Title: Penelope
Author: snarkysweetness
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Jefferson, Belle, Grace, & a surprise; Belle/Jefferson
Summary: "Penelope waited twenty years for Odysseus to return to her and if I'd followed her example, we would have never become a family."
Warnings: Adorableness that may cause shrieking and flailing.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Author's Notes: Julie, you're spoiled, which is why I wanted to make you cry. This is part 3 in the Mad Beauty Chronicles.
Jefferson pressed a kiss onto Belle's bare shoulder that sent a small shiver down her spine. She snuggled against him as he buried his face into the crook of her neck. She didn't know how a formerly mad man had done it, but she felt safer in his arms than she'd ever felt in her life, even when she'd live behind her father's castle walls surrounded by guards. She'd never expected to feel this happy or at home again, not after Rumple.
She'd loved him, but he'd never made her feel the way Jefferson did. Loving Jefferson was simple. She knew he would never turn on her and she didn't have to worry about him being consumed by darkness. Despite the nightmares that plagued him from his time as Cora's prisoner, he was stable, as well as dependable. He was everything she'd ever needed but had been too foolish to realize she deserved.
"You're beautiful," he whispered as he pressed a kiss on the spot where he knew she was ticklish. She squirmed and hid her face in the pillow to keep from giggling.
"Jefferson," she complained as he did it again. She turned to him and gave him a small pout. He smiled and brushed her hair away with a smile.
"You grow lovelier as each day passes."
"No, I grow older as each day passes. Soon I'll be an old maid."
"Hush, you'll still beautiful to me; no matter how much you age. Besides, haven't we all been young long enough?"
She wrinkled her nose. She wasn't so sure about that. It was more natural, yes, but after she'd caught sight of a wrinkle this morning, she began to miss the days of being stuck in time; especially since she hadn't had to deal with things like tampons back then either.
"Don't give me that look," he said and he pulled her back into his arms. She faced him and wrapped her arms around his waist.
"I suppose you would look rather dashing with a bit of gray."
"I always knew that's what you were into-oww!" Belle pinched him hard. She wasn't amused with his jokes about her former love. They'd been cute, in the beginning, but now they rattled her nerves.
"I'm sorry, sunshine," he cooed as he leaned in for a kiss. She turned her head and he kissed her cheek instead. "I mean it, I was just kidding."
"I don't believe you."
Jefferson sighed and pulled her close. He kissed her neck and then her jaw and finally the corner of her mouth.
"Oh sweet, beautiful Belle, I beg thee for forgive-" She shoved him away with a shake of her head.
"You're an idiot."
"I know," he replied with a grin.
She smirked, unable to resist that face of his.
"We should sleep." Neither wanted to say it, but their adorable Grace had turned into a hormonal, bratty teenager seemingly overnight. First it'd been her period, then the temper tantrums, now it was boys. Jefferson wanted to kill any boy that came near her, especially since there weren't many to pick from in this town, since she seemed intent to move through them all. And tomorrow was Miner's Day, which meant getting up far too early just to keep an eye on her.
"I guess," he muttered as he watched her with an odd expression on his face.
"What?" She asked, feeling self-conscious all of a sudden.
He gave her a small smile and his cheeks went red for a moment.
"I just…I love you, Belle. I love you more than I ever thought I could love again."
Tears immediately came to her eyes. She knew the words were true and had for months but he had never spoken them aloud.
"I love you, too, Jefferson." She replied happily before wrapping her hand around the back of his neck and pulling him in for a kiss. "I love you so much I'm not even mad that you waited until after sex to tell me this," she teased. He blushed again and she kissed him again, harder this time, before showing him how much she loved him just one more time before they fell asleep.
"Grace, honey? What's wrong?" Belle shook the flour off of her apron before wrapping her arms around her. Grace was hit and miss these days, with the 'you're not my mom' attitude, but Belle had been a teenage girl once and she understood and right now, Grace needed a hug.
'I loved him' and 'he broke my heart' were the only words Belle could make out in-between Grace's sobs. Belle rubbed her back gently and let her get it all out. There was no sense in trying to comfort her with words, Belle knew this. Her father never had been able to comfort her when she'd come to him angry that Gaston had the gall to try to court her when she had no interest in ever being a wife or when Adam or James or any of the other princes from neighboring kingdoms would try to arrange a marriage with her. She was no prize to be won or bought and whenever her father had tried to talk her out of being angry it had only made it worse.
