A:N: Hey, everyone. Firstly, we'd like to thank you all who have already followed, favorited, and reviewed, it's meant so much to us. Now that we'll be diving more into the actual plot, hopefully you'll continue to read and enjoy!

The Rabbit Hole is as crowded, or rather lack there of, as Regina would expect for a Thursday evening. A pub not far from UGA, most of the clientele is college-aged patrons, along with a handful of fellow adults, who are occupying a couple stools around the square bar positioned in the center of the establishment, as well as filling a few of the tables and booths scattered about.

She can't remember the last time she's stepped foot in this bar.

Breathing in a deep, fortifying breath, she struts, with as much confidence she can muster, breezing past the heady concoction of repressed recollections and the fragrance of fried chicken overwhelming her senses, up to the bar, carved from a laurel oak tree, an unusual carpentry substance, but is one of the state's native shrubs, lending even more of a homey feel to the joint.

"Hey there," The bartender, a young man whose nametag, pinned to his charcoal colored button up, displays Sean, greets warmly and handing her a menu, "What can I get for you?"

Regina returns the server's smile, requesting a vodka tonic with extra lime and a bowl of cajun, boiled peanuts, her stomach protesting with a loud grumble at the very notion of refusing anything to nibble on until Marian arrives.

She perches easily onto one of the backless seats, though the leather material poses a challenge to the sweat-slicked skin her dress exposes, and she drums her fingers, to the rhythm of the Skynyrd song resonating low through the Rabbit Hole's speakers, along the counter beside where she placed her purse.

Sean returns, bearing Regina's drink and her snack, "Here ya go. Did you have a chance to look over the menu?"

"I'm actually waiting for a friend," Regina responds after thanking him for her cocktail and dipping her fingers into the dish, to retrieve a few of the seasoned nuts.

"Not a problem," He nods politely, bending to retrieve another bill of fare, setting it to the left of her, "Just call me over, or you can grab Ashley when she passes by." She doesn't miss the sparkle in his eyes, nor the additional tip upwards of his lips when he gestures to the blonde waitress gliding across the hardwood floor. Of course even the on-duty bartender would serve as a reminder that Regina is sitting solo, amongst a room of duos and groups, as she waits.

A memory wriggles itself free from the confines of her mind at the thought, taking her back to an 18-year-old, University of Georgia freshman, Regina Mills, standing alone, in the corner of a bustling space in the Richard B. Russell Building, her T-Mobile Sidekick pressed firmly against her ear.

"I still don't understand why you couldn't come with me," Regina bemoans, scolding Marian's laugh on the other end of the line, "I'm serious! Everyone here is with someone."

"You're being dramatic. It probably only looks that way because they're actually mixing, you know, what you're supposed to do at a mixer," Marian ribs good-naturedly, "Besides, what the hell would I have talked about in a room of book nerds? I'm barely making it through the 'Twilight' sequel."

Allowing her friend's questionable choice in literary taste to fumble between them, she sighs, "It's not 'book nerds', it's freshman with interest in Lit majors."

"Sounds like your kind of nerds to me. So why are you sitting in a corner, talking to me?"

"I'm standing," Regina feebly argues, tucking herself further against the wall, eyeing her fellow students, who seem to mingling with the ease she is lacking as she cringes at an obnoxious giggle vibrating from the opposite side of the room.

She can almost hear Marian's dark, oval orbs rolling as her friend says, "I am hanging up. Not only did Professor Fisher schedule a test on a Saturday, but it's tomorrow morning and I still can't get a grasp on tundra vs. taiga biomes. I just hate the cold, period," The acidic btterness enveloping the voice of the typically sweet-tempered young woman makes Regina chuckle, until she hears a frustrated huff, followed by a stern, "Now go dazzle everyone! Try not to trip on those stilts you're wearing."

"Some of us can walk without looking like a baby giraffe, dear," She argues, mildly annoyed and signs off, "And thanks, again, for abandoning me, Maiden."

"Anytime, Mills."

Regina exhales her frustration and ends the call. As she spins around on the ball of her foot, her heel sticks in the carpet and she suddenly finds herself propelled against a hard body, large, calloused hands with a warm touch grasping her bare upper arms, steadying her.

"Watch where you're going," Regina snarls, yet can't force herself to escape the stranger's hold.

"A simple 'thank you' would suffice, milady."

