Chapter 1 – Six Weeks

It had been six weeks. Six weeks since he left the woman he loved in order to take care of his son. He was a parent, they had both understood that. They agreed that their children had to come first, but why this? Why had he had to do this? He looked across the little room that he had procured with the money she had given him, to where his wife and son lay sleeping. It wasn't much, but it was the best that he could give them right now. He would have to get a job soon if they were going to keep a roof over their heads in this modern world.

"Papa?" Roland's still small voice caused Robin to turn, "Papa when can we go home?" Robin didn't know what to tell him. How do you tell your six year old son that you no longer had a home? That you had to leave everyone he's ever known behind and venture out into this new world alone? Well, not really alone. They had each other, and Marian, but she had missed so much of Roland's life Robin wasn't even sure that Roland understood what her being his mother even meant. "Papa?" Roland had gotten out of bed and padded over to Robin.

"I don't know son." It was the most honest answer he could give. He wanted to tell him that they would go back soon. That everything would go back to normal, but really, what was normal for them? Can you even pretend at normal when your wife has been dead for 30 years and then all of a sudden she's back and the woman you are in love with turns out to be the reason she was dead in the first place? Robin sat down hard on the edge of the couch, and Roland crawled up in his lap.
"Papa, I miss Regina." Robin looked down into Roland's big dark eyes and tried to smile, but the boy was breaking his heart. "I miss her too lad."

"Hmpfh." Robin looked up to see Marian climbing out of bed. "Regina is not here Roland and for what I can see of the near future, she won't be anytime soon," Robin could tell Marian still didn't like the idea that Roland seemed to prefer Regina over herself. Marian turned and left the small living/bedroom and headed for the adjoining bathroom.

"Papa, why is Mama mad at Regina?" Roland was too young to understand the complexity of their situation. "Is it because when Mama wasn't here you and Regina got to be friends?" The young lad looked confused, he had always thought friends were a good thing.

"It's a long story son. There is much more to it than you need to worry about." Robin ruffled Roland's hair as he got up. "Maybe one day I'll tell you about it, but for right now why don't we go and get some bagels for breakfast?"

"I love bagels!" The boy looked so excited he seemed to have momentarily forgotten about the woman that was closer to a mother than Marian ever had been. Robin smiled as he grabbed his wallet and left Marian a note saying they were going. He knew she would be angry that they had gone without her, but right now a little more anger wouldn't make that much of a difference. He didn't really care, he could handle her anger, after dealing with anger that produced fireballs if you weren't careful, Marian's words were nothing for him. Roland didn't need to see that though, if anything they were out in this modern world for him, and Robin was determined that he was going to give the lad his best chance out here. That meant that he wasn't going to see his parents fighting, especially about something that it seemed they had no control over.

"Okay son," Robin bent and scooped Roland up off the ground as they entered the little bakery down the street, "what would you like?"

"Ooh look Papa, apple turnovers!" Robin's eyes went misty as he looked at his son. That blasted woman was everywhere! "Papa, look! Just like Regina makes!"

The boy looked so happy that Robin couldn't deny him the little treat, he ordered three of the apple turnovers, plus two cups of coffee and one chocolate milk. As they made their way back up the street with their spoils Robin couldn't help but smile. Roland was happy, and as much as Marian was hurting, and as fast as his heart was breaking, he thought that maybe, just maybe, they could make it work.

Robin's good mood was ruined as they reentered their little room. Marian was sitting at the table reading the paper, and when she met Robin's gaze she looked ready to breathe fire. "Where did you go?" She stood and moved gracefully across the room to the boy. She took off his hat and boots before she turned back on Robin. "I come out of the bathroom and the two of you are gone. Last time you took Roland and left," her voiced dropped to a whisper so Roland, who was eating his turnover at the table wouldn't hear, "last time you left me alone, she took me and had me killed. Robin, I panicked!" There was a note of hysteria in Marian's voice.

"Marian relax, nothing here is going to hurt you. We went and got breakfast. No big deal. Here I brought you coffee." He reached down and handed her the smaller of the two glasses. They ate the rest of the meal in silence. They had decided that he would go on the hunt for a job soon, and with their outlook completely blank Robin decided there was no time like the present. After breakfast he left Marian and Roland at the motel and went out to look for a job.

