Just learning to fly

Chapter 12

"Reagan, come here" Regina called up the stairs for her teenage daughter.
Her none too pleased daughter descended the stairs. What Regina saw made her heart quiver in fear.
"Reagan, what are you wearing?" Regina asked her daughter.
"Don't you recognize it, Mummy?" Reagan asked her Mother, "After all, isn't this what you used to wear?"
What Regina saw before her was almost like looking in a mirror except for her daughter's bright blue eyes. Her long raven hair was swept up into a very Evil Queen esc hairdo and she was wearing one of Regina's old extravagant outfits from the Enchanted Forest. Her daughter's usually light makeup was now dark and heavy making her almost unrecognizable compared to the girl she knew and loved. Reagan reached the bottom of the stairs and stood right in front of Regina.
"Reagan, what are you doing?" Regina asked fearfully.
"Don't you know Mummy?" Reagan asked "I want to be just like you"
Reagan thrust her hand into Regina's chest and pulled out her shrivelled, blackened heart.
"See Mummy, you haven't changed at all from when you dressed like this." She said as she gestured to herself. "How could you have possibly thought that I could be different if your heart was still this dark?"
And with that, Reagan squeezed her heart to dust, letting it run through her fingers. The last thing Regina saw before she collapsed was Reagan smiling evilly at her.
Regina sat bolt upright in her bed, breathing heavily. She looked around wildly for a few seconds before she realized that she was in her bedroom and that it had all been a dream. She looked over to Robin's side of the bed and she was greeted with an empty bed. She began to panic, a thousand different scenarios running through her head, none of them ending well. She breathed a sigh of relief when she heard the sound of a toilet flushing coming from their ensuite bathroom. She got up and practically barrelled into him when he opened the bathroom door.
He gave a surprised grunt as she connected with him, but managed to stay upright. He wrapped his arms around her shaking frame and just held her as she cried.
"Hey, it's okay" He said, rubbing her back as her cries subsided. He began trying to direct her back to their bed. "I didn't mean to scare you."
When she didn't answer, he picked her up and carried her back to their bed where he just held her until she was ready to talk.
"I need you to promise me something." She stated, catching him off guard.
"Anything." He told her truthfully, completely clueless as to where she was going with this.
"I need you to get our baby as far away from me as possibly if I go Evil Queen again." She told him, looking him dead in the eyes.
"You're too strong to ever let her out again." He told her, stroking her cheek.
"But what if she does? I can feel her, Robin. She's just below the surface, always trying to make me go back to my old ways. She doesn't want me to be  to be happy. Every time I smile, she scowls. Every time I laugh, she has a tantrum. But Robin, every time I lose my temper, even just a little, she is there in my ear, egging me on, telling me where to land my next blow. It terrifies me that I may not be able to control her one day."
With that, Robin pulled her close to his chest and wrapped his arms around her ever more protectively. She put her ear to his chest and listened to his steady heartbeat. Thump thump. Thump thump.
"In five months, you will be the best, most kind and caring mother this realm, or any other, has ever seen. You will love and adore this child with your whole soul. Nothing, not even the Evil Queen, will harm our child. That is how I know she will never come back. I also know that on the really bad days, I will be there to lend my shoulder if you need to lean on it. On the good days, I will be there to laugh with you and smile with you. Above all else, my dear Regina, I know this one, single fact to be the absolute truth: I will never leave you. Even if you do not want me here, I will never leave you ever again." He stated, knowing that every single word was the absolute truth.
He looked down at the beautiful woman he was so proud to call his girlfriend, only to realize that she had fallen asleep. He turned off the light, moving as slowly as possible, whispered a goodnight, and fell back into a deep sleep with the love of his life safely in his arms.
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Regina woke up and winced at the light pouring into her bedroom, despite the the thick curtains that adorned the windows. She stretched out expecting to hit a warm body. Instead, her outstretched limbs were met with nothing but sheets. She heard someone clanging around downstairs, so she donned her robe, pulling it tightly around her now noticeable bump, and headed for the stairs, wiping the sleep from her tired eyes. Her nose was assaulted with the smell of bacon, eggs, and coffee as she got closer to the kitchen. What she saw when she walked in was a sight to behold. Robin was wearing one of her aprons as he ran around the kitchen. Henry was at the stove stirring what appeared to be scrambled eggs. Roland was watching the coffee maker, transfixed by how it could make a cup of coffee by just pressing a button.
"Gina!" Roland screeched, noticing her first.
"She lives!" Robin exclaimed coming over to give her a kiss.
"Hey mom." Henry said, not even looking up as he did not want to watch his mother and hopefully soon-to-be stepfather make out.
"Why didn't you wake me sooner?" Regina inquired, "I have to get to work today and I don't want to be late."
"Really?" Robin wined. "You've been going to work for the past month since a week after we found out about the baby. Don't you get maternity leave soon or something?"
"I have to work for another two to three months, depending on how the baby is doing, remember?" She said, laughing at her immature boyfriend."
"Well, when you get off work, you will be treated like the Queen you are. You will want for nothing, okay?" Robin said, giving her another kiss.
"Okay" she said, smiling.
"Here's your eggs and very decaf coffee." Robin said, handing her her plate and travel mug.
She wolfed her breakfast down, got dressed, made sure her children were dressed, and then was out the door on her way to work, not before giving her boyfriend a kiss.
Once she was gone, Robin looked at the clock. He had half an hour before the kids needed to be leaving for school.
"Henry, could you come here for a minute?" Robin called.
"What is it?" Henry asked in usual teenage fashion.
"I need to ask you something, but you have to promise not to freak out or tell anyone, alright?"
"Okay" Henry said, slightly hesitantly.
"Do you give me permission to ask for your mother's hand in marriage?"