Decided to rewrite this in the original structure I had in mind when I first wrote this because I really could not write this at all in the direction it was going so it was either abandon it all together or change it. So I decided to go back to the basics. There are several parts I am keeping as they are part of the plot and other portions I am going to expand on so this first chapter is pretty similar so the next chapter is where the 180 starts. Thank you for your patience and enjoy.

Change of Plans

The afternoon traffic had only begun by the time Seumas Gold parked his car into the parking garage outside of his Manhattan apartment. It was unusual for him to come home in the middle of the afternoon if at all these days since meeting clients resulted in making his downtown law office practically a second home. However, an unexpected decision between both parties resulted in the discovery of new evidence causing the case to go into his favor which allowed him to head home early.

Taking a deep breath, Gold got out of the car grateful his right leg still had a bit of a strength left since the car accident six months previous resulted in his leg to no longer function properly without an aid, a struggle in which Gold recently began to accept.

He slowly walked towards the elevator taking nervously clicking his cane onto the floor seeing the numbers increase, uncertain of what he was going to find in the penthouse floor.

For nearly a month, Mr. Gold suspected his wife of ten years Milah might have been having an affair. The little things which lead him to be suspicious came from noticing she immediately hung up on the phone whenever he would be in the same room, her regular trips around New England resulted in the length of the trip increasing and her expenses doubling. Rather than complaining about his work habits as she did in the past, Milah no longer pointed them out even ignoring him altogether where even an accidental touch began to repulse her. Whether it was the stress of his caseload or the shame of becoming a cripple, the suspicions consumed him to the point where Gold hired one of his more trusted private investigators on his retainer. The private investigator provided evidence within the first two days but the amount of dedication he placed in his work allowed provided Gold with at least two weeks' worth of photographic evidence.

From what the private investigator discovered, Milah began seeing a struggling model in his late twenties with a questionable record named Killian Jones for the past six weeks. There was also evidence of transactions from their joint account going into a strange account belonging to Mr. Jones. When first being told about this, Gold became unusually calm about the situation; the marriage between him and Milah slowly fizzle out within the last three years as they desperately tried to have a child after he was discharged in a last ditched effort but each failed attempt lead to Milah constantly placing the blame on him for not having a child due to his obsession in overworking.

Mr. Gold entered his home somewhat hoping Milah was out in order to plan out the best way in confronting her. Mistaken as he was, Milah was home and judging by the sounds coming from their bedroom; she was not alone.

Livid and seeing red, Gold decided to scare them heading towards his study picking up his gun from the back drawer then going into his safe to switch them with blank bullets as Milah had trouble telling them apart. Due to the cane creating a clanking sound, it became necessary for Gold to tightly grip onto the railing as he began limping towards the stairs. Finally up the stairs, he slowly walked into his bedroom finding the door slightly opened. He could have sworn Milah became louder with each passing seconding leading him to believe perhaps Milah intentionally wanted to get caught. Gold slowly opened the door, rolling his eyes to find Milah's back facing him with who he had assumed was Jones. Deciding enough was enough; Gold drew his gun firing on the headboard, leaving the lovers in a haste to cover themselves whilst clinging onto one another as their interrupter pointed his gun to them.

"Seumas, what the hell are you doing here?" screaming as though she were the offended party looking frightened, unaware of her husband's next actions.

"Didn't expect me home dearie?" He shot another bullet straight to the wall freaking the couple enough to get them out of bed.

Milah picked up a nearby robe as Jones quickly up on his jeans giving Gold a smug look causing Gold to punch his rival in the eye knocking him down. It was not enough as Gold hit Jones with his cane over and over until Milah got on top of him.

"Are you mad? Stop it, you'll kill him!" screamed Milah, placing a struggle on her husband. She got pushed off where she noticed Gold's gun on the floor then aimed it to his temple causing him to stop to turn towards them. In the distraction, Jones had got up and shoved Gold where he took his cane knocking so hard it would have been nearly difficult to get up without assistance.

