"Now that the excitement has been settled, perhaps further introductions are in order," Archie suggests.
"Grand idea," Killian agrees, keeping his arms around Emma tightly.
"And please no more fighting," David says. "We've had enough of that to last a while."
"With the War Frats I wouldn't make any promises," Carlos hisses to the prince.
"Which one is Cinderella?" Mal asks the main group of Storybrooke.
"The blonde woman and man, playing with the little girl in pigtails," Crystal directs the daughter of Maleficent.
Thomas and Ella are letting Alexandra toddle around the park now that the sword fighting has finished. Thomas takes his daughter up the slide and goes down with her, much to the toddler's delight. She lets out a happy giggle as Ella looks on happily before scooping her daughter up into her arms and kissing her multiple times with great affection.
Mal goes over to Chad, who's finally seemed to have run out of things to complain about now that he's out of the hospital and eaten. He sits on a picnic table, inspecting his nails when the VK comes over and grabs his arm, practically dragging him with her.
"Hey... what? What's the big idea Mal?!" he protests, trying to struggle from her grasp.
She doesn't answer but drags the spoiled prince to the slide and stops.
"Are you Cinderella?" Mal asks the woman.
"That's me, I also go by Ashley," she says as she puts Alexandra against her hip. "And this is Thomas or Sean."
"Why do you have two names?" Chad asks. At first, Mal just thinks he's being sarcastic but then she remembers that the son of Cinderella and Prince Charming has no idea about the history of Storybrooke or the alternate identities most of them have, so it was a legitimate question.
"The first ones are our real names and the second are our cursed names," Thomas explains.
"Curse? What curse?" Chad asks, slightly alarmed.
The daughter of Maleficent skips over his inquiry, figuring the parents can explain it and goes into the introductions.
"Well, this is Chad Charming, the son of Cinderella and Prince Charming, who I guess is technically your son too."
"But, my father's name is Henry, not Thomas, and I don't have a sister," he looks down at little Alexandra and winces slightly as if the innocent child is a snake that's about to spring at him. He is very confused by everything happening around him. He obviously does not react well to new situations, but Mal figures it's time for him to suck it up and just deal with things as they come. Life will not always be cushy and provide pampering in Auradon. The Isle kids learned from a very early age to expect the unexpected, something the kids of Auradon clearly have not had enough experience with so far. While those with magic seem to be better prepared, spoiled princes and princesses not so much.
"Well, neither did I until twenty minutes ago when I met her for the first time. A lot of things are different here than they are in Auradon and until Crystal and I fix the mess that Uma, Gil, and Harry made with the portals, you're just going to have to deal with it."
Alexandra then begins to smile and reach out eagerly towards Mal.
"Momma!" she says looking at her mother and then back at the purple-haired teenager, a sight she had never seen before. The little girl did not seem at all afraid of these strange people who a few minutes ago were watching a sword fight. She then begins to squirm frantically in her mother's arms and making a loud screeching that young two-year-olds are often known for. Once Ella puts her down, the tiny girl toddles over to Mal and holds her arms up.
"Up... Up...Up!" she insists in an adorable tiny voice.
Mal smiles and picks her up almost expertly, which was strange because she's never technically held babies before. She struggles at first because Alexandra keeps wiggling around until Ella comes over and shows the VK how to hold the tiny once comfortably.
Once she's against Mal's hip, Alexandra begins to grab at parts of the teenager's outfit, clearly having never seen anything like this before. She picks at the metal studs decorating her leather outfit before squeezing the leather sleeves and then eventually going for the hair. She twirls at the purple locks, absolutely transfixed by the colour. Ashley hovers nearby just in case her daughter tries to pull at the hair.
"She's usually a bit shyer than this," Thomas explains, coming up to join the group. "She must like you a lot."
"She's not hard to love," Mal says. She tickles Alexandra under the chin and the toddler squeals in delight before turning back towards her mother for reassurance. The daughter of Maleficent can't help but feel happy, seeing the curiosity and happiness in the little one's eyes. While she's never been around babies before, she's taken a liking to them. What she doesn't know is that Ben is watching her and can't stop himself from smiling too, admiring his girlfriend's interaction with children.
