Work Text:
Being in the middle of a particularly fiddly stage of clock repair, Rumpel really didn’t want to break off and answer his ringing phone, but the buzzing was very persistent and annoying, with the kind of urgency that demanded he pay attention to it, and leaning over, he saw that it was Belle calling. He really shouldn’t leave her hanging, especially as the phone had been ringing almost to the end of its ring-time and therefore whatever she wanted to talk to him about, she really wanted to talk to him about.
He carefully put down the tweezers holding the tiny cog that he had been manoeuvring into place and grabbed the phone, shoving it under his ear so that he could keep working and not lose his place at this most crucial moment.
“Hello, sweetheart. What’s up?”
“It’s a disaster!”
Rumpel paused before he could put the cog in place. Belle did not sound particularly upset, but she did sound very stressed, as if she was at the end of her rope and calling Rumpel had been a last resort after all her other avenues had failed.
“What’s a disaster?”
“Santa has a broken ankle!”
For a long moment, Rumpel really couldn’t think of a suitable reply to this statement, because, being as absorbed in his work as he was, he had no idea what Belle was talking about. Santa didn’t exist, for starters, and it was still a couple of weeks before Christmas.
“Pardon?”
“Leroy! He had an accident on his boat yesterday and it turns out that he’s broken his ankle! There’s no way he’ll be able to be Santa at the library Christmas party this year!”
That made a lot more sense than the actual Santa having broken his ankle, and Rumpel pushed his chair back from his workbench, reasoning that he wasn’t going to be able to concentrate on the clock and the phone call at the same time, and the clock would still be there later, but Belle needed help right now.
Leroy had played Santa Claus at the library’s annual Christmas party for the last three years now, and despite his gruff demeanour in everyday life, he did enjoy playing the part for the children, and he had always been happy to help out Belle in whatever way she needed. Now, he was incapacitated and would not be able to perform the role - and the Christmas party was just a few short hours away. He knew that Belle really did not want to let the children down; meeting Santa Claus and giving him the Christmas lists that they would have spent the afternoon writing and decorating in the children’s library under Belle’s watchful eye was always the highlight of the celebration.
“I don’t know what to do, Rumpel, I can’t cancel the party, but I can’t tell the kids that Santa’s not going to be here this year. It’s way too late to get anyone else involved; I don’t know who we’d get anyway.”
Rumpel looked at the clock, accepted that it was not going to get put back together again today, and began to peel off his latex gloves.
“Just hang on, Belle,” he said. “I’m on my way, and we’ll think of something. Christmas doesn’t have to be cancelled just yet.”
“Thank you, Rumpel. You’re a lifesaver. What would I do without you?”
Rumpel didn’t reply; they just exchanged goodbyes and he hung up. He didn’t have any kind of a plan for what was going to happen once he got to the library, but he was damned if he wasn’t going to help Belle out when she needed his support the most.
X
The library was in a state of controlled chaos when Rumpel arrived there, but that was par for the course considering the time of day, with the guests only a few minutes away from arriving. It was always like this, and no matter what was going on, Belle always managed to pull everything together at the last minute, and the first party-goers to enter the library were always greeted with a winter wonderland of treats, sweets, party games and craft activities. Today though, Rumpel wasn’t quite as convinced that Belle could pull it off in time, and to that end he began to help her setting up the craft tables in the children’s corner without a word.
“Oh Rumpel,” she said when she saw him stacking glue sticks. “Thank the stars you’ve arrived. I’ve been going spare. What am I going to do?” She waved her hands in the direction of the Christmas tree with Santa’s chair and sack sitting beside it. She had chosen gifts for each of the children herself, something catered to them individually, but she never took any credit for the perfect presents that she gave out. That always went to Santa Claus, never to his elf.
She was already wearing her elf outfit, a bright green velvet dress that swirled around her knees when she moved, and bright candy striped tights, the whole look completed with boots with jingle bells that tinkled when she walked.
“Well, how crucial is Santa to the entire process? I’m sure that you could give the gifts out yourself. You could even tell them that he broke his ankle, I don’t think any of them would put two and two together with Leroy.”
Belle just gave him a look. “Rumpel, the children are expecting to be able to meet Santa. It’s on the posters and everything! They’re going to be so disappointed when they get here. And think of Gideon, he was so excited about it last year and I don’t want to let him down now.”
Rumpel had to concede that point. Gideon would be one of the guests at the party and he knew how much his son loved Christmas. It would be a blow indeed if he did not get to meet Santa this year.
A thought struck him, and he didn’t know why he hadn’t thought of it before.
“Christmas is saved,” he said. “Don’t worry. Santa will be arriving on time, and all presents will be distributed on schedule.”
Belle’s eyes lit up. “Great! So what’s the plan?”
“I need to go and see Leroy. He’s got something I need to borrow.”
X
Gideon Gold loved Christmas. It was by far his favourite time of the year, much better than Halloween was. There was more candy at Halloween, but it was only ever just candy. At a proud four years old, Gideon knew that Santa Claus brought way more interesting things than just candy. Last year at the library party, Santa had brought him a colouring book full of pictures of animals and some crayons. This year he had brought some dinosaurs. Gideon had discovered dinosaurs this year and he had decided that he was going to be a dinosaur hunter when he grew up, so he was very pleased that Santa Claus had brought him some dinosaurs so that he could practice.
