It's Just Casual

Chapter 28

How Neal and Tamara had managed to hide the growing stomach for so long, I'd never know, but Henry hadn't discovered it. He hadn't known he was going to have a baby sibling, until now, and he couldn't be more excited.

He'd spent the weekend at Neal's place, which gave me and Regina the time to go on our third date. I really liked dating her. We'd had dinner on Saturday and because Luke had been at Zelena's place, Regina had stayed over at my place. We hadn't had sex, though, Regina kept good on her promise on waiting. It wasn't even too hard, I enjoyed cuddling with her a lot, too.

"Mom!" Henry was basically jumping and skipping through the room. "I'm getting a baby brother! I'm getting a baby brother!!" He yelled and hugged me tightly.

Regina and I had been sitting on the couch, she'd been reading a newspaper and I was busy with a book that I despised. She was still on the couch and looked at me with a sympathetic smile.

Neal and Tamara were awkwardly standing in the doorway, Tamara covering her belly and Neal with his arm around her. "Well, Henry, we don't know if it's a boy yet," Tamara said with a light voice and chuckled. Henry ignored her and kept hugging me.

"Can he stay in my room? Yes, he can, mom? Right? If he's going to stay in your room, I want to stay in your room, too," he said and looked up at me. His brown eyes shimmered with hope and I shared a look with Regina.

"I think he's going to stay with Neal and Tamara, Henry," I softly said. Henry shook his head, confident.

"No, of course not. You said daddy's only a dad when I'm there on the weekends," Henry stated and I bit my lower lip. I had no idea how to properly explain this to him.

Regina cleared her throat. "Your dad will always be your daddy, Henry," she said. "He's also going to be the baby's daddy, so when you're visiting him, your baby brother or sister will be there too."

Henry accepted this explanation much easier than I thought he would. "So, he'll be there whenever I'm there?" Henry asked. Regina and I nodded in sync, which left Henry with a content smile. He was humming excitedly as he walked to his bedroom.

"Thank you," I said to Regina, but she still looked concerned.

"I don't know whether he fully understood it," she said, softly.

"For now, he did," I replied and then looked at Neal and Tamara. "You were no help here whatsoever. Need I remind you, Neal, that he's your kid, too? If he thought the child is going to live here, you clearly said something misleading."

Neal looked embarrassed and Tamara didn't seem to know what to say either. They just stood there in the doorway, uncomfortably. She was showing quite a bit and I couldn't say I envied her pregnancy. I'd been through it and I was glad I didn't have to do it again.

"He'll see you next month," I said, before I gestured I wanted to close the door. Neal and Tamara quickly stepped back, so I didn't smash the door against their faces. I sighed exaggeratingly and looked at Regina.

She got up from the couch and walked towards me. "It'll be okay," she whispered and I knew it would be, but the situation still sucked. I hated that Neal was going to love a child more than Henry, because I knew he would. I knew if he spent more time with his new baby that he'd neglect Henry even more than before and that was what made me angry.

It was either that, or he was going to neglect the baby like he had Henry and that would be even worse. I didn't wish that upon any child and I hoped Neal and Tamara were a better match than Neal and I were and from what I'd seen that was the case, fortunately.

"I'll leave you with Henry. I don't want to overstay my welcome and I need to pick up Luke at Zelena's," Regina said softly and touched my hand. I looked at Henry's closed bedroom door and quickly pecked her lips.