54

Gold Forevermore

The day after the Winter Solstice, Rumple and Belle had all the children gather up all of the clothes and toys they had outgrown or no longer wanted and made up several baskets to give as donations to the poorer families in Valley Way. Inside each basket was also a spool of gold thread, so the family could purchase other things they needed. Belle recalled getting a few of those baskets when she lived with Miranda, as the orphans always were in need of clothes, shoes, and books. Rumple, who had grown up poorer than dirt, as he put it, never neglected to recall those families who struggled, especially during the winter, and had always given solstice donations to the village, even when he'd been the Dark One, though back then Ivy and Bae had made up the baskets, and they hadn't contained a fifth of what they did now.

They loaded all the baskets into the wagon and had Flicker pull it down to the village, where they gave them to Geppetto and Magistrate Henry, who placed them on the courthouse steps and had a lottery of all the needy families, and they drew out one name for each basket and delivered it to them that afternoon.

While the adults were doing that, Phillip found Pinocchio and gave him the solstice gift he had for his friend, which was a wooden sword, much like the one Bae had made for him on his birthday. Pinocchio gave Phillip a new marionette Geppetto had made, it was a knight, and could "walk" and "fight" when someone pulled certain strings. The boys had a great time playing with the puppet and staging mock swordfights on the side of the courthouse while their parents talked inside.

Aurora and Archie walked hand in hand down the sidewalk, stopping to chat with Mistress Pearson and Molly, and also Annie and her elder daughter, Priscilla. Finn, Ariel, Ruby, and Kristen decided to go caroling, singing some of the new songs from Ariel's songbook, and they went door to door singing them, and received cups of hot cocoa and peppermint sticks or cinnamon coffee and small solstice buns in response for their hard work.

Up at the castle, Myrnin and Ivy baked small loaves of date walnut bread together, drenching the tops with small glasses of rum given to them by Alice, and let them sit while they went outside to sit in the arbor and talk.

Ivy wanted to know everything that had happened to Myrnin since he'd been called away to help his people. At first Myrnin was reluctant to tell her, but in the end she wheedled it out of him, even the part he was ashamed of—the nightmares and his sudden uncontrolled outbursts of magic when he was awakened suddenly.

"I almost fried your papa the first night I was here," he admitted, not looking her in the eye. "He woke me up after I'd fallen asleep while I was . . . uh . . . taking a bath and I . . . attacked him. I thought . . . just for a moment . . . he was an enemy and I just . . . reacted."

"Oh, Myrnin, that's terrible!" Ivy exclaimed.

"I know. I would never hurt him, but . . . I can't seem to help myself, Ivy. I told Rum he ought to bind me again with those . . . those Manacles of Suppression I think you called them . . .?"

Ivy gasped. "No! Myrnin, the manacles are dangerous . . . Papa only uses them on enemies, if they're left on too long they can really injure a magician's ability to cast."

"He wouldn't do it, Ivy."

"Good. I'm glad. Myrnin, you're sick from the war, that's all. You'll get better, now that you're away from it."

"But for how long, Ivy?" he sighed. "I can only stay till the end of the holiday, after the turning of the year I have to go back. My people are still at war, and they . . . need me . . ."

Ivy sighed. "I wish you didn't have to go back. I wish you could just . . . stay here with us."

He stroked her cheek. "Believe me, a'liri, if I could, I do it in a heartbeat. Now that Arion's back in command, maybe I'll have more time to visit. He knows where I am, and I trust him not tell my father."

"If your father knew . . . what would he do?"

Myrnin sighed. "I really don't know. But it wouldn't be pleasant. He's forbidden any of us to have contact with humans unless it's a matter of life and death. He knows that I received help from a human family after I was injured a few months ago, but he wasn't at all happy about it."

"Would he preferred you have died?" she asked tartly.

"No . . . he doesn't hate me that much. But he doesn't like owing humans anything, and saving me placed him in your debt. He's probably going to send something to your father soon, a token of his gratitude. But that doesn't mean he'd let me have anything to do with you, Ivy. He'd have a fit if he knew where I was and who I was with."

"Do you care?"

"Once . . . I might have. Now . . . I don't give a damn. He can make all the rules and edicts he wants and I won't follow them if I can help it. His stupid pride got us into this whole mess with my dark kin, he thought he could make peace with the dwarrow, but all he did was stir them to vengeance and hatred. Now they think we're vulnerable and they're trying to annihilate us."

