Chapter Forty-Nine: "Live in the Moment"

The moment his father and Belle walked into the war room, Bae knew that Rumplestiltskin had finally managed to pop the question. The way Belle was glowing was powerful enough to light up a thousand or so light bulbs, and even his father was smiling unrestrainedly. Rumplestiltskin so rarely let his guard down enough to look so happy, particularly when surrounded by people Bae knew he only sometimes liked. Usually he was reserved and guarded, but not now. There was only one thing in the world that would make him look so joyful, and Bae stepped forward without any hesitation.

"Congratulations, Papa, Belle," he said warmly, only to have his future stepmother wheel on him.

"You knew?" she demanded.

Oops. He probably should have let them announce it first, and Bae backtracked rapidly. He gulped, and tried to shift the blame with a crooked smile. "Henry blabbed it?"

"Henry knew?" Belle echoed, turning a glare on Rumplestiltskin, whose hands came up immediately in self-defense. Fortunately, Henry piped up before Bae's father could dig himself into a hole.

"I kinda guessed. And bullied Grandpa into telling me," the thirteen year old told his future step-grandmother (and wasn't poor Henry's family tree growing more complicated by the moment?).

Belle scowled, but Bae could see that her annoyance was mainly for show. "Of course you did." She rolled her eyes. "The three of you are going to be the death of me."

"I hope not," Rumplestiltskin murmured, and Bae tried very hard not to think about walking in on the two of them. Ugh. What if they pull a Snow and Charming and give me a younger sibling? Bae really didn't want to find out how Emma felt in such an immediate and crazy way—even if he really had always wanted to have a younger brother or sister. Giving Henry a second aunt or uncle who was younger than him would be the height of awkward, though Bae supposed that worse things had happened.

Belle was glowing again by the time Bae managed to step forward and hug her, although she did manage to whisper in his ear as David apologized to his father for interrupting and offered his own congratulations. "Are you all right with this?" Belle asked him quietly.

Only Belle would ask, Bae knew. Her heart was so big that she'd worry about what he thought, even if he'd made it plain time and again that he considered her family. Bae just smiled.

"Never better," he replied, stepping back so that Snow could hug Belle—Snow would hug anyone, after all—and Emma could offer a much more awkward but equally sincere congratulations.

The next few minutes were taken up by their entire wacked up extended family extending an official welcome to Belle, who'd already been an unofficial member of their number. Henry hugged her, too—and then hugged Rumplestiltskin, who seemed to take it a little better than he had the first time Bae's son had done so, at least. He managed to hug Henry back without looking too uncomfortable, anyway, and Bae knew that meant a lot, coming from his father. Rumplestiltskin and Regina seemed to be eyeing one another warily, but Regina's smile was genuine enough, and Bae thought that he saw his father shoot a significant glance at Robin that made Regina color slightly.

Finally, however, Snow threw a look David's way that immediately made the king clear his throat to get everyone's attention. Looking vaguely uncomfortable and a little hesitant—an expression very out of place on David's face—the king began:

"Something came up earlier that made Snow and I realize that we needed to get everyone together. I know right now probably isn't the best time, but we couldn't wait until after the Grand Council has ended."

Didn't that opening serve to put everyone on edge? Bae looked around the room curiously, watching faces that ranged from politely attentive (like Robin) to impatient (Emma) to carefully dispassionate (his father). No one other than Snow seemed to know what David was on about, however, so it was Snow who picked up when David paused.

"Everyone here is family to Henry in one way or another," Emma's mother pointed out, and Bae realized that she was right. The only person who really could be argued wasn't family was Robin, and Regina's feelings for the outlaw were obvious to anyone with eyes. True Love had a way of simplifying matters, and Bae knew they'd get married eventually. Some fathers might have been uncomfortable with the idea of the Enchanted Forest's most legendary outlaw becoming their son's adopted stepfather, but Bae had known Robin for a while now, and only a blind man would have failed to see what a good father Robin was for Roland. "We all have our differences," Snow continued. "Some times more than others. But this is about Henry."

"What's about me?" Henry predictably piped up, all curiosity and no concern.

