Entering the mansion, Rumpel smoothed his hand over the white shirt he was wearing and pulled at the open collar. The thin rope of the paper bag was digging into his fingers as he strolled up the driveway, keeping him grounded and from daydreaming about their honeymoon. Already there were people mingling in the mansion. He excused himself through the groups that were standing in the doorway and entered the ballroom.
Rumple could hear the music from the ballroom as he had come up the driveway. It was not his taste but then this was not his party. He spotted Gideon and Lilly in a corner, whispering something to each other. Grabbing hold of the chance before more guests arrived Rumpel crossed the dance floor to the lovebirds and greeted them both with a smile.
"Excited?" Rumpel asked, first hugging his son and then Lilly.
"I'm so nervous." Lilly confessed, her hand lingering on Rumpel's shoulder.
Gideon smiled at his fiancée. "Don't worry, it'll be fine."
"Here." Rumpel held the bag out to them. "Your first engagement present." Lilly cocked her head at him as she looked at the bag and then glanced at Gideon beside her. She took the bag from him and opened it. In the bottom of the bag was two jewellery boxes. Lilly took hold of both boxes and brought them out of the bag to give the bag to Gideon. She opened the bigger box of the two and gasped at the jewelled necklace inside. With her mouth wide open, she looked from the necklace to Rumpel and then to Gideon, and then back down to the necklace.
"I can't accept this!" Lilly said, holding the necklace to Rumpel.
Shaking his head, he took the necklace from the jewellery box and moved behind Lilly to put it on her. "My dear, these are special."
"What?" Lilly queried, her hand touching the necklace around her neck.
"These two items," Rumpel said taking the smaller box from Lilly and opened it to take the bracelet out of it. "Are enchanted. They belonged to a couple that, yes met an unfortunate end, but there love was ever lasting. These will protect your true love for one another."
"Who was the couple?" Gideon asked, watching his father fasten the bracelet around his wrist. It was not covered in jewels like Lilly's necklace, but it still looked as delicate.
"Romeo and Juliet." Rumpel informed them, clasping his hands in front of himself. He watched as the couple looked in shock at each other and then back to Rumpel. The smile he wore was genuine for them. Observing them through the week, he could see why his son was in love with this woman. She was patient, loving and always kind. Just like Belle was when she was not having a jealous moment.
Lilly suddenly stepped forward and kissed Rumpel on his cheek, making the elder man blush. "Thank you, Rumpel."
"My pleasure." Rumpel said looking over his shoulder and noticed more people were entering the ballroom. "I'm going to get a drink." They nodded at him as he walked away.
Truthfully, Rumpel did not want to be there. Social events were never his thing. People watching him, whispering about him. It never interested him. However, for Gideon and Lilly, he would put up with people whispering that he and Ruby had been caught. That he had done the dirty on Belle, like so many times before. The past was very unforgiving.
He told the barman his order of a large whiskey and gazed around the ballroom. It was not the largest ballroom he had ever been in, but for this occasion, it was nicest event he had attended. He could not comment on the Charmings anniversary party since he had only been there for five minutes before Belle had wanted to go home. Tonight he was going to make himself stay until the end, hoping his plan would go in his favour.
The barman returned with Rumpel's drink, with a nod of his head in thanks, Rumpel took his drink from the man. He sipped at it and wandered across the ballroom back towards his son and future daughter in law. Standing in front of them was Maleficent. He had not spoken to her since stealing Belle's heart back from Regina.
Coming to stand slightly behind her, he listened in on the conversation as Maleficent spoke to Gideon and Lilly. "Are you two going to tell me why we're having a party?"
"Not yet, mother." Lilly touched her mother's arm as she spoke. "You'll have to wait till later"
"If you're pregnant, just tell me now." Maleficent begged.
Rumpel coughed to interrupt. "Now, now, dearie, let the children have their moment."
"Hello Rumpel." Maleficent greeted, turning to include him into their group. "I hear you've been a naughty boy again."
"No, he hasn't." Gideon defended his father.
