There was only one thing on Mr. Gold's mind at this point and that was to find his son. He wanted to find out why Neal didn't tell him that it was only one bed in their room. A heads-up would have been nice, so he didn't have to have an awkward conversation about cuddling.

Belle stepped out of the bathroom with her hair french braided to one side, letting it rest on one of her shoulders. She had the most angelic face with an accent to match.

"It's kind of hot this afternoon." She said.

Belle probably said that because she knew he was staring at her, but his pretend wife was absolutely stunning and he couldn't help himself. Which only made him realize just how hard sleeping beside her for these next three days were going to be. Fortunately for Gold, it was time for the meet and greet and he was able to leave the awkward space they would be sharing, he walked with her out of their room before locking the door behind them.

"Mike!" Jefferson said coming quickly down the hallway to give Gold a congratulatory pat on the back before turning to Belle. "Hello again Miss Belle. I just wanted to congratulate you two on the marriage."

"How did-" Gold sighed. "Neal told you."

"Yeah and even though she's for pretend, she's a lot nicer than the last one, better looking too."

"Jeff!" Gold exclaimed and Belle giggled at the two brother's playful quarrel. Jefferson was Gold's step brother and was a very silly man, who loved to joke and pick on his older brother who he considered to be a grouch at most times. "Have you seen Neal?"

"Yeah, he's downstairs with Emma and the Nolan's." Jefferson looked between Belle and Gold as if they were children and they'd done something adorable. "Imagine that, father and son married on the same day."

"We're not married," Gold said quickly so Belle wouldn't feel embarrassed. "We're pretending so we can help Neal out."

"Well isn't this quite the Cinderella story, pretending before the ball ends are we, Mikey? At least you get three days instead of one night."

"Just go." He said shooing Jefferson away. Now he needed to make sure his brother didn't scare Belle off. "I'm sorry Belle, my little brother hasn't noticed yet that he's in his forty's and not a teenager."

"Well he's quite funny, I like the Cinderella part. She had a happy ending at the end of her story. Who knows maybe we will too." She said softly.

Belle and Gold strolled the rest of the way downstairs in silence. Gold was still unable to believe that he was going to have to pretend to be married to Belle. When he first saw her before they found out about the charade he was hoping he would be able to get to know her. This unfortunately threw a wrench in his plans, now he would only get the chance of pretending to know her without the pleasure of getting to know her on a more personal level.

Belle had never been married before, so this was definitely going to be a new experience for her. It didn't occur to her that her first marriage would be a farce. She assumed it would be to the love of her life, the man she would spend an eternity with. She really didn't know much about Mr. Gold other than the fact that he was Neal's sexy Scottish father, who happened to be a very snazzy dresser, but in truth she was looking forward to learning more about him. Just maybe this fake marriage proposal could benefit her and Neal.

"There you guys are." Mary Margaret said as they were descending down the last bit of stairs. She was wearing a long sundress with a large funny looking summer hat. Belle could tell what type of woman her fake sister-in-law was, a stuffy rich socialite who wanted nothing but the best for her daughter. Belle now understood why Neal was so adamant about impressing her. "Belle let me also introduce you to my husband David."

"Nice to meet you Belle," He said shaking her hand, then Gold's. "Mr. Gold it's very good to see you again. I'm sure you are both quite proud of your son."

"More than proud David, and Emma is wonderful and so beautiful, a spitting image of you two." Belle complimented and Gold admired how courteous she was.

Mary Margaret smiled. "And respectful I hope, we made certain to raise her right."

"Oh yes, you did a great job, she's very respectful and polite," Belle said. "I hope you can say the same of my Neal." That statement made Gold smile, he sort of liked hearing Belle call Neal her son and the way she said it, made it sound very believable too. He thought this was going to end badly for him, but just maybe they could pull this off.

"Indeed." Mary Margaret said quickly. " Neal is so charming. At first I thought he got that from your husband, but after meeting you, I'm certain you both were a big influence on him."

Just then, Gold caught a glimpse of his son with Emma standing by the restroom talking to some of the younger guests. He needed to have some words with his son, and maybe a slap upside Neal's head would help Gold feel better about this whole bed-sharing situation.

"Would you excuse me for a moment?" He asked.

The three of them excused Gold as he walked inconspicuously to the restroom. Neal and Emma were leaving the group of their classmates from college, but just as Neal turned the corner by the restroom, an unknown man pulled him into the men's bathroom.

"What the hell!" Neal exclaimed hitting the restroom wall with a thud. After coming out of the initial shock of being somewhat attacked, he recognized his assailant as his father. "Dad?" he didn't even know his father could move like that, Hell, he walked with a cane for crying out loud.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Gold asked visually pissed off and frustrated.

"Tell you what?"

"That the damn room only has one bed." Gold said. He was through with his son's ridiculous antics. He thought by now he wouldn't still be acting like a kid. "Neal this isn't a game, why would you do this to Belle?"

"Dad chill," He said removing his father's grip from the collar of his jacket. "If Belle wasn't okay with it, she wouldn't have agreed."

