Hi Lost! We don’t know each other, but I’ve only recently started following you and I just wanted to say I absolutely adore your fic and meta, and the way you always stand up for your friends and what you believe in is truly really inspiring :) I hope you have a lovely day!!
"Send this to all of the blogs you love. There is no limit of how many people you send it to because the price of making someone smile is priceless. I’m sending this to you because I adore your blog and I want you to know that I will follow you forever. Your blog is perfection and absolutely flawless. Keep up the good work, keep smiling and keep being the beautiful and amazing person you are and have a fantastic day ahead! ♥"
The first time Neal called Belle “Mom, it was to Henry. They were at the diner, waiting on Emma to finish her Tuesday shift and join them.
“So listen…Dad invited us to have dinner with him Friday.”
“Us?”
“Yeah. You, me, and Emma, with him and Mom.”
Henry paused, eyebrows furrowing. “Mom?”
“Yeah. Your mom’s invited.”
“Right, but…you said Emma, and then Mom. I thought that your mom…”
“Oh, sorry. I meant Belle. Belle will be there.”
“Oh.”
“She’s the one who invited us actually. Thought a family dinner might be a nice idea.”
Henry nodded and took a sip of his hot chocolate. “So technically, she’s your step-mother, right?”
“Yep.”
“But you like her?”
Neal glanced towards the window, then looked back to Henry. “I mean…yeah, I guess so. I haven’t known her very long.”
Neal and Belle had just started really getting to know each other in the last month. She would stop by his seat and chat every time they were both in the diner.
“She seems to have worked wonders on my dad though.”
“It’s true love,” Henry said, smiling.
“Looks like it.”
“So…”
Neal sighed. “So do you want to go?”
“Go where?”
Both boys looked up to see Emma standing at the end of the table.
“Grandpa invited us to dinner with him and Belle.”
“Us?”
“Yeah,” Neal replied. “The three of us. Friday. You in?”
She sighed, and slid into the booth beside Henry.
“Well…this will be interesting. But what the hell. Let’s do it.”
The second time Neal called her Mom was to Emma.
They were walking to Gold’s Friday night, Henry excitedly hopping ahead. The adults lagged back just enough to have a quiet conversation.
“So…”
“So.”
Neither spoke for a moment. Finally, Emma nudged him and asked, “How do you feel about this?”
“Well… he is trying. And considering how bad I felt when I thought he was dead…”
“Yeah.”
Silence. Henry glanced back before slowing down only a little. Emma smiled at him.
“And Belle?”
“We got coffee yesterday.”
“Yeah?”
Neal nodded. “It was nice. I kind of like spending time with her.”
“I take it she’s not the evil stepmom type.”
Neal chuckled. “No, she’s not. She’s…kind-hearted, may be the best word for it. Not sure what she sees in my dad, but…”
“But he loves her too. So… maybe…”
Neal raised an eyebrow, but Emma refused to meet his gaze. “Maybe what?”
“Maybe he’s not all dark? I mean, he was somebody before the magic, right? So maybe that person is still in there somewhere.”
Neal shrugged. “Maybe. Guess we’re about to find out.”
Emma stopped and gripped his arm, turning to face him.
“Neal…your dad screwed up.”
“I know.”
“You don’t have to give him another chance unless you want to.”
He inhaled deeply. “I know.”
But.”
He leaned in, his hands still stuffed in his pockets so she couldn’t see how he was gripping that swan keychain she had slid across the bar when she came back into his life.
“But?”
“But you should know that he does seem…I mean, I didn’t know him before, but based on the stories…that isn’t him. And it sounds like she wants to get to know you. Plus, she hasn’t done anything wrong.”
“I know.”
“And just because she’s not, you know, your mother…”
“I know.”
Emma nodded once and turned to follow Henry again.
“Honestly, when my mother left and it was just me and Papa… I wasn’t as upset as I thought I should have been. It had always felt like it was just the two of us really, but now he’s got Mom…”
Emma noticed the word, but she didn’t react, not to it.
“So you like her, huh?”
He grinned. “We’ve been getting coffee together. She’s been telling me these stories, and it sounds like she’s kind of amazing. You know she saved Mulan’s ass?”
“I heard!”
Neal laughed. After a second, he went on, “Plus, every time she’s mentioned my dad, he’s seemed like a different man. She brings out my old Papa. The one I could trust, you know? And…I like it. I really like having him back.”
“And her.”
“And her. She’s been really great so far.”
“Well take it from somebody who’s gone through a similar transition: having two parents who care can be nice.”
Neal nodded and, with a last smile to Emma, ran to catch up with his son.
The third time Neal did it was the first time he noticed, and it was to Belle herself.
He, Emma, and Henry got to the pink house and let Henry do the knocking. It was Rumplestiltskin who answered, a little flushed with his hair sticking up. “Bae!”
“Hey, Pops.”
Emma covered her mouth and avoided looking at his face as she felt her cheeks heat up. She didn’t want to think about what had been happening before the door opened.
“Please, come in.”
Emma nudged Henry forward and past the man.
“Hey Belle!”
“Emma! Henry! I’m so glad you’re here!”
The librarian was wearing an apron and the impossibly high pumps that people had come to recognize her in, and she grinned as she approached them. Henry returned her hug automatically, though Emma was slightly more hesitant.
“Emma, Bae, would you two like some wine?”
Emma nodded enthusiastically as Belle turned toward the counter and then back to them with two long-stemmed glasses of merlot. Emma took one and gulped it down. As Belle passed the other to Neal, she reached around to hug him too.
“I’m glad to have you here, Bae,” she told him softly.
“Well, I’m glad to be here, Mom—err, Belle. Sorry.”
Belle just smiled and pointed Henry to the pot of hot chocolate she had made for him.
---
Belle ran the hairbrush through her hair, sitting on the edge of the queen-sized bed. Rum walked in, in his pajama pants, without his shirt, and leaned down to kiss her.
“That went surprisingly well, Sweetheart.”
“I was going to say the same thing, except not ‘surprisingly.’”
He sat down next to her, his smile meeting his eyes. He shook his head. When Belle turned to face him, confused, he kissed her long and hard.
“Did you hear him call you ‘Mom?’”
She laughed and threw her arms around him. Still smiling, she kissed him again. Together, they fell sideways onto the bed.
Floof Family AU where Bae is Belle's son, not Rumple's, and so mother and son spend their days reading and going on adventures around the forest that surrounds their small but cosy cottage. Meanwhile, the shy spinner watches the happy little family from afar, wishing he had the courage to tell Belle how much he loves her - for needstogetoutmore
