So Belle finally got to talk to her real father, I mean her biological father. I'm her real father; I raised her, he didn't. But I can't really have any hard feelings toward the man-it wasn't like he knew where to find Belle or that she even existed-except that he did, but I didn't know that and neither did Belle until he explained everything to her over the phone.

It was true that he had not known Colette was pregnant, but she had wanted to tell him. Only her parents found out before that could happen and they were not happy about it. Not only would she have been a teenage mother, but they didn't like Maurice and didn't want their daughter to have a baby with the man. So they tried to force her to get rid of it, you know what I mean, but she just couldn't do that.

Her only other option: run away. And that's exactly what she did, devastating everyone around her, including Maurice who still had no idea what was going on. It wasn't until a year later that both Maurice and Colette's parents had found out what happened to her. She had died in childbirth, but the baby Belle had survived and been put up for adoption-only to go missing soon after.

And we all know she didn't really go missing-she had just come here to live with us in North Pole but those humans didn't know that. But afther Maurice found out, he had never suffered so badly; his heart was truly broken and he did everything in his power to find his baby girl, but he never did.

Yet, just as he had given up, she had found him.

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"You know your mother and I always talked about naming our baby girl Belle if we ever had one," Maurice said, still in shock as he was talking to his grown daughter through the phone. But he was in such euphoria that he felt like he was floating on a cloud. "That's how I knew this was real-we never told anyone that."

Belle's heart swelled. She still couldn't believe this was real too and he was taking it so much better than Gold have-although Gold was not her father. "I love my name, father-I always have."

Maurice chuckled. "I'm glad. And I can't wait to see you…"

"When are you coming home?"

Maurice took a deep breath and braced himself to tell her bad news. "Not until after Christmas-I'm sorry Belle, but I can't cut my trip short-we can discuss why later. And I know that's a couple of weeks from now, but you will be there waiting won't you?"

"Of course father, I came all this way to see you! I wouldn't leave now!"

"Good. I trust you've found a decent place to stay?"

Belle bit her bottom lip. "Well, I had hoped to stay with you-but maybe I could stay at Macy's again."

"Macy's?" That made no sense to Maurice. "You're not staying in a hotel or with friends?"

"No."

Maurice sighed. "Put Gold on the phone."

"Okay," Belle agreed. She looked across the room toward Gold who was watching her intently, making no effort not to eavesdrop. "He would like to talk to you." Belle held out the receiver after telling her father goodbye and that she loved him.

Gold looked at her with his mouth formed into a thin line. What could Maurice possibly want to talk to him about? He stepped over and took the phone from Belle to speak with his partner.

"Gold listen, I'm not going to be able to come back early. You're gonna have to take care of Belle while I'm away."

"WHAT?!" Gold yelled loud enough for the whole floor to hear him and caused Belle to jump, almost falling from his chair that she was sitting in behind his desk. Gold's eyes shot down to see her looking curious and a little scared. He took a deep breath. He may not care about eavesdropping on her, but he did not want to be eavesdropped on himself.

"Belle, if you could wait out in the hall…?" It was more of a command than a question.

Belle smiled softly and nodded, standing and heading out the door.

As soon as she was out of earshot, he went back to his conversation with Maurice. "What do you mean I've got to take care of her? She's not my daughter!" He still couldn't believe Maurice was falling for this so easily. He hadn't even seen the woman, only spoke to her on the phone!

"I know, I know, but I've spent so many years looking for her, I don't want anything to happen to her and she needs a safe place to stay. I trust you, that's why I want her to stay with you."

"Stay?! You're mad if you believe I would honestly let this woman stay with me! She thinks she's an elf!" Gold was fuming.

"An elf?" This was the first he had heard of this. Belle had mentioned Christmas and Papa elf, but she hadn't made that point clear to him that she thought she was an elf.

"Yes, a Christmas elf, she thinks she's a Christmas elf and that she's spent her entire life living in the North Pole."

