"Such a gorgeous dress!" Gold, sitting on the sofa in the living room, looked his daughter up and down. "A better Evil Queen cannot be imagined."
"For sure?" Charlotte turned in front of him again.
"Absolutely.", he assured her. "Everyone will just fall on their knees when they see you. When is your school play? Next week?"
"Dad!" The girl looked reproachfully at him. "It is the day after tomorrow!"
"Really?" Gold said surprised. "I'm sorry, apparently, I have lost a bit the track of time since the week I'd been away. Well, that's even better. I can't wait to see you on stage."
"It would be better if it was next week in general." the baby-girl sighed. "I'm not ready yet."
"Come on." Her father smiled at her. "I'm sure you know everything and will perform very well. If you want, I could rehearse it with you?"
"Let's do it." Charlotte agreed. "I'll bring the text now." She walked quickly up the stairs.
Gold pulled up another sofa cushion and settled down, reclining.
"Don't you feel any better?" the Queen asked, who at that time was rocking Rachel, walking around the living room.
"Nope." He laid his head on the back of the sofa and closed his eyes.
"You know, that looks a little suspicious." She grinned. "My husband spends a week on a business trip in Las Vegas and returns with a sore back. There are many question marks about what you did there".
"Very funny." Gold grimaced. "My back did not hurt at all there; it was here, at the airport. I somehow took my suitcase from the belt unsuccessfully. And not even in Las Vegas, but somewhere between Lancaster, Keliko and Kelso.", he added. "Disgusting place. Forty degrees in the shade and the wind is even hotter. I can't imagine how people live there and how can anyone work in such weather conditions."
"Well, apparently, they have already become accustomed to it for the several generations that they have been living there." Regina shrugged.
"I'm ready!" Charlotte bounced into the living room.
"Fine." her father smiled at her. "Who will I be?"
"Let's start with the mirror.", the girl said earnestly, handing him the text.
"Not my favorite role." He pretended to read carefully. "But oh well."
"Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?" Charlotte asked sternly.
"Of course you, my Queen." Gold answered.
"No, this is a different scene." She reached for her father and, finding the right line, she poked her finger at a sheet of paper. "See? Here you say that Snow White is prettier."
"How ridiculous.", he sighed.
"Well, dad." The girl frowned. "Will you read or not?"
"I will." Gold assured her. "Come on, again."
"Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?", she repeated.
"My Queen, you are the fairest here, it's so true." He read, holding back a laugh. "But Snow White beyond the mountains, at the Seven Dwarfs' house, is a thousand times more beautiful than you."
"This girl?!" Charlotte narrowed her eyes slightly, arched an eyebrow and pursed her lips.
"Don't do that." Regina interjected. "It's not pretty and not at all like the Evil Queen."
"I think it's very similar." Gold laughed. "Especially now." he added, turning to his wife. "Come on." he turned back to his daughter. "Here is the text from the author: The Queen turned green with envy. Oh, look, there's also a bit about Zelena here." He once more glanced at Regina.
"Keep in mind that we'll get to the other fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm as well." the Queen noted.
"Well, don't judge it too harshly.", he said conciliatorily. "As for me, they retold it much more accurately than most New York newspapers, for example. So these are far from the worst options that we could get."
"Dad, do not get distracted!" Charlotte interrupted impatiently.
"I'm not distracted." He continued to read.
"Well, how did you like it?" The girl climbed up on the sofa and sat down next to her dad after they finished.
"It's great!" He kissed his daughter. "See? You know everything and you are completely ready."
"You think so?" She asked doubtfully.
"I immediately told you: there cannot be a better Evil Queen." Gold smiled.
The lock clicked in the hallway and the voices of Mrs. Stern and Gideon were heard.
"Oh, here comes the Puss in Boots." Regina smiled. "It took you a long time to get back somehow.", she noted when her sister entered the living room hand in hand with Tali.
"Do you think it's that easy to find a costume of this cat?", she retorted. "Especially one so chic. We probably went around ten stores, but it was worth it. And for you, my Queen, we bought a no less luxurious crown." She took out a diadem from her purse, strewn with rhinestones, and showed it to Charlotte.
"Aunt Regina!" The girl jumped to her feet and then up and down on the sofa.
"Charlotte!" The Queen, holding Rachel with one hand, grabbed Charlotte with the other and put her gently on the floor. "Don't do that anymore."
"But what's so wrong with that?", she muttered, straightening her dress.
