accio-firewhiskey said:

Mr. Gold babysits Bae the night Belle has a date

Anonymous said:

I have a couple of adoption!verse prompts, if they will fit somewhere: 1) Belle, Bae, and Gold watch tv (or play a game, some family activity) together, and Gold is the one who ends up getting sleepy Bae snuggles when it's past bedtime. 2) Bae talks to Gold about what he remembers about Milah and Killian.

accio-firewhiskey said:

Bae wants know about his birth mother

"It's not too late to cancel," Belle insisted for probably the third time since Gold had arrived. "Really, it's not a big deal. We can just have a family night!"

"You're supposed to be at the restaurant in twenty minutes," Gold reminded her. "It is far too late to cancel."

Belle grimaced again. It was actually a little funny how clearly nervous she was about her first real date in three years. Apparently, Michael Tillman hadn't wasted any time between learning that Belle may be able to acquire free childcare and asking her out. Gold thought he should probably be jealous that the mother of his son (who, he really had to remember, he had kissed once) was going out on a date. However, all he managed to be was thrilled that he was going to spend the entire evening alone with Bae even if it was at his mother's house.

"Mom, it'll be fine," Bae said in what Gold was beginning to recognize as his 'grown-up' voice. "You like Mr. Tillman, and I've been alone with Dad before!"

She whimpered and glanced back and forth between them nervously.

"You look lovely," Gold offered with a shrug. "It'd be a shame to waste it on the likes of us, right Bae?"

Bailey smiled up at his father and then back to his mother, who was glaring as best she could at both of them.

"Alright, you guys win," she replied. "I'll be home probably around ten. Have a good time you two."

Gold almost laughed at how surly she sounded at the prospect of going out for dinner with a nice man whom she got along with. He wondered (although not for the first time) if perhaps Bae hadn't just provided a convenient excuse for her lackluster social life rather than being the cause of it.

"Have a nice night!" he called after her as she stalked to her car.

Once she was out of the driveway and down the street, Bae turned to face him.

"I thought she'd never leave," the boy sighed wearily.

"Well, she did," Gold ruffled his son's hair. "Now, how should we celebrate boy's night?"

Gold was forced to concede that Belle had been right on insisting that he watch Bae at her house and not his. Even though Bae now had a bedroom at his house (and an incredibly well decorated one at that), Belle's was still more properly set up for entertaining a child for long periods of time. A very patient Bae had already taught his father how to play Mario Kart (poorly) and they were now taking an ice cream break before the movie marathon. Gold was, apparently, in dire need of watching the Avengers movies. He doubted they'd get more than one or two in before Bae fell asleep, but liked the idea of having plans for the future.

"Hey Dad?" Bae said suddenly and Gold tried to ignore the way his heart jumped every time he heard the word dad pass his son's lips.

"Yeah?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," Gold said, setting down his spoon to give Bae his complete focus.

"What was my birth mom like?"

Of all the questions Bae could have asked, this was the last one Gold had anticipated.

"Why do you ask, son?" he managed to force out around the lump that had spontaneously formed in his throat.

Bae shrugged, stirring the chocolate sauce into his remaining ice cream.

"I don't really remember her that much, and mom doesn't like to talk about it. But...you knew her before. I was just wondering..."

"Wondering what?"

"Why she didn't want me."

"Oh, Bae," Gold moved around the table to put his arm around his son. "It wasn't about wanting you."

Bae nodded, obviously close to tears and not willing to let his father see. Gold decided to take a different tack.

"What do you remember about her?" he asked.

"Not a lot. I remember she was pretty, but she acted weird when I was there. I remember Killian more than her."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, he was always home with me. My birth mom went out a lot."

"Your birth mom..." Gold was searching for words to tell his son about Milah without hurting him worse, but also without giving him the desire to know her again. "She was very sick, son."

Bae nodded and looked up at him hopefully.

"She made some bad choices in her life," he continued. "By the time you came along, I think things had gotten out of control. She and Killian brought out the worst parts of each other and you got caught in the middle of that."

"I wish I knew what she looked like," Bae was doing little more than whispering now. "I used to, but now..."

"Now what?"

"Now whenever I try to imagine what she looked like, I just remember Mom."

"Well, that's understandable." Gold said slowly. "Honestly, your mom and your birth mom have similar coloring. Your mom's hair is a little lighter and her eyes are bluer, but they look similar. And your birth mom was a lot taller."

