Standing in front of the mirror in the bathroom, Belle pushed the back of her earring onto the stub as she slid it through the hole in her ear. Happy it was secure Belle flicked some of her curls and swept some of her hair over her shoulder. She rubbed a finger along her lip line of her lower lip and smiled at the how she looked in the mirror. Opening the cabinet above the sink, Belle selected one of her perfumes and sprayed some onto her neck and wrist. She put the perfume back and shut the cabinet door before waltzing out of the bathroom into the bedroom, rubbing the perfume between both of her wrists.

She came into the bedroom to find Rumald tightening his belt in front of the full-length mirror, angling himself to check his appearance. Belle crossed over to him, her heels clicking on the wooden floor, as she admired him in his dark blue suit pants and a light blue shirt. She was yet to meet his tailor in New York, but she would be extending her gratitude to them, if she ever had the chance to meet them. His pants hugged him nicely, not too tight and not too loose. The same she would say about his shirts, never had she seen any of his shirts too tight on him, straining over his frame as it pulled, allowing his skin to peep out from under his shirt. He was perfection.

Her hands slid over his smooth shirt sides to his chest, hugging him tightly against her. His eyes met hers in the mirror, a small smile on his face as Belle kissed the back of his neck, her eyes never wavering from his gaze. Belle rested her chin down onto his shoulder, lacing her fingers with his when his hands came up to meet hers.

"Beautiful." He uttered breathless. Belle smiled at his compliment, as she withdrew one of her hands to rub the lipstick mark from his neck and then combed her fingers through the hair at the back of his head.

"What do you think? Tie or no tie?" Rumald asked her, looking at her through the mirror.

Her hand stilled midway down the back of his head, turning her gaze back to the mirror to meet his, as she said. "Rumald, it's not a formal outing. It's drinks with my friends."

"Sweetheart, the last time I had a night out with friends, I was eighteen." He confessed to her, rubbing his free hand over the back of her hand, clasped in his other hand.

"Do you want me to dress you then?" Belle asked him, smirking at him and the small amount of power he was about to bestow on her.

He chuckled releasing her hand and pivoted round to face her. "If you want."

"I'd rather undress you." She shared with him, as her hands reached up to unbutton his collar and a few of the buttons below it.

"Hmm…" Rumald's eyes travelled down her black dress. "I could arrange that."

"No, we're going out. We've never really gone out as a couple, unless it's a family function, so we're going." Belle decreed to him, swatting his hands when they tried to follow the path his eyes had taken.

His eyebrows rose up his forehead, as he dropped his hands to his sides. "Okay."

"Right… I'm torn between you wearing the waistcoat or just going like that." She admitted to him, stepping back to get a better view of him, hoping it would help her decision.

"Give me the waistcoat and I'll put it on, so you can see the difference." Rumald suggested and pointed to the suit jacket and waistcoat on a coat hanger, hanging on the door of the wardrobe. As he instructed, Belle clicked her way over to the wardrobe and removed his waistcoat from the hanger to bring it back over to him. He smiled at her as she handed the waistcoat over to him and stood back while he put his arms into his waistcoat, shrugging it onto his shoulders as he turned to face the mirror again.

Rumald was about to button it, when Belle stopped him, brushing up against him to place her hand on his to still them, as she said. "Don't." He titled his head to look at her beside him, whilst she bit her lip at the sight of him in the mirror. "Just like that."

"Okay, sweetheart, whatever you want." He said to her as he leaned in to kiss her cheek, but lingered to whisper. "Or fancy."

Belle turned to gaze at the suggestive look on Rumald's face, as there was a knock at the door. "Are we decent?"

"Yeah, Ruby, you can come in." Belle called staring deeply into Rumald's eyes. Their bedroom door opened and Ruby's head appeared around the corner of the door, checking they were decent before she opened the door wider and came into the room. Her eyes were wide as Ruby gazed around the room, studying the details of the room. Rumald and Belle turned together to face Ruby with Rumald's hand finding its usual place on her lower back, just at the peak where the curve of her backside began. Ruby lingered near the doorway, smoothing her hands nervously down her form hugging dark red dress.

"I haven't been in here since I was little girl." Ruby admitted to them, her eyes finally found Rumald and Belle.

Rumald groaned and stepped away from Belle's side to squeeze pass Ruby, grumbling. "That's it! Just make me feel old, why don't you?"

"Sorry." Ruby apologised, holding her hands up to him in mock surrender. While Rumald left the room, Belle shook her head crossing over to Ruby, smiling at Rumald's grievance. He may have been older than the two of them, but he was still very much young at heart.

"Don't listen to him." Belle told Ruby, lowering Ruby's hands with her own.

Ruby smiled but chuckled nervously. "I don't understand how he unnerves me. It's like I'm still that little girl, trying to stay out of the way while Grannie cleaned his house."

