Mr. Steven Gold laid in his bed thinking about his life. He knew that his days were probably numbered and there was no little he accomplished in life. Sure, he was successful, but what good was success with no one to share it with? He had had a wife, but she left him, he had had a son, but he left him as well when Steven had stupidly expressed his feelings for his girlfriend, now wife. Emma Swan was an orphan who had checked herself out of the system when she was sixteen. He never approved of her and that just made his son, Bae; want to be with her even more. He'll never forget the day when Bae told him to have a good life and walked out slamming the door behind him. He had tried to reconnect with his son but every time his finger hovered over the call button, it always went over to the end button. He was almost certain Bae wanted nothing to do with him. He didn't even know of Bae's son until he saw it in the paper and that broke his heart even more. His son didn't even want to tell him that he was grandfather. That was three years ago that he became a grandfather.
Bae sat at the desk in his study with his head in his hands. He squeezed his eyes shut tight to keep the tears at bay. He had just tried to call his father's shop and his assistant, Jefferson, picked up and informed Bae that his father hadn't been in the shops in months, not since he got sick. Bae had dropped the phone in shock and tried to deny it as much as he could. His father couldn't be sick, and certainly not sick enough to not be into work for months. If he was that sick, then that meant that he could die. No, he couldn't die. He couldn't afford to lose his father. He lost his mother to another man when he was very young, he couldn't lose his father to death. Sure, he was mad at him but that didn't mean that he didn't care about him. He was his father, he loved him.
"Bae, are you okay?" Emma asked coming into the office.
"No, I'm not." He said scrubbing his face with his hands. Emma came over and placed her hands on his shoulders.
"What's wrong?"
"It's my dad. He's sick, really sick. Jefferson said he hasn't been to the shop in months."
"That's not like your father. Why don't you go see him?"
"Emma, Jefferson told him about that. He didn't even tell me. He probably doesn't want to see me. I don't blame him; I was horrible to him when I left."
"You were angry. I'm sure he wants to see you. He probably didn't call you to tell you because he's probably thinking exactly what you're thinking, that you don't want to see or talk to him. Look, it's still early, go over there. Go see him."
"No, I can't." He got up and left the office leaving Emma to herself. She sighed and looked down at the desk. Since Gold never really approved of her, she hadn't spent a whole bunch of time at Bae's house before they got married. She found the address and put in the pocket of her jeans being sure to remember to go over to the house while Bae was working the next day. She left the office and went to start dinner for her family.
The next day Emma drove to the address she had taken from Bae's office. She looked back at her three old son, Henry.
"Henry, are you ready to see Daddy's daddy?"
"Yes Mama." She got Henry out of the car seat and held him.
"You remember not to touch anything right?" Henry nodded and continued to play with his dinosaur. She walked up the steps and realized she had no idea how to go about this. Winging it seemed to work so she decided on that. She remembered that Gold was sick and probably in bed so she prayed the door was unlocked. It was. She slowly went inside and closed the door. "Mr. Gold?" She called as she slowly went up the stairs. "Mr. Gold? It's me Emma."
"Last door on the left." She heard as a reply. She definitely wasn't expecting that. She went down the hall and slowly went into the dimly light room. "Could you flick the light on dearie, I can't do that at the moment." Emma flicked the light switch and the room was lit up.
"Bright Mama." Henry said from Emma's arms. Gold's eyes flicked over and saw his son's wife and his grandson.
"I know, I'm probably the last person you want to see…"
"No, no, it's… it's okay. I… I'm glad you're here." Emma nodded and gently set Henry on the floor. "Who's this young man?"
"This is Henry. Henry, do you want to tell Daddy's daddy how old you are?"
"Dis many." He said holding up three fingers. "Thee." Gold couldn't help but smile.
"It's very nice to meet you Henry." Emma went over to the curtains and opened them a bit. "Why?"
"Sunlight is good medicine. I'll be right back. Henry, don't touch anything." Emma left the room and Henry scrambled up onto a chair and continued to play with his dinosaur.
