Sitting out on his patio, Rumpel held a cup of tea between his hands on the table, gazing about the over grown flowerpots and dead flowerbeds. His thoughts had kept bouncing between Belle and the residents of Storybrooke, worrying about them staring if he went to the party. He tried to tell himself that he would be fine and he did not need to feel uneasy. The voices though, were telling him how he was unwelcome in Storybrooke.

Inside the house, Rumpel could hear an echo of someone knocking at the front door. He sipped the last of his tea and stayed seated, letting Baelfire answer the door. Rumpel was grateful to Baelfire for bringing him home and staying in case he needed him. Showering and dressing had helped Rumpel feel more normal. It also had helped that he had cast a spell over himself, so he did not feel any more pain from his back. Mother Superior had been right, using magic to heal his wound did not work. Pan must have enchanted the blade.

"Mr Gold." Henry's voice called from the patio doors. Rumpel left his thoughts where they were and turned to face his grandson. He could not help the smile that tugged at the corner of his lips, seeing Henry dressed in a white shirt and black dress pants with a thin black tie.

"Hello, Henry." Rumpel greeted and gestured to the chair beside him at the table. As he pulled the chair out from the table for Henry, the young man crossed quickly over to Rumpel and sat down into the chair. Taking a moment, Rumpel eyed the young man over, feeling as it was the first time he had ever seen Henry.

"This feels kind of weird." Henry confessed, playing with the end of his tie.

Rumpel's smile grew wider. "I can understand that. You've grown up thinking of me as the town monster."

"You're not a monster, scary at times, but not a monster." Henry told his grandfather, making the elder man dip his head. "You're my grandpa anyway."

"Yes, suppose I am." Rumpel said raising his head to look at Henry. The young man smiled kindly, encouraging the smile back onto Rumpel's face.

"Hey." Rumpel turned his head to see Emma in the doorway, dressed in her usual red leather jacket with a white shirt underneath and her tight black pants. "It's good to see you up and about, Gold."

He acknowledged what she said with a nod of his head and said. "From the sounds of it, you all had quite the adventure."

"Yeah, you could say that." Emma said crossing the patio to stand behind Henry with her hands on the back of his chair. "So, we've come over to pick Neal up for the party. He's asked me to see whether you're coming, while he's getting changed upstairs."

Rumpel reached out to play with the handle of the teacup and sighed as he shrugged his shoulders at Emma and Henry. Was it worth it? Rumpel could not answer. All he knew was if he spent the rest of his years running, as his old self had, he was going to miss something special. Whether that was spending more time with his family or with her, it did not matter. They meant so much to him.

"Come on, Grandpa, it'll be fun." Henry encouraged with a grin. Hearing Henry call Rumpel 'Grandpa' astounded Rumpel for a second. Never in his wildest dreams did he ever think when he found Baelfire, he would have a family of his own. Perhaps it should not have been such a shock as life always went on.

Nodding his head, Rumpel winked at Henry. "For you, anything."

Henry launched out of his chair and slung his arms around Rumpel, scaring the hell out of his grandfather as he hugged him before running off into the house, shouting to Baelfire he was coming. Chuckling at Henry's excitement, Rumpel shook his head and stood from his seat, pulling his waistcoat down. Emma shared a smile with him briefly and followed Henry inside the house. He ambled his way in behind her, closing the patio door on his way back into the house.

Rumpel turned the lights off in the kitchen whilst Baelfire came down the stairs, fastening the button of his suit jacket. Rumpel's chest swelled at the sight of his son, proud to see this grown man in front of him. He was just glad that he had taken more after Milah in the looks department than himself.

"See, Papa, you're not the only one in the family, who can look handsome in a suit." Baelfire told his father, coming down the stairs. Rumpel simply smiled at his son joining him in the entrance hall. He gave his son's tie a quick tug and straightened it for him. His hands lingered on Baelfire's chest as Rumpel tried to maintain his emotions. It was overwhelming him.

"Papa, it's okay." Baelfire reassured him and pulled his father into a hug.

"Oh, Bae." Rumpel mumbled into Baelfire's shoulder, allowing himself to cry in the safety of his son's embrace. Baelfire gave Rumpel a manly slap on his back before pulling away from his father. Rubbing the wetness away from his eyes, Rumpel straightened his waistcoat and hair, checking himself in the mirror on the wall. As Baelfire went into the sitting room to talk to Emma and Henry, Rumpel tugged at the open collar of his shirt, making sure he looked immaculate.

"Come on, Papa." Baelfire called, guiding Henry to the front door with his hands on his shoulders. Emma was aimlessly following behind them and held the front door when Baelfire opened it, waiting for Rumpel as they went out the door. Rubbing at the back of his neck, Rumpel turned the light off in the sitting room and joined Emma by the front door. He smiled at Emma and trailed after her through the front door closing it behind him, leaving the entrance hall light on.

Coming down the steps of his porch, Rumpel was astonished to see his car parked in his driveway. He was looking at it as he got to the bottom step of his porch, where Emma was standing. A jingling sound drew his attention to Emma, where she jangled the keys to his car.

"Neal asked me to bring your car over for you." Emma informed him as Rumpel took his keys. He nodded his thanks to her and pocketed his keys. They walked down the path of his house together, not saying anything to one another, and climbed into Baelfire's car parked at the kerb. She climbed into the back to join Henry and Rumpel took the passenger seat in the front.

As they drove to the town hall, Henry was telling them all about a project he was working on for school. Rumpel sat quietly, listening to the excited chattering of his grandson. It was very mundane the atmosphere in the car. If Rumpel did not know any better, he would have thought this was a normal occurrence, a family outing. There was no talk of magic or any need of it, just like his life in New York, which made it easier to go with them to the party.