He had been frozen with fear. Rumplestiltskin had never been so scared since he became the Dark One, because he usually was in control of his feelings, but right now his heart was pounding in a strange way, one that remembered him of his coward days. It took him some angry screams from Belle to get him moving to do things, focusing in her and what she needed from him now.

Using his magic, his transported himself to Mrs. Potts' front door, knocking insistently rudely at it.

"Just a second!" He heard her shouting from inside the house.

Each second she lingered, making him want release the monster and do cruel things to that stupid midwife and in past, before Belle entered his life, that was surely what he would have done, but not now. Not when he had someone who believed in the man beneath the beast waiting for him at his home, and when this certain someone was about to bring his child to the world. So instead, he waited.

Mrs. Potts finally opened the door after what seemed a whole eternity for him. Her face was just as surprised and scared as the first time. "The Dark One!"

"Yeah, I think we've already been through this, dearie." Rumplestiltskin replied, anxious to go back to the Dark Castle. "I need you to get your stuff and come with me, my lady Belle is in labour."

"Your lady?"

"Aye. If you don't mind, we need to hurry, the baby is coming earlier."

Mistrustfully glancing at him she nodded, wisely choosing not to discuss with the Dark One and grabbing a similar bunch of things than she did the first time. Mrs. Potts had just finished doing it, when Rumple quickly clicked his fingers together, to make them appear in the chambers where Belle was. The midwife looked around with confusion, realising that they were transported by magic, before moving towards the bed, setting her big metal bowl on the nightstand as Rumple reached to his lover, touching her face wet with her tears.

"Oh, thank gods, you are here!" She exclaimed, leaning into his touch. "Rumple there is a lot of blood!"

His gaze dropped and his heart attempted to stop. Her nightgown was soaked in red.

"Oh, no." Mrs. Potts muttered.

Belle hadn't panicked yet, not even when she first felt the blood starting to drip from her, at least not until she heard those two words leaving Mrs. Potts mouth. The woman seemed so concerned when she realised that the lady's nightgown was spotted in red liquid, that it made a jolt of fear pass through her body.

Setting herself between Belle's legs and pulling her skirts up, Mrs. Potts took fast a look before shouting at Rumple: "I need warm water and some clean cloths."

"What is wrong with her?" He asked without moving.

"I don't know, but we need to stop the bleeding now or we will lose both of them."

Reality hit her alongside with another pain. Belle clenched her teeth and took a deep breath before speaking. "No." She said. "Please, you need to save my child."

Rumplestiltskin made the things Mrs. Potts asked for, appear and ignoring Belle's request, she soaked a cloth in the warm water and pressed it against her entrance, from where blood was still dripping. "She has no passage for the baby yet, it will take some time before the birth."

"And the bleeding?" The imp asked, worried.

"I don't know where it is coming from. Something inside her probably was hurtten when the water broke and the baby started to make his way out."

Belle didn't really care for any damage that could have been made inside her now, the only thing she wanted was her child to have a chance to be born completely healthy. The loss of blood was already dizzying her and she prayed that she wouldn't die before she could bring that baby to the world. At her side, Rumple had terror shinning in his eyes.

"Do you think I can heal her with my magic?" He questioned Mrs. Potts.

She shrugged and sighed, glancing hopelessly at the cloth she was still holding against her lady's flesh, that had already turned red. "You can try."

"Don't let it die." Belle whispered for him, her eyes heavy with a sudden sleepiness that made even the next contraction seem like nothing.

His hands were shaken. Rumplestiltskin felt unsure about his powers for the first time, not knowing if it would be enough to stop the disaster that things were heading to, but he had to try, it apparently was the last hope he had to save the woman he loved and their child, so he let his fingers touch her belly, and the healing magic pass through them.

Nothing seemed to happen, what got despair filling him, before Mrs. Potts say: "The bleeding stopped."

"Thank gods." Belle muttered in relief.

Slowly her strength returned, washing away the dizziness and sleepiness she had been feeling.

"Alright milady, I'll clean you and then you need to take a walk to help open your passage."

Even not being sure if walking was something she wanted to do, Belle nodded, because she knew it was what she needed to do to have her baby in her arms. "Ok." The chubby woman grabbed a clean cloth, wetting it and raking it to her skin, leaving a cold sensation behind. Belle held a scream when a painful contraction came. "It hurts." She said, when it was gone.

"I know and unfortunately it will only get worse." Mrs. Potts replied, not succeding in calming the lady, she left the used cloth aside and looked up at Rumplestiltskin. "Dark One, help her stand and walk. If you can give me some sheets, I can prepare the bed for the birth so the mattress won't get damaged."

"You call me master, dearie."

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Help her."

After making the sheets appear with magic, Rumple stood up and helped Belle to get on her feet, wrapping an arm around her shoulders to support her while they walked around the chambers. "Come on, sweetheart."

