Just learning to fly

Chapter 11

"Everything looks great!" Dr. Whale concluded as he finished his examination of Regina. "Now for the fun part. Would you like to find out the gender of your baby?"
Regina and Robin looked at each other. They hadn't really talked about this part of the appointment. They had known it was coming, but it had just never been a topic that was high on their list of things to talk about.
"Could you give us a minute?" Robin asked Dr. Whale from his chair on the side of the room.
"Of course." He replied as he nodded his head. "I will be just outside if you need me."
Once Whale had left, Robin got up from his chair and helped to prop Regina up on the bed where she was laying. He pulled over his chair and sat down next to her head so that he could look her in the eyes.
"So." He said taking her hands.
"I want it to be a surprise." She blurted out.
Robin looked at her, surprised. Regina Mills, the woman who planned everything, wanted to not know?
"Really? I would have thought you were the type who needed to know right away type so that you could have every last detail ready for when it's born." Robin said jokingly.
Regina looked down at their clasped hands and started fidgeting with his fingers. "When I was little, my nurse got pregnant. She told me that not knowing was half the fun and that her family had a running bet on what the gender would be. It's something that we would have had if we still lived in the Enchanted Forest, that's all." She finished, looking up at Robin once she was done.
He grinned at her. "Then a mystery you shall have, Milady."
After Whale came back in, he did an ultrasound so that he could print off a few pictures for them and then they were off, back to their big house on Mifflin Street.
The whole way home, Regina kept one hand on her stomach and the other intertwined with Robin's as he drove. She had a stupid grin on her face that she couldn't get rid of and she was pretty sure a couple people stared at her as they drove by them, but she didn't care. She was happier than she could ever remember being. Once they got home, Regina unceremoniously plopped herself down on the couch and kicked off her heels which she still insisted on wearing even though they hurt her feet.
"Robin" she called, drawing out his name and in a childlike manner. "Come sit with me."
Robin chuckled at her childlike behaviour, but followed through with her request nonetheless. He wrapped his arms around her, interlocking their fingers which came to rest on her stomach.
He kissed her forehead and asked, "Have you thought of any names yet, my love?"
"Well, not really," she replied "There is this one name that I love."
"What is it?" He asked her, already knowing that he was going to love it by the excited look in her eyes.
"Brayden." She answered, her whole face lighting up. " For a little boy."
"Brayden" He whispered. "Perfect."
"It means brave or wise." She told him. "It's almost like naming him after you."
"Really?" He asked her, lifting an eyebrow. "That's what you think I am?"
"And selfless, honourable, gentle....." She trailed off, she looking at her perfect boyfriend.
"Well I think that you are all of those things as well as an excellent Mother, resilient, and just breathtakingly beautiful inside and out." He told her, pushing her hair behind her ear and looking her in the eyes.
She smiled and he kissed her, resting their foreheads together when they needed to come up for air.
"You know, I just thought of the perfect name for a little girl." He said, smiling at her and moving his hand back to her stomach.
"What?" She asked him, smiling uncontrollably.
"Reagan." He answered "Almost like her Mother's and just as beautiful."
"Suck up." She said, smirking at him.
"What, so you can compliment me, but I can't do the same for you?" He asked.
"Nope." She answered, laughing at his puppy dog eyes.
"Well then." He said getting up from the couch. "I guess I will have to show you just how amazing you are."
And that is what he did until their boys came bursting through the door. Robin was just starting to make dinner for them and Regina was watching, enjoying for once not being the one to have to make it when this happened.
Henry burst through the door with Roland hot on his heels.
"So?" Henry asked rather expectantly.
"So what?" Regina asked from her spot where she was leaning up against the counter making sure Robin didn't burn anything as he done on the occasional time.
"What is it?" He clarified rather impatiently.
"Oh, you mean the baby. We don't know. Yet." She replied, trying very hard to suppress a smile that appeared at his reaction.
"What do you mean you don't know? I needed to be able to get gender appropriate clothes and toys and tell G-" At this he covered his mouth as his eyes widened as he realized where that sentence was going.
Regina crossed her arms as she approached him. "Was the ending of that sentence 'to tell Grandma and Grandpa' by any chance?" She questioned, trying her best to put on her stern Mother face. Internally she was grateful that she would not have to tell Snow and have to deal with the squealing and excited chatter that would surly follow.
He gulped. She had her scary face on. "I-I didn't mean to tell them, but Grandma practically attacked me at School today! She figured it out by herself and when you didn't show up for work today that only encouraged her." He sputtered trying to explain himself. "I'm really sorry mom."
He tried to her one of his 'I'm sorry' hugs but she stopped him before he could.
"Let's just get one thing clear. No more spilling secrets, okay? We can't have you turning into your Grandmother, now can we?" She said sternly.
"I won't." He told her.
With that she enveloped him in a hug.
"I'm not really mad at you." She told him "I'm actually kind of glad that I don't have to do it myself, so thank you for helping me to avoid that. But don't think that this means that you can spill all of my secrets. Just this one."
"Yes mom" He replied, not really sure what else to say.
"Good. Now go do your homework." She said, turning him around and giving him a little push towards his room.
"Sure, mom." He replied, heading up the stairs.
Regina smiled to herself and let her hand fall to her stomach.
"Baby, what are you doing to me?" She asked the air. "I'm going all soft."
She headed back over to her post in the kitchen after ensuring that Roland had found some toys to play with quietly in the other room.
"Hey Gina." Robin said when he heard her reenter the kitchen.
She gave him a peck on the lips before going back to her spot at the counter.
"So Snow and David know?" He asked.
"It appears so." She replied. "And knowing Snow, probably at least half the town too."
"Well, that saves us the trouble of announcing it." He said with a chuckle, glancing over at her. "If we just leave it alone long enough, the whole town will know and then there really will be no point in announcing something that everyone already knows."
"Then that's what we'll do. Just leave it alone because I for one do not feel like making an announcement to the whole town." She replied.
They sat in comfortable silence until dinner was ready. After a laughter and chatter filled dinner, the whole family went out for an ice cream and walk around Storybrooke. For once, Regina owned the stares and didn't let them get to her because she was with her beautiful family. She was home, she realized. Without even trying, this beautiful, wonderful outlaw and his son had become as important to her as Henry and she loved it.
Back at their mansion and after the kids were asleep, Robin and Regina just lay in bed and held each other because they were home and they loved it.