(A word on the timeline and Rumpel's age: Rumpel is the same age as he was in Manhattan, just moved up into Snow/Charming/Belle/Cinderella's timeline. There is no Dark Curse… at least, on him…)

"CHARMING!"

Snow's voice bounced easily against the stone castle walls, just as loud as if he'd been in the room with her. Charming groaned and rested his head against the wall, closing his eyes. Snow had become, well, a nightmare lately with her pregnancy. He understood that she was uncomfortable, but her shortened temper was setting him on edge as well.

"Charming?! Where are you?!"

It was tempting – very tempting – to say nothing. To hide outside the castle and pretend he couldn't hear her, to let the anger and frustrations building inside her settle before trying to speak with her again.

But he also knew that doing that could set her more on edge, and get him yet another night sleeping in the nursery, in the rocking chair that still didn't have any cushioning on it (Granny had promised it'd be done by now, but Snow had kept insisting that their child's baby blanket was to come first).

"I'm in the kitchen, my love," he called back, holding a large mug of hot chocolate with cinnamon in his hand, already well prepared for whatever it was she was upset about.

His wife arrived only moments later, tears brimming at her eyes. Charming's own shot up in worry, and he got off the stool, the hot chocolate in his hand, and went to her.

"Snow, what's wrong?" he asked. She looked so terrible, something must have honestly been wrong.

"T-the baby blanket for Emma – " the woman whimpered. "Granny didn't get the shade of purple correct!"

Charming let out a sigh of relief, handing her the hot chocolate. "Oh Snow, I know you had your heart set on the same purple as the ribbon your mother gave you…"

"I-it's not fair!" she wailed, nearly spilling the hot liquid over the front of her gown. "E-everything was going to be so perfect and now it won't!"

"Snow…" he said carefully, knowing the thin ice he was treading on. "Please… Granny will make it better."

"HOW?! That shade of purple is the only thing that I have left of my mother! The only thing that keeps reminding me that everything will be okay!"

He felt slightly hurt at that, but he didn't say it.

"I know," he told her, pressing a gentle kiss to her head. "But we're still getting our happy ending. Our little girl, Snow. Your stepmother is locked away, unable to hurt us. She will love us, like we already love her."

Snow sniffled, but her tears slowed – a positive sign.

"Come on, Snow…" he murmured, "you must be exhausted…" She needed rest.

"But you made me hot chocolate with cinnamon…" she murmured, her eyes betraying the defiant tone in her voice.

He laughed and rubbed her back. "You can finish up the hot chocolate, alright. But then I want you to rest."

"Okaaaaay…" she whined, stretching into his touch.

He chuckled and kissed her cheek, holding her close as she drank her hot chocolate, smiling a little.

"Our baby girl…" she whispered. "Little Emma…"

David smiled, nodding. "Little Emma Ruth…"

"Oh David… I feel so lucky. I can't believe you fought so hard alongside me when Regina was after me," she said. "You make me so, so happy."

"Snow, you know you don't have to thank me. I love you. We are true love, and nothing will ever be able to break us apart," he told her, kissing her softly and licking off a drop of hot chocolate from the ruby red lips that he adored.

She returned his kiss and smiled at him. "I know. I just never thought… after Regina sent me on the run… that I'd ever be able to find someone like you."

He tilted her chin up with his hand and gave her a kid smile. "That's why you always need to keep your faith, Snow… just like in this situation with Emma's blanket. Everything shall be perfect. You'll see…"

"It's just so hard…" his wife replied.

"I know, I know…" was all he could say. "But, you must remember that Granny only wants to make you happy Snow. She's only human, she makes mistakes… but even so, Emma will love the blanket. She will be loved."

Snow nodded, setting her empty mug down. "She will be loved…" she murmured sleepily, burying her head in Charming's chest, to a chuckle from the man.

"Carry me?" he heard her mumble against his chest.

He almost laughed again, before realizing she was serious. Charming mentally groaned, before bracing himself and carefully lifting her up, taking her to their bedchamber for a nap.

Once he made sure she was deep enough asleep she wouldn't notice his absence, he slipped out of the palace, wanting to get some fresh air.

"Rumpelstiltskin, my back hurts."

Wearily, the spinner closed his eyes, inhaling a deep breath and stopping the spinning wheel before he turned and looked at his wife. Belle had been calm throughout most of her pregnancy, but the last few weeks had been hard on her, and even him.

