#stiltskins

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Silence came over the park as the Cadillac stopped and, instead of delivering only Belle to the family party, Rumpelstiltskin stepped down and escorted his wife to the group.

Emma and her parents stared at him for a long moment, before remembering their courtesies.

Privately, Rumpelstiltskin awarded the former shepherd with the least awkward smile.

"I'm sorry we're late," Belle chirped from his side, her arm threaded through his. "We had a last minute delay."

It would have taken a second to send the annoying wolf back to her grandmother, but Belle was fond of Ruby.

"It's all right." David's grin even seemed genuine. "Glad the two of you could make it this time!"

The shepherd's armed arched in suspicious camaraderie. The pinch near his elbow reminded Rumpelstiltskin to accept the gesture.

Similar intervention from Snow diverted the effusive slap on his shoulder into an offer for a hand shake.

Rumpelstiltskin even managed not to sneer as he shook back.

"Auntie Belle!" Henry's voice cut in as he ran across the park.

"Papa. You made it!"

Bae rushed closer, a football in hand and quickly passing his son.

Rumpelstiltskin felt himself relax. He had invested a whole world into their reunion. Of course he would spend a few hours if Baelfire requested his presence.

"Are you actually wearing that?" Henry interrupted his thoughts, taking him in with youthful horror. "This is a picnic!"

The adults chuckled, some more nervously than others.

Baelfire rolled his eyes and cuffed the boy's head playfully. "Just be glad he's here this time," he said. Rumpelstiltskin blinked, unaware he would have been welcomed to previous family meetings. Belle had tried to tell him so, but Baelfire hadn't brought it up until dinner last night.

While he mulled that over, Baelfire was coming into his personal space. "Glad you could make it." He moved in in for a quick hug. Him, Rumpelstiltskin gladly embraced back. Bae stepped away, and looked down at his son with an exasperated smile. "Sorry about that, Papa. Kid's had nowhere to learn subtlety. It's a miracle people still like him."

"Hey!" the boy complained.

The adults laughed a little, before Emma tugged Henry closer to her. "Don't mind your dad," she said loudly. "He once told a police officer he had an ugly face."

"Guilty." Bae shrugged, then put a hand on his son's shoulder. "Sorry, kid. You're doomed."

Rumpelstiltskin smiled at the picture of them. He had barely dared to dream that Baelfire would forgive him one day. To be allowed to see his son become a father...

Sadly, other people broke the moment.

"Henry is right, though." David was saying, eyeing him from collar to leather shoes. "You'll get that nice suit wrinkled, Gold."

Rumpelstiltskin hid a sigh. A glance to his side was no reprieve, as Belle was giving him a knowing look.

"Fine," he grumbled. "You win."

Everyone stepped back at the sudden cloud of magic that enveloped him.

Not Belle, of course. Never her. She only nodded in approval at the result.

If her cheeks flushed a little at his choice of attire, Rumpelstiltskin was smart enough to save that knowledge for later.

"Will this do?" He directed the question to his grandson.

Bae's boy gave him a thumbs up before latching onto his wrist and tugging him along.

Rumpelstiltskin allowed the manhandling in good humor. At his side, Belle was pulled along, already asking questions about Henry's plans.

Behind the trio, Neal stared at Emma. Emma managed to shake off the unexpected reaction to Gold's change of wardrobe in time to see Neal's look of horror.

"Never ever tell me what just crossed your mind," he begged.

Emma ruthlessly forced down a blush. She hadn't expected the result of a pair of jeans on the man, all right? "I have no idea what you're talking about," she grit out, glaring Neal into forgetting the whole thing.

Neal gladly complied.

Meanwhile, David put an arm around his wife's waist. "Remember how Belle used to act so mysterious when we asked why she stayed in the Dark Castle?"

Still a bit speechless, Snow nodded.

David chuckled. "Mystery solved, eh?"

Snow nodded again.

The End

---

Their guests gone, Belle stacked the plates and started her way to the kitchen. Rumpelstiltskin followed her with the glasses they had used for the so-called family dinner, humming distractedly as he helped load up the dishwasher.

The evening had started on a tense note, as Regina still took offense at the Darling brothers' actions while under Pan's thumb. However, the men were apologetic enough to soothe even the Evil Queen's anger.

