Epilogue

Thinking he was getting too old to drive back and forth from Storybrooke to New York City, especially with the god-awful traffic, he promised himself that next time he went to visit Bae at college he was flying in. It might be a pain dealing with the crowds and TSA agents at the airport, but nothing could possibly be worse than nearly being gunned down by a ninety year old biddy who felt it was his fault she had cut him off when he got inside the city. He was sure the woman had no fear of death with as close as she was to it, and clearly she hadn't been bothered to take him right along with her. Shaking the memory away as he was now safely back in his driveway he got out of his car and stretched his back. It popped several times and he winced. Yes, he was certainly going to be flying from now on, his own control issues be damned. Bae was just going to have to deal with picking him up at the airport.

Grabbing his small bag out of the trunk, as he had only been gone three and a half days in total and hadn't needed anything bigger, he walked up to the door and unlocked it. Pushing it open he set his bag down and turned the alarm off quickly before it could wake anyone up as it was well past bedtime at this house. He'd had the security device installed nearly five years ago now, not two days after Killian and Cora had broken in. He had barely been able to stand leaving Belle and Bae alone for ten minutes after that, and Bae had gotten into a disturbing habit of compulsively checking the doors for nearly a month after the incident. That in itself was worrisome enough to have an alarm system and once it was in place he knew all of them felt much better about the house and their safety in general. At least he had been able to go to work by himself and not go into near hysterics wondering what might happen to them if he wasn't there with them at all times.

Yes, that had been an unsettling time all around and he was glad it was so well past them. It had taken him less than half a day to get out of trouble himself, thanks to both his quick thinking and good relationship with the local DA. It also helped that once word got out that he had saved his pregnant wife the whole town had gotten behind him in a rush, which was so utterly bizarre a thing that David simply threw his hands up and let the whole thing go. He rather thought the sheriff was as pleased he was off the hook as anyone else, but had to save face about it as that was his job. Regardless of Nolen's feelings about his sly escape he had returned home to a very relieved Bae, an anxious and hormonal wife, and a tidy house. He recalled being quite annoyed by that, as Belle was not supposed to be exerting herself in such a way. He had been terrified for well over a week that she might still lose the baby, although he had kept that to himself as Belle was already anxious enough. He must have hidden it well, because she had calmed quickly once things returned to normal and went about the natural urge to nest, which was so normal it had his anxiety dropping in return, although it did have her chasing him from room to room claiming he was constantly making a mess. He had the forbearance to say nothing, as he was sure that would only get him in trouble.

It also helped them all settle when Cora and Killian had promptly been thrown in prison. Mila hadn't escaped long either, not when she had been part of the whole thing, helping to set it in motion. She had been charged with conspiracy and taken care of in Scotland. He had tried to shield his son from that as much as he could, but he had handled it with amazing stoicism considering his mother had also eventually been sent to prison. His son rarely spoke of her anymore, or even alluded to her, although he had tried his best to make it clear that he was open to talking about it if he ever wanted to. Apparently Bae did not want to, and so the topic had never come up, although he suspected someday it would. For now though he decided it would be best not to worry about it, and why he was thinking about this now of all times was up in the air.

He had just gotten back from a very nice weekend with his son, who was now in his second year of college. He had been extremely proud of Bae when he had been accepted at NYU. It was an excellent school, and he knew it had been Bae's first choice on top of it. True, it was over six hours away, and he disliked the distance more than he could say, but he understood what his son wanted. He had been nothing but supportive of Bae through the whole thing, from his acceptance into the university to the move, and Belle had been sweetly understanding of his own feelings of his son leaving. He rather thought he would have been a wreck about the whole thing without her there, but she had been there and he thought over a year in he was doing much better with the change. It helped that Bae came home on all the holiday breaks and he went to visit him at least once a semester. Knowing when he would see him again was calming, and so different from his son's childhood that he found he was able to deal with it as long as he had a date in his head.