"How do you know that?" His hand gripped tight around the gold handle of his cane. "I mean it's possible Belle agreed to this situation just to look out for you."

"I know Belle, if she didn't want to do it, she would have backed out, trust me dad," Neal said.

Belle was his best friend, he knew Belle wouldn't have a problem pretending to be his mom. He even jokingly called her his mom anyways when she began acting like it. "Did she leave when she saw the bed?"

"No." Gold said before thinking to himself. "Why didn't you just tell Emma's parents the truth about your real mother?"

"When has Milah ever been a real mother? When she calls and says she's going to see me then cancels at the last minute to go bond her deadbeat boyfriend out of jail?"

"So you didn't invite her?" He asked but he didn't blame him for not inviting his mother. Honestly, Gold was glad he didn't have to put up with his ex-wife and her boyfriend she insisted on abandoning her family for.

"I tried, I didn't get an answer back from her."

Gold let out a sigh at the thought of his ex-wife. Milah wasn't mother material, or even woman material if he really thought about it. He recalled those times Neal was mentioning. After his mother backed out of spending time with her only son, it was always his job to make Neal feel better. It's probably the reason why he never remarried, he just couldn't stand to see his son hurt anymore.

"It's not your fault Neal," he said. After all he didn't want his son to blame himself for his mother's selfish ways. "Belle is a nice woman I just, don't want her to get the wrong idea about me."

"Like what idea?"

"Desperate." He muttered, he didn't like to talk to his son about this, but there was no one else.

Neal was confused about what his father was talking about. He was a young man in his mid 20's, making it hard for him to understand that older men, including his father, still have the same desires."Why would she think you're desperate?"

"Because I'm damn near in my fifty's and she's 34, why wouldn't she get the wrong idea?"

Neal caught on. "Dad you're over thinking this, just relax, it's only for three days then you'll go back to Maine and Belle will be in New York. It'll be like this never even happened."

"Did you have to tell your uncle Jeff?"

"Well yeah, him and grandpa need to be in on it too in order for this to work."

Gold supposed he was right, Neal was a smart kid and he seemed really committed to making sure his family gave a good impression to the Nolan's. Gold could understand, these were Neal's in-laws he was trying to impress after all. He would be stuck with them hopefully for the rest of his life.

"Fine. I'll try, but don't get your hopes up for this working, I mean we barely know each other."

"Well get to know her, it about time for you to anyway. Belle's my best friend," Neal reminded him. "You two should at least get to know each other."

Gold didn't mind getting to know her at all and he figured it would certainly help while he pretended to be her husband. Husbands knew everything about their wives, right?

The two of them casually walked out of the bathroom together, Neal spotted Emma and quickly went to go join her. Gold saw Belle talking to a group of women he could only guess was Emma's relatives. He was just about to walk over to her when he was startled by the feedback from a microphone.

"Could I get everyone to move to the reception area, we have hors d'oeuvres, and refreshments." The wedding planner Regina directed. Everyone did what they were told and Belle got lost in the crowd of thirty some people.

Gold did the same and headed towards the reception room. He saw Belle sitting next to Mary Margaret, and noticed that she was even beautiful from afar. There was an empty chair right next to her, like she was saving it for him. Belle saw him walking into the large room and flashed him a smile and a small wave telling him to come sit with her. He quickly made his way to her. Pretend wife or not, Gold loved seeing her smile.

"I saved it for you." She whispered, leaning over to him.

Mary Margaret stood up with a cheerful bout, clinging a bell between her thumb and forefinger to get the attention of the room.

"Okay now that everyone's here, we can start the introduction." She cleared her throat. "Well, you all know me, I'm Mary Margaret Nolan, mother of the beautiful bride Emma. My husband David and I, we've been married now for almost 34 years. I want to tell you, Neal and Emma, it's not easy, but when you're with the right person, it's the best time of your life. I wish you all the luck and love for your future. Oh and one more thing, give me grandchildren!" she ended her speech and everyone laughed at the grandchildren part, including Belle and Gold.

It was their turn now and all the eyes in the room turned to the mother and father of the groom. Gold was nervous since they didn't have enough time to go over what they needed to say, but Belle stood up bravely anyway ready to introduce her and Gold.

She smiled. "Afternoon everyone, I'm Belle Gold mother of the groom Neal." She said addressing the crowd before placing a hand on Gold's shoulder. "And this devilishly handsome man is my husband Micheal. Gosh, it's been so long ago since we've been married I've stopped counting the years," The crowd laughed. "But every step has been an amazing journey with him, I was lucky enough to marry the love of my life, and I'm happy my son is doing the same. Emma, I can't thank you enough for making my Neal happy, and I too would like some grandchildren."

Everyone clapped at Belle's introduction and even Gold wanted to give her an applause too. She pulled that off perfectly, and it was so believable. Gold was downright impressed by her, and she even touched him to show everyone how loving their marriage was.

"How did I do?" she whispered to Gold while the next couple were introducing themselves.

