~October 10th, 1750 – 1:00 am.~

King Adam ran his hands through his hair, anxiously pacing back and forth in his private study as he awaited any news about his beloved wife, his beloved Queen, Belle. She had gone into labor with their first child about 3 hours before, about the same time he had been asked to leave the room. It killed him to know that the woman he loved more than life itself was in immense pain, and that, even if he could be in there, there would be nothing he could do to stop it. As more time passed by, he began to think back to their wedding a mere 9 months earlier, and the vows he had solemnly promised her that day.

~January 1st, 1750~

"Belle, my promise to you is but a simple one. I will love you today and every day that follows, until the end of time. With the passing of every minute, my love grows stronger and my devotion grows deeper. I will love and cherish you until my eyes can no longer see your gentle smile, my ears can no longer hear your loving words, and my hands can no longer feel your tender caress. From this moment until my dying breath, you are my love…you are my life."

As he was brought back to the present day, the full reality of what was happening started to set in. He felt like he was letting her down, breaking that very sacred promise he had made to her, and that in this, her time of great need, he was unable to come through for her.

As another hour passed with still no word, and with each and every painful and agonizing scream that emanated from the royal bed chamber, it took every ounce of strength he had not to rush to her side, hold her hand, kiss her forehead, and reassure her that everything would be alright. He sat down at his desk, continuing to wait, and tried his absolute hardest to calm his nerves, but failed miserably. What was taking so long? Why hadn't he heard anything yet? Had something gone wrong, and no one could work up the courage to tell him? All those questions flowed through his head, followed by a feeling he recognized very well…fear. He was deathly afraid for the well-being of both his wife, and of their unborn child.

"Ahhh, O God, this hurts!" screamed Queen Belle, another contraction ripping through her body. She was trying her hardest to maintain some sense of calmness and dignity, but was finding it harder and harder to do so with every passing hour, especially with the contractions becoming closer together, and not to mention, more painful. She felt as if her entire body was on fire, that it was being ripped open from one end to the other. She was in excruciating pain. At this point, all she wanted was her husband, King Adam, by her side.

Unfortunately, due to the childbirth laws at the time, all men, including those of royal blood, were not allowed in the room during any and all births. Another contraction made itself painfully known, causing yet another blood curdling scream to escape her lips. As it ended, she continued to beg and plead with the midwife to allow her husband in the room but, as with all her other attempts, it fell on deaf ears.

"I'm sorry, your Majesty, but you know the rules as well as I do. No men allowed."

She was just about to reluctantly accept it this time, but as luck would have it, another excruciating contraction made it's presence known at that very moment, giving her a much needed surge in confidence. "GET MY HUSBAND IN HERE…NOW!"

"I'm sorry, your Majesty, but you know…"

"Yes," she gritted her teeth in pain, panting and breathing her way through yet another contraction "I know, but seeing as I currently feel like I'm being ripped in half, I could honestly care less about your precious rules. GET…HIM…IN…HERE…NOW!"

Finally, after realizing that there was no point in trying to reason with the Queen, she turned to one of her assistants.

"Mary, if you could please go find His Majesty, and inform him that his wife requests his presence in here immediately."

"Yes, ma'am." Belle watched as the assistant hurried out of the room in search of her husband. Suddenly, a more intense contraction hit, causing her to let out another agonizingly painful scream. By this time, they had started to become stronger and more frequent. Somehow, she knew exactly what that meant; that the time was drawing nearer and nearer for this child of theirs to be born. As that particular contraction ended, and she mentally prepared herself for the next one, she rested her hand on her large belly, softly speaking to the baby inside.

"Don't worry, little one. Papa will be here very soon."

Back in the confines of his study, Adam felt as if he was about to lose his mind, what with all the waiting and worrying. Another 2 hours had passed, now bringing the total up to 7. Finally, just when he thought he couldn't possibly wait another second, he heard a welcome knock at the door.

"Come in."

The door opened, and the midwifes' assistant walked in. She bowed to him.

"My King, the midwife has sent me to find you, and to let you know that the Queen is adamantly demanding your presence in the royal bed chamber immediately."

That was all he needed to hear. He stood up, hurriedly following her out the door. As they approached the entrance to the royal bed chamber, another agonizing scream from his wife echoed loudly from within. Knowing he could now finally see her, hold her, and comfort her as only he could, he burst through the doors. Looking around the room, he spotted her, propped up against some pillows, hunched over in pain, the sheets balled up in both hands, panting, breathing, and screaming her way through yet another contraction. He immediately ran towards her, yelling her name as he did.

"Belle! Belle!"

