This is Part 19 of my Gone to the Dogs series. Sorry for the angst!
Parenting
"Do you think he found it?" Belle asked as she and Gold snuggled in bed, the sun gently peeking in through the closed curtains. Gold nuzzled her cheek, then kissed it gently.
"Found what?"
"My ring." Gold pulled away from Belle a tiny bit, then sighed.
"Belle, please just let me have another one made for you."
"Don't be ridiculous – I already talked to the jeweler, he said that as long as the stone is intact, which I'm sure it will be, it can be cleaned and no one will be the wiser."
"I will," Gold grumbled. Belle rolled her eyes at him as she sat up.
"Well, I'm going to go downstairs – Bae has probably let the dogs out by now, maybe he found it." Belle stood up and put on her robe – a long, silk blue robe that covered her very skimpy nightie. "You um – haven't heard from Milah yet, have you?"
"Well she does have two weeks to respond. I'm sure she's busy plotting with her attorney."
"I can't believe she hasn't at least called Bae now that she's back in the states. I think she's talked to him twice this summer. What kind of a mother doesn't even want to be bothered with her child?"
"Not a very good one," Gold said as he sat up a bit.
"Well, I can promise you I won't be that way with our children. I'll get breakfast started, do you want anything special?" A stunned look came across Gold's face.
"Our – our what?"
"Breakfast – what do you want this morning?"
"No – before that. The thing about – children." Belle sat down on the edge of the bed.
"Oh – that, I – we haven't talked about that, have we?"
"No we have not," Gold replied.
"Oh – I – I guess I just assumed that – I mean you're such a good father to Bae, and you're so good with the dogs, and I just thought that eventually we'd have our own child – or two." Gold stared at her silently. "You – you don't want any more children, do you?"
"Belle, I'm already past fifty. What kind of father would I be to a young child at this age? I can barely keep up with Bae, and he'll be an adult in four years."
"It's not like you'd be doing this alone." Belle took his hand. "We can talk about this later." Belle kissed the top of his forehead. "Do you know what kind of a father you would be? A damn good one." Belle stood up once again. "So – breakfast?"
"Surprise me. Can you hand me my laptop?"
"You're not coming downstairs?"
"In a bit. I've got a bidding war going for a few antiques, and a couple of them close in the next fifteen minutes, I want to see if I can snipe them."
"Look at you, using modern Internet slang, just like the young folks do," Belle teased as she sauntered over to the desk to get Gold's laptop. Gold chuckled a bit.
"Sweetheart, I've been using the Internet to acquire antiques since before Bae was born. I don't think I would have been very successful in that venture if I hadn't learned the slang that goes along with it." Belle handed the laptop to Gold and he opened it up. "Thank you, love."
"See you downstairs in a bit." Belle made her way downstairs, where Bae was sitting on the sofa in his pajamas playing with his video game, the dogs sitting at his feet. "Any sign of the ring?" Belle asked, as the dogs ran to her in excitement.
"Nope, Sophie wouldn't go this morning," Bae replied, barely looking up from his game.
"I hope she passes it soon. It's been two days, I'm starting to get worried. What if it's stuck?"
"She's not acting sick, I'm sure she'll be fine."
"Well, I'm gonna take her out again, see if she'll go."
"You know, Papa will buy another ring for you."
"I don't need another ring, I already told him that. Did you have breakfast yet?"
"I had one of the brownies you made." Belle rolled her eyes at him.
"That's not breakfast. I'll get it started as soon as I come back in."
"Is Papa still sleeping?" Bae asked.
"No, he's on his laptop doing some last-minute antique bidding. He'll be down in a bit. Come on Sophie, Stewart, you want to go outside?" The dogs barked and eagerly followed Belle out the back door. Bae continued to play his video game, until he was interrupted by the doorbell ringing. He got up to answer it and was surprised to see Milah standing in the doorway.
"Mom? What are you doing here?" Bae asked.
"Is that any way to greet your mother? Come here, I've missed you." Milah pulled Bae into a quick hug, then pushed past him to enter the house, closing the door. "Where's your father?"
"He – he's upstairs. Does he know you were coming here?"
"I don't think I need permission to come see my son, do you? Why don't you go upstairs and get dressed, and we'll go out for a nice breakfast together."
"I um – I should tell Papa first if –" Bae was interrupted by the dogs barreling into the house, followed by Belle, waving a bag filled with dog poop.
