Just learning to fly

Chapter 8

Henry tried to act as though he didn't know what she was talking about.
"Sure, mom." He said.
"Well, I would like to know if you have used it at all since we got back to Storybrooke." She inquired, trying to get him to talk. She knew how bad at lying he was.
Henry debated lying to her, but knew that she would catch him. He also knew that she probably already knew about what he had done, but he didn't know if she knew if he knew this fact. It was turning into a Friends episode!
"Well, I may have used it to make a tiny adjustment, but it wasn't too major." He said, drawing out the word "tiny".
She raised her eyebrow at him and shifted so that he could see her outline.
"Oh." He said, his eyes landing on her slightly swollen belly.
"So you know then?" He asked weakly.
"Oh is right, young man." She said, turning back to face him and crossing her arms.
"You can't just go messing around with things like this before talking to us." She chastised him.
"I was just trying to make you happy!" He said, afraid that she would make him change it back.
"I am, really Henry." She said, her eyes softening slightly.
"You could have just lifted my curse, though. But instead you went and stole Zelena's baby from her in order to give me one. Why?" She implored, truly curious.
"Because I wanted that baby to really be a part of our family. I know you say that it doesn't make a difference whether they are yours biologically or not, but it does to me. I don't want them to go through what I went through when I found out that I was adopted. I know it doesn't make a difference now, but to ten-year-old me, it did. I don't want the same thing to happen to them." He said, starring at his lap.
Regina was blown away by how much he cared about his little sibling, even if the action that he took wasn't the greatest. Regina gently lifted his chin so that he could see the tears streaming down her face. She gathered him into a big hug.
"That still doesn't mean that what you did was right, though, even though your intentions were pure." She whispered into his ear as she squeezed him.
"Mom, a little too tight." He said, trying not to sound too teary. After all, he still had his reputation to uphold.
"Sorry." She said letting him go and wiping her eyes. "I just can't believe how grown up you're getting."
"Now, we have to figure out what to do about your Aunt Zelena." She said, then gasped and as she felt strong arms wrapping around her. "Robin, how long were you watching us?" She questioned, hoping that it had not been too long.
She felt the couch move behind her as Robin sat down and wrapped his arms once again around her middle, his hands coming to rest where their baby grew.
"Don't worry Mom, he wan't standing there for long." Henry supplied.
"So you weren't spying on me?" She asked him, leaning into him and letting her eyes drift closed momentarily.
"No, Milady I was not, though I did see that lovely moment between you and Henry just now, though I didn't hear what you said." He told her truthfully, kissing the back of her head.
"Well, we were just discussing why he altered our reality using the pen and I thought that his explanation was so sweet." She said, looking lovingly at Henry.
Henry made a disgusted face. "Well, I'm leaving before you guys give me a cavity." He said, starting to get up.
Regina laughed. "Well, as long as you get started on that homework that you were complaining about the other day." She told him teasingly.
Henry rolled his eyes. "Sure, Mom. Anything to get away from you two." He said, walking away to his room, grabbing his backpack on his way.
After Henry was gone, they collapsed onto the couch, Robin pulling Regina into him so that they practically on top of each other.
She sighed into him. "He's so grown up! You should have heard what Henry said, Robin. It was beautiful." She said, not bothering to hide how she really felt now that Henry was gone.
Robin nodded in agreement. "I haven't know him for long, but I think that you did a wonderful job raising him." He told her, playing with her short hair.
"You think so?" She asked him.
"I know so." He said, kissing her.
When they broke apart, he asked her, "What did he say that made you so emotional?"
"He told me that he didn't want his little sibling to go through what he had to go through when he found out that he was adopted." She told him, getting slightly teary just thinking about it.
"See? You did do a good job raising him. He's turned out to be a very empathetic and caring young man, and that's all thanks to you. No one else. Not his genes, just you, okay?" He told her.
"Okay." She answered.
They sat like that in comfortable silence for awhile before Robin broke it by asking, "Have you thought of any names yet for the little one?"
"What?" She asked, having not been paying attention.
"I said, have you thought of any names for our little one?" He asked her again, holding her hands.
"No, Robin, we just found out yesterday." She answered him.
"Okay, well, why don't we go check on our other little one. I haven't heard anything from the other room in awhile." Robin said, making Regina smile at him calling Roland theirs.
Regina grabbed his arm and looked him in the eyes. "I'd like to make it official, if that's okay with you and Roland." She told him, being completely serious.
"Make what official?" Robin asked, completely lost by her jump in the conversation.
"I'd like to become Roland's Mother, officially." She said, quickly loosing confidence the longer Robin didn't answer.
"You don't have to agree, though." She said, trying to backpedal, "I know he had a Mother and then he didn't and then he did and now he doesn't and I know that-"
Robin cut off her rambling with a kiss. "I think that that is a great idea." He told her, gently holding her head with his hands. "Roland already sees you as his Mother, so why shouldn't we be a family officially?"
"What about Henry?" She asked him.
"What about him?" He questioned, clearly not understanding what she was trying to say.
"I mean, won't he feel left out?" She clarified.
"I can talk to him about it, but I don't think that the poor kid wants to complicate his family anymore. Speaking of our kids, weren't we going to go check on Roland?" He said, trying to distract her.
They got up and went to the other room where Roland had been playing. The sight that met their eyes made Regina's heart melt. He had fallen asleep curled up on the floor with his monkey stuffed animal in his hand and his thumb stuck in his mouth.
Regina scooped him up and he stirred in his sleep. Robin wrapped his arms around her from behind and rested his head on her shoulder, watching the sleeping boy.
"What do you think, should we let him sleep?" Regina asked.
"I think he's deserved a little nap, though we will probably regret it later." Robin answered, "Do you want to bring him up to his room, or should I?"
"It's okay, I can do it. Besides, in a little while I won't be able to do this anymore." She told him, smiling at the sleeping boy.
She extracted herself from Robin and turned to leave the room, not before Robin was able to land a kiss on Roland's forehead and a kiss on her lips.
She headed up the stairs. Once she got to the top, she peeked into Henry's room. He was busy dutifully completing his homework. She turned into Roland's room and pulled back the sheets before placing the boy upon the bed as gently as she could so as not to disturb his slumber. She debated using magic to aide her in doing this as easily as possible so that she would not wake him, but decided against it. She didn't know yet if the baby was affecting her magic, or even if using magic was good for the baby. She pulled the covers over him and turned, walking out the door and shutting it behind her. She went back downstairs and found Robin on the couch again, waiting for her. She got him up and together they completed many chores around the house before they decided that Roland had had a long enough nap. The rest of the day was spent in blissful happiness and Regina couldn't have been happier. At night, she snuggled into bed beside the love of her life and fell asleep with a smile on her face.
Until the nightmares came.