Bae smiled a little and tucked himself under Gold's arm.

"If you'd like, I could probably dig out some old pictures of her," Gold said. "Next time you come over I'll show you some."

"I'd like that," Bae said finally. "But don't tell Mom, she doesn't like talking about my birth mom and Killian."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"I think your mom is just worried it'll upset you to talk about it," Gold explained. "I know you don't remember much, but she knew a lot of things about them that you didn't."

Bae seemed to accept this, and Gold wondered how much of his past Bae was aware of. The boy was clearly troubled, but Gold didn't want to push too much or ask for anything he wasn't comfortable revealing. He made a mental note to mention this to Belle later, she'd mentioned that Bae had been in therapy to help with his separation anxiety before. Maybe he should start that again.

"So I think it's time for us to get started with Thor, yeah?" Gold finally said.

Bae cheered up at the mention of the Norse god and retreated to the living room to set up the DVD player, leaving his father to clean up the now melted ice cream and put a bag of popcorn in the microwave.

"Hey guys, I'm home!" Belle called out as she walked in the door. She was promptly shushed by the father and son seated on the sofa staring at her television. "It's nice to see you guys, too."

Bae was completely absorbed in the adventures of Captain America, but Gold at least had the good grace to look a little embarrassed and offer her a smile.

"So how was your date?" he asked as Belle kicked her shoes off and came around to sit on the other side of Bae.

"It was fine," she said with a shrug. "How was boy's night?"

"Apparently," Gold said over Bae's indignant shushing, "Bucky Barnes looks a lot like one of your neighbors."

"He really does," Belle agreed. "His daughter goes to Bae's school. Honestly, it took me by surprise the first time I saw him."

Bae shushed again and Belle finally settled in to watch the film with them, stealing popcorn out of a bowl in Bae's lap.

It wasn't overly surprising when Bae fell asleep before Bucky's tragic demise, but what was surprising was that he had curled up burrowed under his father's arm. Belle couldn't help but smile uncontrollably at the incredulous look on Gold's face as he stared at the child pressed against his side.

"So I take it you two had a good night?" she finally asked him. She'd been a little distracted all night worrying about them even though she knew that Bae was safe with his father.

"Yeah," he replied. "I'm sorry your date didn't go well."

"Who said it didn't go well?"

"If it went well, you wouldn't have come home at a quarter to ten," he pointed out.

"Good point," she sighed. "I don't know why I said yes to him," she admitted. "I think it was just because we should get along so well."

"How so?"

"I've known him for a few years, Bae likes him, he's got kids around the same age..." she replied with a shrug. "And he's been asking for awhile and there wasn't a reason to say no anymore."

"Ah," he looked back at the screen before elaborating. "He seemed like the kind of man you should be dating?"

"Exactly. I just don't think that's good enough, you know? I shouldn't be out at dinner with a man and be wishing I was at home watching Iron Man for the twelfth time with my son and his father."

"In Michael's defense, it was a good movie."

She threw a piece of popcorn at him and was rewarded with a smile.

"Look at who's a superhero fan now," she teased. "Before long I'll have you taking him to all the premieres."

"He's already gotten me to agree to it so don't bother."

"He's pretty good at that."

"He asked about Milah, by the way," his voice had taken on a serious quality now, a far cry from their earlier banter. "I thought you should know."

"Yeah? What did he want to know?"

"He doesn't remember what she looks like, and he was wondering why she didn't want him."

"Oh," her heart broke for her son and she had to fight the sudden urge to wake him up and reassure him that he had always, always been wanted. "What did you tell him?"

"I said I'd show him pictures of her if he wanted to see them, and that she was in a bad place when he was born."

"That's good," she nodded reassuringly. Nobody had ever warned her it would be this hard, or if they had she hadn't believed them. "Maybe it's time he went back to see Dr. Hopper, it has been a lot to adjust to the last couple months."

"Maybe," he agreed, pulling Bae a little closer. "I can help pay for it, if you'd like."

"We'll see," she said. She knew he liked paying for Bae because it made him feel more a part of his life, but she was still a little uncomfortable taking his money.

Belle sighed again, leaning over Bae. She had to put her head half on Arthur's shoulder to lean against her son, but he didn't seem to mind overmuch. It was nice for just that moment to pretend to be a real family where these questions of biology and finance never arose and everyone knew exactly where they stood with each other.

If only.