"Prince Thomas brought the matter up to me a few weeks ago," David replied, sighing heavily. "Apparently, most monarchs in the Enchanted Forest—everyone but those in this room, really—consider Henry illegitimate, and thus barred from the succession. The problem is twofold. Firstly, since they don't recognize Henry as legitimate, they don't recognize him as royalty, or even, officially, as part of our family. That means they are 'uncomfortable' with his presence at official events, and feel he should be excluded."

"What?" Regina barked, stepping forward to glare at David as if any slight against Henry was his fault. "This is—"

The Evil Queen cut off, her mouth snapping shut as furious intelligence rolled through her eyes. Regina was anything but stupid, Bae knew, and she immediately understood what this meant. Emma, however, did not.

"Ridiculous," Henry's birth mother picked up where his adopted mother left off. "What does the fact that Neal and I aren't married have to do with Henry? It's not his fault."

"It doesn't matter." Regina's voice was hard and ice cold. "They won't care. They still think he's a bastard."

Having known this issue was going to come up eventually, Bae was in a better place to watch the others' reactions than most. Emma and Regina were angry, albeit for very different reasons, but their expressions were almost identical. Robin, to Regina's right, looked vaguely concerned but not overly so; as a disinherited nobleman turned outlaw, he probably only saw this as an obstacle to be overcome. Belle, at Bae's father's side, looked distressed and was watching Henry, who in turn appeared to be utterly stunned.

"Then I'm not a prince?" Henry asked quietly.

Henry was one of the most level-headed teenagers that Bae had ever met, but this was obviously hard on him. He'd spent several years in Storybrooke making assumptions about the position he would have in the Enchanted Forest, and no one had ever told him otherwise. Henry viewed his ancestral world as a place full of fairy tales come to life, not one of old-fashioned prejudices. Worse yet, he'd grown up in a world where people were judged on their own merits instead of their birth, so listening to his grandfather say that most kingdoms viewed him as inferior shocked Henry almost into silence. His eyes were huge and lost, and Bae could tell that he didn't know what else to say.

"Of course you are," Emma tried to reassure him, and then looked, wide eyed, at her parents, clearly asking them to back her up.

"It's complicated," Snow said gently.

"No, it isn't," Regina cut back in. "Not by the laws here." The Evil Queen turned to face her son, her voice turning compassionate. "I won't lie to you, Henry. Things here aren't like they were back in the Land Without Magic. People are more…biased. But it doesn't mean anyone in here loves you less, or that we won't fight for you."

Henry's smile was strained, and Bae put a hand on his son's shoulder as Henry answered: "I know that."

"What brought this up?" Rumplestiltskin spoke up for the first time, making Bae turn to look at his father.

Clearly, Rumplestiltskin had already considered this, probably months earlier, much like Bae had. Not a flicker of surprise showed on his features, and his voice was dead calm. Bae could see his brilliant mind already considering options, and suddenly Bae pitied anyone who tried to ostracize Henry. Snow and Charming were good people, and they were problem solvers. They'd find a solution to this. But Rumplestiltskin and Regina would deal rather harshly with anyone who was cruel to Henry. Somewhat disturbingly, Bae found he didn't have a problem with that. Not at all.

"A few things," David answered slowly. "Like I said, Thomas mentioned it. But more recently, the issue came up concerning Lady Sophia."

"Who?" Emma asked even as Bae blinked. But Regina groaned.

"Your nitwit cousin?" she asked Snow.

"She's not a nitwit," Snow replied a little defensively, but she didn't look terribly put out by Regina's comment, either.

"But she is married to Lord Soulis," David continued with a grimace. "And Soulis' sister is, naturally, married to King Francis' younger brother."

Regina snorted. "I told Leopold he should have locked that nitwit girl in a tower or something."

"Regina!" Snow exclaimed, but several people snickered until Emma demanded:

"Who the hell is Lady Sophia, anyway?"

"The daughter of my father's older sister," Snow replied with another sigh. "Francis—and Lord Soulis, obviously, are pushing to have her position in the succession acknowledged."

"So?" Emma frowned. "She'd still be after Graham, right?"

"That's second in line if you continue this stupidity of leaving yourself out," Regina told her bluntly. Emma glared again, but Bae could see the wheels starting to turn in her head.

"And a lot of things can happen to a kid if someone is ambitious enough," he pointed out when no one else wanted to say it.