"But they're not succeeding, are they?"

"No. They don't have the numbers to truly harm us, anymore than we do them. Like always, we're fighting to a stalemate. I tried to convince my father to ask Rum to help him out, but he refuses. He thinks this war is only il'Shennara business and humans should stay out of it. He's a fool. With a sorcerer like your father, the war would be over in a few days, and the night elves would be hiding in a hole wetting themselves in fear and not come out until a new century had spawned. But it's no use talking to him, he never listens to me."

"He sounds like a stubborn idiot," Ivy snorted.

"You can say that again. Let's not talk about this anymore, Ivy. The war is far from here now, and I just want to have some peace and quiet. All right?"

"Of course. How about we have some bread and cheese and some sparkling cider for a snack? Then we can wrap up the bread we made and start thinking about what to cook for lunch."

"That sounds great to me. Lately I feel like I'm always starving."

"Maybe you're going to grow some," Ivy speculated. "Papa always says that growth spurts are accompanied by sudden spates of hunger."

"Could be. I'm shorter than most of my people," Myrnin mused. Then he moved to get the bread and cheese from the pantry, and Ivy opened a bottle of cider.

Page~*~*~*~*~Break

After they had donated the baskets, Rumple treated Belle to a crumb cake at Mistress Pelham's bakery. As they were eating the delicious cake along with some cinnamon flavored coffee, Geppetto came in and said, "Rum, I almost forgot. This came yesterday, but with all the excitement over the solstice, I almost didn't remember it until now." He handed the sorcerer a large creamy white envelope bearing the seal of the Golden Fleece, which was the official seal of the king's city, since King Jason was the Keeper of the Fleece, and had been since he had journeyed for it long ago, fighting dragon soldiers and monsters and a wicked enchantress to rescue it and bring it back to his uncle, who had then ruled this kingdom. It was how he had won his right to become heir to his uncle's throne and since then the Fleece was Attica's royal symbol.

"Thank you, Geppetto," Rum said.

The woodcarver nodded and then left them alone, saying he would take Pinocchio and Phillip back to his cottage for some biscotti and tea.

"Rum! Is it . . .?" Belle asked eagerly, as she saw the envelope.

"Let's open it and find out," her husband said, and gently lifted the seal with the tip of his eating knife.

He slid the paper within out of the envelope and opened it. A smile creased his face. "They're here, Belle! The adoption papers are approved and now we just need to file them with Magistrate Henry and set a date for our official appearance in court."

Belle was grinning from ear to ear. "Rum, can we do it today? File them, I mean?"

"Yes. I'll speak with Henry after we finish eating and hopefully we can set a date as soon as possible. It'll be the last solstice gift I'll give the children before the new year . . . and the most important one, I think."

Belle sipped her mug of coffee and thought about finally having her family officially under one name at last. Then there would be no more confusion about who belonged where and what they were called. They would all be Golds, children of Rumplestiltskin and Belle, and her family would be complete.

Page~*~*~*~*~Break

Belle was resting with her feet on Rum's lap in the sitting room after lunch, reading some of the herbal remedies book Archie had bought her for her birthday. Rumple had spoken to the magistrate and had set a court date for just before the new year, and the end of the solstice celebration. They hadn't told the children yet, figuring to wait and have it be a surprise.

Rumple was reading some of his new potions books, when he felt something tug on one of his boots. When he looked down, he saw Polaris trying to chew his left boot, pulling on one of the laces. "Hey, puppy! That's not something you should be chewing on," he scolded, leaning down and gently removing the puppy's jaws from the leather. He tapped the pup's nose and said sternly, "No, Polaris! No chewing!"

The collie-shepherd mix whimpered and gave Rumple a confused look. Then he tried to nip the sorcerer's fingers.

"No!" Rum scolded, giving the little dog another tap on the nose. "Here. Chew this." He summoned a worn bone of Rowan's and gave it to the puppy.

Polaris sniffed it, then he pounced on it, gnawing it and growling softly.

"Good boy!" Rumple praised, ruffling the dog's ears, which were flopped over, though when he was older, they could stand up like his sire's.

With the puppy happily occupied, Rum turned back to his book. But he had only read a page before being interrupted again, this time by Phillip and Clary, who came into the sitting room and were giving Belle an odd look . . almost disapproving.

"Mama, we need to ask you something," Clary said.

Belle looked up from her book. "Yes? What is it, Clary?" Then she coughed. "Rum, would you mind getting me something to drink? My throat is dry all of a sudden."

