"What are you going to do today, Belle?" Bae asked halfway through breakfast.
"You should not speak with your mouth full." Belle gently scolded. "Firstly I will go and see how far Marco is with the ramp, and hopefully they can come and help place it. After that, I think some chores in the garden will be in order.
"Can I help with the chores?" Bae asked after he swallowed his bite.
"I will have to go and see where you can help, but sure." Belle invited. "You can already start with chipping away at the paint of the other chairs and table."
"I can start with that." Bae agreed. "Then we might have a surprise for papa tonight."
"I do not think we can have tea already tomorrow on the garden set." Belle mused. "Ready to go and see if Marco has finished your new ramp?"
"Yes." Bae nodded. Ten minutes later they were in the van, on their way to Marco's workshop.
"Belle?" August asked as he parked his pick-up truck as Belle helped Bae out of the van.
"We came to see if the ramp is ready." Belle said with a smile.
"The ramp is ready." August nodded. "I was about to call when we could come and deliver it."
"Really? Then we best get home again, we are home the whole day."
"Father and I will be there somewhere between an half hour and an hour."
"Can I see the workshop before we go home?" Bae asked, looking from Belle to August.
"Come, I will give you a tour." August invited with a smile. Not that their workshop was big, so ten minutes later they were outside again.
"Thank you for the tour August." Bae chirped.
'You are welcome, Baelfire. We will be there soon enough to place the ramp." He promised and watched as Belle secured the wheelchair in the van. Bae waved at the man as they drove off.
"What are we going to do now?" Bae asked as soon as Belle joined him in front of his father's house.
"I think you can go and strip the chairs from their paint, then I will go and see if I can reach the shed to see which tools are back there." Belle said and unlocked the front door before letting Bae in. After Bae was settled Belle went to see if she could reach the shed. A few scratches on her arm later, Belle was in front of the shed. After three firm pulls, the crooked shed door opened, revealing a lot of dusty tools. In the corner of the shed, she found an old hand mower among several other garden tools like big garden scissors and a leaf rake. With some effort, she managed to get the lawnmower out of the shed and started to do the lawn. At some point, she noticed that Bae was watching her with interest.
"Anything I can do for you?' Belle asked when she came near, pushing the mower out in front of her.
"I did not know we had that thing." Bae commented.
"It is a little old and rusty, but it does the job." Belle said with a smile.
"Oh, I think I heard the doorbell." Bae said as he perked up a little.
"I will have a look." Belle said with a nod and carefully leant the mower against the railing before she went to see who was. Seeing it was August, she sent them around the house with the ramp. Ten minutes later, Marco and August had installed the ramp they made.
"Can I try now?" Bae asked once they had finished.
"Go ahead." August invited.
"Look Belle!" Baelfire cheered as he went up the ramp a couple of times.
"It looks like it works. Can I offer you both something to drink?"
"No thank you, we will go home for lunch now." Marco said.
"Thank you for your help." Belle thanked them and walked them back to the truck. "Shall we have some lunch as well?"
'I am going to wash my hands." Bae agreed.
"If we finished stripping the paint today, we can start painting them tomorrow. Then we can have tea in the garden next week." Belle estimated as they ate their lunch.
"I'll go and continue." Bae said when he had finished. After Belle cleaned up the dishes, she continued to trim the lawn. "Belle, I have finished with the chair." Bae called. Now only the table was still covered half in the old paint.
"You can help me trim the rose bushes if you like." Belle answered after she returned from the shed.
"I don't think we should cut it. The roses are all pretty."
"It is getting way too big, that is also not always healthy for a plant." Belle said as she turned around to look at the boy. "But I can cut them so we can put them in a vase for on the dining table if you like that?"
"Yes, I do, but we are not on a date." The boy giggled.
"It does not mean we are on a date as soon as there are flowers on the table." Belle tutted. "How about you choose some flowers so I can go and cut them?"
"Okay."
"Let me get you a pair of gloves, then you can hold the cut roses for me." Belle said and went back to the shed. She unfortunately only found either mouse bitten or rotted out gloves. "It turns out we have run out of garden gloves." Belle said and handed her gloves to the boy.
"But what about you Belle?" Bae asked as he fitted the right glove. He only needed one hand to hold the roses, right?
"I will be fine Bae." Belle assured. "I just don't want your father to grow angry at me that I have let you do something that might have harmed you."
"You can still wear the left glove if you want." Bae offered, looking at the way too big gloves.