"And Soulis is that ambitious," Regina added, her eyes narrowing. "He wasn't my mother's star student for no reason."

"Aren't we getting a little far afield of how this impacts Henry?" Belle interjected before the succession discussion could continue, and Bae could have hugged her for it. Henry was starting to look a little overwhelmed, and Emma was only looking angrier by the moment. It was definitely time to narrow the scope of this conversation down.

"Yes and no," David replied. "This matters because Snow and I are not going to let anyone muddle with who inherits our kingdoms, and we don't care what anyone thinks of Henry's birth. He's our grandson, no matter what."

"That's why we're going to issue a decree of—" Snow started, only to be cut off by her daughter.

"Wait a minute. You're saying that all this crap they're putting on Henry started because Neal and I aren't married?"

David had the grace to look a little embarrassed. "Pretty much, yeah."

"Fine, then. We'll get married."

"What?" Several voices demanded, but Bae knew his was the loudest of all. Emma turned on him.

"Don't you want to?"

"Yes, but—" He felt like he'd been hit head on by a truck. His brain refused to work right. "I mean…"

Emma's eyes met his, and Bae felt his heart do a backflip. He loved her, had almost from the beginning. Bae would have proposed months earlier if he thought Emma wouldn't shy away from the idea, and not just for Henry's sake. And he knew that Emma wasn't suggesting they get married solely to shore up their son's status, either. Bae knew Emma loved him; she just needed something to push her over the edge from time to time. Like Bae, Emma had spent much of her life running from commitment, and breaking that habit was hard. At least he had always had family, even if he'd been out of practice with the idea for a while. Emma was always afraid of gaining family in case she lost it again, which was what caused her to be so wary of commitment. A laugh bubbled up, a little crazy and yet still utterly joyful. This has got to be most unromantic proposal ever. I don't even have a ring for her yet!

But the smile on his face was growing rapidly, doofy and happy, a grin like only Emma could draw from him. She could see it, too, so Emma turned to her parents and asked:

"You guys got anything like Vegas in this place?"

Snow blinked. "No…"

"Really? Could you get any less romantic?" Regina rolled her eyes as Henry bounced excitedly.

"You guys are going to get married?" their son demanded. "That's so cool! Now if Mom and Robin do that, it'll make everything perfect!"

Regina's eyes went huge. "Henry, I…"

"Yeah, that's what it looks like, bud," Bae rescued Henry's adopted mother from her stuttering shock. It was the least he could do—he was going to marry Emma! He grinned down at Henry. "I guess you can be invited, even if it isn't customary to have your kids there."

"Da-ad!"

Everyone laughed again, breaking the serious mood into tiny pieces. Meanwhile, Bae met his father's inquiring eyes with a crooked smile and a shrug. He still felt like he'd been run over by an out of control train, but he wanted to marry Emma more than anything in the world. He didn't care that she was a princess; to Bae, she would always be the girl who he'd met from the back of a stolen bug. Even if this was going to turn his life even more upside down than earning a knighthood had (or than his father becoming the Dark One had), Bae wanted to marry Emma. His father's answering smile told him that Rumplestiltskin understood all too well, and Bae mouthed a silent thank you as Snow spoke up again.

"Well, that simplifies matters," she said, squaring her shoulders with the air of someone who now had a solution to everything. "We can mention your engagement when we issue the decree of—"

"Not engagement," Emma cut her mother off for the second time. "Marriage. Didn't you hear what I said about Vegas?"

"I don't think you can get to Vegas from here, Mom," Henry put in as David replied with a grimace:

"Emma, a royal wedding takes time to plan. Trust me on that."

"Who said anything about a royal wedding?" she countered, wheeling to face Bae. "Do you want a big ceremony?"

"Hell, no," he answered with relish, already knowing where she was going with this one and damn grateful. He could handle marrying a princess, but doing it in front of thousands of people who expected him to act like royalty? No thanks!

"Then that's it," Emma told her parents, clearly not in the mood to be argued with. "No fuss. No crazy royal stuff. How soon can we do this?"

David and Snow exchanged glances, but it was Snow who asked: "Are you two sure about this?"

Emma looked is way, and Bae nodded without hesitation. "Yeah," he answered, reaching for Emma's hand with the one he didn't still have on Henry's shoulder. "We were gonna get married almost fourteen years ago. Why wait?"