There was something different about Santa this year, but Gideon couldn’t quite put his finger on what it was. He’d overheard Mama talking to one of the other parents saying that Santa had broken his ankle, so maybe that was the problem.
It was almost time to leave the library. Most of the other children had all gone home and there were only a few families left chatting in the entrance. Mama had told him to stay with Neal Nolan and his mama until she came to fetch him, but Neal was busy playing with his new cars and his mama was busy talking to Philip’s mama, so Gideon decided to go in search of his own mama. She was taking a long time.
He wandered around the back of the issue desk. No-one apart from Mama was supposed to go round here, but he knew that he was allowed if he was looking for Mama. She was probably in her office. The door was slightly ajar, and Gideon popped his head around.
His eyes widened at what he saw. Mama and Santa Claus were standing in the middle of the office, and they were kissing! Papa was the only one Mama was allowed to kiss! Papa and Mama had been kissing a lot recently, as Mama had hung up mistletoe all over the house and she said that it was traditional for grown-ups to kiss underneath it.
There was no mistletoe in Mama’s office though. Just Mama and Santa Claus.
Gideon was shocked. He thought about saying something, but then he remembered that he was supposed to have stayed out the front with Neal, so he would have to pretend that he hadn’t seen anything. He backed away, and wondered what he should do now. He still hadn’t reached a conclusion when Mama came out of the office.
“Hey Gid, what are you doing back here? Come on, it’s time to go home. Don’t forget your dinosaurs.”
Gideon grabbed the tube of plastic dinosaurs and held on tightly to Mama’s hand as they walked back to the car. He decided that the best thing to do would be to tell Papa. Maybe Mama was allowed to kiss Santa Claus because he brought all the presents.
“Are you all right, Gideon? You’re awfully quiet. Normally you’re so bouncy after Santa’s visit.”
Gideon nodded. “I’m ok.”
Yes. Papa would know what to do.
X
“Papa?”
“Yes, Gideon?”
Rumpelstiltskin was in the kitchen doing the dishes from dinner. He had left Belle in the living room, asleep on the sofa. She’d dropped off almost immediately after they’d finished eating - in front of the TV as a treat, since it was the party day and they had all had a lot of rushing around to do - and since she’d been so stressed throughout the day, he had not wanted to wake her. Gideon had been unusually quiet ever since the party, and Rumpel wondered if he was coming down with a cold or flu from one of the other kids at the library. It was certainly the season for it, but it would be a shame if he was sick over Christmas time when he should be enjoying himself.
Gideon tugged on his father’s sleeve to get him to crouch down to a level where he could whisper in his ear.
“I saw Mama kissing Santa Claus.”
So that was the reason that he had been so solemn. When Rumpel had taken on the role from Leroy at the last minute, not wanting Belle to have to do the party without a Santa Claus, he had not thought about the fact that Gideon had not put two and two together and realised that it was his papa who was playing Santa Claus this year. To Gideon, Santa Claus was still a completely separate magical entity who lived at the North pole and drove a sleigh and reindeer. He really didn’t want to shatter Gideon’s illusions just yet, but he had no idea how he was going to do so. He was having enough trouble not bursting out laughing as it was, and couldn’t help a small smile.
“It’s all right, Gideon,” he said. “Mama can kiss Santa Claus. I think it was her way of saying thank you for doing such a good job of handing out presents at the party this year. She only kisses people who are very special. You and me and Santa.”
Gideon nodded, seeming to be a lot happier with that explanation. Rumpel wondered if he had now opened up an entirely new can of worms, but hopefully they’d be able to cross that bridge if and when they came to it. He was still young enough that anything he said was done so in complete innocence, and hopefully everyone who heard it would take it that way too.
“Come on, Gideon. Let’s get you into bed. The quicker you go to sleep, the quicker Christmas will come and Santa will bring the rest of the presents.”
Now that Gideon had perked up, his usual chatty self returned and it took slightly longer to get him into bed than Rumpel had anticipated, but after a couple of bedtime stories (complete with different voices for all the characters, including his more impish high-pitched tones for the wizard), he was finally dropping off as Belle came in. Gideon gave her a sleepy smile as she came over to kiss him goodnight, and Rumpel knew that all was going to be well. They left his room together, and he pulled Belle close into his side once the door was closed.
“You, Mrs Gold, have been busted,” he whispered in her ear. She gave him a look that was utterly confused and still half-asleep, and Rumpel waited until they were downstairs and ensconced on the sofa again before elaborating. “Gideon saw us kissing in the office earlier, before I’d taken the Santa costume off.”
Belle looked shocked for a moment, then burst into a fit of the giggles, pressing her hands over her mouth to try and muffle the noise.
“Oh, poor Gideon. No wonder he was so subdued after the party. I thought that something was wrong. I can only imagine what he must have thought. Were you able to set him straight?”
Rumpel nodded. “I think that I managed to handle the situation. He was back to his normal self by the time I was putting him to bed. Maybe next time I ought to take off the beard and hat before letting you plant one on me.”
They both laughed about the predicament for a while, and then Belle leaned into Rumpel’s side, her voice a low, husky purr.
“So, Santa… I’ve been a bad, bad girl this year. What have you got for a penitent girl on the naughty list?”
Rumpel answered her question with a passionate kiss. Perhaps he might have to take over the Leroy’s role on a more permanent basis...