She heard her name, and looked up tiredly to see where the voice was coming from. Despite sweat cascading down her face like a waterfall, and her weary eyes threatening to close from sheer exhaustion, she somehow managed to make out a figure coming towards her. The next thing she knew, she was staring into the loving, comforting eyes of none other than her husband.

"Adam!" She managed a weak smile, despite all the pain, and slowly released the balled up bit of sheet in her right hand. "You're here!"

He approached the head of the bed, collapsed onto his knees, took her hand in both of his, and softly kissed it. He looked up at her, those piercing, baby blue eyes of his penetrating her very soul, a look of utter concern and worry beginning to play on his handsome features.

"Of course I'm here, my darling. Where else would I be?" He got up, pushed some hair off of her sweat – drenched forehead, knelt back down next to her, and again took hold of her hand.

In that moment, she felt safe and loved, as if they were the only two people in the world, like this was the calm before the storm. Unfortunately, the feeling didn't last long, as no more than 2 minutes later, another contraction stuck, and the first overwhelming desire to push swept over her body.

She looked up at the midwife, breathing and panting her way through yet another contraction. "I really need to push." The midwife nodded, lifting up the sheet the tiniest bit, before looking back up at them with a smile.

"Good news, Your Majesties, it shouldn't be long at all before your little prince or princess is born." They looked at each other and smiled, before Adam leaned in and whispered something in her ear.

"This is it. You can do this, my darling Belle. I know you can. You are the strongest woman I know." He pushed some hair out of her eyes, and lightly kissed her forehead. Standing up and off to the side of the bed, he immediately offered her his hand to hold and, most of all, to squeeze.

'Alright, my Queen, with the next contraction, I want you to give me your best and strongest push." No sooner had those words left her mouth, than another one swept over her. As the urge became stronger, she tightly squeezed the sheets with one hand, and her husband's hand with the other, pushing with all her might. Once it had ended, she fell back against the pillows.

The midwife looked up at her. "And again." She nodded in reply, and less than a minute later was hit with another bad one. She squeezed and pushed with every fiber of her being, screaming the entire time. As it ended, she again fell back against the pillows.

With sweat pouring off of her face, she looked up at Adam, and he down at her. "I love you, Belle, more than life itself. You're almost there. I know you can do this." They smiled, and were just about to kiss, when the midwife politely interrupted them.

'He is right, my Queen, you are almost there. It shouldn't be too much longer now. In fact, one more good push, and the head should be out." Another minute passed, and with it another strong contraction. She pushed with all she had, screaming louder than she ever knew she could as the head began to crown. A second of two later, it was out.

"Now then, Your Majesty, just two more pushes, and you should have your baby. Can you do that for me?" Belle, being completely and utterly exhausted at this point, could do nothing more than nod in reply. Another contraction swept over her, this one much stronger than all the others. She again gave it all she had, squeezing and pushing until it came to an end. "Good, now rest up, give me one last good, strong push, and then I promise this will all be over."

It wasn't even a full minute later that yet another strong, intense contraction tore through her body. She pushed with all her remaining strength, which really wasn't much at all. At that point, she could have given up, and probably would have were it not for the encouraging words spoken by her loving husband and King, Adam.

"Come on, my love, you're so close." He leaned in, placing a soft kiss on her forehead." I know you have it in you. Just a little more, and then we'll finally have our baby." That was all she needed to hear. With those words playing over in her head, she pushed only a few minutes more. The next thing she knew, all the pain and screaming had ceased, replaced instead by the first loud, strong, healthy cries of their baby. This was something they had both waited anxiously the last 9 months for, and now, it was all over. After 9 excruciatingly painful hours, their baby had finally arrived.

"Congratulations, my Queen, you have a very beautiful, healthy baby…"

"Wait, I want Adam to tell me what it is." She looked up at her husband.

"As you wish. Your Majesty, would you do the honors?" He nodded, kissing Belle's forehead, before joining the midwife.

He looked down at this tiny baby, their baby, a result of the great love shared between himself and his wife, his Queen. A huge smile spread across his face. He smiled, tears falling freely down his cheeks.

"It's a girl." He said, becoming choked up. "We have a very beautiful, healthy little princess." He walked back up to the head of the bed, leaned in, and placed a gentle kiss on his wife's forehead. "I love you so much, my darling. I'm so proud of you. She's absolutely perfect." By now, Belle had begun to cry, as well. They shared a brief, but very much deserved kiss as they waited for their new daughter to be brought to them.

