Once Upon a Time:

It was a hard winter for the village that year. However God had blessed them with a good enough harvest so that they didn't have to worry about where they'd get their next meal.

However there was extra work in making sure the animals stayed warm. The snow would pile on the rooftops and collapse the poorer made houses and Rumpelstiltskin as well as the others spent most of their days rebuilding.

Dagian continued to grow stronger physically and emotionally as the days passed and started leaving the house more and integrating herself with the townsfolk. And sometimes he found himself at home for hours at a time when she left and he found himself uneasy with how quiet the house suddenly seemed even though most of their days beforehand was a certain kind of an awkward silence together that both had gotten used to.

"Baelfire is…going to ask me to eat with him tonight," Dagian told him as they sat at the spinning wheel one morning.

Rumpelstiltskin looked sharply at her and then quickly looked back at the wheel so that she didn't think he was jealous or something, "I wasn't aware that you were attracted to him."

"Well, he asked me and you're going to be gone all day. I didn't see any harm in saying yes," she said cleared her throat.

He didn't look at her. He didn't understand why he felt flair of anger shot through him. She was younger than he was and Baelfire was about the same age. All throughout his life all the other men had been better at everything than he was. Stronger, faster; most women were drawn to that. They hardly paid attention to him and this green eyed redhead would not be any different.

"I hope you have a good evening then," he said.

She blinked at the sudden edge in his tone, "Rumpelstiltskin?"

"I have something I need to do…outside," he said and stood.


Present Day.

"You know honesty was something that we both agreed on when he asked me to marry him," Dawn told Archie as she sat on the couch in his office, "And if I hadn't kept asking that he tell me the truth then he would've just lied and I would've found out after spending all day excited about the idea that I was going to become a mother."

Archie was silent while she ranted. She knew that he was under Regina's thumb just like everyone else but she genuinely liked him. He was probably one of the few people here that actually seemed like he WANTED to do the right thing, but wasn't sure how to go about it.

"Your marriage seems more like a business deal than it does an actual marriage," Archie said and then his eyes grew at what he said, "Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean-"

"No," Dawn held her hand up, "It was more of a business proposal than it was a…marriage proposal. And I'm fine with that. I know it's odd for people to hear it but I'm totally fine with not being in love with him as long as I feel secure in the relationship. I mean, I think I love him but not the way most people would define love. Scary as he is to everyone, he is quite good to me."

"And do you feel secure right now?"

"I feel angry," Dawn said and took a sip of her coffee, "I feel betrayed and I feel disappointed but I don't feel insecure. He's right. There will be more children so I don't think this is going to completely destroy our marriage. However, I do get at least a couple of days to feel angry. He owes me at least that."

"You've moved on…remarkably fast," Archie said.

She gave a small empty smile that made her think she was lying to herself more than she was lying to him, "I had a father that beat me till I was 19 and no one did anything about it except for my husband the night I married him. And I'm married to Mr. Gold. If there's anything I'm good at its hiding my disappointment and moving on from it."


He had done it.

He lost the chance to have a daughter, he'd disappointed his wife, and an irresponsible backstabbing couple now had that daughter they were ill-equipped to take care of her but at least he'd gotten what he'd wanted. It all came off without any trouble. Emma was now under his thumb and now he could just sit back and wait until she became useful.

Gold walked into the bedroom where he suspected his wife probably was. When most couples were angry with each other, one slept on the couch he'd been led to believe.

Both he and Dawn were far too stubborn to resort to those childish measures.

"Dear," he said, "Will you at least look at me?"

She sighed, sat up, and looked at him. Good, she was angry but she hadn't been crying. He could never deal with her when she'd been crying.

He'd been dreading this all day.

She looked at the Lilies that he'd brought her and shook her head, "Well you finally remember I hate roses. You only remember that when I'm very pissed at you."

"Well at least I remember it," he said with a shrug, "You have no idea how much I wanted to bring that baby home today."

"Then why didn't you?" she demanded, "Listen, I don't expect you to tell me everything that goes in your little head. I really don't want to know to be honest. I owe you everything. You took me out of a bad situation and gave me a chance. But I can't forgive you for this darling."

He looked down, "Dawn-"

"Not yet," she said and turned back over