An embarrassing slip-up raises Henry's suspicions to the relationship between Rumple, Belle and Ariel. The Sorcerer returns to town and Henry gives the travellers a lesson in Anglo-American English. Snow returns to Storybrooke, to discover her son's magic may be getting a little out of control. A warm welcome awaits Emma and Regina.
Edinburgh, the morning after
Rumple woke up to the soft griping of his son in the adjacent room. Gideon seemed to be making some sort of gurgling noise, meaning he was now wide awake, needing a morning bottle and food.
As his eyes slowly adjusted to the early light, he felt the rise from the bed on his left, as Ariel swiftly stepped out from between the sheets. "It's my turn. I got this..." she whispered, moved towards the room. He couldn't help notice her crumpled chemise, and bare bottom as she left. My, that's a nice sight for tired eyes!
To his right, Belle remained snuggled against him, enjoying the warmth. "Hmph. What time is it?" she groaned groggily, yawning and stretching.
"Just after six. No rush. We're meeting Henry for breakfast at eight."
At the sound of his deep voice beside her, Belle recovered consciousness, slowly realising the position she was now in. Although not entirely naked, she was covered in only her silk chemise, the matching underwear presumably thrown on the floor somewhere? I had sex with Rumple! He's still here!
As embarrassment flushed through her cheeks, her thoughts were interrupted by the sight of Ariel, similarly clothed and panty-less, carrying Gideon in her arm and fiddling with a bottle in her right. She admired her lover's wild bed-hair (or should that be after-sex bed hair?) flowing over her shoulder, a contented look on her face.
Ariel smiled back. "Morning, lovely! You wanna hold him while I get his bottle sorted out?"
"Hmm? Oh, sure – give him here? I'll feed him."
"Ok, then I'll make the tea. Or Angus, do you prefer coffee?"
"Tea please, dearie. I canna abide those horrible sachets they leave in these places. No taste." Rumple smiled at the simple, relaxed domesticity going on around him as the two women shuffled around with baby bottles, cups and kettles. He heard a little chuckle from the redhead, now standing near the boiling kettle with her cute little bum cheeks clearly on display under the sheer silk.
"You know Angus, since being up here, your accent has gone much more Scottish since last week. 'Canna abide?' I love it!"
'Aye, well, we do like to differentiate ourselves from the English over the border. There's a rivalry, friendly most of the time, you know?"
Belle now clutched the growing one-year-old to her chest, relishing her first chance to feed him in a week. "You are getting so big, Gideon! Papa tells me you're trying to walk? Don't grow too quick, my lovely. I'm going to miss this too much!"
For the next half hour, the three sat in and on the bed, playing and coddling the child as he giggled, grinned and desperately tried to move around. Belle smiled at the happy scene, wishing every morning could be like this. However, she knew there was an issue looming. Last night, she, and Ariel had had sex with her estranged husband, the father of their child and, effectively, her landlord and employer. However, Rumple and Ariel seemed oblivious to any concerns, happily fussing over Gideon. "Erm…sorry to break up this happy moment, but, do you think we should talk about what happened last night?"
Rumple frowned, guessing she'd do this. However before he could say anything, Ariel spoke up. "I don't see why? It was lovely! We all enjoyed it, and I don't regret what happened. Angus definitely enjoyed himself! Didn't you?"
"Yes, of course I did. It was wonderful, but…" he words were brought to an abrupt halt by a loud rap on the door.
"Who in hell? At this hour? It's not even seven…"
"It's okay, I'll go..." The mermaid got up again. "Just a minute?" She called, before pulling a dressing gown from the floor, wrapping it around her, and heading to the door, regretting it the moment she opened it wide.
"What is-? Oh, Henry? Good morning!"
