Neal surveyed the usually pristine yard of his father's house. Tables heavy with knick-knacks and clothes were arranged around the lawn facing the street. Some of the stuff on the tables he recognized from the shop, but most of it seemed to come from inside the pink house. A few townspeople milled about, browsing the tables and sending nervous glances towards Rumpelstiltskin's residence.
A sign, written in big block letters sat on the sidewalk reading: "Yard Sale". Beneath, in Belle's neat handwriting, it said: "Please discuss with Rumpelstiltskin if any of the magical items were formally in your possession in the Enchanted Forest".
Neal couldn't hold back a snort.
"Oh, Baelfire!"
Belle was waving from behind one of the tables near the porch. The cash register from the shop was sitting in front of her. "So you really weren't kidding when you mentioned having a yard sale, were you?" Neal asked as he approached the table.
"My wife doesn't jest about removing magical clutter from the house." Rumpelstiltskin said by way of greeting as he made his way down the steps, leaving heavily on his cane.
"Moving them to the shop wasn't good enough?"
"People only come to the shop when they want a favor." Rumple scoffed, "I've had a lot of these things in there for years and they haven't been claimed."
"Belle?" Ashely called from where she was browsing a tableful of kitchen items, looking warily at Rumple. Belle stood, letting Rumple take her seat at the table and made her way over to where Ashely and Alexandra were.
Neal grinned down at his father. "So that's why you were so eager to have Henry stay the weekend."
Rumple feigned insult, but couldn't keep the wry smile off his face. "You suggest I had my strong and energetic grandson over and put him to work instead of spending quality time with him?"
"Emma and I would've helped if you had asked." Neal told him, flipping an empty crate over to sit on.
"I know. But having Henry's help was invaluable."
"Where is Henry, anyway?"
"Last I saw Henry he was pulling a wagonload of books behind Regina."
"You let Regina have your magic books?"
"No, I let Regina have all the cookbooks I have in several dead languages. She'll have a lovely pasta salad recipe if she ever gets around to decoding them."
Neal laughed. "And she has no idea, does she?"
Rumple raised his brow and shrugged. "Now would I let her waste her money like that?"
"Yes."
"Mr. Gold." Granny approached the register with a stern frown on her face. In her arms she held a few items, a mix of houseware and weaponry. "How much?"
Rumple gave a quick look over of her choices. "Twenty-five." He pointed at a small ornate dagger the woman held. "And that piece there used to transplace the nightmares of the stabbed victim to the attacker. I'm not entirely sure if it still will, as magic is fading, but just better to be forewarned, don't you think?" Granny just rolled her eyes and handed over the money.
"You're selling cursed items?" Neal asked after Granny had left.
"Not cursed. Cursed would imply that it was meant to harm. The nightmares are just…a side effect." Rumple shrugged. "Anyway, it probably doesn't work anymore. I personally haven't tried it – and it's been about two hundred years, so the magic has at least faded. The wizard who enchanted it wasn't that talented."
"Hmm." Neal pulled over a box so he could sit next to Rumple at the register. Belle joined them shortly, with a handful of cash from her transaction with Ashley.
"Still too scared to come over and face the beast?" Rumple asked, letting Belle lean over his shoulder to place the cash in the register. "She's almost at Regina's level at holding grudges."
"Hush." Belle chastised with a kiss to his forehead. "She bought that silly teapot you enchanted for me."
"Oh god, I almost forgot about that thing." Rumple moaned and Belle just laughed.
"Okay, I need to hear this." Neal grinned, elbowing his father playfully.
Lacking a chair of her own, Belle settled herself down onto Rumple's lap, making him squeak. "Rumple decided that a talking kettle would amuse me-"
"I wanted it to frighten you." Rumple grumbled under his breath, wrapping his arms around Belle's waist and leaning his head against her shoulder.
"But it would only compliment me so it was amusing and then one day it complimented me within his hearing, and he made a strange noise and I never saw it in the Dark Castle again." Belle finished to Neal's amused grin.
"I take it that it didn't work right, then?" Neal asked.
"It wasn't saying the things I wanted it to." Rumpelstiltskin admitted begrudgingly. Belle squeezed his hand at her waist and twisted out of his grasp to turn and give him a kiss on the forehead.
Neal just shook his head. "Well, can I help with anything until Henry gets back? We're going to meet up with Emma for dinner."
"Oh, yes. Could you bring that box by the front door over? I should start packing the rest of these up for Miss Cassandra." Belle pointed and once Neal stood to get the box she turned to her husband. "You can go back to watching from inside if you'd like," Belle whispered into his hair as she stood.
"I'm fine, sweetheart," he assured her quietly.
"You've been pacing though." She turned a significant look at his leg and he grimaced.
"What are all these anyway?" Neal asked digging through the box with one hand as he brought it over. He pulled out a thick, half burned black candle and turned it around. Belle ventured to another table to bring back another armload of the candles to place in the box.
