A/N: Merry Christmas Eve! Here's chapter 3, the last party planning chapter before the Christmas Carol plot kicks into gear. Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: Once Upon A Time and all character's and familiar dialogue from the show belong to Disney/ABC and the show's brilliant creators and writers. No profit is being made from this just having fun with my favorite show. Christmas Carol is a Charles Dickens story, not mine :)

3

Tangled Lights, Tangled Family

Two days later, on the eve of Christmas Eve, Belle slowly made her way up the three flights of stairs in the compound down the street from Granny's that led to her stepson's apartment. After they were married, Belle had invited Balefire to come and live with her and Rumple, but he had politely declined, saying he did not want to get in their way of having a life together as newlyweds. Belle suspected it had more to do with the fact that he still resented his father for abandoning him all those years ago, and by the looks father and son constantly gave each other, she thought she was right.

When the brunette reached apartment 34C, she paused before reaching toward the buzzer. She and Bae were close, that much was true. So true, in fact, that she was the only one who could call him his given name without him flinching. His stepmother knew that her son struggled with coming to terms with any of his fairytale past, and the name only reminded him of what he had tried for so long to out run. That's why she was dreading having this particular talk. She had to tread light around such a sensitive subject and Belle knew that no matter how she posed the upcoming conversation, it would start out well. She could only hope Neal wouldn't kick her out the minute he learned the real nature of her visit.

Baring that happy thought in mind, she took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and pushed the buzzer.

"Hey, Mom," Neal smiled, opening the door wider once her realized who it was.

Belle smiled. Then she noticed his clothes and couldn't keep herself from giggling. His hair was sticking out in every direction and he wore smiley face boxer shorts with a Mickey Mouse t-shirt that was two sizes too big.

He looked down, suddenly embarrassed, "Yeah," he blushed, "Sorry about this…I, uh, wasn't expecting company,"

"I can't see that," Belle chuckled. Then she looked at him, "May I come in?"

"Sure," Neal looked surprised, but stepped aside so she could pass.

Belle walked in, stepping over piles of clothes on her way. When was the last time he cleaned?" she wondered.

"So, uh, don't take this the wrong way, but it's kinda weird that you're here," Neal said while sliding his hands into his pockets, the movement a nervous habit. "You don't usually come to my apartment… actually you never have," he said, wearing an awkward smile. "I don't really see you unless you're with Gold… got a bomb to drop?" he asked, half joking, half serious.

Belle shifted on semi clean chair she'd found to sit on, not able to meet his gaze. She didn't know how this was going to pan out, so she figured she might as well just say it, "What are you doing for Christmas?" she asked nervously.

Neal looked at her for a second, Uh oh he thought, here it comes.

He loved Belle, he really did, but this was the first Christmas he was actually excited about in the past…well he really didn't know how long. Just a nice, quiet holiday with his kid and… and Emma. They were on friendlier terms, for Henry's sake. Understandably though, she didn't fully trust him yet. Nonetheless, he was looking forward to December 25th. He wondered, only now, just what he might have roped himself into by inviting his stepmother in to chat.

"With any luck, spending the day with my kid… if Emma doesn't mind me crashing her Christmas," he said hopefully. "Why?" he asked, his forehead wrinkled in question.

"Well, uh, Henry noticed his grandpa...that is Rumple… he wants to have a party to cheer Rumple up and well, he'd really like it if you were there." Belle finally looked at him and shifted anxiously, waiting for his answer.

"A party, huh?" Neal questioned, while walking across the room, grabbing some dirty clothes along the way. "What kind of party?" he fought the urge to wince. This would be interesting. The Dark One didn't usually do parties, especially since, knowing Henry, this one was probably meant to be a surprise. But looking at Belle again, he smiled, because he knew his father would do anything for his wife and grandson. Not like he did for me a little voice in the back of his mind chirped, but he chose to ignore it. "I'm guessing he isn't planning it alone? Emma and her parents in on it?"

"Well, it's a um, Christmas party." the brunette looked around, wishing she had a task like laundry to distract her, "For the whole town actually. So yeah, they're in on it. What...what do you think? Will you come?"

Neal threw a pile of dirty clothes to the hamper before looking to Belle and saying, "Yeah, guess so… I mean that's where Henry will be, right? As long as Emma's okay with it." It was Christmas after all, so he might as well give it a shot. And it was the only way he could spend the day with his son soo… Guess I'm going a party, he thought ruefully.

Belle mentally, wiped her brow; this had been easier than she thought, "Thanks Bae," she said, crossing the room to give him a big hug, "Henry will be so happy you said yes." As will your father, she added, but decided to keep that thought to herself.

With a smile, Neal wrapped his arms around his stepmother. "Wouldn't miss another Christmas with my kid. Missed too many already… you sure Emma's okay with it?"