At the accented, rich voice of the person she collided with, her gaze is drawn upwards, meeting the stare- the deep, ocean-blue stare- of a young man with light brown hair and light, fair skin. He has a strong jaw, covered in a thin veil of facial stubble but not enough to conceal the cocky smirk on his thin lips.

Regina narrows her eyes, pulling her arms from the British boy's grip , "Thank you? For what? Barreling into me? That's not happening."

"Just as me 'barreling into you' didn't happen," He points out, "I saved you from falling on your arse."

She folds her arms in front of her chest, a surge of defiance thrumming through her veins, "I wouldn't have fallen."

"Really? Because it looks like you already fell... from Heaven."

Regina can't help it, the burst of laughter that erupts from her mouth, it's an involuntary reaction. Though, she notices she's garnered a few stares from her momentary lapse of self-control, so she covers her mouth with her hand, composing herself then asking through a stifled giggle, "Did you really just use a centuries old pick-up line on me?"

She expects him to be offended, embarrassed actually, but instead he smiles, flashing her a sight of pearly whites encased by a matching pair of dimples imprinted in his skin. "Quite dreadful, isn't it?" He murmurs conspiratorially, causing her brow to furrow in confusion until he explains, "Some sorry bloke used it on that red-head over there and I swear my own brain cells deteriorated as she believed it."

Regina snorts, glancing across the room, "And here I thought this would be an intellectual event."

"May have been a tad too much to hope for, milady."

She looks back at him, this alluring, if not arrogant stranger, whose face is still displaying the traces of humor he found in his prior stunt, "So was this a test?"

"Of sorts," He shrugs, but never losing that smile that Regina keeps finding her eyes attracted to, "I prefer to see if my friends have the same sense of humor as I do."

"Friend'?" She parrots back, incredulously, "I don't remember asking you to be a friend of mine."

"And yet here I am," He outstretches his hand, one that was used to hold her just minutes ago, one whose heat she misses on her arm, "Robin Locksley."

Regina looks down at Robin's hand, looks at his patient expression, back to the extremity, rolling her eyes as she hears him gently mock, "You're supposed to shake it."

She does just that, connecting their hands in the firm, powerful grip her mother instilled in her, "Regina Mills." She can't stop herself from staring into his eyes, drowning in the blue hue, much like the craters he passes for dimples and she pulls her hand from his grasp, hastily, when she realizes it. "So, you're interested in pursuing literature?"

"I'm more interested in media like film and television, perhaps producing or directing? But you need a good story to accomplish either of those, so I thought perhaps it'd do well for me to brush up more on my writing"

"You could always just hire a decent writer."

"Aye, indeed. Are you offering?"

She scoffs, but can't resist being amused by the playful banter, "You don't even know if I write. Maybe I'm here for the same reason you are. Or the free food."

"I highly doubt that, you've been holed up over here all night," Robin comments and it has Regina's mouth gaping for a second or two.

"You've been watching me?"

Robin shrugs once more, leaning his shoulder against the wall, "Well I wouldn't word it as conceited as that, but I've occasionally seen you throughout the night. It's not difficult to miss, what with your proximity being the only thing to hold up this wall."

"Haha," Regina sneers in response, ducks her head as her fingers fiddle with her phone, "I had wanted my friend to come with me tonight, but she's busy and not as interested in this type of thing."

She isn't sure why she's confiding this in him, has known the man for mere minutes and they've spent most of that time volleying snark between them, but it feels natural, as if his presence is a comfort.

"Ah," He nods in understanding, "My roommate is quite similar. He's a pre-vet major so if it's not 'Black Beauty', he's not that keen."

"At least it's a classic," Regina reminds with a chortle, "It's just awkward being here without Marian, she's been the only one I really know here."

"Until now."

How right Robin had been- until now.

Regina is brought out of her remembrance by the sound of heels click-clacking against the floor behind her and her appreciation of fashionable footwear has her turning around, finding herself admiring peep-toe pumps, black in hue with silver studs adorning them. Not high-quality, she can tell, but a laudable pair of shoes nonetheless.

"Okay, Your Majesty," Regina's vision is hastily directed up the toned, bronzed legs and the slim, cinched torso encased in a simple halter dress connected to the heels she'd been ogling, her mouth hanging agape as she discovers Marian smirking back at her, "Do these stilts impress?"

