If there was one thing Gold hated, it was weddings.

To be perfectly honest, he wasn't exactly thrilled with Neal's choice of bride—Emma Nolan had been Neal's accomplice since high school, his partner in crime during every stage of rebellion. He'd rather hoped that at some point during Neal and Emma's somewhat tumultuous relationship, his son would outgrow the girl, but that didn't seem to be an option anymore.

His son had informed him that he was engaged with a rather sharp glint in his eye, as if daring to voice his disapproval. Gold carefully concealed his emotions and nodded coolly.

Neal's wedding wasn't going to be elaborate—he and Emma had both agreed on keeping things simple. Still, Emma was clueless on how to arrange or organize anything so Neal suggested hiring a wedding planner.

Gold couldn't care less. His job was to stand with a fixed smile during the wedding, probably drink a lot, wonder where on earth the time had gone, and drink some more.

On the first Sunday of his son's engagement, Gold was told to meet Neal, Emma, and her parents at the local cafe where they would all hammer out a wedding date with the wedding planner. As he walked in, his eyes immediately found Emma, who was bent over a planner with a short brunette. Neal and Emma's parents were nowhere to be seen. "Miss Nolan?" Gold asked her formally—he'd known her for two years and but the two of them were still not comfortable enough with each other to refer to each other by their Christian names.

"Hey, Mr. Gold," Emma lifted her head, greeting him with a tired smile. "Neal's running late—he's picking up my parents and they got caught in a traffic jam."

Wonderful. So he would be spending an awkward amount of time alone with his future daughter-in-law. Gold nodded self-consciously.

"Oh, and this is Belle French, she's the wedding planner." Emma gestured towards the brunette.

"Hello," Belle looked up at him with a smile and something in Gold's stomach clenched. Belle French was beautiful. She had luscious, long chestnut curls and intensely blue eyes. Gold felt his palms sweat around his cane as he gazed at her small, velvety mouth and took in her ivory skin. She wore a pretty, short blue lacy dress and seemed to have a natural grace and ease that most women envied.

"Miss French," He cleared his throat, shoving the feelings away. He extended his palm. "It's good to meet you."

"Good to meet you too," She chirped. "Have a seat." She gestured towards the seat next to her and Gold hesitated, feeling a sudden embarrassment at the prospect of sitting near her. He wasn't sure why—she was lovely, of course, but he'd seen lovely women before.

"Oh, you forgot to order," Emma said suddenly as Gold uncomfortably sat next to Belle. "I'll get it. Earl grey tea and ham on rye?"

"Yes," Gold said, rather startled that his future daughter-in-law knew him well enough to anticipate his orders. Emma nodded and went to the counter.

"So," Belle smiled at him comfortably. "Are you excited about the wedding?" "Er…" He supposed the truth wasn't appropriate. "I'm glad Neal's happy." "Neal's very sweet," Belle agreed. "Though I wish he told me how handsome his father was." She grinned at him again and Gold choked on the water he'd been sipping. "Here you go," Emma returned, placing the tea before Gold while he tried to recover his wits. Immediately, ever the professional, Belle went back to their planner, discussing the best possible dates. Had she…had she actually tried to flirt with him? It was impossible. No woman had shown even the slightest interest in him since Mindy…

Still, he couldn't help but notice the mischievous corners of Belle's lovely mouth tilt upward as he stared at her in wonder and shock.

"So," Belle cleared her throat. "Emma told me that she was looking at a fall wedding—do you think you'd be able to do that, Mr. Gold?"

It was currently May, so that gave him plenty of time. "I'm sure," He assured them and Emma smiled vaguely.

"Is eighteen months too young for a ring-bearer?" Emma wondered aloud. Gold gave a half smile at that. Neal had gotten Emma pregnant about two years ago and their little boy, Henry, had been the result. It had caused a great deal of unnecessary drama that was thankfully resolved—and despite Gold's displeasure at being a grandfather, Henry was a charming little thing that he secretly adored. The boy would be spoiled rotten if Gold had anything to say about it.

"If he had help, I'm sure he could do it," Belle affirmed. "That'd be a lovely memory for him."

"Assuming he doesn't swallow the ring," Gold remarked dryly and Belle giggled while Emma threw him a disparaging look.

The doors of the café opened and Gold stiffened to see his son lead the Nolans inside. He'd met the Nolans once or twice—Mary Margaret Nolan was a pretty woman, with a short mop of dark hair in her mid-forties. David Nolan was about a foot taller and liked Neal about as well as Gold liked Emma. Still, similarly to Gold, he had seemingly resigned himself to their fate somewhere around Emma's pregnancy.

"Sorry," Neal said apologetically, scooting out extra chairs for the Nolans. "Traffic was a bitch."

"Where's Henry?" Emma asked. "I thought you were bringing him."

"He was feeling kind of crabby today, so I called Ruby and she said she'd watch him," Neal reported. "Love the kid, but we gotta at least hammer out the iron details with less distraction."

"All right," Emma said agreeably. "So what I was just telling your dad—what do you think about an autumn wedding?"

"Sounds fine with me," Neal shrugged uncaringly.

"Isn't that cutting it a little close? Summer will be over before you know it!" Mary Margaret exclaimed. She thought for a moment.

