Summary: "Hear the song when I go to sleep." "In your dreams, you mean?"

I just have one thing to say; I fudging hate FF right now. This is like my third time trying to upload this stupid chapter -_-

Disclaimer: I don't own Once, or the quote, or the song.

Stars to Build the Sky On

Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own. [Robert A. Heinlein]

His name was Aaron Collins in this world.

She still called him Aldrich, though.

His adoptive mother, at least, was kind. Belle didn't know about his father—he'd died, shortly before the curse had been cast—but his mother, Jessica Collins, was the ever-kind, young, single, doting mother. She frequented the library, reading storybooks like The Velveteen Rabbit and Guess How Much I Love You, and making idle chitchat with Belle while Aaron flipped through the pages of a book or two, concentrating, trying to decide which one he wanted to check out more. Jessica didn't ostracize her like most of Storybrooke was prone to do, especially after learning she was the little maid who'd taken care of her son in the days before Rumpelstiltskin had given him to her and her husband. They'd lapsed into an easy relationship—a little more than an acquaintanceship, a little less than a friendship—that had been based on small talk and the melodramatics of the town gossip mill.

It was a peaceful existence, Belle admitted, watching the baby boy—now a three-year-old toddler—she'd taken care of for ten days, read and smile and learn within the walls of the library while laughing with his very young, yet extremely kind and opinionated mother. On the days when Baelfire would accompany her to work, he'd play with the child while Belle and Jessica talked.

"Are you ready yet?" Jessica called into the stacks one night, "I'm sure Bae and Mrs. Gold want to lock up."

Belle flushed at the title. After reuniting with Rumpelstiltskin, and after the debacle with her father and the town line, the beauty couldn't bring herself to take on the surname 'French'. So, Ruby had started the rumor that her name was now officially "Belle Gold". They weren't married, but neither she nor Rumpelstiltskin minded her being called "Mrs.". They were already considered married anyway; by Baelfire, by the town. All that was left were the rings, to make it official.

"Oh, it's fine," Belle said, smiling when she saw Aaron run in after his mother's voice, the book The Velveteen Rabbit clutched in his tiny hands. Baelfire trailed after him, a small smile on his face. "It can wait, if he's still picking something out."

Jessica smiled. "Thank you," she said, "Say thank you to Mrs. Gold, Aaron."

Aaron turned to Belle, his sapphire eyes shining. He smiled and nodded, his own version of thank you. He handed the book in his arms over to Jessica, before running away again to go search through the stacks. Baelfire sighed and shook his head at the child's boundless energy before following, crouching down beside him as they began to hunt for another book.

Belle stared after the pair, her lips pursed in thought.

"He doesn't say much, does he?"

"You've noticed, huh?" she trailed away, biting her lip as she glanced sideways at her son. "He hasn't started speaking yet, actually. Or—well, he has. He can string together sentences if he wants to, but unfortunately, he doesn't really want to all that often." She cracked a small smile. "He's just a quiet boy. Very…"

"Serious," Belle finished for her, and Jessica laughed lightly. Belle knew exactly what the other woman was talking about—Aldrich had been a serious, good, quiet baby, and it seemed even that hadn't changed.

"Exactly. Serious, that's the word." The two women lapsed into silence and watched as he looked through books. The easy silence was broken by the sudden buzz of Jessica's cell phone. The young woman cursed and shook her head, taking out her cell and scanning the text that had appeared.

Belle frowned when she noticed a crease appearing between the young woman's eyes. "Something wrong?"

"There's an emergency at the hospital, and they're short-handed." She rolled her eyes, and Belle remembered she was a nurse at Storybrooke General. She looked over her shoulder and called for her son. "Aaron! It's time to go! I just hope Ruby's free to take you, geez…"

Belle watched the young mother scramble to type a quick text back, only averting her gaze when Aaron bounded up to the circulation desk again, his blond curls bouncing with his every step. Bae was, yet again, close behind, but looking dead on his feet. The boy was such a help at the library, always helping people find the books they were looking for, he was usually pretty drowsy by the time closing time came around.

He perked up when he heard of the predicament though. Always the helpful, gracious young man, he said, "We can watch him while you're gone, if you want."

Jessica looked up with wide, blinking eyes. "Oh, no… Bae, really. It's fine. It's late. You two probably wanna get home." She looked at the two Golds.

Belle shrugged, deciding to go along with it. "Not really. It's barely eight. Rumpelstiltskin's not usually home until nine, anyway. We're okay with it, really."

Jessica bit her lip, debating. "Well, since Ruby's probably not free, considering it's a Saturday night…" she trailed away, looking Belle in the eye. "Are you sure?"

"Positive," the beauty said with a smile.