"Ariel?" The surprise on Henry's face, seeing Ariel answer the door so early in the morning, was as nothing compared to the sight behind her. There was his grandfather, sitting in the large bed with his back to the headboard, nursing a cup of tea. Belle was sitting on the top of the sheets, both hands holding her son's, as he appeared to be trying to stand. "Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you. I knew grandpa woke early, so I…"
The three adults in the room froze, realising what Henry had just seen! Ariel was just relieved she'd had the foresight to put her dressing gown on before opening the door! Belle was sitting on the bed, in only her chemise, desperately wondering where on earth she'd left her panties? The older man was the first to respond, weighing up the alternatives. If he asked him to come back later it would look suspicious. If he stayed…
"Henry, my boy, come on in? The ladies got here a little while before you, offering to help me with Gideon this morning. How did you sleep?" he deflected.
"Oh fine, thanks grandpa," He walked inside. "Sorry if I came in too early, it's just I wanted to show…morning, Giddie!...a map of the city for today, and some ideas. I can pop back later?" His grandfather's explanation on why they were there being perfectly plausible.
"Nonsense!" He was under the duvet, wearing no PJ bottoms, presumably lying crumpled at the bottom of the bed, so he couldn't walk over to him. "Pop it on the table there and we'll take a look. Could you check for my magnifying glass? It's in my small leather toiletry bag. You should find it in the bathroom next to the mirror?"
"Sure!" Henry stepped away from them, towards the bathroom. Though he couldn't help but notice, out the corner of his eye, that Belle seemed to be pulling Gideon closer to her. She was wearing something very sheer and clearly didn't have a bra on underneath. But his keen eye also spotted that she definitely didn't have anything on below that, at all! The silk had ridden quite high!
He went into the rather large bathroom, finding the leather bag in question. He unzipped the side pocket, to see a watchmaker's glass inside, pulling it out carefully. He was only gone less than half a minute, but in that time, Ariel had quickly snatched up Belle's dressing gown from a nearby chair, bringing it over to her, as swiftly as she could. Belle passed Gideon to Rumple, who had by now retrieved his PJ bottoms, sliding them back on under the quilt. Ariel helped her lover slide quickly into her own gown, before she darted under the side of the duvet for decency.
"Panties?" She mouthed silently to Ariel, who merely shook her head, not having time to retrieve any.
~oOo~
The next few minutes were awkward, as Henry enthusiastically told them about the places he wanted to visit. "Belle, Ariel, come and take a look? I figured we should first take the tourist bus around, then go to the castle before we head for Arthur's Seat." The three gathered around him, Ariel now holding Gideon, and Henry oblivious to the earlier panic. The two women had now relaxed more, getting into the discussion of the day's events to come.
After ten minutes, Henry folded the map. "I'd best go shower. I'll see you down for breakfast at eight?"
"Okay, my boy. I'd best give Gideon something solid before we head down. I don't want him bawling!"
"Henry nodded and stepped back towards the door. However, as he did so, he caught sight, on the top of the crumpled bed, of Gideon's milk bottle, lying on it's side, with a small milk patch surrounding it. he stepped back to pick it up, "I didn't think these things were supposed to leak?" He placed it upright on the side table near the lamp.
That's when he spotted them. On the carpet near the bedside table, a couple of feet from each other. Two pairs of frilly panties, almost thongs, obviously worn and left aside. One pair deep red and the other pale blue. Interesting? "Okay , see you all later?" He left the room.
"That was close!" Ariel was grinning. Seeing Rumple's wry smile, the pair looked at one another before they burst out laughing together.
Belle looked at them, her cheeks reddening. "It's alright for you two! I was sitting there, without anything on! If I hadn't pulled Gideon in, he would have seen my stretch marks, and a hell of a lot more besides!"
That just seemed to set off the other two even more, as tears of laughter ran down Ariel's cheeks.
"Well we'd best go shower and change too! I definitely need one after last night! Belle, have you seen where my underwear went? I think I flicked them across your side?"
"Will these do?" said Rumple, now at the far side of the bed, holding them, one in each hand. He'd just picked them up from the floor next to the side table, on which stood the bottle of milk Henry left!
Storybrooke...
"Robin! Nice to see you again. Wedding all sorted yet?"
"Hello Merlin. Good to have you back. All in planning at the moment, though thank you for having a word with our wonder-chef! He's coming over next week. You staying long enough to see him?"
"Yes, I'm here for a few weeks. I've come to see Rosie and Killian, while they're in port. Plus, I'm missing my young grandson, and Annabelle, of course."
