Hey everyone. I don't usually do holiday stories, but I felt this father/daughter duo deserve it. Happy Father's Day everyone!
Rose was sitting in the Dark Castle by herself once again. Rumple had just left for the day. She was in the Grand Hall drawing under the table with the new paints she got for her birthday the previous week. That got Rose thinking about her papa. She didn't know when his birthday was and he never told her when she asked. He always said he was so old, he didn't want to celebrate his birthday anymore. She couldn't understand this. A birthday was special, or at least that's what she picked up from how he made a big deal of hers.
She started to think more on this. Even if he didn't like his birthday, she still wanted to do something special for him like he did for her. He would always spend the entire day with her and give her anything she wished. It was impossible to know when he was going to leave the castle or stay in his tower. She couldn't spend the day with him with his unpredictable schedule. That didn't stop her from thinking of something special to do for him. What would he like?
She started with a picture. He always said how much he loved her drawings. She would paint a picture of the two of them with lots of colors. He would love that! A regular picture wouldn't be enough though. It needed to be bigger. She needed a large piece of paper or parchment. Where would she be able to find that? Maybe her papa had some in his tower, but she wasn't allowed up there. He said it was too dangerous. She then got an idea.
"Castle? Can I have a really big paper?" Above her in a purple cloud, a large paper appeared. It was about the size of the grand table in the room. It wasn't big enough. "Bigger!"
It stretched out to the size of the room. "Too big!"
It shrunk to half its size and covered half of the room. "That's good. Thank you."
The paper then fell to the floor. Not wanting to get her dress dirty, the three-year-old went up to her room and changed into one of her play dresses. She then grabbed all of her paint and went back to the Grand Hall. She grabbed the different paint brushes from the hall closet and a bucket of water from the garden. She then got to work on her picture. She used various greens, browns, and blacks to draw her papa. She used green, brown, pink, and red to draw herself. It took her almost two hours to draw them the way she wanted. She stepped back and admired her work.
"That's pretty, but it needs something." What could she add to it? While she thought, she took a break and ate a snack of strawberries on her blanket. She loved that blanket. Her papa made for her first birthday. It was very special to her. That's when she got an idea for her picture. Finishing up her snack, she grabbed a basket from the kitchen and went out to the garden.
Rumpelstiltskin returned to the Dark Castle extremely late. He got in a little snafu with the Evil Queen. Nothing the Dark One couldn't handle. His only concern was his daughter. He wasn't usually that late returning home. He hoped she didn't worry too much about him. He knew how nervous she got when he was later than he said. Considering how late it was, he guessed that she was already in bed. When he entered the Great Hall, he saw she was asleep on her blanket on the floor.
"Oh, Rose." He made his way over to her, but stopped short when he saw what was next to her. It was a large sheet of parchment with a painting on it. He could tell it was a picture of himself and Rose holding hands. Around them, there was a gold painted heart with one of each flower from the garden. He was amazed by it. Rose shifted in her sleep before slowly opening her eyes. She looked up and saw Rumple. She smiled and sat up.
"Papa! You're home!" He leaned down and lifted her into his arms.
"Yes, flower. Sorry I'm late. What's this?" He pointed to the large painting.
"I made it for you. You said you don't like your birthday, so I made this for Papa Day." He raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"Papa Day?"
"Yeah. I made it up. It's a day for Papa! Do you like it?" Rumple was lost for words. His three-year-old daughter went out of her way to make something so nice for him and even make up a holiday for him. He still marveled at how sweet and caring the child was. She was the complete opposite of him and he couldn't be happier. He hugged and kissed her.
"Of course, flower. I love it. I'll treasure it always." He waved a hand over it and it disappeared in a cloud of smoke. "I'll keep it in my tower so I'll be able to look at it everyday. It'll be a reminder of how wonderful of a daughter you are."
"Happy Papa Day, Papa." She hugged him and kissed his cheek.
"Thank you, flower."
Gold remembered that day. He never forgot the day his own child created a day especially for him. He never forgot the painting she made him. It was still in his tower. He cast a spell over it so it would last forever. That was then. Now that the curse was cast, they were now in Storybrooke where there was an actual Father's Day. All children would make cards or do something special for their fathers. There was also a Mother's Day that was a month before. Unfortunately, without Belle around, Lily wasn't able to do anything for that day.
"Daddy! Daddy!" He was brought from his thoughts by his daughter's voice. He pulled up in front of her school and she jumped in the car with him.
"How was your day, flower?"
"It was fun! We made cards and pictures for Father's Day!" She reached into her backpack and pulled out a sheet of paper. "I drew this for you!"
"Did you now?" He took the picture and froze when he saw it. It was a picture of himself and her holding hands. Around them was a golden heart with flowers drawn around it. It was almost exactly the same as the one she made for him in the Dark Castle. The colors were a bit different and there weren't real flowers, but it was almost exactly the same.
"Do you like it?" He smiled at her and kissed her forehead.
"Of course, flower. I love it. I'll treasure it always. I'll keep it in my office so I'll be able to look at it everyday. It'll be a reminder of how wonderful of a daughter you are." She smiled and giggled.
"Happy Father's Day, Daddy."
"Thank you, flower."
What you think? Leave a comment and no flames!
