It had been a day of mostly-undisturbed painting. Most of the township was still stuck in the loop-like rut that the timelessness of the curse inflicted upon them, and besides, the house was out of the way for most people. Henry had come specifically looking for her, and that was the only reason he'd been in the area. It was also why Belle hadn't really worried too much about talking in the open, why she hadn't immediately taken Rumple inside to hide his goodness away like her most precious treasure when he came home the previous night.

Oh, she'd dragged him inside fairly quickly, and she'd kept her voice low when talking to Henry. It was sensible to be cautious, after all.

The distance between the house and central Storybrooke meant that she got a call on her new mobile phone (or as the Americans called it, her cell phone) rather than a personal visit. It was lunch time, and the person calling her was Emma. The blonde had gone into town to get them both a burger from Granny's before returning to help paint some more. The call was to let Belle know that the recorded recitation of the storybook had apparently worked to bring the guy out of his coma, but now he was missing.

Emma was going to join the search for him, and Ruby would be bringing Belle's lunch up to the house.

Belle promised to keep an eye out – both for the John Doe and her lunch – but otherwise wished those who would be actively searching the best of luck.

Belle had other things to think about though. Since she'd done that reading of Princess Ella's story for Charming from Henry's book, the deal her husband had made with the blonde twit had been on Belle's mind.

Had Ella given birth by the time the curse had been enacted? The curse had quite literally frozen them all in time. If Ella hadn't given birth at that time, then the girl would have been pregnant for twenty-eight years. Likely heavily pregnant, with the same baby. Talk about arrested development. With time on the march through the town once more though, then she could be just as likely to pop any day.

And the girl had had plenty of time to get very attached to that little thing growing inside of her belly.

Heck, she'd had plenty of time to get attached back in the Enchanted Forest. Enough time that she'd tried to change her deal with Rumplestiltskin, tried to trick him. Rumple had let her, of course, it was part of his plan to be taken that night, but no one had come away happy that evening, according to the book. Not truly.

Belle hadn't known the details of how the deal had worked out for Princess Ella before. She did now. She had 'saved' her baby from the Dark One, but in exchange she had lost her husband. She should have thought more about those words she had used to try and trick Rumple with.

It was always possible to have more children.

Emma called again a few hours after supper – Belle had snuck a pair of spinning wheels into the lounge room of the house, set them up, and the couple had been spinning, back to back, just enjoying the silent intimacy. Rumple was particularly flattered by Belle's having learned to spin, so that she could feel closer to him while they were apart.

John Doe had been found, was back at the hospital, and according to a woman who claimed to be his wife, his name was David Nolan.

Belle was willing to lay money that Mrs Nolan was that same princess that King George had been setting up a marriage contract with when Snow and Charming had met.

"Of course," Rumple agreed. "Regina promised there wouldn't be any happy endings here. She'd have made sure that everybody's misery was properly layered. Why else would she give me a pink house? I got off as lightly as I did because of deals and the respect she has, or had, for me as her teacher, however little that may be."

"Rumple, I've been thinking," Belle said softly. "About Princess Ella..."

"Her name is Ashley now," he offered neutrally. "Ashley Boyd. She's nineteen, and heavily pregnant, despite having already birthed her daughter back in the Enchanted Forest before the curse struck."

"Mm. I read her story in the book," Belle offered. "Did she get her Prince Thomas back when Regina cast the curse? As well as that baby back in her belly, and the threat of you taking it hanging over her head?"

"His name is Sean Herman now, and in this life it was his father that approached me to find a 'good and proper home' for the unborn child. To take the baby away," Rumple explained. "At least, that is what they remember. He forced the lovely couple to part ways as well."

"What will happen?" Belle asked softly.

Rumple stopped spinning and leant back, his weight solid and warm against Belle's own back, and he leant his head further back still so that it rested on her shoulder.

Belle turned her head to kiss his temple, but she kept her wheel spinning.

"Nothing, I'm sure, worth actually probing the future over," Rumple said. "Emma is in Storybrooke, eventually she will break the curse, and when that's done I'll be able to start searching for Bae. For Ashley and her baby... I am content to let things play out however they will, without using all the resources at my disposal. It was an important deal at the time, for the plans I'd made, but a small matter now, here. I will continue to be the polite but nasty old man throughout, however."

"Alright," Belle agreed, and pressed another kiss to his temple. For a while, they remained that way, Belle's lips lingering on her husband's skin. Then they parted, well, as much as they had been apart before, and both resumed their spinning. The soft sounds made by the wheel, and the mesmerising turn kept the pair company until they decided to each retire to their separate bedrooms for the night.