Rumpel smiled at his son in thanks and focus on Maleficent as he spoke. "It will all become clear later."
"Just as long as the apple fell far from the tree." Maleficent said, her gaze going to Gideon. "I would not want my daughter to experience the same behaviour from your son."
"Mother!" Lilly scolded, her hand touching Gideon's chest.
"I'm just saying." Maleficent held her hands up.
"It's fine, Lilly." Rumpel told her and then said to Maleficent. "You have nothing to worry about, Maleficent." As they had been talking, the chatter in the ballroom had become louder and couples were dancing on the dance floor.
Rumpel sipped at his whiskey, his gaze hovering over the couples. Watching the couples dance made him miss Belle more. It had been a long time since they had danced together. Fond memories flooded him, thinking about their time alone in this mansion, enjoying the simple pleasures of each other. He knew at that very moment she hated him, despised him, but he knew she loved him. They did not need enchanted jewellery to protect their love. It was more powerful than true love. It was endless.
A hand touched his arm and made him jump. It was Ruby. He smiled at her and took a step closer to her, trying to calm his heart from the scare.
"Hey." Ruby smiled.
Rumpel returned her smile. "Hi."
"You've been avoiding Grannies." She told him.
"Yeah," Rumpel said sipping his drink. "I didn't want to excite my wife again."
"Oh, she's been exciting herself." Ruby said, her hand touching his forearm that held his glass.
"What do you mean?" He asked, curious what his wife had been getting up to in Storybrooke.
Ruby looked around and leaned closer. "She was trying to find out how long our affair had been going on and asking all sorts of questions. Of course, how can I answer something that isn't true? Nevertheless, she was believes she's right."
"Sorry." Rumpel apologised.
"Just to warn you." Ruby started as she pointed to the other corner of the room. "She's already here and is over there. I received a glare as I entered the room."
"Oh, I didn't know she was here." Rumpel said, trying to spot his wife through the crowd.
Ruby sighed and tried to smile. "I never thought as Belle as the jealous type. You, yes of course. But her…"
"Love" He said turning his head to look at her. "It does crazy things to people. And of course, I am so irresistible." Ruby laughed at him and left him to filter through the crowd of dancers. He watched her until he lost sight of her and sipped at his whiskey.
Rumpel turned towards Gideon when he heard him call him. "Do you want another drink, father?"
"Erm," Rumpel looked at his drink and then nodded his head. "Yes, son, thank you." He also disappeared into the crowd. Noticing that Lilly was standing on her own, Rumpel sauntered over to her finishing the rest of his whiskey. She smiled at him as he came to stand beside her. He had never thought about having a daughter, not that he had only wanted sons. It must be different with a girl. They had spent nearly a week together and already Rumpel felt protective towards Lilly, wanting to give her everything that he wanted to give Gideon.
Gideon reappeared from the crowd, two glasses of champagne and a whiskey for his father. Giving them their drinks, Gideon looked around the room and then spoke to Lilly. "I think it's time. It's packed in here. Everyone must be here."
"Whatever you think, babe." Lilly said, leaving the decision to Gideon.
"Your mother is here." Rumpel interjected. With a nod of his head, Gideon stepped up onto the stage to talk to the DJ. He excused himself from Lilly and moved through the crowd heading to the patio doors. Finding the spot he wanted, he leant against the open doorway to the patio, his eyes trying to find Belle in the crowd. Rumpel spotted her. She was in the corner Ruby had indicated and was chatting to her father.
Rolling his eyes, Rumpel swigged his whiskey as Gideon addressed the room. "Hello everyone!"
The room quickly shushed. People crowded in the doorways to the adjoining rooms, trying to listen to Gideon as he spoke. "I would like to thank everyone for attending tonight. We know it was short notice for some, but nonetheless, thank you for coming. With all of you gathered tonight, Lilly and I would like to share some news with you all."
Gideon gestured for Lilly to come up onto the small stage and she joined him, pressing herself close to her future husband for strength. Watching Belle's reaction, Rumpel saw her interest was perked as she tried to raise herself to see over the sea of heads at her son. He did not need to watch his son's speech. He only had to watch his wife.
