The Light in the Dark Kingdom

Delivory

The bells on the door rang and the mayor entered his shop. He came from the back and flashed her a smile, "Mayor Mills," he began, "Don't you have more important things to be doing than stopping for a chat? Helping a child with their homework, perhaps?" He asked as she strolled towards him.

"I assume you met my new friends?" She asked, referring to Eleanor and Thomas.

"Indeed, I did," he replied, leaning on his cane, "You just missed them."

"What did they ask for?" She asked him with a smirk on his face.

"The woman couldn't decide, but they agreed on a simple pot," he told her calmly.

"The cauldron?" She asked him, searching for a reaction.

"Yes," he said simply, not giving in to her dark stare, "Now, if I cannot be of any more assistance, then I am going to have to ask you to leave."

"Gladly," she said with a smile on her lips, "Don't worry, Gold, I'm sure they'll invite you to the wedding." She taunted him, smiling to herself as she exited the shop.

Later that evening, the delivery men stuffed the cauldron into the back of their truck and Mr. Gold followed behind them in his own vehicle. After unloading the cauldron onto the doorstep, Mr. Gold approached them, saying, "I can take care of things from here, thank you," the two men nodded and hurried back to their truck, driving away before he knocked on the door.

"Good afternoon," Mr. Gold sang softly as the woman answered the door.

"You brought this here yourself?" She asked him, reaching down for the handle and pulling the cauldron inside as Mr. Gold pushed it from behind, "Please come in, have a seat."

"My delivery men brought it here. I simply stayed to be sure that it got inside safely," he told her and shut the front door behind him, "Lovely home you have here," he told her, "Where is Thomas at this evening?"

"He's at his father's shop," she replied with a light huff as they moved into the small living room area, "He's been working more to save for our wedding."

Mr. Gold reached forward to shake the beautiful woman's hand, "I don't want to overstay my welcome, most people would have left me on the doorstep."

"Please, I have a pot of tea on the stove, would you like to stay?" she flashed him a genuine smile and he accepted after a short moment or searching her lost eyes, "I have heard many stories about you, Mr. Gold, but I find them hard to believe. You seem like an honorable man."

"Rumors spread quickly, dearie," he replied, taking a seat on the small couch as she escaped to the kitchen to fix a kettle of tea. He glanced around the room at the photographs that covered the walls, Eleanor and Thomas as happy as could be, stuck in the honey moon phase.

"Storybrooke just seems like the perfect place for a, soon to be, married couple," she said to him as she took a seat beside him on the sofa, "Everything is so peaceful here. It's the perfect place to raise a child."

Mr. Gold's eyes widened for a moment before turning to look at her, "Are you expecting?" He asked her with a bit of worry in his eyes.

She leaned a bit closer to him, saying, "Sadly, no," as her eyes drifted down to her stomach, his moved to look at her lips, "But I will be one day." She glanced at him, smiling, and he met her eyes, "I will be the happiest mother and wife that I can be for my family."

She exited the room, leaving Mr. Gold to sit alone in silence as she went grab the tea tray, "Thank you, again, for giving us the cauldron." She said as she began to pour the drinks.

"You deserve it more than anyone," he told her as she took a seat beside him, a smile tugging at both of their lips.

The sound of keys came from outside of the door and the knob turned quickly, Thomas barging into the house, shouting, "Darling! You won't believe what happened at my father's shop today!" The woman placed her drink on the table and ran around the couch to greet her husband, who had come home early. Mr. Gold placed his drink on the table and pushed himself onto his feet, turning to see the couple kissing in the opened doorway, "My father," the man told his wife happily, and held her waist tightly against him, "He is finally giving me the shop!" He told her excitedly and kissed her again before noticing the company in the room, "Mr. Gold," the man said in shock, letting his excitement drop slowly, "My apologies, sir."

"Don't bother," he said to the man with a rough tone, avoiding the woman's eyes, "I was just leaving."

He moved around them and through the door, "I hope you enjoy your cauldron," he met her eyes for a moment, then nodded to her husband, leaving them in their home.

"Why was he here?" The man asked after shutting the door, "You could have warned me that you had a friend over. You have heard the stories about that man! He is dangerous."

"He delivered the cauldron and I invited him to stay for tea," she told her husband as his hands rested on her hips, "Don't be jealous, darling, it's alright to act civilized towards people even if their reputation isn't the best."

"Me? Jealous?" he asked with a smirk on his lips as he took off his jacket, "I just wasn't expecting company." He tossed his jacket onto the sofa and moved his hands to pull at the hem of her shirt, "Now, how about we celebrate the good news?" He asked, kissing her as his hands pulled the shirt over her head.

"If you insist," she smiled happily, tossing her shirt onto the floor beside the sofa as her fiancé led her towards the bedroom.