Welcome to Storybrooke
Orabella knocked on her daughter's door at Granny's B&B and waited. She knew it was early, but she was excited. Cecilia opened the door and smiled sleepily. "Hey, mama."
"Hello little one," she smiled back. "I have a surprise for you, but we have to be quick or we'll be late."
Mother and daughter walked down the street. Cecilia pointed out the tea shop. "Oh, look! It's so cute! Can we come back later, when it opens?"
"Why?" Orabella looked to her daughter in confusion. "If we don't go in now," she said as she fished her keys from her pocket. "It'll never open." She unlocked the front doors as Devon and Belle approached from across the street. Cecilia stood at the door, her mouth open, taking in the simple beauty of The Tea Trolly as the three others began readying for the day.
Since the curse lifted, the tea shop, like the pawnshop, had rarely been open, but this had brought in new flavors for both tea and pastries when it was. Orabella had begun planting berry seeds from her ingredients she brought with her from Skyrim along side her transplanted apple tree branch. This had allowed her to make crostata's and fruit dumplings that had since become immensely popular amongst her patrons. Even Granny had popped in once to try some.
Orabella pulled her daughter to the back and placed her in front of some dough. The younger woman still seemed in shock, although she had closed her mouth. As if no time had passed, mother and daughter began to make treats. Cecilia looked to Orabella. "This is all yours?"
She gave a little nod. "Technically I still rent from Stiltskin, but, yeah, it's mine." She thanked Belle as she brought in more berries and apples. "There's also an apartment upstairs, you know."
Cecilia looked up from her lavender dumplings she was folding. "What are you saying?"
"Just that, I know you have your life in New York, but that if you ever wanted to visit, you wouldn't have to stay at the B&B if you didn't want to."
Cecilia was silent for a moment. "What if I wanted to live here?"
Orabella looked over to her daughter, gauging her implications. "I don't see how that would be so bad."
"I guess I'd have to talk to Mr. Gold, huh?"
"If you wanted," Orabella said as she move to put some juniper crostata's in the oven.
Cecilia turned her mother around once the oven door was closed. "I do want to, mama. I don't like New York, and I wanna stay with you here in Storybrooke."
Orabella smiled. "We'll go see Stiltskin later. See about transferring the lease on the apartment." Mother and Daughter both returned to their work, matching smiles on their faces.
Later that day, Gold walked into the tea shop to see mother, daughter, and uncle throwing tea packets at each other. "I seem to have missed all the fun," he called over their laughter as he sat at the counter.
"Hey, stranger, come for a cup?" His lover pulled him gently by his lapel over the counter to kiss him as Cecilia and Devon picked up the sachets.
"Indeed, I have," he said when he pulled back. "It occurred to me that I've never actually been a patron of your fine establishment. During the curse, I only ever came to collect the rent. Even then, your step-sister did a fine job of keeping us apart."
Orabella poured him a cup of tea and slid it over. "Well, if it makes you feel any better, I did have a bit of an attraction to you during that time," she said as she leaned on the counter across from him.
"Really?"
She nodded as he took a sip of the tea. "Regina probably figured if she kept us apart, it would go away."
"Well, I for one, am glad it didn't work in her favor," he said taking her hand and kissing it.
"Same here," she agreed. "So how is it?"
"Excellent as always," he praised.
Cecilia approached the couple. "Mr. Gold? May I talk to you for a minute?"
"Of course, Miss Cassidy."
"I'll be in the back," Orabella said, patting her daughter on the arm. A few minutes later there was joyful laughter in the dinning room and mother stuck her head out in time to see her daughter doing a victory dance as she rack the now empty cup and saucer into a dirty dish rack. "I take it you accepted her as the new upstairs tenant?"
Gold's eyes gleamed with the pleasure of a well made deal. "Yes, I did. We'll sign the papers tomorrow. And, with that, I will see you later," he said standing and kissing his lover on the cheek before he left.
