10
Of Fate and Flus
A/N: I thought we needed some family Charming/Gold fluff to balance out the depressing winter finale of OUAT, so here it is!
Half of Snow's fifth grade class came down with the flu the second week of December. Alina and Henry didn't because as magic wielders they had a partial immunity to diseases like that due to their altered immune systems. So half their class was sick and the others were doing their assignments as usual, along with some fun activities Snow had organized.
As they constructed dioramas of Joseph and Mary in the stable with baby Jesus, Henry asked Alina, "So when are we doing the gingerbread houses again?"
"This weekend, Mama and Alice said. Grace and Hans are coming over to make one and I think Ash is too. Eva and Nick would but they've got the flu and who knows if they'll be better by then," Alina said as she glued a tin foil star on top of her stable, which had real straw inside the manger.
"That's too bad, but I think we're really going to enjoy making the gingerbread houses this year," Henry said as he glued a donkey in the background of his scene.
"Regina's going to make one too, so that should be fun," Alina smiled. "How are you coming with your . . . err . . . community service?"
"Okay. I helped Leroy fix old Mrs. Pritchard's house, her lights were falling off her porch, and then I went down with some of the firemen to help clean up the Walters house that caught on fire when Mr. Walters fell asleep with a lit cigarette on the couch and it fell on the floor and caught the house on fire."
Alina shook her head. "That's terrible! But you shouldn't smoke while you're sleeping. Thank goodness neither of my parents do."
"Mine either," Henry said, fixing the scrap of cloth around his baby Jesus. "It was kind of creepy and stuff going there and seeing all the damage, and it was hard work shoveling all the ashes out of there. I thought my arms were gonna come off. I swear, I'm never casting anything with fire again . . . unless I'm freezing to death or somebody's trying to kill me."
"Did you do that research for Papa yet?"
"Yeah, I read some last week when you and Mom were learning that spell to unfreeze objects," her nephew sighed. "Man, some of those stories were really creepy and scary. There was this one kid that . . . uh . . . he was playing around with a transformation spell and he . . . transformed himself into a half-goat and half-snake thing . . . and he was stuck like that till his master turned him back three days later. And there was another one who summoned up Medusa and got turned to stone because he didn't wait for his master to come and draw a protective circle before he called her."
"Ugh! Nasty!" Alina shuddered.
"Yeah, but the worst one I read about was the bottle imp. That's a demon trapped in this glass bottle and this apprentice was told to never open it, and he did . . . and the imp came out and tortured him with magic and skinned him alive . . ." Henry whispered.
"Gross! Okay, I don't want to hear any more. You're making me sick," she told him, revulsion etching her features. "You'd better listen to Papa from now on."
"I know. Don't preach at me," he ordered, somewhat crossly.
"I'm not. Just stating a fact," she sighed.
"And I still have to read more things like that . . . and write some paper," her nephew groaned.
"How's Arion doing?" she asked then , changing the subject.
Henry grinned then at the mention of his buckskin gelding. "Good. Gramps says he's settling down in his new home real well and I'm learning how to pick his hooves and give him a bath and braid his tail, like they do for shows. Yesterday I groomed him and put oil on his hooves and fed him some bran mash, that's like a treat for horses. He's starting to look for me when I come in the barn and he whinnies now when I go away."
"Kind of how Nala meows when Papa leaves," Alina giggled, adding an angel to her nativity.
"She sure does like him," Henry smirked. "And to think, when we got her for you, he didn't even like her."
"She grew on him. Because she's like his baby now. She even sleeps with him . . . on his pillow!" Alina reported with an impish smirk. "Hey, I've got a secret to tell you. Bae told me the other day that he's gonna get Papa a dog for Christmas."
"A dog? But I thought Regina was getting a puppy," Henry gasped.
"I don't know about that, just that Bae wants to get Papa a collie . . . like the one he used to have back in the Enchanted Forest. He's getting one from the animal shelter, I think."
"You sure that's a good idea?"
"Uh huh. Papa likes animals. He just doesn't like to admit it at first," Alina said wisely.
