Rumplestiltskin stood up and stretched, moving his shoulders around to get the kinks out from sitting at his spinning wheel. Grabbing his walking stick, he went outside to check on his son Baelfire. He stopped at the door, letting his eyes adjust to the sunlight. He had lost all track of time, like he usually did when he was spinning, no wonder he was so stiff. He heard Bae's laughter coming from behind the little house, and smiled. When he made his way around the house, Rumplestiltskin saw Bae talking to another boy and a young woman. As he approached them, the woman turned around to look at him. She was the most beautiful creature he had ever laid eyes on, Rumplestiltskin thought. She gave him a dazzling smile; her lovely blue eyes sparkled like sunlight reflecting off a running brook.
"Who are you friends, son?" he asked Bae, unable to meet the woman's gaze.
"This is Erik," Bae replied, "And this is his sister, Belle. Erik, Belle, Rumplestiltskin, my father."
"Hello, Erik. Belle," Rumplestiltskin managed to whisper. He looked at Erik, but he felt Belle's eyes upon him.
"It's nice to meet you," Belle said, "Our family just bought the farm about a half mile down the road. Baelfire tells me you spin wool. I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot of each other."
Rumplestiltskin was dumbstruck. Damn me for a coward! He thought to himself. He finally managed to smile and say, "Yes, I hope so." He looked at Belle, for a second. Her beauty struck him again like a bolt of lightening. She stuck her hand out to him, and Rumplestiltskin took it, positive that his own was positively slimy with sweat. If it was, she didn't let on that it bothered her.
"We have to get home to supper now," Belle told him, "But you and Bae are welcome at our farm anytime. Erik and your son seem to have become fast friends. Come along, Erik."
"Goodbye, Belle." Rumplestiltskin whispered.
"See you, Erik. 'Bye, Belle!" Bae called out. He turned to his father. "Papa, I like her."
"So do I, son," Rumplestiltskin said, ruffling his son's hair. "Come on. Let's get supper."
As the weeks went by, Erik and Baelfire became best friends, which meant they saw a lot of his big sister as well. Rumplestiltskin had never met a woman like Belle, ever. He had cared deeply for his wife, Milah, but she was an angry, difficult woman. She'd turned on him when he broke his own leg to avoid being killed in the Ogres War, and she seemed unable or unwilling to understand that he had done it to save her and their son from being left to make their way in the world alone. She was bitterly disappointed in him, and never let him forget that. Over the next several years, she had crushed his spirit with her words and her actions, until Rumplestiltskin didn't have any spirit or self-worth left. Then, about five years ago, she had suddenly disappeared, and they had never heard from her again. Trying to be father and mother to his son was hard, but Baelfire was his whole world, and he adored him, and Bae was the only person who cared at all about him. However, Belle seemed to see past the cowardly cripple everyone else looked down on. She saw his kindness and gentleness, what a caring father he was. She was the type of person who saw something fine and good in most everyone, and she brought out the best in people.
One beautiful day in spring, Belle and Rumplestiltskin decided to take the boys on a picnic by the river. As Bae and Erik tried to skip stones across the water, Rumplestiltskin and Belle stretched out under a tree on a blanket. Belle, as always, had a book in her hands. Today, it was Shakespeare's sonnets.
"Will you read some to me out loud, please, Belle?" Rumplestiltskin asked.
Belle just smiled and turned to one of her favorites.
"Let me not to the marriage of true minds admit impediment. Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds, nor bends with the remover to remove. Oh, no, it is an ever-fixed mark, which looks upon tempest and is never shaken. It is a star to every wandering bark, whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken. Love's not time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks within his bending sickle's compass come….
Here Belle paused to take a breath, and looking into Rumplestiltskin's eyes, she continued, never taking her eyes from his.
"Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, but bears it out, even to the edge of doom. If this be error, and upon me proved, I never writ, nor no man ever loved."
Rumplestiltskin smiled. "Thank you, Belle." He lay down on the blanket and closed his eyes. Suddenly, he became aware that Belle was lying beside him. She put her hand in his, and, snuggling closer, rested her head on his shoulder. They lay together, not sleeping, not speaking, and simply listening to the sounds of the birds singing, the wind in the trees, the rushing water, and the boys' laughter.
End of chapter 1. Review to get more!