tinuviel-undomiel said:

Belle's Adopted Son verse, it's Father's Day and Gold realizes he knows nothing about his son so Belle shows him all of her photo albums if Bae since he was a baby.

endangeredslug said:

Adoption prompt: Belle puts together a scrapbook of Bae's childhood as a gift for Mr. Gold.

anonymousnerdgirl said:

Adoption!verse: Bae stays the night at Gold's. Belle and Gold freak out so much they spend the entire night on the phone waiting for something to go wrong- the fact that they enjoy talking to each other has absolutely nothing to do with it.

They had an arrangement about holidays. When Mother's Day had hit them just a little too early on in this tentative new co-parenting relationship for comfort, Belle and Arthur had sat down and cobbled together an agreement as to how to handle holidays. Mothers Day, Fathers Day, and birthdays would be spent at the home of the respective parent. Other holidays and Bae's birthday would be alternated by year, and the entire family would spend the day of the holiday together at the appropriate house. Gifts were only exchanged between Bae and his parents (although assisting him with selecting a present for the other parent was okay). It wasn't romantic, but it was practical and worked well enough, and Belle would have been lying if she'd pretended like it hadn't been really nice to get a surprise on Mother's Day that didn't involve a seven-year-old trying to make pancakes in the kitchen (which, granted,n had been surprising) even if it had just been a hand-painted birdhouse from the craft store and a box of chocolates.

But now, it was June. Father's Day was coming up, Bae was going to be with his father for the entire weekend, and Belle was coming dangerously close to a panic attack the closer it got to time for him to leave. Sure, Arthur Gold only lived about a fifteen minute drive away in good traffic, and sure Bae had slept over there on a few occasions already. The thing is, he'd never been away from home for more than one night at a time before, and he'd only stayed over at his father's house after a nighttime outing so Belle wouldn't have to wake up at odd hours to let them in. This was the first time Arthur would be responsible for meals and bedtimes and making sure he brushed his teeth and washed his hair.

"You know," Arthur said as Belle double and triple checked Bae's suitcase for necessities, "I do live on my own. I'm fairly certain I can handle not starving him to death for two nights."

She just glared at him and sent Bae upstairs to get his comb from where he'd left it on the bathroom sink.

"Honestly, Belle, you're worrying too much. If he forgets something I'll either drive back and get it or go buy a replacement."

"I know," she admitted with a sigh. "He's just never been away so long."

"We'll be fine," he reassured her. "And if I need anything, I have your phone number. Just try to relax and we'll see you on Sunday."

Belle was spared a reply by Bae bounding downstairs, comb in hand and a triumphant look on his face.

"Alright," she said, kissing her son on the forehead. "I'll be by Sunday for lunch to get you. Be good for your dad and if you need me, you've both got my number."

"What are you going to do while I'm gone?" Bae asked.

"Oh, you know," she teased. "Grown-up things."

The truth was, she had no special plans. If she were seeing anyone, she could have had her own sleepover, but she wasn't. Aside from the one date, Michael Tillman had gone nowhere. Not that she was disappointed about that, she'd not really been very interested in him if she were being honest with herself. Still, though, it had been a very long time since she had been interested in anyone, and she was beginning to realize that she really missed having a man in her life especially now that Bae didn't need her as much as he had before.

"Well, let's leave your mother to her grown-up things," Arthur said with a wink as he herded Bae out the door towards his car.

"I'll see you Sunday," she said one last time, receiving a nod of acknowledgment before he walked out after their son. "Call me if you have any questions!" she called after them both. Arthur waved, but otherwise seemed intensely focused on getting the boy into the car and buckled in.

And Belle was all alone.

Belle was curled up on the sofa with a bottle of wine and a romance novel when her phone buzzed with a text notification.

Question – grilled cheese okay for dinner or need vegetable?

She let out a very unladylike snort of laughter before sending off her reply.

Try tomato soup, he'll eat that. Also put tomato slices in sandwich.

A moment passed before the phone buzzed again.

Okay thanks. Thought he might be trying to pull one over on me.

She giggled before replying,

No problem, lemme know if he tries anything else.

