OutlawQueen One Shots

Outlaw Baby

Prompt received from someone who wishes to stay anonymous: "A pregnant Regina steals from a shop, Robin works as sheriff and arrests her. Later on, she goes into labor and he delivers the child. She keeps the kid or not, your choice."

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She had done this before. Numerous times, actually. However, it still scared her to death to enter a shop, pretend to look around and ultimately steal something to eat. Her heart was always pounding in her ears and she could swear she forgot how to breathe properly, but it was not like she had a choice over being hungry or not. It had been like this for the past four months, when Regina left her partner, and she still had not managed to get a job. After all, who would hire a heavily pregnant teenager, who was bound to ask for maternity leave in such a short time? Before being forced to rely on stealing in order to survive, she had tried everything she could have thought of. Firstly, she tried picking up wasted guys in bars and making them buy at least some peanuts and chips, but she soon realised that it was not such an easy task with a baby bump in the way. Regina then tried asking people on the street for money, but that only granted her a few dollars a day.

When winter came along, the little she managed to save up had to be spent on buying a proper coat, so she and the baby would not freeze to death in the cold. She had been on the run from her boyfriend since she was five months pregnant, and could not allow herself to settle anywhere. Regina was sure he would find her in a matter of hours, should her name show up on any document. So, she just kept moving from town to town, hoping that no one would ever catch her with stolen goods. Regina never took anything worth more than three or four dollars, as much as a small sandwich and something salty would cost. During her pregnancy, Regina's biggest cravings were either for pretzels, or chips, but it did not mean she could afford to satisfy them each time.

Things went wrong for the first time when Regina arrived in Storybrooke. She usually did not pick out large stores or even supermarkets, as they were more likely to have security cameras than smaller ones. However, Storybrooke's supermarket was the only one she could find in the entire town, and walking to the next city was not something she would have liked to do. Regina settled for a sausage wrapped in batter, something she would be able to slip up her sleeve and take without anyone noticing. Each time she stole something, Regina always used the same story. After picking up whatever she could get, she would pass the cashier and rub her bump, saying that the baby was moving too much for her to be standing, and then left the shop with the food. Up until that point, everything went right even in Storybrooke. She got her food - it was not much, but it was something that might calm down the baby inside of her even for a bit - and managed to exit the shop.

She only managed to walk to the next street before giving in to the hunger, so Regina found a bench, sat down and unwrapped her food. The first couple of bites seemed to go straight to her heart, instead of her stomach. She did not even realise she was that hungry, but it could not have been that hard to catch on. After all, it had been many days since she last managed to eat something.
"You did not pay for that, I am afraid," Regina heard a man's voice as she stuffed her face with the food.
She quickly stopped chewing and the way her cheeks were filled with food made her resemble a hamster who was carrying a bunch of food. Regina had never been caught stealing before, so she was not prepared for it.
"Are you aware that the fine you have to pay for shoplifting is about 1000 times bigger than the actual price of that?" the man continued.

"I... I do not have any money to pay for it," Regina mumbled after swallowing the bite.
"Then I am afraid I will have to take you in until a decision is reached in your case. I am Sheriff Robin Locksley, let's go," he said, taking the food from her grasp.
"You are arresting me?" Regina asked with sheer panic on her face.
"You stole something and can not afford to pay the fine. What do you think I am supposed to do?" Robin asked as gently as he could.
"My name... it cannot show up on any documents," Regina whispered.
She was well aware of the fact that if her name was written down on an arrest report, the news would reach her ex-boyfriend in a matter of hours.
"He is going to find me," she continued before starting to cry.
That was all it took for Robin to understand that she was running away from someone, most probably the child's father.
"Are you hiding from someone?" Robin asked, starting to soften his voice.