It was also amazing to him how well he was doing in New York. Bae had fallen into the metropolis as if he had been born there, loving the excitement and chaos of one of the biggest cities in the world. While he appreciated the city for what it was the idea of living there was, to him, a nightmare. Clearly, Bae had the opposite feeling and he let him enjoy his youth with no more than a small direction to be sure to keep his grades up. As he was currently flaunting a four point in finance he had little else to say to his son about his lifestyle. And honestly he was glad Bae had such an opportunity when he never had. By the time he was Bae's age he had been forced to hold down two full time jobs in order to take care of himself. Bae had no such concerns and he was glad of that, wanting his son to be happy and successful, which appeared to be exactly what was happening.

His visit had only reassured him that his son was continuing to flourish, and knowing that he would be home next month for Thanksgiving had him in a good mood. Bae was equally as happy as they had spent yesterday either out at restaurants eating, or at the grocery store so they could fill up his fridge and small pantry his tiny apartment sported. Sure his son wasn't going to starve to death, and had likely gained three pounds with the amount he ate while he was feeding him over the weekend, he left in good spirits and was now as pleased to be home as he had been to see Bae. One of the reasons for that chose that moment to blast out of the parlor in her nightgown at the sound of him arriving home. "Papa!"

He barely had time to brace himself before his four-year-old daughter slammed full force into him with all the enthusiasm in the world behind her. All he saw was a blur of brown curls, a shade or two darker than his own hair flying everywhere as she wrapped her arms around his waist. As delighted and smitten with his daughter as he always was he smiled at her happily and bent over to pick her up. She was still small enough for him to carry around without a problem, as she was a tiny thing for her age. As both he and Belle were built on the slim side he wasn't surprised by that, and knowing that Bae had also been small until he hit puberty he hadn't expected her to be anything other than petite.

"There's my little dearie." He said with total affection as he held her with one arm and she hugged his neck. He wasn't sure he had ever been so in love with another person as he was with his daughter. Or perhaps it was simply a different shade of love than he had for his son because of course Bae meant the world to him too. He thought on some level he had always known that Bae would grow and find his own life, drifting back and forth between it and him, never really leaving, but finding other things to occupy himself. He had no doubt this was why he had clung to his son so hard when he was young, because he knew eventually he would become a man and do what all men did, find his own place in this world.

His daughter was a slightly different story. He had been completely devoted to her, in every way, since the squalling newborn had been deposited in his arms. He had been sure he was prepared for it, had been thinking about the moment since Belle had started visibly showing her state, but he had been wrong about that. He had been completely overwhelmed by her, barely able to speak as emotions bowled him over. He had held his new daughter carefully as the nurses tended to Belle, who had not had an easy labor and was near to collapse. He had enough sense left to move back out of the way and stood quietly in the corner with his baby just staring down at her in wonder, amazed that this little person was now his. After several moments of stupefied wonder it occurred to him that he should calm her and began to rock her carefully, old memories of how to do this coming back to him in a rush. By the time he brought her back to Belle he was sure he was a lost cause.

Where both his children had a natural sweetness about them Ava was of a different variety entirely. Where Bae was largely happy to quietly entertain himself, and had been since he could walk, Ava was constantly getting into as much mischief as possible for a toddler. How she managed to accomplish half the chaos she did when one of them was with her at all times was really beyond him. Then of course she would get herself out of trouble using the very sweetness he so loved. Between her partiality to cuddling and her constant bright curiosity over literally everything he found it hard to become annoyed with her, let alone stay mad for more than fifteen seconds. And honestly she was never trying to get in trouble or destroy things on purpose; she was trying to understand her world and how it worked as all children wanted. His daughter simply went about it with far more gusto than most toddlers.

He was sure this was no more a phase than Bae's quiet personality was. He was also sure that as time went on, as she got older, she would be a more stable fixture in his life than his son was. He had always recognized that fathers and daughters had a unique sort of relationship that nothing else compared to, although he had no personal experience with it himself until recently. Now that he did he was sure nothing would break this bond, and while she might end up going farther off than Bae, might be twice as adventurous, and find a life of exploration that was far beyond this little town he knew that at the end of the day he would always be a permanent part of her life, and no amount of trouble or personal independence would change that. The thought warmed him all the way to his core and it only helped when her little face showed just how happy she was that he was back.