"Allow me to rub it for you, my dear," he said, grabbing his walking stick and standing up carefully.

His accident had slowed business somewhat, because he couldn't move nearly as fast as he did before, but they were surviving, and now, business was picking back up, especially since people had begun wanting fabrics for their children. The Queen and King had caused quite a baby boom in their kingdom, and for that, Rumpelstiltskin was grateful.

"Thank you. Considering it is your fault I'm like this."

It took all of Rumpelstiltskin's energy not to roll his eyes at that accusation. Last time he'd checked, both of them had the proper… equipment to make pregnancy possible. He knew she was uncomfortable, beyond ready for their baby to appear, but even so…

"Yes Belle…" he simply sighed, sitting behind her on their bed and beginning to rub her back, Belle letting out a sigh of relief as his fingers danced over a particularly nasty knot.

"Better?"

Belle nodded a little. "Yes… that's better."

But Rumpelstiltskin could tell that there was something else wrong. Some unspoken silence hanging between them.

"It's just… will we be good parents?" she asked. "Should we ask my father for – "

"Absolutely not!" he said sharply. He loved his wife. He did not love his father-in-law. Maurice had been adamantly against their marriage from the start, despite Belle's mother trying to soften him to Rumpelstiltskin's existance. His 'precious' Belle was better than marrying a lowly spinner, son of a coward who ran out on his family.

But true love had won out. There was no way Rumpelstiltskin was going to allow Maurice near his child, nor would he allow the man to know that things… may not have been as stable as they would have liked, but that didn't matter. He and Belle loved each other, and they loved their unborn child. That, to Rumpelstiltskin, was all that mattered.

"But Rumpel, we don't know what we're doing."

"No parent does when they have their first child," he told her, pressing a gentle kiss to her shoulder. "We are no more special than the Queen and King. I'm sure she's just as panicked as you are."

Belle scoffed. "How? She has everything she could possibly want."

He raised an eyebrow. "She doesn't have a mother to help her… I mean, she has King David's mother but…"

"It's not the same. I know… I can't imagine what it's like."

"No mother has a perfect life. But they can make it as perfect as they can, for their child," Rumpelstiltskin said. "Both of you are kind, generous, caring, and motherly. Both of you are going to make beautiful mothers… even if we do not have as much as they do."

His wife smiled, kissing him. "And you are a kind-hearted, considerate man. That is why I love you," she said. "I love you."

"I love you too, my sweet Belle," he said, returning her kiss and looking into the beautiful blue eyes that had taken him the very moment he'd been in her manor offering her parents cloth and scarves for the harsh winter that had been plaguing the Forest.

"You've been working so hard, Rumpel. Why don't you take a couple of hours for yourself? Take a walk in town."

"Are you sure?" he asked, slightly surprised by her offer. Lately, she had been demanding that he stay home and take care for her. While he wasn't exactly opposed to that, to be confined to their small home and the small amount of grounds they had, well… it was beginning to grate on his nerves.

"Yes, I'm sure. You deserve a few hours to yourself."

Rumpelstiltskin nodded slowly, before standing up, leaning heavily on his cane. "You sure you'll be alright?"

"Of course I will, Rumpel. I promise."

He gave her a soft kiss and another smile before walking out the door.

"Oi! Spinner! My horse could use some target practice!" one of the drunken idiots stumbling out of the tavern called.

Rumpelstiltskin tightened his grip on his walking stick, resisting the urge to roll his eyes as he continued his walk, ignoring the man that he could smell despite being on the other side of the road.

"Didn't you hear me, spinner? I said, my horse could use some target practice!"

Apparently his message wasn't very clear, because suddenly, the man was standing in front of him, glaring down at him, his odor near-visible at this point.

"I'm sorry, sir, but I'm afraid I'm not to be used for target practice anymore," Rumpelstiltskin said with a sneer. "Now, if you will excuse me…."

"You aren't goin' anywhere."

Rumpelstiltskin's eyes flashed with annoyance as his shoulder was grabbed hard by the drunken fool and shoved to the ground. "Have you ever been impaled upon a walking stick before?" he hissed, his eyes not betraying the pain that was throbbing through him.

"HEY!"

Rumpelstiltskin and the man turned to look at whoever had noticed the scuffle, and his eyes widened when he saw the King running toward them.

"What is going on here?"

"You… your majesty. This, this spinner was in my way, threatening to impale me on his walking stick!" the man said, trying to sound fearful.

It wasn't working.