Now that the bleeding had stopped, Belle finally felt like she was going to make through it, but it didn't mean that she was free of the pain. When a contraction came, she stopped walking, gripping both at the base of her belly and Rumple's arm. "Oh, damn it, this is horrible."

"Think about our child, about holding it." He said.

"I'm trying." Belle replied. Her lover certainly had no idea of how painful that was. "I was scared with all that blood."

"It's over now, sweetheart." Rumplestiltskin assured her, kissing Belle's forehead. "Keep walking."

"Lay down, milady, your contractions are coming faster, I need to check on your passage."

Rumplestiltskin helped Belle to lay back on the bed, sitting by her side as Mrs. Potts lifted her nightgown to examine the lady, her thin fingers touching the pink skin to make sure it was already time for the baby to be born.

"You're ready." The midwife said. "When the next contraction comes, you need to push."

Belle nodded, breathing in, a little fearful again.

"You can do this, sweetheart." Rumple whispered to her, grabbing her hand firmly in his.

She was about to say how much she loved him when she felt the pain and had to interrupt herself to start pushing. It was like she was being ripped in two from the inside, but Belle clenched her teeth to keep herself from screaming.

"Very well. Do it again." Mrs. Potts encouraged and the lady repeated the movement at the next contraction. "Good girl, keep going."

Tears of pain blurred Belle's eyes and she gripped Rumplestiltskin's hand so hard that she could've broken one of his bones. He didn't complain, thought, just sat by her side in silence, watching everything with anxious eyes. Belle pushed again and then, Mrs. Potts' thin hands tapped on her knee with urgency.

"Stop!" She commanded.

At this word, Belle stopped her efforts and looked down to the midwife. "What is wrong?"

"The umbilical cord is wrapped around the baby's neck. If you push again, you'll strangle it." The woman explained, making her heart start to race. Everything seemed to be converging to disaster.

Rumplestiltskin didn't even knew what he should be expecting or not anymore, but he knew that it definitely wasn't this. Their baby was in danger, stuck inside it's mother, incapable of getting out because the cord was around his neck. Killing it. He saw the panic that should as well be in his face, appear in Belle's.

"Milady, I'm sorry but now it will hurt." Mrs. Potts advised.

Then Belle screamed. It was a loud desperate sound of pain that came through her throat when she felt the midwife's hand slip inside her, ripping her flesh as they started to work to free the baby. Each movement made fresh tears stream down her face.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?" Rumplestiltskin stormed glancing in horror at Mrs. Potts. "You are hurting her."

"This is the only way to save your child's life, master." She simply answered, continuing to work. Belle prayed that it didn't have to last too longer, because this pain was horrible and she was afraid for her baby.

When Mrs. Potts bloody hands finally slipped out of her, she sighed in relief.

"Alright. I've freed it. Push now." Feeling grateful, she did so. "The head is fully here. Continue."

Rumple kissed her fingers, giving her a loving glance. "You're doing fine, Belle."

"Doing fine?" She couldn't help but ask, breathless with the effort. "This is your idea of doing fine?"

"Milady, focus. Don't pay attention to him now."

Trying to concentrate, Belle let the next pain take control of her and pushed as hard as she could. "Just one more." Mrs. Potts said, happily and she used every strength she still had to do so, the baby falling completely in the midwife's arms. "It's a boy!"

Rumplestiltskin lifted his chin to see him while Mrs. Potts worked to clean his little mouth, letting his cries fill the chambers and his heart stopped, a knot forming in his throat as he started whispering: "Oh, gods. I'm sorry, Belle, I'm so sorry."

"Why?" She asked with wide eyes, unsuccessfully trying to raise herself from the bed to peek a look at the baby, but her lack of forces keeping her in place. "Is he dying?"

"No, milady, of course not." Mrs. Potts assured, sharing a look with Rumple that told him that she thought that he was the greatest idiot she had ever met in her whole life. "He came earlier and is very small, but it's strong enough to survive."

The former maid, held her arms up. "So, let me hold him."

Cutting the umbilical cord and finishing to clean all the fluids from the baby, Mrs. Potts wrapped him in a soft white blanket and handed him to Belle, that received the child with the biggest smile she had ever wore. Rumplestiltskin sighed, waiting for the smile to disappear and all the bad reactions possible to start, he whispered one last time: "I'm truly sorry."

Belle, otherwise, didn't payed attention to his words, she was too busy being amazed by her first sight of their baby. Her mouth opened in surprise and wonder when her gaze fell to her son, the tiniest thing she ever had the chance to hold, crying and fuzzing a little, his green-gold arms hitting the air, until the mother managed to calm him.

"He is gorgeous." She said, overjoyed.