~oOo~

Rumplestiltskin was a creature of many layers, masks, and faces. To the innocent, he was kind. To the foolish, he was disdainful. To the intelligent, he was respectful. To the brave, he was indulgent, comparatively speaking, anyway. Belle had been fortunate in that, when she had given herself to marry him in exchange for the protection of her country, she had been young enough to be considered innocent, but at the same time had displayed both intelligence and a measure of bravery before the great and terrible Dark One.

Furthermore, because he had bound her as his wife in their deal, and as Rumplestiltskin had some experience with relationships (particularly ones that failed due to lack of sufficient communication) he had been a great deal more open with Belle about his life story than he would otherwise have been inclined. Because Belle was his wife, and Rumplestiltskin always protected what was his – rather like a dragon guarding its hoard of treasures – he had given her more than any other before her.

He had not, however, intended to give her his heart along the way.

The only comfort to this was that Belle had, in return, given him hers – and without ripping it from her chest first.

If Belle had been older, if he'd taken her as a servant instead of a wife, (if he'd not had Harry about the place looking to him as an example of the sort of person he was to grow up to be), then Rumplestiltskin would have treated the young woman very differently.

He was grateful, really, that things had worked out the way they had, instead of the way they could have.

Generally speaking, anyway. He couldn't say he was entirely thrilled about taking a shot of pepper spray to the face, knocking his head on his counter as he thrashed in pain, and being left on the floor of his shop.

It looked like Ashley Boyd wanted to keep her baby just as much as Princess Ella had, though she was in no position to care for it this time around. In the Enchanted Forest, at least, Ella had been married to her prince and had been carrying a royal baby. She'd be cared for automatically. Here? No such luck.

"Uncle Rum!"

Rumple groaned, and winced.

"Come on Uncle Rum. You're very late coming home and Aunty Belle's worried about you. I'll take you home and she can take care of you, and in the morning I'll go see a glazier about putting in some glass that will be harder for a burglar to break."

~oOo~

Belle didn't let him leave his bed, where she had tended to him through the night after Harry had brought him home, until she was satisfied that he would be fine – and if in that time he got served his breakfast in bed, well, Rumple wouldn't complain too much about having his beautiful wife dote on him.

When he was permitted to leave the house, he heard Belle organising for scaffolding to be removed from around the building. She had needed it to paint the higher reaches of their home, but she'd finally finished the re-painting yesterday. The almost-black blue certainly looked much better than the pink had, and Rumple knew that Belle was going to start looking through all of his files today – seeing what land and buildings he owned, who owed him money, and which contracts were still in effect from the Enchanted Forest – and how well they'd stand up in a court of law.

But Mr Gold couldn't stay home. He had something to do. He'd sworn to Princess Ella that, no matter what world she found herself in, her baby would be his, and last night she had attacked him.

Still, he wouldn't be going to Sheriff Graham about the matter.

He knocked on Miss Blanchard's door.

"Mr Gold," she greeted, surprised. And distinctly uncomfortable. It seemed she hadn't forgotten Belle's comment about his having once been a man to wear leather.

"Miss Blanchard," he returned. "Is Miss Swan here?"

Mary Margaret nodded and stepped aside. "Please come in," she invited. "We were just about to have a late breakfast, can I get you anything?"

"Thank you, no," he declined. "My Belle fed me before she let me leave the house."

Mary Margaret smiled at that.

"Mr Gold," Emma greeted in turn as he stepped into the apartment. She was kneeling by a pair of cardboard boxes. Her belongings had come from Boston at last. "Hey."

"Good morning, Miss Swan," he replied politely. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I need your help. I'm looking for someone."

"Really? Um..."

"I'll leave you to discuss business in private," Mary Margaret said, and ducked out, collecting her plate of breakfast on the way.

"I have a photo," Mr Gold said, and removed from his inside jacket pocket a capture from his shop's security feed. "Her name is Ashley Boyd. She broke into my store last night and left with something very valuable."

"So why don't you call the police?" Emma asked.

"Because the girl is pregnant, alone, probably scared and confused, considering her actions," he explained. "I don't want to ruin this girl's life, I just..."

"Want back what she took," Emma finished with an understanding nod. "Can I ask what this valuable thing is?"

"Another advantage of you not being the police is discretion, Miss Swan," Mr Gold said, denying the young woman an answer on the matter. "Let's just say it's precious, and leave it at that," he requested.

"Alright," Emma allowed. "When did you see her last?" she asked next.

"Last night," Mr Gold supplied, and brushed aside some of the hair that hung by his face. An action that revealed the small cut he'd received to the head when the girl had burgled his shop and attacked him with pepper spray. "That's how I got this," he said. "And it's so unlike her," he added, genuinely confused about her behaviour. Ashley Boyd had been hopelessly meek, and as Ella had only tried to trick him out of her baby because someone else had come up with the idea. "She was... so wound up. She said something about... changing her life? I've no idea what got into her."