Later that night Robin returned looking downtrodden and exhausted. It turned out that it was rather difficult to get a job in the modern world when you had been a thief for the majority of your adult life, and when the only people you could list as references may as well not even exist.

This modern world was not as easy as Regina had made it sound, and it was nothing like Storybrooke had been. After Marian and Roland had finally fallen asleep Robin took out the map that she had given him before they parted. It was a map of the entire Northeast portion of this strange land. While they were still back in town Storybrooke had shown up in the middle of the red circle that was drawn on the map. Now the circle stood empty, only forest and a highway. No sign that the town had ever even existed.

Emma had warned him that it would happen, that things would disappear. There was even a chance that they could have lost their memories. Thank goodness that that hadn't happened. He didn't want to imagine losing her completely. He couldn't. Robin looked over at his wife sleeping in the bed beside his son, and he got out a blank sheet of paper from the stash he kept in his bag. It had been six weeks, forty-two days, and in his bag were the forty-two letters that went with them. Some of them were long, every detail of the day, others were short, 'I miss you' written amongst a few teardrops. He didn't know if she would ever get the chance to read them, and to be honest he didn't care. At this point they were as much for his sake as they were for hers.

He loved her, he knew he shouldn't. He knew that his family was here and that they needed him, but it was times like these, when they were asleep, that he missed her the most. It was times like these that he felt alone. He half hoped that somewhere out there she felt as alone as he did, and so he wrote the letters. Knowing that because of them neither one of them was ever really alone. Forty-two letters so far, forty-two identical starts,

M'lady,

Followed by whatever he felt to write that day. Forty-two starts and forty-two letters that ended the exact same way.

"I still choose you."

Forever Your Thief,
Robin of Locksley

He signed the letter and folded it neatly with the others. With a heavy heart he got ready for bed. Looking out the window as his eyes drifted closed, he smiled and breathed, "Goodnight m'lady."

Regina woke with a start. It had been six weeks since they had gone, six weeks since she had let him leave her here alone. Well, not really alone, she admitted to herself as she climbed out of bed and wrapped her robe around her body. She stood there and looked out the window. She wasn't really alone. She still had Henry here, and the Charming's, they were her family after all, but they weren't the family that she wanted. They weren't Robin. That did it, all she had to do was think his name and her stomach turned, she ran for the bathroom, making it just in time, just before she got sick. Regina was still kneeling on the floor when she heard her bedroom door open.

"Mom?" Henry called out as he opened the door. "Mom, are you alright?" He came in and saw her getting up off the tile. "That's the third time this week you've thrown up before breakfast."

"I'm fine Henry. It's just a bug, nothing to worry about." She gave him an imitation of a smile, "Go get dressed for school. I'll go down and make breakfast." She walked past him, ignoring the knowing look he was giving her as she headed for the hall. "Henry! Go get dressed, you don't want to be late." She called back at him as she headed down the stairs.

She knew what he was thinking, heck, she was starting to wonder too. She had been sick an awful lot lately and she was exhausted. She hadn't been sleeping right ever since Rob- no she wasn't even going to think his name anymore, ever since he crossed the line. She had had to let him go, it was best for him, and for Roland. Regina knew when it came down to it, they would always put their children first, it was only right. They were parents, and that meant that they took a backseat to their children. Still, that didn't mean that it was easy to let them walk out of her life, that it hadn't hurt her more than she let anyone know. She swallowed back her tears, crying wouldn't change anything.

"Mom, is breakfast ready?" Henry had made his way down stairs while Regina was caught up in her own musings.

"Sorry Henry, I got," she paused and turned around, "distracted, how about cereal today?" Regina looked sheepishly over the counter at her teenage son.

"It's fine Mom. Cereal's perfect." He smiled as he moved around her to retrieve a bowl. "Mom? You know things might just be easier if you took the time to find out."

"What are you talking about?"

"You know exactly what I'm talking about." He gave her a look that showed he was far wiser on the subject than most boys his age. "If you knew the answer you might find it easier to sleep, and if you're sleeping better I might get something better than cereal for breakfast." He waved his spoon playfully at his mother as she laughed and moved to dump her coffee down the drain.