"I'll bring you some milk and honey," he said, gently removing his wife's feet from his lap and setting them on the sofa as he stood up. He placed his book on the small table to the side of the sofa, safely out of reach of teething puppies. Then he walked out of the sitting room and into the kitchen.

As soon as he had left, Phillip said, "Mom . . . you know how Santa comes to the castle the night before solstice morning and leaves us all gifts under the tree?"

"Yes. What about it?"

"Uh . . . well . . . Clary and I . . . well . . . we wanted to see what he looked like . . . so we . . . uh . . . snuck downstairs and hid behind the sofa . . .

"—and we saw you kiss Santa, Mama! On the mouth!" Clary finished.

Belle's eyes widened. She caught herself before she started laughing. Oh, no! They saw me kissing Rum dressed up as Santa! It must have been just before they fell asleep. Now how do I explain this?

"Yeah, Mom!" Phillip said, looking indignant. "How come you were kissing Santa? I thought you was only supposed to kiss Papa like that!"

Belle bit her lip, thinking frantically. How could she explain to the two precocious
children that they had seen her kissing their father and not Santa without ruining their whole outlook on the solstice holiday? She glanced around for Rumple, who should have been back by now with her milk. Maybe he could come up with a good enough excuse.

She spotted her husband then, standing just in the doorway of the sitting room, a glass of milk clutched in his hand, smirking like ten imps. She jerked her head at him, trying to tell him without words to get over here and help her.

"You don't want to marry Santa, right, Mom?" Phillip asked then.

"N-No! Of course not, Phil!" Belle stammered.

In the doorway, Rumple clamped a hand over his mouth, his shoulders shaking with silent amusement. He ducked back into the kitchen, setting the glass of milk on the table before doubling over, laughing hysterically. Oh, gods, Belle! They saw us!

Belle glared angrily at the now empty doorway. Damn you, Rumple! She blushed faintly then turned back to her offspring. "I'm married to your papa, Phillip, and I don't need another man in my life."

"Then why did you kiss him, Mom?" her son demanded.

"Was it 'cause you was teaching him how to do it?" Clary queried artlessly.

"Um . . . well . . . sort of . . ." Belle floundered, trying to come up with a good excuse.

In the kitchen, Rumple was nearly prostrate with laughter, wondering how his wife was going to explain that little incident. He knew he should be in there trying to help, but he was laughing so hard he couldn't even walk.

"How come he doesn't know how?" Phillip wanted to know.

"He's never been married b'fore, Phil!" Clary announced.

"Umm . . . yes, that's true, Clary, but . . . we were . . . umm . . . exchanging a kiss because of an old custom," Belle said, finally getting her wits back. "The first one to see Santa when he comes down the chimney has to . . . err . . . give him a kiss of peace and welcome. So, since I was the first one to see him, that's what I did."

Phillip still scowled a little. "But Mom! You were kissing him an awful long time!"

Belle felt her cheeks go red, and inwardly she cursed both her son's perceptiveness and her husband's sudden absence. Rumple, get your ass over here and help me!

Rumplestiltskin was gasping for breath after hearing that last statement, his eyes glistening with tears of mirth, snickering into his handkerchief at the way the two were grilling Belle over a simple kiss. He had intended to come in there, he really had, but he couldn't control himself, and it wouldn't do to let the children see him laughing his ass off over what should be an upsetting incident.

"It only seemed that way, Phillip," Belle said quickly. "It was over in two seconds."

"It didn't seem like that," her son said.

"You were tired, so it seemed longer," his mother improvised, wishing for once that she didn't have such curious and perceptive children.

"Was it like kissing Papa?" Clary wanted to know.

Belle shook her head, biting her cheek hard.

"Clary! Of course not! Papa's her husband, Santa's just an old fat man in a red suit!" Phillip snapped.

Belle started coughing, trying to smother her laughter.

That comment had Rumple laughing so hard he nearly died right there at the table.

"So?" Clary demanded.

"So, the best kisses are when you love someone," Phillip informed her. "Right, Mom?"

"Y-yes, Phillip, that's exactly right," Belle managed to say. "What's taking your father so long?" she asked loudly.

Rumple was trying to compose himself, but failing miserably.

"Want me to see?" asked Clary.

"Please do," Belle said.

"Papa, where are you?" she called. "Mama's thirsty!"

