{ enchanted forest }

19. { lacey }

Rumplestiltskin woke from a disturbing nightmare, his chest heaving as he tries to recover from the shocking end. They had been celebrating one of Henry's birthdays and offered the boy anything in the shop as his present. He had chosen a wand.

The boy asked him how to use it and Rumplestiltskin offered to demonstrate.. by turning the boy into glass. "The seer said the boy would be my undoing. So I have no choice. I must be his," he said before smashing the boy to tiny pieces. 

And then was when he woke.

He exhales deeply, trying to ban the images from his mind. The man drags himself out of bed and puts on a robe and slippers. It was a short distance between his room and Winter's room. 

When he walked in it smelled fresh. He didn't want to admit it out loud, but he was grateful for the care that the people of Storybrooke provided for her during his absence. They had made sure that Winter stayed cleaned and that the room was often aired out.

He approaches her bedside. When he walked through the barrier he felt a little resistance, but it quickly let him pass when realizing who was stepping through. Gold sits down on the bed, his gaze settled on the sleeping girl's face.

She looked so peaceful in her sleep, but there was something uncanny about it. Almost as if you could tell something was wrong, that she was not truly sleeping. A sleep like death, many worded it. 

He rests his hand on top of hers, seeking comfort in being near to her.

It was his daily ritual to check up on her when waking up and before going to sleep. Sometimes, when he just needed the reassurance of her safety, he would go see her in between. With Captain Hook, Cora and now the two newcomers in town he couldn't be more careful.

Especially when the pirate was considered, because his motives are always questionable.

Gold stands up from the bed and heads into the bathroom to freshen up. When done he got dressed and went downstairs to have his breakfast. He then headed to his shop when he heard joyful laughter coming from the park on the opposite side of the street.

He, very much unlike himself, decided to see who were there. The man takes a detour past the park to find his son and grandson playing with wooden swords. He didn't stand there alone for long since the Evil Queen decided to make her presence known.

"Seems like we've both been pushed to the sidelines," she remarks, her dark eyes following her son's every move. Rumplestiltskin asks briskly what she is doing there. Regina's eyes don't leave her son's as she answers him. "The real question is, what is your son doing with mine?"

Rumple starts to smirk when he realizes Regina didn't know. The temptation was too great and so he teases her, asking her if she did not receive the birth announcement. "That's Henry's father."

Regina didn't believe him, so Gold kindly offers to spell it out for her if needed. "You're Henry's grandfather," the woman asks, still in disbelief. "Guess that makes us family. He's got my eyes, don't you think," he says, knowing it would further enrage Regina. He starts to walk away, but she follows his every move. 

She accuses him of concocting this plan since he procured Henry for her so many years ago, but he ensures her he did not know. Regina claims this all can't be a coincidence, which he agrees to. Not coincidence, fate. Which, apparently, has a sense of humor.

Regina tells him that they won't accept him, none of them. Gold remarks that they will see, wanting to leave it at that, but the Evil Queen wasn't done yet. "I've already seen, Gold. I've seen your dark heart and it always wins out. You always choose darkness."