I do not own Once Upon a Time.

And now to make life awkward, when is family not awkward though. This is going to be funny.

Amelia never thought she would be nervous to walk into the pawn shop. She was not scared of the Dark One. Well, there was a first time for everything. And this was definitely a first. She took a deep breath before opening the door.

The bell rang over her head as she entered. She saw Henry walking into the back of the shop with what looked like a bottle of polish.

"Good day, Miss Hunter, can I help you with something?" Gold greeted her.

Still didn't use her first name, it was getting quite annoying. But she had a reason for coming into the shop. "I think Henry's hoping you buy him a car after this."

"And why would I do that, dearie?"

"Because currently he is your only grandchild and you should spoil him rotten." Amelia did wonder what kind of father or grandfather he was. All she really knew was that he would do anything for family.

"Currently my only grandchild." Gold looked at her funny.

"There you go again asking if I'm pregnant. That's the second time." She thought back to the first time, on the phone she had called him to bail Neal out of jail. "Should I be worried that Rumpelstiltskin is constantly asking when I'm going to have a baby?"

"No, but I doubt your reason for coming down to the shop was to comment on my grand parenting skills."

Amelia swallowed her pride and extended the white flag. They had to make this family thing work. "No, I'm here to invite you and Belle to dinner tonight."

Gold looked at her, shocked, happy and grateful. "Should I bring anything?"

"Alcohol. No idea how this evening is going to end. Dinner is at six. Don't be late."

"Then I will see you later, Amelia."

Amelia's eyes widened. He just used her name, her first name for the first time ever. Maybe being all one big happy family wasn't that bad. And she was speechless. So she just nodded and quickly left the shop before the world ended.

"Hey, can you take the night shift later?" Emma asked Amelia as they were finishing up some paperwork at the station.

"Would love to, but I can't. I'm having the in-laws over for dinner." Amelia told her, then paused as the words sunk in. "Did I really just say that?"

"Yes, you did. And remember you are the only one crazy enough to marry into that family." Emma said.

"I love Neal, Belle's nice, Gold is questionable. And I don't think that man will ever not be questionable." Amelia stood up and went to pull on her jacket. "I wonder if I actually have to invite him into my house like a vampire." She mused mostly to herself though Emma did hear it and snorted into her hot chocolate.

"Your father and Belle are going to be here in ten minutes. Neal, will you stop playing with the blocks? We got those for Roland to play with." Amelia poked her head into the living room. Her hair was in disarray and she actually had an apron over her dress. When had she become so domesticated? And when did she become okay with it?

Neal looked up from the floor, there was a goofy grin on his face. But it became slightly serious when he noticed her expression.

"This place is perfect, I'll set the table, you sit down." He patted a spot on the couch. She begrudging took his advice and was rewarded with a kiss on the forehead. She took off the apron and fixed her hair before leaning her head back.

Neal was just about done setting the table when there was a knock at the door. Amelia almost bolted to her feet. Neal opened the door and standing on the other side was an uncomfortable Gold with a very happy Belle.

"Thank you so much for inviting us over. I know you only said to bring drinks, but I brought a pie also." Belle said, giving Neal a hug then giving Amelia one.

"Peach pie, nice choice. Thank you." Amelia said, smiling. Then her eyes went to Gold. He hadn't stepped inside yet.

"Dad, you can come in. Take off your coat, stay a while." Neal told him.

That's when Gold finally walked inside. He looked around the room. He had never been in Amelia's apartment before, the library had been a completely different place.

"Dinner will be on the table in five minutes. You can sit at the table or on the couch until then." Amelia told the two of them.

"The couch is fine; do you need help with anything?" Belle asked.

"No, we are good."

Neal and Amelia bought the food out to the table, a platter of chicken accompanied by mashed potatoes and a bowl of corn. Amelia then stared at the spread.

"Oh no." She said under her breath.

"What's wrong?" Neal asked, was something missing? Or overcooked? What could she be worried about?

"It's monochromatic." She stated simply. It was true, all the food was beige.

Neal tried not to laugh as his arms went around her waist and his face went into her neck. "Only you would worry about something like that. It looks amazing and I bet it all tastes amazing too." Before Amelia could say anything, Neal called the rest of the family to the table.

The four of them were seated at the circle table.

"Dearie, this looks very good. Thank you again for inviting us over." Gold praised her. "Oh, I almost forgot the wine." He snapped his fingers and a bottle of wine appeared in his hand. He opened it and began pouring some out for Amelia, Neal and Belle.