Belle hugged her stepson tighter, "Henry doesn't blame you for that," she assured him. "And yes, Emma is on board with whatever will make her son happy."

"Okay, well then I guess we'll all see each other at the party… should be interesting… seeing my father at a holiday party… it'll be a Christmas no one forgets," he joked, trying to make light of the situation. Trying to hide the fact that he didn't care all that much to spend the special day with the man who let him grow up an orphan

"It sure will be interesting," Belle released him from her grasp and gave him a thin smile. She saw right through his words, but he was willing to try. And that was a start, "See you on Christmas Bae," she smiled, walking backward toward the door.

"Yup," Neal agreed, a smile on his face as he shut the door behind her, "See you soon mom"

"How in the hell are these lights so tangled every freaking year?" Emma groaned in frustration, "They weren't this tangled when Mary Margaret put them away last year!"

Charming laughed, "Honestly? I have absolutely no idea."

It had been Emma's job to get the decorations, but apparently, Storybrooke Mary Margaret was a bit of a Christmas fanatic. They had an attic full of ornaments and other festive knick-knacks; way more than they would ever use in the apartment. She had helped Emma and David take a few boxes to town hall that morning. Henry had spent the winter soltice at Regina''s house and informed them the next day that his mom had agreed to both bake and book Town Hall for the party. That's where he was now, baking, as Regina insisted she needed all the help she could get. She wanted to do most of the baking the old fashioned way, magic free that is, so naturally her son dove right in when she asked for assistance.

Emma was happy for Henry; she knew just by the sound of his voice how glad he was to have Regina back in his life, for however long it lasted. Now she sat in the biggest room of the hall with her father, trying unsuccessfully to untangle a hopelessly knotted ball of Christmas tree lights, even bigger than the ones David had worked on in the house, to decorate the massive tree that Gepetto had brought as an unexpected contribution. Clearly Snow and Red had done their job, because the whole town was abuzz about the upcoming party.

"Arg!" she groaning throwing them down in frustration, "Why couldn't we just buy one of those fancy pre-lit trees? One of my foster families had one, and from the looks of it, it was much less work."

Her father abandoned the box of ornaments he'd been sorting and came to sit by her, "Mind if I try?"

"Knock yourself out," Emma said, relieved to thrust the yarn-like light ball into his hands. She didn't even notice his expression change. The way it always did when she talked about her other families.

Emma was bent over the box of ornaments, finishing the job he'd stopped in order to help her, when she heard David ask, "What was it like?"

The blonde paused, halfway bent down to pick up another ornament, to make sure she understood him. The question was barely a mumble, but she was pretty sure she knew what he meant. Aw shit she thought. She did not want to get into this. Instead, she tried to stall, "What was what like?" she asked, her back still turned toward him as she pretended to play dumb.

"Emma," Charming chided.

Even with her back turned, she could sense the eye roll he was giving her. Still, she did not acknowledge him.

Her father sighed, "Look, you don't have to tell me,"

Emma exhaled loudly, glad that he wasn't going to push her. That was the biggest difference between her parents -man that was still so weird to say, even in her head- Snow would push and push, desperately wanting to know much more than her daughter was ready to give. Most of their mother-daughter conversations usually let Emma either boiling angry that her mother had to know absolutely everything right that friggin' second, or raw and exposed, something she had no desire to be. David, on the other hand, understood that these things took time. Years of trust issues didn't just disappear over night. Se needed time to adjust, and he seemed to accept that. Better than his wife anyway.

"But we do want to know, ok? I want to know. It doesn't have to be now, but eventually… Even if it will hurt, I want to know what your life was like before…all this."

Emma groaned and finally turned around. Unfortunately, it looked like today was going to be one of those days where her father would do what she would call, "killing her with kindness". He would act like it wasn't a big deal, like it didn't matter if he knew just then, but something in his expression would make her tell him anyway. "Do we really have to do this now?" she huffed, slightly irritated.

Charming smirked. She was caught; hook, line, sinker, and he knew it. "If it would help, I could tell a story too," he suggested mildly.

Emma resisted the urge to grin. Was he really trying to tempt her with story time? It sure looked like it. The blonde would never give her father the satisfaction of knowing this, but she was as interested as knowing about his life as a prince- even if it was a fairytale to her- as he was to get to know her. She pretended to contemplate for a few minutes; not wanting him to know his tactic had worked. Her face betrayed her though, lips curling into a small smile when she huffed "Fine," acting like it was a big deal for her to accept his offer, "but you have to go first."

David's smile widened as Emma came to sit next to him, taking a smaller, slightly less tangled light ball and pulling it into her lap. "I think that can be arranged. What do you want to know?"