Ava smiled at him brilliantly, her pretty blue eyes sparkling with joy as she hugged him around the neck. How she managed to get her mother's eyes was still a mystery to him as both his parents had brown. He could only assume he had a recessive gene hiding somewhere in his genes that had somehow passed onto her. He was happy for it though as she looked a near carbon copy of his wife and he had yet to find anything prettier than Belle was. The only real difference was the shade of her hair, which was much closer to his than her mother's. However, it seemed to grow a little darker every year and he wondered how long it would last this shade.

"I missed you!" She told him. "You were with Bae forever!"

He smiled as he walked farther into the house with her in his arms. "Three days is forever now?" He asked with suppressed amusement.

"Yes!" She informed him adamantly.

Still smiling he kissed the side of her head affectionately. "Then I have lived a great many forever's." He informed her. "Where's mommy?"

"Upstairs." She told him. "We were reading."

"I'm sure you were." He said, unsurprised by both the activity and the location as it was unseasonably warm for October. Belle, who had been reading to their daughter since she was still in the womb, had hardly slowed down once she was born. And, much to his surprise, he had found that the reading had done more than soothe or entertain their daughter, not to mention keep her out of trouble as it was the only thing that appeared able to keep her sitting still and quiet for any length of time. By sitting in her mother's lap and listening to her reading she had somehow picked the skill up herself at such an early age that it had truly floored him. And of course, Ava had found a way to shock him senseless with it. Last month she had been sitting on his lap while he read the paper one morning, something she had been doing since she could safely be propped up against him, and thrown him for a loop. Unlike Belle he didn't read out loud to her, at least not the newspaper, and simply spent the time talking to her as he read through the paper. At first it hardly mattered what he said as all she could do was coo or fuss at him and wave her arms about, but as she started talking they started having conversations that went from him asking her nonsense questions to increasingly complex conversations.

He knew Belle found the whole thing adorably hilarious, and had from the first day he had carefully set their baby there and began this morning ritual, it was as much for his own wish to bond with Ava as to give Belle five minutes to herself to have a cup of coffee in the morning. The tradition had stuck and now that she was older she simply crawled into his lap so she could cuddle with him. He had truly thought that all she was getting out of it was attention and affection until she abruptly asked him what an 'is-land' was. When he had asked her what she was talking about she had reached out her small hand and pointed to the bottom of the page he was reading. Her finger stopped on a word in the middle of a sentence and he read it out to her before telling her how it was properly pronounced, clearing up the confusion as she did know what an island was, although he was startled beyond reason.

He hadn't even known she had learned any of her letters at daycare, let alone how to read them. When he told Belle, who had been in the kitchen at the time, she had honestly thought he was joking and sent him an amused look as she put some dishes away before she had to take their daughter to daycare so she could get to work. When he insisted that he was not at all joking and had their daughter read a small part of the paper to Belle she had blinked in shock before laughing in delight and picking Ava up to cuddle her and tell her how clever she was. That had only made his daughter's day and Belle had been having her read short children's books out loud to her since then to help her improve.

His real question was when they had been reading, because it was past her bedtime. He was sure Belle had no idea she was up, or that she was downstairs when she should be in her room. His daughter was even in her favorite nightgown with her hair down out of the silly pigtails Belle so loved to put it in. And sure enough he hadn't made it to the bottom of the staircase before she was calling for their daughter. "Ava, where did you go? You're supposed to be in bed."

"Papa's home!" She announced proudly, as if she had made him appear all on her own by sheer force of will, not at all bothered she wasn't where she was supposed to be.

Belle appeared on the top of the staircase with her hands on her hips. He could tell she was trying very hard not to laugh, which he was in no way helping her with as he was giving her a pathetic look, asking her silently not to get angry. It was adorably sweet that Ava had snuck out of bed to wait for him. "I can see that." Belle said, tapping her foot. "At least one person in this house is where they're supposed to be."