She knew full well that any assurances like 'he's an idiot' or 'you'll find someone better' or anything really would only send her into a tizzy.
"I hate him! I hope papa hunts him down and slaughters him!" Grace said, seething. Belle still had no idea what had actually happened, but she just stroked her hair, knowing better than to ask her to go over it again right now.
"I'm sure he'll have his head, sweetheart."
Grace pulled away with a sniffle.
"Do you think so?" She asked regally as she straightened up and stuck out her chin for good measure. Belle hid a smile. Grace was such a pouty little thing, much like Jefferson could be. Of course, neither would admit to it.
"Of course, in fact, I'm sure he's sharpening an axe as we speak." After all, joked about beheading weren't taken lightly in the hatter's household.
Grace smiled.
"Thanks, mom."
Belle froze, too shocked to respond. She had lost track if the time she'd been with Jefferson. It had been years and in all of that time never once had Grace called her anything but 'Belle'. Her throat constricted and she fought off the urge to wrap Grace in her arms and cry.
"What's wrong with your face?" Grace asked with a frown.
"Nothing, I uh…just remembered the cookies in the oven."
Grace wiped her eyes and glanced over at the freezer.
"Is there ice cream to go with those?"
Even teenage angst couldn't erase this girl's love of ice cream. Belle stood and kissed the top of her head before moving to the oven.
"Of course."
Belle felt eyes watching her and she turned to find Jefferson watching them from the doorway with a smirk on his lips.
'Go away' she mouthed while making a 'shoo' motion with his hands. He shook his head and she glared. He smiled and held up three fingers, the number of cookies he wanted her to save, before disappearing from view. Belle shook her head with a sigh.
Sometimes, she felt as though she was mother to two children.
Belle narrowed her eyes with a frown. What was Jefferson up to? The yard was adorned with multi-colored tea-lights, a small fire burned in a pit, there was a table lined with frilly fabric covered with a large vase full of every flower she could think of, along with a bottle of champagne. Horrible music played in the background and she gave him an odd stare.
Jefferson didn't do romance and this was clearly some sort of attempt to be romantic, but-
"What are you wearing?"
He was dressed in a tweed suit complete with a horribly large bow tie. He gave her a large, cheesy grin that was more creepy than adorable and she slowly took a seat. Had the hatter finally taken over? Was Jefferson still in there? What was he playing at?
"You don't like it?" He asked with a frown as he looked down.
"No."
"Oh…Grace told me it made me look dapper."
She rolled her eyes. Now it made sense…Grace had somehow conned him into thinking this was a romantic date so she could watch him make a fool of himself. That girl…
"I think you always look dapper, darling. I like you just the way you are."
He smiled.
"Yes…um…would you like a drink?"
She didn't but he looked nervous and like he could use one so she nodded. With shaky hands Jefferson poured them two glasses of champagne and actually managed to get some into the glasses.
"Are you feeling okay?"
"I'm fine!" He croaked and she sipped her drink quickly, to prevent herself from saying something mean.
"I um…well…you see…" He tugged on his collar and cleared his throat. "You're special; I mean…I've dated lots of women-NOT LOTS! I mean…I've dated women…who weren't you and uh…" He wiped his hands on his trousers. "What I mean to say is I love you and you're Grace's…well not her mother, but like her mother, not that I'm trying to compare you to my dead wife, I just…the two of you…crap…"
"Jefferson," Belle said testily. She wanted to know where he was going with this. It was hard to find his bumbling, idiot ways adorable when some small part of her feared his sanity was beginning to slip. It was a struggle, dealing with that small part of him that always threatened to take over, but it had gotten better. However, seeing him behave this way, so erratically, frightened her.
He patted his suit and his eyes went wide.
"I um…had…hold on…" He glanced under the table and began searching frantically around the yard. Belle closed her eyes with a small sigh. She was going to call Archie, right now; she didn't care how late it was. She wasn't going to lose Jefferson just because the hatter wanted to-
"Belle?"
She opened her eyes to find him at her feet holding a worn book. She watched him in confusion as he held it up to her.
"I um…this is for you," he said weakly, as if defeated. Whatever he was up to, it hadn't gone the way he'd planned. She warily took the book and ran her fingers over the tattered cover and spine. She glanced at him before slowly opening it. She let out a small gasp.