"She takes after her father when it comes to the charm," Ashley jokes.
Chad stands there, not used to being completely ignored. If these total strangers really were his parents, why were they admiring Mal more than him? He seems pretty fearful of this baby whose height barely reaches past his knees. He feels a mix of various emotions and for the first time, is at a loss on what to say. These "parents" seem nice but pay more attention to the baby than their own son.
The prince takes a step closer, wary of what might happen if he gets too close.
Eventually, Mal spots Chad staring almost enviously at the group and decides to include him. She walks over and gives Alexandra to him. He immediately struggles to hold the child, especially since she likes to kick and squirm around.
The daughter of Maleficent takes great satisfaction with his discomfort. She leans forward and talks to the bratty prince in a low voice. "These guys have a pretty happy life going on, so my word of advice, don't ruin it for them by being you."
She then turns and walks away, leaving Chad to struggle with his toddler sister who begins to cry because of being held incorrectly and that she wanted Mal to stay.
"Good luck," the purple-haired teen smiles. She high fives Crystal and Evie as she walks by.
...
Meanwhile, Snow is helping all the seven sons become acquainted with their seven fathers. She can sort of tell fairly quickly which son is which based on their appearances. They truly are seven chips off the seven blocks.
When Gordon and Leroy are paired together, they stare at one another, seeming to be having a staring contest, seeing who can make the grumpiest face.
"This is my son?" Leroy grunts in disapproval. "You've got to be kidding me."
"Don't be rude Leroy," Snow snaps angrily. "He's your son."
"It's a miracle that anyone actually was willing to marry you," Regina snickers.
"HEY!" the dwarf snaps angrily. First the daughter of Rumpelstiltskin, and now the Evil Queen, he's surrounded by sarcastic witches. "Watch your mouth your royal highness or my pickaxe is going in a place where the sun doesn't shine."
Regina conjures up a fireball in her hand, challenging the angry dwarf to say any more. Despite how much the group had come from the days of being enemies and holding the grudge for poisoning Snow, the former Evil Queen still felt the need to torment the dwarves on occasion, especially Leroy since he was the easiest to get a rise out of. She knew that they wouldn't stand a chance against her, which is why it made it so fun.
"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Snow says firmly, standing in between her former enemy and her former housemate. She hates being the mediator when Regina just has to rub Grumpy the wrong way. "We don't need any more problems!"
"Says you," Gordon says, crossing his arms and hardly skipping a beat from his father's derisive comment. "This is what I have to look forward to when I get older, a gray beard, a slouched back and a beer gut?"
"Well, the apple doesn't fell far from the tree, Gordon and in your case, it got run over by a lawnmower," Double D teases.
"Shut your mouth D! Ever tried to whistle 'Hi Ho' with a mouth full of broken teeth?!" He holds his fists up angrily, ready to battle his cousin.
The comeback seems to impress the father figure because Leroy is smirking slightly at the comment, finding it very amusing and something he wished that he had thought of before. The kid clearly had his guts and didn't give a damn about anyone but himself.
He reaches over and ruffles the kid's hair before slugging him in the shoulder. "Probably didn't fall that far from the tree," he chuckles to himself.
Evie keeps her head on her boyfriend's arm as Snow introduces Doug to his "alternate" father Dopey.
"Hello... Dad," Doug says, slightly nervous.
Dopey looks at him and cocks his head to the side slightly. He gives a sort of awkward smile and waves at the boy happily. It's a little unexpected that Doug seems to tense up slightly in Evie's grasp, worried as to why his father did not really react the way he expected. Even if he seems nice enough.
Fortunately, Snow comes to his rescue and puts his worries at ease.
"Sorry Doug, we forgot to mention that Dopey is mute, he can't speak."
"Just like mine," he says, slightly more relieved that it wasn't something he said.
