Chapter One: Happy Anniversary

Today was their anniversary.

The curse had been broken and a way home was finally found, all was well. Some found they had very little left to go home to and opted to remain in Storybrooke, Belle among them. She had come to love working at the library and the freedoms that came with it. She found that Storybrooke had more to offer her than the Enchanted Forest ever could. Here she had girl's nights with her friends (the ones that decided to stay at least), she could do anything, be anything she wanted here. And this gave her an even greater sense of worth than the day when she had sacrificed herself to save her people. There were so few limits to what she could accomplish here in this little hidden town in Maine. Without the curse preventing anyone from leaving, she could even travel and explore new places. For a land without magic, this place seemed to be pretty magical where her choices were here own.

Even though Rumpelstiltskin had yet to find his son, he had not asked her to stay. He did not want her to feel compelled to stay in this place because of him and went as far as to suggest she return home with her father. But she would have none of that. They had been apart for so long that she wasn't just going to up and leave now. The day he opened his front door to find Belle standing their, suitcases in hand and a smile on her face was truly one of the happiest days of his life. He had given her the chance to leave his side and she had chosen to stay with him. No words were needed as he stepped aside to let her in and she planted a quick kiss on his cheek before making herself at home. Rumpelstiltskin was thrilled at the thought that this was now their home and that when he came back from his shop every night, Belle would be here waiting for him. It truly seemed that they were finally getting their happy ending. And even though he had yet to find Baelfire, things at the moment were just perfect.

Today was their anniversary and Gold had big plans for this evening. After a couple months of planning and hiding from Belle, he had chosen this day to make that happily ever after just a little happier. Tonight was indeed the night when he would finally propose to his lovely Belle. More than twenty-eight years ago she had promised him forever. This time he was asking for a different kind of forever. Not as his maid but as his wife and try as he might he could not quite quench the nervous feeling in the pit of his stomach. True, she was already his in every way so there should be no reason for her to refuse his proposal. It seemed that despite knowing this, knowing she loved him as much as he loved her, Rumplestiltskin would never quite be able to shake off the feeling that Belle would wake up one day and decide she did not want to be tied down to someone like him.

As he set the table that evening (Belle had insisted she cook rather than go out for dinner) Rum went through the entire evening in his head trying to pick the perfect moment to pop the question and gather his thoughts. It was rather hard to pick just the right words to convey everything he felt, everything she made him feel just being by side. They just never seemed to be enough. So when dinner was finally served it came as no surprise that his mind went completely blank. He could scarcely even recall any of their conversation throughout dinner so he just sat there brushing his hand over the ring in his pocket and nodding. If Belle noticed his inattentiveness this evening she never said a word and just kept right on talking, excited about some new book or other. Before she could get up to clear the table and get dessert Rumple took hold of her hand, keeping her in place as he ran this thumb slowly over the back of it. She looked at him with so much warmth in her eyes he could melt and that gave him the courage to push forward with his plans.

"Belle, you know how much I love you right?" She nodded, eyeing him curiously. "Letting you go all those years ago was one of my biggest regrets and you know that I have so few of those. Now, I cannot imagine what my life would be like without you being always by my side."

He could feel the ball of nerves turning in his stomach. He was the dark one for heavensakes, he could do something as simple as propose to a woman. So why was it so darn hard to just say it? Rumpelstiltskin would not let his nerves get the best of him. Looking back into her eyes, he took a deep breath before continuing.

"My...My point, love, is...will you-"

Before he could finish his sentence Belle stood up and quickly dashed back into the kitchen where she proceeded to hurl the contents of her stomach into the trash can. Alarmed, Gold stood up to follow her and held her hair back until she finished and leaned against the counter breathing heavily. He handed her a glass of water and pressed a hand to her forehead examining her closely. He certainly hoped that she had not realized his intent and this was just some way of evading a question that maybe she was not ready for yet. It wasn't like they had never discussed this in the past and from his understanding, Belle did not seem opposed to the idea of marriage.

"Rum...there's something I need to talk to you about," Belle said while looking down at her now empty glass.

She couldn't possibly be changing her mind...could she?

"Belle, maybe you should go lie down," he replied. "You are still looking a bit pale."

"No, that's okay. I'm fine."

"I don't think throwing up for ten minutes constitutes as fine. Now, come on. You should-"

"I'm pregnant!"

The room was suddenly so quiet you could probably hear the proverbial pin drop. They stood there for a few minutes or what could easily have been seconds with Rumpelstiltskin staring at her mouth slightly gaping and her looking down at her feet. Finally, while still in a great amount of shock, he managed to utter, "What?" as Belle bit down lightly on her bottom lip.

