Adam's POV

Brigitte's illness had gone, leaving her as rosy-cheeked and energetic as ever. He and Belle had made up easily; at first Belle was worried he held some lingering animosity towards her for treating him as she did, but such a thought never even occurred to him. If anything, he felt he needed to make up for what he had done to her by keeping her away from her daughter. He only wanted to keep his baby safe, but the hurt in Belle's eyes still stuck with him. He yearned to be near her, wanted to see to her every comfort, the baby she was carrying only increasing that desire.

Autumn had fully encompassed the castle in its golden blanket, the days pleasantly cool and the nights chilly and crisp. When he could get away from his duties, he would take walks with Brigitte and Belle, watching his daughter catch the leaves that fell from the trees. It was a good life, he reflected; he was happy and content and could see his family was the same, even Maurice. Though Belle's father had not entered any fairs since before Brigitte was born, he still tinkered happily in his workroom, improving machines and creating new ones, even carving toys for the children of the palace. Adam still went down when he had the time to help his father-in-law in the workroom. Life was peaceful, his family around him and content, and Adam remarked, not for the first time, how lucky he was to have such a life.

But when he found Belle sitting in her favorite window seat in the library one autumn day, knees tucked up, her beautiful lips pulled into a frown, eyes fixed on some parchment in her hands, he thought perhaps there was something upsetting in his world after all. Unwilling to disturb her but unable to stay away, he sat at the other end of the seat by her feet and waited for her to finish. He noticed that Belle's eyebrows were knit together with concern and confusion though, and he began to worry that whatever it was she read was nothing good. When Belle put her letter down with a frustrated sigh, Adam was ready to listen to whatever it was that had upset her.

"It's Clarice," she admitted when he asked.

"Your friend in Paris? What's wrong?"

"Her husband Henry, remember how he has his own jewelry business?" Adam nodded, recalling when they had visited Clarice in Paris she had mentioned Henry had been at his place of work. "Well, it's failing. Some awful nobleman spread rumors of shoddy workmanship, though Clarice swears it's not true. But it's kept him from working and they're running out of money."

"How long has this been going on?" Adam demanded, furious that someone had tarnished the name of Belle's dearest friend. He didn't know the details, of course, but it was enough to know of the injustice that was done to this family.

"She doesn't say, but I get the impression it's been happening for some time. Her letters have been very infrequent for a few months now and contained very few details about her life. I—I wish I could help them, but I don't know what to do. I know she wouldn't accept any money from me," she said, folding up the letter as she spoke. It was clear this news was hurting his love, so what else could he do but propose the obvious?

"They should come here," he suggested. "They can start over here."

"But, that means her whole family. Clarice, Henry, and her three children would be here."

"Three?" Last he knew, Clarice only had two children.

"She just had a child a little more than a month ago," Belle explained. "I didn't know until this letter. Like I said, there hasn't been much detail in her letters."

"Well, that doesn't matter. There's still plenty of room here," Adam said easily. It was an obvious solution, one he was perfectly happy to suggest, especially after the hurt Belle so recently suffered. Besides, they had the room, and Brigitte could do with a friend. Who better than the children of her mother's dearest friend?

"Are. . . are you sure?" she asked hesitantly but Adam could see the excitement in her face at the very idea.

"Of course. I'm sure Henry will have plenty of work with the nobles who live out here. They'd be very excited to have a jeweler outside of Paris; it would save them a more lengthy trip for their jewels, I'd imagine. If you wouldn't mind having Clarice so close, that is," he added with a grin, knowing full well Belle would love nothing more than to see her childhood friend again.

"Oh, Adam!" she cried and leaned forward to kiss him. "Adam, you're wonderful! I—I have to write to her and tell her! Are you certain?" Adam grinned and nodded, overjoyed at how happy this simple suggestion made her. With one more kiss, Belle fled the library to write to Clarice. Adam knew it would be a bit of an adjustment to accommodate an entire family into the castle, but if he could do this for Belle's most cherished friend, then he was content.

