The morning dawned too early for Rumpelstiltskin. With the sun beating on his face, he refused to open his eyes in defiance of the dawn. The only reason the bloody curtains would be open was if Belle was staying over, and the reason Belle was staying over on a weekday was…
Right the child
Trying to put off the inevitability of having to actually get up, he rolled over only to find the other half of the bed empty.
Waking up a little more, he could hear the sound of her laughter downstairs and decided that since she was not there with him, there was really no point in languishing in bed any longer.
After performing his morning absolutions and getting dress in one of his signature designer suits, he headed down to what he hoped was breakfast. What he came upon, however, was a disaster.
Upon the kitchen table was a tall tower of beautifully made pancakes. They were not uniform in size, but they were perfectly golden brown, and smelled beyond delicious. Some of the pancakes had blueberries, others bananas, but the majority of them were plain; just the way he liked them. They appeared to have been made by a very skilled hand; if you didn't look at the rest of the kitchen.
The sink was full of dirty and burnt pans. The burnt disks that had once hoped to be pancakes were piled in a heap in the corner. The counter and island were covered with egg shells, batter, and flour. There was also a thin fog of smoke in the air, which made Rumpel wonder how it had not set off the smoke detectors; until he looked up and saw the thing open with its battery missing. In the middle of all that was two ladies who should have been much messier if the state of his kitchen was anything to go by.
"We made breakfast." Sarah said proudly when she noticed him standing in the living room. She hobbled over to stand beside the tower of perfection.
He didn't know what to say. The kitchen looked like it would never be clean again. How could making pancakes cause such an explosion of mess? It was only when he noticed the little one's face began to lose its smile that he decided to let the mess go, and smiled himself.
"They look wonderful." The smile returned to her face and he looked over to Belle with a questioning glance, but she was too busy trying to hide her laughter to be any help to him.
"Well since this is your first official meal here in my humble home, why don't we take this to the formal dining room and make something special of it?"
"Ok!" Sarah smile brightened even more and she took off with some plates to set the table.
Once she was out of the room Belle finally let her laughter loose, moved out of the kitchen, and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"We were up early, and she really wanted to learn to cook 'properly'. The cane caused some issues. I'll clean everything up, I promise."
"Don't bother; the cleaning lady is due in today. I will just have to make sure to give her an extra bonus as a thank you. Do I want to know what cooking 'properly' means?"
The conversation stopped for a moment as Sarah limped back in to grab the syrup and butter before rushing out again.
"She told me she used to have to make her own food at home, and the only thing she knows how to make comes out of can."
There was sadness in Belle's features, until Sarah came back into the room, tried to grab the tower of pancake, lose her balance, and almost dropped the entire thing.
"Hold on." Belle saved the tower. "You go sit down. I will take this heavy thing in."
Sarah's face was become pale, and it was clear that even her excitement over the morning's cooking lesson was not covering the pain in her leg. So she sat at the table, while the adults continued to get breakfast set up.
Finally everything was ready: the table was set, flowers were placed in the middle, wine glasses were filled with apple juice, and Rumpel lit two candles as the ladies started to serve out the food.
As they began eating, Rumpel looked over at Sarah only to see her staring blankly at nothing in the distance.
"Does your leg still hurt Dearie? Do you need us to get your pills?" He asked her worried.
She startled a little, but smiled at him. "No thank you. I just took some."
Ok, should have maybe taken the drugs off the child last night. He thought to himself. What a perfect way to start this guardianship. Let the child have free reign of some powerful pain killers.
"So," Belle interjected. "What would you like to do today?" She asked.
Sarah seemed confused by the question as she cocked her head like a puppy.
"Don't I have to go to school?"
"Not for the first week." Rumpel told her. "Dr. Hopper wants to meet with you a few times before you go back, and we want to keep a watch on you after your stay in the hospital… although you seem to be recovering well."
Sarah looked very happy at that news.
"But we will be getting you homework, so you will not fall behind." Rumpel was quick to clarify.
The child's happiness did not diminish.
"That's ok, I like school work. But…" She hesitated, suddenly unsure. "Don't you have to go to work?"
It occurred to Rumpel then that Belle and he had not really talked about the details of what was to happen this week; let alone what was going to happen until they found the child a home. Yesterday had been such a whirlwind of dealing with the immediate needs in front of them that the long term goals had never entered any of their minds.
He exchanged a glance with Belle and realized that she had had the same thought.
"Well I own my own shop, so I can open whenever I feel like it, I suppose."
"And I," Belle cut in, "might have to go in for a little while, but I am sure I can find someone to fill in for me. I have an idea why don't you guys come with me to the library. We can find you a book to entertain you. Do you like to read?"
Sarah nodded her head enthusiastically.
"I love reading."
So it was decided. They would head to the library, then to Dr. Hopper's office, after that lunch at Granny's. It seemed like a good plan.
After that conversation was easier as they ate the rest of breakfast; leaving the dirty dishes for the cleaning lady. Since he was already going to have to pay her extra to today's services he might as well get his money's worth.
The library was success, and also an eye opener for the adults. Apparently Belle was not the only book lover in town. Sarah seemed so upset when she was told she could only take out five books at a time, and instead of going to the children's section like they expected, she headed straight for the YA books, taking thee from there, then on to the adults books. The fantasy book she picked from the adult section passed their approval, but when she tried to take out a horror novel it was time to put their foot down.
Both Belle and Rumpel were worried that the books were going to be too difficult for her, but they decided it was not the time to voice their doubts to the child. She was so happy to have something 'mature' to read that they didn't want to hurt her confidence.
Belle had to stay a little longer at work, so it was just Sarah and Mr. Gold who made their way to Dr. Hopper's office. The man and child walking together along the town streets was apparently a sight to behold, as people constantly stopped to watch them walk by.
Gold was used to the stares of the town folks, but looking down at his young charge he could tell that the attention was bothering her.
"We are getting stared at my dear." He whispered to her in a conspiratorial way.
"I noticed." She responded, casting nervous looks around her; never meeting anyone eyes.
Pulling forward a little of his old impish mannerism, Rumpel allowed his voice to ring clear for all nearby to hear.
"I think it is wonderful that everyone notices how amazing you look in your new clothes. You look the vision of beauty and class. How could they help but stare?"
That earned him a giggle and joking look.
"Well as you said, it is only natural. I do look very good today." She preened with her head held high.
"And I must say," he continued his an overly dramatic haughty tone, "I always look quite handsome in my suits."
"Oh yes," she responded in kind, "quite the gentleman. How often would they get to see a Lady and Gentleman walk down these poor streets?"
The two of them started giggling at their own dramatics and he didn't notice when she moved to stand on the other side of him, so her cane was no longer between them. He only noticed when he felt a little hand slip into his.