Regina composes herself and teasingly scoffs, "I can't believe you're wearing appropriate footwear like an actual grown woman."

"Well, I didn't know if someone of your status could be seen with someone in 'peasant' wear."

"I'd make an exception for you, Maid, you should know that," She grins, scooting herself off of her seat and no sooner than when her own heels contact the floor are the two women in one another's arms, whoever tackled the other a moot point, as they hug and laugh and, for just a moment, as she always does when she reunites with Marian, Regina permits the dissipation of all her inner turmoil, wallowing in her oldest friend's embrace.

Both beaming from ear-to-ear, the Georgia natives retract from their mutual clutch, with Marian giving Regina a once over, "You look beautiful, as usual."

"Back atcha, mama," She sincerely compliments, still amazed, five years later, how marvelous Marian looks after having a kid, though a tad slimmer than the last visit, Regina notes, a key eye for these things after years sharing clothes. Still, she wonders if she'd be able to regain a pre-pregnancy body as well as Roland's mother has.

Regina finds purchase back on her stool, as Marian slips onto the one beside her, squeaking pleasantly at the sight of the boiled peanuts before her and pinching a petty handful for herself after she orders a Chardonnay from Sean; the twosome settling into the other's presence seamlessly, as if no time has passed. If only.

"Do you still come here often?" Regina asks, her eyes finally flitting from various fixtures in the bar, from the brick wall on the right side of the establishment to the opposite wall, painted a shade of russet brown, which is covered with an ecletic variety of frames, containing local artists' works to the pool table, with the same unmistakable tequila stain near one of the corner pockets, wedged into the corner. How is that, simultaneously, nothing and everything has changed here?

Marian shrugs her shoulders, popping a few more peanuts into her mouth and answering between chews, "Eh, once in awhile. After a long night, me and any of the other nurses ending their shift will come here and grab something to eat before going home since it's one of the few places open."

Regina surprises herself as the next question spills past her lips, "And Robin?"

The bartender arrives in front of the two of them again, this time passing Marian's glass of wine to her, which she thanks with her usual sweet smile and a nod of her head. After she swallows a sip, she licks her lips and glances down at the bar, "He found a sports bar closer to the studio that he likes."

In other words, no, Robin has not stepped foot into the Rabbit Hole. Regina cannot resist snorting, "So he's been avoiding."

Marian's hand pauses mid-air above the dish of nuts, shooting Regina a pointed glare as she turns her head to face her, "Says the woman who spent the last five years traveling the world just to get away from here."

"Well, I'm here now, aren't I?" It spits out with more rancor than she had meant, but before she can mutter out an apology, Marian is interrupting the brief pause.

"And you've no idea how happy I am that you are."

Regina sighs, meeting the sincere stare of her college roommate, then admits, "I am, too. And I have to thank you for being your stubborn self and prodding me to do it." She playfully nudges Marian's knee with her knuckles.

"Oh yes, I'm the stubborn one," Marian drawls, rolling her eyes with a smirk dancing across her lips, "Now are we going to order or not? I'm starving."

"I guess some things really don't change," Regina murmurs beneath her breath, then waves the bartender back towards them.

The two women place their orders, spicy fried octopus with a side of steak fries for Marian, a woman who had a never-ending appetite, it's always seemed, while Regina folds beneath the familiarity of her surroundings, opting for chicken and dumplings as opposed to a salad or some other sort of greens.

"Roland can't wait to see you, I even have instructions to extend a dinner invitation to you sometime this week," Marian starts once Sean has scurried away to place their orders through a computer system, "Even asked if you were waiting outside with 'Mulan' presents."

Oh that child is adorable. A perfect mixture of Robin and Marian in appearance and as he grows, personality, whatever feelings of anguish or guilt or remorse Regina has felt is a moot point, Roland having her wrapped around his tiny finger since she held him after he'd been born (her first trip home after having jet off, in fact), doing nothing to lessen the ticking of her biological clock.

"So I'm only welcome if I come bearing presents?"

"Obviously," Marian concurs, continuing the jest, swallowing another sip of her wine.

"Well, I did actually bring him back a little something from Okinawa."

"Oh geez. We may have to actually ban you until you stop spoiling him. No wonder he loves Auntie 'Gina so much," The mother of one teases with faux aggravation, "What were you doing in Japan anyway?"

