Only Teardrops
Chapter 8: A Home Away From Home
Henry and I both walked outside holding boxes in our hands. These were the last couple boxes we had to remove from our New York City apartment. Today was the day we were leaving back to Storybrooke for good. The last few months had been exciting yet stressful. When in New York I was always on the lookout for more messengers and while in Storybrooke my ass was being kicked in magic lessons. Either way at least in Storybrooke I would no longer have to look over my shoulder constantly. I handed my last box to Emma who put it in the back of Regina's car since the bug was already full. Emma and Regina had come down last week for Henry's graduation and to help us move. There was one last thing left that I needed to get. I went upstairs into our hollow apartment and grabbed a black garment bag from the bed. I held it tightly as I made my way down and sat in the passenger seat of the bug. This bag contained my wedding dress. Henry smiled at me as he started the car.
Coming into town we had been instructed to follow Emma and Regina. We had no idea why we had to follow them and where we were going. We then stopped in front of the building that houses the Charming/Swan families. They all shared a pretty cramped apartment, but did so happily. Emma and Regina got out of the car and we did so also. We followed them into the building and to Snow's apartment. Emma opened the door. It looked completely different from when we last saw it. All of the furniture was different.
"Surprise!" Emma said happily as Henry and I looked around confused.
"Surprise?" Henry asked.
"This is you guy's new place." Emma said.
"This is your place with your parents, Hook, and Violet." Henry said.
"Not anymore." Emma said. "You know across town that that old lot that the dwarfs were doing construction at?" Henry just nodded. "Now there are two houses there. Killian, Violet, and I live in one while My parents and brother live in the other. We all moved out of here last month and Snow re-decorated the whole place for you guys."
"Wow…this is amazing." I said happily.
"I told you that we would find you an acceptable place to live." Regina said giving the two of us a smile.
"Thank you both so much." I said before giving each of them a hug.
"Let's get the cars unpacked then." Emma said.
I sat alone in the library. I had found an old book buried away. It was filled with magic spells and a world of information. I was lost in this book. I didn't hear that someone had come in and was standing near. I then heard the clearing of a throat and looked over to see Belle. She gave me a kind smile before coming to my table and sitting with me. I'd spent so much time here. Henry had gotten a job working at City Hall. When not in magic lessons I was left alone to do what I pleased and I preferred to spend my time at the library. Belle had been kind enough to give me a key to come in when I wanted.
"Hello Belle." I said as I closed the book.
"I thought I would find you here." Belle said.
"Always." I laughed.
"Well I was thinking. I spend most of my time at the shop and little time here. You are here often. I was thinking that I could hire you. Be my Assistant Librarian if you'd like." She said happily. I was suddenly filled with excitement. I hadn't expected this at all.
"Yes I'd love that!" I said cheerfully.
"Fantastic. You already have a key so I think you are set." She said as she stood. "Sorry I must hurry back to the shop, but thank you so much."
"No Thank you!" I said before she left.
Finishing up at the library I looked the doors behind me. I was running late to a magic lesson with Emma and Regina. I jogged towards the cemetery. I was out of breath when I got there. I saw both Emma and Regina standing around waiting for me. I felt guilty for spending so much time at the library and not focusing on my magic. Since moving here I felt a lack in motivation. Before I was so motivated to soak up all the knowledge I could, but I found myself getting comfortable here and comfortable in this new life. For the last five years I hated where I was in life. I was in a state of limbo without any direction as I waited, but now I felt like this was where I was supposed to be. Though I still wanted to know my family's fate I just didn't want to jeopardize what I had here. I was incredibly happy and in love.
"You're late." Regina said.
"Yeah sorry." I said as I reached the two women. "I was in the library, but you will be proud of me. I learned something."
"Really you learned something in a library?" Regina said sarcastically.
"Yes I did." I said smugly. Suddenly there I was standing next to myself. Then I stood across a the cemetery from two of myself. Then I was back to just one of myself standing on front of them.
"I'm impressed." Emma said giving me a clap.
"Where did you learn that?" Regina asked.
"A book I found in the library." I said proudly.
"Gabrielle!" a voice called out. I turned to see Mother Superior making her way towards us. She had a look of concern on her face. I knew it wasn't good at all.
"Hello Mother Superior." Regina said.
"Hello all. Gabrielle I knew I would find you here. I've run into an issue with the Teardrops. It turns out they are much more difficult to make in this world. I still think it is possible, but will take double the time." Mother Superior explained.
"Double?" I questioned.
"Yes I'm sorry, but I don't think they will be ready until May or June." She said with a frown.
"Don't be sorry. It isn't your fault." I said trying to not feel disappointment in my voice.
"I will keep you updated." She said. I simply nodded. "See you around." She left the three of us standing there. I was so confused because as much as I had become comfortable with being here and all I was now so disappointed that finding out my family's fate would be delayed. I was so torn that it physically hurt.
"I know you planned on going soon." Emma said. I looked up at her. "I know you wanted to go before the wedding. Does this mean you will postpone the wedding?"
"I don't….I don't know." I said feeling a lump in my throat. I wanted to make this journey badly now, but at the same time I didn't want to delay my marriage to Henry. "I will have to talk to Henry."
"We will cancel the lesson for today." Regina said kindly. I looked up at her and she gave me a weak smile. "It was our last before Christmas anyway so we can all get ready for the festivities."
"Would you like a ride home?" Emma asked me.
"Yes please." I answered.