"Well, your daughters now have quite a fan base here, you know? Their constant verbal jousting in the pub is quite something to behold. And Anna and my sister seem joined at the hip these days! You know she's going out with your boy?"
"I do indeed. I met Maria and Anna two days ago, in New York. Charlie's opening up the new education centre there. That boy doesn't seem to stop, so it's nice to see him getting serious about someone! He's rather smitten, you know?
"Maria also seems keen, so here's hoping? You're heading to the hospital next?"
"I am. But I wanted to see you about something for which I'm going to need your powers…"
"What? The Sorcerer needs MY powers?" Robin became suspicious. "Is this a problem like the one with the Black Fairy and Rumple's child?"
"Not quite. Though it does affect Rumple directly!" his voice sounded more serious.
"You know he's away right now with Henry, travelling across Europe? He's not due back for another month."
"Indeed. Which gives us the opportunity to plan the extraction properly. We don't want any slip-ups!"
"Extraction? I don't understand."
"We're going to remove the Dark One from within Rumpelstiltskin! We're going to kill him, then bring him back to life, after extracting the creature to a safe place!"
"Hasn't that been tried before? I recall it went badly. Emma had to become the Dark One herself, to save it from consuming Regina! It's one of the first times I realised they had more than friendship between them."
"Though this time, with the right planning, it will be very different. Robin, ever day Rumple spends away from magical centres, the more the demon is weakened, and needs to escape. Various things have been going on in his life that have already weakened it."
"But last time, it ended up in Emma, then Killian. How can you be sure that won't happen again? The Dark One can't be killed, can it? It has to go somewhere!"
"True. I will send it to a newly created realm, where nothing else, and no person exists. I will need all the higher level magic practitioners in the town to help with this. So I need Emma and Regina on board. Their magic, Reul's, yours, mine. Plus a someone very special to seal the new realm."
"Seal a realm? Who on earth has a power to do that?"
"Jefferson. He'll be joining us tomorrow."
Meanwhile...
Henry was already sitting at the large breakfast table, when the others joined him.
Freshly showered, Rumple sat Gideon in the high chair as Belle and Ariel joined them. The Author was already tucking into a significant plate of cooked food. Bacon, eggs, fried bread, sausages, beans and a strange looking black disc.
"Henry, what on earth's that black thing on your plate?" asked Belle.
"Black Pudding. When they tell you what it's made of, it sounds disgusting, but it tastes pretty good!"
"Nothing wrong with oats, barley, fat and spices, my boy! Although the blood does make it an odd colour."
"I'll go with the kippers," said Belle, unimpressed.
"So, guys. First event, at the castle, is at eleven, so there's a couple of hours to kill. I also need to buy a couple of things I left behind in Oxford. There's a big shopping area close by, so I'll go there first."
"Can I come with you, Henry?" Ariel asked. "I need to get some extra clothes and things. It's cold up here!"
"I thought mermaids didn't feel the cold?" he lowered his voice so not to be overheard. "It's pretty chilly in the ocean?"
"You don't notice it when you've a tail. You're always moving. Turning me human has changed all that."
"Understood. Don't forget, if you're looking for pants over here, they call them trousers! Or If you ask for pants, they might think you mean underwear."
"I remember!" said Belle. "And they call panties 'knickers' over here, don't they? I read it somewhere…"
"Aye. And never tell them you can't get your 'fanny' in those 'trousers', Ariel!" said Rumple, smiling.
Henry chuckled loudly, earning a quizzical look from the two women. Henry leant closer, lowering his voice again. "'Fanny' doesn't mean 'backside', or 'bum', over here. It means 'vagina'! They'd think you're deformed!"
That earned a snigger from all around the table. "I'll bear that in mind!"
Storybrooke
Regina's car drove over the town line early the following evening.
It had been a long drive back, but a fruitful weekend. The Swan-Mills women smiled at one another as soon as the magic flew back into them. "Feels naked without it, doesn't it?"
"Sorry, what?" Snow was recovering from her doze in the back.
"Nothing, dear," Regina rolled her eyes. "We'll drop you off first, before we head home."