He headed up the stairs, leaving his suitcase downstairs. There was nothing in it he needed tonight and he would much rather carry Ava than it. Belle watched them with a raised eyebrow, trying not to smile, and when he was at the top of the stairs he tried to make peace, leaning in and kissing Belle's cheek in affectionate greeting. Her eyes glittered as she knew very well what he was doing.

"Hello, love."

Belle huffed in amusement. "Maybe she'll stay in bed if you tuck her in."

"I'm sure I could give it a try." He told her, moving past her to Ava's room. "What do you think, little dearie? Are you going to stay in bed this time?"

"If you read me a story." She agreed.

He chuckled and Belle called after him as he walked away. "She gets that from you. Your love of deals is clearly genetic."

He could only smirk at that as he went into his daughter's room. They had long ago turned the room Belle had once stayed in into a nursery. He'd had little choice in the matter as Belle had her heart set on it, and had a serious advantage as she had been pregnant when she told him what she intended to do. Not that he actually cared which of the two remaining rooms was made into a place for Ava, he had simply thought she would want to keep this one for herself. When he'd pointed that out she had told him it would be easier to get to her with only the single door separating them, and that there was a greater chance that any noise the baby made would be muffled so that it wouldn't wake Bae at all hours of the night he had simply let her do what she wanted. It had turned out to be a good idea. While his daughter was no worse about sleeping than any other baby, and better than Bae had been, she did wake them up on a regular basis. As far as he knew she only woke his son up a few times, which was far better than he could have reasonably hoped.

Now, four years in the room had changed a little. The crib was gone, replaced with a small bed, which was covered in a green comforter, Ava's favorite color. The blanket was rumpled up from where she had escaped it the first time and he set her back down on the bed. She promptly crawled farther onto the mattress and he pulled the comforter back up over her, wanting to be sure she was warm. She settled at once, looking at him expectantly as she pulled her favorite stuffed animal to her chest and scooted over so her head was on his leg, using him as a pillow. He had no idea why she liked that particular toy so much, it was the ugliest thing he'd ever seen, but Bae had brought it home for her last Christmas and she refused to be more than a few rooms away from it at the most since then. He had spent the last ten months trying to figure out what it even was. It was shaggy, several different shades of brown, and looked like a cross between a grizzly bear and a goat… and possibly a dog too.

He supposed at the end it was better not to ask, because the one time he had mentioned that a teddy bear would be a much prettier friend for her to carry around she had burst into tears thinking he was going to take the ugly thing away from her. Belle had sent him an exasperated look for that before calming her back down and telling her that no one was going to take her toy away, and if she wanted to take it everywhere that was perfectly fine. In way of apology for that he had come home the next day with a gold silk ribbon from the shop and tied it around the thing's neck to prove that it could be just as pretty as a teddy bear was, since Ava was convinced that was true regardless. That had made her ridiculously happy, and the ribbon had yet to leave it. Reaching over he brushed her wayward hair back gently. "What story do you want to hear?"

She pointed to her bedside table and he reached over and picked up a book he had never seen before. He could tell it was new, and if Belle splurged on anything it was books, but he couldn't fault her for that. He was also fairly impressed with how pretty this one was. It was bound in new, brown leather with gold leaf letters and a gold trimmed square around the outside of the cover. It was a large book of fairytales titled Once Upon A Time, and there was a ribbon attached to the binding to mark their place. Liking the book at once for no real reason he ran his hand over it briefly, thinking he was drawn to it simply because it seemed to look and feel the way a book of children's tales should be. He opened it to where the mark was and smiled slightly. "Cinderella?"

Ava tugged at his pants. "I want you to read the last one again. I liked that one."

He flipped back a few pages. "Snow White?"

"No the other one." She demanded. "With the boy and the man with a funny name. Rumple-skilstenkin, Rumple-sitkin-" She wrinkled her nose as she tried to pronounce the ridiculously complicated name. "Rumple-tiskowski."

He was trying very hard not to laugh at her efforts. "Rumpelstiltskin?"

"Uh huh, him." She agreed.

He raised an eyebrow thinking that a story that was about someone stealing children was a bit much this late at night, especially for his four year old daughter. "Isn't that a little too scary?"