"You should have it at our church," Mary Margaret said eagerly. "And have the pastor who baptized you officiate! That'd be so sweet!" David nodded in approval.

Emma grimaced. "If we have it at our church, that means we'll have to invite the entire congregation. Neal and I wanted to keep it small."

"But it's your wedding," Mary Margaret persisted. "It should be a celebration! A huge celebration!"

Emma looked irritated and Gold had had enough. "Mr. and Mrs. Nolan," He interrupted politely. "You two haven't ordered. Could I order for you? I want to refill my tea."

Mary Margaret blinked at him. "Um—sure. I'll just have a chai latte and a cobb salad."

"Roast beef sandwich for me with a coke," David requested and Gold nodded curtly, standing up and walking to the counter.

He could think about a thousand places he'd rather be than hearing his soon-to-become family bicker over wedding locales.

Weddings were stressful. It had been a good many years since his marriage to Mindy, and the tension the wedding planning had caused had not been fun. It was all a bloody waste, in any case. What was the point in spending so much time and effort on an archaic institution that was almost certainly doomed to failure?

"Family giving you a headache?"

He jumped. Belle French was at his elbow with a suppressed smile.

"Shouldn't you be helping them?" Gold cleared his throat awkwardly.

"My job is to provide them the options," Belle explained cheerfully. "And then watch with amusement as they fight it out. But I assume it got a little wearing on you, huh?"

He glanced at her, letting out a little cough. "I'm not—not overly fond of weddings," Gold confessed.

"They can be stressful," Belle acknowledged, ordering an earl gray tea from the cashier. "But hopefully I can alleviate that as much as I can."

"I doubt it," Gold said dryly. "Not with this family."

She looked interested, taking her tea but making no move to go back to the table. "How so?"

Gold sighed. "We have…a complicated history, let's put it that way," He said falteringly. He wasn't sure why he felt relaxed enough to tell the wedding planner this, but somehow, it seemed comfortable.

"Because of Henry?" Belle guessed. "Emma told me he wasn't planned."

He let out a bitter laugh. "Henry was the least of our problems."

"Oh?" Belle sipped her tea, raising an eyebrow.

"You're awfully nosy for a wedding planner," Gold informed her, but with less of his usual bite.

"You're awfully young for a grandfather," She returned and he couldn't help but chuckle at the false compliment.

"Not a word used to describe me," He replied and to his slight disappointment, the plates arrived. He picked both of them up and walked over to the table, placing them before the Nolans.

"So mom's bullied us into a church wedding," Emma said sourly to Belle. "But we're still keeping it small. Fifty people tops. Just immediate family and a few friends."

Belle scribbled something down in her planner. "And we're agreed October 3rd is the best date?"

"Yeah," Neal nodded in agreement and Gold made a mental note to add it to his own planner. At least it was far enough away for him to get used to the idea.

"So what do we need to do now?" Emma asked Belle.

"Well," Belle considered thoughtfully, sucking the tip of her pen. Gold shifted uncomfortably, looking away.

"You ought to start looking for dresses right away," Belle said decisively. "Five months may seem a ways away, but it'll sneak up on you. I'll call your church tomorrow and set the date. Start thinking about a venue for the reception, where you want to order your cake, order invitations, figure out what flowers you want and where. Emma, you still haven't given me a set list of bridesmaids and I need a list from you, Neal, of groomsman. And you should decide these things fairly quickly so we can get the ball rolling."

The rest of them started jumping in, mentioning different dates they could set appointments to complete each task. Gold knew he had nothing to contribute, so he stared out the window, feeling very bored. Out of the corner of his eye, he looked at Belle.

Initially, he'd been taken aback by her beauty. She seemed to have a light about her, an almost warmth, as if she created sunlight where she went. He shook his head briskly—he was getting overly fanciful about someone he didn't even know. Sure, she might be flirtatious, might be friendly—wasn't Mindy the same way? He needed to keep his guard up.

"That sound okay, Dad?"

Gold snapped out of his daze. "What?"

"Next week," Neal repeated himself. "Cake tasting. Emma refuses to have anything aside from vanilla—I need backup."

Gold was not overly fond of sweets, but his son was offering him a chance to spend time together with his fiancée. Considering all the resentment and anger in the past, Gold knew he had to take this chance.

"All right," He agreed.

XXXX

A week later, as he drove to the local bakery, his cell phone rang. Gold glanced at the caller ID and gave a faint smile, answering.

"I'm almost there, Neal," He assured him.

"Yeah, about that," Neal coughed. "Listen—Henry's got a fever and Emma's sort of freaking out about it. Can you just go without us?"

Gold swallowed the disappointment. "You want me to pick out your wedding cake without you?" He asked dryly. "You know I don't like sweet things."

"Belle will be there, she'll help," Neal said hurriedly, the sound of a baby's wailing overwhelming his voice.

The idea of being alone in a wedding cake bakery with Belle French made Gold's stomach clench. "Can't you just reschedule?"

"I don't really care what cake we get, just as long as it's not vanilla," Neal was sounding truly frazzled as the baby's screams just got louder. "And it's one more thing to check off our to-do list. Just pick something and you can go home."

The phone call ended and Gold stared at his cell in disbelief. Apparently he was going to have to deal with Belle French whether he liked it or not.