I apologize in advance. Sorry y'all.

Inert

Inert- lacking the ability or strength to move.

The room was glowing from the light the television emitted, and the silence was interrupted by its soft buzzing. Robin was on his bed, watching, or rather staring at the television as he held his daughter close. She had a nightmare that night and wanted her parents close, so against his better judgment, he had let his daughter stay with them knowing she would be asleep after a few minutes. She had begged him, however, that she be allowed to watch their home videos, and being such a pushover to his daughter—who looked so much like her mother—he had agreed.

"Today is the 6th of May 2011, and Regina Victoria Mills agreed to be my girlfriend." He watched himself as he grinned at the camera, his eyes shining.

He could still feel how happy he was that day.

"Today is July 8, 2012." He'd told the camera conspiratorially, as his grin threatened to split his face. "They said that this would be a good idea, but I'm still not sure. Although, I do agree that if things turn out the way I want to, then it might be a brilliant idea."

The tape rolled and shifted to another scene. This time it showed him on a table with Regina as they chatted casually. Regina looked gorgeous in her red dress. He took her hand in his and asked her to dance with him. She agreed—elatedly. He held her close, his eyes falling shut as he inhaled the intoxicating smell of her.

"Regina," he said, as he dropped on his knees. Regina gasped, and Robin stared at her with wide, nervous eyes. He held up a black velvet box, and sighed.

"I…I don't really know what to say at times like this. I believe that actions speak more than words ever would…but I need to say it, and you need to hear it. I love you. You changed me. For someone who was adamant on saying that I don't want kids, that marriage is nothing but a ball and chain…I never thought I'd ever find someone who I'd ever want to be serious with, much less marry. But then there was you, and I found that everything changed. I'm not really that good with words. I'm not really…I might look like an idiot, and I probably am…but I want you to be my wife. Please say that you will be."

Tears were streaming down her cheeks, and if he wasn't so nervous, he would have wiped them. Then she nodded—a small, almost imperceptible nod. Robin grinned, his nervousness fading away as he slid the ring onto her finger. She couldn't speak. She could only watch as he slid the ring, and then stand up to kiss her.

"A thousand times over, Robin," she whispered. "A thousand times over, yes."

Robin's chest rose and fell, and his eyes fell shut. The emotions running through him now were more than the emotions running through him then.

When he opened his eyes, a new scene was playing out in the television.

Regina was walking down the aisle in her white dress. The glimmer of her engagement ring and her necklace was nothing against the glimmer of her smile. In her hands were a mixture of white tulips and red roses, and in her eyes were glistening tears ready to fall at any minute.

The moment she reached Robin, who was waiting for her at the end of the aisle with a smile on his face, the tears finally did fall.

When it got to the vows part, even Robin was tearing up.

"I remember the first time you and I met," she said. "I hated you. I absolutely hated you. You were a loud mouth, and you were so blunt, and so arrogant. I really hated you, to the point that I would cross the street if I ever see you. But you…you weren't all that…well you are, but you showed me that you can be more than that. You showed me that you were someone, someone more than what you had me believe at first. You wormed your way to my heart, and you showed me that as much as I didn't believe it, I was capable of loving again. I have been burned so many times before, and that scared me. But you, you showed me that those are just the bumps in the road that would lead me to you."

He wiped her tears away, smiling at her despite his own tears.

"I love you, and every day I thank my lucky stars that you are mine."

"I remember thinking that you were such a diva, the first time I met you," he said, chuckling when she shot him a look. "But you know, you showed me that deep inside, you were a woman of strength, of love, of independence and beauty. You are the one who made me believe…and I know I've said it before but you changed me. No, you gave me a reason to change and be a better man. You are my soul mate for the rest of my life."

She smiled at him—that precious smile he adored so much, before wiping the tears that he hadn't known were streaming down his cheeks.

The scene shifted again, and it was him, grinning goofily at the camera, pointing at his wedding band.

"Today is May 23, 2013 and I finally caught her."

There was silence as the video rolled onto a different scene.

"Hi," she greeted cheerily in front of the camera. "I'm Regina Locksley." She giggled slightly, before her hand came to rest at her lap. "You know that already. But…I'm just here to tell my darling husband that he's not going to be my husband any longer." She paused a little.

In his mind's eye, he could still remember the time stopping when the words left her lips. He had thought she was serious, because of the serious look in her face.

"He's also going to be a dad." Her lips broke into a grin, and she held up a pregnancy test. "Congratulations daddy!"

Robin smiled, as the television went blank for a second before her face appeared again.

"Today is January 9, 2014, four days past my due date, and still no baby." She pointed at her oversized belly, and Robin laughed in the background.

He remembered that two days after that, Regina went to labor, cursing him up to his ancestors, making him swear that he would never touch her again.

When the video turned up again, it was their daughter's first birthday.

"Happy birthday Ellie!" Regina had said happily, helping their daughter blow on the candles.

"Happy birthday Hope Elise," he'd said, kissing her daughter's forehead.

They were a picture of a happy family. He never thought that it would change. But it did. Just as the scene on the television had.

"It's December 27, 2016 today," he said. "And what is going to happen today, little love?"

The camera focused on a beautiful girl, 2 years of age, who was grinning happily at the camera.

"Mama dance!" she said, giggling and squealing happily.

The camera focused on the stage, filming the dance that Regina had choreographed and starred on.

He remembered begging her not to do the stunt. He remembered asking her to change it, telling her that he was not comfortable with it, but she had refused him. She'd told him it was okay, that they were professionals, that they did this all the time. She had told him everything would be fine. And he had trusted her.

He should have begged her more. He should have told her not to do it.

He watched the television as it played out one of his nightmares. Everything had been caught on tape. Regina was doing a risky move, jumping from the eight foot miniature stage, as the others dancers waited for her—as her spotter. But she had misjudged her moves and the distance, and she had jumped off mark, making her land on the hard, cold ground.

In the video, Robin's cry had been loud and clear, and the camera had fallen into the floor with a thud as he rushed to get to his wife.

The video ended, and the darkness enveloped the room. He made no move to get up. He couldn't. His daughter's body weighed his chest down, and so did the emotions inside him. His eyes fell to the sleeping form beside him—the sleeping form of his wife. She was smiling in her sleep. And there was a certain peace and calm in her. He stroked her hair, hoping, wishing, praying and willing her to wake up.

It was May 23 that day.

He felt the weight lift off of his chest as his daughter crawled off. He thought she was asleep, but apparently she wasn't. He watched as his daughter crawled to her mother's chest, her ear falling roughly where her mother's heart was beating faintly. His heart almost broke at the scene—but it was torn when her daughter spoke.

"Wake up mommy," she said. "Daddy and I are missing you."

Fin.