A/N: MUCH EMBARRASSMENT ENSUES.

...

So ... you guys weren't meant to see that last chapter. My original author's note for THIS chapter, the REAL chapter 22, was all about how I was going to post the Sarah & Kylie bit later on, after I'd fixed the writing to a standard I deemed readable.

I'll just quietly edit it while no one's looking as I slowly make adjustment and die of red-face. Also known as blushing. And banging my head on the desk.

Enjoy.

"Daaaaddy," Alicia whined. Gold shushed her, clicking his tongue quietly as he looked over her outfit. Kneeling, he straightened the little girl's sweater and made sure the blouse underneath was tucked in.

"Daddy!" Alicia said again, indignant.

"Shush, dear," said Mr. Gold absently. "And don't call me that."

"But –"

"Are you ready?"

She puffed her cheeks out, glaring balefully at her foster father. Gold wasn't moved; his expression remained neutral and waiting.

"Yes," Alicia sighed finally. Gold stood again.

"Good." His fingers went to her hair, adjusting the little bow that had been clipped in that morning. He brushed her hair back from her neck and combed it as best he could, making absolutely sure that it was straight. Alicia gave a loud, dramatic sigh.

"Daddy," she said impatiently, "I wanna go to the park."

"No."

"Why not?"

"You know why," said Gold lowly. His jaw was clenched and his words were barely audible. "Now be good. And stand still – don't mess up your outfit."

He waited for a nod. When Alicia finally gave it to him, he swept into the other room and returned swiftly with an antique camera. With a hand between her shoulder blades, he urged her toward the doorway, where light sprayed through the window panes and landed softly on the floor. When Alicia planted herself there, the sunshine broke across her shoulders and around her head like she was an angel being welcomed home.

Gold swallowed, his throat dry.

"OK, Alicia," he said with a forced evenness to his tone. "Smile, dear."

She only glared. A twinge of sharp pain shot through Gold's chest; he struggled only briefly to keep it off his face.

"Smile for Daddy," he prompted guiltily, and after just a minute more of sulking, Alicia obeyed. It was not a happy smile, not at all what he'd hoped to see, but it hinted of happy memories, at least. It was the kind of smile Gold had seen on family members wishing a dying loved one goodbye. It was pained.

"Daddy," said Alicia while Gold busied himself with the camera. Her voice was trembling; when he looked up, her chin was, too, and her eyes were filmy with tears. Gold set the camera aside and came to her, not registering her words until he had already pulled her into a quick hug.

"Daddy, I don't want to go.

"I don't want to go with them.

"Daddy –"

Her words broke, dissolved into sobbing mumbles that no one could understand. She clutched at his shirt as hard as she could, and Gold found it hard not to return the gesture. She cried for nearly five minutes, and then he grabbed her gently by the shoulders and made her look into his eyes.

"You're getting a family, Alicia," he told her firmly as tears dripped from her wide, sorrowful eyes down to her nose. His jaw was clenched so hard he thought it might shatter, but it kept his voice steady and his eyes dry. "You're going to have a mother - and a father - and they're going to come pick you up and –"

And she was still crying, tears rolling down her cheeks and chest heaving. Gold's words got faster and more panicked as his voice started to betray him, started to get reedy, started to crumble.

"—and you've known about this for weeks!" he said desperately, pleadingly. He swallowed, getting himself under control, and Alicia cried harder. He didn't know what to do, didn't know how to make this better. "You met with the – with the nice lady, from the adoption agency – remember?"

Alicia shook her head – not because she didn't remember, but because she didn't want the words to be true – and she buried her face in his shirtfront again, clutching tightly to his sides. Her sobs were quiet and breathless. Gold held her close, his own eyes damp, and let out a long, shuddering sigh. He lowered his chin 'till his lips were brushing the hair at the crown of Alicia's head.

"I packed everything you wanted me to," he said quietly, letting his eyes slide shut. Alicia just hugged him; she didn't respond. "I packed your bear, and your new clothes and other toys. I packed the book you like."

"Picture?" Alicia asked, pulling back a little. Gold looked at her, not comprehending. "Did you pack a picture?" she clarified, voice fragile and hopeful. "Of me and you?"

For a long minute, Gold just stared at her. He hadn't thought of that, and there were so many different feelings inspired by the question that his mind seemed to settle on feeling numb. The girl actually wanted a picture of him – something to remember him by. If he was lucky, she'd forget his name by the end of the month – and if he was a bit less selfish, he might hope for that inevitable loss of memory to come for her by the end of the week.

"I don't have any pictures of myself," Gold told her as gently as he could. Alicia's face fell, and his heart fell with it.

He knew she wouldn't remember him well. Certainly, by the time she was an adult, she'd hardly even remember a life outside that with her new parents. But she wanted to remember him, and that – fruitless though the gesture may be, that –

A car pulled into the drive. Gold's handkerchief disappeared from his pocket and went instead to Alicia's face, wiping away the evidence of her tears. He gave her an encouraging smile that felt sick to him and turned her around, facing the door. For a moment, Alicia stood where he had placed her, stiff and frozen from fear.

Then, even as car doors slammed and the chattery voices of a man and his wife could be heard from outside, Alicia grabbed the camera off the table and shoved it into Gold's hands. He fumbled with it, and in an instant her child-like urgency was instilled in him.

"I'll send it to you," he vowed in a whisper, tugging her nearer for a quick – and no doubt clumsy – shot. The camera flashed in their eyes and Alicia recovered first. By the time Gold blinked the sunspots away, the little girl was already gazing anxiously at the door. The kiss she'd laid on his cheek before she left was still tingling.

Gold put the camera up and for the next few minutes, he was numb. He looked at but didn't see the faces of the man and woman who took her. He heard but never processed their names – they were from out of Storybrooke, as he'd stipulated, and so long as they never hurt her that was all that mattered. Gold didn't notice a thing about the scene at all, nothing until the end.

Nothing until Alicia gave him one last teary goodbye and the front door closed behind her, and Gold was all alone in his great big empty house.

Prompt: Ok, so we've seen some really cute stories about what happens while he's
fostering the kids, but what about when someone else comes to adopt one of the
kids and what happens after they take the kid and he's left all alone in that
big old house again. - TARRANT HiTOPP

Tell me what you guys think