Rumple had begged her not to do it, thinking the young boy wouldn't agree to such a ridiculous notion, but as always, Belle knew better. She knew Henry wanted to spend more time with his grandfather which was why he decided to help work at the shop. When Rumple said that it was only to help Regina, Belle just smiled at him and asked him why Henry insisted on continuing to helping out.
"Rumple, it's not like this is going to end the world." She smiled.
Belle loved him dearly but sometimes her husband-she was still trying to get use to saying that after three weeks but she loved it every time-could be a little childish sometimes. Not that anyone would ever believe the Dark One to be childish.
"It might." He quipped.
"Well Henry will be here in a few moments, so we will just have to see."
Rumple smirked at his wife-was she really?- knowing he couldn't refuse her anything. And if Henry agreed, he was trapped to do the idea.
Seconds later the bell above the pawnshop door jingled and they turned to see the earlier mentioned boy enter.
"Hey," he smiled. He had gotten a text from Belle earlier to meet her and Rumple at the shop. He had quickly gotten her number into his phone after they got married since Henry thought it was safe to have all the family member's number for emergencies. He just hoped he didn't have to add Hook's anytime soon.
"Hello Henry. Me and Rumple-" Rumple tried to object but quickly shut his mouth when Belle gave a quick glance towards him. "were wanting to know if you wanted to have dinner with us tomorrow night. You can think about it if you'd like."
He didn't need to.
"Sure." He smiled big. He had been wanting to do something like that for a while, but wasn't sure how to bring it up without it being awkward. Leave it to Belle to make the bold step. Now he just had to make sure of one thing.
"But you mean just us three, right?"
Rumple's ears perked and he inwardly groaned. That meant the rest of his family were going to barge in to make sure he wouldn't hurt Henry. Not that it would ever happen.
"Yes," Belle slightly hesitated. "Is that okay?"
By the tone of her voice, Rumple was ready to speak up in case Henry said no. Although he wasn't keen on the idea, it made Belle happy and he wasn't going to let the stupid Charmings intervene on that. But to his relief the boy happily agreed.
"Of course! I was kinda wanting to just hang out with you two for a while actually. It's getting a little too crazy at the loft."
Belle laughed. "Great. Just let your family know-"
"Or not." Rumple 'joked' behind her.
"And you can come by tomorrow around five? Or one of us can pick you up."
"Great."
Rumple's heart swelled with joy to see his wife and grandson both smiling wide at him. It was clear that Henry really liked Belle and to hear him actually agree to having dinner with just the two of them, and no family buffer, made him feel something he hadn't for centuries. A sense of family. But he had an even stranger feeling that this was just the beginning of it.
Henry eventually had his mom Emma take him to the Gold's, after a slightly heated argument about him being around Gold alone. He had to pull out the family card before she finally agreed. Of course, it was a little tough because he also was dealing with his other mom at the same time. A small part of Henry wondered if it wasn't just Gold that Regina didn't like, but Belle. Which really hurt him because Belle was one of the nicest people he had ever met and she was beyond cool. Although he would never tell Grandma Snow, Belle was a lot more cooler than his archer grandmother. Perhaps it had something to do with falling in love with one of the most powerful sorcerers in all the realm, and actually being his True Love. Because that was pretty epic.
After Emma dropped him off he ran up to the pink mansion and rang the door bell. When he asked about it once, his grandpa-Mr. Gold at the time-had said that it was his mother's cruel sense of humor to give the Dark One a pink house; which was why he always referred to it as 'salmon'.
While waiting for the door, Henry took a quick look at the house from top to bottom and side to side.
"It's pink." He joked.
When the door opened he was met with Belle and he couldn't help but smile back. She let him in and they quickly settled at the table.
"I hope your family wasn't too upset with you coming here."
"I did have to argue a bit, but I know how to work my moms. I just say the right thing and they both eventually cave. They can't deny me anything."
Belle chuckled at Henry's big smile.. "I guess manipulation runs in the family."
"We better be careful with this one." Gold joked.
They laughed. Henry reached for the food and began to fill his plate. There was a slight awkwardness in the air. He could tell that his grandpa was nervous about him being here-which was odd because he had never seen Gold in such a state-and truthfully, he was a little nervous too. He quickly realized that he had no idea what to talk about.
Maybe I should have come up with something to talk about before I came here.
To both the boy's relief, Belle once again took the lead.
"So how is school going?"
Henry perked up. "Good. It's a little hard to do homework after you're kidnap to another island and than spend a year living a whole other life."
It wasn't the best joke but he forced himself to laugh to help lighten things up before quickly continuing.
"But Grandma Snow is helping out. I think things are finally settling around here. It's been three weeks without some villain popping up so I guess that's new."
"We should wait before we place that on the record."
Henry laughed at his grandpa's joke. Although he figured it was in all seriousness.
"So how are Snow and David dealing with the new baby?" Belle asked.
"Okay I guess. I mean, they are freaking out a little."
"How so?"
Henry took a bit of mashed potatoes. "Well, after what happened with mom, I think they are both paranoid."
"They have the right."
"I guess so. Especially after what Zelena did-"
Henry drew out the last word, quickly realizing his mistake halfway through the sentence. He had quickly learned when he got his memories back that the Wicked Witch had kept Gold for a year and although his family tried to hide some facts, some of the dwarves had let it slip around him that he was kept in a cage like an animal. He tried not to remember Grumpy mentioning how his grandfather deserved it or Ella and her husband mentioning how they had him locked up once. He had read the book over many times, and although back then he didn't feel any remorse for the Dark One, it was a little different knowing it was your grandfather. And than to learn why he really took on the curse.
