tinuviel-undomiel said:

Adopted Son verse!: Belle and Bae always have a picnic on the first day of summer and this time Gold gets to go with them.

Belle had always had a soft spot for solstices and equinoxes. She really liked celestial events in general, but the fact that it was the longest day of the year was particularly special. She and Bae had a family tradition of going on a picnic in the local park, and this year Bae's father would be joining them as well.

Gold prepared for this the way he seemed to prepare for everything – by expecting literally anything to happen. Belle and Bae brought a basket and a blanket; Gold arrived with an umbrella, another blanket, bug spray, sunscreen, a first aid kit, and a bottle of wine in a satchel slung over his shoulder (which, Belle had to admit, she was eternally grateful for as he always brought excellent wine).

"Are we expecting a Biblical plague?" she teased him when she saw his collection of paraphernalia. "A swarm of insects? Maybe some light boils?"

"You'll be thanking me if it starts to rain," he reminded her. "Or if mosquitoes hit."

"It's a picnic," she reminded him. "The outdoors can occasionally happen. Anyway, it's a beautiful day out."

He conceded the point, trailing her and Bae on their way to their usual spot near the duck pond. Once they were there, Bae left his mother and father to set up while he ran off to kick around the soccer ball he'd brought with him.

"He plays football, too?" Arthur asked her curiously as he held one end of the blanket for her.

"He plays everything a little bit," Belle replied. "Baseball, basketball, soccer, swimming...if there's a team for it, he will sign up."

"Is he good at it?"

She could hardly keep the grin down at his barely concealed interest.

"Did you play when you were younger, then?" she said as nonchalantly as possible.

"A little," he admitted sheepishly. "I was quite good, actually, before I tore the cartilage in my knee anyway."

"Well, he's my son, so I have to enjoy watching him," she replied. "But between you and me, the ten-to-eleven-year-old group is not generally made up of future professionals."

He nodded, but she could see he was scarcely listening to her. Instead, he was totally focused on his son attempting to kick a ball into the air and bounce it off his head. How very like a father – Belle had sudden visions of the soccer camps and training sessions that were in her son's future. She was going to need a lot more wine to get through that.

It was killing him to watch and not be able to participate, she could tell. She'd never really put much thought into his leg even though in the past he'd expressed discontent with the idea of not being able to be an athletic father, she'd just assumed it was about getting to know Bae and that the superhero movie idea had solved the problem and moved on. To know that he had been an athlete in his life before them and that it had been taken away from him like that made her heart ache for him. It must be so hard to have a son who enjoyed everything he'd loved and yet not be able to share it with him.

Belle plopped down onto the blanket, smoothing out the corners and pretending not to notice the careful way Arthur had to lower himself down to the blanket to sit next to her.

"So," she decided to indulge him. "Tell me more about this secret career as a footballer of yours."

He fixed her with a wicked grin.

"It was hardly a career, dearie," he winked. "I did some semi-pro though, so I'm not sure how that counts."

"Were you very good?"

"I went on some try-outs," he said with a shrug. "But no pro team in Scotland would have me. I probably should have come to America sooner, maybe I'd have had a shot here."

He reclined on the blanket, cradling his head in his hands and staring wistfully at the clouds in the sky.

"Do you miss it?" She couldn't help but ask. She should change the subject, get him talking about something cheerful, but she wanted to know him. Not just the parts of himself that he presented to the world, but the parts he hid as well. They were becoming great friends, and this was a part of friendship.

"Not as much as I thought I would," he admitted after a moment. "Immediately after I was hurt I thought my life was over, of course. But I found new things to fill my time like uni and marriage and my shop. And now I have my son."

"That's a good way to look at it," she replied, laying down next to him on the blanket, her head resting in the crook of her elbow. "I always envied people who had something like that they loved. I never really had that one thing that I was passionate about until Bae came around. I sometimes wonder if I missed out."

He glanced at her.

"For what it's worth, you are an excellent mother."

"Thank you," she replied sincerely. "I just...I feel like there should be more to me than parenting and running a flower shop, you know?"

"Well, what would you have done if you hadn't done that?"

She thought for a moment.

"I'd have finished my masters in library science, maybe gone to work in a university library. I like research."

"That's something."

"It's not really a hobby, though," she replied. "You can't really do research for fun."

"I suppose not," he said with a smile. "Why don't you take some night classes, then? See if anything strikes your fancy?"

It was on the tip of her tongue to dismiss his idea, but really, why should she? She worked long hours, but she had an assistant manager and her hours were flexible when she needed them to be – one night a week wouldn't be particularly onerous, after all. And he would gladly take Bae.

"I'll think about it," she said finally. "It would be nice to talk to other adults for a change. Not that you don't count, it's just...our lives both revolve around him. It might be nice to not be Bae's mother one night a week."

He didn't reply, simply nodding in agreement.

"I'm glad you came with us," she said as well. "It's a beautiful day, and it's much nicer to be here with company."

He looked over at her in surprise, like he'd not realized she might enjoy his conversation. Arthur was spared responding, though, as Bae chose that moment to return.

"I'm hungry," he said as he threw himself dramatically onto the grass near his mother. "Can we eat now?"

"Yes, we can eat now," she replied, pushing herself up to a seated position and digging through her basket for a package of baby wipes. "Wipe your hands off first, though."

Bae grumbled, but did as he was told. Arthur also accepted a wipe and fussily scrubbed his hands clean as Belle pulled containers of cold fried chicken and the accompanying side dishes out, setting them on the blanket and preparing the plates.

Both of her boys accepted them with thanks, though Arthur's were a bit more heartfelt than Bae's, and she thanked her lucky stars not for the first time that somehow in this big wide world she had found both of these two people to share her life with.

Belle couldn't imagine a more perfect start to summer.