Dazed and injured, Gold's vision began to blue but the shape took the form of Milah standing over him in a black dress which he assumed was new going over to a newly dressed Killian discussing vacation plans, laughing and displaying acts of affection towards one another as he lay on the bedroom floor semi-conscious.

All of a sudden, Gold began to slightly feel his legs again causing him to stand up and fire the gun back at the pair grabbing their attention. "You both have five minutes to leave my home and this time, I won't miss." Hook ran off as Milah crept to the closet to collect her overnight bag picking up her emergency clothes and toiletries as Gold realized he would need to change the locks and throw her belonging out by morning. Milah walked out of the room with her head held high staring at her husband who tried to get his grip as he maintained his composure watching her head towards the front door.

"Just answer me this, why?" he asked, Milah turned her back towards raising her eyebrow and produced a laugh as she stared at her husband holding on to the railings of the staircase with his legs trembling.

"Seumas, you're so pathetic. Did you honestly think I would stay with a sniveling, little imp of a man who can't even walk with two legs?" He managed to down the stairs walking straight towards her refusing to give her the last laugh. "After this stupid little stunt of yours, I will be taking every single penny from you when the courts discover their prized barrister's exploding temper problem." He desperately wanted to hit her as he finally saw his wife for the heartless gold digger she truly was but even his temper had limits. "Can't even do it can you? Have fun limping back up." By the time the door slammed on Gold's face, he began hearing the car to take off with the image of Milah and Jones laughing at him.

After what felt an eternity, he headed into his study smashing any items that were in his path.

Four Months Later

Belle panted as she ran from the subway platform towards a trendy eatery in Greenwich called Granny's hoping her boss wouldn't reprimand her or at worse fire her due to it being the third time this month she had been several minutes late for work. This time however, she could blame the subway traffic as it was the time of day where traffic increased causing cars to easily full up with the next one arriving within 5-10 minutes later. Heading towards her locker, she got her apron and tied her hair into a bun; the locker door was slammed causing Belle to jump as she saw her friend Ruby greeting her. "Good afternoon sweetie, WOW! Ariel wasn't kidding when she said you got a new look; I almost didn't recognize you, so tell me Blondie what is with the Marilyn Monroe hair?"

She tried not to be embarrassed about her golden blonde hair with Ruby scanning her, "I thought because we get a lot of wealthy yuppies, a change in hair would get me bigger tips. Don't be jealous Granny scolded your red highlights last month." Leaving Ruby speechless, Belle headed towards the bar room to find her shift schedule when Ruby caught up with her once again. "Oh before I forget, Granny's surgery is tomorrow. Do you mind taking over my shift? I'll cover for you next time and will give you half of the tips."

Due to Granny's heart attack the previous month, Ruby moved back to her family home in Brooklyn and began to place an effort in running the business. While the work continued to stress her, Ruby persisted as the rest of the staff showed support and Granny's sarcastic remarks relieving tension.

"Yeah sure, you don't even need to ask. Give Granny my love." Ruby hugged Belle and went into the back room for her break as Belle began her shift. She went towards patio section, turning her attention towards a beautiful woman at least fifteen years older than her who appeared from the pages of Vogue magazine. "Hi, my name is Belle and I will be your server this afternoon. Shall we get started with some delicious orange ice tea?" handing her the menu trying her best not to gawk at how stylish she looked.

The woman looked at her as though she was trying to study her instead of the menu. "Actually I would like to get a Long Island Ice Tea along with a Caesar salad." Belle flinched already realizing the situation she was in, it is against restaurant policy for minors to serve alcohol but she looked around noticing the other servers were busy plus she wanted to get as many tips as she could today. Belle reluctantly wrote down the order until she observed the woman's abdomen appeared to be large enough to state she was pregnant. While Belle had a poor way of estimating the correct amount of months, she guessed it must have been late first trimester.