~ 5 minutes later…7:05 am.~

After what seemed like a lifetime, especially to new parents like themselves, they finally saw the midwife heading towards them, holding a small, pink blanket in her arms. She had barely taken one step, though, when Belle nudged her husband, signaling for him to get the baby, and bring her over himself. He quickly got off the bed, heading to where the midwife stood.

"May I?" He reached his arms out to take the baby.

"Of course, Your Majesty. Here she is." She gently placed the crying infant into the waiting arms of her proud father. She bowed to him, before silently hinting to her assistants that they should give the King and Queen some private bonding time with their new little princess. Once they'd gone, and Adam had slowly made his way the short distance back to his wife, he was finally able to get a good long look at their precious baby girl cradled in his arms.

""Hello, my little princess." He smiled down at her and lightly caressed her cheek, tears once again coming to his eyes as her tiny little hand grabbed his finger. At the sound of his voice, she immediately quieted down, staring at him intently. "I'm your Papa, and I love you more than you'll ever know." She continued holding onto his finger, and tightly at that, as if her life depended on it. He looked up, smiling at his wife, his Queen, the great love of his life, and now the mother of his child.

Belle couldn't help but smile back at the sight of father and daughter together. "It looks like we've got a daddy's girl on our hands, and she's barely 10 minutes old." He looked back down at the baby, and smiled.

"I know, and I wouldn't want it any other way." He delicately handed her off to her mother. Leaning in close, Adam wrapped one arm around Belle's shoulders, and took hold of their newborn daughters' right hand with his left.

"Look what we did…look what we made." he said, tears once again starting to fall. He then leaned in and placed a soft kiss on her forehead.

"I know. Isn't she just the most beautiful, perfect baby you've ever seen?" By now, what with her husband crying, and her hormones still, to some degree, acting up, she began crying again, as well.

"She is. She is perfect and beautiful, just like her mother."

"Please, darling. You know very well that I'm anything but perfect."

He couldn't help but let out a small little chuckle as she said that. "Maybe so. However, if I must say so myself, you look even more beautiful now than you did on our wedding day."

They smiled, and leaned in for another kiss before turning their attention back to their baby girl.

"You know, my love, the more I look at her, the more I see that she has inherited your perfect nose and mouth."

"Maybe so," Belle replied. "but just look at her wispy, blonde locks and piercing baby blue eyes. She definitely inherited those from you."

He smiled. " Well, if you ask me, she's the perfect combination of the both of us."

"I couldn't agree more, Adam. I couldn't agree more."

They were just about to share another kiss, when their daughter all of a sudden began to fuss, wildly flailing her little arms in the direction of her father.

Belle smiled. "It looks like someone wants their Papa again." She placed a soft kiss on their daughter's forehead, before gently placing her back in her husbands' arms.

"You know, we still haven't decided on a name for our sweet little girl yet." He smiled, playing with the teeny, tiny fingers of their new baby. "Any ideas?"

Belle looked up at him briefly. "Well, I was thinking, since I went through the incredibly agonizing and painful process of actually having her, that it would only be right that her father get to name her."

"Well, that's very sweet of you, my love. I would be honored. He thought about it for a minute or so, and smiled as an idea popped into his head. "What do you think about Margaret Rose? Her first name, Margaret would be after my mother, and her middle name Rose would be after your mother. This way, not only would it be a wonderful tribute to them both, but also a way of showing that they will always be with us, all three of us, even in death."

"Margaret Rose…Princess Margaret Rose." Belle whispered to herself. "I love it. It's the perfect name for our perfect baby girl."

Adam smiled. "I'm glad you do. I knew you would." He then turned his attention back to their daughter. "What about you, little one? Do you love it, too?" She gurgled, waving her little arms in the air. He smiled, chuckling at the sight. "I'll take that as a yes." He then kissed her forehead, and carefully placed her back into her mother's waiting arms. He laid down on the bed next to her, wrapping one arm around her shoulders, and resting the other lightly on their precious daughter's sleeping form, taking one of her little hands in his.

"Welcome to the world, my little Rose. One day, this will all be yours."

As she listened to her husband whisper those sweet, sweet words to their beautiful little girl, Belle smiled. She couldn't believe just how much her life had changed in the last several years. Almost 3½ years ago, she could never have imagined that she would ever be living the royal life. Now, here she was, a Queen, married to the absolute love of her life, her wonderful and loving husband and King, Adam, and a mother to their beautiful and precious newborn daughter asleep in her arms, their little Princess, Margaret Rose.

At that moment, in the presence of her own little family, she realized that she was living the life she had always dreamed of, except that it was no longer a dream. Gone were the days of simply reading fairytales; she was actually living one. This really was happening, this really was her life, and it was perfect. Absolutely perfect.