"Found it! Finally!" Belle shouted, then stopped in her tracks the moment she spotted Milah. The dogs darted toward Milah; Stewart sniffed her legs and Sophie barked at her loudly, as Milah stood still, taking in the entire scenario.
"What is that?" Milah asked, her eyes darting to Sophie. Then she looked at Belle. "Who are you?"
"It's okay girl, settle down," Bae said as he grabbed the large dog and tried to calm her down. "Mom, this is Sophie." Once Bae had a good grip on the Sophie, Milah moved toward Belle.
"Sophie? And what, exactly, are you doing here?"
"No – that's Sophie," Belle said, motioning toward her dog, who was now a bit more settled but still eyeing Milah carefully. "I'm Belle. Nice to meet you." Belle put her hand out, then realized she was still holding the bag of dog poo and blushed in embarrassment as she moved the bag to her left hand. Milah sneered at Belle, rejecting her handshake.
"Alright – Belle – what are you doing here? And what is that?" Milah made a face at the bag.
"Oh – Sophie ate my ring by accident and – um – this isn't going very well is it?" Belle asked, not knowing what else to say.
"Mom – Belle is the one I was telling you about. The girl that Papa has been seeing," Bae interjected, trying to appease the already tense and awkward situation.
"Really?" Milah looked Belle up and down. "You're not what I expected at all. And I still don't know what you're doing here, dressed in some skimpy robe around my teenage son and waving a bag of dog feces around."
"I – I live here," Belle admitted quietly. "Ronan and I – we're engaged."
"Engaged? Since when?"
"Only a couple days but – I should probably go upstairs and – change."
"So let me get this straight. You're living here with Ronan – and my son? And no one bothered to inform me of this?" Milah asked angrily.
"Well, we would have informed you, dearie, if you had bothered to stay in contact with your son for more than two minutes once a month while you were out carousing with your jackass boyfriend," Gold said as he made his way down the stairs.
"We were at sea, we didn't always have good cell reception," Milah said.
"So – to what do we owe this surprise visit, Milah? Something I said?" Gold taunted her.
"I just wanted to see Bae," Milah said.
"Of course you did. He's always been your priority," Gold remarked sarcastically as he moved to the sofa. Stewart and Sophie ran to Gold and sat down at his feet, and Gold reached down to pet them.
"So you got another dog? She doesn't seem like your typical choice of canine – I doubt she has much of a pedigree," Milah commented.
"Sophie is my dog. We were kind of a package deal," Belle said. She set the bag of poop down on the coffee table and sat down on the edge of Gold's chair. Milah sneered at her, then looked at Gold.
"Ronan can I talk to you please? In private?" Milah asked.
"Belle is my fiancée, and there isn't a single thing you can say to me that she won't immediately hear about afterward."
"This doesn't concern her," Milah said.
"As Bae's future stepmother, I'd say it concerns her quite a bit."
"Hey – how about what I have to say?" Bae chimed in. "Mom, I know what this is about – I know that Papa petitioned you for primary custody." Milah moved toward Bae and touched his cheek.
"Bae – I know you like your visits with your Papa. But your home is with me, in Boston."
"No it's not!' Bae shouted. "My home is here, in Storybrooke. My friends are here. My dogs are here. Papa is here. This is where I want to live." Milah glared at Gold.
"Is this how you spend your summer? Turning him against me?"
"I'm not against you, Mom! I just – I don't like Boston. I hate my school, I hate the kids there, and I miss my friends! I don't want to go back. Please don't make me go back." Bae sat down on the sofa and started to cry, and Stewart and Sophie immediately jumped onto the sofa and snuggled up with him.
"You happy now?" Gold asked Milah.
"We had a deal," Milah reminded him. Gold stood up, moved toward Milah and stared her down. Belle moved to the sofa and sat next to Bae to try and comfort him.
"I made that deal because I was a coward. But I'm not afraid anymore. I'm a different man than I was three years ago, Milah. I'm engaged to woman that I love very much. I'm a well-respected business man and entrepreneur in this town, and my soon-to-be wife works at the library and is quite well-liked by everyone she meets. I have a stable home environment complete with pets that my son adores, Storybrooke has a fine high school for Bae to attend, and he already has a solid circle of friends in place. What can you offer the lad? You're a divorcee living off alimony with a lover whose career background is questionable at best. Bae is a teenager – he has far more pull with the courts than he did three years ago. Do you really want that fight with me, Milah? Because I promise you – I will fight. So if you came here to try and intimidate me – you wasted a trip."