"Henry, you need to stop worrying about me and focus on your own problems. Like getting to school on time." She swept up his lunch box and his book bag and gently pushed him towards the door. "I'll see you after school," she called from the porch before she made her way back inside and up to her bedroom.

Maybe Henry was right. Maybe she did need to know for sure. She grabbed her cell off of her nightstand and called Mary Margaret to tell her that she was going to be late. Ever since she had agreed to share mayoral duties with her stepdaughter, she had felt the need to check in when normal plans changed. She talked to Mary Margaret as she picked out clothes for work and they said goodbye as Regina was getting ready to take a shower.

As she climbed out of the shower a brief while later Regina caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She turned to the side and let the towel slip away from her abdomen. Could it be that she was…? She didn't even want to finish her thoughts, but as she stood there and looked at her self in the mirror, she realized that some of the things she had been writing off as a lack of sleep really could be something more.

As she got dressed she continued to think about all the little signs she had subconsciously noticed, but written off as impossible. The all around aches and pains, the tiredness, the slight swelling, the tenderness, the annoyingly fast growing want of dark chocolate that seemed to hit her at random times throughout her day. Yeah, it was decided, she was going to the drug store now, before she chickened out again.

When she got to the pharmacy she had to talk her self into going in. No one was going to notice, she told herself. Not if she bought some other stuff too. And even if they did, no one in this town was dumb enough to betray her secret right? She may not really be evil anymore, but Regina was still not someone that many of the townspeople would cross. After all, she was still the queen.

Regina mumbled to herself all through the store. Luckily there were enough people to keep the dwarf busy, but not enough that anyone would notice what was in the queen's basket. She added a few things Henry needed and a little toy for baby Neal to her basket and headed for the counter. If Sneezy noticed what she had purchased he hadn't acknowledged it, and for that she was grateful. With a bowed head and slightly pink cheeks, the once great and terrible queen, quietly left the store. Clutching the bag that had the power to change her life forever.

Mary Margaret looked up from the desk they now shared as Regina entered the office. "Regina, what's the matter?", she could tell from the queen's red rimmed eyes that she had been crying. "Are you all right, is Henry okay? Regina, what's wrong?" Mary Margaret was starting to panic, because Regina still hadn't looked at her. "Regina!"

Regina looked up startled, "Snow! No, Henry's fine, there's nothing to worry about."

"Then why are you crying?"

"I'm not crying!" Regina swept a hand up to her cheek and sure enough it came away wet with tears. "Well, I didn't know I was crying. I'm just…oh I don't know how to do this!" Regina's composure from all morning was starting to crack. She sat down in the chair opposite Snow and tried to regain some of her façade. When she looked up Snow was smiling.

"What's going on Regina? You never loose it like this, much less in public, in your office even. Something is up?" She reached into the bag that Regina had tossed on the desk. "Today has been a good day so far, it's been quite around town, no evil lurking about, Rumple is gone. That leaves the most powerful woman in town sitting across from me in tears, what's going…" She had pulled the last of the items from the bottom of the bag, "Are these for you?" Snow looked as confused as Regina felt.

"Yeah," the sound was so faint Snow almost missed it, "I'm scared Snow…what if…?"

"What if what Regina? What do you want the answer to be?"

Regina looked up and met Snow's eyes across the table, "I think we both know what I want it to say. The problem is I don't think I can face it if I'm wrong."

"If there's any chance you're right you have to know Regina. You have to do everything you can."

"I know," the queen got up and took the box from her stepdaughter. "I just couldn't be alone when I found out." With a sad smile Regina headed for the bathroom door off the office. She came back out box in hand, "Three minutes. We will know in three minutes." She sat back down across from Snow. "What am I going to do Snow?"

"Well, I guess that all depends on what it says. But I think we both know what you're going to do. The same thing you've always done. You're best." She smiled across the desk at the woman who once saved her life. The woman that tried to kill her, and yet saved her so many times. The woman who all these years later she truly could call her friend.

Snow was still smiling when the timer on Regina's phone went off. The queen looked across the desk at her and then slowly looked down at the box in her lap.

Regina looked back up at Snow, and then back down at her lap, she couldn't believe it, she almost didn't want to believe it. It couldn't be right, it was almost unreal. When she looked back up at Snow her eyes were full of tears, but as she saw Snow start to say something, she smiled, "I'm pregnant…"