"Who needs Tallahassee, anyway?" Emma asked quietly, and Bae grinned at her.

"I think we found it," he replied, squeezing her hand.

It took an hour to plan, because of course Grandma Snow couldn't just let them grab Archie and say vows, but soon enough, Henry was watching his parents get married. Of all the things he had expected to do when he'd woken up that morning, this certainly wasn't on the list, though it was awesome. He'd known that Emma and Bae loved one another—Henry would have to have been blind to miss that—but he also knew that sometimes Emma needed a good kick in the butt before she would embrace emotional issues. He loved her anyway, but both his moms could be a bit like that, which meant this was more than a little surprising.

It wasn't the only surprise. Contrary to what his entire family seemed to think, Henry wasn't stuck on the idea of being a prince. Finding out that he wasn't considered one by a lot of people had just been a shock. Intellectually, Henry knew what being a bastard was—he'd always liked history, and he read a lot—he'd just never though the term might apply to him. Their old world had just been so different that it had never occurred to him. Yeah, the Enchanted Forest was different, but the people were the same, so why should it matter? Adults really did have some odd ideas sometimes, but Henry knew enough to know that centuries of thinking one way couldn't be overturned in a year, no matter how stupid the traditions were. Still, Henry supposed that not being a prince wouldn't stop him from doing kinds of things his parents did now, anyway. He could still help people and fight evil, no matter what people called him.

Of course, that didn't matter now that Grandma Snow said they could fix it all with a degree of legitimization, anyway. She and Gramps could apparently just pass a law that made everyone shut up. The politics of it were murky, but Henry understood that much, and it made government in the Enchanted Forest seem a lot more efficient than it had back in the United States. Being King or Queen must really help when it comes to solving problems fast.

Speaking of which, Grandma Snow looked ready to cry while Emma and Bae exchanged their hurriedly written vows, and Gramps had definitely been reluctant to hand Emma over for a moment there. No one but family and close friends had been invited, which meant only fifteen or so people were in his grandparents giant throne room, but Henry was pretty sure that both is parents were more comfortable with a small crowd. Regina, on the other hand, would probably have demanded something huge and splashy, but for Emma and Bae, this was just right.

The same group from earlier had reassembled, with a few additions. Robin had fetched Roland, of course, who stood between him and Regina now (with Henry on Regina's other side and sometimes making faces at the smaller boy, who he'd come to like a lot). Ruby, Granny, Tink, Hook, and Archie—well, Jiminy Cricket; Henry still had a hard time remembering that one—had also been hurriedly invited. Henry was a little surprised that the pirate had been in town, but he was glad to see the captain, anyway. Hook shot him a naughty smirk, and Henry grinned in return. Hook didn't seem to have any hard feelings over losing out on Emma, and he did look happy for the soon-to-be newlyweds. He'd even hugged both of them and offered congratulations, teasing Henry's father before the short ceremony had started.

"Do you, Princess Emma, take this man as your husband?" Jiminy Cricket was asking, hovering between the pair. Henry had seen his mother throw the flying grasshopper an odd look, but thankfully Emma didn't object to being married by an insect. Mom's learning, Henry thought with a grin. Finally!

Henry had never seen Emma beam so unrestrainedly as she answered: "I do."

"And do you, Sir Baelfire, take this woman to be your wife?"

"You bet I do," his father grinned.

"Then I am honored to say that you may kiss the bride," Jiminy finished, but he almost didn't get the words out in time. Henry's parents were kissing even as the last one came out, and was that a flicker of magic Henry felt in the air?

"Does this make you a prince now?" Henry couldn't resist needling his father when the pair broke apart.

Bae blanched. "God, I hope not."

David barked out a laugh. "Sorry, Bae. It certainly does. By marriage, anyway."

"Crap."

The resulting laughter was good natured, and Henry grinned again as he took a place between his birth parents. Once, all he'd wanted was a family to call his own. Now he had two mothers, his dad married to one of them, three grandparents (soon to be four), and a slew of others who he could call family. He'd been so lonely in the days of the curse, but never again.

"It seems we're awash in princes, then," Regina put in with a wicked smile, and Henry couldn't help snickering. He loved both his mothers, even with how different—and similar—they were, but sometimes his sense of humor was all Regina's. His father still looked a little put out, but Henry knew that he'd get over it. "Congratulations, you two," the Evil Queen continued. "It's about damn time."