Hmm. What did she want to know? Emma thought, absentmindedly working a particularly difficult knock as her mind wondered. She knew she didn't want to go too deep, not at a time of year when everyone was supposed to be cheerful. She also knew that whatever question she chose to ask her father, she would only have to answer herself later, so she figured it best to think of the story she was going to tell before she divulged a question to David. After racking her brain for a good, less than depressing tale to tell- they were there for sure, but few and far between -she finally asked, "What's you're best Christmas memory from back home?"

Charming smiled, it was much more of a sentimental question than he'd expected from his usually tight-lipped daughter. He didn't know much about her yet, but he knew enough to figure out that the life they sentenced her to after he put her in that wardrobe had been far from the one she was supposed to have had as a princess. He knew it was hard for her to remember her past, so he was willing to take whatever she wanted to give.

"Alright then, lets see… well, we didn't really have Christmas back home, although, I think that might change if we ever go back, so mine isn't a specific memory, but more a holiday," he started.

"So, what did you guys do?"

"Well," Charming thought, "Our biggest celebration was the winter solstice. Every year on the twenty first of December there was a big party. Each village would set up a big tree in Town Square with all kinds of homemade ornaments and trinkets; almost the whole village would contribute somehow."

"Wow,"

David shook his head, "Yeah, it was pretty cool. And at night there was a big potluck dinner and dance in the village chapel. Everyone would spend the day at home, cooking delicious holiday foods- my mom made a pheasant stew that would have everyone salivating just thinking about it."

Emma scrunched her nose, "Pheasant, really?"

"Don't knock it til you try it sweetheart," he chuckled, seeming to pay no attention at the endearment that made the blonde take in a sharp, discomforted breath. "Anyway, all the kids would spend the day outside playing, if we were lucky, it would snow. And then later, everyone would get dressed up and head to the church for a night full of food, friends, and fun."

"It sounds like a blast," Emma admitted.

"It was. But the best part," her father continued, "was after the dance. The fairies would come light all the trees in pixie dust and-"

"Pixie dust? Why Pixie dust?" Then her eyes widened, "Wait…is that why Belle thought we were going to light the tree on fire? Cause oil in the lanterns from your land would burn the tree down?"

"Exactly," Charming laughed, "After the tree was lit, everyone would stand around it and sing holiday songs."

"You mean you guys went all Kumbaya around a tree?" Emma smirked. Her father shoved her.

"I know it sounds cheesy, but it was the best part of the holiday."

"Right." The blonde sniffed. Charming rolled his eyes as she got up to start stringing the tree with the lights she'd finally untangled, "Okay my turn," she sighed as David followed behind her with the ornaments.

"Yep," he stated matter of factly, but he kept his eyes trained on the tree, not wanted to pressure her too much.

"I guess my best Christmas was when I was about seven. I had just gotten my third set of foster parents, the Lynns," David tried not to cringe at that statement. "They had four other kids already, three adopted and one foster, so I figured it would be just like all the other places I'd stayed, I 'd just be one in a sea of kids, you know? But it was actually really nice. That was the first, -and only time until last year- that I got to bake Christmas cookies. Amy, my foster mom, said they had a family tradition, the two youngest, me and a boy named Cody, who was nine, got to bake cookies while the older two, the adopted twins Britney and Grace, would decorate the tree with Jason, my foster dad. Then the oldest kid, Andy, would put the star on top."

Charming smiled as he watched his daughter's face slowly light up as she described the scene.

"We had a big dinner on the 24th," she continued, smiling at her father, "and in the morning, we opened gifts. I got a few small things, which was unusual in it of itself, because usually I lived with so many other kids that we…" she watched her father's face droop and decided to just skip over that part, "Anyway," she said, clearing her throat as she finished stringing the last of the lights and picked up a few stray ornaments to put up, "they were also the family that gave me my red leather jacket."

David raised an eyebrow, "You got that jacket when you were seven?"

"Yeah," the blonde admitted, slightly sheepish. "Jason had a brown one that he always let me play with so… He got me a big one so I could grow into it and I've worn it ever since."

Her father wanted to ask watch had happened with them, why she had to leave, but he knew that would make her far too uncomfortable so instead he smiled, "That sounds like a wonderful Christmas, Emma."

"Yeah," she said wistfully, "it was."

They kept on decorating for awhile, settling into a not totally uncomfortable silence until Charming noticed something as they stepped back to admire the almost completed tree.

"We're going to run out of tinsel," he realized, looking at the half filled box and back at the twelve-foot tree.

"Does it really matter?" There was so much stuff covering it already, did they really need anything else?

"To me? Absolutely not. But to you're mother?"

The blonde shook her head ruefully, curls swinging, "I'll go see if Gold has some at his shop. That man has everything."

Her father smiled, "How bout this, you get the tinsel and I'll meet you back here in about twenty minutes with some of Granny's hot chocolate. Sound good?"

"Sounds perfect," she grinned before heading out, "See you in twenty."

Next time, Emma goes to find Gold, and things get a little rocky...