Belle's POV

She was surprised that Adam had even suggested such a thing; with the castle so full already, she knew he was reluctant to fill it further. He was a solitary creature, though he hid it well these past several years. As a prince he couldn't maintain much semblance of the solitude he craved, but he didn't need to invite more people to his home. And yet he did. He offered their home to her friend and her entire family, without her even having to ask. How far he had come from the selfish Beast she had first met.

Quickly, she made her way to the nearest table where there were quills and ink for letters. She and Clarice had not seen each other in nearly five years, since Belle and Adam had visited shortly after they wed, but they had kept in contact through letters since then, writing regularly and keeping each other updated on their lives. Up until a few months ago, that is, but now that lapse in communication had been explained. How wonderful it would be to see Clarice on a regular basis again. To read together as they had when they were children, to raise their own children side by side.

Belle sobered though as she realized that Clarice might not want to leave the city. It was the only home she had ever known, after all. Uprooting her entire family might prove to be too much of a challenge. Belle wasn't sure what would happen in that case, but worrying about it before she had even sent her letter was pointless. She ruined two pages by blotting ink on them, too excited to hold her hand steady, but in the end her letter was crafted, detailing Adam's suggestion.

Once the letter was on its way, all there was left to do was wait. It would take at more than a week for a messenger to reach Clarice with the letter, and the same time for the messenger to return with Clarice's reply. Over two weeks before there would be a word from Clarice and, if she agreed, weeks after that before they would be ready to leave. It would be a long process, that was certain, but if it would mean a better life for Clarice's family, it would be worth it.

In the meantime, she had her daughter and the child growing inside her to take care of. Now that her daughter was no longer ill, Belle took every opportunity she could to spend time with her, at least until the guilt of leaving her during her illness eased. It also distracted Belle while she waited for Clarice's reply, more so than her duties could.

A large part of their time was spent satisfying Brigitte's curiosity about the new baby. She wanted to know if it was a boy or a girl, what its name would be, and most unanswerable of all, how the baby got into Belle's stomach. Uncomfortable about telling her daughter the truth while she was still so young (and rather dreading the conversation they would have when she was older), she told Brigitte the story Belle herself was told.

"Fairies came to me in the night and granted mine and your father's wish of having another child," she explained. Belle felt a little guilty lying to her daughter, but some truths should wait. Brigitte's eyes widened and she seemed accept this story, to Belle's relief. The moment she got the chance, she informed Adam of the story in case Brigitte brought it up in his presence.

"Fairies?" he laughed when she found him and told him later that night. "You told her fairies gave us our child?"

"It's what I was told when I was a child," she protested amiably. "Why, what story did your parents tell you?"

"They didn't," he said bluntly. "I never asked, and they never offered. I wasn't really interested in my sister at first."

"So my fairy story isn't that silly after all," she said, poking his chest playfully.

"No, I guess not," he chuckled, catching her hands and kissing her fingers. "Any word from Clarice yet?"

"Not yet," Belle sighed, frustrated. "Hopefully it comes soon. I can't stand all this waiting. Waiting for Clarice, waiting for the baby. . ." Adam leaned down to kiss her, stopping her words. "What was that for?" she asked, breathless from the kiss.

"I thought you were going to say, 'waiting for you to kiss me,' next," he laughed. Belle smiled and leaned in for another kiss, pulling him closer to her.

Belle was playing with Brigitte in the sun room while Adam worked with his advisors. She had her own work to do, but she and Adam had developed a balance, a schedule, so they could each spend time with Brigitte and still get their necessary work done. Sometimes that meant she and Adam might not see each other at all during the day, but at least they could sleep side by side.

A knock at the door interrupted the tea party she was having with Brigitte and Belle's thoughts. Belle turned to see Cogsworth enter the sun room, a letter in his hand.

"A letter for you, Mistress," he said, holding the letter out to her. Belle jumped up and took it, eagerly breaking the small wax seal to read the words inside. Vaguely she was aware that Cogsworth had gone to stand beside Brigitte, but the letter was from Clarice demanded to be read. She skimmed it quickly, searching for a few particular words.

"Oh, this is wonderful!" she exclaimed, smiling.

