AN:/Now that I've FINALLY been able to login again, I'm gonna start my un-hiatus with posting the Once Upon A Time stories I've uploaded on ArchiveOfOurOwn. This particular one is a series on AO3 that I'll be posting as chapters here since there's no fancy little "X is part of Y series" button here. Before every chapter, I'll give a short summary and say in which order it is in the series. This chapter is the very FIRST in the series.
Chapter Summary: Mr. Gold was asked by Storybrooke's Mayor to get her a child to adopt and care for as her own. little did he know that when he procured the child, everything he knew would change. And it would all be because of a name.
Oh, also, the FULL description for this series of drabbles that I had written on AO3 is as follows:
When Emma Swan arrived in Granny's Bed & Breakfast in Storybrooke, that wasn't the first time Mr. Gold heard the Savior's name. No, he first heard it when he arrived at a hospital in Phoenix to pick up a 3-week old boy for Mayor Regina Mills. He wasn't sure why, but that instant that he asked the nurse the name of the mother, the name seemed familiar to him. It wasn't until he crossed back into Storybrooke that he realized just what the name Emma meant to the ancient pawnbroker.
He stayed at the town line for a few minutes, remembering who he was and what he came to this Land Without Magic for. When he looked back at the baby he was transporting, now with all his memories intact, he saw something in the baby boy that he didn't recognize before. He saw the likeness of his own boy, the one he made the Dark Curse for. From that moment, Rumplestiltskin swore to keep an eye on the child he now had to deliver into the hands of the Evil Queen.
He would do anything for his Baelfire.
Even watch as his grandson was raised by a woman he despised.
But that doesn't mean he can't have a part in young Henry's life.
When the Mayor went to him, asking for help in procuring a child, Mr. Gold left town only to return a few days later, three week old baby in hand. He was practically in a trance ever since he first held the newborn. Curiosity made him ask the caretaker the name of the mother. He claimed to want to know the name for legal reasons, to keep the mother away from the child if she ever dropped by the town. Truly, he just wondered what kind of woman would give her child away in a closed adoption. The answer he received left him blinking and unsure.
Emma Swan.
He heard the name and couldn't stop blinking. He knew that name...he couldn't fathom why or how. He had never left Storybrooke before as far as he knew. And the one time they had visitors in their little town...well, it didn't end well and there was definitely no Swans amongst the boy and his father out for a camping trip.
The instant he crossed the invisible townline, Mr. Gold slammed his foot as hard down on the brakes as he could. He remembered.
Emma. Emma. Emma.
The daughter of Snow White and the jokingly named Prince Charming.
He couldn't help himself. He laughed. For the first time in years, Rumplestiltskin laughed wholeheartedly, wiping tears away from his eyes.
He did it.
He came to the land without magic!
He could find Bae!
Suddenly, he was quite aware of an age old wound. As his eyes glanced down at his leg, he realized that his visible skin was that of an ordinary man once again. At that the thought of being normal again, his wide grin faltered.
Belle.
She wasn't in town. She was dead. And he took a moment to remember what the Curse claimed happened to his little maid. Lacey French...they had met a few times when he would collect the rent. Never sparing more than a few stiff words. Supposedly, she went crazy and killed herself shortly after her 20th birthday. Jumped from the clocktower. He never saw it happen according to the curse. It had been late at night and Regina had found her.
Just as he begins to weep, another voice squabbles for attention. The newly remembered Rumplestiltskin ignores his own pain as he reaches for the door and gets out. He hobbles to the car's back door and opens it, immediately sitting next to the baby's carseat. He takes the unnamed babe from his throne and holds him close.
"Shh...there, there. You'll meet your new mama soon. Hush now..." The pawnbroker gently rocks the baby boy until he quiets down. "Thatta' boy...good boy. Are you hungry or do you just want some attention?" He asks as he then holds him at a small distance away to see his face.
Upon seeing his eyes, Rumplestiltskin is taken aback. He knows those eyes. He first saw those eyes on a young girl that would pull his hair when they were kids. Many years would pass before he saw those eyes on a new face. On his son's face. Baelfire was about the same age when the spinner of deals first met him. He knew he would never forget the first time he met his baby boy. He also knew he would never forget the last time he saw his son.
The youngster babbles incoherently and all the deal-maker can think...is if he had known who he was before going to get Henry, then he would have been able to go find his Bae. But then he wouldn't have been able to leave. He may not be able to use magic in this world, but he could still feel the dull hum of magic at the town's border. He could even tell that no one would be able to leave the town...unless their leaving would further the breaking of the curse. And anyone that left wouldn't be able to leave for long, the Curse forcing them back into the town.
Even now the Curse was bringing an irrational fear of leaving town to his mind. He still wanted to find Bae, of course he did. That was the whole point of the Dark Curse. But he had a feeling something terrible would happen the instant he tried to cross back over the invisible line. Rumplestiltskin looks back at the cooing baby in his arms.
He looked like his Bae...but could he be related? He couldn't fathom the thought of his son abandoning his own son after what Rumplestiltskin did to him. The spinner thought Baelfire would have kept a close eye on any woman who would bear his son. That made sense to him. So he figured the child in his arms, the child of savior, might look like Bae and Milah for another reason.
Perhaps, before she died, Milah had borne Jones a son or daughter and they had left it in a town to grow up. He knew that Killian had never mentioned a child though. And now that he thought about it...he remembered Milah telling him that the midwife declared her unable to bear anymore children.
So he tried to remember if Milah had a sibling, or a cousin. Anyone that could have passed on the genes. He couldn't recall a single person in his first wife's family that had still been alive by the time she left him. But he figured there must have been some child with his wife's genes that survived.
That child would have then become the ancestor of David the Shepard. He was the former peasant after all. It was entirely possible that a relative of Milah was David's ancestor. It was also the only way that the child in his arms made any sense.
He couldn't be Baelfire's son...Rumplestiltskin couldn't be a grandfather already. No...the babe had to be a distant relative of Milah's. It was the only way. But there was always the possibility...
"Alright, alright, my boy...if you're settled now, we can be on our way." He finally told the boy. He put him back into his seat and made sure he was secure before making his way back to the driver's seat. As he started the car again, he glanced in the rearview mirror at the carseat turned away from him.
There was always the possibility, and Rumplestiltskin swore he wouldn't be caught as the fool if the possibility was reality. And if it was real...well, the imp wouldn't miss out on his grandson's life. No matter what his new mother said. No matter what Regina threatened him with, Mr. Gold swore he would keep an eye out for him.
So the pawnbroker put away his real memories and focused on his false memories. Rumplestiltskin didn't live in Storybrooke. Mr. Gold did, and he was the most feared and respected person in the whole town.
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