"I'll . . . be right there . . . Clary," Rumple gasped. "I . . . couldn't find the honey."

"It's on the third shelf in the pantry," Clary called back.

"Yes . . . I . . . know that," her father replied. "I'm coming, Belle."

Oh, now he's coming! she thought indignantly.

"So then it wasn't a real kiss, just for pretend?" Phillip asked.

"It was a welcome kiss, because Santa only comes once a year," his mother told him firmly. "That's all."

"Okay. I was just making sure," her son sighed.

"Told you so!" Clary declared triumphantly. "Santa's gonna marry Granny and he needed the practice."

Belle lost it then and started laughing.

Rumple almost dropped the glass of milk and honey on the floor upon hearing that bit of wisdom. He managed to levitate the glass before he leaned against the doorjamb, laughing helplessly.

"What's so funny?" Clary looked at her brother.

Phillip shrugged. "Dunno. Maybe Santa's too old for Granny."

"No, he's not! They're both old!"

"Clary, dearie . . . where did you get the idea that . . . Santa was marrying Granny?" asked Rumple, straightening up and wiping his eyes.

"Phillip said he needed a wife, and Granny's the only old woman I know who's nice enough to marry him," his daughter answered.

"Oh. I see. That's very clever of you, snippet," Belle said then. She shot a glare at Rumple.

He brought her the glass of milk, giving her a contrite look over the top of it. "Sorry," he muttered. Then he said, "Phillip, why don't you and Clary go and make a snowman? We need one in the front yard."

"Okay!" the little girl said. "Come on, Phil! Let's go build a snowman!"

"I'll get some spare buttons for the eyes and a carrot," her brother said.

"And don't forget your cloaks, scarves, and mittens," Belle reminded them as they ran from the room. Then she turned to her husband and snapped, "And just where the hell were you, Rumplestiltskin? I could have used your help, you know!"

"Umm . . ." was all he said, looking as guilty as a boy caught with his hand in a cookie jar before dinner.

"You wretch!" she shook a finger at him. "I'll bet you were laughing your ass off in there."

"I . . . couldn't help it!"

"I ought to make you sleep out here on the sofa," she threatened.

"Hey . . . let's not get vindictive, dearie. I never expected to be spied upon in my own castle on solstice eve. Especially not by those two. And you could have waited, you know."

"Oh, shut up, Rumple!" she mock-growled. She sipped her milk. "Now get over here and massage my feet."

"Yes, dear," he said, pretending meekness. Then he sat down beside her, taking her foot in his lap, and saying slyly, "Do I get a kiss afterwards?"

Belle took the pillow from behind her and smacked him in the head.

Page~*~*~*~Break

In the last week of the solstice holiday, which led up to the turning of the year, the children busied themselves skating, having snowball fights, riding, and in the case of Snow, learning how to shoot her bow from both Rafe and Myrnin. Since both of them were experts, they'd both volunteered to teach her, and had been pleasantly shocked to find that the girl had almost as deadly an aim as they did, having inherited an archer's eye.

Charming came over as well, and was receiving sword lessons from Alice and Jeff, who were also teaching him, Bae, Jack, and Ray how to fight monsters. Rumple and Myrnin had cast several illusionary beasts, like an ogre, a giant, a manticore, a chimera, and a dragon in the yard. Depending on what one they were fighting that afternoon, Jeff and Alice would show them several techniques on how to render it harmless or to kill it.

Sometimes Rafe, Snow, and Myrnin joined them as well, using their archery skills or in the half-elf's case, his magic, to bring down the illusionary foes. It was then that Myrnin demonstrated the combat magic he had learned fighting his dark cousins, shocking the boots off of both mercenaries with his reactions and sheer power.

"Gods, boy, you're almost as strong as Rum!" Jeff exclaimed one day after watching the slender youth kill the ogre with a simple flick of one hand and a ball of power that ignited the eight foot monster on contact, and then turn and tear apart the flying dragon with a storm of hailstones as big as a man's head, sending the dragon crashing into the ground, where it flickered and vanished.

"And you're wicked fast too," Alice whistled.

Myrnin shrugged. "I have to be. The night elves are good at sneak attacks, and also getting off that last death spell before going to the afterworld. So I have to make sure one strike destroys them and whatever they send after me or else I'd be joining them."

"Let me try something," Alice said, eyeing the young sorcerer thoughtfully. There were four illusionary monsters remaining—the manticore, the giant, a wyvern, and a troll. "How are you at handling multiple attacks all at once?"