Henry wanted to slap himself on his head. That story was in the book as well and hearing Zelena's name was probably bringing up some bad memories for his grandpa. He quickly changed to another subject when he realized Belle was watching her husband in the corner of her eye while he just played with his food.
"So how is the library going?" He sat up and looked at Belle. She quickly took his cue and tried to act interested as well.
"It's going pretty good."
She didn't continue when Gold started to chuckle next to them. They looked at him confused until he stopped and took a breath, looking back at the two.
"You two don't have to walk on eggshells around me. I'm fine."
It was all he said and Belle and Henry looked at each other, silently agreeing that he was okay. Though after another look at Belle while she was glancing at her husband, Henry felt that there was still something else there, but he knew not to pry too much. He might be a kid and really wanting to be in the loop, but after everything he had already heard he knew it wasn't the best dinner conversation.
"So I read my book multiple times-"
"I would have thought you had that memorized by now."
Henry playfully glared at his grandfather while Gold just smiled back.
"I know the story, but I was wondering if you could tell me yourself."
Belle looked up from the food, slightly confused. That made Gold smile fondly as he understood what Henry meant. But Belle was smart so it wasn't long until she caught on too.
"Oh, you mean...our story?"
Henry smiled. "Yeah."
"Well.." Belle hesitated, which confused her husband even more. She never hesitated when it came to a story, particularly theirs. Then he realized that Belle had never actually told anyone in town their story, because no one ever wanted to know. Not even her 'friend' Ruby asked how she met the Dark One because everyone was afraid to hear how he drag her away from her home. Which was undoubtedly what her father had probably spread around town when the curse broke and she was free. So Rumple decided to take the lead for the first time.
"Have you read about the Ogre Wars?"
"Yeah." Henry answered his grandfather.
"Well this was during the Fourth Ogre Wars."
"Fourth?!"
"Yes. Avonlea was just another small kingdom being terrorized by them."
"Avonlea. That's where you were from, right?" He looked towards Belle.
"Yes." She smiled. "My father had arranged a marriage between me and Gaston to get more armies to fight the ogres."
"But ogres are not men." Rumple replied in a sing-song voice that Henry had never heard before.
He glanced at Belle who simply shook her head to signal to leave that particular matter alone.
Zelena.
"Wait, Gaston? He's in the movie but he's not in the book."
"Movie?"
"The Beauty and the Beast? From Disney?"
Belle continued to look at the boy confused, as if she had never heard about it. Henry looked towards his grandfather because he knew Gold knew about it because of the curse. Realizing the sorcerer was trying to avoid looking at the two, Henry began to get a mischievous thought.
He gave a Chesire Cat grin. "Alright, so we're watching that next time."
The two laughed at Gold's groan, knowing he was outnumbered by the only two people in all the realms who he couldn't deny. And they knew that.
Belle sipped her sweet tea as she continued the story. "Well, Avonlea had just fallen on the battlefield..."
The dinner went on with Belle telling Henry their story as Gold simply listened. Henry smiled at her when she blushed as she talked about the curtains. He had gotten away from the loft to escape all the flirting and although he heard Regina complain about Gold and Belle being tactile-whatever that meant-Henry could see that their love was True. It was genuine and it seemed that they were still falling in love, which he just found fascinating and awesome. He lit up when Belle showed him the chipped cup and he promptly named it Chip. He mentioned that the cup was also in the movie which made Belle more definite on watching the movie.
After a few more hours of stories and Henry helping with the dishes because Grandma Snow had reminded him before he left to be polite, he called Emma to come and pick him up. He hugged his grandparents and said goodbye. Though Belle did sharply mention to call her Belle rather than grandma, which Gold laughed at.
"How did it go kid?" Emma asked next to him as she drove him home.
"It went great. Did you Chip actually exist?"
"Chip? Oh, you mean from the movie?"
"Yeah." Henry just kept smiling. "We're going to watch that next time."
"I would pay to see Gold watch a Disney movie. Particularly that one."
Henry laughed as he thought about his family and made a mental note to add Belle to the family tree.
Alright! So I had gotten done reading the Rumbelle fic 'Fair' on some tumblr page and I was fascinated by little Henry's reaction to Belle. I thought it was cute and although he's not a little kid in this, I was wanting some more interacting with them. So I decided to do a little challenge. For one week, I will upload a fic with Henry hanging around the Gold's, particularly Belle.
Here's a few things you need to know about the Henry and Golds Challenge. It will be AU and begin after Season 3, before the crap storm of Season 4 and 5. So there is no deception dagger, no Snow Queen, no Queen of Darkness, no Camelot, and no UW. However, there will be a baby fic (or two) later. These seven one-shot fics (plus a bonus chapter) will be in chronological order (meaning it's in order of time). There will also be a little hint in each one about what the next one-shot will be about.
I think this one is obvious. ;)
I also already have all the ideas for the one-shots so I won't be taking any other ideas or prompts. Sorry. But you are free to make your own challenge and I will read it. Just let me know in PM so I can know to look for it.
Please let me know what you think and Review. They really really help writers feel better :)