"Okay," Jessie said, still a bit unsure, before bending down to look at her son. "A, I'll be back soon, alright? Be good for Bae and Belle." She kissed his cheek before she looked back up at the librarian and her stepson, her smile widening. "I won't be long. If I'm gone for more than an hour, just take him to Granny's. Thanks so much, Belle." And with that said, she jumped up and walked briskly to the door, giving the three of them one last reassuring grin before she was out the door.

Belle waved after her, before looking down at the little boy Bae had just assigned them to look after. He stared back at her, his blue eyes probing and endless.

Belle lifted her gaze back up to Bae, partially annoyed, mostly amused.

"What did you just get us into?"

Turns out, nothing but a Saturday night spent babysitting.

Aldrich was every inch the well-behaved little boy he had been during the days she'd taken care of him in the Dark Castle. Belle wasn't really sure what had possessed Baelfire to say that they'd take care of him, but really, she didn't find herself regretting her decision to go along with it. The three year old wouldn't say anything, wouldn't do anything, other than toddle around the children's section looking at the pictures on the covers of books, until he found one he liked, and then Baelfire would read them to him. Belle watched the two of them at one of the tables, thumbing her way through The Count of Monte Cristo, one eye focused on the story, the other focused on the two boys across the room.

So far, they'd managed to pick their way through The Velveteen Rabbit, Goodnight Moon, and The Story of Ferdinand. Aaron had drunk up each tale with a curious expression, not quite paying attention to the pictures in the books as raptly as he had the covers. He would stare off into space as if he were conjuring his own mental pictures of how the story was unfolding.

Bae finally finished the last page of The Giving Tree, smiling and turning to the little boy beside him. Aldrich, realizing story-time was over, blinked away whatever he'd been thinking about.

"What story's next?" Bae asked, beginning to look around in an attempt to help. Aldrich looked at the stacks, and then looked at him, shaking his head when he removed If You Give a Mouse a Cookie from its place on the shelf. "No?" he said, and Aldrich shook his head. The teenager smiled and knelt down beside him. "Then what?"

The boy stared at him for a moment, as if thinking. He had that curious expression on his face again, as if he were conjuring up images in the back of his head. He smiled suddenly, a light-bulb going off, and grinned, beginning to hum.

Belle recognized the tune immediately.

""A Thousand Years"," she said softly, and Aldrich tilted his head, but kept humming anyway. Baelfire looked up at her, a puzzled expression on his face.

"What?"

The beauty grinned, setting her book down and beginning her trek towards the two boys, sitting next to Aaron. "It was a song I'd used to sing to him, back at your father's castle, when he couldn't sleep."

Then, realizing Bae had never heard it, she began to sing, beginning the song from the middle, where Aaron's humming currently was, "I have died everyday waiting for you. Darling, don't be afraid I have loved you for a thousand years. I will love you for a thousand more." She hadn't sung this song in over thirty years, not since the Dark Castle—not since she'd accidentally hummed the tune and Rumpelstiltskin asked her to sing it. It had been an embarrassing evening, to say the least, but he'd seemed to enjoy the song.

So did Aldrich. The little boy had stopped humming, coming closer to curl up beside Belle, resting his head of blond curls on her shoulder. Bae was watching the scene transfixed, lulled into relaxation by the soothing melody and pretty lyrics.

"And all along I believed I would find you. Time has brought your heart to me. I have loved you for a thousand years… I'll love you for a thousand more." She dropped into a soothing hum, then, and Bae smiled, coming to sit next to her.

"Hear the song," Aaron mumbled, nearly asleep himself, and Belle nearly started. The voice was unfamiliar, raspy and tiny and tired, but it was unmistakably Aldrich's.

"What, honey?" Belle asked gently, brushing away blond curls away from his forehead.

The little boy's eyes were closed, a smile playing on his lips. "Hear the song… when I go sleep."

It took Belle a moment to figure out what he was saying, but when he did, she felt her heart melt a little. Hear the song when I go sleep.

I hear the song when I go to sleep.

"In your dreams, you mean?" Belle asked.

Aldrich nodded, his breathing becoming even, sleep claiming him. Belle didn't know what else there was to say, so instead she kept singing, lightly, just so he could hear the melody as he drifted away.

"And all along I believed I would find you. Time has brought your heart to me—I have loved you for a thousand years. I'll love you for a thousand more." As she sang the last few words, Rumpelstiltskin's voice invaded her mind, whispering words from a lifetime ago.

"He'll remember you and he'll know he was always loved."

"Children know."

Children know. Was it possible Aldrich remembered her? Belle immediately cast the idea away—no. It was silly. He remembered the song; that was it. There was no way he could remember her. She was a mere blip in his life, and he hadn't made any indication he'd remembered her before tonight. But then why would he ask her to sing it…?

The library door opening cut Belle out of her musings, and she looked up when she saw Jessica practically running towards her. Baelfire, who had been lightly dozing by the time the song was done, jerked awake at the sudden noise.