"Not bad," Myrnin answered.

"Let's find out," she said, and clapped her hands three times, signaling the monsters to spring at the slender half-elf.

"Alice! Even he can't fight off so many!" Jeff protested. "He's going to get his ass kicked."

All of them converged upon him in a snarling, snapping whirlwind of teeth, claws, fire, and weapons, and Myrnin shielded himself. The pack of monsters struck the shield and were repelled.

Jeff, Alice, and the other children watched in amazement from a safe distance across the yard, sure that Myrnin was going to be toast.

As the monsters attempted to tear down the glowing blue dome of magic surrounding him, the youth lowered his head and concentrated.

The shield surrounding him expanded . . . then erupted in a soundless wall of blue power that smashed into all the monsters, incinerating those closest to him and shredding the others like paper.

When the light died and the dust settled, Myrnin stood unharmed, flickers of blue fire still curling in the air about him. "How was that, Jeff?"

"Holy shit, kid!" Alice gasped.

Jeff found his voice at last. "Blessed gods and hells, boy! You just wrecked four of the worst bunch of monsters in the realms and you didn't even break a sweat. You're not feeling sick are you? Or like you're going to collapse?"

Myrnin shook his head. "No. They were only illusions, Jeff. I tapped into the earth for some of my power, so I didn't use much of my reserves. That's a trick I learned from some other combat mages in the kingsguard."

"Even so, you've got some blasted power, kid. I've only known one other magician who can command more magic in one shot than you, and he's the master of this castle," Alice said.

"I'm nowhere near Rum's level yet, Alice," Myrnin said. "If I ever am."

"But you're pretty damn close, kid," she whistled. "And that's saying something."

"Okay, let's all take a break," Jeff said. "I think we all need some hot baths and some lunch."

His statement was met with whoops and cheers as they all filed back into the castle. Myrnin trailed them, thinking sadly that it was easy to kill with his power, and while he didn't regret in the slightest killing the dwarrow, he'd much rather use his magic to renew, build, and heal, skills which Rumple had been showing him earlier in the week. That, he thought, was a true test of a magician's power, and something he had yet to master.

Page~*~*~*~Break

Early on the morning before new year's eve, Belle and Rumple woke all the children and told them to dress in their good clothing and get ready to go to Valley Way for a meeting at the courthouse with Magistrate Henry.

"What for, Mom?" asked Rafe.

"Yeah, why do we have to get up so blasted early?" groaned Elaina, who enjoyed sleeping in some mornings.

"Are we going to a wedding?" Clary asked her father, rubbing her eyes.

"You'll see, snippet. Now go wash your face and get into your fancy party dress," he told her.

Mystified, all the children did as they were told.

Most of them rode in the wagon down to the village, pulled by Flicker, though Jack rode Steady and Rum rode Rogue, with Phillip seated just before him on the mare. Jeff accompanied them on Deuce, as did Alice, riding her gray horse, Ironheart.

They all processed into the courthouse, which was empty save for the magistrate sitting up at his bench, wearing his official black judicial robes. "Ah, right on time, Archmagus Gold," he declared pleasantly, shuffling the papers on his bench.

"Good morning, Magistrate Henry," Rumple said, taking Belle's arm and walking up to the front where the witnesses usually stood. "As you can see, all of our children are present, and so are two witnesses, as you requested."

"What's going on?" Nick asked, nudging Peter, who shrugged and said, "How should I know?"

"Children, we'd like you to line up in order, from oldest to youngest," Belle said. As the children got in line, she said, "You too, Snow."

Snow came to stand next to Bae and Rennie, puzzled.

Jeff, Alice, and Myrnin stood off to one side, next to Belle and Rumple.

When everyone was lined up, Magistrate Henry cleared his throat and said, "I would like to wish all of you a good morning, and to tell you that you're here today to finalize a procedure that your father, Archmagus Gold, started back in September. Today, in sight of these witnesses, I shall require you to sign your name to a single document, if you consent, of your own free will, to be adopted by the said sorcerer and his wife, Lady Belle Avonlea Gold, and to take the name Gold henceforth and forevermore. Some of you already bear that name, in that case, you are signing your favor to be adopted by Lady Belle. When I call your name, please approach the bench and take up the pen here and sign your consent on the line provided."

Grins and gasps followed that statement. Snow almost fainted.