"Look, color." Neal jokingly said about the red wine in his glass.

Amelia shook her head but couldn't help to stop the smile that was growing on her face. Belle and Gold were confused about the context of Neal's comment.

"He's making fun of me. You are so lucky I love you. Most people would never. What's the saying? Dead man tell no tales?" Amelia said. Then her eyes went to Gold's empty wine glass. "You're not drinking?"

"Sadly, I'm not. My father was a drunk hence I never touch the stuff." He explained.

"Oh, that's a good reason." Neal said quietly. They all knew Gold's father, Peter Pan and how much trouble he had caused. Amelia had to thank her lucky stars he was dead, having him at these family gatherings would be awful.

They ate with some light conversation. For once in her life, Amelia had held back with her spices. The things she did for family.

"So, Belle has your dagger now? So she's in control?" Neal said to his father. "That's really big, letting someone have power over you. I know I said this already, but I'm really proud of you."

Amelia kept her eyes off of Gold. She knew the dagger was fake, but having Gold know that was the last thing she wanted.

"What would you do if you had the dagger?" Neal now directed that question at Amelia.

She paused and stared at Gold, her mind trying to come up with something. If she had complete control over the Dark One, what would she have him do? What did she want?

Amelia came up blank. "Wow, I really have matured. I can't think of a single thing." Her response surprised everyone, including herself.

"What if there was an all controlling dagger for me?" Neal asked.

A coy smile grew on Amelia's face. "I have a few ideas but I'm going to plead the fifth on that one because your father is here." If there was one thing Amelia loved, it was making the Dark One uncomfortable.

Gold shifted in his seat. Belle, on the other hand, thought their love was pure if not a bit crazy.

"You two are so cute together." She told them.

Dinner was finished, dessert was served and everything was cleaned up. It was an evening that went well. There were hugs at the door. And then Neal and Amelia were left in an empty apartment.

"Now that my father is gone, what would you do with an all controlling dagger?" Neal whispered in her ear.

Amelia didn't say a thing; instead she dragged Neal to the bedroom

A day later, Amelia felt the need to visit Derek, she had been so busy to make time to leave some flowers on his grave. She wanted to tell him how good her life was going. Although she had a feeling he was watching over her.

At the cemetery she saw an odd person, Robin.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Amelia asked confused. His hair was a mess and he had been coming from the direction of… Regina's vault. Then it dawned on Amelia. Robin had been… busy… with Regina last night. "Oh, umm." She was having issues forming words.

"Please don't say anything to the Merry Men." Robin said, pleading.

"My lips are sealed." Amelia promised. She watched him walk off and then she herself walked in the direction of Regina's vault.

She knocked and only waited a moment before going down. She had never been inside the vault, actually she never had a reason. It was only recently that the former bounty hunter was on friendly terms with the former Evil Queen.

"Regina, you down here? It's Amelia." She called down. No answer. So she kept walking. She walked through a door and finally saw Regina. Hair disarrayed and not all the buttons on her blouse closed. This was a new side of Regina.

"What are you doing here, Miss Hunter?" Regina asked, sounding annoyed.

Well, someone had to call her 'Miss Hunter'; her life wasn't complete without it. "I ran into Robin outside…"

"What of it?" Regina looked caught between happy and scared that someone found out.

"Is it real?" Amelia was thinking about her friends, both Robin and Marian. "I'm asking because Robin is my friend, more than a friend actually. Like an older brother to me. I know you're not the same woman who slept with Derek but I don't want Robin to get hurt. Also I don't want you to get hurt either."

Regina stared at Amelia, shocked at her words. "You care if I get hurt?"

"You're my friend Regina, being Henry's other mom and all."

"It is real, pixie dust showed him as my True Love. I'm finally taking a chance and trying to be happy." Regina told her.

Amelia nodded, she knew the power of pixie dust. "Then I'm going to do something that I might regret more than anything I have ever done in my life."

Amelia stepped forward and hugged Regina.

Regina froze. "Are you feeling alright?

"Yes." Amelia let go of Regina. "Mary Margret doesn't understand what it's like to love someone you might lose. She and David are each other's one and only. They are a true fairy tale."

"You and the pirate I'm assuming."

"Killian was not my first. Benjamin was sweet and kind and perfect for a first time. Then I ruined it all." Amelia looked away.

"How did you ruin it?" Regina asked curiously.

"I killed him."

"That would ruin a relationship." That was their first bonding moment.

Family dinner! "Do I have to invite him in like a vampire?" And a bonding moment with Regina. She is really a friend now.

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