It helped that Regina could certainly understand going to extremes to protect a beloved child.

"That went well," he said when his hands were free, and immediately reached for his wife. "Thank you for convincing me to invite Bae's friends. I'd have tossed the Charmings out before dessert, I'm sure."

Belle turned sideways, giving him an incredulous look. "That was a disaster, Rumple."

Rumpelstiltskin frowned. There had been no yelling, no threats, and no magic shooting around. "What are you talking about, sweetheart?"

"Henry is sweet on Wendy."

Well, yes. Anyone with sense could see that. His grandson had inherited his subtlety from Regina - to wit, he stared at the Darling girl with hearts in his eyes and monopolized her attention.

It was rather cute.

Belle appeared not to share that opinion. "Wendy isn't interested in Henry."

Rumpelstiltskin shrugged. In their family, a little prepubescent romantic disappointment wasn't a huge problem. "He'll get over it. Or maybe he'll change her mind." He chuckled, tightening his grasp enough to land a playful kiss on her cheek. "We are men of great charisma, I'm told."

Belle rolled her eyes.

"Maybe a little too much charisma. That girl is still stuck on your son."

That was also obvious.

"For all she's been alive for two centuries, she's twelve at heart. Puppy love passes soon."

Belle still frowned. "It's still weird."

Rumpelstiltskin laughed. "My son's best friend used to be his mom's lover. And though we all pretend otherwise, Miss Swan has taken an interest on the bastard." He took a deep breath, as he usually did when the pirate came up, and returned to the subject at hand. "Wendy's little crush doesn't even register on the weird scale to Bae."

"I guess..."

He twirled them around so they were face to face, and kissed her forehead. "You married into quite the unconventional family, sweetheart. But we make it work, don't we?"

Belle smiled. "It has been weeks since anyone tried to kill the other," she agreed.

"Best of all, we don't need to have them over for another couple of months at least."

"Want the house all to ourselves, don't you?"

Rumpelstiltskin tilted her head up and smiled. "Yes, indeed." He gave a quick kiss to her lips. "I'm happy when it's just the two of us."

The End

What a crazy ride this season is! From Neverland to Oz and way deep in the past of this crazy family tree... I call this season “family’s black green sheeps” for a reason x ;)

I admire this season so much for all the family-meta it’s providing. We explore the Stiltskins and the Mills family quit explicit, but the Charmings aren’t scratched off the list. As odd and crazy the plotlines are, you really get to know these characters really well. (And, again, we’re thankful that there isn’t thanksgiving in their land, because that dinner just got even messier.)

I love that in the Stiltskin line, each son is progressively less evil too. (I mean we all know rumple’s nasty but he at least semi-desires redemption unlike his dad) the family connections are always SO important in OUAT so it’ll be interesting.

YES, it's really kinda fascinating as you go down the line, both in general and in regards to Killian, like the progress with each generation is so interesting:

Pan - Irredeemable, has no desire to be redeemed, manipulative and evil. Enemy to Killian.

Rumple - Has seriously difficulty with redemption, but at least wants it, manipulative and evil but sometimes good. Romantic rival and enemy to Killian.

Baelfire/Neal - Achieved redemption with his own death, never deliberately evil though he did bad things at times, rarely deliberately manipulative and generally for what he believes is the greater good. Romantic rival and surrogate son to Killian.

Henry - Doesn't need redemption, sometimes manipulative but always for what he believes is the greater good. Surrogate son to Killian.

It's like they go in pairs of two chronologically down the line. Pan/Rumple, Rumple/Neal, Neal/Henry. But they also made sure to establish connections between Pan/Neal and Pan/Henry as Lost Boys, and now Rumple/Henry is getting developed with Grandpa Gold, so there are more 'crosswise' links too.

And then there is the shared theme among all of them with eternal youth that also gets less and less strong the further down you go: it's literal for Pan; Rumple is immortal but only as an adult; Neal was a Lost Boy for hundreds of years but eventually grew up and rejected the chance to become young again; Henry was the only one growing up in a town of people frozen in time, and aside from the one temptation to go back to his false NYC memories, has always been an advocate of 'waking up' and growing to your true self.