"Gee, thanks, Regina," Emma retorted dryly. Henry didn't think the sparks would ever stop flying between those two, but at least now they were good sparks. Usually.

"You know me. I'm always the life of every part," Regina shot back, and Emma snorted. She said something else that Henry didn't catch; he was too busy watching while his Grandpa Gold approached his own son.

"It appears that I didn't need to meddle in your love life, after all," he said quietly, his eyes dancing with amusement.

"I think we both did okay," Bae replied with a grin, reaching down to ruffle Henry's hair.

"Hey!" he objected, but his Dad ignored him, adding:

"Even this one didn't have to try too hard at playing matchmaker."

"Who says I didn't?" Henry challenged his father, but he could see the laughter in both Bae and Rumplestiltskin's eyes.

"I think we've have noticed that one, lad," Rumplestiltskin replied.

He tried on his most enigmatic smile. "Maybe."

That only made the two men laugh. Henry supposed that he had a long ways to go before he even approached his grandfather's skill at manipulating people, and besides, he wasn't sure if that was something he wanted to aspire to, anyway. Neither of his mothers would approve if he started down that road, that was for sure. Besides, he rather liked the way his dad did things, instead; Baelfire used his brains to anticipate situations, but he was more of a man of action and less of a puppet master. Still, the world needed all kinds, and Henry wouldn't trade anyone in his family for anything.

"I don't think you're going to be as lucky as we were," his father said suddenly to Grandpa Gold, nodding at where Belle was deep in conversation with Grandma Snow about something or another. "Unless I miss my guess—and haven't noticed that the two of them are obviously talking about you—I think Snow just intruded on your wedding plans."

Henry hadn't thought his scariest grandfather could go pale like that, and he watched Rumplestiltskin swallow several times before saying resignedly: "You might be right."

"Might, hell, Pop. You're screwed."

"If it makes her happy…" Rumplestiltskin trailed off with a sigh.

"You're so whipped," Baelfire laughed, earning himself a glare from his father.

"At least I managed to properly propose," his grandfather retorted. "Despite many interruptions."

Henry's father only snorted and shrugged, clearly not at all put out that Emma had dropped the idea of marriage on him exactly one hour before they'd gotten hitched. Then again, Henry knew that his parents had known one another a really long time (he was kind of proof of that), even if their lives had always been too wild to give them the time to settle down.

"So," he asked, craning his neck to look up at his father. "You guys gonna go on a honeymoon now?"

"I don't know if we'll have time for that, buddy," his father replied with a shrug. Then Henry watched Bae's eyes go to Emma, who had finished her friendly spat with Regina and turned back to them. "What do you think?"

"I think it depends on if your dad kills me first," she replied, a little more self-consciously than Henry would have expected.

Rumplestiltskin arched an eyebrow. "Now whatever gives you the idea that I might want to?"

"Because you have to live with having me as your daughter-in-law, now."

"I can think of worse people," was the immediate response, but Henry could see the humor in his grandfather's eyes. "Regina, for one."

"I heard that, Rumple," his other mother growled.

"Of course you did, dear," was the laughing response, but Rumplestiltskin turned serious as he looked back at Emma. "We'll always strike sparks, Emma, but that's because you stand up to me," he said with a kind of unguarded honesty Henry had rarely seen from his grandfather. "I respect that. I can even like that—and you. There's no one I would be more pleased to call my daughter-in-law."

"Seriously?" Emma's voice was surprisingly small, and Rumplestiltskin smiled.

"Seriously," he replied, stepping forward to kiss her on the cheek while Henry's mother blushed bright red. His dad laughed, of course, but Henry could see how happy he was.

Nothing, he decided, could ruin this day.

A/N: I'll be going on vacation next week, so there will be a short pause before the next chapter. In the meantime, what trick to you think Blue still has up her sleeve (because there definitely is one) and do you think Jafar will be on the "good" side when he's given a choice?

Stay tuned for Chapter Fifty: "Moment of Truth", in which Rumplestiltskin, Regina, and Emma conspire; Blue makes her move; and Rumplestiltskin contemplates out and out murder. While you wait, please let me know what you think!