"And that's probably all he sees, when he sees you." Belle suggested guiding Ruby out of their bedroom, turning off the light as they left the room. She left their bedroom door open and their heels clicked on the wooden floor, whilst they went down the hallway to descend the stairs. With her hand on the banister, Belle followed down the stairs behind Ruby, gazing down at Rumald chatting to Albert in the entrance hall.

"You know where we'll be," Rumald waved his finger through the air between himself and Albert. "Anything happens just call and we'll come straight home. There's money on the fridge, if you need it." He gestured to the kitchen behind him. "Now I don't need to tell you, we're trusting the pair of you, so no stupid business." Rumald said pointing his finger into Albert's chest.

"Dad, please don't give me the sex chat again!" Albert warned, rolling his eyes. "I get it. You told me, no grandchildren until you're fifty or older."

"Good." Rumald clutched Albert's face between his hands. "And no practising 'til you're twenty five."

"Dad!" Albert exclaimed with his cheeks reddening at his embarrassment, looking to Ruby and Belle coming down the last few steps of the stairs behind his father.

Rumald grinned at the obvious blush of his son, as Belle came to stand beside him, her body close enough to feel the heat from his body. "Rumald, he's not stupid and neither's Emma."

"I know he isn't." He said, stroking his thumb lovingly over Albert's cheek. "He's still my baby boy though."

"That's it. I'm going back to the movie." Albert said removing his face from his father's grasp and rolled his eyes at his father's comment. Shrugging his shoulders, Rumald delved his hands into his pant pockets and sauntered off into the kitchen, his shoes clunked against the wooden floor. Belle glanced to Ruby and smiled at her, as she followed in Rumald into the kitchen to see him pocket his wallet and phone.

"Whose car are we taking?" Rumald asked loudly, projecting his voice for her to hear it in the entrance hall.

"Don't care." Belle said and grinned when Rumald jerked to see her in the kitchen.

He smiled moving along the counter to the bowl of keys. "We'll take Albert's since it's first in the drive."

"How does that work?" She asked frowning at him. "My car is by the kerb."

"Yes." He said clasping Albert's car keys in his hand, coming around the breakfast table to stand in front of Belle. "But I've got standers."

Belle scoffed at his comment, covering her mouth with her hand, her eyes wide at his comment. "What's wrong with my car?"

"Nothing, sweetheart." Rumald wrapped his arms around her as he told her. "Just make the most of it, 'cause when we get married, it's going."

"I haven't said yes, yet." Belle reminded him, slinging her arms around his neck.

A corner of his lip curled into a smile, as he said. "You haven't said no, either."

Their smile mirrored each other's, as they inclined into each other and kissed, forgetting about everyone else in the house. She loved the moments they could steal, when it would be just the two of them. His proposal felt like a lifetime ago, but it had only been a week since he had carefully lifted the lid on the ring box and asked her to spend the rest of her life with him. A part of her wished she could go back and say yes to him straight away, but the other part reminded her how out of character it was for him.

If turning back time was an option, she doubted she would, even after the week they had gone through together with Milah. Whether she had said yes or no, Milah still would have done what she did to Albert and if they had got engaged, it may have been worse. At least Rumald had only suffered a restraining order, whereas Milah had disgusted everyone who knew her.

They had been lying in bed, when Rumald had shared the details of the deal, which Gladius had made with Milah. The deal Gladius had made with Milah, dictated that if Milah did not press charges against Rumald for the damages and assault, her mother would not report Milah for child neglect. Belle was not happy about it. Milah did not deserve a free pass to get away with what she did Albert, but if it kept Rumald out of trouble she would hold her tongue. It was just sad that Milah felt she had to have the last stab, by getting a restraining order against Rumald.

"Hey," Ruby called from the entrance hall. "Are we going out tonight? Or are you two too busy making out?"

Belle giggled and dropped her face into Rumald's chest, his hand came up to cradle the back of her head as he said. "Patients are a virtue, young lady."

"Let's go." Belle said stifling her giggles and said to Rumald. "She's desperate for alcohol."

"I heard that!" Ruby cried out, her disgust at Belle's remark evident in her voice. Rumald was smirking when Belle lifted her head from his chest. The twinkle in his eye as he smiled made her smile from ear to ear.

"Come on, let's get this over with." Rumald told her, leading her with an arm around her waist to the entrance hall, where Ruby waited for them. Beaming a smile, Ruby fell into step with them and halted with Belle, while Rumald quicken his pace to get the door for them. He opened the door wide for them, stepping aside to let them both go out the first. Belle glanced back, as she went down the steps of the porch with Ruby, listening to Rumald give his last instructions to Albert and Emma as he left the house.

Belle and Ruby crossed the front lawn to Albert's car and walked around it, whilst Belle looked back to see Rumald step off the last step of porch. A trace of a smile pulled at the corner of her lips, loving how handsome he looked. Ruby opened the door and folded the seat forward, slipping into the backseat. Standing in the opening of the passenger door, Belle gazed over the top of the car at Rumald crossing the lawn, waiting until he got to the car and flashed her a smile before she ducked into the car.