Disclaimer: I do not own anything, it all belongs to Once Upon a Time, sadly.

A/N: This is co-written with eisafangirl, she is super awesome, so check out her stories as well!

Four Bowls of Soup

Emma walked into her room to find Neal going through a bunch of ties.

"What are you doing?" She asked curiously.

"What do you think of these ties?" Neal asked. He looked closely at the colors he held in his hand. The blue one or the red one? He never cared about what clothes to wear, but this dinner was a special exception. It wouldn't have to be this difficult if his father wasn't coming.

"I like the blue one... but what is this for?" Emma had been planning on a cosy evening with him alone, and Henry was with Regina. Usually she didn't associate ties with evenings in. What had Neal done now?

"I have no idea why I'm even bothering with this stupid thing. It's only because my father wears ties now. It's a guy thing, Emma," Neal told her through the mirror. He chose the blue one and started to tie it.

"Oh crap! The dinner is tonight?!" Emma exclaimed. It had completely slipped her mind. They had planned it weeks ago, frankly she really didn't want to go. An awkward dinner with Neal and his father was not on the top of her to do list.

"Yeah. I'm not going because my father is there. I'm curious to see who this girlfriend of his is. At least he had someone to love while I was gone," Neal remembered the painful scene of his father being a coward.

"It's okay to admit you miss your dad." Emma teased, "And besides, I've met Belle and she seems nice. Bit weird to think that she's kinda like your step mom... She's the same age as me I think, anyways"

"Same age?" Neal asked astounded. The only thing that would make a young woman fall for his father is magic. Suddenly, Neal didn't feel so easy about meeting her now. How would she act? How would he act around her?

"Well, there was the curse, so I guess she is older than she looks. Don't get freaked out or act weird." Emma sensed that Neal was having a bit of a mental freak out. The last thing she wanted was to be left all alone to hold the conversation throughout the night.

"Of course. Oh, let's get going. Don't wanna be late for this thing. Walk or take the bug?" he asked her with that genuine smile he gave everyone.

"The bug of course." Emma smiled at old memories, and kissed Neal on the cheek, before heading out the door, leaving him to follow her out.

Neal rubbed the mark and smirked behind Emma. They looked both ways down the street before getting in the car. Neal opened the door for Emma and hurried around the other side to get in. After a few minutes of driving, they found the largest house. Of course, his father's house had to be better and larger than everyone else's. He rolled his eyes as he turned the car off.

Emma had only been to Rumplestiltskin's house once, and that was when she didn't believe in fairy tales. It had been intimidating then, now it was ten times worse. She waited as Neal opened the door for her. They both were nervously silent as they walked up to the porch. They stood at the door. Neal glanced at her, and she glanced at the door.

"You ring it." She finally said.

Neal sighed with a bit of groaning at the end and made the effort to knock. It didn't take very long for someone to answer the door. It swung open, as a petite girl stepped out. She wore a blue dress, almost the same color as Neal's tie. She was pretty, and almost too pretty for his father.

"Welcome!" Belle said warmly, "Hi Emma, and you must be Baelfire" She stretched out her hand. He shook it timidly. "I'm Belle, come on in." She stepped in beckoning them in, "Rumple, they're here" She half yelled towards the stairs. She glanced back at her frozen guests, they looked terrified, she groaned in her head, this was off to a rough start.

Rumplestiltskin heard his lady's voice and instantly got up to walk down the stairs. He secretly hoped his son and Emma wouldn't show up. This time, magic couldn't get out of his situation. He saw that Belle was stalling the two until he came down. He cleared his throat and all of them looked up.

"Good evening, Bae and Emma," he used his son's real name.

"Thanks for inviting us," Neal didn't like the ring to his actual name.

Emma saw the small wince when Rumplestiltskin said his name. She squeezed his fingers gently, letting him know that she was here for him. She glanced up to see Belle looking at her. Belle gave her a small nod.

