Saturdays at Granny’s: An Outlaw Queen Ficlet
Summary: Robin cherishes the time he has with his son on the weekends. One particular one, they meet another single parent and her own child.
For Day 1 (Monday) of Inspired by OQ, an edit by @stargazingM31!
Robin never thought he’d have to look forward to spending time with his son. Just two years prior, he took for granted getting to see Roland every single day. Then, Marian had come out of the closet and their marriage had ended. It wasn’t as if Robin had been very surprised, they had been struggling for awhile and he knew something was wrong, just not what it was. They had split up amicably and were still friends. However, it didn’t change that they weren’t living under one roof anymore.
He got Roland every Friday afternoon to Sunday evening, and those times were precious. Robin picked his son up from school and brought him back to his place (“The Divorced Guy Apartments” as Will so charmingly called them). They’d play and watch movies together, go to the park if the weather was nice enough.
Saturday mornings was their very special tradition: breakfast at Granny’s. Roland typically woke him up by jumping on his bed and they’d walk the block to the diner. They’d always get the same thing: Roland, chocolate chip pancakes, bacon and orange juice Robin, waffles, sausage and coffee. They huddled in their usual booth, Granny (she refused to be called Eugena) and Ruby fussing over them, the latter always adding a bit too much chocolate to Roland’s pancakes. It was a time-honored tradition that neither Locksley man would trade for the world. Rarely, anything ever changed during.
That was until that late-August morning.
Robin and Roland entered the diner at 8:30 AM like clockwork. Granny greeted them both with a big hug, before leading them over to their usual booth.
“Let me guess…chocolate chip pancakes with bacon, along with a big glass of OJ for Mr. Roland?”
Roland grinned from ear to ear. “Yes!”
“And waffles with sausage and coffee-a bit of cream and sugar, for Robin.”
Robin shook his head with a smile of his own. “I don’t get how you do it, Granny. You remember everyone’s orders.”
“I have to take care of my favorites.” She ruffled Roland’s hair. “I’ll be back with your drinks in a minute.”
Granny walked off and Roland started on the maze that was on the children’s menu. Things were never quiet in the diner; they were used to the hustle and bustle. However, a few minutes after they arrived, there was a bit of fussing coming from the next booth over. Roland got up on his knees and turned around.
“Ooo, a baby!” He exclaimed in awe.
“Roland,” Robin gently chastised. “Sit on your bottom.”
“But Daddy, look, there is a baby.”
Before Robin could be a bit firmer with him, he heard a sweet giggle. That got his attention more than the baby’s cry had. He craned his neck to find a woman sitting there, with chin length raven black hair. She had wide brown eyes and a face that he had only seen on new parents, that mix of tiredness with a glow. Next to her was an infant car seat with onesie covered feet sticking out. The woman had one hand on the baby’s foot, another on her coffee cup. Surrounding her breakfast was a baby bottle and stuffed puppy.
“He’s fine,” the woman said, to Robin, before turning to Roland. “You’re right. There is a baby. This is my son, Henry.”
“I’m Roland,” Robin’s son introduced himself. At five-years-old, he was anything but shy. “That’s my daddy.”
“Well, it’s very nice to meet you Roland and Roland’s daddy,” she replied with a sly smile. “I’m Regina.”
Robin blinked a couple of times, doing his best not to stare at this beautiful woman. “Robin,” he elaborated. “Robin Locksley.”
“Ah, very nice.”
“I don’t think I’ve seen you around here before. We come in here every week.”
“I’ve been a bit busy with Henry here,” Regina explained. “Getting ready for him and all.”
“My mommy and her Mulan are having a baby too,” Roland piped up. “It’s made Mommy bigger.”
Regina let out another giggle. “Well, I didn’t carry Henry in my tummy. I adopted him; do you know what that means?”
Roland tilted his head. “My friend August was adopted. He said his parents got to bring him home from somewhere else.”
“That’s right. Someone else gave birth to Henry, but she let me be his mommy. So, I had to do a lot of things to show that I could do that.”
Roland and Regina continued to chat about Henry, with Robin watching the pair in awe. She was quite the natural with him, listening intently when he talked and answering any questions that he might have. Robin knew he should probably pull his son down and tell him to stop bothering the nice woman, but Regina didn’t seem to mind at all. In fact, when Granny finally brought by their food, she looked a little disappointed, so Robin invited her to come sit with them. He moved to sit next to his son so Regina could sit across with Henry. She removed the squishy baby from the car seat, cuddling him close.
“I give you credit for bringing him out so young, especially on your own,” Robin said. “I remember being terrified to bring this one out when he was a baby.”
Regina smiled. “I just couldn’t stand being cooped up in the house anymore. It can get pretty lonely.”
“Is it just the two of you?”
She nodded. “Yup, doing it on my own.”
“Wow.”
“Please don’t tell me that’s impressive. It’s really not.”
“I mean, I’m just thankful I have Marian to co-parent with.”
Regina shrugged. “I had a few close calls with love, but they never panned out. I didn’t want to wait longer for motherhood.” She looked down at Henry. “Then this little guy’s birth mom came to me and it seemed like fate.”
Robin’s lips tugged up in a smile. “Well, you seem like a natural.”
Blush spread across Regina’s cheeks, causing her to duck her head. She quickly changed the subject, asking Roland what he learned about in school. Robin chimed in on the conversation every so often, his eyes drifting down to Henry the other bits. They stayed long after their food was done and Granny didn’t harass them about their checks. It wasn’t until Henry started getting fussy again, that Regina started to attempt gathering all her stuff.
“I think it’s this little prince’s naptime,” she said.
“He takes naps this early?” Roland asked.
“Babies take lots of naps.”
Roland looked as if that bit of news shocked him tremendously. Robin helped Regina gather everything up into the diaper bag and get Henry settled into his car seat. They paid their bills and then headed out to her car, a black 1980s Mercedes. Once Henry was strapped in and Roland was distracted with a call from his mom on his dad’s phone, Regina turned to Robin, sticking her hands into her jacket pockets.
“So, Granny um convinced me I need to get out of the house more,” she said.
Robin chuckled. “She can be a bit pushy.”
“I don’t know your schedule with Roland and your ex but…”
It dawned on him what she was attempting to do. “My weekdays are free,” he said. “Weekends are for Roland.”
“I can make that work.”
He smiled. “Great.”
She fumbled to take her cellphone out, allowing him to put his number inside of it. With a wave and a quick hug to Roland, Regina was off. Robin stood on the sidewalk, the stupid grin not leaving his face.
Maybe Saturday mornings weren’t so typical after all.
