Author's Note 1: Warning! While the physical descriptions of the Darlings are based on the show, the characters themselves are very OOC. I apologize for that, but I needed them to be so to help shape Neal's character into what I needed him to be as well. Wendy has also been omitted, as I felt like she WASN'T needed for the plot. I hope that doesn't upset anyone.

Also-I want to add that I have only had wonderful experiences with adoption, but again, the reason everything is done the way it is, is to further the plot that I want to happen. Again, I hope it doesn't upset anyone!

Chapter 19 Strange yet Familiar

'Hi! You must be the Darlings, Come on in!' She put on her warmest smile and showed a bit of bravery she didn't think she actually had. The family was brought into the foyer, and Belle had only a few moments to take them all in. The father looked rather stiff-older, white hairs weaved along his temples and in his facial hair, the mother on the other hand, looked to be much younger and livelier-her eyes were of the dancing variety. Her whole face smiled and she was the one who did all the talking, as soon as she walked in the door-the husband keeping his eyes forward, but saying nothing, the two younger children looking in awe at the interior of the pink Victorian (she heard whispered 'It's pink, Neal-he lives in a pink house!' Along with many giggles). Neal-for she would be able to point out the miniature version of Mr. Gold anywhere, had his head mostly down, and his hands thrown in his pocket. He, like his adopted father, said nothing.

'Thank you! Thank you! Yes, we are the Darlings, I'm Mary, this is my husband, George, our children, John and Micheal. And of course, this is Neal.' Each person had at least acknowledged her when their names were spoken, Neal only looked up for a split second and gave her a thin smile. She tried to meet it with a happy, warm one, but his face was back to the floor before he could see it.

'I'm Belle, Mr. Gold's…' Why did her title not want to come out? '...maid.' There, saying close friend was not needed here. Not that she was ashamed of what she did for Mr. Gold, but for some reason, no matter that she kept the house clean and tidy, she hadn't felt like 'just the maid' for weeks now.

All eyes, but Neal's (she really couldn't tell what his eyes were doing, though she was most interested in him), went wide at this acknowledgement. Mary played it off smoothly, George said nothing at all, but seemed to glance around the house again and bobbed his head. The children contented to whisper as if they weren't actually being heard, nudging Neal and saying how lucky he was-his birth dad must be loaded! Belle didn't know whether to giggle at their antics or scowl at their ill manners, so she did neither and told them she would lead them to the den.

'Would John, and Micheal like to watch me make lunch?' She ventured, thinking that she had never seen Mr. Gold with children-he had trouble enough making good impressions on adults. She very much wanted this to go well, and thought that the best idea would be for Neal, Mary, George, and Mr. Gold to speak as frankly as possible-preferably without whispering children wondering about how 'loaded' he might be.

Mary looked her over, contemplating the idea. 'Alright, you two go along, we will take Neal in here.'

Belle opened the door of the den, gave Mr. Gold a look that she hoped expressed encouragement and comfort-she didn't know how much he even took in, his eyes were wild with anxiousness. 'Mr. Gold, this is George and Mary Darling, and Neal, of course. I am taking the younger ones, and lunch will be ready for you in the dining room when you finish here.'

She smiled one more time, Mr. Gold's expression had tamed to his usual persona, though someone who knew him well, could see that all the anxiousness had gone to his eyes-and those eyes were only for the boy. She wanted to squeeze his hand, but thought that was probably not the role of the maid, so she left and went to the children that were already curiously looking through all the cabinets.

…

He wondered if they could see his shaking hands. He had so many years of training his face that it slipped easily (though perhaps not as quickly as he would have wanted-he could see the concern on Belle's face and knew his own was betraying his inward emotions too much) into his neutral demeanor. However, his hands shook and he could hardly take his eyes off of the boy in front of him.

Neal. He was standing right there, so very near, but his body language said that emotionally, he was so very far away. What was he supposed to do now? He had rehearsed some things, but for some reason, his mind was completely blank to what he had previously thought would be the appropriate things to say.

'This is a lovely house, Mr. Gold.' The mother was speaking. Her voice was too happy for his liking, but he was glad she brought him back to the realization that he needed to play the good host, so he might have the chance to spend more time with Neal.

'Thank you.' He smiled-it was forced, but he thought Belle would be proud of the effort. The thought of her made him relax a bit more, and he offered them the chairs that were set up specifically for them.

'This is Neal, of course, like your maid pointed out. I must say, we were quite shocked at your letter-you say you didn't know about the adoption at all?' Gold's heart rate was through the roof. It was one thing to convey such things on paper, but to speak so candidly about it, and in front of Neal, made his palms sweaty and his body shake.