Belle understood the strain Neal was going through. She should know the best, Rumple hurt people, he shut her out, and you can't forget that. But he was trying and that was all that mattered, and hopefully Neal would see how much he was trying too.

"It was all Belle," Rumple smiled at his lovely beauty. He took slow steps until he was on the same ground as everyone else. "If everyone could follow me this way," he motioned to another room. Belle took her place beside Rumple, as he was about to coil his arm around her waist. Neal wanted to tell Belle to be cautious, but it was like she didn't care. His cane scraped the wood underneath them. Neal cringed every time; unused to the sound. It was going to drive him insane.

Belle leaned into Rumple, not enough to unbalance him, gosh that would be embarrassing. Rumple always brought out the bravery in her, and it would be the same tonight.

Emma walked with Neal, holding his hand tighter than necessary. She kept telling herself that there was nothing to worry about. But was not a situation she was used to, family still was not a thing she knew well. Her family was a complete mess.

"Ah, here we are," he showed them the extravagant dining room. This was too much for Neal. Back home, a dinner was a quiet little table with just him and his bowl of soup. This was a long table with expensive centerpieces. He forgot that he was even in reality. As he examined the dinner table, he saw little name cards. He scoffed at the formality and looked at his father.

"Name tags? Was this necessary?" he asked his father.

"Why yes. I do believe one arranges their guests seats before dinner. Belle wrote them out for you," there was a hint of attitude to Rumple's voice.

"It's true, I was responsible for that" Belle spoke up, smiling nervously, "I hope that you don't mind."

Emma rolled her eyes, carefully though, so no one saw. This was just getting silly now. "Your family is crazy!" Emma whispered into Neal's ear. He shook his head and smiled. Emma loved that smile, it could make one feel better no matter what was happening

"No, he doesn't mind at all, Belle," Rumple eyed his son carefully.

"I wasn't accusing her," Neal surrendered. He pulled his chair out for Emma and then seated himself. From across the table, Belle helped his father into his chair first. How did this poor girl not see how selfish the man was? When Belle was about to seat herself, Neal quickly got up to help. "You should be treated better than this," he told her.

Belle glanced quickly at Rumple, then said in a low voice, "I don't know what you mean. But whatever you want to say to me, can wait till after dinner." She felt like a mom telling off her child. In a louder voice she said, "Thank you so much. What a gentleman your son has become." She directed the last bit to Rumple, smiling, insuring that he was not to worry about what Neal had said.

Emma watched the exchange silently from across the table. What had Neal done now? She understood being upset with weird family situations, she hadn't been too happy to find out the age of her parents in relation to her own, but she wasn't rude about it to them. He came and sat next to her. She gave an accusing glance, but he just shrugged his shoulders.

Rumple didn't need to point out what he said to her. Of course, he heard. Some might mistake him as an old man; one who doesn't have good hearing at least. Belle started to get up, but he caught her wrist.

"Please don't leave me here with them alone," he said like a sad child.

"I'll be right back, we do need to eat, and the food is still in the kitchen." Belle smiled brightly, she glanced at the two young lovers, they seemed to be having a silent conversation, not paying her or Rumple any mind. So she quickly gave Rumple a kiss on the cheek, to help him get through this, and dashed out of the room.

"Hey, do you mind helping Belle in the kitchen?" Neal asked his love.

"No problem" Emma said quickly, anything to get out of this awkward silence. She followed Belle into the kitchen. It was a large and grand, just like the dining room. But it was clearly Belle's space. There were dried roses hanging over the sink, and tons of cookbooks lying all over the place. It actually felt homey, instead of intimidating.

"Oh Emma, I'm almost done." Belle said from over her shoulder, from where she was standing at the stove. "In a second, we can take all of this into the other room."

"This is impressive, I didn't know you were such a cook " Emma complemented Belle, there was a whole assortment of dishes, many seemed to be soup.

