A/N: Sorry if this is unoriginal, but it was kinda based on an experience I went through, and it had to get out. So here ya go!
He felt out of place and uncomfortable among the pale pink streamers, the cooing women, and the half-drunk, celebratory, young men. The entire town had shown up out of true joy for the mother. Belle's true compassion for the inhabitants of Storybrooke far outweighed their reluctance to be in the presence of her husband's boorish behavior.
He had no idea of why he even came. It was torture, agony of the upmost degree, to watch her cradle that thing; that mutt that was produced when his disgusting DNA mingled with any part of her.
His feet started to carry him towards the door, unable to handle any more, when he spotted her trusting him holding the baby. Gaston, Gary in this world, tucked her in his arms all wrong. He sacrificed the support of her head for the ability to hold a beer in addition to her, and he held her too far from his body to achieve any stability when he laughed at one of his friends' crude jokes.
Inevitably, the child began to cry, and, once the crying had become too loud for Gary to ignore, he bounced and rocked his daughter too violently to be considered calming.
No child deserved that clumsy care, not even this hybrid of perfection and inferiority. Rushing over a little too fast to be considered careful or appropriate and ignoring all the pain it brought his bad knee, Gold found himself in front of the wretched father.
"Give her to me," he hissed in a voice that allowed for no contestation.
Gary heaved a sigh of relief as he all too eagerly pawned off his child to him. Gold immediately cradled the baby girl's head and tucked her neatly into his arms.
A cruel tug at his heart called him back to when he did this for his own child, his Bae, when he was first born.
His mind banished the painful memory the instant he looked into Belle's eyes.
No, he thought, shaking his head, the child's eyes…
He gazed down at the flawless, infant copy of his love. He spied no trace of the father in her, only the beautiful, captivating eyes of the mother. Upon further inspection, he noticed the beginnings of Belle's deep brown curls sprouting from her daughter's head. The child even stared back at him with the same unflinching determination as her mother once did in a previous life.
He found himself unable to suppress his satisfied grin at the outright absence of any of Gaston's qualities. His breath nearly stopped when the girl in his arms mimicked his smile before giggling at his shocked reaction.
"That's the first time she's done that," a surprised voice came from over his shoulder, bringing with it an intoxicating smell of roses.
Torn between gazing at the radiant, yet shocked face of the mother next to him and the truly happy child in his arms, he struggled to find his voice. "Done what?"
"Smiled," she replied, with one spreading on her face. "Out of all the people here, who would have expected you to be the one to teach her?" Her hand squeezed his shoulder lightly.
"Her name?" he asked, unable to tell if keeping Belle close or a newfound interest in the child motivated his question.
"Bailey," she said and wrinkled her nose. "Gary picked it out. I only consented because I get to call her Bae. I think that's a beautiful name for a child, don't you?"
He smiled down at the perfection in his arms, desperately trying to push back the agony in his chest.
"Yes," he nearly cooed. "Beautiful."
He stroked the baby's forehead as it giggled.
"Hello, Bae."
A/N: Did you like it? Let me know what you think! Please review, it takes two seconds, but leaves me happier for much longer.