"I would like to take a moment to thank one special person in the room." Gideon said, trying to spot his victim in the crowd, who was oblivious as he stared at his wife. "My father, Rumpelstiltskin, is the main reason this has all happened tonight."
Rumpel's head snapped to look at his son as everyone in the room turned to looked at him in the doorway. This was not what Rumpel expected. "I hope the sacrifice that my father has shown me, I will be able to show to my children in the future. The selfless act of putting your love ones before your own happiness is a lesson a lot of us have yet to learn."
Slipping from the doorway, Rumpel stood out on the patio listening. "He has kept a secret all week. A secret that I made him promise not to tell anyone." Rumpel rubbed at his forehead, he did not like being centre attention. "And that secret has… cascaded to cause my parents pain."
"Gideon." Rumpel whispered to himself and downed his drink. Yes, he wanted his son to have his announcement, but he did not think his son was going to lay it out so thick. He had only expected him to get up and tell everyone they were engaged. Gideon did not need to tell everyone that his father had a soft side. The Dark One was not as mean as they thought.
"You have all heard how my father has supposedly been having an affair with Ruby. It has been the talk of the town all week." Gideon said, causing Rumpel to cringe. "The only thing these two were guilt of was trying to help me. Help me propose to my fiancée in the most romantic way possible."
There was a unison gasp in the room as Gideon continued. "Yes, this party is to announce that Lilly and I are engaged to be married."
There was a roar of applause and wolf whistles. Rumpel held his hand over his heart. If he did not love his son, he would have killed him. He had hoped when Belle heard Gideon and Lilly were engaged. It would be enough for her to realise her mistake and come to him. Fight with him about how he had kept it to himself. Then, like always, they would sort it out their way. Now… Gideon had robbed him of his dignity. No one would look at him the same way again. They would know that he was not as bad as they thought. Rumpel did not know how to handle that. It was easy to ignore people, if they thought you were about to snap their neck or steal their heart.
He waved his hand and refilled his glass with whiskey as he sat down onto the steps to the patio. There was no way he was going back into that room. People would be looking at him now for the wrong reason. They would be whispering about how he had helped his son and that the Dark One must be losing his touch. The thought of more whispers was too much as he held his head in his hand, perching his elbow on his knee.
Suddenly a mass of brown curly hair swamped his view as a weight pressed down onto his shoulders and the new weight encouraged a groan to erupt from Rumpel. "Rumpel!"
"Oof." Rumpel moaned with the weight shifting off him and the knee hit him in his ribs.
"Why did you not tell me!" Belle grabbed at his shirt, tugging him.
Rumpel glanced at her and then at his glass. "My son made me promise not to. I try to keep my promises these days."
"You stupid man!" Belle clung to him. "Even when it meant that I would hate you."
"You told me that I had to be a good man." Rumpel reminded her, looking at her. "I was being selfless. I was putting our son first. His happiness first."
Belle clasped his face between her hands. "You let me think that you had cheated."
"Oh, no I didn't." Rumpel pushed her hands away. "You thought that! I told you it wasn't what it looked like."
"Rumpel." She purred at him and tried to reach for him again.
"I did what you would have wanted. But you could not trust me." He said catching her hand.
Her gaze fell. "I'm so sorry, Rumpel."
"All I have ever wanted is to be with you. I told you I was only interested in the path that was you and me." Rumpel told her, placing her hand he held against his heart. "Why the hell would I want to go off with someone else, when we were happy?"
She dared to look at him, her hand against his chest clenched at his shirt. "I'm sorry. I really am. I let my father twist me. I swear I did not believe him at first, but seeing the two of you in our cabin and her touching your face…"
"We were talking about you when she touched my face." Rumpel informed her, his hand resting on top of hers on his chest.
"I'm so sorry, Rumpel!" Belle pleaded as she edged closer to him. "I don't know what else to say to you. I can never make this up to you."