After almost six years of blissful marriage, Robert and Belle had two beautiful children and a third on the way. The eldest was Baden and he was five and little Rose was three. Their kingdom was happy and there army was strong. While their kingdom thrived others were not as fortunate.
King Leopold, who ran the kingdom South of Scotland, had been murdered. His daughter, Snow White, the only rightful heir to the thrown had gone missing and Leopold's second wife, Regina was in charge, leaving their villages to suffer her wrath.
Robert had heard little of the woman's story. From what he could tell, she was the one who drove Snow White away from the kingdom. She was driven by revenge. Apparently Snow had done something in the past to betray her and she couldn't let it go.
Now Regina was requesting his kingdom's alliance. She had begun her two day journey that morning so she could speak with him in person. Robert wasn't entirely sure what the best course of action would be. But Belle, who had a very clear idea of what should be done.
"It's far easier to make an enemy than it is to make an ally. Whatever crimes she's committed has nothing to do with uniting our kingdoms. She sure sounds like a superb enemy to have too." she had told him.
"You are quite the wise queen, my love" he whispered into her neck, peppering her throat with kisses. He let his hands splay across the tiny bump of her belly. "And the perfect mother to our children."
Belle leaned against him, enjoying this moment they had to themselves. It was a rare occasion when they would find themselves alone. Baden was constantly getting into trouble and Rose's curiosity was just beginning to bloom.
"Where are the kids?" Belle asked.
"I might have left them in the kitchen with Granny. Only for a moment, so I could have a few seconds alone with my beautiful wife." Belle giggled as he pressed his nose against her neck, and traced his fingers along her ribcage. "Are you hungry?"
"I think she is" Belle said gesturing to her slightly expanded belly.
She linked her arm through his and he lead her down to the kitchen. "So you think it's another girl?" Robert asked her. "What makes you so sure?"
Belle pulled out a stool ad sat down, just as Rose ran over to her to jump onto her lap. "Well, I was right about these two little rascals wasn't I?" she asked him with a smug look on her face.
"Mama! I help Granny make bred!"
Belle grabbed Rose's hands and kissed her fingers. "You did?" The little girl nodded her head proudly. "That's wonderful!" Belle told her kissing her forehead.
Baden snuck out from under the table with a wooden spoon, and he ran at Robert, who was quite prepared for the attack. Their spoons clashed and Baden quickly 'disarmed' his father. "I won! I gon be a good soldier just like you and mama." Robert ruffled his son's hair, picking up his spoon.
"Of course you are. Not anytime soon though, alright? We're gonna stick to spoons for a while." Baden ignored his father's comment as he ran into the great hall to play with whichever soldier he could find.
Granny laughed at Robert's attempt. "He's his parents' son." she commented.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Robert asked amused. He knew exactly what she meant. Belle was a natural fighter and he became one the second he stepped foot in the castle.
"Well, more his mother than his father." Granny told him before returning to her work. Belle couldn't contain her laughter when she saw how insulted Robert was.
"Oh you think it's funny, love?" he asked her unable to keep from grinning.
She tried to pull herself together, but Rose started giggling when Belle had and it was becoming more and more difficult to stop.
"I think it's true." Belle confessed in-between giggles. "He's exactly like I was when I was his age." Rose slipped off of Belle's lap, venturing out into the dining area to see what her brother was up to. "And that's going to be a problem very soon, I assure you."
Robert took her hand, pulling her up off the stool so he could wrap his arms around her. "Well if I can handle you, I think the two of us can manage our five year old." He was about to lean in for a kiss, but Granny coughed, catching their attention.
"Not in my kitchen" she scolded them. Robert scoffed teasingly at her, making Belle giggle. "Oh don't give me that. You two have a bedroom and I have a meal to prepare. Now shoo!"
Robert was about to make some sarcastic comment but Belle had her hand over his mouth before he could get a word out. "We'll leave, Granny." Before he could protest Belle pulled him out of the kitchen leaving Granny to her cooking. "Let's find our very mischievous children, shall we?"
Robert draped his arm over her shoulders, "I suppose we should."
The dining hall was seemingly empty, but they knew their son too well and Rose wasn't the best hider in the world. Just as they stepped into dining room, their two kids jumped on them from either side, surprising them so much they all tumbled down onto the floor, laughing.
"Are you alright dear?" Robert asked Belle as she struggled to get up off the floor.
"I'm just fine, but these two," she paused to grab her children and pull them back into her lap, tickling them mercilessly, "are in big trouble."
Robert watched from the sidelines as Belle sent their children into tremendous fits of laughter. It seemed like the castle was filled with constant laughter. It was moments like these, when he realized just how truly lucky he was to have Belle and Baden and Rose in his life. The laughter stopped as Belle let her children up so they could breathe. He rushed to her side, helping her to stand.
"Mama," Baden called to her, "can I get a book? With pictures?" Belle smiled him, he really was just like her.
"Of course you can!" she exclaimed. "Would you like to go to town now to get it before dinner?" Baden nodded his head enthusiastically, before running off to his room to get his hat and shoes.
"Can I go to mama?" Rose tugged on Belle's dress.
"Why don''t we make it a family outing?" Rose clapped her hands and ran to fetch her shoes as well. Belle turned to Robert who was staring longingly at her. "What?" He only smiled brighter at her. "Robert what on earth are you staring at?"
"Do you have any idea how much I love you?" Belle blushed, ducking her head away from his gaze. He took a step closer so they were touching and lifted her chin up. "I don't think I could breathe without you Belle." She smiled shyly at him before leaning up for a soft kiss. They pulled apart when they heard a chorus of 'ewws' coming from the kitchen.
Robert turned to stick his tongue out at their kids. Then they all crammed together in the carriage, ready to explore the bookshop. Baden ran in excitedly, ripping his hat off and throwing it to the floor of the carriage. Robert chased after him as Belle helped Rose jump down out of the carriage.
The store clerk had lead Baden to the children's section and the boy had already picked out three books by the time Belle and Rose caught up to him. Robert was talking to the clerk about prices. Belle figured he was just going to buy the whole children's section of the shop.
Rose started shifting through the books as well, finding a fairytale book that was almost too heavy for her little arms to carry. "Can I get this one?"
Belle knelt down to her level, "You can have any book you want. I'll even read you one of the stories tonight."
Just as she suspected, Robert bought every child's book in the shop. He would be sending a few of his men down tomorrow to pick them up. He also payed the clerk nearly twice as much as what the books were worth.
After dinner had been eaten and all the dirt and grime had been scrubbed off, Belle sat on her daughter's bed, reading her the tale of a funny looking man named Rumplestiltskin.
