Belle woke up, bolted out of bed, and raced for the bathroom. She barely made it before she vomited into the toilet. It had been almost a month to the day since Rumplestiltskin had left on Hook's ship to help save his grandson, Henry. She had been sick every day for 12 straight days, and yesterday, she had noticed that now her breasts were really sore and achy. Suddenly, a realization hit her with a shock that was almost physical. With all that had been on her mind the last few weeks, it hadn't even occurred to her that her period was late. Oh,no,no,no! She thought to herself. The idea left her paralyzed and shaking on the bathroom floor. She couldn't possibly be-"Pregnant!?" She whispered the word aloud. But when could that have possibly happened. Then she remembered that awful night, their first date with her as 'Lacey'. She had snuck out during dinner at Granny's to meet up with that man she had met at the bar, and ' ', as she had known Rumple then, had caught them behind the diner. He had chased the man off, and then she had stormed off in a rage. Later, as she was leaving to go home, she had seen Gold beating the man senseless with his cane. The sight of it had excited her, aroused her so much that she talked Gold into taking her back to his house, where they had-well, 'made love' was not the right word for it. 'Screwed their brains out' was closer to the truth. Love hadn't had a thing to do with it. The memory of that made Belle deeply ashamed, as did the memory of all the terrible things she had said and done when she was Lacey, and the things she had encouraged Rumplestiltskin to do. Now here she was, quite probably pregnant, and her child's father was gone, and it was very likely that he might never return, and she had no way to contact him, to let him know. She was not a woman given to panic, but she was out of her mind with fear now. She managed to get up off the floor, grabbed the phone, and called her friend Ella. Ella answered on the second ring.
"I need your help," Belle told her. "Are you busy?"
"Nope," Ella replied. "Sean just left for work, I have today off, and I'm just hanging out with Alexandra. What's up?"
"I need you to get over to my place as soon as you can. And on your way, stop at the pharmacy and get me a home pregnancy test."
While she waited for Ella, Belle washed her face, brushed her teeth, and tried to calm herself down enough to think. If she were indeed pregnant, what were her options? Turning to her father was impossible. Moe French had made his position very clear: If Belle continued to see Rumplestiltskin; he would have nothing further to do with his daughter. Terminating the pregnancy was also out of the question. No matter what circumstances under which this baby had been conceived, it was her child, hers and Rumple's. It would be like destroying a part of them both. So that left her with just one option, terrifying as it was: she would have the baby, and raise it alone.
A little while later, Belle and Ella sat on the sofa waiting to find out the results of the pregnancy test, and watching little Alexandra babbling happily to her favorite doll. Finally Ella spoke up. "You know, Belle," she began, trying to choose her words carefully, "You don't have to go through with this, if you don't want." Belle shook her head. "No, I already know I won't have an abortion. Besides, Rumple made arrangements for me to be taken care of, so as far as money and all that, I'll be okay." After Belle's father had turned his back on her, Rumple had had her name added to his bank accounts, and his other financial investments, giving Belle access to his money. He had also had documents drawn up that if anything happened to him, his house, the shop, and his other properties would belong to Belle. "I want to see to it that you will always have anything you need, not matter what happens," He had told her. "That's the least I can do." With his keen business sense and knack for smart investments, Belle wouldn't have to worry about money for a very long time, if ever.
"Well that's good to know," Ella said, somewhat surprised, but pleased that the man was capable of being so kind and generous at least when it came to Belle.
"Yes, it's just that…" Belle's voice tapered off.
"The thought of raising a child alone is really scary," Ella finished for her. "I was scared to death when I thought I'd be a single mom. I was lucky Sean came back for us."
"That's exactly it. I don't know if I can do it all by myself, even without worrying about money."
"Hey," Ella took her friend's hand in both of hers. "You'll have me, and Red, and your other friends. We'll be for you, always."
Belle hugged her. "Thank you so much, Ella."
The timer went off, signaling that the test was ready. Belle and Ella held hands as they went into the bathroom. Belle picked up the little white stick, which had an unmistakable plus sign on the side. Tears welled up in Belle's eyes. "I knew it."
"Remember what I said," Ella reminded her. "We're here to help you."
"I know. But right now, I need to be alone, so I can start to plan where to go from here."
After Ella and Alexandra left, Belle went back to the sofa. "I'm going to have a baby," she whispered to herself. "Oh, Rumple," she began to sob, "I wish you were here."