"How on earth did you get Albert Spencer to represent you? You hate him, I've heard you call him a ruthless bastard more than once."
"Well, given my situation, I felt that a ruthless bastard was a necessity."
"I guess that's fair – it does take one to know one after all," Milah retorted. "Bae, please go get dressed – I'd really like us to have that breakfast and a long talk."
"You're not taking my son anywhere," Gold said.
"He's MY son too, Ronan."
"Will you stop it!" Belle shouted at them as she stood up. "I work in a library, I deal with kids of all ages regularly. Do you know what it takes to make a teenage boy cry? You're using Bae as a bargaining chip and it's not right."
"Excuse me, who do you think you are to speak to me like that?" Milah asked. Sophie snarled at Milah when she turned to look at Belle.
"I'm his friend. And his future step-mother. That's who I am." Milah stood in dumbfounded silence for a moment before speaking up again.
"Would you please move these dogs off the furniture," she finally stated. Belle shooed Sophie and Stewart off the sofa and stood up, and Milah sat down next to Bae. "Do you really hate being with me that much?" Milah asked Bae. "Do you hate ME that much?"
"No," Bae whimpered. Milah put her arm around Bae.
"Bae – would you like me to get you a dog? I have a friend who has a dog that just had a litter of Yorkie puppies, and they're so cute, I wouldn't mind having one of those. I'll even let you name it."
"I have a dog, Mom. I have two dogs. Here in Storybrooke." Milah became quiet again. "Mom – you can get me a dog, or three dogs, or any game I want, but I won't be happy in Boston. And as soon as I turn sixteen I'm leaving to come live with Papa, you can't stop me. But I don't want to wait. I don't hate you – and I'll come and stay with you a lot, just like with I do now with Papa. Please don't make me leave Storybrooke, Mom – please." Bae hugged Milah tightly, and Belle noticed the woman fighting back tears. She remained quiet for several minutes.
"I um – I'd like to talk to your father about this, Bae. Ronan – can we have lunch tomorrow afternoon? No attorneys – just the two of us."
"Fine," Gold agreed. "Granny's Diner tomorrow at one o'clock."
"You can't get us into Club 33?"
"I can – but I prefer Granny's. Do you have a problem with that?" Milah didn't answer him.
"Bae – how about dinner tonight then? I hear they opened a new Mexican restaurant in town, I'd love to try it," Milah suggested.
"Emma and I had plans to see a movie tonight," Bae told her.
"Oh – well I'll be here for a bit so – maybe later." Milah stood up, sneered at Belle, then looked at Gold.
"I'll see you tomorrow I suppose," Milah said, and she spun on her heels and left. Gold let out a deep sigh and stormed into the kitchen, the dogs following behind. Belle followed as well, and as soon as she entered the kitchen she spotted Gold taking out a bottle of Scotch.
"Ronan – it's still morning," Belle said.
"It's five o'clock somewhere," Gold said, and he poured himself a drink and took a very long swig.
"I um – I'll get breakfast started then," Belle said. Gold moved to the table and sat down, taking his glass and the bottle of whiskey with him. "You're not going to drink all of that, are you?"
"No – just however much I need. Half a bottle should suffice."
"This is how you're going to handle your problems? Getting drunk in the middle of the day?"
"No, this is how I handle MILAH. Now that you've met her, you can see why."
"No I can't," Belle said, and she grabbed the glass away from him just as he was about to take another drink. "Your son is upset – how about you talk to him instead of sitting here sulking?"
"Don't tell me how to deal with my child!" Gold shouted at her, and just as he did so both dogs started barking at him. As soon as they started barking, Bae entered the room.
"Stop it! You're acting just as bad as mom!" Bae shouted at Gold. Bae walked over to the refrigerator, got out the orange juice, poured himself a glass, then drank it. "I'm gonna get dressed and take Stewart for a walk," Bae said as he set the glass down on the counter. The little dog perked up at the mention of his name and the word 'walk' in the same sentence. "Come on Stewart – let's go!" Stewart yipped happily as he followed Bae into the other room. Sophie paced for a bit, then finally settled down at Gold's feet and let out a loud sigh.
"I'm sorry," Gold whispered. "I shouldn't have snapped at you like that." Gold pushed the whiskey bottle away, and Belle sat down at the table with him and took his hand.
