"I don't want to say I didn't expect this." Regina Mills sighed, adding speed on the treadmill. "But, you know, I've never had to meet the parents of a man I'd been dating before."
"You are actually engaged." the Queen grinned, also increasing the speed on her own.
"Which means I'll have to see his mother regularly.", the ex-Mayor said sadly.
"Well, not so regularly.", her sister objected. "Meredith is a really busy person. So it's unlikely she will have time to meet with you more than two to three times a year. The same way she meets David and Esther now."
"Yes, David told me." Regina nodded. "But, judging by his stories, she is quite peculiar. So perhaps, these two or three times will be just enough."
"Well, there's nowhere to go anyway." the Queen shrugged. "And you will like Meredith in the end. She is a very interesting person. Even though she can be too harsh and intolerant, she is also the chief of neurosurgery at Hopkins and the head of the foundation, which was originally founded by David's father. Meredith carries out fifteen operations a month while simultaneously dealing with a bunch of administrative issues. It would be sort of unrealistic to expect her to be sweet."
"Don't remind me of the foundation." the former Mayor grimaced. "I have never met her before but I was already present at probably her tenth telephone showdown with her son. After all, he is already forty-three years old and this year he once again didn't receive an award named after his grandfather in the surgical field because he is engaged with me and doesn't work. But his ex-wife received it which she seems to love very much for her brilliant research. And now every night she is the third person in our bed. But the secret is that David will never receive this award. Because it's his father's foundation. And it's not enough for him to be the best; he needs to do something beyond human capabilities so that no one says his mother just put pressure on the commission since she is the head of funding."
"She hardly loves Adele so much." Mrs. Gold raised an eyebrow. "It rather annoys her that the prize went to the woman who divorced her son. I think she is much more upset than David himself. Show some understanding."
"I do." Regina nodded. "But this doesn't add to my desire to go to dinner with her tonight. I've had enough with Cora. And I don't really want to gain any further experience in interacting with yet another domineering mother."
"She's not like Cora at all." the Queen objected. "I would say she is more like you."
"That's not the best option either." She turned off the treadmill and wiped her sweat with a towel.
"Don't worry." Her sister followed her example. "Why do you think we arranged the dinner with us? For most of the evening, Meredith will be occupied with Rumple, they're in love with each other."
"Really?" Regina grinned.
"Absolutely.", she smiled. "Meredith always knows what to invest in. Last year, she advised several pharmaceutical advances that brought us very good profits. Part of which went to financing her research. These two have complete reciprocity. So don't worry: it's possible she won't even notice you."
"Let's hope so.", the woman nodded. "Shall we grab a bite?"
"No, I don't eat after training." the Queen shook her head. "Besides, I want to go stretching." She looked at her watch. "The yoga class begins in five minutes. Will you join me?"
"Are you kidding?" prayed Regina. "We've been hanging around here for two hours. And you promised me this run would be for cooling off."
"Well dear, this is a world without magic." she smiled. "Here I have to make some efforts so that all the familiar dresses would fit me as usual again."
"Is something wrong with them now?" Miss Mills asked.
"Something is wrong with me now." The Queen looked thoroughly at herself in the mirror. "It seems that my waist and hips got bigger after giving birth."
"I don't see anything." The ex-Mayor also looked thoroughly at her figure.
"The important thing is that I see it." She sighed.
"What does Gold say?" Regina asked.
"Everything that is supposed to be said in such situations." her sister grinned. "About how beautiful I look. I don't even know how he manages an erection looking at my flabby stomach."
"Seriously?" Miss Mills raised an eyebrow. "Haven't you seen his own flabby stomach since… forever?"
"Oh, just stop." the Queen grimaced. "I like his belly. But not my own. And I'm going to yoga, you do as you want."
"Okay, let's go." she sighed.
"Good." Mrs. Gold smiled. "Just an extra half hour and the effect are going to be just amazing. You will like it too."
"Where's Esther?" Regina said when Stern got inside her car, near the clinic.
"She left for her mother." he answered, closing the door. "So we're going to dinner alone."
"Great timing." The woman smiled sadly. "I was hoping that talking with her granddaughter would interest the grandmother more than our engagement."