"Yeah, I'd like to pop in on dad. Check he's okay. That shoulder injury sounded nasty!"
~oOo~
Ten minutes later, the car pulled up at the farmhouse. The fading sun shone on the horizon across the edge of the forest, and the view into the valley never looked lovelier.
Snow sighed gently, looking forward to a decent bath, a cuddle with her son before bedtime, and snuggling under the sheets with her man.
Unfortunately, getting out of the car, her pleasant thoughts were disturbed by the unbelievable sight of a giant ginger tom cat floating gently above the trees! At first she thought it was some sort of balloon but then she realised, in horror, it was a real, live cat! And it was wailing loudly!
Ignoring the others and racing to the back lawn, she saw her son, Neal, waving his arms in the air while Ruby, standing nearby, looked on in horror, her hand to her mouth, trying to shout to him!
"That should have done it! She should have gone down again!" he yelled back.
"What the hell's going on?" barked Snow, now having reached them. "Neal, why do I have a giant flying cat in my garden? And where's your father?"
The boy turned, seeing his mother and looking suitably embarrassed. "Oh, hi mum! Welcome back. Don't know anything about floating spells, do ya?"
"Oddly enough, no! That would be your sister's department! What on earth have you been doing?" The cat, suspended about twenty feet off the grown, was bigger than a truck and very distressed!
"I tried to magic him off the tree by making him float off it. I wasn't going to hurt him, but he keeps going after the chicks! I did that one okay, but when I tried to bring him back down again, he got…big!"
Snow's annoyance wasn't helped by the two clearly chuckling women now coming up behind her!
She turned around, giving them a fierce glare. "Don't!" She warned. "Don't you dare encourage him!"
"Hi Gina!" yelled Neal to his sister-in-law, relieved at a friendly face. "I screwed up the reversing spell! Couldn't help me out, could ya?"
Regina had a very soft spot for Emma's young brother. They'd always been close and he was one of the first to welcome her into the family when she got together with Emma. The former queen stepped up to him, dropping a hand on his shoulder and a kiss on the top of his head. "Of course. I'm impressed you got the floating spell right, because that takes lots of concentration! Did you picture it reversing in your mind?"
"I thought I did, but I guess I got distracted."
"It happens to all of us. Here, we'll do it together?" She took his hand and whispered something to him, indecipherable to the others. Almost immediately, the cat started shrinking slowly, over the next five minutes eventually reaching its original size, before finally floating down to the lawn. The moment it's little legs touched the grass, the terrified animal raced across the grass, desperate to get away.
"Thanks, Gina. You're the best!" Said the wild haired eight-year-old, lifting himself up to kiss her on the cheek, making her beam with happiness. As he turned quickly back to his mum to face her chiding, Emma stepped beside her.
"He hardly noticed me. He's definitely your favourite! I'm getting quite jealous, you know?"
Regina tittered. "He's adorable, and so much like Roland, always getting into mischief. I love him!"
Snow cuddled her son. "Right, now that's over, let's get you cleaned up and ready for bed, young man!"
"Okay. But I guess I'd better get the unicorn back in first?"
"WHAT?" his mother's eyes glared at him, eyebrow raised.
"Erm…Honnie's unicorn?" his voice was laden with guilt. "She left it here, and I kinda…brought it to life? Not quite as big as the cat, but…sorry ma!"
"Oh, good!" Groaned Snow sarcastically, ignoring the women behind, who were collapsing with laughter. "Ruby, can your wolf smell a large pink and blue unicorn? Please?"
Ruby was also laughing along with the others. "Well…I'm not sure what unicorns smell like, but I'll give it a go?"
~oOo~
"David, you said it wasn't serious!" Snow became teary-eyed, on seeing most of her husband's upper torso encased in a surgical support.
"It's alright, Snow. It looks worse than it is, and this is just to help me sleep at night. Doctor Wells said I need to wear this for a few days, and keep the shoulder still till it comes off. He's back on Wednesday to check me over." He winced, turning to face them.
"Doctor Wells? I haven't heard of him?" said Regina. Snow and Emma were sitting either side of him on the large sofa. "Where's he from?"