"I want that one." She insisted, emphasizing it with another tug on his pants. "It's my favorite. Please, papa?"

He had made a strange child. "All right." He relented, deciding if she had already heard it there was little to do to erase it from her mind. He found the story with little trouble, although it was farther back than she had indicated and he wondered how many times she had made Belle read it to her if she thought it was the last one they had read in the book. As soon as he started the story she went quiet, all her attention on him, and he set one of his hands on her head comfortingly as he read her the story, although he realized a few paragraphs in that this was a very odd version of the tale. Whoever the author was clearly had quite the imagination and taken more than a few liberties with the story. He had barely made it past the part where the spinner was sneaking into a palace to get a magic dagger to save his son when he looked up to find her passed out on his leg and smiled. He was always impressed at how seriously children took sleeping, going about it as if it were their jobs.

Chuffing at the sight of her passed out cold when he looked away from the book he carefully shifted her off of him and onto her pillow. She rarely fell asleep so quickly, but it was well past her normal bedtime. Readjusting the blanket he bent over and kissed her head tenderly before getting up, turning off her bedside lamp as he went. The room went dark, save for a small nightlight in the corner, and he walked quietly out of the room and into his. He shut the door softly, wanting to keep her asleep, and spotted Belle waiting for him in one of his t-shirts, which after all this time was still her favorite thing to sleep in. "Is she asleep?" Belle asked when he came into the bedroom. She was standing by the window, looking out of it as patiently waited for him.

"Yes, and it only took half a story. She was tired."

She smiled as she shook her head, bemused. "She asked me when you were getting home every fifteen minutes since lunch time. Apparently asking her to wait until tomorrow morning to see you was too much." He walked toward her and she continued. "How's Bae?"

"Well fed." He supplied as he leaned in and kissed her gently, his arms slipping around her waist and pulling her to him in an easy and familiar embrace as he greeted her properly. "I think we bought half a grocery store." Belle laughed and he went on. "And before you ask the drive was fine."

She hummed in disbelief, having heard him ranting about New York driving on numerous occasions. "Did you have a good time?" She asked, her arms slipping up around his neck.

"I did." He agreed, adjusting her slightly as he spoke. "Bae sends his love and all but begged me to ask you to send him another care package. I think you may be the most beloved stepmother in history."

She laughed again. "It's only because I cooked my way into his heart." She told him. "I'll make one later in the week for him."

"Thank you." He said, grateful to her as much as Bae would no doubt be when he started digging into all the treats. "Next time you and Ava should come with me."

"That's a lot of car time for a four year old." She told him reasonably. "She would have gone stir crazy with the way she likes to run around until she drops."

"We should try it with her in the spring and see. I don't like leaving the two of you here alone."

She tugged at his hair. "That's never going to happen again." She said softly. "You need to stop thinking that it will. You'll drive yourself mad."

"I'd rather be mad then have that happen again." He told her, the years having done anything but wipe away or dull the memory of that horrible day. "We should try it and see. It would be good for her to visit different places and she misses Bae when he's not here. And all he does is ask about her when I go to visit."

"All right." She relented. "But you're putting together an activity bag for her before we go."

"Good." He said, satisfied with the agreement.

She smiled and leaned against him, stretching her neck up and kissing him warmly. "I missed you."

Taking the invitation at once he kissed her back and she hummed softly, a clear sign she was as interested in this as he was. Pressing her more tightly against him with one arm he rubbed his hand up her back, wanting her close. It was wonderful being missed, not to mention still having her wanting him this much after nearly seven years of marriage, even if they had only been sleeping together for five. He had difficulty now, knowing how he'd lived comfortably by himself for so long. He couldn't imagine coming home without her here, without Ava here. "I missed you too."

She kissed him again before escaping his grasp with a sassy swing of her hips. That always boded well for him, when she got that look in her eyes, and when she twisted him about with a swift movement and shoved him down onto one of the chairs he let out a grunt at the small impact, although it was a very pleased grunt. Without a word she straddled his lap and pressed her lips against his hotly as she rubbed her body against his.