"What do have there m'boy?"
"Dinosaur. Grrrrr." Henry said making the dinosaur go towards Gold. Gold's heart leapt every time Henry went more than the width of the chair. The last thing he needed was for Henry to fall off the chair and him not be able to catch the child. Henry got down and went over to the bed. "Can you hold me?"
"I don't know Henry. I don't know if I can pick you up." Henry nodded and went over to the other side. He threw his dinosaur onto the bed and then grabbed the sheet and tried to pull himself up. Gold used what strength he had and moved over and helped Henry up on the bed.
"Thank you." He waited until Gold was comfortable again before taking his dinosaur and curling up to him.
"What are you doing?"
"Nap time. Shh. Go to sleep, you sick, you rest." Henry said snuggling into Gold's side. "You sleep and I give cuddles." Gold felt the sting of tears form in his eyes as he lay back against the pillows. To his surprise, he was out very soon, his arm draped over Henry. Before drifting asleep he heard,
"Do you think you can watch Grandpa for a while so Mama can clean up his house?" Grandpa? He liked the sound of that. Emma walked into the room but before she could say anything, Henry put his finger to his lips and pointed to Gold. Emma smiled and nodded to her son. She went over to bed.
"Do you think you can watch Grandpa for a while so Mama can clean up his house?" Henry nodded and laid his little head on Gold's chest. Gold's arm instinctively wrapped tighter around Henry. Emma kissed Henry's head before leaving the room. She returned about an hour later to find both of them asleep. She couldn't help but take a picture of them. She sat down in a plush chair and started to look through the ads for a nurse for her father-in-law. Emma was unemployed at the time so she could very well take care of him but he needed a certified nurse. She went through the ads when she came across a name. "No way." She pulled out her phone and went through it until she found the name she was looking for. She pressed 'call' and waited for the person to pick up.
"Emma! Hi, I haven't heard from you in a while."
"Yeah I know I wish this was a personal call but I found your ad in the paper."
"Oh no, is Bae sick?"
"No, no, Bae is fine, it's his dad. Apparently he fell ill some time ago and according to his assistant he hasn't been to the shop in months."
"Oh no, from what you've told me of him that doesn't sound like him."
"It's not. So anyway, I saw your ad and while I can do it for a while, I think it would be better if he had a certified nurse. I could pay you if he won't even though I think he will…"
"Emma." The callee cut her off, "Of course I'll do it, anything to help a friend."
"Oh my gosh, thank you. Thank you so much."
"No problem. Just give me the address and I'll be over in a few." Emma gave her friend the address and ended the call. She was so lucky she had found this person in the ads. Gold started to wake up and groaned when he felt weight on his chest. He looked down and saw Henry asleep on his chest. "Hey, is he hurting you? I'll move him if he is."
"No! Sorry, I mean no he's fine. It actually feels really nice to have a little boy near me again. Bae used to do this every time he fought naptime until he eventually would pass out in my arms." Emma smiled. "Thank you for coming over and bringing him."
"Well, Bae's too stubborn to admit he wants to call you. I know you didn't and probably still don't like me but I figured Henry should know his only grandfather."
"I thought you found your parents. There was a thing in the paper and everything."
"Frauds. Didn't realize that just because my husband's father is loaded doesn't mean I am."
"I'm sorry Emma. I truly am." Emma just shrugged it off. Gold could tell though it hurt her deeply. "Thank you for letting me know him."
"Of course. Listen, I called someone I know. She's a nurse and I think she could take care of you. So please for once swallow your pride and accept the help."
"I don't have to energy to argue over the help. Sure, I mean she can't make me worse."
"I'll even pay her if you don't want to."
"Of course I'll pay her. I know I'm a difficult man to love." Gold said looking down at Henry.
"I wouldn't say that. Henry is a pretty good judge of character." Emma said with a smile.
"Can I know this person's name though?" The doorbell rang and Emma got up to answer it. Before leaving the room, she turned back and smiled.
"Belle French."