King David nearly rolled his eyes, but Rumpelstiltskin could tell he was resisting an urge to. "I can't say I blame him, if someone was threatening to use me as a horse's target practice. Now why don't you get away from him before I have you arrested for assaulting someone in front of the king?"

The drunken fool's eyes widened, and he helped Rumpelstiltskin up before hurrying away, his beady eyes looking back every so often to make sure the royal guards weren't following him.

The spinner could have laughed if the king wasn't right there.

"Are you alright, sir?"

Rumpelstiltskin nodded. "Yes, your majesty. I'm fine."

"Good. That man has caused trouble since he got here," the king sighed, hands on his hips.

"Who is he?"

"A refugee from my brother's kingdom. He claimed to have been a knight in the army, we aren't sure if we should believe it or not."

"I would lean toward 'not'," Rumpelstiltskin said. "I was a soldier in your army when you fought Regina. That man is not a true soldier. He does not have the same look in his eyes that I see with some of the other soldiers."

The king frowned. "I see. I'll have to talk to Snow about that tonight. Thank you for telling me… and for your service against Regina."

Rumpelstiltskin bowed a little. "It was my pleasure to serve, your majesty. No offense, but it was about time Snow White got her rightful place on the throne."

King David laughed. "You and I share the same thought. It took a hell of a lot of convincing for her though. By the way… did that man say you were a spinner?"

He nodded a little. "Yes your majesty. Why?"

"Do you spin purple cloth?" he asked.

The man furrowed his brow in confusion, but nodded again. "I do, yes. I just finished dyeing some yesterday."

A smile lit up the king's face. "Snow has been looking for a specific shade of purple for our child's baby blanket, and the woman who is making it doesn't have the correct shade. It's something that has sent her into a rage and it's… well, not fun."

"I know how it feels… I'll go back and see what I have. You can take it to the Queen."

But King David shook his head. "You and your wife can join us, if you'd like. I'm sure Snow would like to thank you for your service."

"I'm just a simple spinner, your majesty. We wouldn't look right in a palace."

The king looked around carefully, before smiling a little. "The truth is, I'm not a prince by birth. I was raised a shepherd. I met Snow while she was still on the run from Regina. If I am good enough to be in a palace, you surely are, for fighting with us."

"I… thank you, your majesty. I'll get my wife."

Hobbling off, the man went back to the small cottage.

Charming stood just outside the palace gates waiting for the man to return with his wife, smiling a little. It was funny to think that, once upon a time, he had been to shocked to go near Snow, or any other royals that he would see in his journeys into town. Nervous, shocked that they wanted anything to do with a shepherd that was carrying wool into town, but also somewhat honored.

"Rumpel, you must be joking," he heard a woman say, before seeing the man – Rumpel – return with who David could only presume was his wife.

"Good afternoon," Charming said with a smile.

The woman let out a squeak of shock when she noticed that it was indeed the king that wanted to speak with them.

"Welcome to the palace."

"Your majesty…" she whispered. "Thank you for having us…"

"Of course. Snow! Our visitors are here!"

His wife appeared then, carefully making her way down the stairs with a kind smile on her face. "Hello… you must be the spinner David told me about."

"Rumpelstiltskin, and my wife, Belle. The King told me that you were in need of a certain shade of purple for your child's blanket," the other man said, pulling a few strands of cloth from his bag.

Charming heard Snow gasp as she looked over the colors. "This is it… this is the color that my mother wore! The color of my ribbon!"

The relief Charming felt flowing through him was, well, the strongest he'd felt since they beat Regina and took back the crown.

"You.. you're welcome Queen Snow. Please, take as much as you need of it."

"Oh… how can we ever repay you?"

The spinner and his wife looked confused. "Repay us? Your majesty, you don't need to pay us anything – "

"Oh no, but I do! Charming told me that you also fought against Regina… but I don't recall seeing you at the ceremony honoring you all."

His wife, Belle, spoke up then.

"Oh… well, that is because I was a bit… ill that day."

Snow's eyes turned sympathetic then, and she smiled a little at the other woman. "Do you know what you're having yet?"

She shook her head. "No. We don't."

His wife's face brightened, and she reached up to her neck, pulling off the pendant Charming still didn't know how to properly read. "Ruth gave this to me. It will tell you what you're having depending on which way it swings. Hold your hand out, Belle."

She did so, and the four watched as the pendant swung.

Snow simply smiled. "Boy."