Obviously I don't own any of the characters, and they all belong to the amazing writers of ONCE. Enjoy.

Chapter 1 - Counting Sheep

Milah didn't hate her husband, but she didn't love him. She pitied him more than anything, and the way he would share his small smiles and squeeze her hand in public when he wanted to tell her he loved her, but wanted her full attention first. He was a puppy of a man who was perfectly content to let her tell him what she wanted him to do and to do it without question. He was resilient, never letting anyone's harsh gazes or whispers get to him, although they always irked her to no end. He would tell her that it was fine and to never mind them, but she couldn't and she only got more angry when he tried to sooth her. And he was patient, always taking time to calm her down or to talk things through. It was terribly difficult to stay mad at him for long.

One trait she truly admired about him however was his determination. He could work and spin for hours on end, even going days without sleep to reach a quota of skeins to sell at market. He would eat while he worked, nearly pricking himself on the spindle to keep himself awake, and fight through any illness, injury, or distractions to put food on their table. She was thankful for that. He was not the man of her dreams by far, but he could provide, and that made him worth her trouble.

Sometimes while he would spin she would help keep him awake by sitting across from him and make him tell her stories. He understood why she would suddenly be so interested in his fabricated tall tales his "aunts" used to tell him as a boy, but he never spoke of it. Instead he would rhythmically spin yarn and spin tales. He told her of fantastical journeys he had never been on, but could tell of them like he'd been there. Stories of monsters and heroes and sights unlike any others. She did love him in those moments, the way his dark eyes would light up with wonder and his expressive face would smile and frown against his own accord. He would do voices, which was unnecessary, but not unappreciated. Milah would think about what a good father he would make in those moments, but for some reason a child never came.

She would grow tired long before him however, and sometimes she would go to bed, kissing him goodnight and wishing him luck with his spinning. He would come to bed only when his quota was reached, which sometimes didn't come until sunrise the next day.

This was one of those nights. She had long gone to bed when she was roused from a most peaceful slumber by her husbands lips kissing her forehead.

"I'm going to get some water from the well." he whispered to her, and then he was gone. She smiled and curled deeper into the skins and blankets that made their bed covers. They didn't have much, but Rumpelstiltskin always made sure she never went without the necessities. She listened for his return, but after waiting much longer than she expected to, she realized she couldn't hear anything that signified his safe return to their modest home. She forced herself out of bed and saw a very full basket of straw sitting beside the recently abandoned spinning wheel that took up a large space amongst their limited belongings.

She searched for him all around their house, then went to the well herself, but he was nowhere there either. Beginning to worry, she returned to their house and saw a bucket of water sitting by their door that she hadn't noticed. She stared at it, confused, then peeked back inside and called to him. There was no reply. She was worried now, very worried. He had obviously returned with the bucket of water, but now he was missing. She searched the property again, deciding to check their flock of sheep. If they'd been given hay, then he was probably just gone to the bakers or somewhere to get food and had forgotten to tell her. If they had not been fed- she could very well be a widow for all she knew.

Upon arriving at the crude gate that kept their sheep safe and close at night, she could see that there was a large congregation near the middle of the pen, where all the sheep had gathered, blocking her view of what they were crowded around. She climbed the gate rather ungracefully and cautiously made her way over to see what had attracted the sheep and caused them to clump together so oddly. Usually even when Rumpelstiltskin fed them, several of the older sheep ignored him and continued grazing as if he didn't even exist, but now every single animal was clustered together.

When she spotted the motionless boot, she came close to screams or maybe tears. Fear raced through her heart and set it thumping wildly. She crept closer, fearful of what she would see next. The boot revealed a leg, then another leg, and in the center of the cluster of sheep, the rest of her husbands body.

Sheep were crowded around him, several laying down, others standing and grazing on the hay he had brought in for them. His head was resting on the back of their oldest brown sheep, which laid calmly, looking strait ahead with its feet folded underneath it, looking like a loaf of bread. Tucked between his chest and his arm was the only lamb spring had given them, now covered in thick white wool. Laying over his other arm was their black sheep Rumpelstiltskin had bottle fed as a lamb, having been the runt and rejected by the rest of flock. The dark woolen sheep loved Milah's husband like he was it's father, but the jealous thing hated her, and usually tried to chase her away if she came to talk to Rumple while he was tending them in the field.

He was asleep. Fast asleep as he cuddled with his livestock, having passed out there while feeding the filthy creatures. She was angry that he had caused her such worry, and she scowled at him scoffing and kicking his foot harshly.

"Wake up you idiot you look ridiculous!" She scolded, leaning over him as he startled awake, spooking a few sheep and causing the black one to squint at her irritatedly. He blinked at her, then looked around, confused at where he had found himself.

"What-?" He paused, looking up at her like she could explain to him what had happened.

"What the hell am I doing out here?"

"You fell asleep with your animals silly." She scolded him playfully, taking his hand and helping him stand up.

"I'm sorry Milah, I'm just- so exhausted." He yawned.

"It's fine. I'll take the wool into market later today. You come inside and get some rest. I'd hate for my husband to fall asleep somewhere worse than the sheep pen." She chuckled. He smiled at her and leaned over to kiss her cheek lovingly.

"Thank you Milah. It won't happen again." He thanked, leaning his head down to her shoulder and entwining her fingers between his. Milah smiled too and helped him inside. No, she didn't hate her husband, but she didn't love him either.

God I hated Milah, but It's kinda fun to write her. Anyway, let me know what you think and I'll be getting the next chapter up soon. By the way I don't have a Beta so I apologize for any mistakes I missed. Please review because I love to hear from you and I haven't written anything in forever so I need to know if I'm not too rusty. Thanks again!