Archive of Our Own ^beta

Robin smiles as he comes into the RV from checking on how Henry is faring with his uncles and aunts out in the tents. John and Mulan are already up and working on cleaning the trout they caught for breakfast, while everyone else, including Henry, are sleeping like the dead in the other tents. He takes his time filling a soft-sided lunch box with fruit, applesauce cups, and cooled oatmeal, then tucks it into his backpack with bottles of water and ginger ale. At the last minute, he tosses in a sleeve of crackers and the papaya extract tablets Regina favors when her stomach's acting up.

Once he has the backpack all ready, he heads back to the bedroom he and Regina have been using all weekend. He's grateful to his friends, his band of brothers and sisters, for allowing him and Regina free reign of the RV this weekend -- most weekends they go camping, really -- because of how off she's been feeling. He stands in the doorway to watch her sleeping. She looks peaceful, and he hates to disturb that, but he truly wants to take this time away with his wife to celebrate what's coming for them while it's still technically their secret.

Regina mumbles in her sleep, and he tenses to move quickly in case she needs the bathroom, but she merely rolls over and reaches for where he should be behind her in the bed. Her nose scrunches up in confusion, eyelashes fluttering briefly before parting to reveal sleep-hazed brown eyes. "Robin?"

"Right here, love," he says, moving into the room, toeing off his shoes to join her on the bed again. His smile grows brighter as she snuggles into his side. "How are you feeling this morning?"

"Better, thankfully. How's Henry?"

"Dead to the world, just like everyone but John and Mulan. They, of course, are making the usual breakfast for our camping trips." He pauses as Regina groans against his chest with a shudder. "But I have something else for you. In fact, if you feel up to it, I'd like to take you somewhere special, just you and me, this morning. I have fruit and containers of oatmeal I already made for us to eat."

Her smile makes his heart clench in his chest. "Just the two of us? What do you have planned, Robin Locksley?"

He chuckles and nuzzles his nose against hers. "I guess you'll just have to get up and get dressed to find out, now won't you, milady?"

*****

"I need to stop for a bit, Robin."

Robin smiles and points to a downed tree a dozen yards off. "Can you make it over there? We can have some water and a little snack perhaps? We're almost to the spot I had in mind."

Regina nods and they make their way to the tree, settling down as Robin pulls out the container of grapes and a bottle of water. They eat quietly for a few minutes before Regina smiles at him. "I'm still not sure what you've got planned, my love, but I'm grateful to be feeling okay enough to do this with you."

"I'm grateful for that, too," he replies, leaning over to press a kiss to her temple. "Let me know when you're ready to continue on. We've about another twenty minutes or so to walk before we get there."

"Okay." She nibbles on a handful of grapes, looking around, and he sees it when realization dawns on her. "Oh my god! Robin, I know where you're taking me! Is it still there? I thought you said they tore it down?"

"John told me they rebuilt it earlier this spring. The new owners of the campground wanted to replace. It was apparently a bit of a job to ensure it would be ready for this weekend."

Regina's face lights up in a bright smile and she pushes the container of grapes back at him as she stands up. "Come on! Let's go! I've missed sitting there with you. The last time we did was…" Her eyes go distant with memories that Robin knows are painful.

"When we were celebrating you winning your first major headline case and finding out you were pregnant with the wee one."

"It's been five years…"

"It has." He puts the food away and shrugs into the backpack, then stands and pulls her up into a hug. "Come on, love, let's go make another happy memory, shall we?"

They walk quietly, but quickly toward their destination. Stepping out of the trees, Regina lets out a soft gasp when they see the lake come into view, complete with the newly rebuilt dock. "Oh, Robin, it looks just like the old one did!" She takes off then, running down the grass to the sand and onto the wooden planks without thought. Her tennis shoes slap the boards as she heads out to the very end and takes in the view that she hasn't been able to see for five years.

"Don't fall in, love," Robin says, coming up behind her. "I didn't pack extra clothes for us."

She turns to giggle at him. "I won't." She takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. "I've always felt safe here. Every single time you've brought me here, I knew everything was going to be okay."

"Why do you think we come here every year to camp, Regina? This place is like a second home to me and the lads, Mulan, too. I wanted you and our children to see it the same way as I do."

She shifts up on her toes to kiss him sweetly. "I do, and I know Henry does. I'm quite sure the baby will, too." She turns her head to glance out at the still water again. "How long do we have until we have to be back?"

"At least an hour. John and Mulan said they can keep Henry occupied this morning with some more fishing or maybe searching for scat in the woods."

Regina wrinkles her nose and giggles. "They can do that without me."

*****

Nearly two hours later, they're still stretched out on the dock, Regina nestled between Robin's legs, their intertwined arms resting on her stomach. She's dozing lightly in the mid-morning sunshine, and Robin is unwilling to wake or move her. His phone buzzes and he carefully pulls it out to see a message from Mulan, asking their ETA. He clumsily types that it'll be a bit later than expected and that he'll forfeit his ration of tonight's booze to her if she'll keep Henry busy until they get back.

For now, he's just content to spend a little quiet time with his wife and the new guppy happily swimming about in her womb.