"Dad's back hurts, I already told you. Don't shake him." Her mother explained as calmly as possible.
"I'm sorry." Charlotte said, looking quickly at her father.
"It's all right." Gold took his daughter by her shoulders and kissed her. "And where is our cat?" He asked his sister-in-law.
"He's changing into his suit." she smiled. "Gideon? Are you ready?" She turned towards the hallway.
"Ta-dam!" Gideon bounced into the living room, in an embroidered camisole and a long fluttering cloak, in a wide-brimmed hat with a feather, in high leather boots and with a saber in his hands.
"Well." he looked around his son. "Cat could have never dreamed of that."
"You yourself just praised the Grimms for good story retelling." his wife grinned. "So be quiet."
"I am." he shrugged. "Great suit!" He smiled at Gideon. "Where did you lose David?" He turned to Regina again.
"He has some emergency at the clinic.", she replied with displeasure. "So he will come ... well, when he comes."
"That's a pity." Gold sighed.
"Well, see, this is fate." the Queen smiled. "Let's go, I'll massage you. And you know it yourself: I will do no worse than David."
"You will do it three times more painfully than David." He grimaced, rubbing his back.
"And three times more effectively." Regina nodded. "Because he, unlike me, is afraid to press you properly."
"He just does it carefully." Gold retorted.
"Well, you still have no choice." His wife shrugged. "In half an hour, Jessica will be here, and in four hours, everyone else. Unless you decide to listen to the voice of reason still and postpone the dinner in honor of the opening of the mine for another day."
"You know it yourself that this is impossible and you're the voice of reason." he grinned. "People made plans for this dinner, so it's too late to change anything."
"Then you just have to surrender to me.", the Queen concluded. "Hold her." She handed Rachel carefully to her sister.
"Don't you want to try and put her to bed?", she asked.
"It's impossible." Regina waved her off. "Her first tooth is coming out, so as soon as you put her down, the crying immediately turns on. Cradle her for now."
"Okay." Her sister nodded, shaking her niece slightly in her arm.
"Mrs. Savage will come soon, she will take your place." The Queen comforted her.
"Well, I'm particularly suffering.", she assured her. "Are you both ready for the school plays?" She glanced over her niece and nephew. "Evil Queen? Puss in Boots? Bring your texts here, we'll repeat everything a couple of times."
"Mine is already here." Charlotte handed the script over to her aunt.
"And I'll bring it now." Gideon, jumping around, portraying a cat, went up to the nursery.
"Let's go." The Queen held out her hand to her husband.
"Maybe it will pass by itself?", he said doubtfully.
"Let's go.", she repeated with a grin.
"Okay." He got to his feet, not without difficulty.
"Knock knock knock." Jessica's voice came from behind the bedroom door. "You know, I'm very embarrassed to bother you, but I need one of you."
"Jessica, come in.", the Queen answered.
The blonde opened the door and entered the master bedroom. Gold, dressed in a gray home suit, was laying on the bed with his back to Regina, who was sitting at the edge and still stroking his lower back.
"I really don't want to interrupt you.", she said with fake embarrassment, "but we need to clarify everything. Today's buffet doesn't organize itself."
"Buffet?" Gold rolled over on his back and lifted himself up a little, leaning on the back of the bed.
"Yes." Jessica nodded.
"Spend the whole evening on my feet and consider myself satisfied with aperitifs and canapes? No, it doesn't suit me." He grimaced.
"Oh, well, we're not getting together to eat." the woman retorted. "This isn't the main goal."
"It isn't." Gold agreed. "But I still want to be able to sit down and eat normally at dinner. And do not stomp all evening around the living room with a canape in my hand."
"Come on, stop it." she smiled. "It's okay if you don't have dinner one day. It's even good for you. And all of us will benefit from the high level of communication the buffet provides."
"We can start with it and finish with it." he agreed. "Snacks and aperitifs, then dinner, then digestives."
"This will complicate things." Jessica sighed. "And I already ordered everything for a buffet table. I have to re-order and restructure everything with catering now."
"It's okay." Gold shrugged. "There is still time."
"Okay. There's no use in debating with you anyway.", she surrendered. "Regina, come with me. In this case, we'll need to do the serving beforehand and see if we need more tables and utensils so we can notify the restaurant on time."
"Go, I'll be right there soon." the Queen assured her.
"Don't be sad." Gold smiled after her. "It's difficult for you, of course, to deal with us, but in the end everything will be fine".