"Well, I was feeling sick the past few weeks and at first I thought it might be a cold but when it didn't go away," She took a moment to catch her breath after letting the words just fly out of her mouth so fast she wondered if she even sounded the least bit coherent. "Then I went to the doctor and they told me I was pregnant. Roughly nine weeks."

The room kept spinning around in front of Rumpelstiltskin as he attempted to process what she had just told him, barely hearing any thing she was currently saying to him. He was vaguely aware that of Belle's voice becoming more and more distant and his vision beginning to blur. No, not blur. It was smoke...purple smoke. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath attempting to relax until he was suddenly aware of the fact that the kitchen had just gone cold. It was the breeze flowing through his hair that made his eyes snap open and he surveyed his new surroundings. This was not good. Not good at all. It seemed that between his nerves and this new, rather shocking, revelation Rum had inadvertently magicked himself to the forest neat his home. He could only imagine what Belle must be thinking right now, standing alone in the kitchen after he vanished and right after telling his such an important piece of information.

Pregnant. His Belle was pregnant. With a baby! After all their time together he had somehow failed to acknowledge the very real possibility that this could happen. It wasn't like they were always careful, sometimes just getting so swept up in the heat of the moment they wouldn't even remember to use proper protection. And considering it had not happened months before, it probably just never dawned on him that she might not be using any type of birth control either. Did they ever even discuss what that was before? She had been locked up for twenty-eight years and she certainly never had any necessity for it so why would she need to know? This was bound to happen.

And suddenly as rush of joy hit him as he once again realized that Belle was pregnant with his child. A piece of him and her all rolled into this tiny little being that was growing in her belly. It was the most magical thing in the entire universe...Then he of course remembered with a great amount of shame that he had vanished in a cloud of purple smoke and left her standing in the kitchen...alone...Right after telling him she was pregnant with his, no their, child.

Oh crap!

As fast as he could, Gold magicked himself back to the kitchen only to find it empty. She was probably upset with him right now so of course she wouldn't just be lingering around in the kitchen waiting for him. Belle probably would not even want to look at him after what he just did. He had to fix this, and quickly too before she got the wrong idea and really did leave for good this time. His feet felt heavy as he climed the stairs to the second floor where their room was, dreading what fate could possibly await him with each step if he could not make this right.

He found Belle sitting on the edge of their bed, a wad of tissues in hand and sniffling. She looked up at the sound of his footsteps as he entered the room. Her eyes looked red, tears still threatening to spill as she watch him take a seat next to her. But before he could begin uttering his apologies to her, she beat him to it.

"I'm sorry," She said quietly as she dabbed her eyes with the tissues. "I know that you are still worried about finding Bae and...look, I am fine raising this child on my own. You probably didn't even-"

Rum cut her off with a kiss and put his arms around her waist as he pulled her close. His sweet Belle was apologizing to him when she had done nothing wrong. This was all his fault, not hers. Without thinking, he pulled away and blurted out, "Marry me." Now it was Belle's turn to look shocked.

"What?"

"Will you marry me?" He repeated.

"Please tell me you are not just doing this because of what I told you."

"No. No, no, no. I have been planning this for the past two months and I am terribly sorry for the way that I reacted. I was trying to propose when you caught me off guard and I guess I just let the nerves get to me," Gold took her hands in his. "Belle, I am not in any way upset. In fact I'm thrilled! Now more than ever, I want you by my side forever, raising our family together."

He could see tears beginning to form in her eyes and again and he hoped to whatever being was out there that he hadn't just said the wrong thing. It seemed that his prayer was answered when Belle crashed her lips on his, causing them both to fall back on the bed. She held on to him as tight as she could before nuzzling her face at the crook of his neck.

"Yes, Rumpelstiltskin. Yes, I will marry you," Belle whispered into his ear before leaving a trail of kisses all the way back to his lips where she pulled him in for a deep, passionate kiss that seemed to convey all of her love for him. This night may not have gone exactly the way he had planned it in his head but it certainly did turn out a lot better than he had expected. They had a baby on the way and Belle would soon be his wife. He pressed a hand to her stomach as she continued lavashing him with kisses all over his face. Things were all starting to fall into place and right at this moment, despite not yet finding his son, everything was just perfect. Soon, Baelfire would join them too and they would all be a family.

It was a happily ever after indeed.

For those of you wondering, yes I will be making a second part to my fic "Wednesday Afternoon" at some point. But for now I am a bit excited about this current idea and want to get as much of it out of the way. Already finishing up the third chapter to this story. Please tell me what you think. Comments and ideas welcome. Speaking of ideas, anyone want to suggest a character to be Belle's doctor. She is currently nameless (could be changed to a he if needed). Title may also change later on.

Thank you for reading.