"What about Nala? Won't they fight?"
"Not if you introduce them properly. Cats and dogs can be friends," Alina stated. "I can't wait to see the look on his face Christmas Eve!"
"Yeah, I'll be sure to take a picture with my phone," Henry sniggered, just imagining it. Then he went and put a horse in the manger, like Arion.
Page~*~*~*~*~Break
Two days later:
"Daddy, when can we send my list to Santa?" Regina wanted to know, as she sat down with her mom and dad before dinner one night to make out her list for Santa.
"Tomorrow, when I go into work, I'll mail it, princess," David promised. "Now . . . what've you got on it again?"
"Uh . . . a puppy, a Barbie car, new shoes, some dresses for Sofia, a stroller so's I can put Sofia in it and walk with her n' Auntie Belle an' Emma after they has their babies . . . umm . . . a new sweater. . . . oops! Gotta cross it out, cause Unca Rumple's makin' me one . . ." she grabbed a crayon a scribbled out something on her list. "The Easy Bake oven, a hippopotamus . . ."
"A what? A hippopotamus?" David repeated.
"Yeah, you know, like it says in the song—I wanna hippopotamus to play with an' enjoy," Regina sang in her childish treble.
"Regina, Santa can't bring you a hippopotamus for Christmas. We're not the San Diego Zoo here," her father objected.
"Santa knows we can only have one animal," Snow added. "So you need to choose—a puppy like Pongo or a hippopotamus."
"A puppy! I wanna girl one . . . so's she can have puppies like Perdy in 101 Dalmatians!" Regina squealed.
"My God! Now we're a kennel!" David groaned, putting a hand to his forehead.
"Oh, leave her alone," his wife nudged him. "She's a little girl, let her pretend, Charming."
"We're getting the dog fixed, if she gets one," he said firmly. "I'm not having a . . . Dalmatian farm or something."
"You mean a Dalmatian plantation, Daddy," corrected his daughter.
"Whatever. We're going to have one dog, not one hundred of them."
"Aww! But Da-a-ddy!" she whined.
"Hey. No whining. Because Noel's watching," David reminded her, pointing to their elf, who was now sitting on the branch of their Christmas tree, which didn't look quite so pitiful now that ornaments were on it, and Rumple had given David some quick-gro serum to put in the water, which made the tree sprout new branches on the side it was missing them.
Regina huffed, thinking it was really hard to be good for the whole month of Christmas. Then she crossed off the hippopotamus on her list too.
"You sure Santa can read this?" Charming asked doubtfully, looking at the list which was full of scribbles and crossouts.
"Uh huh. Daddy, he's Santa. He can read anything," Regina stated. "How long's it take a letter to get to the North Pole?"
"It takes a few weeks, which is why we have to mail it soon, baby," Snow answered, helping Regina to fold the list into thirds and put it in an envelope with Santa's address on it. "Here, lick the stamp." She handed Regina a Christmas stamp with Rudolph on it.
Regina stuck it on, the waved the envelope in front of David's face. "Here, Daddy! You gots to mail it!"
"Okay, tomorrow I will," he said, and stuck the letter into his jacket pocket. "Now what are we having for dinner?"
"S'ghetti and meatsaballs," Regina told him, putting on a fake Italian accent.
"What are you, a little Italian baby?" David laughed.
"Yup. Jus' like Stefan an' Angel Tessaro in New York," his daughter declared. "When we gonna see them again, Mommy?"
"I don't know, Regina. Maybe . . . maybe they'll invite us over to see the tree in Rockefeller Center," Snow mused. "Nonna did say they have a big Christmas party every year."
"Good! I wanna see Stefan again. 'Cause he's my boyfriend an' I'm gonna marry him," Regina stated.
David started laughing then.
"Daddy! It's not funny!" Regina said indignantly.
"Sure it is. About as funny as Uncle Rumple taking you to Hawaii."
Regina crossed her arms over her chest. "Is not! Unca Rumple is so takin' me to Hawaii. He said so! And he always does what he says. An' Stefan's my prince an' I'm gonna marry him when I'm grown-up."