"Yes ..." She waved, leaving the bedroom.
"Isn't it time for us to get Jessica a salary?" The Queen smiled at her husband when the door closed.
"Well, I don't even know.", he said thoughtfully. "Given how much benefit she and Howard get from these dinners, perhaps we should, on the contrary, start charging them for rent of our dining room and living room."
"How's your back?",she asked.
"Fine." Gold smiled. "You are, as always, magnificent."
"Good." Regina leaned over and kissed him. "By the way, you can sleep a couple of hours before dinner. What time did you get up today to catch a plane? About five o'clock?"
"Around that." He nodded. "But I haven't seen Puss in Boots in action yet. I'll go see him now. And I will rehearse once more with the Evil Queen." He smiled.
"Well, as you wish." She kissed him again and went to the dining room.
"You all already know that "Mount Soledad" gold-mine started working in California the day before." Howard Trenton stood with a glass of wine near a large oval table. "Which is great news, not only for Nevada, but for me as well. Not only because the New York factory will supply mining equipment for the "GoldenQueen mining Co" and not only because we got a lucrative gold supply contract for the General Electric New York affiliate, but because all this became possible thanks to my friend, who was able after five years of hard work, to launch again the largest gold mine in Nevada. And this has become a huge contribution to the economy of my city."
"Okay, we don't pour to Howard anymore." Gold grinned softly.
"I'll pretend I didn't hear that." Trenton smiled. "For my good friend, Mr. Gold, whose name simply did not leave him any chance not to eventually join our gold mining industry." He raised his glass.
"Thanks, Howard." Gold reached for him, and many others glasses closed up around their own and clinked together.
Soon, dinner turned into a buffet with digestives and the guests scattered around the living room, gathering in interesting groups. The Queen, who had been absent looking after the children, found her husband near the fireplace. He was standing next to a man of Asian appearance. Who was obviously tense but Gold calmly and very quietly was saying something to him.
"Rumple, can I have you for a second?" The Queen put her hands on her husband's shoulders. "Alik, I'm sorry." She smiled at the Asian. "I must take him for a while."
"Regina, you can do whatever you want." He blurted out with a smile in return. "I haven't had time to thank you for the evening." He held out his hand and, when she met his gesture, he bent down and kissed her palm. "It's always a pleasure to see you." He looked up at her, straightened up and then ran his hand up her arm, lingering near her shoulder.
"Do it again and you'll lose your hand." Gold remarked calmly nevertheless, not without pleasure as he watched him hastily remove his hand from the Queen's shoulder.
"Come on." He smiled again. "I didn't mean anything like that."
"Tell this to other husbands of other women." He hugged his wife lightly by the shoulder, taking her aside. "We will continue soon." He nodded to his conversationalist.
"What was that?" Regina asked in a whisper when they moved away.
"Alik is a Muslim." Gold explained. "They have a rather complicated relationship with women. In his native country, if he had touched someone else's wife, he would have lost more than his hand. So he likes teasing his acquaintances here, where he feels complete freedom. This is kind of a way to imperceptibly be rude and feel more confident as the dialogue goes further."
"And what kind of a dialogue are you having that he needs to feel more confident?", the Queen asked.
"It doesn't matter." Her husband shook his head. "What did you want?"
"I'm going to lay Rachel down.", she answered. "Mrs. Savage can't cope with her because she can't fall asleep without a breast. So I'll stay with her. She won't sleep without me anyway."
"Go on." Gold leaned against her and kissed her on the temple. "I hope I'll come soon too."
"Well, just in case: good night." The Queen smiled.
"Good night." He kissed her again and headed back to his conversationalist. "You know, I think it's better for us to continue elsewhere.", he said to the man. "Not here. In my office."
The man nodded silently and followed the master of the house.
"Well, what will you say to me here that's new that I haven't heard in the living room yet?" The Asian man sat down at the desk opposite Gold.
"Alik, let's not play the fools." He splashed himself some whiskey. "You know why you won't get the money."
"Not at all.", he objected. "I did everything as we agreed. I pushed all your licenses forward through my friends in Nevada. You think you would have gotten them without me?" He looked at Gold warily.
"I think I should have gotten one more mine." he answered calmly. "The one I had invested in for five years. Invested in all the researches, including the environmental impact assessments. "The GoldBar" in Roberts Mountains, which, quite suddenly, went by auction to McEwin Mining. After everything I have invested into it."