Magistrate Henry calmly placed an inkwell next to his raven feather quill and the parchment certificate of adoption in front of him, and called, "Baelfire Gold, sign your consent."

Bae walked forward, took up the quill, and signed his name with a flourish.

Then he walked back to stand next to Rennie.

"Serenity Emilie Avonlea, step forward."

Rennie did so, and as she signed her name, Magistrate Henry said, "From this moment on, you are now Serenity Emilie Gold."

Beaming, she walked back and hugged Bae.

Snow was next, and she feared she was going to fall over, she was so shocked. She almost couldn't believe this was happening. The Golds had given her so much, but she had never expected them to go this far. She glanced over at Belle and Rumple, and Belle smiled and nodded. Rumple did as well, and gestured towards the bench.

"Snow White Broceliande, step forward."

Snow felt tears prickle her eyes as she walked up and lifted the quill. As she signed her name, she felt something she had not since her father had breathed his last on a sunny morning. She felt as though she belonged, and that she had come home at last.

"From this moment hence, you are Snow White Gold."

She walked back to stand next to Rennie in a daze, and Rennie hugged her and whispered, "Welcome to the family, little sister!" For she was older than Snow by a few months.

"Raphael Edward Avonlea, come forward."

Rafe walked over, picked up the pen, and signed, thinking as he did so that his last tie to his wastrel father was severed. He looked over at his parents and smiled as the magistrate said, "Henceforth, you are now Raphael Edward Gold."

And so it went, from oldest to youngest, though Tom used his own quill to sign his name, all the way down to the last.

"Phillip Maurice Avonlea, come forward."

Phillip did so, though he had to stand on a chair to reach the top of the bench and sign his name.

Magistrate Henry winked at him, then said, "You are Phillip Maurice Gold forevermore."

Phillip jumped down off the chair and cried, "I'm legal now, Papa!"

Everyone laughed.

Last but not least, it was Clary's turn.

She climbed up on the chair and the magistrate smiled and said, "Can you write your name for me, sweetheart, here next to your brother Phillip's?"

Clary nodded. "Uh huh. Papa taught me." She picked up the quill, which the magistrate had already dipped in the ink. "But I write better in crayon."

The magistrate chuckled as she wrote carefully Clarissa Gold.

Once she had run back to stand next to Phillip, Magistrate Henry said, "With the power vested in me as an official of Attica, by the grace of His Majesty, Jason, King of the realm, I now sign this document and make this adoption legal and lawfully binding." He then signed his name at the bottom. Then he rose and bowed to Rumplestiltskin and Belle. "Archmagus Gold, Lady Belle, I give you—your children!"

Jeff, Alice, and Myrnin started applauding loudly as the children rushed forward to hug and kiss Belle and Rumple.

Bae nearly liften Belle off the ground with his hug, saying, "All of us voted unanimously to accept you as our mother, and good riddance to my old one, Mom!"

Belle dashed tears from her eyes and hugged him back. "She never deserved you, Bae. And I'm proud to call you my son."

Beside her, Rumple was receiving a similar hug from Rafe, who said, "Finally I have a name I can be proud of again. And a father. Thank you, Papa."

Rumple hugged his son hard, blinking back tears of joy. "No, thank you, Rafe. For taking a chance to trust me. You'll do the Gold name proud, lad."

"Yeah, well, I'll try," Rafe said, stepping back and wiping his eyes. "Damn dust!"

He looked over at Bae, who gave a nod, then at Finn, Jeff, and Myrnin also.

At that silent signal, they picked up Rumple and carried him out of the courthouse on their shoulders, with Belle floating along next to him, with all the children singing "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" and then "Hail to the Queen".

As they emerged from the courthouse, with their parents on their shoulders, Rufus Miller walked by and stared at them. "What in the world's happening now?"

"We've just gotten adopted, Master Miller!" Phillip yelled joyously. "And we're celebrating."

"Oh. For a minute there I thought it was arrested. Congratulations! And the gods help you, Gold!" Then he bowed and continued on down the street.

The children all cheered, and then they carefully set their parents down on the wagon seat, giving them a salute as they did so.

Belle squeezed Rum's hand in her own. "Finally, Rum! Now we're all a family."

Rumplestiltskin grinned. "We truly are. They're not yours or mine any longer, but ours. Now let's get home, we skipped breakfast, and I'm starving."

A/N: Well, I was going to have regina in this chapter, but then I realized I needed this to happen first. So she'll be back in the next one. Hope you all liked!