Chapter 9

Birthday Gift

By the time Papa finished eating the meat pie, Baelfire had thought of what he wanted.

"Look what I got for my birthday," he said, holding up his wooden sword.

"Very nice," said Papa. "Have you given it a name yet? All great weapons should have a name."

"Not yet. But I want to name it after you, Papa."

Papa was silent. Then he grinned. "Never heard of a blade named Papa before," he teased.

"Your real name, silly. I want you to carve it on the blade, and a little spinning wheel on the handle."

Papa smiled. "Aye. I can do that. But I've never heard of a blade named Silly either."

"Papa!"

Papa laughed.

"All right, hand it over," he said.

Baelfire handed him the wooden sword, and Papa pulled out a little knife and began to work. He focused on the spinning wheel first, carving a tiny circle just below the crossbar. Then came the spokes, the spindle, and the rest that Baelfire had no name for. When he finished, it looked just like the one inside the shop behind them, even though Papa never glanced up to see.

Then he turned the sword to lay across his lap and carefully marked out segments with tiny pricks from his knife.

"You must have a really long name," Baelfire said as he watched him make the marks across most of the blade.

"Indeed, I do." Papa was entirely focused on his work, now starting to carve the first letter.

"What is it?" Baelfire asked. "Mama never says it."

"It's Rumplestiltskin, dearie."

"Wow. I can't even spell that."

Papa smiled and looked over at him. "Well, then it's a good thing I can."

Baelfire smiled back, and it seemed to make Papa happy, because he didn't stop smiling as he went back to work.

Baelfire watched the letters appear in the wood one by one, his father taking great care to carve each one perfectly in fancy script instead of simple lines and curves as Bae would have done.

"Hey! Boy!"

Baelfire looked up to see one of the pirates from the Jolly Roger coming towards them. It was Dougal, one of the big scary men that did most of the heavy lifting.

"The Captain's looking for ye! Time to go."

Bae looked over at Papa. He had only carved about a third of the way along the blade. Papa himself had stilled, and seemed to shrink back, refusing to look up.

"But I'm not done," Baelfire said. He couldn't leave without his wooden sword, nor with it only half-named. And he didn't want to leave Papa like this. He wasn't ready.

"It's okay, son," Papa whispered. "I can finish it next time." He handed the wooden sword back, the inscription reading only Rumple. "My nickname will have to do for now."

Bae stared at it, then impulsively hugged his father. Rumplestiltskin held him tight and whispered that he loved him and would be waiting for Baelfire to return. Always.

"Pay the beggar and come along," Dougal snapped. "Captain's waiting. And yer mother too."

Papa's grip loosened, but didn't let go until Baelfire stood. It wasn't right. Papa's eyes never left him, and if he started crying, Baelfire probably would too.

He tucked his wooden sword in his belt, plain side facing out, and reached for his little coin purse. There wasn't much left, but Bae poured it all out onto his palm. It felt wrong to pay Papa. Was it paying if Bae just wanted to give it to him? Papa needed help, and if Bae couldn't stay with him or take him with him, then this was the best he could do for him.

He held the coins out to him, but Papa cupped his large hands around Bae's small one, holding him and trapping the coins in Bae's palm. Papa's smile was sad.

"Thank you, my boy," he said, then began to let go.

Before he could pull away, Bae twisted his wrist and dropped the coins into Papa's hands. His eyes widened in surprise, looking away from Bae's face for the first time. Some of the coins fell on Papa's lap, others on the ground, but Papa stared at the ones his hands managed to catch.

"You don't have to be a beggar," Baelfire said.

Papa looked up, his fingers closing around the coins.

"Come on, boy," Dougal said, coming over and laying a hand on Baelfire's back, firmly steering him away. "Time to go."

Baelfire kept looking over his shoulder as he walked, watching Papa staring back, his expression fearful and sad, until the crowd hid him from view.

A/N: After Sunday's episode, this chapter was sad to edit. It was about time they had that scene, though. Cookies to everyone who reviewed guessing what was wrong with Rumple last chapter. All valid answers. I was specifically asking about the moment Bae runs off, then comes back to find Rumple zoned out. Bae couldn't understand, but Rumple kind of had a panic attack when he ran off. Abandonment issues and all.