We Can Love Again

It's a Family Thing

Old memories of coming down to Archie's house for sessions resurfaced as Regina knocked on the door once again. Therapy wasn't her favorite thing to do, but she thought it would be nice to have his opinion on her situation. Archie was a sweet guy; he had helped her out so much in the past. He was one of the very few people in the town that had seen her cry.

The door opened, and a surprised Archie stood before her and her son.

"Regina... Can I help you?" He asked, glancing down at the four year old boy that was beside her.

"Yeah, I was wondering if you... Had a few minutes?"

He had personally been waiting for her to show up at his doorstep again. Many rumors were going around about her, he was dying to know what was true and what wasn't. One thing was for sure though- something had to be up. She was wearing jeans, a white tank top, and some sunglasses.

"Of course- come on in."

Roland stayed close to her as they made their way to his dark colored couch.

Archie was just about ready to burst with excitement, but he kept his cool as he sat down across from them.

"Now who's this little guy?"

Regina patted his back softly, as to get him to talk. She knew he was shy around new people.

"I'm Roland." He said quietly, resting his head on his mother's arm.

"He's my son, long story." Regina began, repeating the same conversation yet again. "What's new with you, Archie? I hate talking about myself all the time- especially lately."

The man let out a small smile. "Nothing much really, I did get a new puppy though. You want to see her?"

Roland's smile immediately shone bright. "Yes!"

Archie got up and went over to a small bed in the corner of the room, gently picking up a small Dalmatian puppy and bringing it over to the boy.

"I got her for Pongo, he needs a friend." He told him, watching Roland hold the small animal in his arms.

"Her name is Lucy."

Regina smiled as the puppy started licking Roland's face. "She's so cute," she said, petting the Dalmatian's soft, velvety fur.

"So, do you want to talk about you now?" Archie asked slowly, though Regina's attention still seemed to be on the puppy.

"Uh, yeah, I suppose." She found it hard to let go of Lucy and surrender her back to Roland, but she reluctantly did.

"Hey Roland, do you want to play with Pongo?" Archie asked the boy, "he has lots of toys in the basket over there. Lucy likes some of them too."

The four year old nodded and jumped off the couch and headed for the bigger dog. Now that they were finally able to talk about grown up things.

"I heard from Blue that you were expecting a baby," he said, knowing being honest was his best option.

Regina sighed. "Yeah, I am," she said halfheartedly, "I know people have been talking about me. They think... They think I'm carrying some bastard child or something. I've heard all the conversations."

Archie suddenly felt extremely sorry for the woman, mostly because he had heard those exact words being said by other people.

"Well, I don't believe that." He said, "tell me what really happened."

Regina felt so discouraged as she repeated the entire story again; staying in the Enchanted Forest with Henry, meeting Robin, falling in love...

Thankfully, Archie seemed to be listening intently to what she had to say. Regina knew she could trust him.