OutlawQueen One Shots

Empty Nest

"Roland, my boy. Your breakfast is getting cold," Robin called up the stairs.

"Alright, Pop. I'm coming," his son huffed as he carried a large cardboard box marked 'Roland Locksley' down the stairs.

He smiled as he watched him struggle until finally reaching the last step and piling it atop the others just near the front door. He admired how much his son had grown. He was no longer that shy toddler or curious child with innocent dimples. He no longer asked for bedtime stories or ran to his father for hugs after school. He was a high school graduate and within a matter of hours, he would be starting a new life in a new city as an undergraduate student.

Regina entered the kitchen from her study just on the other side of the mansion. She stopped in the doorframe when she caught Robin staring lovingly at his son and found herself doing the same toward her husband. He'd aged wonderfully. They both had. Neither of them looked much different aside from the occasional wrinkle and a few wisps of gray here and there. Regina colored hers to match the natural chestnut of her bob while Robin allowed it to remain. She found it quite sexy; he looked rugged and distinguished which apparently was a combination that Mrs. Locksley just couldn't resist.

Their eyes met as Roland made his way into the dining room where his plate was waiting. She approached the outlaw and placed her delicate hand on the scruff along his jaw. His palms rested gently on each of her hips as their foreheads touched and eyes shifted in a tender gaze. Neither spoke for a brief moment, but rather sighed as they coped with the events of their day.

"What are we going to do?" Robin asked, his voice vulnerable.

Regina smiled sadly and shrugged her shoulders, "I suppose we'll have to find hobbies."

Her husband chuckled and leaned down to place a gentle kiss on his wife's now aging lips. They were still as soft as the first time they met, but turned down slightly at the corners with various subtle dips and creases he now felt each time they kissed. She had frowned too often in her life, he observed. But all that had changed when they became a family.

The couple joined their youngest son for breakfast, talking casually about the expectations of college. Roland was thrilled his parents were able to afford a school in Boston. Regina was weary about letting him go so far, especially since Henry had only studied in a town just outside Storybrooke, but Robin assured his son that they would do everything they could to send him to the school best suited for him.

While Roland was growing up, he'd taken a liking to animals. He was fascinated with wild beasts as a boy and often found himself tending to injured birds or sick rabbits. His father taught him much about wildlife, having been a man of the woods in his thieving days, but the boy wanted to learn more. He'd worked as a desk clerk at the local veterinary hospital and discovered that working with animals was his calling. And unfortunately for his parents, the greatest veterinary program was in Boston.

The front door swung open suddenly and hurried footsteps were heard against the marble floors, "Where's my little brother? I didn't miss him, did I?"

Henry turned the corner and Roland jumped out of his chair. They met in a handshake before pulling each other into a warm embrace. It lingered much longer than any from their past, knowing that this would actually be goodbye for a while. The family hadn't been apart for more than a weekend since Robin and Roland returned from New York after the stunt Zelena pulled.

She had given birth to a daughter she named Margot, but when the Locksleys arrived they were nowhere to be found. They'd searched desperately for the child for years, but had no luck finding her or Zelena; Regina had only hoped the two were safe, for Margot's sake. It tore Robin apart to have a daughter, but never meet her or raise her. But he'd moved on the best he could to be a better father for his sons and an even better partner to his beloved Regina.