"I am sorry ma'am, I'm only 18 and Granny's has this policy were you need to be over 21 to serve alcohol." She continued, "It's none of my business but I don't think you should be drinking." The woman gave Belle a death stare where she points out the client's stomach letting her know there was no confusion for being overweight. She knew it wasn't her business what others did to their bodies, but Belle was not willing to risk getting fired or deported because some bored housewife refused to listen to her pediatrician.

"Oh my goodness, I sometimes forget. You are such an adorable little thing for observing when most of my friends hardly noticed. Bring me your suggestion along with the salad." Belle hurried along with the order while working on her other tables hoping she wouldn't say the wrong thing. At times she stopped by to check on the pregnant woman who in turn gave Belle a strange vibe as though the girl were a lab rat or working class trash. Later when Belle started clearing the patio for the dinner rush, she noticed the pregnant woman's tab had not been picked up. To her surprise, she left her not only a $100 tip but also a business card with a message on the back.

If you need to earn some extra money, call me at this number

Milah Gold.

Belle forgot about the incident for the rest of the day when she headed back to her apartment on Washington Square. She opened the door greeted by trapped steam as Ariel forgot to turn on the fan while ridding the water from the pasta bowl into the sink.

"Open a window Belle, dinner will be ready in just a few minutes!" shouted the redhead. Doing as her roommate instructed, Belle opened the window letting out the air and set up the table. The girls spend rest of the night eating pasta and looking over their notes for their exam on Lolita the following morning and peer reviewing their essay.

Belle never could believe how her luck changed since moving to New York from Melbourne four months earlier. After graduating from high school, Belle began working two jobs in order to save up for a plane ticket as she eagerly waited for her letter to arrive. Even though she was given financial aid for the University of Melbourne, Belle's dream was to live in the states where she needed to wait a year until she got her letter for NYU. However by the time she got her acceptance letter, the housing department no longer had spaces available leading her to spend the first two weeks in New York living at a hostel in Brooklyn spending her days reading the ads for places until she stopped by the campus for orientation finding a notice requesting for a roommate not far from the campus.

Desperate and exhausted, Belle met with the tenants; a plucky redhead named Ariel and a tall brunette named Ruby who were looking for a third person after their other friend Mary Margaret recently moved out to get married. Both Ariel and Ruby hoped whoever answered their ad would be older since the college sophomores wanted someone as dependable as them where Belle defied their expectations and provided a deposit along with the first two months' rent causing Ariel to let her guard down allowing Belle to move in that afternoon with Ruby recommending her applying at her grandmother's café several days later.

Within a week of moving in, the girls easily got along becoming fast friends. There were differences the roommates dealt with such as Belle being up several hours a week throughout the summer skyping with her family or someone forgetting to do their chores but there was a family unit in the apartment where Ariel took her roommates to her family's beach home in Martha's Vineyard durng the labor day weekend. At the gathering, Belle was finally introduced to Ruby's childhood friends; the former roommate with an angelic face named Mary Margaret and her husband Officer David Nolan who spent the majority of the trip telling everyone tales of their honeymoon in Maui or embarrassing stories of high school leaving Ariel and Belle laughing at the moments Ruby pretended she had no idea what Mary Margaret was talking about.

Throughout the next month, Milah frequented Granny's during lunch or dinner. Sometimes alone or at times she brought a few people who looked in the same circle, always asking for Belle to serve her. Their conversations appeared harmless as Milah would often ask about Australia causing Belle to realize early on it was not in matter of genuine interest but in being assured the stereotypes exists. During those times, she rolled her eyes and humored the women even though Belle wanted to throw their water at them when hearing the comment over a "pet kangaroo". Other times the conversations would be about the current day, weather, and suggestions for what kind of pin would suit the hairstyle Milah tried on for that specific day or sometimes pointing out Belle waifish appearance.

