Anonymous said:
Adoption verse remix. The moment when Gold realizes a few phone calls aren't going to cut it.

anonymousnerdgirl said:
Adoption!remix: Prior to taking custody or even properly finding out about Bae, Gold pays a visit to Milah. His insurance was billed for her hospital visit and delivery. The results of his investigation shock him.

Some quick notes: Everything that happened backstory wise in this 'verse applies to the other one and vice versa. So yeah, Milah gave Bae up because she was on drugs in BOTH stories and Belle's dad died right before she got Bae in both stories.

Belle French was surprisingly useful. Gold had found himself calling her every night for the last week. At first, it had just been for advice on Bailey – it turned out that babies were a lot harder than one might think, and books didn't always work because babies were all different. As a result, he'd ended up spending a lot more time calling to ask her questions than he'd thought he would. And then he'd spent a lot of time calling because he liked her company. She was surprisingly intelligent, and warm, and funny. He liked her. Oh, not like that – she wasn't even twenty-five yet, and he was in his late thirties with a son and a girlfriend. But still, it was nice to have someone who cared that Bailey wasn't quite sleeping through the night yet and the books said he should be.

So he invited her to dinner. Not as a date or anything, but she missed Bailey and he kind of wanted to see how she fed him because he wasn't sure he was doing it right. It seemed like there was a lot of spit-up. It wasn't even a fancy restaurant – those didn't really allow children – but she agreed to meet him and Bailey at a chain place that he was sure would be full of screaming children (including his own, which was a strange thought).

He hadn't seen her in person since he'd come to get his son, and he'd been right that she was pretty. On a full night's sleep, a recent shower, and a smile on her face she was beautiful. It actually took a few minutes for him to recognize her as the red eyed girl he'd been expecting.

"Mr. Gold," she said cheerfully, shaking his hand and sitting down. "Thanks for inviting me."

"No, no," he said, hating how dumbstruck he was at the sight of her. "I'm glad you came."

"Hi Bae..." she cooed, scooping the baby up and settling him on her lap facing her and holding him up. "Are you living with your daddy now?"

She was fascinating when she spoke to him. Her entire face lit up as she jiggled the baby. More interestingly, though, Bailey seemed happier to see her than he had been all day. He knew her voice, and as she fussed and sang and smiled and Bailey was giggling and reaching out for her hair and necklace. It was also a little relaxing to not be holding him for a few minutes. He hadn't quite realized how much he'd missed eating without little hands grabbing for his food.

"So how have you guys been doing?" she said, holding Bae to sit against her as she jiggled him on her knee.

"It's been a little rough," he admitted. "I'm still adjusting to his schedule."

"Oh, yeah he's definitely set in his ways," she replied, turning her attention to Bailey again. "Aren't you, Precious?"

Bailey answered by tangling chubby fingers in her long brown hair and tugging. She barely flinched, holding his wrist and unwinding him expertly.

"How have you been?" Gold asked, feeling unsettled. She was too fluent with his son, and he wasn't sure why that put him on edge. It was something special to see, and he almost felt like an interloper.

"Um, it's been an adjustment," she replied as she kissed Bae's hands. "I know I only had him for three months, but..." She trailed off sadly, before shaking her head and plastering a smile back on her face. "I'm getting a lot more work done, now, though."

"Really?" He was going to pretend he hadn't noticed her mood change. "What do you do?"

"Oh, I own a flower shop. Game of Thorns, on Main."

"Yes, I've seen it," he replied. "I own the pawn shop down the road, actually."

"Really? You're that Mr. Gold?"

"I see my reputation precedes me. I'm thinking of selling, though," he admitted. "Spend more time with Bailey."

She nodded.

"That would be great for both of you," she said. "I'd wanted to do the same, but I couldn't really afford it."

"So if you don't mind me asking," he asked, changing the subject to something a little more neutral. "How did you end up with a flower shop?"

"It was my father's," she replied, and her smile faltered again. "He died a few months ago. Just a little before I got Bae. The house was his, too."

He pretended not to notice as she swiped the tears from under her eyes and focused her attention on Bailey again. So much for a neutral topic.

Thankfully, the waitress arrived to take their orders and by the time she'd brought his ice water and Belle's ice tea, she'd returned to her earlier good cheer as she played with the baby. How long after her father died had she gotten Bailey? Did she have anyone else in her life? Oh, he was about to make a stupid decision.

"Miss French, I have something I need to ask," he blurted out before he could lose his nerve. "I don't actually have any family and I don't really have that many friends. If I were to need someone to watch him at some point...would you be interested?"

"Yeah," she said with a smile lighting up her pretty blue eyes. "I'd love to."

"Excellent. That's really, really excellent," and my wasn't he feeling articulate today?

They fell into an awkward silence again as he watched her with the baby some more. He really shouldn't be enjoying this as much as he was. The waitress finally arrived bearing food, and Belle dodged baby hands with aplomb as she ate her fries and her cheeseburger.

"Can I ask you kind of a personal question?" she finally said and he nodded in assent. "How did Bae end up with me?"

Well, that was a fair question. Uncomfortable, but fair.

"His mother," he finally said. "She gave him up."

"Why?"

"I don't honestly know," he admitted. "When we first met, we were happy. For a little while, at least. The last few years...I don't know, she was just so unhappy and then she met someone else and got involved in some things she shouldn't have. I think giving him up was one of the last lucid things she did."

It was an abridged version of the truth, and she had been holding Bae just a little tighter the whole time he told it, kissing his baby curls sweetly. It tugged his at heart, because she looked enough like Milah that Bailey could be hers, but instead his mother was drug addict who had lied about the father of her baby and then left him with strangers.

Milah had left his home as her billing address, and that was how he found out she'd given birth. He and the baby had shared the same blood type, and when he received the doctor's file and saw that the boy had dark eyes that had been the clincher. It took him another few weeks to track Milah down and get her admit that it was his, but by then Bailey was in the system. It still took another week and a paternity test to get to the day he had arrived on Belle French's doorstep with a social worker, but it had been worth it to see his son for the first time.

He wasn't sure he'd ever see anything more beautiful in his entire life than that first view of chocolate brown eyes and fuzzy dark curls. His son was so beautiful it hurt him sometimes.

"I've missed him," Belle said softly. "It's hard to imagine just giving him away."

"It's hard for me, too."

"I'm glad he'll be taken care of, though," she came back with. "I can tell you're a great dad. He's lucky to have you."

"You've been a big help," he replied. "I didn't exactly have time to do a lot of reading up on babies and those books are damn liars."

She giggled at that.

"You wouldn't believe the learning curve when I first got him. He was a month old, and he was colicky. I thought for sure I'd either die or go completely insane."

She had a smile on his face, but he couldn't imagine the trouble she must have had with an infant and no help at all. He was doing alright, but he'd been able to call her to answer his questions. Trying to do it alone must have been so, so scary.

His thoughts were interrupted by Bailey suddenly becoming fussy. Gold instantly was on edge, preparing to take his baby and check for whatever might possibly be wrong with him.

"Oh shoot," Belle said. "Do you have a bottle?"

"Yes!" he said quickly, digging through the bag he'd taken to carrying with him to pull out a bottle and the formula, preparing it quickly and reaching to take Bae. Of course he was hungry, it was lunch time!

"I don't mind feeding him," Belle replied. "If you want to keep eating."

He had no idea why he nodded, handing it over to her. She smiled as she took it, one arm holding the baby around his waist and the other holding a bottle for him.

"You're not going to be able to finish your burger," he said weakly.

"I've had burgers before," she replied with a shrug. "This is better."

That's when he realized he might be in over his head.