"Buying my favorite little hobbit presents," Regina winks, then sighs, nipping at her drink, "Same old, same old. Conflicts, leaders, conferences..."

"Oh my," She paraphrases The Wizard of Oz, with a snicker, "Not exactly the creative path you wanted to take your writing."

Regina shrugs, frowning a bit as says, "A job is a job. Plus, complaining about getting to travel the world just makes me sound like a bitch."

"No, it doesn't. I'm sure Robin would much rather be creating his own show, but he does the best he can with what he has, just like you," Suddenly her voice is infused with hope as she exclaims, "Y'all should collaborate together! Like the good ol' days, it may be a good outlet for both of you."

Regina resists wincing at the mention, hating how wonderful the idea actually sounds, "Well, I'm sure he's busy and I'm just starting this job so we'll just have to set our creativity aside."

"Fine," Marian sighs exasperation evident in her tone, "But you aren't too busy for dinner this week, right? I'm actually scared to go home and tell Roland you declined."

"I would never say no to Roland, you know that; I'll be there."

"Great! We can make plans this weekend, or after you lay out your schedule. Are you excited for your first day on Monday?"

"Marian, it's not the first day of school," Regina reminds with a laugh, but bobs her head along in spite of herself, "A little, yeah. It'll be interesting to be the 'boss'."

"A role you were born for, surely," Marian encourages with a sly smile.

"Marian Locksley, are you calling me bossy?" Regina gasps exaggeratedly, tossing a peanut at her friend who giggles at the snack attack.

"Oh, I would never, Your Majesty," She amends with all the sincerity of a mock apology, reaching into the nearly empty bowl and scooping up the last of cajun-flavored treat, "Your penalty for the unnecessary assault."

Regina chuckles, raising her voice to garner the bartender's attention, asking for a refill on their small appetizer. When he obliges, sliding a new dish in front of the two women, she notices Marian tapping away at her phone.

Her friend looks up, offering a sheepish smile and an apology, legitimate this time, as she returns her mobile to her purse, "Sorry about that. Robin-"

Regina is thankful for the brief pause on the beginning of that conversation as the blonde waitress Sean had pointed out earlier arrives beside them with a tray of two dishes, asking whose is whose and doling them out accordingly. She and Marian thank the young woman, who gives them an "Enjoy!" then scuttles away, blowing Sean a kiss as she does.

"This looks delicious. I've had such a hankerin' for octopus and I don't know why," Marian admits, already digging into her dish, munching away at a fry.

Regina gulps, staring down at her own meal before she offers, "Maybe your pregnant?"

She refuses to look at Marian's face after the suggestion, but the answer comes quickly, a resolute "no", followed by a breathy laugh.

Well, if she's surely not and the topic is already broached, now's as good a time as any.

Reeling in a deep breath that she blows out through her nose, Regina begins, "Speaking of that..."

Suddenly, a fork is clanking against a plate which causes Regina to start at the clatter and Marian sputters, barely managing to digest her bite of octopus, "Are you pregnant?!"

"As flattering as it is that you're so shocked," She teases, then sets her own cutlery down as she faces her friend, "I want to become a mother."

"Oh my god," Marian speaks slowly, her face lighting up beneath the hanging bulbs of the Rabbit Hole's bar, "Regina, that is awesome! I've always known you would be a great mom."

Regina pushes a stray hair behind her ear, not at all confident in that compliment, which she expresses, but grateful nonetheless. "You're the first to know."

"I'm honored. So, how is this going to happen?"

"I thought about adopting, even contacted an agency when I decided that I'd be living here long-term," She explains, though tiptoes around the word "permanently", for reasons she can't even bring herself to analyze. She wets her lips, casting her eyes down to her hands, the admission harder to verbalize than she anticipated, "And maybe I will adopt one day, but... I want to carry a baby, just once in my life. I want to feel what it's like to pregnant, want to know what it's like to bring someone, someone who would be a piece of me, someone with my blood who I can, for once, knows love me unconditionally, into this world."

"Regina, there's nothing shameful in that. There are millions of women across the world who are physically unable to give birth and if you are one of the lucky ones who are able to, you shouldn't deprive yourself that privilege, not when we both know how short life is," Marian coos, covering Regina's hand with her own, both of their entrees completely forgotten at this point.