"Babylon candles. They don't work anymore, expiration dates and all, but the former witch still values them enough to buy me out." His father informed him, pushing himself up. He nodded towards the sidewalk. "Here comes the lovely Miss Swan now."
Neal turned and Rumple couldn't hold back a smile at how his son's face lit up. "Hey, Emma."
"Hey, you. Gold, Belle," Emma greeted, glancing around the yard. "So your home seems to have vomited on the lawn."
Rumple chuckled. "Better out than in, I suppose, hm?"
Emma rolled her eyes, but smiled. "How much longer are you going to be selling stuff?"
Belle returned, packing up the candles up and writing Cassandra on it. "We should probably start packing up for the day. Miss Cassandra said she would pick this up tomorrow."
"Most people are probably going to be heading to dinner anyway." Emma said, cautiously looking over some ornate jewelry. "Can I sense magic on these?"
"Most likely," Rumple picked up a necklace on a long chain, threading the gold between his fingers. "They were all cursed or enchanted at one point or another."
"Are they safe to sell? I don't know what charge that'd be, but I don't want to arrest you for some weird…magic curse death." Emma made a face and Neal wrapped an arm around her.
"The magic on these is nearly gone, the worst that could happen is that you would get some degree of nausea by wearing them." Rumple explained, moving the jewelry into a box for safekeeping.
"What are you going to do with the stuff that didn't sell?" Neal asked, smiling and waving as he noticed Henry coming back up the road.
"Back to the shop, I suppose." Rumple sighed, looking over what was left on the lawn with a look of dismay that he hid when Henry approached.
Belle rubbed his shoulder with a soft smile. He gave her a grateful look as Henry greeted his parents before turning to the Golds.
"Books delivered!" he reported. "Is there anything else I can do?"
"Could you help move some of these boxes to the garage before you take your books?" Belle asked. Henry had set aside a small stack of non-cursed books that morning as a reward for helping out.
Neal and Emma both offered their assistance as well. It didn't take long at all to pack up the yard, and somehow by the end of it both Neal and Emma were wearing matching feather boas. Henry had found a fez and a monocle that he was modeling. Rumple couldn't help but smile as Belle bestowed some bright orange sunglasses on Neal, who in turn placed a baseball cap on his step-mother.
"Would you two like to join us for dinner?" Emma asked, offering a lace scarf to Henry. He wrapped it around his neck with an air of distinguish.
"I think we'll have to decline, but thank you, Emma." Belle smiled. They said their goodbyes, leaving Belle and Rumple standing on the porch. They made their way inside, Rumple settled onto the sofa with a sigh. Belle hummed, running her hand through his hair before sitting down beside him.
"We sold a lot of stuff." She observed. Rumple nodded tightly. "Are you alright?"
He sighed, reaching for her hand. "Mm."
Belle tucked her knees underneath her in order to turn and wrap her arms around him. He chuckled quietly.
"I'm fine." He reassured her. "I promise."
"You were hesitant to sell a lot of that stuff though." Belle ventured. He had acknowledged that it needed to be done, but Belle could tell through the whole process that he wasn't entirely happy. Fiddling, lurking – watching from behind the curtains as she and Henry set up on the lawn.
"It's just…" he waved his hand, encompassing the collection. "All of it...was the result of lifetimes of work. Of deals. Each item represented one step closer to finding my son." He made a disgusted sound after a moment. "And each step farther away from being the man he wanted me to be."
Belle made a reassuring noise and he leaned back into her embrace.
"I found him though." He murmured quietly, so softly that Belle would've missed it if they weren't sitting so close.
"You did. And he loves you, even if you have changed." She pressed a kiss to his forehead. Then one to his cheek. "I love you. I'm proud of you. The house feels lighter after taking those cursed items out." She made a face. "If that makes sense. I can't sense magic how you and Emma do."
"Thank you so much, Belle." Rumple turned to catch her chin in his hand and bring his mouth to hers. She smiled into the kiss. He tugged her down into his lap and she giggled, letting him toss the baseball cap to the floor. "I imagine I would still be alone and surrounded by musty artifacts if not for you."
"You wouldn't be alone, you'd have Baelfire." Belle told him, stroking his face.
"Not without you, Belle. You underestimate how much of a change you inspired in me, he gave me a chance because of you." He kissed her again, pulling her tight against him. "Thank you."
She smiled at him, before resting her head against his shoulder. "Nothing to thank me for. But you're welcome nonetheless."
They cuddled on the couch in comfortable silence for a while, relaxing in each other's arms, before Rumple noticed something in the corner. "Belle, darling?"
"Hmm?"
"Why is there a stack of books behind the armchair?" He smirked when he felt her stiffen.
"W-we can hold off selling those, can't we? I haven't read them yet." She muttered against his neck and he began to laugh. Playfully affronted she sat back. "Oh hush! I know you snuck something back in whenever you brought me tea."
"Of course I did."