We Can Love Again

Let Go

Roland gladly accepted Henry's apology and the hug that went with it. Henry told him he was sorry for the things he said as well as pushing him, and that he didn't mean any of it. That was enough for the four year old; in all honesty, he just really wanted Henry to like him again- he told himself he would do better at making him happy.

"I guess you can be my brother if you want to be," Henry said, causing a gigantic smile to appear on the boy's face.

"Really?" Roland asked in astonishment, throwing his arms around him again. "Thank you thank you thank you!"

Henry rolled his eyes. "You can call Regina mom too if you want, I don't mind anymore."

Roland couldn't be happier. "And what about daddy? Will you call him that now?"

Hesitating a bit, he looked down at the boy. "Well... Maybe."

Maybe was good enough for him. This was it, they were really going to be a real family.

Regina smiled when she saw her two boys hugging- yes, it was considered spying, but she nor Robin couldn't help themselves. "See, I told you everything would work out." She told him, smiling as she did so.

"Guess it did," Robin replied, a sly smile approaching on his face. "Which means... The two of us will need to celebrate somehow."

Regina gave him the same sky look in return. "Yeah, like what?"

"How about you and I go back to the lake?"

She shrugged. "Sounds fun- are we having a picnic again?"

Shaking his head, he continued to give her that penetrating smile. "I was thinking we could mix it up a bit."

Regina raised an eyebrow at him. "Then what are we going to do?"

"Whatever we feel like doing, that's what." He replied, turning his attention towards the boys.

"I'm taking your mother out on a date, so you two stay here and don't cause any trouble- Roland, you better have your room picked up by the time we get back."

Roland grinned. "That means we can have fun together Henry!"

"Guess it does," he the boy replied, sending his mom a look. "You two have fun."

"Always," she replied, "just please, no more trouble. We've had enough of that lately."

"Promise."

With that hopeful reply in mind, the two left the two boys and started off on the walk back to the lake, their secret place where nothing could go wrong.

"It feels so nice to just get out," Regina said, breathing out a sigh of relief.

"Tell me about it." Robin said. She didn't even know half of it.

The early summer breeze and the perfect blue sky made everything seem like paradise. All the tension, the worries, everything slowly vanished. He felt badly that he and Regina hadn't been able to spend much time together.

When they arrived, she turned to face him. "What're we going to do?"

Of course he had an idea already forming in his mind. For his answer, he turned her towards the vast and glistening lake.

"You want to swim?" Regina asked, "that's your idea of a date?"

Robin shrugged. "Why not? It's warm enough."

Still, she was skeptical.

"It'll be fun!" He said in an encouraging tone, stepping back to pull off his shirt. She watched him as he took a running start and jumped into the lake, creating a huge splash.

"You're crazy!" She called towards him as he popped his head up above the water.

"The water feels great!" He said back to her, "come on!"

"But then I'll be all wet!"

Robin gave her a look. "You'll dry off. You think too much Regina. It's easy, all you have to do is jump- let go, and jump."

Let go. It did sound pretty easy. Regina took a deep breath and nodded, surrendering to his begging. Kicking her shoes off, she took a running start and jumped, soon engulfed in the cool water. She surfaced to take a breath and immediately gave Robin a playful smack on the arm.

"You lied, you said the water felt nice!"

Robin laughed, loving the look on her face. "You wouldn't have done it if I said it!"

"Well you got me in here, so now what?" Regina rolled her eyes, trying not to make her shivers so apparent.

"What, do you not like to swim or something?"

Regina splashed him playfully in return. "I never said that."

She felt his arms around her as he lifted her up on his shoulder, placing his hands around her legs.

"No! Don't you-!"

Before she could finish her sentence, Robin flipped her over behind him.

When she rose up again, she sent him a menacing glare as she wiped her hair from her face. "You're so mean!"

Robin put his hands on her sides and gave her a look with his brown eyes. "Let go, remember?"

Regina rolled her eyes. "Oh, right. Well in that case..."

She wrapped her hands around his neck, placing her lips on his as he immediately held her tighter. She could taste the bitterness of the water on her tongue, the slick feel to his hair as she began to ache for him more.

"I missed you," he muttered, taking a quick breath. Regina wrapped her legs around his waist to keep her from slipping.

"Me too," she replied, soon realizing that she was confident enough to say her next words.

"I love you Robin."

He could feel the hotness of her breath touch his face as she spoke. It felt so good to hear those words from her.

"I love you too. Very much, actually."

"Can we just... Stay here, forever?" She asked, though an answer was completely unnecessary. Things could never be as perfect as they were in that moment, it was never that easy.