The Start of Something New, Chapter 7
@doqweek, Day 2: Family Time- Robin, Mal and Regina cuddle in bed with the kids as they all watch Saturday morning cartoons.
Previous chapters can be found HERE. (Chapter 6 will he added tomorrow)
Robin’s eyes flutter open at the sound of crashing thunder and heavy rain drops pelting against the window panes. He sighs as he rolls onto his side and looks at the alarm clock, and no sooner than the time registered, he heard the beginnings of what would soon be Esme’s cries.
“Not it,” Regina and Mal’s groggy voices say in unison, shifting and stretching out as they adjusted the blankets around themselves.
“Why do I always have to get her?”
“Because,” Mal murmurs, “You sleep closest to the door.”
“It’s less steps for you,” Regina adds.
Rolling his eyes, he gets out of bed, shivering a little as the cool morning air touches legs, and he mutters something under his breath about taking turns--something he knows neither of them will acknowledge hearing. Nonetheless, he smiles as he looks back at them--legs tangled in the blankets and Regina’s head tipped and resting on Mal’s shoulder--and then, he heads down the hall, leaving them to doze back to sleep.
When he reaches the nursery, Esme is standing up in her crib, her face scrunched and her little hands gripping the rail as she whines. A lopsided grin tugs onto Robin’s face as he greets her--she always looks so grumpy in the morning.
“Good morning, sweetheart,” he coos as he lifts her from the crib, kissing her cheeks and her forehead and chin, as his hand smoothes her wild red wisps. He chuckles softly as they spring back up and he carries her downstairs to the kitchen. He grabs a bottle and she’s quick to reach for it, finally flashing him a gummy smile as her fingers stretch out and she grunts with excitement. “Okay,” he murmurs, kissing the top of her head as he kicks the refrigerator door closed. “Let’s go cuddle.”
Esme’s blue eyes turn up and she grins as she gnaws on the bottle; and quickly, he makes his way back to the bedroom, finding Regina and Mal in the exact same positions as they’d been in when he left.
Regina’s eyes open and Mal lifts her head as Robin slides back into bed--and no sooner than he does, Esme is reaching for them. Regina pulls her Esme to her as her knees draw up and Esme flops back against them, giggling as Mal makes silly faces at her. With a content sigh, Robin rolls onto his side and props up his head in his hand--and Esme laughs out as he blows a raspberry against her tiny palm.
It’s not long after that Roland’s head peaks into the room and Regina waves him in. Roland runs to the bed and dives in head first--earning a scowl from his baby sister--and he crawls up between Robin and Regina. He lays back against the pillows, and somehow ends up with the remote, turning on the old Batman cartoons he loves to watch on Saturday mornings.
Mal turns Esme around as she settles down, her blue eyes widening as she stares at the TV, suddenly captivated by the colorful images. Robin grins over at them as he lays back, his head propped up just enough to see the screen--his grin brightening as Regina’s fingers lace through his and her head falls to Mal’s shoulder.
“What’s going on in here?” Henry asks, rubbing at his eyes as he stares into the room--still half asleep.
“Watching Batman,” Roland says simply, not looking away from the TV.
“Oh…”
Robin watches as Henry blinks a couple of times, then cranes his neck to have a look at the TV, a faint smile forming on his lips. For a moment, he just stands there in the doorway, watching the cartoon; and then, he looks hesitantly back to the bed. His bottom lip catches between his teeth as he stares, and Robin wonders if he finds their unconventional arrangement a bit uncomfortable, and maybe even unsettling. But then, Henry takes a breath and struts forward, eyeing each of them as he stands at the foot of the bed.
“If you guys tell anyone about this, I’ll never babysit again,” he says, his voice firm as he crawls into the bed to watch cartoons with his family.