A/N: An inside look into the non-holiday Grandpapa!Gold verse! I wanted this to be sweet, but not sickeningly so. The kittens will definitely be making a reappearance in another fic, here soon. Enjoy!
Every so often, things are bound to go tits up and arse-over-teakettle backwards. So was the case with Mr. Gold and the missing jacket to the suit he had chosen to wear for the day.
No matter where he looked, or how hard he searched, he could find no sign of it having ever been in his home, save for the fact that he had the accompanying trousers that he'd purchased with it. It wasn't that he couldn't leave without it, considering he'd been dressed down at the shop several times before, but he didn't want to be. Not with so many people slowly coming in to get back the items that had previously belonged to them, in their old worlds. Sure, he could have easily chosen a different suit to wear, but he wanted to wear this one.
He wasn't entirely sure why he was so dead set on this particular one, but he simply knew he was. If he'd dug around in his head a bit more, he may have found the reasoning to be to impress someone he'd seen peeking in for the past week or so. But, he didn't. Doesn't do to think too hard on such frivolous things is what he told himself. Over and over.
It wasn't until he was at least an hour late in leaving that he realized he hadn't seen Jemima all morning. More so, he realized he'd also been losing other small, random pieces of clothing and linens all week. Jemima, his wee black tortie, was usually quite pleased to keep him company in the mornings; accompanying him about the house as he got ready to leave, even going so far as to head butt his leg as he was heading out the door, as if to say goodbye.
Holding still, in the hallway nearest to his bedroom, Gold perked his ears up and listened for any signs of the cat. Rather than hearing Jemima's usual cries, from being left alone for too long, he thought he detected smaller, weaker, higher pitched yowls. In multiples. All at once. Following the sounds, he found himself inside his bedroom. The sounds seemed to come from near the windows, that looked down onto the street, but, for the life of him, he couldn't quite identify where the sounds originated, until a particularly loud meowing noise directed his attention to the bottom of the armoire.
Completely unable to believe it, he saw the arm of his suit jacket just barely peeking out from underneath, along with what looked to be the edge of a black sock. It was a bit of a painful struggle, getting down onto his knees to look under, but the agitation to his knee was well worth the sight that awaited him.
There, wedged against the wall and corner of the armoire's leg, lay Jemima, nursing what he could count to be five wee kittens, that looked to just be a few hours old. Each of them seemed to match their mother, with what little coloration he could see, with so little light penetrating the area.
"So this is why you've been acting odd all week." Gold chuckled in surprised delight. Jemima raised her head to look at him and, had Gold not known better, smile. She was purring, and her tail moved about lazily, looking like she was a queen, sitting on the most comfortable throne ever made.
Pulling away and, carefully, standing back up, it was decided that today would be an off day. It was Saturday, and Gold knew one young fellow that would be delighted with the news of Jemima's motherhood. Thankful for the phone he'd placed into his room (something Henry had insisted on, after Emma had gotten hurt helping Jefferson with an odd errand, in the middle of the night), he sat down on the edge of the bed and dialed the number to the apartment that Emma had taken over from her mother.
It took a few rings, but the phone was answered soon enough, by just the person Gold had wanted to hear. "Hello?"
"Hey, Henry. Listen, I need you to come over. There's, ah... a bit of a surprise for you."
"A surprise?" Gold could practically hear Henry's anticipation, and desire, to bolt out the door. He did always seem to enjoy getting surprises from his grandparents.
"Aye. Actually, make that five surprises. Small, but precious none-the-less."
There was rattling, and the sounds of jumping, from the other end of the line. "I'll be there in less than 10 minutes." Then the line cut.
Oh, yes. The lad certainly would enjoy this surprise. His mother, on the other hand, may not like it as much. Soon, Gold knew Henry would want to claim one of them for himself, regardless of the fact that Emma was not too keen on keeping a pet in the apartment.
But, if it antagonized Emma, Gold decided he would gladly let the boy have all of them. Only so long as he got the story of it later on.