"Jefferson-"
"I know I'm half mad and you deserve better but…I want us to be a family, officially."
"Is this why you were making an ass out of yourself? For me?"
He shrugged sheepishly.
"Last time I did this I was the one being asked," he admitted.
Belle removed the small gold band with a sapphire stone instead of a diamond out the place where he'd wedged it between a small slit in the pages and held it up. She resisted the urge to kiss him and gave him a small smile instead.
He wasn't going mad he was just…
"Of course I'll marry you."
"Finally," a voice called. They both looked up to find Grace slamming her bedroom window shut and burst into laughter. Belle wrapped her arms around Jefferson's neck and kissed his cheek happily.
"I love you," Jefferson said before kissing her. She smirked into the kiss and pulled his horrible tie off.
"I love you, too. And because I love you, I have to tell you, we're going to go have sex now because if I have to stare at you in this terrible suit a moment longer we're going to get divorced before we even have a change to be married."
Jefferson smirked.
"I think that part of this evening I can handle."
The wedding was small. Belle didn't need a big show, not in this world. Ruby, Granny, Grace, her father, and a few others were all she needed. Jefferson had teamed up with his best buddy Whale to decorate the yard, Marco carved gorgeous chairs for the occasion, Merryweather made her dress, and Granny baked a cake from a box. It was everything she wanted; simple and with the people she loved.
She traced her finger over the small wedding photo that stood on their bedside table with a smile.
"That was a good day."
She glanced up to find Jefferson tossing his hat into the armchair. She smiled with a nod.
"It was."
Jefferson kissed the top of her head.
"How was your day?" He asked as he moved to change for bed. Belle placed the photo back in its place and straightened her nightgown.
"I…we got another wedding present." She looked up hesitantly. Ever since she'd discovered the news she was about to share with him this morning she'd been terrified. Terrified of his reaction, terrified of how they would handle this, and most of all, terrified that somehow, she would ruin things.
"From who?"
She frowned.
"I think in this world they call it the…swan…no…that's not right…" She knew the phrase she was just…nervous.
"Swan? Is Emma back with her jolly band of-" Jefferson froze. "Are they back?" Belle knew his greatest fear was that she would leave him if they did return and while she knew she would never, she also knew it would be a difficult situation to say the least.
"No and even if they had, you have nothing to worry about." He nodded but the sadness on her face told her that no matter how much time went by, he would never get over his fear that he didn't deserve her. She chewed on her cheek before patting the bed.
"Come here and I'll um…show you the gift?" She should have just blurted it out, the way Ruby had instructed her to, but how did one blurt such news out without thinking?
Jefferson watched her with trepidation before slowly moving to the bed. He sank down into the mattress and kept his distance. Belle sighed and took his hand.
"Stork."
"What?"
"That's what it is; a gift from the stork." She placed his hand over her still flat stomach and let out a breath she wasn't aware she'd been holding. A part of her wished Whale had just spilled the beans but she was glad to be the one to tell him.
"What?" He asked weakly.
"Um…the stork…gave us a…um…'honeymoon baby'?"
There it was.
Baby.
Her and Jefferson and a child that would have all of their awkwardness wrapped up in one tiny package. They were doomed, weren't they?
"Baby?" He whispered. Jefferson looked ready to faint. He pawed at her carefully while staring down at where his hand lay. "There's a…baby…in…" Before she could blink his arms were wrapped tightly around her and she felt tears on her shoulder.
"We're having a baby? Me? You? A…" He pulled away and jumped out of bed. "I need to tell Grace, I uh…vitamins, you need vitamins. Oh and a nursery. We need one of those oh and um…bottles! Yes…" He looked absolutely mad; pacing before rushing towards the door then coming back as he remembered something else they needed to do and then mumbling to himself. She watched him, terrified because she still had no idea if he was happy or just…
Well, she was still stunned so maybe he hadn't processed it yet.
Jefferson rushed towards her and scooped her up into his arms before kissing her, taking her by surprised.
"Thank you," he said with a smile.
"For getting pregnant?" She asked stupidly.
"No, for…" He grinned and kissed her again. He twirled her happily before gently setting her back onto the bed. He pushed back her hair, still beaming. "You have no idea how happy you've just made me." Relief washed through her. Of course he'd be happy, why wouldn't he be?