'I did not.' He said simply. 'If I would have, I certainly would have reached out before now. I am grateful for a chance to meet Nea-that is, to meet you, Neal.' Ugh. He needed to stop talking like Neal wasn't even in the room. Though he felt it impossible to speak to the boy staring at the rug not lifting his eyes to even look at him. This was going to be a disaster, he just knew it.

Mrs. Darling nudged Neal, but nothing seemed to break his firm concentration on the rug.

' I hope you had a good trip here?' There. He had tried to speak to him again. Neal's face went up for a moment, Gold quickly took in every detail that he could see-he saw traces of Millie, and so much of himself in his face, that though he had been staring at a picture for over six months, it did nothing to prepare him for how much he looked exactly like what his son should look like. The connection would never be able to be denied. The poor boy had inherited his skinny, somewhat crooked nose, chocolate eyes, and stringy mop of brown hair. Only his mouth and some of his expressions told him that Millie had a hand in the making of the boy as well.

Neal shrugged. 'I guess.' Mrs. Darling looked over at him and nudged him a bit, and looked rather cross at Neal's silence. Gold had the impulse to assure her that he didn't expect much-he was a stranger, really, just a stranger he looked an awful lot like.

'Y'know.' Mrs. Darling's happy voice grated on. 'We were so happy to hear from you. When Neal's mother first set up the open adoption, we were thrilled that Neal would know his birth parents. But then we heard nothing, got one picture, but then nothing-we've come to the conclusion that she must not have been a very nice person…'

Gold didn't know if he was red from anger or embarrassment, or most likely a good combination of both. He knew the conversation would most likely be stilted or awkward or even both, but to talk so openly about the faults of Neal's birth parents in front of him seemed rather cruel. Before he retorted something that probably would have had them all fleeing in fear or disgust, Belle's face was on the scene as an angel of light looking as if she knew exactly what was going on, requesting if Neal might help her finish things up with the boys? Were they hungry? Lunch would be ready in ten minutes if they wanted to come then. He sighed with relief as Neal hesitantly followed Belle, Mrs. Darling continued to prattle about Neal as a little boy (that was more of what he wanted to hear about) and how they were glad that Neal's birth father was part of the picture-and didn't George agree, that things looked well enough to allow him to stay for the summer? they had a vacation planned, but Neal was always so quiet on those sorts of trips that surely he would rather stay here and get to know his birth father anyway).

Gold found that he didn't have to do much speaking-Mr. Darling chose not to, and Mrs. Darling only took a couple of breaths in the ten minutes leading up to lunch.

…

Belle hadn't meant to eavesdrop-only to ask if they would like drinks or anything after traveling. When she heard the personal statements that must make Neal feel only inches tall, she thought it best to rescue Neal before he got upset or Mr. Gold did something to seal his fate.

Neal had come out, his head still bent down to the floor.

'It was alright, you know-they talk like that all the time, or at least Mary does, George hardly talks at all.' He began quietly, but she caught a flash of mischievousness and laughter behind Neal's eyes, and hardly let his use of his parent's first names register. It finally did, and her curiosity peaked.

'You can tell me to mind my business, I don't mind, but you don't call your parents mom or dad?'

They had reached the dining room where John and Micheal had undone all the table setting she had put out. They were nowhere to be seen, and she prayed that they weren't completely destroying too many things. Neal looked up suddenly at Belle's question and he finally seemed less interested in the floor.

'Hard to call someone mom or dad when they remind you all the time that they aren't.' Neal sighed. Belle's heart broke and she placed her hand on his shoulder, he looked at her and shrugged. 'Oh, they don't mean it badly or anything. They are really nice people, just a little, I don't know-naive? I know that sounds funny from a teenager, but they live inside of this bubble where they think that the key to life is saying everything you are thinking without filter, or without thought towards who they might hurt. They didn't mean anything by it, they don't make me feel unwanted or anything, they are just-open-maybe too open. They don't mind me calling them by their names, because they think they are being as honest about their role in my life as possible.' She could tell that while he said it all very calmly and unbothered, there was something weaved in his words that spoke of so many unsaid things.

'Well…' She didn't really know what to say after that. 'I do know that we- that is, Mr. Gold, I mean, is very happy you are here, and I do hope you'll want to stay the summer here?'

He shrugged again, but seemed much more willing to talk once they had started. 'You think he is? I don't figure I'll have much of a choice, I guess. Mary and George will probably be only too glad to have some time as a family. The boys are much more like them.' Belle's heart broke again, but she had no idea what to say to answer him.