I sat at home alone. I just kept going back and forth in my mind about this. I wanted to marry Henry so badly, but at the same time I now wanted to go home more than ever. I needed answers; I needed to know. I hated feeling this way, on the fence. I wanted to be 100 percent sure of my decision and right now I was flopping back and forth without any clear direction. I sat looking out of the window onto the snowy street. I could see the lights of our Christmas tree flickering on the glass of the window. I heard a key enter the front door. I turned as the door opened and Henry walked inside. He sat his bag down by the door and gave me a smile. He came to my spot and wrapped his arms around me. There were no words as we stood there in total silence just hearing the sounds of our breathing and heartbeats.
"How was your day?" I asked softly. He kissed my forehead before looking down at me.
"It was good." He answered.
"I made you some hot cocoa. Cinnamon and all." I said as I motioned to the kitchen counter.
"You know me well." He said.
"I try." I answered as I walked with him into the kitchen. We both sat down and he sipped his cocoa. I didn't know where to start. He just kept looking at me. I knew that he knew something was up. I nervously bit my lip.
"What's wrong?" he then asked as he placed his hand on mine.
"It's a mixture of good and bad. I guess I will start with the good… I have a job." I said happily with a smile. That was something I was proud of.
"That's amazing sweetie. Where?" he asked.
"The library. I'm Assistant Librarian." I said smiling at him as he smiled back at me. It was obvious that he was very happy for me. "Well the bad news now. Mother Superior sought me out today. She says the Teardrops will take twice as long so they won't be ready until May or June. I am not confused about what to do because I wanted to go before we were married, but now. May or June is much later and our wedding is planned for March. I don't know what to do."
"Well what do you want to do?" he asked me.
"Truthfully I am on the fence, but I am leaning towards not postponing the wedding and still getting married in March. I feel like in the end we still belong together and there is no point on postponing. What do you want to do?" I said looking at him. He gave me a smile and held onto my hand tighter.
"I want to do whatever you want." He said at once. "You are my everything and my true love. You mean the world to me. Whatever makes you happy makes me happy. I will be by your side no matter the decision. If you wanted to postpone I would be supportive though without a doubt I want to marry you and spend my life with you and I would rather do so when we planned." He pulled me close to him. I couldn't help, but smile before my lips met his. I felt so strongly about this and about him. My stomach did flips whenever he kissed me this way. It was all what I needed; he was all that I needed.
I awoke. My body was cold. I could feel warmth next to me. I moved myself closer to that warmth, closer to Henry. I felt his arm loop around my naked body. I smiled against his chest as he pulled me close to him. I could feel his hand roaming up and down my bareback. It was so peaceful. I fully opened my eyes. I could see out of the closet window. The snow was falling silently. I then moved to where I was looking up at Henry, he looked down at me. A huge smile spread across his face. I moved so that I could kiss him. He kissed me back quickly.
"Merry Christmas." He said softly to me.
"Merry Christmas." I whispered against his lips before kissing him again. I just wanted to lie here all day with him. I felt like I didn't have a care in the world in this moment. It was absolutely perfect.
"We should start getting ready." He said. I let out a groan. I didn't want to get out of bed.
"Why?" I whined.
"We have brunch with the Charming/Swan clan and then we are heading to my mom's for dinner." Henry said.
"I know." I said with a sigh. Maybe next Christmas we could spend our time absolutely alone with no cares in the world.
Here we were unloading gifts from our car in front of the Charming House. I gave Henry the last bag of gifts before I closed the door. The two of us made our way towards the house. Before we were even on the first stair the door flew open. Prince Neal stood happily at the door jumping up and down in excitement. David then greeted us and took some of the boxes and bags out of our hands.
"Merry Christmas!" David said as we made our way into the house.
"Merry Christmas!" Henry and I said together as we sat down what we had and began to take off our coats and hang them up.
"The lovebirds are finally here." David announced as we all walked into the sitting room where everyone was waiting.
"Oh David leave them alone. There was once a time where we were like that too. Late to everything only because we wanted to steal a few moments alone. Being young and in love is a beautiful thing." Snow said as she came over to us. She hugged me first before hugging Henry.
"Can we open gifts now?" Neal asked.
"Yes we can." Snow said.
We all sat in the sitting room opening gifts. Henry and I mainly invested into the kids of the family. Neal and Violet made out very well with gifts from us. We had others waiting in the car for Roland and Harry. I sat sipping a cup of tea when Snow came to me with a final gift. She handed it to me. It was a square box. I looked at her and she gave me a nod. I opened the box and inside there was a beautiful and elaborate silver and diamond necklace. I picked it up and held it up. I saw everyone's eyes go to the necklace.
"I was poking around Gold's shop and I found it. I wore this at my wedding when I married David. I know you have been a fan of our love and you are marrying our grandson. I thought it would be appropriate to give you." She said. I looked to her with tears in my eyes.
"Oh my God." I said as I ran my fingers over the diamonds. "This is amazing and beautiful and… Thank you so much." She said happily giving her a hug. I then turned to everyone else. "Thank you all so much for everything. I lived five years of my life alone and afraid. I didn't know how I would eventually end up. Then one day I walked into that coffee shop and Henry was there. I didn't know it then, but that was the first day of the rest of my life. He brought me here and for the first time in a long time I felt like I was home. I had a home away from home. Thank you all so much."
A/N: Keep the reviews coming!
Also you guys get to design Gabby's gown. So straps or no straps, if straps off the shoulder or on, long or short, A-line or princess, lace or satin, etc… What should Gabby's dress be like? The wedding is coming up soon.