"Very well, although I think I could have done a better job." he quipped.

"Oh really, and what would you have done differently?"

"Well, besides the grandchildren part, I would have tried harder to embarrass Neal."

"There's plenty of time to still embarrass him." Belle agreed. "He needs to be paid back for making you put up with me."

What a ridiculous notion, she couldn't have been further from the truth. In fact, Gold was enjoying himself with her. Perhaps pretending to be married to her wasn't going to be as bad as he thought. He'd never heard such a heart-warming speech about him and his son, not even from his ex-wife. Of course that didn't surprise him, Milah was never a warm individual in the first place and the only happiness that came from his marriage to her was Neal. Belle was different, they were only pretending to be married, but she seemed to have some sort of real affection for him, she even called him handsome. For Gold, that was certainly good to know.

The introductions went on until it drifted into regular conversational talk. Everyone was having a good time, laughing and talking. Jefferson became the crowd favorite with his jokes and impressions. Then the topic changed to how Belle and Gold first met. Mary Margaret was on the edge of her seat, listening with bated breath. Neal even noticed how enthralled Emma's parents were over Belle and his father.

"- And he was quite the gentleman, pulling out my chair, suggesting his favorite desserts, Oh it was such a beautiful night," Belle said.

"I just couldn't get over how smart and intelligent she was, and not to mention beautiful. By the time the date was over, I knew I couldn't spend my life without her." Gold said finishing their false first date.

All of the women in the room swooned at what Gold said, and even Neal was impressed by their story, overwhelmingly embarrassed, but impressed nonetheless.

"They're doing a great job," Emma whispered in Neal's ear.

"Yeah, just don't encourage them, they'll never stop embarrassing me."

The talking continued into the early evening and almost everyone had already excused themselves to retire to their rooms, including the bride and groom. Emma's parents were finally ready to call it a day as they bid Belle and Gold a good evening and retired to their bedroom.

While Gold walked with Belle to their room he became apprehensive again. He was having such a lovely time with Belle and getting to really know her that he forgot about the bed-sharing situation.

"Belle." He called her name just as she was putting the key into the door to unlock it.

"Yeah?"

"I can still sleep in another room," he sighed. "I just don't want you to get the wrong idea about me."

"No backing out, besides we still haven't embarrassed Neal enough."

How was she able to make light of this situation and still keep her bubbly sense of humor? Maybe Neal was right, if Belle wasn't okay with this she wouldn't have agreed. Perhaps she was having as much fun as he was. He didn't dwell on it for long, not when she stood by the door waiting for him to come inside too. He stepped passes the threshold, and he felt the whole atmosphere change now that it was just the two of them alone.

"Do you want to take your shower first?" She asked fumbling around in her luggage.

"Ladies first."

Belle considered him a very classy man and anticipated what he would look like out of his suit and tie. With pajamas on she means of course, not naked or anything like that.. although...

She shook her head to clear her thoughts and zipped her belongings back up. "Thanks, shouldn't take me very long."

"Take as long as you need." He said opening his suitcase, trying to keep his eyes low and off of Belle.

It was probably only about 20 minutes before she emerged from the bathroom. She was wearing a tank top with silk bottoms and smelled like vanilla and lilac. The exposed parts of her body were flushed from the shower, and Gold instantly took his eyes off of her when he felt his bottom lip involuntary being tucked between his teeth. How was he going to survive three days with her if he couldn't even last the first night?

"It's all yours." She said smiling before walking to the left side of the bed and placing her phone into the charger.

He couldn't believe this was really happening, it felt like he had won the lottery. She was so beautiful and soon he would be lying next to her, drowning in the intoxicating aroma of her, praying his hands wouldn't roam and stay put on his side of the bed. The bed was indeed big, but was it big enough? Gold quickly got up before she had a chance to lay down beside him in the bed. He grabbed his clothes and toiletries and prayed to whatever higher power was listening, that she would be asleep by the time he returned from the bathroom.

His shower was cold, he needed it to be freezing to ward out the thoughts of her from his mind. About ten minutes later his fingers were wrinkly, and his erection was finally soft, and he thought it would probably be a good idea if he left some water for the other guests. Gold stepped out of the shower and did all the necessary regiments before getting dressed and leaving the bathroom.

When he walked out, the room was dim and lowly lit by candlelight, Belle was sitting on the bed with her hair in a messy bun, and her eyes were behind a pair of reading glasses so she could focus on the words in her book.

"I hope you don't mind," she said before looking up from her book. "I read better by candlelight."

"It's no matter." Gold forced out a low chuckle, just standing there, frozen solid. He wished he could take another cold shower without her becoming suspicious about why he was taking so many showers.

She smiled softly and patted the bed. "Get in, I don't bite."

He felt like this was a dream. Gold couldn't believe this was happening to him, so surely it had to be a dream. How could this beautiful creature actually want him to lay next to her while she slept and not even be hesitant about it? She even folded back the sheets of his side of the bed for him to get in. If this was a dream, he sure as hell didn't want to wake up from it.