"Whew! Glad I made it. Just in time, too." Belle snuck a glance at the wall clock, which told her it was only eight-fifty. The young mother took Aldrich into her arms. The boy barely stirred; he merely snuggled closer to his mother's warm, familiar form.

"I hope he wasn't too much trouble," Jessica said, giving Belle a lighthearted—but tired—smile.

"Oh no, he was an angel," Bae cut in easily, his sentence cut off abruptly by a yawn. "We read a little, learned a new lullaby… must've knocked him out like a light."

"Must have," Jessica mused, adjusting her hold on the child, "But wow. This is amazing, seriously. He loves Ruby and all, but usually she has to tucker him out by chasing him around the living room twelve times to get him to fall asleep. All you did was read him a couple books. Maybe you should start babysitting him." She nudged the teenage boy playfully.

"Maybe, huh?" Bae laughed, lighthearted and childlike.

Jessica grinned. "Well, I should get going. Thanks again, both of you. I'll see you later." She turned on her heel, then, striding for the library doors.

Belle watched them, a smile tugging at her lips. She couldn't deny the jealousy that had once prickled under her skin, the little green monster telling her that she would never be a mother to the little baby that had captured her heart so easily. But she couldn't deny the happiness, either. The happiness that had surfaced because he was happy. Because he was loved and well-cared for and that he wanted for nothing, just like Rumple had said. Nothing—not even love.

Bae's yawn drew her out of her musings, and she looked sideways at the boy, who grinned sheepishly.

"I'm tired."

"I'll bet. My lullaby is better than any sleeping curse," Belle said with a grin, slinging an arm around her stepson's shoulders.

"Oh definitely," Bae said, stifling another yawn, "Instead of poisoning that apple, Regina should've just recorded your voice." Belle snorted at that, pushing his shoulder playfully. Bae laughed, leaning against the circulation desk as Belle walked away, cleaning up the aftermath of another mildly busy day at work. He watched her, watched the slump in her shoulders, the drag in her step. Someone could've mistaken it as tiredness, but Bae could read his stepmother almost as good as his father and Snow White—which is to say, like an open book.

"Do you want a baby someday, Mama?"

His voice seemed to snap her out of whatever trance she was in, because she looked up from readjusting the books on the shelves. She paused for a moment before replying, her voice thick with some emotion he couldn't place. "I already have two babies, in case you don't remember. Their names are Ruby and Rumpelstiltskin. Not to mention a very handsome, very mature teenage boy named Baelfire."

Bae smiled at her weak attempt to change the subject. "Mama, I'm being serious."

The smile faded from her lips and she sighed, walking towards the circulation desk, leaving the cleaning up for another day. "Maybe someday, I don't know. Not any time soon."

"Why not?" he sounded genuinely curious, looking at her closely. "You'd be an awesome mom. You're already an awesome mom."

Belle smiled. "Thanks for the confidence, Bae, but that's not it. It's…" she gestured around. "Everything. Not too long ago, I dreamt about that. About a child with your father. About all of us, being a family together. But…" she trailed away, taking a deep breath, "There's just too much going on right now. Looking at Aaron, I think I realized that. I want kids. I want you to have a sibling. But not right now. Not when Hook and Cora and your mother are out there, wreaking havoc on innocent citizens. Not when Regina goes all Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde on the town and not when the Charmings are calling your father in every other hour for a problem they can't be bothered to fix themselves."

She looked up, then, her eyes locking with Bae's. He looked a little worried, but more than understanding, knowing what she meant. She'd already told him on more than one occasion that she'd lock him away from all the magic and evil if she only could. She wouldn't want to bring a child into the world when a war was almost on them.

"One day?" he inquired softly, after a few beats of silence had passed.

Belle paused, gathering her purse and phone from behind the circulation desk. "One day," she murmured, giving her stepson a small smile.

Whew. So yeah. Sorry I couldn't make him a legitimate part of the family, but really, I have no idea what to do with a baby. And no real Rumbelle interactions, I know, but at least you get some sweet Belle/Bae/Aldrich. Belle would make such a good mom in my opinion, and I need as many fluffy Belle moments as I can get because seriously, chances are she's going back to the psyche ward in "Tiny". She's already been seen with Nurse Ratched's fairytale twin.

Ugh, so anyway. Back to this segment. I'm not happy with it. It feels rushed and a little sloppy, and to be honest, Belle felt detached and out of character. It just wasn't a good situation for me to write about. I think I was freaking out a little too much about what to do with Aldrich to really focus on either Belle or Bae. So sorry!

Also, I'm thinking of turning LLM into an actual story. The oneshots will remain here, don't worry, but I'm thinking of writing an actual story based off of these one-shots. What do you guys think? It's just that there's so much potential for a plot hidden in these one shots, and I can slowly see one forming.