Crystal comes up and offers a notepad and pencil to the mute dwarf. Doug waits patiently as the dwarf in the purple hat writes his response. Once he's done, Dopey holds it up.
Hello Doug,
It's so nice to meet you. You are a lucky man to have such a beautiful girl on your arm,
Then there was a smiley face beneath it. Evie can't help but blush at the compliment and give Doug a kiss on the cheek.
"It's nice to meet you too Dopey, I hope you don't mind if we keep it formal for now."
Dopey scribbles down his next response.
Not at all, it says. Although I do think I should talk to Miss Evie about treating my son correctly.
Evie giggles at the joke and Doug flushes a shade of red. He's only known the man for a few minutes, and he's already embarrassing him as a father would.
At another section of the park, Audrey stands in front of Phillip, Aurora, and their son.
She gives a slight curtsey to them.
"Hello, I am Princess Audrey, daughter of Prince Phillip and Princess Aurora, and I understand that you are my 'alternate' parents?"
"That would appear to be the case," Phillip says. He is impressed with the girl's impeccable manners and does carry herself as a traditional princess would. However, since coming to Storybrooke, both he and Aurora had taken to the more modern ways and did not greet every person with a kiss on the hand or a curtsey. "I'm Phillip, and this is my wife Aurora, and our son, Phillip Junior. Welcome to Storybrooke, I hope you are liking it so far."
Just then, the baby in Aurora's arms gurgles, having just woken up from a nap. The attention turns to the baby.
"He's adorable," Audrey coos, taking a few steps closer to admire the small child.
Baby Phillip looks up at his new sister with great interest from his mother's arms. He looks a lot like his father, but with his mother's blue eyes.
Phillip digs into the diaper bag and offers Audrey a toy for her to give to him. She shakes the rattle in front of the child, much to his delight and he reaches for it eagerly, cooing contently.
"He looks just like you," the teenager says.
"He takes after his father, but as for sleeping he takes after me," Aurora jokes, causing Audrey to smile as well.
Everyone else who have parents in Storybrooke become acquainted; Marco gives Pin a hug before August can even say hello to his son; Jordan and Sydney exchange a handshake under Regina's supervision; Simon and Whitney shake hands with Snow and David, while also getting to meet their baby brother Neal; and Jane and Tallia meet the covenant of fairies, all who are eager to have a new trainees in their midst, with Blue promising to send word to Tinkerbell/Green of this surprising news as soon as possible.
Crystal cradles a sleeping Gideon as she sits next to her step-mother at the picnic table. Several of the pirates keep to themselves, staring wearily at Snow White, whom they now regarded as a fearsome leader. Killian and Emma attempt to make small-talk with CJ and Harry, while Carlos and Jay fill Freddie in on what has been happening since they'd been hiding in the lamp. It was an unusual sight to behold, especially to a girl who evidently didn't have the same respectable father that Ben did in Auradon.
"Has anyone seen Rumpel at all?" Belle asks since she realizes that one parent is missing from their Storybrooke family.
"When was the last time you actually wanted to know where he was?" Crystals retorts. "Because the answer is never good."
"Crystal, you know he's changed," Belle protests.
"Of course, I do, but if I've learned one thing from living with Dad, it's to let him do his thing. He's a cat, unpredictable, a bit of an ass, and completely independent."
...
Meanwhile, Rumple stands at the docks in Storybrooke harbour, with a conch shell in his hands. He stares out at the horizon for a long moment before giving two sharp blows into the shell, it creates a slight ripple across the surface as the deep melodic sound exits out into the sea air.
He waits patiently as the sun begins to set over the horizon of the Maine sky. He embraces the quiet with water lapping against the nearby beach and gently rocking the boats moored into the marina.
Eventually, the water near the dock begins to churn rapidly and bubbles begin to break the surface as someone or something begins to rise from the depths of the ocean.
A smile spreads across the Dark One's mouth as a new face appears from below the surface.
"Time for some parental discipline," he mutters.
A/N: Ten dollars to who this might be.