Silver Lining

Adopted

Robin spent two more days in the hospital, as all of his colleagues wanted to make sure nothing was wrong before they discharged him. During those days, Regina managed to gain Ava's trust and became her favourite person in the entire hospital. If Regina was next to her, the nurses could sigh in relief and carry on with their day. The brunette took up all the tasks regarding Ava, including feeding her and making her take a shower at night. However, the child only had a few more days before the social workers had to pick her up and find her a foster home.

Robin lifted himself from the hospital bed and decided to take a couple of steps, mostly because his entire body was stiff from spending so much time lying down. He walked all the way to the nurses station, not being able to find Regina anywhere. She had not left the hospital since they arrived, so he doubted she did now.
"Has anyone seen my wife?" he asked the nurses.
One of them stood up, smiled and came to his side.
"Come along," she said before walking off.
He followed her until we arrived in front of a private room in the pediatric ward and she signaled for him to look through the wide window.

Robin peeked inside and saw Regina on the bed, with a small toddler cuddled up next to her. The kid seemed to be gently applying pressure on various points of Regina's bump, patiently waiting for Roland's reply. Whenever she felt the baby move, she squealed in delight and clapped her tiny hands.
"And who might that be?" he asked the nurse, who was entranced by his wife bonding with the child.
"Your future daughter, I suppose," she laughed. "her mother left her here and your wife was pretty much chosen by her. She has been glued to her and her world seemed to collapse whenever Mrs. Locksley came to see you and left her alone," she continued.

Robin could feel his jaw drop and his eyes widen as he understood what the nurse suggested.
"Did she say anything about wanting to adopt her?" he asked worriedly.
"Hmm, she did not use those words, but they are definitely close and she got really attached to the baby," she answered.
"What... What would we have to do? You know, if we... If we were to take her in," Robin stuttered.
The nurse gave him a wide smile and began enlisting the steps of the process.
"Both of you will have to pass a psychological exam, a social worker will have to assess the living conditions you could offer and then fill in a bunch of paperwork," she said.

Robin stepped inside the room and watched Regina's facial expressions change from shock, to love mixed with a little bit of fear. The toddler crawled closer to her, wrapping herself in Regina's arm.
"Hello there, princess," he said quietly, sitting next to his wife, placing his hand on her lap. "I am Robin, her husband," he said, pointing to Regina.
"Wo-bin?" she asked in an adorable voice. "Me? Ava," she said proudly, while pointing at herself.
"I am honoured to meet you, little Ava. You know, I thought I would be the only one to steal Regina's heart," Robin said with a smirk.

He turned to Regina, who was nervously nibbling on her bottom lip and fidgeting with her thumbs. Robin took her hand in his and lovingly looked her in the eyes.
"Whatever you think is best, I will agree with you. I cannot leave her behind, not after seeing how much she charmed you," he said.
Her traits softened and her eyes welled up with tears.
"Do you think we can do this?" she asked.
"I think you can do whatever you set your mind on. You will be an amazing mother to her and I will be next to you. However, you will need to teach me a bit about being a parent, I thought I still had a few months left before I got to take a child home," he said.

"What if these are only my hormones messing with me? The baby I lost would have been around her age now..." Regina whispered while watching Ava colour a drawing in her book.
"Hey, listen to me. The hormones are messing with you when they suggest that a tasty combination would consist of pasta and pickles or when they make you cry each time you see that puppy commercial on TV. This is just you being an amazing person, as usual," he said, pulling her into a hug.

After a while, Regina pulled back and wiped away her tears. Grabbing his hand, she took a deep breath and caught Ava's attention.
"Baby, what would you think if I said you could come home with us? Would you like that?" she asked.
Robin watched the toddler's eyes grow wide in amazement, before throwing herself on both of them with her arms wide open, squishing Regina's bump and making her gasp. Even with Ava's leg pressed against her baby bump in a clearly uncomfortable way, Regina reached out to her and hugged her, lovingly caressing her back.

"Pink room?" Ava asked cutely.
"Do you want your room to be pink, baby?" Regina asked while lacing her fingers through Ava's hair.
Robin watched them bond and create a connection he had not seen in many mothers with their biological children, yet they somehow managed to have it so soon. He could see the happiness on Regina's face, which made him fall in love with her all over again. She was willing to take an abandoned child into her home and help her adapt to the new surroundings the best she could, even though she was so close to having a baby of her own.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when I heard Ava's thin voice calling for him.
"Here," she said, motioning towards Regina's empty arm. Robin scooted over and cradled both of the girls close to him, kissing each of their heads.
"Welcome to the family, Princess," he said.