"Oh it's nothing" Belle dismissed it, "I have had a lot of practice back home."

Home? Emma thought for a second, oh she meant fairytale land. Emma tended to forget that the everyone in this stinking town came from another world. Even though she herself went there, she liked to block out those difficult memories out. "I thought you were a princess or something... why would you be cooking?" Emma said a bit resentfully.

"I was a housekeeper for Rumple, and he likes good food." Belle smiled, fond memories came to mind.

"Wow" Emma said, she had no idea, she wondered what Neal would think of that. That sounded absolutely horrible, usually everyone portrayed their home as something perfect, especially David. But Belle seemed happy and content to have been the Dark One's housekeeper.

"Here take these in" Belle pointed to a few dishes, and Emma dutifully took the dishes.

"These are heavy" Emma had not expected that, "What are we having?"

"It's a surprise, but it's Rumple's favorite." Belle's face lit up with a mischievous smile. She picked up the last few dishes, and motioned that they should go.

"This smells delicious, Belle," Rumple smiled at his faire maiden. Belle took the tops off the silver bowls, and revealed delicious soup inside. There were many kinds that she made for them. Rumple's favorite meal was soup, especially Belle's kind. Neal was also excited that his favorite meal was brought out too. Maybe he could like Belle for her cooking too. He dished some out for Emma and then for himself. In silence, they all made sipping noises without saying a single word. Neal felt Emma's eyes on him, and sighed in response.

"How did you two meet?" Neal blurted out the question.

Belle glanced at Rumple, he nodded slightly, giving his permission. "I made a deal with him." She answered simply.

Emma spit out her soup in shock, Belle hadn't mentioned anything about a deal. Emma had made a deal with Rumplestiltskin and she had hated every second of it, it was awful having that undefined favor dangling over her head. Neal also stiffened. Everyone looked at her, she wiped her mouth slowly. "That doesn't sound very romantic" She pointed out.

"No, it wasn't at first. There were bigger things happening than romance at the time." Belle answered calmly keeping a straight face, she indicated that Rumple should continue.

"I helped her father win the Ogre Wars. I didn't think I would fall for a princess at all. She was different from the others: brave, smart, and heroic. She saved her people," Rumple held his hand out for his dearest to hold.

"I bet you were afraid of him. He's not exactly easy to work with," Neal jumped in.

"I have never been afraid of him" Belle answered strongly, "I am able to see under the surface."

Emma had to be impressed with Belle's zeal, she had guts. "I should hope so, I would think it would be impossible to love someone who you're afraid of" Emma supported her, glancing at Rumplestiltskin's reaction to Neal's harsh words. What was Neal hoping to accomplish, getting his father angry wouldn't help. Though it might get us out of this dinner...mmm... he might be onto something, Emma realized.

Rumple shook his head in disapproval. All of this talk was going to get someone in a very bad place. If Bae or Emma wanted to play dirty, he'd fight back too.

"Where is Henry this evening?" Rumple asked off topic.

Emma felt hot all of a sudden. She shifted uncomfortably. She hated it when people butted into her parenting with Henry. Why did it matter where Henry was? "He is at Regina's tonight." Emma finally said.

"May I ask that we not talk about Regina at the table?" Rumple asked politely.

"What's so bad about Regina?" Neal turned towards his father.

"She and I have a past, that really isn't pretty." Belle said firmly, "Are you sure you want Henry to be hanging around her?"

"She is his mother, I can't do anything about it." Emma, was a bit shocked at Belle's quick dismissal of Regina, and angry that she had the audacity to tell her what to do with her own son. "What did she do to you, that could be that bad?" Emma immediately regretted her word choice, when she saw Rumplestiltskin's face.

"Well, for one thing, she locked my Belle up for twenty eight years. I had no idea she was beneath my feet. She deserves every moment of my pain that I suffered," Rumple gripped his cane tighter.