"I'm sorry, too – I shouldn't have said what I did either. You're right – Bae isn't my child and it's not my concern."
"It is your concern, Belle – you had every right to speak up."
"You know – maybe if you're reasonable, Milah will listen to you."
"That would require HER to exhibit reason as well."
"Well, it can't hurt to try, can it?" Belle stood up. "I have an engagement ring to take to the jewelers for cleaning."
"What about breakfast?"
"I'm really not hungry right now. Make your own. Preferably one that doesn't involve alcohol before noon." Belle flitted out of kitchen without so much as a goodbye. Gold sat in silence and after a few moments, he heard Sophie let out several loud whines.
"It's alright, Sophie. Come here." Sophie sat up and put her head in Gold's lap, and Gold pet her gently. "I'll fix this, alright? I promise."
Milah entered Granny's Diner, and spotted Gold waiting for her in a booth, with Stewart sitting on the seat next to him. Stewart snarled a bit as Milah sat down. "Stewart – enough," Gold demanded of the little dog. Stewart quieted a bit but kept his eyes on Milah.
"You brought the dog? Really, Ronan?"
"I thought he'd be a good reminder of exactly why we're here."
"Why we're here? You attacked Killian. You put him in the hospital, you – he almost lost his hand because of you!" Milah shouted. Several of the customers in the diner turned to stare at her, and Granny, who was standing behind the counter, side-eyed Milah, who sighed in embarrassment and lowered her voice. "Don't you dare blame any of this on me."
"Oh, I don't. I know what I did. And you know what your low life boyfriend did, too. If he had just stayed away from my shop, and my dog – we wouldn't be having this conversation."
"Alright. So what does any of this have to do with our son?" Gold snickered a bit.
"You know exactly what it has to do with our son, Milah. I am very aware of my wrong doing in this situation. I should have faced whatever consequences my actions bore. But I was afraid. You and Jones, you played into that. You saw an opportunity to take advantage of the situation. In hindsight, given what had happened, and give your boyfriend's - shall we say - unsavory past, odds are I would've been able to make a plea for community service - and I'd still have my son."
"Bae is my son too. I have just as much of a right to him as you do."
"He's not a thing, Milah. He's miserable in Boston."
"Are you implying that I'm not a good mother?"
"I don't need to imply anything – Milah, I don't want to take the boy from you. There is no sense in using him to get back at me anymore, and don't you dare try to say that's not what you've been doing."
"I love my son."
"What's his favorite color?" Gold asked.
"What?"
"You heard me. What's his favorite color? What kind of music does he like to listen to? What's his favorite subject in school? What television shows does he like best?"
"I – this isn't fair."
"Green. His favorite color is green. He listens to the current noise that is popular with his friends, but at home he prefers classic rock, I taught him well. He enjoys history and creative writing and he likes art quite a bit although he'll never admit it. Maybe when he's a bit older he'll take an interest in learning how to spin, I'd be glad to teach him. Despite his enjoyment of action films, when it comes to television, he likes watching old sitcoms from the fifties and sixties."
"I – I like those too. We watch them sometimes. In Boston." Milah looked down sadly. "I'm not a bad mother," she said when she finally looked up.
"Then think about what the boy wants." Gold paused for a moment, and Stewart sidled up close to him on the seat. "I'll bring him to visit one weekend per month."
"One weekend per month? Are you joking?"
"Let me finish. In addition to that, he can spend any long holiday weekends that occur during the school year with you that are convenient, and he can stay with you either over the Thanksgiving or Christmas holiday, we'll work out which one as it draws closer. If any special events arise and you'd like him to be there, we can certainly discuss that and make arrangements accordingly. And of course, during the summer, he can spend an entire month with you – if you'd like. I will ask nothing of you in the way of monetary support, and I will continue our alimony agreement minus the child support as long as you remain unmarried." Milah sat in silence for a moment.
"I want to talk to your girlfriend before I agree to anything."
"My fiancée, you mean? If you're worried that Belle wants me for my money, I can assure you that she does not. If part of any agreement between the two of us would require Belle to sign a pre-nup, I am quite certain that she would agree to do so, even though I'm making no request of her to do that myself. Milah, I would prefer not to have to take this to court, and I know that Bae would rather we settle this matter in a civilized manner as well. You don't have to make a decision right now. You do still have eleven days before you have to give a response. Talk it over with your attorney and let me know what you decide." Milah stood up to leave.