More than pleased with this situation he started to run his hands over her, free to do so when he was sitting in the chair and she was sitting on him. Belle hummed as she pressed her lips against his and unbuttoned his shirt with nimble fingers. For once he wasn't wearing a tie, as it was a bit of an overkill for being in the car all day after having breakfast with Bae, and soon she had it open. Leaning her head down she kissed at his chest, her back bending to do so, and he slid his hand under her shirt so he could stroke her bare skin.

Belle sighed happily as his fingers ran over her skin and she murmured into his neck as she teased him. "Russell."

He hummed at the tone, his hands flowing up her back below the t-shirt. Belle began to rock over him slowly, rubbing herself against him, and he got hard in a hurry. She was only pleased with herself for that, for getting him excited so quickly, and raised her head and pressed her lips hotly against his. Unable to allow that to pass without a rejoinder he shifted one of his hands from her back and placed it between her legs. She let out a little pant as soon as she felt the heat of his hand and he realized she was as eager as he was. Twisting his wrist a bit he began to rub her the way she liked.

Belle whimpered softly as she put her hands on his shoulders and continued to rock against him as he wound her up. He shifted into what he thought would be a good rhythm, and had no doubt it was, but Belle was too eager to wait and let him go so she could reach down between them. He wasn't about to protest the lack of foreplay, and when she got his pants undone and pulled him out, stroking him in just the right way to have his eyes nearly rolling back, he could only let out a soft groan. She kissed him again and wiggled, shifting her shorts out of the way so he could slip inside her without her having to get up.

Far past eager he lifted his hips as he grabbed at hers, positioning her in a rush and dragging her down over him. Belle let out a low moan of approval as he sank fully into her and he sighed in agreement. For several seconds they were still, and he leaned in the few inches separating them and kissed her lovingly. Belle returned it and when they broke apart she began to rock again. He kept his hands on her hips as she moved, telling her silently what pace he wanted. His eyes were locked on her face, the fact that she was covered up making it easy to keep his attention there, and she held his gaze steadily as they moved together.

After several minutes he let go of one of her hips and cupped her face, pulling her lips back to his. Belle returned the kiss, eager and breathless, and her fast rise toward pleasure was exciting him beyond reason. While he could always get her to release it generally took him longer than five minutes, and for some reason taking her when they were both fully dressed was an amazing turn on. Or perhaps it was just that she had been so excited to see him that she didn't want to take the time to get them out of their clothes before she had him. Whatever the reason he was rapidly losing control and wanted to throw her over so he could follow. He started to lift his hips as she rocked, driving himself just a little farther inside of her, and that seemed to be all she could take.

Letting out a whimper her back arched as she ground against him, striving to hit her peak, and all at once she snapped. Relieved she had come he let himself go, clutching at her as his hips pressed up, trying to get himself as deep into her as possible as he found his release. Belle clutched at his arms, and he was happy he had his shirt on as her nails were digging into him as pleasure rocked through her. He hardly noticed though, as he was lost in his own sensations, and he groaned quietly at the feeling. Slowly, he relaxed all over as his body pulsed pleasantly and found Belle as incapacitated as he was. As she slumped against him, sated, he smiled softly, his fingers brushing over her back as they relaxed together in the aftermath. Belle smiled into his neck as she caught her breath and reached up to caress his jaw with her sweet gentleness. "You're beautiful." He told her breathlessly.

"And you're biased." She said with an indulgent smile.

"Hardly." He told her. "That's an objective fact."

She laughed and lifted her head to kiss him, although she didn't shift off of him and he remained snuggly inside her. "I'm glad you're home." She told him.

He kissed her lazily, enjoying her. "I could tell." She pushed at his shoulder as she smiled and he smirked as he got soft between her legs. "Did you have a quiet weekend?" He asked conversationally as he played with the ends of her hair.

"With your daughter?" She asked dryly, neglecting to mention her part in contributing to Ava's making at the moment.

His smirk turned into a smile. "What did she get into this time?"

"Everything." Belle informed him with easy forbearance. "I wish I could siphon off a bit of her energy."