"Good news, Mistress?" Cogsworth asked. Belle turned to answer but was surprised at having to look down at the floor where Cogsworth had sat beside Brigitte, a painted wooden teacup raised halfway to his mouth. Belle suppressed a giggle at the image and set her face into joy rather than amusement at Cogsworth.

"Yes, Clarice has agreed to move here!"

"Wonderful, wonderful! When does she say she can make the journey?"

"She says she wants to try to get here before winter sets in," she said, finding that part of the letter. "Do you think we can manage it? It's only a month from now at the most."

"I'm sure that won't be any trouble, Mistress," Cogsworth said with a confident nod.

"Thank you," Belle said gratefully. "Brigitte, come on. Let's go tell your father that your Aunt Clarice is coming to stay!"

"But I haven't finished my tea," Brigitte stated. Belle held back a sigh of frustration, wanting to share her news with Adam, and moved to go sit beside her again.

"You go on, Mistress," Cogsworth said to her surprise. "I've handled a tea party or two in my time." Belle paused, unsure how she felt about this, but Cogsworth seemed to be genuinely glad of the idea of having pretend tea with a four year old.

"All right then, I'll be back shortly," she agreed, leaving Brigitte alone in Cogsworth's hands for the first time.

She found Adam alone in his favorite sitting room, lounging in his high-backed chair, balancing a book on the chair's arm.

"What are you reading?" she wondered, her curiosity momentarily overshadowing her excitement.

"Antoine made a reference to some Greek philosopher during our work today," he said, marking his page and closing the book. "I wanted to know what he meant." Belle nodded and smiled, impressed that Adam was doing such meticulous research on his own. "What's that?" he asked, drawing her attention back to the letter in her hand.

"It's from Clarice. She's agreed to move here!" she announced happily.

"That's good news," Adam said with a broad smile. "How soon can they arrive?"

"They want to get here before winter comes," she explained. "I asked Cogsworth about it and he said that we can get everything ready in time."

"Well, if Cogsworth says so, I'm sure we can," he agreed and motioned one hand towards her. Belle took it and Adam drew her irresistibly onto his lap. "I was thinking I should ask for some volunteers to go and collect them," he went on, wrapping one arm comfortably around her waist and placing one hand on the small bump that protected their baby. "To make sure they get here safely. I've had too many reports of highway robberies."

"That's very considerate of you," she agreed.

"Where is Brigitte?" he asked, looking around for her. "I thought she would be with you."

"We were in the middle of a tea party when I got the letter and she wanted to finish it, so Cogsworth is with her."

"Cogsworth? Having a tea party with a child? I have got to see this," Adam declared and nearly tossed her from his lap in his haste to stand. Belle laughed and followed Adam back to the sun room where Brigitte still held Cogsworth in her tea-laced playtime. Adam paused just outside the door to the sun room and Belle peered around his elbow to see the two of them exactly as she left.

"I believe Mademoiselle Crumpet is in need of some more tea," Cogsworth said, motioning to the doll sitting across from Brigitte.

"Here you are, Mademoiselle Crumpet," Brigitte said, pretending to pour for the doll in a manner that was supposed to be proper but only came off as comical in one so young. Adam chuckled and the sound drew Cogsworth's attention.

"Oh, Master!" Cogsworth exclaimed and hastened to stand, his long mustache twitching as he tried to regain his composure. "I-I was just trying to. . . teach the young Mistress how to properly pour tea," he tried to explain, which only made Belle grin. He had been enjoying himself and that fact was impossible to hide.

"Ah, thank you very much Cogsworth," Adam said seriously, but Belle only had to look at the way his lips trembled to see he was restraining a smile.

"I shall—I shall return to my duties," Cogsworth said and began to walk out.

"Bye, Cogsworth!" Brigitte called and Cogsworth nodded at her properly, but Belle noticed the wink he also gave her.

"He's nothing but a big softie," Belle said when Cogsworth had gone.

"Undoubtedly," Adam agreed. "And so am I," he added and joined he daughter on the floor, reclining in the sun let in by the great windows and pulling Brigitte over so she sat on his stomach, making her laugh.