David pulled into the only thing that resembled a hotel in the tiny town, a small and quaint Bed and Breakfast. He looked at his wife, who was already plastering on the look of someone who was happily on vacation with their husband, instead of someone who was on a very dangerous rescue mission.
"Are you ready?" he asked. She nodded, smiling encouragingly at him. He sighed, before forcing on a smile as well, and hopping out of the van. Mary Margaret followed, and they both walked into the small building.
They had called ahead and made reservations, once they realized how small the establishment was. They had wanted to make sure someone would be there, and sure enough, an employee was sitting behind the counter. He stood when they entered, and smiled pleasantly at them.
"Hello, I'm Toby. Do you need help with your luggage?" he asked politely.
"No thanks, we've got it," David reassured him.
"Alright then, right this way," Toby said, before walking down a short hallway, with only four rooms leading off. He handed David a card key once they got there. "This will be your room. Enjoy your stay, and if you need anything while you are here, just call the number you called to make your reseveration."
"Alright, thank you so much," Mary Margaret said, smiling at the man. He nodded, and then walked back toward the front of the building.
David and Mary Margaret entered the room, and put their luggage down. The room was huge, and they even had a living room and kitchen connected to it, just in case they wanted to cook. It was more like renting a nice apartment than staying in a hotel. However, they had more important things to worry about than how wonderful the room was.
"Alright, so what's the plan?" David asked his wife. She had initiated the mission, so he hoped that she had an idea of how to go about it.
"Well, we should go out to dinner and enjoy ourselves. Make it seem like we really are here for a lovely vacation. Then, tonight, we'll go investigate. We'll see if the boy and woman are in the cabin, and then we'll go from there."
"Sounds like a plan," David agreed, as he usually did. Then, he smiled, put an arm around his wife's shoulders, and headed out to discover a wonderful restaurant in the quaint little town.
"Papa!" Bae yelled before running up and tackling him in a hug. Mr. Gold had barely enough time to get on his knees and spread his arms out before Baden hit into him. He groaned in pain and relief as his son held onto him tightly.
"I love you Bae," he said, tears slipping past his eyelids without him trying to stop them. He didn't care that his son was pressing firmly on his injury, and his leg was killing him from his kneeling position on the floor. All he cared about was that his son was back, safe with him.
"I love you too, Papa." The small family stayed like that for several minutes, on the ground, holding on tight to each other to ensure the other was safe. While they did, Killian whispered to Belle that he was going to get the doctor, and left. Belle didn't want to intrude on their moment, but she couldn't help but watch. It warmed her heart to see how much they cared about each other.
"Papa," Bae said after a minute or two.
"Yes, son?" he asked.
"Could you read Guess How Much I Love You to me?" he asked hopefully. He knew it wasn't night time, but he really missed his father reading the story to him, and he wanted to hear it. It would let him know that his Papa wasn't going to leave anytime soon.
"Well, son, I don't have the book with me." Baden's face started to fall, and before the situation could get any worse, Gold continued. "However, I bet I can remember how it goes."
Baden perked up, and waited for his father to continue. "Let's see, I think you start."
"Oh, yeah," Bae agreed. Belle was confused for a second, wondering if they took turns reading the book, when Baden started. "Guess how much I love you."
"Oh, I don't think I could guess that," Gold said, smiling at his son.
"This much," Baden said, stretching out his arms as wide as they would go. Belle realized that they must act out the book, and watched the scene unfold before her.
"But I love you this much." Robert stretched out his arms as far as he could, and Baden grinned.
"Well, I love you as high as I can reach," Baden said, standing on his tip toes and reaching his hands far above his head.
Gold started to get up, so he could do the same, but he started to fall. Belle caught him, and he looked at her in surprise as she helped him to his feet. "Keep going," she encouraged when he just stared at her.
"Yes, right. I love you this much." He lifted up his arms, but was unable to ignore Belle's, which were wrapped tightly around his chest and above the gunshot wound.
Baden had been scared for his Papa when he started to fall, but if Belle thought it was alright for him to be standing up, then it probably was. He walked over to the wall of the secret hideout, and flipped upside down, so his feet were propped against the wall. "I love you up to my toes."
Robert propped himself against the wall, and mouthed 'spin him around by his hands,' to Belle. She smiled, and obliged.
Baden giggled as he flew above Belle's head. "I love you up to your toes," Robert told his son, smiling as he watched Belle interact with his precious boy.
Baden giggled, and Belle set him down sooner than he would have liked. However, he continued with the story. "I love you as high as I can hop," he said, and started to bounce up and down. Soon, Belle joined in beside him.
"I love you as high as Belle can hop," Robert said. Baden was trying to remember the next line when Belle picked him up and held him as she hopped. He giggled, and whished his father could join in, but he knew that he wasn't well enough to. However, that didn't stop him from enjoying the game with Belle. Robert watched, smiling. He was truly glad his son trusted another grownup besides himself to play with him like this. Belle was the first one Baden trusted this much besides himself, and he was glad Melena hadn't ruined this for his son.
It took a few minutes after Belle set him down for Bae to cease his giggling.
"Uh, I love you across the lake," he said. In the book it was to the river, but they weren't near a river, so he thought that would work better.
"Well, I love you across the lake, through the woods, and all the way to our house," he said, and Baden smiled. Then, a yawn escaped the young boy. He had had a stressful and physically exhausting day, and was more tired than he wanted to reveal.
"I love you to the moon," he said though a yawn as Belle picked him up and gently placed him on the cot. "Both of you," he added as he slipped off into sleep.
"We love you to the moon, and back," Gold finished as Belle pulled a blanket over the now sleeping boy. She was shocked that both of them had included her in their special bedtime ritual, and deeply touched.
"Thank you," she said to Robert, smiling and the beginnings of joyful tears forming in her eyes.
"I thought we said we were done with those, dearie," he reminded her, but he was smiling as well.
"You should be laying down." Belle and Robert turned toward the door, where Dr. Hopper was standing, looking concerned. Robert nodded and lay down in the only cot next to his son, as Archie went over to see what damage his patient had caused to his already critical wound.
"What did I miss," Killian asked Belle as she watched Hopper and Robert.
"Not much," she said, wiping the remaining joyful tears from her eyes. "Now, let's go retrieve Shepard, before he escapes." Killian nodded, and stepped onto the raft. Belle took one last look at the little boy she loved and his kind father before following the teen onto the raft. She was ready to go hunt a kidnapper.
Author's Note: Toby is not a character from OUAT. I just needed someone to run the Bed and Breakfast, so I created someone to do that.
Also, I do not own Guess How Much I Love You. It is an amazing book, but it isn't mine.