"To be four again." He laughed.

Belle hummed as she finally shifted up enough for him to slip out of her, although she settled back in his lap at once. He adjusted their clothing and she helped. A moment later and they were both a bit more put together, although he wasn't sure why that mattered as they were bound for the bed eventually. "It's a very good age." She agreed as she adjusted her shorts one last time, his eyes all but fixated on those pretty legs of hers. "Full of exploring and cuddliness, and being potty trained. It would be nice to keep her this way forever."

He ran his hands up and down her sides. "As I recall you say that every four to six months."

"And I mean it every time." She assured him. "One day she'll be too big to carry around with me and then what will I do?"

"I'm sure you'll think of something." He told her, not wanting to think of that himself. He dreaded the day she got too old to want to follow him around all day, too old to think he and Belle and Bae were her whole world, too old to want to spend all her waking hours with them, too old to keep her youthful innocence. So he chose not to for the moment. "And where did you get that book she's obsessed with?"

"Mmmm." She responded as she bent her head down and nibbled at his neck, sending sparks of pleasure straight down his spine despite his very recent orgasm. "It came in one of your shipping orders at the shop." He didn't recall ordering a book, although remember clearly asking Belle to be sure the boxes made it inside his business as he would be away when they arrived Friday morning. He didn't trust anyone to leave them alone outside the front door all weekend regardless of the low crime rate in the little town. He had also asked her to be sure nothing had broken in the process of getting it and knew well enough she had to open everything to be sure. "I decided I wanted it. Congratulations on making a sale."

He rolled his eyes even as she nipped at his skin. "I'm not sure taking my wares constitutes a sale."

"Oh hush." She told him, unperturbed. "It's a beautiful book and one of the best things I've read in ages. It belongs here."

He wasn't about to deny her, but it was fun to tease. "Yes, the story I was asked to read was rather an interesting one."

"Did she make you read Rumpelstiltskin again?" Belle asked with a knowing smile as she shifted so she was sitting sideways on his lap and one of her arms went around his shoulders to keep herself steady.

"You mean Rumpletiskowski?" He asked dryly as he moved his arms about to accommodate her, which had her sniggering like mad. "Don't you think that's a bit dark?"

"She loves it." Belle told him. "You should have seen the look on her face the first time I read it, like she'd found something better than chocolate. She can't get enough of it now."

"How many times have you read it to her?"

"Six or seven." Belle told him. "And she's finally named her stuffed animal Spinner after it, which I have to say is an improvement on 'my stuffy'. I'd love to know what has her so enthralled with it."

"Children latch onto strange things sometimes." He reasoned. "Bae's favorite story for years was Peter Pan. I must have read it to him at least three hundred times. He had three birthday parties in a row with the theme."

"That must have been adorable." She said. "Did you dress him up?"

"Of course." Belle laughed at the confirmation. "He certainly looked the part."

"So cute." She sighed.

"It was actually." He agreed, recalling just how adorable Bae had been at five years old in his Peter Pan outfit. "I was hoping to get her into a princess outfit at some point."

"Good luck." Belle murmured. "So far she is less than impressed with the princess stories I've read her. You might be able to wrangle her into a fairy costume. She was at least interested in those, I think because they have magic."

He had never been overly impressed with fairies. He blamed all the old stories his grandmother had told him about the fae, which frankly had frightened him when he was a small boy. Although he knew that the normal fairy stories were much nicer than the ancient ones he had been told. "I suppose a wand would be motivational." He agreed.

"Mmmhmm." She agreed, and he could see she was winding down now, her expression going soft and sleepy. He had no doubt she was tired after a full day running after Ava by herself and didn't want to keep her up much longer. He was tired too after being in the car so long. However, Belle appeared much more interested in talking than going to bed. "I vote that you read her the story again tomorrow as I've already done it several times more than you."

He smiled as she spoke, simply pleased and content to be here. "Whatever you want, dearie."

"Good man." She told him as she began to tease. "I should let you trick me into marrying you again."

He smiled as he kissed her forehead. "That was a one time only offer."