"And what do I have to do with it?" The Asian was surprised.
"Well, here we go again." Gold sighed. "Alik, don't try to cheat me. You sold my researches and my license. I don't know what made you do this. And I don't even want to find out. We simply no longer have any business relations together".
"Just like this?" he grinned. "Do you know what I think? I think you sold the mine to McEwin Mining yourself. And now you're trying to fool me. A very good way to drop a partner. But that won't work with me. You will pay me everything you owe."
"Alik, don't take me for a fool." his conversationalist grimaced. "Ninety-seven kilometers of open pit mining, two tons of gold per year for at least eight years. For how much do you think I could sell all this to McEwin so as not to lose money?"
"Well, I don't know what you agreed to!" The Asian man was flushed. "Minus the payouts to me. It might not have been so bad."
"Alik, I'm tired of listening to all this nonsense." Gold shook his head. "You humiliate yourself by thinking that I will believe in your innocence. I will say this: be content with the fact that you simply won't receive your money, but won't be defamed to the whole city. You will be able to continue working here. This is my gift to you for all your favors."
"And what will you say to that?" The man took a gun from his belt and showed it to the owner of the office.
"I will say that you do not respect me." Gold sighed. "I would never have let myself come to your house, to your children, with weapons on my belt. Just as I would have never dared to touch your wife. Additional to that," he continued calmly, looking at the gun, "I will say that this is a rather old-fashioned and rude choice. A large caliber leaves a lot of mess. I would choose something more elegant, with explosive bullets. Much more damage done with much less blood on the floor." He leaned back in his chair and slowly took a sip of whiskey.
"That's why I like you." The Asian laughed, removing his gun. "You have self-restraint."
"Unlike you." His interlocutor nodded. "You know that I know, Alik."
"But that isn't so!" he objected.
"You know you can't hide it." Gold continued. "McEwin Mining wouldn't have outbid my mine without your participation. And now you're trying to bluff. Apparently, this has often worked for you, even from the time when you were an ordinary card cheater. But I can see a bluff a mile away. I grew up amongst people like you, you don't impress me".
"What could you ever know about people like me?" the man grinned. "You grew up… where? In some horrific Bronx? Or in the provincial New Jersey?"
"I grew up in a place you cannot even imagine." he answered calmly. "And please spare me another story from your childhood. You had parents, brothers, sisters. And that "provincial mountain village", he said, mimicking, "in which you grew up, is simply a paradise in comparison to our village. Your father had a job, your mother took care of you, you had breakfast, lunch and dinner every day, even the simplest, a warm bed. You went to school, studied at the university. In the place where I grew up, they had never heard of such a thing. My mother abandoned me, barely having time to give birth. My father was not ready to raise a child alone. Actually, he was not ready to raise a child at all. Additionally, he missed my mother. So he quickly began to drink: the longer time went by, the more he drank. He never had a job. He was a gambler. Although not at all as lucky as you, for example. You profited off gambling in casinos and then owning casinos, moved to America, and you settled well here. Everything was much sadder for us. The village was tiny: no factories, no amusement facilities. In the only tavern where my father tried to get some money every night, everyone already knew him. So most often he was eventually beaten and put out on the street. Sometimes he was lucky: in the tavern there were passing merchants. Then he managed to make some money. However, he left almost all of it there, in the tavern. So we couldn't afford to eat three times a day. Our grocer felt sorry for him and even more for me, so she usually gave my father a loan of some bread and eggs. In the mornings he was frying to me a piece of this bread with an egg, and this was the best moment of the day. Dad was still sober, cheerful and full of hope for the day, I had hot food, and life was beautiful. You know, I still have breakfast like this. Amazingly, it gives me that childish feeling of joy for a new day. By the middle of the day, my father was already drunk, and we both ended up in a tavern, where he and his friends, the same tricksters as him, made plans and drank again. And I used to sit huddled in a corner, watching my father and his friends and waiting for us to go home. I usually sat there until late at night. Sometimes one of the visitors noticed me and even bought me a bowl of soup. But more often no one did. At night, when we returned home, where it was almost always cold because my father no longer had the strength to melt the stove, I couldn't sleep for a long time from the cold and the hunger. And the next day everything was repeated. When my father abandoned me as well as mother, frankly speaking, my life improved significantly, despite the fact that the women who raised me were frankly poor and could teach me only one thing: spinning. Now look around and think about how I got here and whether you want to quarrel with me. Don't be nervous, we'll come up with a way for you to pay for your mistake and stay my friend. I think I have even come up with it already. Come on, I will introduce you to someone you can provide several favors for me." He got up from the desk and extended his hand to his conversationalist. "The gun." He nodded.