"Have you told him that?" David continued giggling.
"Mommy, Daddy's makin' fun of me!"
"Charming, stop. You're hurting her feelings," Snow scolded.
"She's three years old and she thinks she already knows who she's gonna marry?" David snorted. "Snow, that's crazy!"
"David!"
Regina glared angrily at him. "Daddy, you is mean an' I'm tellin' Santa on you! An' you'll get nuttin' for Christmas!"
"Santa doesn't bring presents to adults," her father pointed out.
"Then Mommy's not getting' you nuttin'!" Regina cried.
"Yeah. So you'd better watch out," Snow said, wagging a finger at him.
Her husband rolled his eyes. "Come on, Snow!"
Regina abruptly jumped down from her chair and ran across the room to the loft door.
"Hey, where do you think you're going?" asked Snow.
"I's runnin' to Unca Rumple's house," Regina said sulkily. "I's tellin' on Daddy an' stayin' there 'cause he don't make fun of me!"
"Oh, now wait a minute!" David cried.
"David, tell her you're sorry," hissed his wife. "You've made her upset."
"Regina . . . okay, I'm sorry. I . . . I shouldn't have . . . err . . . made fun of you," her father said contritely.
But Regina kept trying to get out the door. "I'm still goin' there! 'Cause Unca Rumple's got eggnog cookies an' I's hungry!"
"Sweetie, we can eat them when we go over to make gingerbread houses," Snow reminded her.
"Noo! Mommy, I wanna eat them now!" the toddler bawled.
"David, now look what you've done," Snow said crossly, and went to take the distraught child in her arms. "Honey, I promise you can eat some of Uncle Rumple's cookies later. Now stop crying and let's make some spaghetti and meatballs."
But Regina continued to cry, scrunching up her face and wailing, "I wanna go to Unca Rumple's!"
"Okay . . . how about we go there for dessert?" Snow suggested, anything to make the toddler quit howling.
Regina sniffled into her shirt for a few moments more, then nodded. "'Kay, Mommy."
Snow wiped her face with a towel and then said, "Now, do you want to help me make spaghetti, or do you want to watch?"
"I help!"
"Good, now get the spaghetti from the pantry," Snow said, while she went to get the jar of Prego Old World Style. "David, you can get the bread and set the table."
While the spaghetti water was boiling, Snow took out a package of frozen Italian meatballs and heated them up in the microwave. She set out some Parmesan cheese on the table and some iced tea.
Soon the meal was ready, and they all ate happily. Regina forgot she was upset after eating her second meatball and started singing "Bella Notte" as she ate her spaghetti.
After they had put away the leftovers and washed the dishes, Snow told Regina to get her coat on and they would go over Gold's house for dessert.
Regina grabbed her pink furry coat out of the closet and went to put it on, yelling, "Yay! We's goin' to have eggnog cookies for dessert!"
"What's so great about these eggnog cookies?" David muttered.
"Wait till you taste them," Snow said, having tried one when Alina brought her some at school that day. "They're amazing!"
Page~*~*~*~*~Break
Gold's Victorian:
Rumple had just put the kettle on to make some tea, putting the sweater he was knitting for Henry on his chair with his needles stuck in it, when Alina came in, holding her own needles and a skein of yarn.
"Papa, I need help. I can't get this scarf I'm knitting for Grace for Christmas to come out right," she said fretfully.
"Let me see, dearie," Rumple took her needles and yarn and examined them. "Hmm . . . you've miscounted some rows here, Alina. Come in the den and I'll show you where you went wrong."
Alina followed him into the den, and they sat down together, and Rumple showed her how to unravel the mistake she'd made. "See, you need to count over four rows, like this, dearie . . ."
Belle watched her daughter and husband together, the two dark heads next to each other, as the father shared his hard-earned skill with his daughter, his hands gently demonstrating the technique to her, and she smiled and put her hands over her belly. "Someday that'll be you," she whispered to her twins. "And you'll learn from your papa too, just like your big sister."