Belle next heard the phone buzz while she was taking a bubble bath. It was close to bedtime for Bae, and she was having a hard time adjusting to not needing to do anything to put him to sleep. She practically lunged for the phone out of pure loneliness, but couldn't help but smile at the three words she saw there.

Shower before bedtime?

She could just imagine the conversation that had led to that message being sent, and quickly shot off her reply.

Yes, and say you're going to smell his hair afterward to make sure he washed it or else he'll just stand under the water and not actually use soap.

She wished she was there, she realized. She wanted to be a part of the family unit and have these arguments, too. Was this how Arthur felt all the time, or was he used to it? And which was the sadder thought?

Her phone buzzed again.

He's in the shower. Okay to call you?

She briefly thought about getting out of the tub, but decided against it. They were adults and there was no reason to cut her own bath short on what was supposed to be her day off from motherhood.

Sure.

This time, the phone rang instead of buzzing. Belle accepted the call, pressing the phone to her cheek.

"Hello?"

"Hey," she could hear the tired smile in his voice. "You did not warn me that he's a sneaky little devil."

"He'll wear you out, yeah," she replied. "Aside from the texts is everything okay?"

"Yeah, we had a short argument about whether or not bedtime meant lights out or whether he could stay up as long as he was in bed. No need to worry, I won that one."

"That's good to know," she giggled. "I'd hate to think you got outwitted by an elementary school student."

"Don't fret, I still have a few tricks up my sleeve he doesn't know. So how was your day?"

"Dull," she admitted. "I mostly read, and drank a bottle of wine. And now I'm taking a bath. It's been a long night."

"Sounds indulgent, at least."

"That's true," she conceded. "It's been nice to have some time off at least, but it's so quiet. It's just weird without anyone here."

"He's stayed over before," Arthur pointed out.

"That was different. Those times were more like a sleepover, this..."

"It is different," he agreed. "It's the first time I've ever really had to be a parent."

"How's that working out for you?"

"It's...indescribable," he sounded a little awestruck. "But then you should know. I missed ten years of his life, and I can't get that back, but at least I can have this now. Even if he keeps trying to convince me that you let him watch horror movies."

"Yeah, don't let him do that," she replied. "He will be awake all night and try to climb into your bed."

"Speaking from experience?"

"Everyone makes mistakes," she said with a slight blush. "But you'll get the hang of it eventually."

"I know, it's just a lot to learn."

"It is, but he's worth it," she replied, reclining in the tub a little. She was suddenly sleepy, she'd never noticed how calming his voice was.

"He is," he agreed. "It's just hard. I don't know any of his stories, and it's hard to parent him without that kind of base to build off of. I should go, I hear the water turning off."

"Yeah, probably a good idea."

"Call you tomorrow?"

"Definitely, it's been nice talking to you."

"You too, Belle."

She climbed out of the tub, wrapping herself in a towel and retreating to her bedroom. An idea was forming that would keep her company all of Saturday, and she was itching to start.

Saturday went much the same way, with the occasional texted question. The only difference, though, was that now she had something to amuse herself with. He called her again after Bae went to sleep that night, sounding even more tired and still pleased with himself. She did enjoy his company, even over the phone, which was a pleasant surprise. They got along very well, all things considered. She supposed she was pretty lucky, Bae's biological father could have been nearly anyone and he'd ended up being a man whose company she enjoyed. It was nice.

By Sunday, Belle was damn sure she'd made a good choice even though it technically went against their prior holiday arrangements. When she pulled into his driveway at lunchtime on Father's Day, Bae came running across the lawn to meet her.

"Hey Mom! We're cooking outside today!"

He pulled her around to the back porch where his father had a grill set up with hamburgers cooking on it.

"Well, well, well," he said with a smile at her. "Look who finally showed up!"

"I brought you a present," she said as cheerfully as she could, enjoying the look of shock that shot across his face. "I promise it doesn't bite."

"Well, now I have to buy you something for your birthday," he said smoothly.

"Don't worry, it's not really a Father's Day present, I made copies of all of my photo albums. I should have probably made some for you awhile ago."

His jaw dropped a little and she rubbed his back comfortingly.

"I figured we could all go through them later, I shouldn't be the only one who knows Bae's story."