CHAPTER 2

Todd Manning heard crying. He never liked to hear crying from the women in his life, especially the littlest one. He, followed by his wife Blair, walked into the house's living room and saw Starr trying to soothe the tears falling from her daughter Hope's eyes. "What's the matter with Peanut?" he asked.

"Something sad happened on her show tonight," Starr said.

"Rumple had to kill the Peter Pan and he died too. And now, Belle is sad!" the little girl explained to her grandfather.

Todd wasn't sure he understood completely what he was being told, but he picked up his granddaughter and, sitting down with Starr and Blair on either side, rested her on his lap. "Belle was sad?" he asked, trying to get some measure of understanding from his daughter.

"Her show, Once Upon a Time?" Starr explained as if talking to a three year old. She quickly gave her father a rundown of the series. When she went on to explain about Rumplestiltskin, she said, "He's also the stand in for the Beast, as in Beauty and the Beast. Belle makes him a better man and sees the good in him when very few others do."

Now Todd understood. He turned to Hope. "Kind of like Grandma and I, huh?" he asked as he beamed to Blair. It seemed as though their family story could be told to the same outline of that particular fairy tale. "Hey, Hope, did you know, Great-Grandma Addie thought Grandma and I were like Belle and the Beast?"

The little girl shook her head, but her tears seemed to have stopped. She turned to Blair for confirmation.

"Yes, many years ago, she said Grandpa was like the Beast. Mama thought Grandpa would be hurt by that comparison," Blair explained "but she meant it as praise".

"Is it because of the line you have here?" Hope asked Todd, touching his scarred cheek.

Todd nodded, offering a small smile. "Well, partly. I was very mean and very angry when I was younger and a lot of people in Llanview were very afraid of me then. But your Great-Grandmother, she wasn't. She saw how much I loved her daughter and how because of that, I was really a good guy."

"And true love's kiss made you into a prince!" Hope exclaimed, seeing what her grandfather was saying.

"Well, not a prince, but a Lord," Todd cracked. Starr giggled and Blair stifled a chuckle but Hope didn't get the joke. "It took the love of a beauty woman, both inside and out, to complete the transformation."

Hope nodded sleepily, lulled by the story she was being told. "But Rumple went away. He died and I'm afraid Belle will be sad forever because of it."

"Well, I went away too," Todd said. "And your Grandma, and your Aunt Viki, they both thought had died too. And Grandma was very sad, but she still had something I gave her. You know who that was?" Todd asked. As Hope waited for the answer, Todd pointed to her mother. "Grandma was going to have a baby and that was her."

Starr smiled. "And soon, my Daddy came back and we all lived happily ever after!" Starr said.

"Well, it did take a long time to get there," Todd admitted to her. But when he turned back to Hope, the tike was sound asleep. Todd got up gently and carried her to bed, Starr following her. When they reached the room, Blair turned the bed down.

Once Hope was in her bed, Starr went to her room to finish up a lab and Todd and Blair returned to the living room. "Have you ever thought how scary it was that we are kind of patterned on Beauty and the Beast?" Todd asked.

"I don't know. It is romantic. This big, strong meanie who fell in love, not just with the fair maiden, but himself as well," she said.

"Blair, one thing I have never known you as was a fair maiden," Todd told her. "But, if you think of it, Viki is a good person for the part of Mrs. Potts."

"And while I may not have a scatterbrained father, Mama is quirky, just like Belle's parent," Blair said.

"And God knows there are plenty of people in Llanview for the roles of the angry villagers. I'm sure Bo and Nora would still gladly lead a pitchfork brigade to our front door," Todd said. Then a smiled appeared on his face. "And you do know who Gaston would be?"

Blair had a hefty suspicion whom would play that part but she asked anyway, "Who would be Gaston?"

"Max, of course!" Todd announced. Blair rolled her eyes and shook her head. To end the evil grin on Todd's face, she kissed him. Todd pulled her in closer, deepening it. When the broke apart at last, Todd said, "See, though, we finally reached it."

"And what is that?" she asked him.

"Well, you said to me once, weren't fairy tales supposed to have happy endings? Well, do you think we final got ours?" he asked her.

Blair made a show of thinking about it. It had been nearly twenty years since their romance had begun. It certainly didn't have the happiest of beginnings and there were more down times than up. But, after all they had been through, she came to one conclusion. "Yes, I think we have finally been blessed by some fairy godmother with our happily ever after."

She went in for another kiss, but Todd held her at bay. "Blair, I don't recall any fairy godmothers in that particular story. I think you're mixing them up."

Blair's eyes narrowed. "Oh, you!" she said, gently swatting him.

He smiled at her and kissed her again. "So, this show? What other fairytales does it include? Are there any naughty ones?"

"Why? Are you interesting in the more adult versions of the tales?" she asked sexily.

"Babe, I'm always interested in those kinds," he answered.

She smirked at him. "Well, sorry to burst your bubble, but it is produced by Disney," she told him. But, to lighten his disappointment, she said, "But I'm sure I can get creative with them myself," she teased as she took his hand and led him out of the room to the upstairs and their own bedroom.