I am back! :D
I had a great week off, a wonderful trip, and now I am all ready to endure routine again.
So here we go with another one. I was feeling a little poetic with this one. I mention a song on it, it is Golden Slumbers by the Beatles. I have no rights over the song!
And hold on there, cause things are about to get good!
Chapter 9 – Between shadows and light
"Boy, you probably have homework to do, don't you? Why don't you do that, and let your mom rest?"
Gold had paid a cab for her and Henry home and, as she got her boots and coat off, she heard him bossing Henry around. It sometimes surprised her how good he was with the boy. But it shouldn't, she thought. He was a father too and for all she knew, for most of the time he had raised Neal by himself.
Sometimes she fantasied it was Neal, not Gold with them.
She went to her room to change, thinking that was silly. Neal had left her twice. She shouldn't be hopeful just because of Gold's words an stories.
She got to the kitchen, an old pair of sweatpants on, intending to check if Henry was really doing his homework. It surprised her the fact that he was not only doing so, Gold was seated by his side, two mugs on the table.
"Here you go, dearie." he said, putting one of the mugs in front of her. "Drink it up. Go to bed."
"Gold, I appreciate it, but I really need..."
"To make dinner? No way. I can cook something for Henry and I can keep an eye on him. You really need to rest."
"I am not a baby to be watched, grandpa!" Henry complained, what made both of them smile. But he stood from the chair by the kitchen table were he was doing his homework, and walked to his mom.
"He is right, Mom. You should rest." he said, hugging her. "Wow!" he said suddenly, letting go of her. "Your belly is getting pretty big!"
Emma laughed and let the boy touch it with curious hands. She left a kiss on top of Henry's head and said thank you to Gold before going to her bed with the mug of tea. Maybe she could take it easy that night. She realized, when she woke up at the hospital, how much she already loved the little kid growing inside of her and how terrified would it be if something bad happened.
Yes, she could take care of herself. By doing so, she was taking care of the kid.
The process was going to be hard, but if she did it once, she could do it another time. She could be a mom again.
~X~
Emma was asleep. Henry had finished his homework, had dinner, took a shower and went to bed as well. Before doing so the boy had brought Gold pillows and covers and made him a bed on the couch. He was sitting on his makeshift bed, thinking that, even if it was good the feeling of taking care of a family again, it didn't feel totally right. It should be Baelfire, not him, to do those little things.
He was possessed by the sudden fear of never finding his son or Belle again. Without magic he didn't know how to look for them. Emma and Henry could live forever with those fake memories and there was nothing he could do about that.
He had the guess that maybe all of that was made by Regina. Maybe even after Malcolm was gone, there was no way to stop the curse. But that was a pretty bad perspective – it meant that Henry, born on that land, and Emma, the savior, were there with fake memories but all the others were in another land. Regina had probably sent them home.
And if Belle and Baelfire were back in the Enchanted Forest and he was stuck there... there was nothing he could do. They couldn't even know he was alive.
All he could do at the moment was take care of his son's family.
With that thought he fell asleep. But he didn't sleep for long. He woke up some time later, confused as where he was at first. He recognized the living room of Emma's apartment and relaxed. Just then he noticed a sweet singing on the background. He listened intently. It sounded like Emma's voice, soft and low.
Once there was a way
to get back homeward
Once there was a way
to get back home
Sleep, pretty darling,
Do not cry
And I will sing a lullaby
Her voice got higher, she sounded about to cry. Gold wrinkled his forehead in thought. He shouldn't interfere, but he couldn't just go back to sleep. He slowly stood.
He got his cane and tried to make as little noise as possible as he walked to Henry's room, where the sound was coming from. Emma was still singing the last verses of the song, her hand caressing the dark hair of an asleep boy. The glim of tears shone on her face and sitting like that, crossed legs and bending forward, made her bump look even bigger. Gold decided to giver her privacy, but as he started to leave she stood up and saw him there.
"Are you ok?" He asked, not able to ignore the fact she was crying.
"Yes, I am." she said, drying her tears and trying to smile. "Henry had a nightmare, I sang for him to sleep."
"You were crying." Gold said, his voice worried.
He wanted to know what was happening, but he also wanted to give her a safe escape. If she denied she had been crying, he would leave it at that.
"Probably the hormones." she said, looking at Henry with love. "He is growing so fast. Sometimes it looks like the last years were just a dream."
Gold didn't dare to make a comment on that and the two of them were quiet for some time. Suddenly Emma whispered, still looking at Henry:
"Neal used to sing that song to me."
