A/N: Alright, so I wrote most of this a few years ago and just recently decided to finish it. I blame Dekujin on tumblr/Ao3 for giving me the plot bunny. Also, since Neal didn't die in this AU, the Snowing baby is Benjamin Leopold Nolan.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Introducing the Family

Belle had been reading in the hammock that hung in their backyard when she heard the first chirp come from a large heap of mud and vegetation only a foot away. Her eyes widened and she quickly climbed out of the hammock. Did she really just-? Another chirp was heard. She did!

"Rumple! It's time!"

Inside the house, Rumpelstiltskin dropped the knife he'd been using to prepare lunch and rushed outside as fast as he could. "Are you sure, sweetheart?"

Belle nodded, with a big grin on her face. She grabbed her love's hand and pulled him closer to the mound. "Just listen."

After a few seconds of silence, Rumpelstiltskin heard the chirps. "Oh Belle, they're almost here!"

"I know, Rumple, but right now they're going to need our help," she said, kneeling down in front of the mound. Rumple immediately joined her and together they pushed the dirt and grasses away as the chirps increased in volume and number.

"Mom, why do you think Grandma Belle wanted us to come over?" Henry asked, as the Charming clan reached the Golds' front porch. It really was weird to have his mother's side of the family visit the pink mansion when there wasn't a crisis at hand. His brows suddenly furrowed with worry. "Do you think there's bad news?"

Emma placed her arm around Henry's shoulders. "Doubt it, kid. Belle sounded pretty happy when she called." Honestly, Belle's excitement only made the Savior even more curious about the surprise she had planned for them.

David rang the doorbell, and a muffled "Coming!" was heard. The door opened, revealing a soaked, yet smiling Belle. "You're here! Come in, come in. You came right on time. Rumple and I just finished feeding them so they should be on their best behavior."

"Um, who's them?" Snow asked a bit worriedly, while adjusting her hold on baby Ben. She didn't want her family anywhere near any creatures the Dark One kept. Well, what she assumed were creatures. What else would Rumpelstiltskin want to show them? He wasn't exactly known to have many friends. Neither was Belle, for that matter, despite her likability among the townspeople.

Belle, noticing Snow's concern, placed her hand on the mother's shoulder. "Don't worry. We just want you all to meet the newest additions to our family. You don't even have to get close to them if you don't want to." She then led the Charmings through the house and towards the back of her home.

"Did you guys get pets?" Henry asked. It would make sense, their new pets probably just get antsy when they were hungry. Maybe they adopted two of Pongo and Perdita's puppies.

"Oh gods, no! They're not pets," Belle clarified as she opened the backdoor. She stepped aside to allow her guests to enter the yard first. "Now, go on. They've been excited to meet you all morning."

In the yard before them was a large pond surrounded by mangroves that had not been there before. However, it was what was in and around the pond that surprised them the most. There were tiny golden scaled reptiles swimming, sunbathing, and one was even on Rumpelstiltskin's lap enjoying chin scritches. Whatever the Charmings were picturing in their minds before, this wasn't quite it.

Snow gasped and took a step back towards the house, with Ben's safety in mind. Emma and David looked like they were still trying to comprehend it all, and Henry would've rushed over to his paternal grandfather to pet the little guy sitting on his lap if Emma didn't have such a tight hold on his shoulder.

"I think Ben and I are going to wait in the kitchen," Snow excused herself before retreating back inside.

"Oh sure," Belle unflappably replied. "Please help yourself to the sandwiches on the counter if you get hungry!"

"Are those… baby dragons?" David asked, in shock. Oh gods, he can already imagine the carnage they'll cause once they're big enough. He and Emma would have their hands full stopping them, for sure.

"Actually, they're crocodiles," Belle corrected him.

"It doesn't matter," Emma said, shoving away her surprise. "You just can't keep a bunch of exotic pets in your backyard!"

Belle frowned and visibly disagreed with Emma's statement. However before she could say anything, Rumple finally decided to cut in, "They're not pets. They're our children."

"They're crocodiles," Emma argued. Have Gold and Belle lost it? There's no way they could think these reptiles were actually their children.

"Yes, they are. They were born from mine and Belle's true love." Alright, the Golds have gone crazy.

"They're crocodiles."

"So they appear to be."

"They're croc-o-diles!"

Rumple smirked. He just knew he was going to have fun introducing his children to the Charmings, and from the grin on Belle's face, she was enjoying herself as well. "I believe we've already established that."

Emma groaned, this was going nowhere fast and she can feel a migraine coming. "I can't deal with this now. Dad, you talk to them." Rubbing her temples, Emma went back inside the house to wait with Snow and Ben.

"There's ibuprofen in the cabinet next to the fridge!" Belle called out to her. She turned toward her step-grandson and asked, "Would you like to take a closer look at them?"

Henry nodded eagerly and went with Belle to where Rumple was sitting, a foot away from the water's edge. "What's the little guy's name?" Henry asked, pointing to the little crocodile on his grandfather's lap.

"Her name is Rosalyn," Rumple answered. "Say hello, Rosie." The croc in question lazily opened her eyes, which were the same shade of blue as Belle's, and let out a chirp in Henry's direction.

The teenager smiled and said, "Hey Aunt Rosie. It's nice to meet you." Henry knew having crocodiles for aunts and uncles was just plain weird, but considering his family tree and its convoluted dynamics, it wasn't anything he couldn't get a handle of eventually. It also didn't hurt that his new little relatives were pretty cute.

"How is this even possible?" David asked.

"Well, dearie, when two True Loves-" Rumple started, before getting elbowed by Belle.

"Rumple, don't start."

"You know what, never mind," David muttered under his breath. He glanced over the little pond again, and noticed that the crocodiles were swimming toward the three humans. "They're getting too close, Gold."

"They're not going to do anything," Rumple said, dismissing David's concern. "They just want to take a closer look at their nephew."

"Henry is not their nephew," David stated.

Rumple simply shrugged as he offered his hand to the closest infant to climb onto. "Deny it all you like, dearie, but that doesn't change the fact that they're family." He then carefully placed his son on Henry's lap.

"Gold!"

"Henry is fine. See? Atticus isn't even trying to bite him," Belle calmly pointed out. The child was just resting and enjoying the warmth from his nephew's leg, while Henry gently pet his head.

"Grandpa, why didn't you tell anyone about them while they were eggs?" Henry asked before his maternal grandpa could say something else.

"We wanted to be sure they would hatch before we told anyone. We didn't want to get our hopes up." Rumple remembered how he and Belle took turns watching the nest like hawks for the past three months. They had to ask Dove as well as Belle's friends for help around the library and the pawnshop so they could spend more time with their incubating children. It was very fortunate that no magical disasters had happened in those few months that could've endangered the nest.

"So... does my dad know about them?"

"Of course! He was the first we told after the babies hatched!" Belle answered. "He's upstairs in one of the guest rooms if you want to see him."

"And he was fine with his… new siblings?" David had a hard time believing that.

"Well, Bae was certainly surprised by how they look and he still needs to get used to the idea of having so many brothers and sisters," Rumple admitted reluctantly, "but once they get a chance to spend time together, he'll love them as much as we do."

What Rumple didn't say was that Neal took the news worse than the Charmings did and actually fainted when they told him that the crocodiles were his relatives.

A/N: Please leave a review if you enjoyed the fic.