"Stop it." He reached out and kissed her on the cheek. "It's just my mom. Everything will be fine, you'll like each other."
"Do you actually believe that?" Regina squinted at him.
"Of course.", he said uncertainly.
"I see." She grinned, starting the car.
Soon they parked near the Golds' house.
"Ready?" Stern smiled, taking Regina's hand.
"Well, there's nowhere to go, anyway." She smiled back. "Let's go."
"Mummy, hello!" After entering the house and kissing the Queen, who opened the door for them, Stern waved at the woman sitting in the living room.
"This time you weren't almost late." She smiled at him, bouncing Charlotte on her knee. "It's nice."
Gideon sat next to them, on the carpet, and stacked pieces of rails on the railroad.
"No, honey, it won't work that way." Meredith leaned over and turned the part around, the one the boy was stubbornly trying to attach. "Look, is it going to work like that?"
"Where is Gold?" Regina asked the Queen in a whisper.
"He got caught up at Trenton's", she answered just as quietly, taking her coat from her, "but he should be here any minute."
"And there we go again, everything not going according to plan." Regina sighed. "Mrs. Stern." She smiled uncertainly as she entered the living room. "I ..."
"Dr. Stern." the woman interrupted, giving her an unfriendly look.
Putting Charlotte on the carpet, she took a glass from the table near the sofa, went to the mantelpiece where a bottle of whiskey was and poured herself a little.
"Of course." Miss Mills nodded. "Nice to meet you, doctor. Regina Mills, assistant Mayor." She held out her hand, going towards Meredith.
"Well, I see that you too have something else to do besides mating.", she said sarcastically.
"Mom." David looked sternly at his mother.
"What?" She drank a little from the glass. "You already had one wife, you have a daughter - it's time to get down to work now. Don't be offended, honey." She glanced at Regina. "I have nothing against you personally. I think all this is stupid and untimely in general."
"What do I hear?" Gold's voice was heard from the hallway. "Are we finally seeing the real Dr. Stern visiting us?" He smiled, entering the living room.
"Rumple." The woman popped a smile, turning to Gold.
"I see, I'm on time." He went to Meredith and taking her by the shoulders, he kissed her temple. "You know that Regina is my wife's sister, right? And that am I against you treating her badly?"
"Oh, well, don't you start either." Dr. Stern grimaced. "I already said that I have nothing against Miss Mills. But David needs to spend time on his research and not on his personal life, if he ever wants to receive recognition for his merits and not pour his many years of efforts down the drain. And, considering how much money you invested in it over the past year, you should be in solidarity with me now."
"How do you know how much I invest?" Gold squinted.
"I know everything about everyone." The woman smiled conspiratorially, leaning slightly towards Gold and touching his elbow. "Come on, you and I need to speak in secrecy."
"Just like that?" Gold said surprised. "I, unlike you, still haven't had a sip." he nodded at her glass.
"Well, better for all of us." Meredith nodded. "Otherwise you'll say I took advantage of the fact that you were drunk."
"Hm." He raised an eyebrow. "I feel it's going to be an interesting conversation."
"You'll see." she returned the glass to the shelf and headed for the stairs. "So are you coming?"
"Meredith, you know I can't refuse you." Gold grinned.
After giving his wife a quick kiss, he followed the woman into his office.
"Tell me what else you know that's interesting." He pulled out a chair for Meredith after which he sat down himself at the desk opposite her. "What good things are our pharmacist friends doing?"
"I didn't come with new information, alas. This is about to be an unpleasant conversation for me, so I wanted to get it over with right away, at the very beginning of the evening, so as not to suffer the long wait." She looked hesitantly at Gold, collecting her thoughts. "I won't beat around the bush, Rumple. I need money."
"Well, this isn't anything new either." he shrugged. "How much do you need?"
"It's not needed for research." She put her hands on the table, her fingers tangled together. "I need a lot more besides that."
"Meredith, you're scaring me." He leaned on the desk, carefully looking at his conversationalist. "What happened?"
"I am opening a charity clinic based on Hopkins." Her voice sounded unusually insecure. "And I overestimated my monetary strength a bit. No, actually quite a bit. I thought I could take out enough money from the funds but it didn't turn out like that. The charter of the fund is such that funds can only be spent on scientific researches which certainly bring great benefits. We get completely new techniques, ones we previously could not have imagined. But the problem is, these methods are not accessible to everyone. Additionally, not only the high-tech treatments but also the most ordinary medical care is inaccessible to many people."