"Oh."
He kissed her quickly before resting his forehead against hers.
"Grace is…everything and…I never through I'd have it all again so…thank you."
She smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Come to bed, we can tell Grace in the morning, just…hold me."
He kissed her again and released her.
"Sorry, love, but I can't." He was like a child, unable to sit still. He was so full of energy, like a child. "I'm just going to measure a spare room, I'll be right-" She shook her head and curled up on the mattress. She could hear Jefferson bouncing around the house and she smiled.
"Well, little one, I think it's fair to say that your daddy loves you very much," Belle whispered as she placed a hand over her belly. She drifted off to sleep and when she awoke hours later, she found Jefferson curled around her protectively with his hand over hers and a smile still on his face.
Belle cocked her head to the side as Jefferson attempted to teach Grace how to make a hat. Her fingers were bleeding from pricking her hands so many times and each time she did it, he would kiss her fingers and stroke her hair, which only frustrated her more. She locked eyes with him for a moment and they both smiled.
His happiness was infectious. It radiated off of him. The rounder she became the more he glowed with love; love for Grace, love for their unborn child, and love for her. And while she knew he loved her, sometimes, when the hormones got to her, she wondered if he would ever love her the way he'd loved his wife. The wife he missed so much to this day no one dared speak her name for fear of igniting a fit of mourning from him.
But when he looked at her the way he was now, it was hard to imagine he could love anyone more than he loved her in that moment.
'I love you,' he mouthed and she rubbed her large belly.
"I think the hat looks great, the baby will love it," Belle said encouragingly as Grace huffed in frustration. Jefferson kissed the top of Grace's head and moved his hands over hers to show her again how to do it.
"You have to do it delicately," he instructed.
Belle smiled, thinking it wouldn't be possible to be happier than she was in this moment.
She had no plans to ever go through the experience of childbirth again but she had to admit, it was worth it. Jefferson stood across the room, holding their small bundle in his arms while cooing to her quietly. He'd been wonderful, holding her hand the entire time, encouraging her, kissing her temple, and looking stricken every time she cried out in pain. He'd even apologized for putting her through the ordeal and cried the moment he saw their bloody mess of a child.
Okay, so she might have cried too when they put her into her arms. But he'd cried again while holding her afterwards. So out of the two, he was still the emotional one.
"Daddy's meant to be surrounded by beautiful women, just like you, poppet," he whispered.
"Let me see her," Belle whispered weakly. She was supposed to be sleeping, but she couldn't take her eyes off of that beautiful little girl with dark hair and blue eyes that melted her heart. Jefferson smiled and carried her over. He gently placed her in Belle's arms before sitting on the edge of her bed.
"She's so beautiful," Belle said for the fiftieth time. Jefferson pressed a kiss to her temple before wrapping an arm around her shoulder.
"Just like her mother."
Belle smiled.
"You know, she needs a name," he said.
"I've been thinking about it and I like Penelope."
"Penelope…Penny…Pen…" he toyed with it. "I like it. What made you pick that?"
Belle blushed.
"I was reading the Odyssey the other night…"
"A book, of course," he teased. She nudged him to get him to shut up. "Sorry, continue."
"Penelope waited twenty years for Odysseus to return to her and if I'd followed her example, we would have never become a family. I admire her for her commitment to love but I'm so grateful that I lacked her ability to put off my own happiness. It I had, we would never have had her," Belle whispered as she let the small person they'd created take her finger in her fist.
Jefferson kissed the top of her head and she knew if she looked, she find him crying.
"Good."
She smirked and nuzzled against his chest. She could fall asleep just like this and it would be perfect.
"Mom? Papa?"
Grace stood in the doorway hesitantly.
"Come here," Belle said, patting a small open spot on the hospital bed. Grace settled in at her side and peered over her shoulder at the baby.
"She's cute. What's her name?"
"Penelope," Belle whispered. "Hey you, want to meet your sister?" She cooed as Penelope stirred in her arms. "Want to hold her?" Belle asked. Grace shook her head.
"No, she looks comfortable."
"She'll be more comfortable at home, in a real bed," Jefferson grumbled. Belle smiled. She could picture the four of them sharing their huge king bed and it warmed her heart. But for now they were all crammed into the bed that was barely big enough for one person and they stayed that way for the entire night, watching every move that their little princess made.