"Gold, that's ridiculous. I'm sure she doesn't think she's an elf, now are you going to help me or not?"

If Maurice wasn't going to believe him, then he was in for a rude awakening when he arrived home. Gold glanced out toward the open doorway where he saw Belle off in the distance admiring the large cactus in the hall. She reached out and touched it. She squealed in pain, immediately jerking her hand away because the cactus pricked her. She gave it a dirty look and then backed away unfortunately stumbling into another cactus, tripping and falling down, bringing the plant with her.

Gold rolled his eyes. The girl was not only crazy, but she was a menace! He could only imagine was chaos she would cause in his home and then what about Neal? What would he think? And what kind of father would he be if he brought a strange woman home to live with them for a couple weeks? She was harmless though; reading people had always been a talent of his.

And he was a businessman and he did like to deal and that of course won out over everything else. "I'll tell you what, Maurice. We'll make a deal. I'll let the girl into my home until you return, but in exchange you will compensate me very well for this. Not only will you pay me, but you will also cover each and every one of the girl's expenses. She sneezes and uses a tissue you will replace it. She needs a new pair of shoes you buy them. And on top of all that-you will owe me a favor which I can collect on at any time I see fit."

Now Maurice knew how dangerous it could be to owe Gold a favor. They worked together and he saw what he asked for from clients. But Maurice was truthful when he had said he trusted Gold; they had known each other for many years and he would never deal with anyone else. This was his long lost daughter; he had to make sure she was in taken care of. "Done," he said firmly. "Gold, we have a deal."

Gold grinned maliciously then; just as he always did when he struck a deal that he knew was going to go mostly, if not all, in his favor. "Very well, consider her in good hands and feel free to check in on her as you please." He sounded enthused about this entire prospect now, but it was only an act. Deep down he was enraged, but he knew he would come out on top in the end. It would all be worth it. He could handle whatever she could dish out-or so he thought.

"Mister Gold…" Belle peeked around the doorway. She looked very disheveled. "I…I think I might need a bandage."

She held out her hand then, which had a few cactus spikes protruding out the palm and was dripping blood.

Gold sighed heavily and hung up the phone with Maurice. "Why didn't you ask for David's help?" he reproached.

"H…he's not here…"

He glanced up at the clock. It was after five and his assistant must had gone home for the day. Now he would have to deal with this. He groaned inwardly, retrieved a first aid kit and motioned at her to follow him. "Come on, I'll take you to the bathroom to wash up."

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Belle sat on the sink and allowed him to clean her wound, cringing when he removed the spines from the cactus. It was hard not to jerk away, but after trying that once and having him yell at her prevented her from doing it again. A few tears burned her eyes.

Seeing the tears made him realize how painful this was for her and to his surprise he smiled softly at her, a genuine smile, but only for a second. "Don't worry-it looks worse than it is."

Belle glanced over at him just in time to catch the smile. It suited him-making him look so much younger and happier than he did with that constant scowl on his face.

"You should smile more often," she told him.

"I smile enough."

She had a feeling that was not true. "But it brings out your eyes."

He paused then and let his eyes wonder up and meet hers-her gorgeous soft blue ones and for a moment he got lost in them as he tried to figure her out. So strange this woman…why would she say something so kind like that? To him of all people?

He cleared his throat and glanced away when it occurred to him he was staring and she was so close. "Yes well…like I said. I smile enough."

"There," he said, as he finished wrapping up her wounded hand. "Now let's go."

"Go? Where're we going?" Belle hopped down from the sink, careful not to put any pressure on her wounded hand.

"To my house."

"Your house? What are we going to do there?" Belle beamed. "Watch Christmas movies? Bake cookies? Decorate the Christmas tree?"

Seriously, what was it with her and Christmas? "No," he said firmly. "You are coming to reside at my house until your father returns. After that you're his problem. Now go gather your things and let's go."