to herself this morning.

"Probably not, no".

"Can we get ice cream after this?" said the boy, quick to discover a compromise where there might be one.

"Yeah, definitely," said Henry, a very serious expression on his face.

"Good," said Roland, relaxing back into his chair, and swinging his legs. He hoped this wouldn't take too much longer. While he waited, Roland thought about all the different ice creams he wanted to eat, and which one he should have today.

After a while, David arrived, and then Roland's papa told him where to stand, and Henry was told to go outside. Roland stood next to David, and there was a spot on the other side of the prince for his papa to stand.

"Excuse me, Mr Nolan?" said Roland, being extra respectful because he was a good boy and he might have had a silly question.

"Yes, Roland?" said David, who seemed a little distracted at first, but focused on Roland immediately.

"What are you doing here? Are you a ring bearer-er too?" asked Roland, a little challengingly. He wanted to be the ring bearer, and no one could stop him.

"No, Roland, that's a job that's all for you. I'm marrying your parents," said David with a nod, before he got some little pieces of rectangular paper out of his pocket and began to read them.

Roland became somewhat confused at this point, and not just because David was reading when he was supposed to be marrying. Also, Roland thought David was married to Snow.

So he said as much. "David, aren't you already married to Snow White?"

David looked up from his cards, and gave Roland a really funny look, before he started to smile. "Oh, no Roland, I mean I am just saying the words that mean your mommy and daddy get to marry each other. I don't want to marry them!" He laughed and went back to his paper. Right, so David was in charge of saying things so that other people could get married. Weird.

Just then Snow came in the door.

"Where's mom?" said Henry to his grandma.

"I'm right here, kid," said Emma, giving him a light shove. It was pretty funny. Obviously Henry meant mama, not Emma. Silly Emma.

"Emma!" said Snow, looking a little red and silly, before turning to Henry, "I left her at the corner, she was slowing me down. Henry, we'll go back and get her, everyone else get ready".

Henry and Snow left, Emma walked closer to where the actual wedding would be happening, and Roland stood up extra tall. Being the shortest here wouldn't be easy (he was only a little bit shorter than mama now), but he could get through this. For the rings.

Snow, Regina, and Henry, all came in together, with Regina in the middle looking very surprised. Roland looked at his papa, who looked really funny, but was definitely looking at Regina. That was pretty good.

Roland knew that he had to be quiet for this part.

Regina came to stand beside Robin, in front of David. She hadn't said anything until she got there, and then she whispered, "A surprise wedding, Robin?" She didn't sound mad. She sounded like she was going to cry though, even though she was smiling really big.

"Yes, my love. Is… this alright with you?"

"Married to you, surrounded by my favourite people? Of course it is," she said, smiling. Then she kissed him, which was totally gross, so Roland looked away.

David started talking then, and it all got a bit boring (except when mama told him to hurry up because the baby wanted to sit down and she was most certainly not sitting at a wedding thank you very much), until the most important part, where Roland gave the rings to his papa.

Which also turned out to be kind of boring. They put them on, and then they kissed, which Roland looked at for a bit, but then didn't because it was absolutely gross. Especially because there was a baby in the middle. Poor baby shouldn't have had to see that. It might catch cooties or something. Roland stayed quiet anyway.

"I can't believe this," said his mama, who was crying now for some reason. Roland thought weddings were meant to be happy. Had he given the rings wrong?

"Can't believe what, my love?" said papa, who was stroking her face with his hands. Had he forgotten what she felt like?

"That nothing went wrong today. Everything was just perfect," and now it looked like papa was going to cry as well. And now they were trying to kiss again! Roland definitely had to put a stop to that.

"Can we have ice cream and waffles now? Please?" whined Roland, and everybody laughed. Henry had promised. It wasn't funny. "And no more kisses!" insisted Roland. People laughed again. He wasn't quite sure why.

It wasn't long before everyone left the hall for Granny's. Roland got so many waffles and so much ice cream that he got really sick. It was absolutely worth it though, because everyone ended up having a really great day.

* * *

**So that's the end of the chapter! I don't know how I did with the wedding – they're not my favourite things to write. Also I usually try to do a Regina POV section, but I thought it worked better without. Let me know what you think in a review!**


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Once Upon a Time, Family, Romance