A/N: I have been so busy with school. Finals and final papers are due, and I am literally losing my mind. This is the only bit of happiness, other than my own Rumplestilzkin-ish boyfriend and watching Once Upon A Time once a week. I gave Belle and Rumple a bit of a steamy reunion, but of course, I gave it a little twist. Enjoy! Love, Joanne.

25. Do This For Me Please?

He pulled me into a tight embrace as we kissed in the hallway. He ran his hands through my hair as I pulled away slowly. He began to kiss my neck, and I sighed.

"I remember everything," I said, gently stroking his hair. "You promised…"

"I told you," he said, cupping my face in his hands. "I would find you, and I did. I didn't want to scare you by telling you the truth because I was afraid you would leave me."

"I'm not going anywhere," I smiled as I kissed him once again. "Mmm do you remember how you said you would do anything for me?"

"Anything you want," he whispered in my ear. "I will do anything for you, my Belle."

"Anything I want?"

"Yes," he said as he kissed me.

I looked into his eyes, seeing the love in them reflected back at me. "I want you to give Ashley her baby back…"

He sighed and shook his head. "No can do, dearie."

"Please?" I asked. "Do this for me?"

"Dearie," he said softly, kissing my forehead. "You do not understand…"

"Make me understand," I said. "Why do you not want my best friend to be happy? Why can't she have her baby back?"

"Remember the last time you saw me?" he asked bitterly. "I was in a cell. Guess who put me in there dearie?"

"She did not put you in that cell," I scoffed. "She would not do that."

"I made a deal with her," he said, anger slowly starting to brew. "She wanted to be a princess, to have the prince, and all the amenities that came with that. There were consequences, but she neglected to think of that. I wanted her first born child, and told her that on her wedding day. She dismissed me, and about nine months later, I came back to check on my payment. She said that she was carrying twins, and bargained her other baby for her kingdom to recover from economic decline. I warned her before I signed the contract that there would be consequences, but she went through with it anyway, and I was zapped of my powers, and thrown into a cell."

"Please, Rumplestilzkin," I said. "You promised you would do anything for me before we came into this world. You promised to make me happy, and this would make me happy. You are doing this for me, not Ashley, please."

"Belle…"

"Please," I said. "I don't want that poor little baby in that crib to grow up and think I am her mother. And it wouldn't be fair to send her into adoptive or foster care. Please, I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I could not get my best friend's baby back."

"I cannot do anything without something in return," he said softly.

"What do you want of me?" I asked.

"Marry me," he said. "I want to make it official. I swore to you I would marry you and make you happy. I want to follow through on my promise."

He took out a beautiful diamond engagement ring from his pocket, and placed it on my finger. I couldn't breathe. I was so overwhelmed and happy that I nodded my head as he took me into his arms and kissed me passionately.

"Oh dearie," he sighed. "You have made me the happiest man alive."

"I love you," I smiled. "I cannot wait to marry you!"

I kissed him, and, as a huge blow to his ego, walked into my room, and closed the door. He knocked on my door. "Dearie?"

"I swore I would be pure till marriage," I hollered back. "Sorry my love. I know you liked it, and you put a ring on it, but I will only give myself to you on our wedding night."

I heard a groan from behind the door, and what sounded like several bangs against the wall. "Please do not hurt yourself," I said. "Plus, if you keep up the noise, you'll wake the baby."

"Good night my darling," said Mr. Gold.

"Good night my love," I said as I got underneath the covers.

I woke up the next morning to the smell of a dirty diaper. I stretched before getting out of bed, and made my way down the hallway towards Maddie's room to change her. What I saw in that room shocked me.

Mr. Gold was changing her diaper. I was taken aback for several seconds, then I proceeded to help him clean her up, and help him put on a clean diaper. "That wasn't so difficult," he said as he kissed me. "I didn't want to wake you dearie. I tried to change her myself."

"You did a pretty good job," I smiled as I went to wash my hands in the bathroom. "Maddie didn't even cry when you were changing her."

"I'm going to miss the little urchin," he said, leaning on his cane as I walked back to bring Maddie to the kitchen to feed her. "Even though we didn't have her for long, I kind of liked having a baby here…"

"You said that you thought she was broken when she was crying!" I said. "And the whole time you liked having her here?"