The only salvation from putting up with Milah came with the outlandish tips.

Milah would always give her tips ranging from $50 to $200, at one point Belle wanted to refuse in switching shifts with Ruby, but she scolded her for even considering refusing the money. What Belle failed to tell Ruby however, had been the days in which she would receive the larger tips; Milah would brush off a bruise causing Belle to take notice the older woman was making it perfectly clear she was letting the server know.

The bruises were different as the first one was on her neck giving the pattern impression someone had chocked the wealthy woman then others would follow with finger shaped indentures on her left forearm. She tried her best not to stare but she couldn't help but wonder as she noticed the baby bump growing larger with each passing week. One day, Milah arrived again to the restaurant this time wearing dark sunglasses. A normal fashion statement but with the cold weather, the patio was closed off causing the patrons to eat indoors allowing Milah to comply and taking off her glasses revealing to Belle a large black and purple bruise on her right eye causing difficulty in keeping it open. There was some effort to conceal it but the foundation could only cover so much were it gave the injury more apparent.

"Is everything going well ma'am?" Belle knew she was stepping beyond her boundaries but it still bothered her seeing someone could be hurt and nothing was being done about it.

"You are so sweet to ask, promise me something little one, never get married. One day you think Prince Charming is the world, followed by a comment here and reaction there." Belle took a step back watching Milah beginning to tear up, "It's not always bad, Seaumas usually says 'sorry' and gives the most expensive gift he can get as a way of making it up". While Milah smiled as though she was thinking of a fond memory, she tucked her hair in the back of her ear showing Belle an elaborate diamond earring. Belle felt both disgusted and sympathetic to this poor woman's suffering, she knew these stories existed but never thought they occurred to people whose shoes would cost more than her week's wages.

"Have you ever tried to leave him or tell someone about this?"

"I can't because Prince Charming is an upstanding member of the community. He's a powerful lawyer were even the cops refuse to believe this man can be a monster" The information continued to plague Belle after she left Milah to serve the other customers.

Belle wanted to go and help this woman in some way but what was there for her to do? She began suspecting or more likely hoping that Milah might already be planning on leaving her husband as pregnancy looked too larger for someone who was only five months. As she went to retrieve the bill for Milah, Belle decided as a way to express her gratitude getting one of the cards she got from a sexual harassment seminar she and Ariel had gone to the other night.

"Thank you very much for you service ma'am, hope to see you again and enjoy the rest of your day" Belle gave Milah the card were to her surprise the woman had not flung it to her face but instead gave her a $500 tip. After the tables were cleared, Belle decided to give the $500 to Ruby who pointing out once again her friend was foolish but happily receiving the cash.

After that encounter, Milah never arrived back to the restaurant causing Belle to assume everything was fine even though she did admit to herself, she missed the tips. Life went back to normal for Belle as she went to class, work, and home and studied followed by an occasional dip in the campus pool even with Ruby finally moving back leaving the apartment needing its much missed to chaotic normalcy. There were times were Belle and Ruby felt they were being watch when coming home from Granny's. To put Granny's mind at ease, David sometimes volunteered whenever he was off-duty to escort the girls' home even spending another half an hour checking out the neighborhood making sure everything was fine.

Midterms arrived and left with Belle deciding to stay home after suffering a week of sleep deprivation as Ariel and Ruby went out to celebrate. The lack of sleep, survival on coffee and strain of her eyes due to late night reading finally took a toll on her as she began resting her eyes followed by landing her face on her books and sleeping between its pages.

All of a sudden a loud buzzing noise violently woke Belle up, flinching so hard she nearly fell off her chair thinking she was late for class.

By the time Belle processed everything, the buzzing continued two more times before it stopped. She thought one of the girls might have forgotten her key again which is understandable but not at 2 in the morning. Nevertheless, Belle hurried to the door until she heard a faint sound of footsteps walking away followed by silence. Getting her keys and can of mace, Belle walked out of the apartment door seeing no one at first until she looked down confused at the bundle standing on her doorstep. A store bought white basket surrounded by blankets muffling the sounds that appeared to be crying. She quickly unwrapping the blanket, shocked at her discovery.