"What kind of clinic is it going to be?" Gold asked perplexed.
"The obstetric department with neonatology intensive care units, the surgical department, the emergency care and the ambulance area so far." She looked at her hands. "Then, perhaps, it will be possible to add pediatrics and therapy. I have a building that belongs to the hospital which hasn't been used for a long time. I took out from the fund however much I could, writing statements for financing the clinical trials with it, invested all my savings as well but it wasn't enough. I'm stuck midway through. I will eventually receive funding for the clinic from our foundation, the money appointed for clinical trials I told you about, then also some from the money appointed for the hospital's interns' training and additionally from two other charitable foundations that are willing to give us a certain amount of money every month. But right now I don't have a large enough amount to equip the clinic. And again, right now, there's nowhere to take it out from."
"How much do you need?", Gold asked.
Meredith called the amount.
"And this is the capital? That is, how much have you already invested?" He asked in shock.
The woman nodded silently.
"It seems like this is really important to you." Gold examined his conversationalist thoughtfully.
"Very important." she nodded. "You know, David's father was a very good person. But he was too devoted on science and way too detached from real life. He created a fund that funds a dream. I want to make that dream come true. I want to, so that not only surgeons know his name but also those people for which this clinic is about to become hope. Over time, you and I will settle the difference.", she added uncertainly.
"Does David know about this?", Gold asked.
"No." The woman shook her head, "David doesn't know yet. And there's no need to tell him now, he has his own tasks he needs to concentrate on."
Both were silent for a while.
"I will give you money.", Gold finally said.
"Truly?" Meredith breathed out.
"Truly." He wrote out a check and slid it across the desk.
"But here is more than what I asked." She looked at the check and then looked up at Gold.
"This is in case of unforeseen expenses.", he nodded.
"Thank you." She covered his palm with hers. "You have no idea what this means to me. How will we arrange everything? I don't know if I can now provide at least some monthly payments ...
"Meredith." Gold stopped her. "You don't owe me anything. Just take the money and let's forget about it."
"What?" The woman was confused. "No, Rumple, it's not so. This is a huge amount, you can't just give it to me."
"Perhaps I also want to make the world a little better." Gold smiled, stroking her hand. "When the first child is born in your clinic, send me a photograph. It will be a sufficient fee."
"Rumple." She lowered her head.
"Meredith, dear." He ran a finger along her cheek. "I think you need to be happy now, not cry. And, you know, I thought you could do something else for me. I understand that you want your son to come out of the shadow of his father and grandfather, as you did. But David is different. He is very talented, intelligent, hardworking but he is not ready to give up everything in order to achieve his goals. I know it's hard when your child is not like you. But let him be different. Besides, he really is trying very hard. He does everything he can in order to not disappoint you. And admit it, he really has achieved a lot. Frankly, you have nothing to complain about. If you demand he does what's impossible for him, nothing good will come of it. Trust me. You know, once upon a time I lost my son. And I do not want this to happen to you."
"Did you have another son?" Meredith was confused.
"Well, look at me, how old do you think I am?" Gold smiled. "You don't think Gideon is my firstborn, do you? Please trust me. It will be much better if you don't put pressure on David but let him live the life he likes instead."
"What happened to your son?" The woman asked, still bewildered.
"It's something I don't want to talk about. I'm sorry." He patted her hand lightly.
"Yes, of course ... I'm sorry.", Meredith muttered.
"Come on." He stood up and held out his hand for her. "Dinner is getting cold."
"What did you tell her?" Closing the door behind the leaving guests, the Queen pressed herself against her husband. "She seemed like a different person after she left your office."
"It's a secret." Gold smiled, sliding his hands over his wife's hips.
"So what kind of new investment did Meredith offer you?" She rubbed her nose against his nose.
"This is also a secret." He kissed the Queen, clutching her tighter. "I can only tell you this is the best investment of all I have come across to this point."
"Is it now?" The Queen hugged his neck. "Do we bet I can get all your secrets out tonight?"
"We bet." Gold smiled, kissing his wife again.