"I was kidding around, Belle," he said as he watched me feed Maddie some puréed carrots. "I would love to have a baby with you. Tens of thousands-"

"I wouldn't go that far," I scoffed. "Unless you would like to give birth to them…"

"That's one thing I always liked about you, Belle," smirked Mr. Gold. "You were so full of fire and passion."

I smiled, and wiped Maddie's mouth. "I'm going to get her ready to go. I will see you after work."

He kissed me, and walked towards the front door. "My love?" I called.

"Yes, Belle?" he asked.

"Why do you use that cane?" I asked curiously. "I'm just curious to know."

"Let's just say this was a small part of the evil Queen's plan," he said in a serious voice. "I'll miss you, dearie."

"I'll miss you more!" I smiled as Maddie and I waved goodbye as Mr. Gold headed out the door.

. . .

"Thank you so much," said Ashley as she held baby Maddie, covering her with kisses. "I can't believe you got her back for me! I owe you so much!"

"You don't owe me anything," I smiled. "I promised I would get her back for you, and I did. What the-"

"Oh," said Ashley, slightly blushing as Sean entered the living room and began to play with his daughter. "Yeah, Sean and I got back together. He swore to me that if you did succeed in getting Maddie back, he would step up and be a father."

"I hope you do the right thing," I said, shooting Sean a glare. "Because if you hurt her again, I will cut off your junk and put it in a blender and force you to drink it."

"Ooh violent," said Sean as he shuddered. "I promise, I won't ever walk out on Ash again. I love her."

"He's gotten a job at the cannery and we've been living together for a few weeks now," said Ashley. "He's really stepped up to the plate."

"Well, since I will have to accept him," I said, getting up from my chair. "I guess this means that the both of you are going to be in the wedding…"

"Wait what?" asked Ashley, confused.

"I got engaged!" I smiled, showing her the beautiful ring that Mr. Gold gave me.

"Oh my gosh! Congratulations!" cried Ashley. "Who is the lucky guy?"

"Mr. Gold," I said, looking down at my ring and smiling.

"Mr. Gold?" asked Ashley and Sean together.

"What's the big deal?" I said. "He's really sweet, and I feel this deep connection with him. He's my prince."

"More like beast," said Sean.

"He is not a beast," I said in a deadly voice. "He's an amazing person, and he makes me happy."

"If he makes you happy, then I wish you both all the happiness in the world," smiled Ashley as she gave me a huge hug. "And all three of us cannot wait to attend the wedding of the century!"

I smiled. "I doubt it will be that massive," I scoffed. "We haven't talked details yet, but I don't really want a huge wedding…"

"Oh my God, wait until you tell Ruby!" laughed Ashley. "She'll want to throw you a steamy bachelorette party!"

I rolled my eyes. "Please, do not instigate this, Ash."

"Oh, come on, we should have a sexy bachelorette party for you!" cried Ashley.

"Whatever," I said, rolling my eyes.

"Just warning you now," whispered Ashley. "Word will get out fast around town about this, and well…"

"Mr. Gold has a bad reputation," finished Sean harshly. "Not too many people are too fond of him, other than you of course. Plus he hangs around the mayor sometimes, and it looks suspicious."

"The mayor?" I asked. I knew we had a town mayor, but I had never seen them or heard their name in public before.

"Her name is Regina," said Ashley. "She's got a young boy named Henry that she adopted as a baby. She and Gold are always whispering in each others' ears, about what, I don't know, but I would definitely check that out. Don't want to marry a cheater."

"Ash, this is something you wouldn't understand," I said. "What Mr. Gold and I have is something that cannot be explained. And I know he would never hurt me. He loves me."

"Just be careful," said Ashley as she walked me out of the front door. "And thank you again for bringing back my Maddie."

With the seed of doubt planted in my mind, I walked uneasily back home. Just as I was about to cross the street, a shiny black Bentley splashed through a grimy, deep puddle, and I was drenched and cursing, wondering how someone could be so careless. The passenger side window rolled down, and a woman with short dark brown hair and dangerous brown eyes looked back at me. I got chills that weren't related to being drenched as she asked, "Did my Bentley splash you?"