"I'm staying in Portland. Do you think Bae could spend the day with me tomorrow?"
"You'll have to ask Bae that. He's old enough to make those decisions himself." Milah turned to leave, and Gold called out to her. "Milah!" Milah turned around. "For whatever it's worth – I am sorry. I just want what's best for our son. I hope you feel the same." Milah turned and left, not saying another word.
The next day . . . . .
It was after dinnertime, and the house was quiet as Gold sat at his spinning wheel in his study and worked silently, while Belle sat on the sofa in the same room, deeply engrossed in her reading. Stewart sat next to Belle on the sofa, and Sophie had planted herself at Gold's feet. Gold and Belle didn't talk much since the day prior, aside from small talk. Gold knew that Belle was likely still angry at him for his behavior, and Belle simply didn't know what to say given the entire situation with Milah still pending. Their silence was interrupted by the front door opening. The dogs immediately perked up and began to bark as they darted into the living room. Gold and Belle stepped away from their respective tasks and followed the dogs.
"Hey Papa, hey Belle!" Bae said excitedly as he pet the dogs, who had stopped barking but were bouncing in excitement at Bae's return home. Milah stood behind Bae, not saying a word.
"Did you have a good time today?" Gold asked.
"It was so much fun! We went to the observatory, we toured a couple of old houses – one was from the Revolutionary War time! Emma really liked it too." Bae turned and looked at Milah. "Thanks for letting Emma come with us."
"Well – I'm glad her parents allowed her to go. She's a very nice young lady," Milah said. "Belle – can I speak with you? In private?" Belle looked up at her, stunned.
"Um – alright, of course. We can go in the study." Belle walked into the study, and Milah followed. Milah looked around the room, and glanced at Gold's spinning wheel, which she could tell had been in use recently.
"He still does that then? The spinning?" Milah asked as she eyed the wheel.
"Yeah. He um – he likes it." An awkward silence filled the room for a bit. "Would um – would you like something to drink?
"No thank you," Milah said, and she sat down on the sofa. Belle sat down next to her. "Bae likes you a lot."
"Well, I like Bae a lot."
"I'm still his mother, you know."
"I would never try to take your place as his mother, I promise."
"I never cared much for dogs. That was always a problem for us. For me and Ronan. Among other things." Belle sat silently, not knowing how to respond. "Bae – wasn't planned. We'd been married for some time and I wasn't even sure I could have a child, but – then I did. And it was barely any time after he was born that Ronan had his accident – I didn't handle any of it well at all. I'm sure he's told you."
"Yes he has."
"You know – I think some people just aren't cut out for parenthood. I wish I'd understood that sooner." Another moment of awkward silence fell between them. "You'll be nice to him, right?"
"Of course."
"And if you and Ronan have more children? You won't – you won't favor them over him, will you?" Belle hesitated for a moment. She and Gold never did finish their conversation about children.
"No," Belle finally replied.
"Alright," Milah said and she stood up and left the room. Belle stood up and followed, unsure about the entire conversation they just had. When the returned to the living room, Bae and Gold were playing with the dogs; Gold was throwing Stewart his ball and Bae was wrestling with Sophie with a tug toy. The playing stopped when Belle and Milah entered the room.
"Bae has agreed to spend the last week before he starts school with me, I want to take him to New York City. I'd also like to pull him out of school the day before and after Halloween – we were talking about Salem, and he'd like to go there for their Halloween events. Provided that his grades are adequate enough to miss a few days, of course." Milah said.
"They will be Mom, I promise!" Bae said, and he walked over to Milah and gave her a hug.
"I'd also like Christmas this year, too. Killian and I want to go to Ireland. I think Bae's passport is expired so we'll have to get that updated. We'll work out all the other particulars later. I'll be in touch." Milah gave Bae one last hug. "You be good. I'll call you this weekend."
"Okay, Mom," Bae said. Milah left without saying goodbye to Gold or Belle.
"What just happened?" Belle asked.
"Mom doesn't want to fight. After we dropped Emma off, we went to the coffee shop and talked about it. She wants me to live here with you."
"That – that's wonderful!" Belle said, and she walked over to Bae and gave him a hug.
"I'm gonna take the dogs out. Come on guys, let's go play outside!" Bae shouted, and the dogs followed as he ran toward the back door. Belle sat down next to Gold and took his hand.