"That is very sweet of you, Bae. Thank you." Belle smiled, taking the glove. "Which one first?" Thirty minutes later, Baelfire and Belle looked upon a large vase full of red roses that adorned the dining table.
"It is pretty." Bae said with a smirk.
"Shall we go and continue trimming the other bushes?" Belle asked.
"You do not need me to hold every twig, do you?" Bae curiously asked.
"No." Belle said with a chuckle. "You can return to stripping the table if you like."
"I'll do that." Bae agreed and went back outside. Baelfire did not even notice when his father had come home, who was now quietly watching them both from the door to the porch.
"Papa?!" Bae said when he finally noticed his father watching him. "How long have you been home?"
"A good ten minutes." Gold casually replied.
"Can I go and show papa?" Bae asked as he turned to Belle
"If you want to, then I will go and make some tea for us all." Belle nodded and watched as the boy left, with a big grin on his face. Gold then shrugged, slightly curious to see why his son was so excited.
"Look papa! It was Belle's idea. Aren't they pretty?" Bae asked, beaming up a big smile as Belle watched them from the kitchen door.
"I don't hope you plan on putting the whole garden in my kitchen?" Gold asked.
"The rose bushes were in a desperate need of a trim." Belle explained. "It would have been a shame to let them end up in the garbage." Belle brought out two cups before she went to cook. Twenty minutes later she served a simple but filling meal. Once again they ate in silence, but she could see that Gold occasionally had a glimpse at the roses that were practically in front of his nose. "How about some ice cream for all the hard work we delivered today?" Belle asked when they all had finished.
"We have no ice cream." Gold replied and stood to collect the dirty dishes.
"We have to go and fix that." Belle thoughtfully replied, earning an eager nod from Bae. "How about we go for a walk tomorrow, Baelfire? We can go and visit the ice cream parlour. I heard their Rocky Road is amazing!"
"I really want to, but I don't think papa can come then." Baelfire thoughtfully said. Belle could have slapped herself in the face. Obviously Gold would not be able to walk all the way. She watched the door of the kitchen and she could guess that the man was making some tea right now.
"We can go another time for some ice cream if you like. We will go on a short walk if your father likes that? I can pack a basket, then we can go and picknick somewhere." Belle mused. "And otherwise we will continue in the garden so we can use that next week."
"Papa?" Bae asked when Gold came back into the dining room carrying a tea tray.
"Yes, Baelfire?" Gold asked as he put the tray on the table before he went to pour three cups.
"Do you want to do anything fun tomorrow with us?"
"That depends on what you count on fun. I still have a lot of work that needs to be done."
"We can go for a little walk and picknick." Bae said with a big smile.
"I do not think I have time for that." Gold shook his head and sat down with his own cup of tea.
"Can we go next week then?" Bae then tried.
"I do not know, Bae." Gold said, genuine and even a little sad, Belle noticed.
"I'll ask again then." Bae said with a small nod, obviously disappointed.
"I am sorry Bae." Gold said and gently patted the boy's arm. Bae gave his father a little smile to let him know it was okay, even if never had been any different after the accident anyway.
"Well, then we still can go and get some ice cream if you like." Belle offered in the hope to lighten the heavy mood.
"No, thanks." Bae softly said and quickly finished his tea before he excused himself.
"Look what you have done…" Belle said as she shook her head. "The poor boy only wants to spent some time with his father." Belle glared at gold before she stood. Gold knew, and the words stung deeply.
"I'd rather have you not judge your case so fast." He coldly replied. Somewhere deep inside he knew he could afford to miss a few days out from work, but not being able to pay for all the medical bills kind of haunted him still.
"Don't tell me you have grown immune for the sad face of your son. I do not want to even guess how many times you have told the boy no."
"I have not." Gold bitterly said. He bit his tongue in order not to share or refuel the discussion. He stood and walked out of the dining room. Belle assumed the man has disappeared into his study, so she did not bother to go and look. She cleaned up the tea tray and then went to see how Bae was doing. Once she opened the door, she found Gold sitting on the side of Bae's bed, gently speaking to the boy.
"I am sorry, Bae." Gold said again. "You know what happened, I cannot let it happen again." Belle's curiosity got sparked at that. What could not happen again?
"I know, that is why it is no problem." Bae softly replied. "Can Belle and I go for a walk?"
"You can. I will make sure I have time next Sunday, then we might get an ice cream at the parlour." He gently said and reached to run his fingers through the dark curls. Belle slipped away before she could hear or see anything else. She better not get caught snooping…