At the slightly guilty look that crossed Emma's face, Rumple rather thought she knew just what had gotten into the girl. Probably something she herself had said without thinking too much.

"Please Miss Swan," Mr Gold pressed. "The only other choice is the police, and no one wants to see her baby born in a cell."

"No, of course not," Emma agreed.

"So you'll help me then?" he asked.

"I will help her," Emma answered.

Rumple smiled. Clever girl. "Grand. That's grand," he thanked her.

"Hey Emma I was thinking we could -" a familiar, young voice said as the door of the apartment was opened without being knocked on first.

Henry stopped rather abruptly though when he saw Mr Gold.

"Hi Henry," Rumple greeted with a smile. He really did like the boy. "How're you?"

"O...kay," the boy answered awkwardly, clearly nervous of the old man with the dark suit and cane.

Rumple decided it was probably best he make his exit. "Well, you have a good day," he instructed the boy lightly, "and good luck, Miss Swan," he bid, and showed himself out.

"Do you have any idea who that is?" he heard Henry ask through the thin walls.

"Yeah," Emma's voice came.

"Who? Because I'm still trying to figure it out," Henry admitted.

Rumple smiled to himself. He knew that Belle had given him their story, and Henry still didn't know who he was. That was somewhat amusing.

~oOo~

Rumple smiled to see Emma drive passed his shop in her yellow bug, Ashley in the front passenger seat, and headed for the hospital. He called Belle to let her know as well. Both of them were interested in the deal, so it was only sensible. This was the deal that had separated them, however willingly Rumple had gone.

He walked through hospital door in time to hear the doctor.

"Miss Swan? The baby is a healthy six-pound girl, and the mother is doing fine."

"What lovely news," he declared pleasantly, which drew Emma's attention to him, and seemed to wipe the smile off her face rather quickly. "Excellent work, Miss Swan," he praised. "Thank you for bringing me my merchandise."

A hand cuffed his shoulder hard, and he knew the only reason that hadn't been aimed at his head was the injury on his temple that was still carefully hidden by his hair.

"William," Belle scolded. "That's no way to talk about a baby."

"It was just a quip," he defended. "Not serious."

"A baby is your merchandise," Emma said with a scowl. "Why didn't you tell me?" she demanded lowly. "Did you think I wouldn't take the job?" she guessed, clearly very unhappy with the whole situation.

"On the contrary," Mr Gold answered. "I'd assume if anybody could understand the reasons for giving up a baby, it would be you," he said quietly. Henry was, after all, just a few feet away and eavesdropping diligently.

"You're not getting that kid," Emma declared lowly.

"Actually, we have an agreement. My agreements are always honoured. If not, I'm going to have to involve the police, and that baby's going to end up in the system," Mr Gold said.

He didn't have the same flair as when he'd been head-to-toe Rumplestiltskin, but having to hold onto a cane, having to live with pain constantly once more, that muted him somewhat. Made him more the smiling shark than the laughing devil.

"And that would be a pity," Mr Gold continued, his expression contorted to genuine sorrow over such a prospect. He was on a roll though, so it didn't stay long. "You didn't enjoy your time in the system, did you Miss Swan?"

"It's not going to happen," Emma said firmly.

"I like your confidence," Mr Gold praised. "Charming. But all I have to do is press charges. She did, after all, break into my shop."

"Let me guess," Emma requested dryly. "To steal a contract."

Mr Gold shrugged. "Who knows what she was after," he allowed.

"You know no jury in the country will put a woman in jail who's only reason for breaking and entering was to keep her child," Emma said firmly.

Mr Gold said nothing to that.

"I'm willing to roll the dice that contract doesn't stand up," she continued. "Are you? Not to mention what might come out about you in the process. We all know that there is more to you than being just a simple pawn broker. You really want to start that fight?" she asked lowly.

Simultaneously, Rumple and Belle smiled, pleased.

"I like you, Miss Swan," Rumple admitted, still smiling. "You're not afraid of me. That makes you quite unique around these parts. I do believe that I'd like to have you on my side."

Emma smiled at that. "So she can keep the baby?" she asked.

"I didn't say that," Mr Gold countered. "There's still the matter of my agreement with Miss Boyd."

"Tear it up," Emma suggested bluntly.

"That's not what I do," Rumple answered instantly. "You see, contracts, deals, well, they're the foundation of all civilised existence. So I put it to you now, if you want Ashley to have that baby, are you willing to make a deal with me?" he asked.