She blinks a few times, can feel an unwelcome moisture stinging at her eyes at the vague reference to Daniel, to Orlando five years ago, to blood and heartbreak and a time that seems so distant, yet so close at hand.

But it's not about that, for once, not now. Now, Regina is going to have a family, have a home, something she's dreamt of since she was a small child with an overbearing mother and a father who tried his best, but was often too busy.

Fortunately, Marian focuses the conversation back, inquiring, "So what steps do you have to do to make this happen?"

"Well, I've been checked out by a doctor and I'm fertile and healthy and she thinks I'm a prime candidate for pregnancy, it seems, so next is going and finding a sperm donor."

Marian's nose scrunches up, all of a sudden, "So some anonymous guy?"

"Unless I track them down on the street, yes," Regina confirms, laughing, finally taking a scrumptious bite of dumpling. She finishes the morsel, then says, "It's a great system, it's helped plenty of women and families like me have children."

Marian is in the medical profession, she knows this, of that Regina is certain, so she can't quite grasp why her friend is refuting this notion, nor the look of contemplation that passes through her eyes, "But wouldn't it be easier with someone you know? Someone who can support you?"

"Yes," Regina hisses, irritation bubbling within her, "But not all of us have someone like you do, Marian, and the whole point of this is so that I don't have to wait around until I find someone."

"But what if you already had someone?"

Regina shoves a forkful of chicken into her mouth, chewing as she snorts, "Like who?"

"Robin."

Time stops. Breathing ceases. Her heart halts.

Regina sputters, nearly choking on her food, as she rushes it down with a generous sip of her drink, "Please tell me this is your bad attempt at making a joke."

But as she looks at Marian, sees the resolve on her face, she, unbelievably, knows her friend is serious, "Why would I joke about this?"

"Why would you be serious about this?!"

"Regina, you want, no- you deserve to have a child. Robin has the means of making that happen that you don't. Plus, he's an amazing father to Roland, you know this, he'd be the same to this baby."

"You are asking me to have a child- with your husband," Regina counters, trying and, apparently, failing, to point out the absurdity of the proposal her friend just made.

"I'm offering you a chance to, for once, not to be alone. There are many things that you've had to do solo, and have done flawlessly, I'm sure being a parent would be no different, but you don't have to, not this time," Marian is passionate about this, why Regina has no clue, but it's clear in her friend's determined stare.

"And your husband? What in the hell makes you think he would ever even consider this arrangement?"

"Because he loves me," She replies, as if it's the simplest answer and, for her, it is. For Regina, on the other hand, it's a foreign concept, and it doesn't relieve the constriction around her heart when Marian continues, connecting a comforting hand to Regina's knee, "And he loves you, too. Of course, I'll have to discuss it with him, but, Regina, we've been family for years, this would just cement that, albeit a bit more unconventionally..."

"'Unconventional'?" Regina yelps, her blood stuttering in her veins. "You are suggesting your husband and your best friend having a child together. No, that's not at all strange, let alone bordering on being worthy of institutionalization," Regina sarcastically grouses, tossing back the rest of her vodka tonic.

"It's not like I'm renting y'all a hotel room and lighting candles... Although, all it took for Robin's swimmers before was a couple Kamikaze shooters and a broken condom, and that conception wasn't even intentional, imagine the success if it were," Regina feels her eyes expand to the size of saucers, her breath coiling around her windpipe like a vice until Marian rolls her eyes, releasing a chuckle, "Would you relax? I'm just kidding."

"Oh thank God," She deflates, ignoring the small stab of disappointment piercing the depths of her belly, bracing her hands flat against the counter, guffawing, "I knew you wouldn't be serious over something so outrageous as loaning out your husband's sperm."

"Regina, I just kidding about doing it the 'old-fashioned' way, but not about Robin being the father."

Regina, for her part, shakes her head, not believing the conversation she's immersed in, "You're crazy. They shouldn't let you around drugs every day."

Marian smirks, "I'm perfectly sane. And if you'd think about this, Regina, you would know it makes sense. We've been through so much already, why not this? Why not experience this with people who care about you and support you?"

"You talked about how anonymous sperm donors have worked for people and you know I agree and think it's an integral factor in the medical field, but most of those people didn't have a choice in the matter, you do and I'm offering it to you right now. Robin as your donor, as your baby's father- just think about it."

Think about having Robin's baby—suffice to say, Regina has a feeling she'll think of nothing else for quite some time.