'Speaking of, we should probably find them before they break something. Gold is his name, right? He didn't really give me his name…anyway, looks like the things he collects are pretty pricey.'

She agreed and they went in search of his brothers before lunch time. They found them in her room and they sat looking through her things. Neal scolded them exactly how she imagined a big brother might, and they seemed to listen to him. This gave her some hope for how his childhood was. He didn't seem unhappy really, but resigned to his role in the family. If anyone could understand that feeling, she could, though she was now grateful more than ever for the beautiful years she had with her mother, when she was allowed to be a child and bask in the love that parents to dote on their children could bring.

Lunch was a chaotic affair-in fact the entire rest of the day was Belle making meals, cleaning up after said meals, guiding the guests to their rooms, pointing out the different modes of entertainment they had, and keeping Mr. Gold from scowling at everyone. He spoke very little, and stared a great deal. Mostly at Neal, but if he saw her come into a room he would spare a glance at her. She would always smile and give a look that reminded him that he should do the same. He would smirk first but normally put on something else besides a scowl for at least thirty seconds before Mary Darling would say something ridiculous which then would have the scowl back. Mary did not seem to notice, but when Mr. Gold wasn't looking, Neal seemed to, and Belle hoped that he wasn't forming unfair opinions before they got to know one another.

…

Gold was exhausted. Not only having to pretend to like people in general, but also to pretend that any part of what the day held was anything resembling normal. Neal hadn't slapped him, so that was good, he hadn't screamed at him (he supposed that could still happen) but he also hadn't talked much at all. Mrs. Darling grated on his nerves, Mr. Darling too, but mostly because he didn't try to contribute to the conversation or the reigning in ot the other two boys. Belle had done her best to keep the little ones out of things, but he knew there were at least a couple of things broken, despite her best efforts. Belle had done everything-he knew that he wouldn't have been able to have gotten through the day without her being there…

He had gone downstairs to make a cup of tea, but Belle had beaten him to it. She sat hunched over her cup, most likely breathing in the relative silence of the Victorian now that most of the occupants had gone to bed.

'It's Earl Gray, I hope that's okay.' He smiled at her and nodded.

'How are you doing, Belle? It's been quite a day.'

She smiled now. 'Yes it has.' She breathed. 'But I'm fine-I really have been wanting to ask you the same question. How are you? How are you feeling?'

He paused from making the cup and ran a hand through his hair. There were so many things he was feeling at the moment it was hard to pinpoint one. 'Like I'm in over my head. They'll let him stay-they seemed glad to do it. It makes me worried about him.'

Belle nodded her head as he sat down across her. She began telling him what Neal had told her.

'I don't think the Darlings are bad people, I just think they've gone about this all the wrong way. Mary came to help me wash dishes.' Gold cringed at her words, just thinking of the vomit of words she was subjected to. 'And she, not knowing me at all, told me all about her years of infertility, then learning about Neal, details of the adoption, then finding out she was pregnant five years later and then not even a year after that pregnant again. Neal acts like they take care of him, and Mary seemed like she likes Neal a great deal, but there was nothing maternal about the way she spoke of him. She's hardly that way with her biological children either, but really.' Belle was exasperated, Gold was livid, and mostly at himself.

'If only I would have known about him sooner, I could have…'

'Now Mr. Gold.' Belle reached out to grab his arm, he would now long for such touches in the in between time. Just the gentle touch pulled him back from all the self loathing that had been churning all day and only growing as he learned the stilted sort of love and parenting Neal had received. 'Don't blame yourself for something you could not help. Neal is here now, and will be here for the next couple of months. This is the time to show him what it is like to have a father who loves him. For you do, don't you?'

Gold was worried his voice would expose his high emotions.

'Of course, I do, ever since I knew of his existence.' He whispered out. ' I don't know how to be a father, though-I don't know what I'm doing Belle.'

She nodded, understanding, using her thumb to rub his arm comfortingly. He could not think of telling anyone else such an honest confession. Belle wouldn't judge him though-there was nothing but kind concern in her beautiful blue eyes.

'I know, but this will give you time to take it slow-get to know him, let him get to know you. You'll both figure it out.' She smiled and squeezed his arm before releasing it. He prayed she was right.

Author's Note 2: I had some extra time on my hands and a plot that was yearning to be written, so I was able to get this chapter out in record time. I can't promise the next chapter will as quick, sorry!

Anyway, did I worry you with that beginning note? lol I hope you enjoyed meeting Neal! I have a lot of things I want him to do, so I look forward to sharing that with you.
Please leave a comment telling me what you think, if you can. I love each and every one! Thank you for reading!