"What do you want?" Emma questioned.

"Oh, I don't know just yet," Mr Gold whispered dangerously. "You'll owe me a favour."

Belle bapped him on the shoulder again.

"My love..." Rumple began.

"No, William," Belle cut in, her mouth twisted in wry amusement. "Miss Emma, a word?" she requested, with a gesture that they have this word away from her husband and Henry.

"Uh, okay..." she agreed dubiously.

~oOo~

"There is a lot more to my husband than his being a simple pawnbroker," Belle started. "William was married before me, and he had a son. Milah, his first wife, she left when the boy was little more than a toddler. Then, when the boy was a teenager, he decided that he didn't like his father any more, and he ran away. William and I met when he was looking for his boy. He's... still looking for his son."

Emma frowned. "I'm... sorry to hear that, but I don't see what -"

"William loves children, Miss Emma," Belle said sincerely. "Adores them. He is rarely happier than when he has a child in his arms. He also loves me, loves me enough to marry me when we're not actually sure if I can give him children, however much we both hope that I can."

Emma's eyes went wide at that, and Belle could see the woman was beginning to get an idea of where this conversation might be going.

"This is the deal, Miss Emma," Belle said firmly. "When my husband gets a lead on where his son is, you will help him. When Ashley needs a babysitter – and she will, because babies take up a lot of time and effort, to say nothing of money -"

"And Ruby told me that Ashley was taking night classes as well," Emma agreed.

Belle nodded. "When Ashley needs a babysitter, she'll come to my husband and me. She won't be getting the money that William was going to pay her, as that was in exchange for giving up the child to our custody completely."

"Let me get this straight," Emma requested, wrapping her head around the whole mess. "I help Mr Gold find his grown-up son, you're on call for babysitting duty for Ashley, and she gets to keep her kid?"

Belle nodded. "That's the deal. I know my husband, that is the favour he'd most likely have eventually asked you for anyway," she said firmly. "Well, apart from the babysitting bit, that's just me."

Emma smiled. "You're a really complicated family," she said. "You got a deal," she agreed, and held out her hand to shake on it.

"Do we still have your friendship?" Belle asked as she clasped the other woman's hand in her own.

Emma snorted softly in amusement. "Sure," she agreed. "Just... Mr Gold in leather on a motorcycle?" she asked.

Belle grinned. "I did say that his son left because he didn't like his dad any more," she pointed out. "What's more embarrassing to a teenager than their father in skin-tight leather?"

Emma winced in sympathy against the idea. "Fair enough," she agreed.

"You go tell Ashley she can keep her baby if she lets us babysit," Belle instructed lightly, shooing the other woman off with a smile. "I'll deal with my husband."

"Thank you," Emma said gratefully. She collected Henry and the pair of them went in to see Ashley before they ran out of the hospital. Emma had to get Henry home by five, after all.

"Well, my dear?" Rumple asked as he stepped up beside her.

"We'll have the baby part-time," Belle answered. "No pay-out on our part, but any time Ashley needs a babysitter, we'll have the child," she explained. "Emma still likes us, and will help you find Bae when the curse is broken and you can actually leave Storybrooke," she added softly, just a whisper in his ear.

Rumple looked at her then, and his eyes went glassy.

"Clever, clever woman," he praised her softly. "My wonderful, incredible wife," he said, and kissed her softly.

"Belle?" a voice asked, stunned.

The couple parted.

"Belle, is that really you?" a man asked, eyes wide and awed.

"Jefferson?" Belle checked tentatively. "You...?"

The man who had once been known as the Hatter nodded. "Yeah, I remember it all, always did. It was part of my own lot of suffering in this place. When did you get here Belle? Where have you been?" he asked.

"She arrived shortly after Miss Swan," Rumple explained softly. "Jefferson... gods man, I'm so sorry."

"What?" Belle asked.

"Grace... Her name is Paige here, and she doesn't know I'm her father," Jefferson explained. "She lives next door to me."

Belle wrapped her arms around the man who had been one of Rumple's very few friends back in the Enchanted Forest, offering what comfort she could to the man who, she knew, doted on his little girl.

"She'll remember when the curse is broken," Rumple promised the man. "She will."

"And until then, I expect you to visit us often," Belle informed the much taller man as she released him from the hug. "You're a friend, Jefferson, and we have a lot of catching up to do."

Jefferson nodded.

"Looks like Sean has decided to defy his father, in the face of being one himself," Rumple said softly, having spotted the young man who was the father of Ashley's baby enter the hospital with a gift bag in hand.

Belle smiled. "Good," she said. "That's good."

"People are starting to get their happy endings back..." Jefferson murmured, and felt hope light up in his heart at the thought.