Gold walked down the school hallway with his little girl's hand in his. He didn't like this. Not at all.
"This is a bad idea," he said. "She's only three."
Belle glanced at him over Holly's head with narrowed eyes. "It's preschool, Rumple," she told him, "and she's going."
Gold gestured around him. "This place is festering with germs. She's going to get sick."
His wife was unfazed. "Very likely, at some point."
"Who is this teacher, anyway? How do you know she can be trusted to look after Holly?"
Belle was ready for this question, too. "Her name is Miss Summers, she used to be a fairy, and Ashley says she was wonderful when she taught Alexandra two years ago."
Gold scowled, but he knew that any argument against the fairies or the source of her reference would not go over well. He tried a different tack. "You know this is just a glorified babysitting service," he said. "We don't need it. We can take care of her just fine at home."
"Rumplestiltskin." Belle stopped walking, forcing him to stop, too. The door they stood in front of said "PRESCHOOL" in big, cartoon letters. "Enough. This will be good for her. She'll make friends. She'll have fun. Don't you want her to have that?"
Gold looked at her, stymied. Leave it to Belle to make him feel guilty about wanting to protect his little girl.
Holly tugged on his arm, and he looked down. "Papa," Holly said, "I want go school."
Gold opened his mouth, then closed it.
Belle gave him a triumphant look and pushed open the door.
Little Holly gaped for a moment at the sight before her – play centers on every wall, shelves full of toys, children everywhere having the time of their lives. Her grip on Gold's hand tightened. "Ooh, Papa," she said. "Look! Dess-up costumes."
The teacher looked up at them and smiled. Gold gave her credit, her smile only faltered slightly when her eyes fell on him. She waved at them. "Hello, Holly! Come on, let's get your backpack off."
And just like that, his baby girl dropped his hand and toddled off toward this fairy, calling, "Bye bye!" as she went. He watched her walk away, looking entirely too old in her little red backpack, reaching up to give this stranger a hug with a trust that she certainly hadn't learned from him.
Wasn't it just yesterday he'd been changing her diapers? Wasn't it only a week ago he'd been teaching her to walk? Wasn't it just last month they'd brought their perfect little bundle home from the hospital, tiny and completely helpless?
"I'm just going to have a word with Miss Summers," Gold muttered, taking a step forward.
"Oh, no, you don't!" Belle grabbed his hand. "The last thing Holly needs is you threatening her teacher."
"I wouldn't call it threatening—"
"Well, I would. And we're leaving." She raised her voice. "Goodbye, Holly! We'll pick you up after preschool!"
Holly barely spared them a wave.
And then Belle had pulled him out of the room, and the door shut behind them.
Gold turned to her. "I still don't like it, Belle. She's too young. You know no one will—"
He stopped. Belle was crying. A single tear slid down her cheek.
Immediately he pulled her into his arms. "Belle, my love. What is it?"
"Oh, what do you think? Honestly, Rumple, this isn't all about you. My little baby is off to her first day of school. Of course I'm emotional. Do you think it's easy for me to let go?"
He had thought that, actually. She'd been so adamant about Holly attending preschool, it hadn't occurred to him that she might be as miserable as he was. He stroked her cheek. This was something he could fix. "That's fine, love. We'll go in there and get her. We can take her home right now."
"No!" Belle shook her head. "We can't take her home. Don't you understand? She needs this. She doesn't have any friends her own age, and her speech is delayed. The school will help her."
Gold scoffed. "Her speech is just fine. She's only three. She just needs time."
"Rumple." Belle took both his hands in hers. "You saw how happy she was just a minute ago. Are you honestly going to take that away from her now?"
He wanted to say he would. He wanted to whisk her away to their home where he could keep her safe. But Belle's words hit him hard. He couldn't forget the look of sheer joy on Holly's face when she stepped into that preschool room. There was no way he could walk back in there and take her out.
Gold sighed. "So what do we do now?"
Belle wiped away another tear and leaned forward to press a kiss to his lips. "Let's go get coffee and wait for this infernal preschool day to be over."