"Lucky I was smart enough to take you up on it." She replied.

"I'm relatively certain I'm the lucky one." He told her sincerely.

Belle was about to say something when they both heard a small thump and the sound of small feet scampering across the ground. Belle sighed resignedly, realizing that she was going to have to put Ava to bed for at least the third time tonight, but her exasperation vanished when her daughter called to her from the other side of the door. "I had a nightmare, mommy."

Belle was off him in an instant and he got up after her, brushing his clothes down quickly. She opened the door at once and Ava immediately put her arms up in a silent entreaty to be picked up, one small hand clutching at her stuffed animal. Belle responded to her at once and scooped her up. His daughter sniffed as she held onto her and Belle cooed at her. "It's okay. Nightmares aren't real are they?"

"No." Ava agreed, her voice rattling wetly, sounding not at all convincing.

"I told you that story was too scary." He said unhelpfully.

Belle sent him a look as she turned toward their bed. "What was your nightmare about?"

"A big purple cloud eating everything."

Belle sent him a superior look over Ava's shoulder and he shook his head at both her and the absurdity of that dream. "What a rude cloud to scare you that way." Belle said as she sat down on the bed with Ava. "You know what scares away rude clouds?"

"No." Ava sniffed.

"Me." Belle said as she laid Ava down beside her and tickled at her ribs gently. Ava wiggled at the sensation and then Belle completely surprised her out of her fright by leaning down and blowing a raspberry over her stomach, which had his daughter squealing in delight.

"No, mommy!" She protested with her pretty laugh. "It tickles!"

Belle did it one more time for fun and Ava thrashed happily. Smiling at the sight, because he knew just how lucky he was to have this, he went to his dresser and got out his own nightclothes, already seeing that they were going to have company in bed tonight. Belle laughed down at her and sure enough Ava promptly kicked at the comforter and crawled under it, situating herself in the center of the bed. His wife made no protest to this, as it was rare Ava slept with them, but neither of them wanted her frightened and unable to sleep, as that would result in a cranky day tomorrow. The idea of her being scared didn't set well with him either and he left briefly to clean himself up and change before going back to bed.

He came back to find Ava snuggled under the safety of Belle's arm and he flipped the light off. Going to the bed he lay down, wondering if he was going to get any part of the blankets tonight, only to have Ava abandon Belle in favor of him. He hugged her to him and she settled, quieting almost at once. He patted her back gently and Ava hid her face in his chest, seeking comfort from the nightmare that he was more than willing to give. He murmured reassurances to her for several minutes until she dropped off, her body going limp as she lay between them. Belle shifted up on her elbow to look at her, and seeing her asleep she leaned over and kissed him warmly before laying back down. "You're very good at keeping nightmares away." She whispered with a small smile.

"Even nightmares are afraid of beasts." He teased back just as quietly.

Belle sent him a bemused smile. "Beast indeed." She replied as she shifted so her head was on her pillow properly. "I don't know why you think that's such a funny nickname." She informed him. "And you've certainly been tamed at any rate, so you may as well let it go."

He smiled, amused. "Is that so?"

She yawned before she answered, reaching her hand out so she could hold onto his, Ava sleeping between them. "I certainly turned you back into a man, although I admit Bae and Ava helped."

He couldn't argue that. "I suppose you did."

Belle smiled at him softly and squeezed his hand. "That's what you get for making me so happy."

Lifting her hand up he pulled it to his lips and kissed it softly. "A fair deal." He answered, thinking whatever happiness he had given her she had returned ten fold to him. The toddler slumbering trustingly under his arm was proof enough of that.

She gave him one last sleepy smile before closing her eyes. "Goodnight, Russell."

"Goodnight, dearie." He murmured back as he shut his own eyes. He slipped into slumber easily; his resting mind filled with spinning gold and chipped cups as cheerful laughter floated around him, filling him with joyful contentment.

Author's Note: Thanks for all the love you guys gave me for this story! I had a really fun time with it and am a bit sad to have it end. I'll be going back to Faith in Fiction soon, so keep an eye out for an update there. Cheers!