"He did?" Gold asked, hoping to hear more. He knew so little about the time Emma and his son spent together.
"Yes. I was never a heavy sleeper and, sleeping in the bug, the two of us in the back seat, wasn't exactly comfortable. He would kiss my eyelids and sing until I feel asleep. Even if I joked about him not having a good singing voice. That made me feel safe.
Her eyes were shining and a small smile played on her lips. Then she looked up, remembered where she was, and the moment was gone.
"Well, I should go to bed." she said, unconsciously putting a hand on her belly as she passed by Gold.
"Do you think he is ok?" he asked when she was already on the hallway.
"I am sorry?"
"My son." Gold said, not looking at her. "Do you think he is alive and well?"
"Gold... I don't know." she said softly.
"I would feel something if he wasn't, right? I would know it."
He sounded so broken that Emma came back and put a hand on his shoulder. The truth was, he had used magic as a crutch for far too long. Without it, he felt lost.
"I am sure he is alright."
Then where is he? Gold thought, but didn't voice it.
~X~
Gold took care of his son's family for the next days. He would go shopping, cook dinner and, much to Emma's dismay, clean the house.
She claimed she was fine. He claimed her doctor had put him in charge.
Henry would hide a smile.
They would have dinner together and make jokes -and that's when he most missed Belle.
In the days he burned the eggs, he would think of what a great omelet she would make if she was there. In the days he heard Emma or Henry cry in their sleep, chased by nightmares, he would think of how she would be able to comfort them.
He would think if he would ever have his body wrapped around hers again. And, just as much as he wondered if he would ever see Belle again, he wondered if Bae would find his way back to his family.
"I am totally capable of taking the trash outside, Gold." Emma complained, a hand holding her bulging belly.
"So am I, Emma. But right now I can get to the end of the hallway with my cane faster than you can with your kangaroo pouch."
Henry had joked that Emma looked like a mama kangaroo with her funny way of walking and that soon became the inner joke of the small family.
"Oh my gosh, you and Henry have been so annoying!" she exclaimed, sounding like a stubborn teenager.
"I can wait for Henry on the bus stop. And bring you some donuts from Dunkin' donuts." he said, leaving.
"Chocolate ones!" he heard her yell as he was almost leaving the apartment, what made him smile.
~X~
"I can't wait to see my boy!" Robin Hood said as they finally could see the walls of the castle.
"The same for me, pal!" Phillip added with a smile.
It was all they said right after being threw back by a strong gush of wind.
They were almost at Snow and Charming's Castle, but suddenly it was impossible to cross the fields to it.
"Is that a...?"
"Tornado!" Grumpy finished Bashful's mid sentence.
There was no way they could cross the fields now. Not with that big, terrifying tornado coming on their direction.
"What does she want? Just kill us all?" Robin Hood asked.
"That is probably her intention." Regina stated, her forehead wrinkled.
Neal looked at his right side, and David was staring at him. It was like he could read his mind.
"Sir, I can't leave you behind." he said, reading David's expression.
"You need to." David said, a little annoyed that the other man had went back to the `Sir` treatment. Neal was older than him, both in age and experiences, but never seemed to be ready to talk to David as an equal. "It is your chance."
"What is going to happen to you?"
"That is our problem. We can take care of ourselves. Right now I have another mission for you."
Neal looked at the other man, the wind whipping their faces. Hood and Phillip were ordering everybody to find shelter. He went back to stare at David.
"Once I put my baby girl on a wardrobe, worried because there was no one to take care of her, or so I thought. There was nothing else I could do back then. Now I am sending you to take care of her, like I know you did before and like I know you will do again."
Neal bowed his head, knowing David was right, knowing he needed to make this decision with no delay.
"Please, Neal. Go and take care of my daughter and grandson."
"And granddaughter."
"What was that?" David yelled, the wind too strong. "What did you say?"
Neal dismounted, getting closer to David.
"Sir, I may find Emma pregnant. Ask Belle about it, she will tell you our theory."
Neal pulled the hourglass from his cape and turned around, walking straight in the direction of the tornado.
"What is he doing?" Phillip yelled. "Come back, Neal! Are you crazy?"
"Let him go." David said finding shelter with the others, then watching the silhouette of the man getting smaller and smaller, his steps getting less steadier as he tried to fight the wind. "He has business of his own to do."
It didn't take long before they couldn't see Neal anymore.
"Good luck." David whispered under his breath. "I hope to see you again."