"Belle - " Rumple tried to say, incapable of believing in her words. "His skin."

Looking at her lover, she smiled with kindness. "Is beautiful, just like yours. Look at your son, Rumplestiltskin, he is perfect."

In fact, that baby was the sweetest thing and was his child, but the Dark One was full of worries, that he couldn't even start to list. He knew things seemed too good to be true. Something had to go wrong. "I've passed my curse to an innocent child."

Shooking her head, Belle cupped his cheek with one hand, rubbing her thumb against his scales. "Rumple, look at me. I love both of you in each detail. Won't you love him?"

That had started to scare her. She was complexly in love with that baby, but Rumple didn't seem to share it, and Belle feared that he would reject their child just because it remembered him of what his curse had turned him into. What, deep inside, he never wanted to be. But she was wrong, because as he promised, he would never abandon a child of his, he was just feeling that he had failed again.

"Of course I love him, Belle." Rumplestiltskin said, and touched a finger in the child's tiny arm, letting a smile appear in his lips. "This is my son, the same baby we felt kicking from inside you so many times. I just think you deserve better. And he deserves better."

"No. I deserve the family I chose and I'm overwhelmed with joy right now, because I have the most special, handsome child I could ever ask for."

"I love you, so much." Bending, he met lips with her in a lazy kiss, before asking: "Can I hold him?"

"Sure."

The lady passed the baby for Rumple, setting him to his father's warm, strong arms, what made him attempt to cry again, but as soon as the father started rocking him it stopped. Rumplestiltskin's heart was once again filled by the kind of devotion a man can only feel for his child, the feeling of never wanting to let go of it. A kind of compromise that stuck with you forever. "Hello, little one. I'm sorry for my moment of shock, but I think you are beautiful too, just like your mother does. Your papa will always stand by you. You will never be alone."

"Gideon." Belle said, laying her head on his shoulder. "His name is Gideon."

"After that character from Her Handsome Hero?"

"Yes, do you like it?"

He nodded, smiling. "I think it's perfect. A strong name for a strong boy."

Mrs. Potts, who had long been forgotten by the new parents, cleaned her throat to make them aware of her presence again. The couple turned to her. "Milady, we need to clean you and then you should try breastfeeding." Belle agreed with a wave of her head and positioned herself back as she was before. "Give me a small push." With less effort, she pushed to let what was left from the birth, slip out of her, and Mrs. Potts wrapped the bloody sheets together, taking them away from the bed. "Good, it's done."

"Hand him to me." Belle asked Rumple, who was apparently completely lost in the sight of their son. He passed him to the mother and waved a hand to make all the mess left in the room disappear, including her destroyed nightgown, that was changed by a new one. She kissed Gideon's forehead. "So little. So dear. So precious. I will love you forever."

The midwife went back to her side in the bed, after washing her hands in one of the bowls of water. "He is really special." She pointed out. "I've assisted a lot childbirths, but never before saw one so beautiful. Who could ever say that this is the Dark One's son? They may have the same skin but it definitely looks better in a baby."

"Thank you, Mrs. Potts."

"Let's try to feed him." Belle nodded and started to try to open the buttons of her nightgown with only one hand, what didn't work, so Rumple did it for her, pushing it aside and freeing one of her breasts. She looked at the baby without knowing how to make him take it. "Here, this way." Mrs. Potts said, helping her to position Gideon and lean him to take her nipple.

"Oh!" Belle sighed when he started sucking. "He seems hungry."

"It's a good thing," the midwife explained. "We would have to worry if he doesn't."

Rumple watched everything, amused. His forehead touched his lover's. "Thank you, Belle."

"For what?"

"For him. For giving me the chance of having a family again."

She leaned to kiss him again, opening her mouth to let their tongues work together in that slow rhythm they so enjoyed, the baby between them, making the moment even more special.

"Well, I think I should go." Mrs. Potts muttered, her cheeks blushing.

"No, Mrs. Potts" Rumplestiltskin spoke, moving away from Belle. "You're invited to stay as our nurse and housekeeper."

"Nurse?" She lifted her eyebrows.

"Aye. I know that you're a widow and my Belle is going to need some help with the baby, so your services will be need and your payment will be huge."

"I - I don't know."

"Oh, please, stay Mrs. Potts." Belle asked, with her sweet voice in tone.

The chubby woman, hesitated but ended up accepting. "Fine. For the lady and the baby."

"Great, you'll have a room downstairs." Explained the Dark One. "It's just look for the only opened door you'll be able to find."

"Understood. Call me if you need something, master and milady."

She left their chambers, closing the door behind her and there was a moment of silence. Rumplestiltskin and Belle just looked at Gideon, having the first snack of his life, making little sounds as he sucked, eyes still closed. The realisation came to the imp. "You are right."

"About what?" Belle questioned.

"He is perfect."