Emma was shocked, and glanced at Neal. He was looking at Belle with a completely new expression. "Sorry I didn't know, but how on earth was I supposed to know about that?" She retorted, though she felt a bit stupid. People ignored her outburst, well they're rude, everyone seemed to be focused on Neal. Emma really didn't understand why.

Belle could tell that Emma was embarrassed, but she had tried to avoid this line of conversation. It is never good to dwell on unpleasant topics. She looked at Neal, it seemed he wanted to say something.

"At least you were worried about someone. I'm glad that he has a caretaker. You can see that he's getting very old," Neal smiled at Belle.

He chuckled a bit after the comment and everyone joined him except Rumplestiltskin. His age was something he didn't like to speak about. Rumple looked to his dearest, who was laughing just as much.

"Oh, you want to talk about age? You're still a little more than a hundred years old, Bae," Rumple gave Neal that smirk.

Neal stopped laughing and looked to Emma for help. She stopped as well and just looked at her half empty bowl of soup. He looked around to see if he could get some backup, but no one offered any.

"At least he doesn't look old, Rumple." Belle said finally, lightening the mood, "Aren't you glad Emma?"

"Uh definitely" Emma smiled largely at Belle, she was beginning to see why everyone loved Belle, no one could stay angry at her. She knew how diffuse tension, something Emma wished she could do. Emma looked at Neal with a small smile creeping onto her face, "I don't think this would ever work if you were older... sorry honey."

"I guess we're lucky you didn't get pulled into the curse, Bae," Rumple told him.

"Will you please lighten up for a couple of minutes? You act like this is a funeral dinner. You're dressed like... I don't even know what to say. Do you know what a joke is, papa?" Neal asked him.

Rumple looked at his Belle, who eagerly nodded for him to answer. He was too lost in her eyes for a moment and zoned out. After a few seconds, he shook his head and turned back to Neal.

"Of course I know what a joke is, Bae. Don't be so judgemental. I like the suits. Belle seems to enjoy them too," he looked at his girlfriend and smirked.

"It's true, I dig the suit. I can't help but like nicely dressed people. I like to fancy that I dress nice as well." Belle admitted.

"I just remembered something, from when I was quite young. Papa, you know where I'm going," Neal grinned at his father.

"No, dearie, why don't you share it with us," he nodded his head.

"You are a bowl of soup," Neal pointed to his father.

Rumple smiled and couldn't help but force out a small laugh. He shook his head and looked at Belle. She seemed more confused than Emma was.

"No, you're the bowl of soup," Rumple pointed at him.

"No, Belle is the bowl of soup," Neal chuckled.

Belle was very confused, and she thought it could be seen clearly on her face. She glanced at Emma, to see if she got it. Emma had a bemused expression, which didn't help much.

"I'm sorry, what did you call me?" Belle asked.

"He called you a bowl of soup" Emma interjected, "And I think he is right, you do seem a bit soupy..."

"Emma, I'm sure you're a bowl of soup too. Your blonde hair...it reminds me of chicken noodle soup," he took a good look at her.

"How dare you!" Emma said in fake indignation.

"In all seriousness... you are the biggest bowl of soup, Bae," Rumple tried to close the argument.

"We must all be bowls of soup, then," Neal shrugged.

"Four bowls of soup." Belle said in a slight sing song voice, familiar to Rumplestiltskin's back in the enchanted forest.

"That is a pretty good impression, Belle, but I think I can beat all of you," Neal smiled at everyone.

"Oh, please no. Can this wait for another time?" Rumple groaned.

"Let's make a deal, dearie," Neal spoke in his father's impish voice. He moved his hands around the same way his father did. He giggled exactly like him, and everyone laughed. Rumple shook his head and hid away his face. He felt Belle's hand rub his back and looked up at her. He knew that look of hers. It meant that something had gone right and she was proud of him. What he thought was going to be a silent dinner, turned out to be an enjoyable evening with his son.