"Now cast and loop . . . one, two, three . . . like this . . . and there you go," Rumple said, showing Alina how to fix her stitches. "See how easy that is?"
"For you, Papa," Alina said.
"You can do it too. Go on, try," he urged.
Alina put her tongue between her teeth, concentrating hard. Then she began to do as Rumple had shown her. "I did it! Look, Papa!"
"That's my girl!" he praised and then he hugged her. "You'll finish that scarf in time for Christmas, I'm sure of it."
"I have to. It's Grace's present. I hope she likes it. Even if it looks like a sick snake," she said, adding on another stitch.
"She'll love it, dearie. Because you made it," Rumple told her. "And the best gifts come from the heart."
"That's so true, Rumple," Belle agreed. Then she picked up the bib she was cross stitching.
Rumple went and picked up his knitting again, and started to finish the sleeve he'd been working on. Nala jumped up on his knee and started purring and kneading his leg.
Alina looked up and saw the kitten perched on her father and said, "You know . . . the family that sews together stays together."
Belle looked at Rumple and they both chuckled at their daughter's quick wit.
Then the kettle whistled, and Rumple went to go and get the tea.
Just then the doorbell rang.
Page~*~*~*~*~Break
"So . . . what brings you all here?" Rumple asked as they all sat around the dining room table, eating eggnog cookies and drinking tea from his Japanese blue willow tea set (the one with the chipped cup).
"Regina wanted your eggnog cookies," Snow said.
"An' Daddy was makin' fun of me, Unca Rumple," the toddler reported, leaving her chair, a cookie in one fist, and going over and crawling up on Rumple's knee.
"Really, dearie?" he asked, smiling down at her. "How come?"
"Because she tells me that she's going to marry that boy we met in New York . . . little Stefan Tessaro," David said. "And I happen to think it's . . . ridiculous."
"It's not!" Regina said stubbornly. "Right, Unca Rumple?"
"If it's true love, dearie, we shall see, won't we?" her uncle said.
"Rumple, don't encourage her!"
"Why? You never know what fate has in store, David. I'm living proof of that," the sorcerer replied. "For years I swore I would never have a happy ending . . . but I was wrong. I have now what I've always wanted, despite all I've done wrong and all I thought would never come true."
"Yeah, but she's three," David protested.
"Sometimes . . . . there are things you simply know," Rumple said quietly. "And it doesn't matter if you're three or three hundred." He sipped his cup of tea and then gently stroked Regina's head.
"You're both crazy!" Charming muttered. Then he helped himself to another cookie, which was delicious, as Snow had said. This once, he thought, Rumplestitskin was wrong. Regina was only a baby. She couldn't know anything about true love . . . or the one who was her heart's match. It was utterly ridiculous.
Regina leaned back in Rumple's arms, eating her cookie, looking oddly serene and content, with crumbs speckling her lips. She was no longer angry at her daddy. Mommy believed her. And so did Unca Rumple. And that was enough.
Page~*~*~*~*~Break
The next morning, Snow woke up and felt her head throb and an aching feeling spreading throughout her entire bones. She groaned and nudged David, who was snoring on the pillow next to her. "Charming . . . wake up!"
"Huh? What? What's the matter?"
"I . . . I'm not feeling well . . . my throat hurts and I . . . think I've got the flu . . ."
"Aww, hell!" David sighed. "Okay . . . uh . . . let me call the office . . . and I'll go out and get you some flu pills or whatever from the pharmacy . . ."
"David . . . I want you to get Regina away from here," Snow coughed.
"Okay. Let me bring her over to Ashley's. I'll get your medicine on the way back." He got up and started to get dressed. "Just . . . go back to sleep, okay?"
Snow made a noncommittal noise and fell back onto the pillows.
Page~*~*~*~*~Break
An hour later:
The little bell, festooned with holly, tinkled brightly over the door of Gold's pawnshop.
Mr. Gold looked up from rearranging some antiques to be better displayed in the case as Charming walked in, holding a semi sleepy Regina in his arms. "David? What brings you by at this hour of the morning?"