He silently handed him over the gun.
"I will return it to you tomorrow." Gold specified, putting his weapon in the safe. "When you won't be here."
"Rumple, I swear to you, it's not me!" The Asian repeated eagerly.
"Well, we'll see." the master of the house nodded. "Time puts everything in its place. If it really isn't you, which I personally don't believe, it will gradually become clear."
The curtains were not drawn and a little light penetrated the bedroom from the streetlights. In this dim light however, one could easily see Regina with Rachel sleeping next to her. From a slightly ajar window the smell of the rain came in, which drummed softly on the plat band. Entering the bedroom, Gold looked at his wife and daughter for quite some time. After standing up for a while, he slowly undressed and lay down next to the Queen, carefully hugging her, trying not to wake her.
"Well, finally." Regina settled in his arms.
"I thought you were sleeping." Gold smiled, holding her tightly close to him.
"I am sleeping." the Queen nodded. "And I've been waiting for you." She rubbed her hips against him.
"Not now." He held her thigh, pressing it to the mattress.
"I've missed you." She turned to her husband and put an arm around his neck. "I haven't seen you for almost a week. And I've waited all day today. And during this whole endless dinner. I can't wait any longer."
"Regina, I'm really tired." He stroked her back lovingly. "And by the way, speaking about dinner, after everything I've eaten and drunk, I don't feel like moving at all, honestly."
"Then don't move." The Queen agreed, gently turning him on his back and sitting down on top of him.
"Seriously." Her husband sighed. "I'm already falling asleep."
"Then sleep." Regina joked and grinned. "I'll tell you how it went later."
After kissing him, she ducked under the covers and after a couple of seconds he felt at first the tip of her tongue and her warm breath, and then her lips closing around him.
"Stop…" Gold smiled happily, closing his eyes. "Nothing will come of it."
Ignoring this statement, the Queen rhythmically slid her lips up and down his cock, lingering a bit at the very top, teasing him with the light touches of her tongue. She increased the pace only to suddenly slow down, then increased the pressure and then warmed it only with her breath, almost not touching it at all with her lips. Simultaneously, she was massaging his hips and then slid her fingers over at his perineum.
"Sweetheart…" he muttered absently, letting his fingers into her hair, feeling the growing excitement breaking through his existing drowsiness.
A few minutes later, he put his hand on her shoulder and pulled his wife up towards him. Regina readily sat astride him again, and with a groan he squeezed her hips, feeling her warmth and moisture. The Queen pressed into him and froze for a couple of seconds. Then, still pressing him down to the mattress, she began slowly drawing an eight with her hips, without rising even a millimeter.
"Regina." Gold breathed out with a muffled groan, lifting her up a little. "Come on ... What are you doing?"
"Taking my time." The Queen leaned over her husband and slowly kissed him, continuing to draw eights, making him fidget with impatience beneath her.
After spending a couple more endless minutes like that, she finally swung her hips up a little and then dropped sharply. She hesitated just a little but then began moving again very slowly, rising up and falling again, while massaging his nipples a bit. She was watching her husband's face and only when he began to lick his drying lips she accelerated the pace, closing her eyes and surrendering to the power of rhythm. Feeling that both of them were already close to the finale, she got up again, this time at the top of his dick and rhythmically squeezed the head.
"God, Regina." Gold said, having difficulty keeping quiet, clutching her hips again almost painfully.
He was pulled out from an almost already advancing nirvana he was by a, perplexing at first, movement nearby. The sleeping baby began to toss and turn and whimpered. At that very moment the Queen slipped off her husband and lay on her side, facing the girl.
"Shshsh, all is well my love." She pulled her daughter to her and put her on her breast.
Gold turned with a sigh to his wife, hugging her waist.
After making sure that the girl had grasped the nipple well, the Queen swung her hips towards her husband. After hesitating for a few seconds, he entered her again, holding her by the hips. At first, very smoothly and carefully, but quickly lost control and broke down at that same pace, snubbing his nose in Regina's neck, which he bit after pouring into his wife and trying to restrain a moan.
"How much I've missed you." He breathed into the back of her head, burying his nose in her thick brown hair.
"Good night." Regina smiled without looking back.