A tiny infant who appeared to be newborn wrapped up revealing to be dressed in a white onesie with a blue balloon embroidered in the chest. His head and tiny red hands were freezing.

Terrified, Belle picked the baby up whose cries increased luckily not waking up the rest of the floor. ""Shhh, don't cry sweetie. It's okay, everything will be fine" I hope.

She began humming "Hush, Little Baby" soothing him after mama promises for a billy goat. Cuddling the infant close to her, Belle picked up the basket closing the door finding under the blankets contained an envelope addressed to her containing a letter, a business card and a birth certificate.

To Miss French,

Promise me you will do everything possible for my husband to never find the child, after all the scars and bruises I could never let the same fate be repeated. You will find a birth certificate giving you all the information you need and a card for the law firm Mills, Green &Hearts, ask for Regina Mills, she will find a way to help you. As for the child, you can tell whatever you want about me but it would better to say I never existed.

Good luck

Milah

Belle teared up reading this letter after a fourth time. She curled her body into the couch holding the baby close to her, immediately regretting not listening to her better judgment despite Milah's constant warnings to not report this to the authorities. At the same time, she became infuriated at the realization from seeing the birth certificate this this child was not even a day old and already lost his mother. She was not only furious at the father hoping he met an early grave but at Milah for her irresponsible acts. How did this woman not know something so basic as to bundle up a child? Then it began to dawn all the little things she remembered regarding Milah's eccentricities; the incident over the alcohol and hiding the pregnancy. Belle assumed Milah might have been four or five months which now revealed the timing was in fact eight. What if the ice tea wasn't the first incident and there might be other serious faults in the child?

Belle checked her watch realizing it was late but went to get her keys and coat as she took the boy out of the apartment where they started to get into her car only remembering she did not possess a car seat.

Luckily, Ariel and Ruby headed back into the apartment as they bumped into one another on the corridor.

"Belle, what are you doing it's late. Whose baby is this?" each responded noticing the baby in their roommate's arms looking confused as they began sobering up.

"It's a rather long story, I need to make sure he's okay over the next few days and take him to the hospital in the morning." Ruby took a glance at the baby and began to hold him with Ariel still looking at Belle with a motherly scorn causing the young girl to lower her head. Ruby went to the cupboard to pick up the coffee grounds and began boiling milk into the sauce pan.

"Alright fine, just give us a bit to sober up. I don't think it's a good idea for Ruby and I to be sleeping every five seconds." Belle thought that was fair enough handing Ariel with the infant as she gathered the cups for the girls. "What's his name?" Ariel asked.

Belle now froze at the fact when she read the birth certificate, there was no name only "Baby Boy" leaving to her frustrations over this whole situation. She spotted her book on plants in the coffee table in which the bookmarked turned to the bailey leaves giving her an idea on what to name this unusual child.

"Bailey…" declaring it with speed where Ariel simply nodded.

Ariel wanted nothing more than coffee in her system perhaps a sleeping pill as her patience was getting tested but between making sure Ruby didn't leave the bar with some creepy and finding a baby in her apartment, she just cut her losses and accepted the matter and joined her other roommate as Belle began to place a makeshift bed for Bailey in her room.

"So what did you think, Bailey or Bae for short?" the baby started squirming leading his hand to touch Belle's index finger soothing hers. She held the baby close to her until he fell asleep until the room stayed silent with the sounds of Bailey's breathing, feeling tired she scrunched by to the bed seeing the child completely for the first time full of love and admiration.

"Sleep well my little prince." She kissed the boy goodnight promising to never leave him.

Next Chapter: Belle and Ruby turn up the charm at the Pediatrician office and Belle realizes she is in over her head.