"Snow's sick with the flu, and we didn't want Regina to catch it, so I went to bring her to Ashley's, but Sean's got it too and then I thought maybe you could . . . err . . . watch her while I take care of Snow today. You don't mind, do you?"
Rumple sighed. "I was going to rearrange a few things here, but . . . it's okay. With all the kids sick in her class, I'm surprised she lasted this long." He walked over to them. "Hey, imp. Come here." He took Regina from David.
The little girl nuzzled up to him. "M' tired, Unca Rumple!" she whimpered, crying a little.
"Shhh . . . it's okay," he soothed, patting her back.
"She's a little cranky," Charming sounded apologetic.
"I'd be too if somebody kept waking me up," Rumple said. "Go home and take care of your wife. Regina and I will be all right."
"Thanks, Rumple," David said gratefully.
"You don't have to thank me. We're family. Now go on," he waved David out the door, walking back into the room, rubbing circles on the cranky child's back. "Shhh, sweetheart . . . let's go into my back room and you can take a little nap . . ."
He used his magic to set up a little bed there next to his desk and went to put the little girl on it, but Regina perversely now wanted to be held and wouldn't let go of him, gripping his shoulder and part of his jacket. "Nooo!"
"Okay . . . how about we sit here for a bit?" Rumple said, and sat down behind his desk with her. He cuddled and hummed to her, gently rocking her back and forth. It recalled to him the many times he'd done this same thing with Bae and Alina when they were small. And soon you will again with the wee ones to be born.
Gradually Regina relaxed against him and he was able to put her down and cover her with a small afghan. She fell asleep sucking a little on her thumb, and he kissed her forehead and murmured, "Sweet dreams, baby girl."
Then he left her asleep and went back inside the shop.
Page~*~*~*~*~*~Break
Two hours later Regina woke and wandered into the main room of Gold's shop, feeling a bit under the weather. She didn't bound over to Rumple the way she normally did, simply standing there watching as he placed some jewelry in the glass case and locked it.
Feeling eyes on him, he turned and saw his niece standing there, in her purple dress with her little patent leather shoes and white tights over her ruffled pantalets. "Hey, dearie. You feeling better now?"
Her dark eyes tracked on him, and she nodded. "I thirsty."
"Okay . . . let's see what I have in the fridge," he said, and went into his back room and looked in his mini fridge. There were water bottles, iced tea, and some juice boxes. He picked up a Minute Maid orange juice and stuck the little straw into it before bringing it to her. "There you go."
She sucked it down silently.
He glanced at her. "You still tired, Regina?"
She nodded, she was, a little.
"Why don't you go over here and finish your juice while I put some things in the window display?" he suggested. He spread a thick blanket down on the floor inbetween the baskets and put Sofia on it.
Regina went over and sat down, still drinking, at half her usual speed.
Gold put some new items he'd acquired in the window, and some Christmas decorations as well, before he realized that a whole fifteen minutes had gone by without Regina pestering him or chattering to him.
Puzzled, he looked back at her, and found she was sitting with the empty juice box in hand, just watching him. "You're awfully quiet today, little minx," he said. "Why don't we put on some Christmas songs?"
He went to turn on the radio, and just then the shop bell tinkled and a customer came in.
For the next twenty-five minutes he was kept busy negotiating with customers. When the last deal had been struck, he looked around to see what Regina was up to and found she was gone from the blanket.
"Regina, where are you?" he called, then went to look for her, finding her at last in his back room, curled up on her little bed. "What's this? You feeling okay?"
He bent and put a hand on her forehead. "Hmm . . . you're a little warm."
"Unca Rumple . . ."
"What's wrong?"
"My t'roat hurts."
"Hurts how? Like when you swallow?"
She shrugged.
He lit up his index finger and said, "Open for me, dearie, let me see."
She refused . . . but after a few minutes of coaxing, opened her mouth.
He peered inside, noting her throat looked a bit inflamed.
He gently felt the glands under her chin, they were slightly swollen.
