Once Upon A Time
Dagian was bored.
Enora took most of the household duties from Dagian and Dagian used her newfound energy seducing her husband but other than their nightly activities she spent the next two days in a complete mind-numbing daze.
It did give her some more time to spend with her boy though but she tried not to take too much of his time. He was already alone and she was worried that if everyone saw him with his mother too much then it'd just make things worse for him.
But if not her, then Bae would be with his father and she thought that made it worse. She watched their relationship suffer for the past few months that she'd been with them. Rumpelstiltskin was getting worse in his temper and behavior.
And while she could take Bae's side, she saw her husband suffering from their rift as well.
"I don't know what to do," he whispered one afternoon that they'd been able to get to themselves while Bae played outside, "I did this for him and I think that he understands that but I just can't…I can't reach him anymore."
She took his hand. He often showed her a false bravado and often pushed her away. Especially when he had done something and he was trying to justify it. But she valued these times when he opened the door and truly showed that there were parts of him that were still vulnerable.
There were parts of him that were still her husband.
HE ran a knuckle down her bare back, "What can I do?"
Not murdering people might be a start, but she didn't say anything. She wasn't going to start a fight with him, she was far too tired and he was not in the frame of mind to do so.
"Do you want him to be happy?"
"More than anything," he said.
She sat up and held the blanket to her chest. She felt as self-conscious as he did about her outer appearance, "He wants to change you back,"
Rumpelstiltskin's face darkened, "He wants to what?"
"He wants his father back," she whispered and rested her hand on the side of his face, "Now darling, please tell the truth…can it be done?"
He looked hurt and insulted, "As I've told you, it's not possible. I'm not lying to you Dagian."
There were times when she doubted that he was. He'd told her several times that she'd never conceive if she was with him but every time she felt ill she wondered if maybe he was lying about that so he didn't scare her.
He wrapped his arm around her, "Things will settle down in time, we'll be happy. I'll make both of you happy-"
Dagian sighed; she wished he would understand that she didn't WANT any material goods. Like Bae, she wanted the old version of him back.
But if it was impossible then what was she going to do? Was she going to stay for Bae? What happened when Bae grew up? Would she stay with him afterwards? Voluntarily? Sure she was…content (If that was the word) now but would she be happy?
She didn't know.
Raised voices were outside the house and her husband looked over his shoulder, "Something is wrong."
Present Day
When Dagian held August…or…Bae in her embrace, floodgates of emotions hit her.
She could talk about the morals all she wanted to about how Rumpelstiltskin came to do what he'd done by bringing them here. But he'd done it. He'd found their son. Whatever means he had to reach were irrelevant in her opinion.
She pulled back and cradled his face in her hands. Oh he looked so much like the boy that she'd seen fall into the vortex when he was fourteen.
"I'm sorry," she whispered through her tears, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I should've fought harder to hold onto you. I should've fought harder to get him in there. I'm sorry Bae. Please forgive me."
He looked pensive, "Mother-."
She wiped her tears away so that she could see him better, "We need to tell your father."
She got up to go to the phone and out of the corner of her eye, saw a brief panic cross his face and he pulled her back to her chair, "No! No, not yet. Not yet mother, I can't let him know who I am."
"Well why not?" she demanded, "Everything he's done…coming here, this con he's pulled…he's done it for you. And here you are-."
"Mother," he grabbed her hands, "I need you to trust me. He'll know. Just not yet."
Dagian sighed tiredly, she was so tired and she really didn't want to handle any more scheming from her son when she got enough of it from his father.
But she'd blamed herself partially for what happened to Bae. She owed him at least this.
"What do you want me to do," she asked and saw her husband's car appear down the road.
Baelfire saw it too, "Do what you've been doing. Just don't let him know about me yet."
He made it to his motorcycle and down the street before her husband pulled up to the front of the house and got out of the car.
"What was he doing here?" Gold asked as he limped up the stairs.
"He was just checking on me," Dagian said. It wasn't completely a lie, "Hi."
"Hi," he greeted and kissed her when she stood up. He pulled back and studied her face for a few seconds before smiling, "You're glowing, darling."
"So are you," she said and tilted her head, "And why is that, I wonder?"
He smirked and placed his cheek against hers so that his mouth was right next to her ear, "I have a feeling that Kathryn Nolan is going to be making a reappearance this afternoon."
And the warmth she felt at reuniting with her son was immediately gone when her blood ran cold at those words.