"Well, you were right. You're always right, I should realize that by now. Being civil paid off," Gold told her.
"I think spending the day with Bae actually did more than you did," Belle suggested.
"I – I'm sorry about yesterday. My behavior. It won't happen again, I promise."
"It's okay – I know how upset you were." Belle reached out and touched his cheek.
"That's no excuse," Gold said, then he took her hand away from his cheek and kissed it. "We have some things to talk about, don't we? In particular that – that conversation we didn't finish yesterday morning."
"Yeah. I guess we have to finish that, don't we?"
"Yes we do." Gold stood up and reached for his cane. "I want to finish what I'm working on at the spinning wheel. I'm not sure how long it'll take, you don't have to wait up."
"Okay," Belle whispered. Gold limped toward the other room, and Belle looked down at her engagement ring, which was perfectly clean with no sign of where it had been for the past several days, and let out a loud sigh.
Belle laid on the bed, twisting her engagement ring with her right hand as she stared at it. Gold came into the room carrying something in his hands, but the light was off, so Belle couldn't see what it was. Gold set the item down on his nightstand, took off all of his clothes aside from his underwear, and climbed into bed with her.
"Thought you'd be asleep by now," he said. Belle didn't respond. "You like the ring then?" he asked. Belle still didn't answer, and Gold heard her sniffle. He reached out and touched her face, and felt tears on her cheek. "Sweetheart – what's wrong?"
"I want kids," she whispered. "I love Bae, and I'm so happy that he'll be staying with you, but – I want to have my own child."
"This is a deal breaker for you, isn't it?" Belle simply nodded, then turned and snuggled into Gold's arms and began to sob.
"I'm so sorry, Ronan," Belle stammered through her tears. "We should have had this talk a long time ago, I don't know why we didn't."
"Belle – hey – it's alright."
"I don't know what to do. I love you so much, and I don't know what to do." Gold held her tightly and kissed the top of her head.
"Belle – we are going to make the most beautiful children." Belle sniffled a bit, then looked up at him.
"What?"
"I want to show you something." Gold sat up, releasing Belle from his grip, and he reached over and turned on the light, then picked up what he had brought into the room. It was two knitting needles with a ball of freshly spun yarn hanging from them.
"Thought I'd get back into knitting instead of weaving – used to be quite good at it."
"What is that?"
"Well – eventually it'll be a blanket. I haven't dyed the yarn yet – figured we'd wait until after the child is born and dye the blanket then."
"You – you're knitting a baby blanket?"
"For our child. Yes."
"You – you want to have a baby with me?"
"Yeah. Been thinking about it a lot since everything happened yesterday, and yes - I do. Providing that you fully understand what we'll be bringing into this world. I'm certain that any child of ours is bound to be annoying as hell to everyone they meet, but we'll figure out a way to deal with that in time." Belle smiled at him.
"You – you're not just saying this because it's what I want you to say?"
"When in the world have I ever done that?" Gold teased.
"Oh, Ronan! I love you!" Belle climbed on top of him, pushing him onto his back, and she kissed him, hard. Gold dropped the yarn and knitting needles onto the floor as she did this.
"I do have one caveat though," Gold said in between kisses.
"What's that?" Belle asked.
"No more than two. I really don't think the world needs more than two miniature versions of our combined genetic material."
"I don't think they'll be that bad," Belle said, laughing a bit.
"They'll be a nightmare. Moody, bossy, and an inherent need to always be right. We will definitely need to have many discussions about how to temper those traits which, given our luck, any child we create will inherit to the highest exponent possible."
"I already know the best way to handle any problems like that," Belle said, and she kissed Gold's forehead.
"What's that?"
"We can get them a dog, of course." Gold started to laugh, and he grabbed Belle and kissed her hard, rolling her over until he was on top of her. "How about we start working on that baby right now?"
"I – don't you want to get married first?"
"I was hoping we could do that just before Bae leaves for his week with Milah next month. Take our honeymoon while they're away."
"I – that soon? That doesn't leave us much time to plan."
"I didn't think we'd be having a big, fancy wedding. Unless that's what you want."
"I don't care about any of that."
"Well then – I'll ask again. Do you want to get started on that baby tonight?"
"I don't – I don't think I'm at the right point in my cycle for that to happen."
"Then we can practice until you are."
"I like that idea," Belle said, and they kissed once again.