"I think we need to go home and you take some Tylenol and go to bed," he said. "You may be coming down with something like your mama."
He picked her up, turned his shop sign to Closed, and took his niece, her doll, her bag, and put them into his Cadillac. Then he drove home, eyeing the listless child in concern.
Once at his house, he transformed Regina's clothes into a comfy nightgown and grabbed a bottle of children's Tylenol from his medicine cabinet in the bathroom, luckily he kept some on hand just in case. He also summoned a spoon and then prepared for her typical attitude when it came to taking medicine.
Oddly, however, she didn't fight all that much when he presented the spoon with the Tylenol to her. She gave a token whimper and then reluctantly opened her mouth.
"Come on, that's my good girl!" He popped the spoon in and made sure she swallowed.
Then he gave her more water to drink. He thanked goodness Belle was out, over at Alice's helping her wrap presents or something, so he didn't have to worry about her getting sick too.
He brought Regina to the bathroom, making sure she used the toilet before he carried her upstairs to her room and put her to bed, lining the sheet with a thick towel just in case.
She lay quietly on the bed, her bright eyes dull and her cheeky demeanor snuffed out like a guttered candle. He felt her forehead again, then not satisfied, went and summoned a thermometer and gently inserted it into her ear to take her temperature.
"101," he read. "You've got a little fever, dearie. No wonder you're so quiet."
Concerned, he sat beside her bed, carding her hair and Nala jumped up and curled up by her feet, as if sensing Regina was no threat to her.
Regina just lay there, sucking a little on her thumb, feeling achy and tired. She turned over on her stomach, her bottom sticking up under the covers.
Rumple patted it and crooned, "Goodnight, sleep tight, my wee little one," singing an old lullaby that he used to sing to both children, lapsing unconsciously into his old lilting speech patterns. "In the gloaming, I shall bide wi' thee, by an' by, while thee sleeps, my wee little one . . ."
It was an old old tune, he could recall his mother singing it to him as well as Rhea while she rocked her in the cradle, his mother had a beautiful voice, like an angel singing, with a lovely sweet lilt that Rumple still recalled even though he hadn't heard it in almost three centuries. His sweet gentle mother, who had been a celebrated spinner, and had deserved so much better than his father, who had abandoned his family to save his own hide . . . and sacrificed his only daughter as well. She had died when he was seven, yet he saw her in Rhea at times, and even Alina as well.
He continued singing, hearing in his own voice the echo of his mother's, and he thought at long last Daria would have been proud of her wayward son, who had learned that love and family came first, before anything. When he looked again at Regina, he saw she was sleeping soundly. So was Nala, curled up in a ball by her feet. He remained there beside his sleeping niece and cat, until he heard the front door open and Alina call, "Mama, Papa, I'm home!"
Only then did he rise and go to wash his hands with some antibacterial soap, and use a ward to confine the germs to this room, and so avoid spreading them to Belle, before going downstairs to greet Alina and ask her how her day went.
Rumple's Recipe Corner
Rumple's Eggnog Cookies
1 1/4 cups white sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup eggnog
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 egg yolks
1 teaspoon nutmeg
2 1/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Eggnog Glaze:
2 Tbsp. eggnog, more if you want a thiner glaze
1 pinch nutmeg
1-2 C. powdered sugar
1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees and line pans with parchment paper.
2. Combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg.
3. Cream sugar and butter until light
4. Add eggnog, vanilla, and egg yolks; beat at medium speed with mixer until smooth.
5. Add flour mixture and beat at low speed until just combined.
6. Do not over mix
7. Spoon onto un-greased cookie sheets or parchment paper and make the dough balls rather small, they will spread generously in the oven.
8. Sprinkle lightly with nutmeg.
9. Bake 15 to 18 minutes or until the edges barely start to brown.
Glaze:
1. Combine eggnog, nutmeg and 1 C. powdered sugar with a fork or whisk. Depending on how runny or thick you want your glaze, add in more powdered sugar or eggnog.
2. Glaze cooled cookies, go heavy on the glaze because that's where you taste a lot of the eggnog-goodness!