"Anna and Merlin knew him in New York. He's from a magical land himself, so he can get over the town line. He's rotating with Whale for a few weeks. Seems a good guy."
"Mum's right though, dad, it looks nasty! You should have said something. We could have come back sooner."
"No, Emma. As I told your mother yesterday, you three needed to clear things between you. Neal and I were just fine."
"Yes, I saw!" said Snow. "Flying giant cats, and releasing fluffy unicorns into the forest is perfectly fine?"
"Oh, let him be, love! We were young once! I'm sure this one," he looked at Emma, squeezing her hand and smirking, "...would have been just as much trouble if she were around at his age."
"Nonetheless, you worried me too, dad! When Henry told me, I had to tell mum! You know, Regina and I were talking a few minutes ago. About helping with Neal…"
Regina took over. "Neal's magic is quite powerful for his age. I certainly wasn't floating and animating things at eight years old, so he needs a bit of help to manage his magical emotions. I think Emma and I can help him control them, and Merlin's also in town if we need more advice. If you'll let us?"
Snow frowned but David immediately nodded, in agreement. "That makes sense, Snow. Regina does seem to have a strong connection with both our children," he winked at Emma. "I think we should let them."
Snow slowly nodded. "Very well, but go carefully! That little bugger's already said he was going to turn one of Anton's pumpkin's into a wedding carriage for you two!"
"Ambitious!" said Regina, clearly impressed.
Mifflin Street
As Emma pulled the car into the driveway, Robin was already standing outside the door ready to greet them.
"Hello strangers!? God, I've missed you two!" He stepped right in front of Regina, wrapping his arms around her waist, before pulling her in for hug, an a not-too-chaste kiss. Nothing too urgent or frenetic, just nice and soft. Regina giggled, reciprocating with a quick dart of her tongue across his own. "Hmm, nice! With a welcome like that, I should go away more often!"
"Where's mine then, thief?" Emma stepped in alongside them. Robin eased gently back from Regina, before taking the blonde into his arms.
"Coming right up, beautiful!" He breathed, latching his lips onto hers and prising them gently open to deliver another warm welcome.
Emma felt a familiar hardness against her stomach. "Mmm. I think somebody's missed us, Gina?"
"That may be, but we've children to attend to, my dear! And after that drive, and chasing a unicorn around a forest, I need an early night!"
"Unicorn?" Robin was confused.
"Don't ask. Though Gina's right, we do need to get up early."
"All in hand, my lovelies. Hope and Faith are tucked up in their cots, Roland's at Will's, and Honour and Margot are with the Briars tonight. Emma said she's not working till Wednesday, so we get a lie-in."
"They're with the Briars?" said Regina. "Robin, they have school in the morning!"
"No, they have field study, actually. Mulan and Rory organised it. So, as I said, you get a lie-in and I'll get up for the babies when they wake up. You can rest up."
"That, Locksley..." Emma kissed him again. "Is one of the many reasons I fell in love with you!"
"And there's me thinking it was because I'm good in bed!"
Regina leant even closer "Sounding a little over confident in yourself there, thief?" She kissed both their cheeks.
"Well I've never had any complaints so far, Mrs. Swan-Mills!" He pressed his lips into her right cheek, Regina immediately doing the same to Emma, who did the same to Robin. All three then turned their mouths slightly right to bring their lips together in a mush, flicking their tongues out for a moment to savour the others. It was a little act of silliness, a game they played sometimes, when they were not in danger of being overlooked.
He still held them tight. "You have no idea how much I'm looking forward to marrying you two!" he whispered. "I can't wait to see you both in bridal gowns. And, whatever you've bought for the evening…"
It was Regina's turn to notice the prominent bulge in his chinos. "I can tell. But I'm afraid you'll have to wait for the big day…and night!"
Emma's pupils went larger. "You know, Gina, there were some other…items…we bought, which he hasn't seen us in. Perhaps a little fashion display may be I order?"
"I think you could be right!" She chuckled darkly as the purple cloud gathered around all three of them, whisking them into the bedroom.
It was going to be another long night!
~oOo~