Oh wow... So this is it. I've had this stowed away for so long and now I'm finally posting it. I'm super nervous. But here we go.

~Prologue~

"The King, my father, died before I was born. The Queen would never have been consoled for his loss if her interest for the child she bore had not struggled with her sorrow."

-The Story of the Beauty and the Beast by Madame Gabrielle Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve

His death came as a shock to everyone: The public, the servants, and of course the king. But none grieved more than his beautiful wife of four years, the Princess Cinderella Paquette Tremaine de Beaumont.

Just eight months prior there had been great rejoicing throughout the kingdom of France. The princess was with child! The king, Louis Auguste de Beaumont, had been overjoyed at the news. He had always loved children and was so afraid he would not live long enough to see his own grandchildren, but here was one on the way! A grand ball had been held in celebration of the coming heir, with both rich and poor invited at the soon-to-be parents' request. The prince, Henry Louis "Charming" de Beaumont, was ecstatic at the knowledge he would soon be a father and the young couple spent nearly all their time discussing and planning for the future of the child. For the twenty three year old princess, life could not be any better. All her dreams had come true. She was free of her wicked stepmother's control, she was a princess, she was a wife, she had made amends with one of her stepsisters, and now she was going to be a mother.

But alas, nothing in life is ever perfect. For, seven months later, tragedy struck. In the midst of a diplomatic-related travel, a fierce storm broke out on the prince's way home. A bolt of lightning struck a tree which fell onto the royal carriage, crushing the young royal and his entourage to death. He was just twenty-five years old.

For the next month, the princess was hardly seen. She took her meals in private and whenever she did emerge she put on a smile that never met her eyes, which were dull and baggy from crying herself to sleep. It was as if she were a ghost of her former, cheerful self. Nothing seemed to ease her grieving and it had many throughout the castle worrying.

"This isn't good for the baby," King Louis said in frustration to the Grand Duke, his wife Prudence, and the princess' stepsister Anastasia at breakfast one day, "All the princess does is sulk and cry and she clearly hasn't been sleeping. I refuse to let this all affect my grandchild! We have to do something!"

"Your Majesty, please calm down," said the duke, "Remember your blood pressure!"

"To Hell with my blood pressure!" he shouted, "My daughter-in-law is pregnant with my grandchild! And I won't have her grief affecting the baby!"

"I know, Your Majesty," Anastasia said, "I'm just as worried as you are. But she just won't listen to anybody, not even me."

Just then, one of the kitchen maids came in to collect the dishes and unfinished food. The king recognized the woman from when she had first come to the castle ten years ago with her then seven year old son looking for a position.

"Diane, you understand don't you?" the king asked.

"Pardonnez moi Master," the brunette woman answered, "What are you talking about?"

"The princess, Diane," said Prudence, "He's getting in a mood again over her grieving."

"But you know what I mean don't you?" said the king again, "After all you nearly lost your son and yourself when you found out your husband died!"

Anastasia gasped. "You lost your husband too? Oh you poor thing!"

Diane shifted her gaze to the ground as she remembered how close she had been to losing her child. Her precious son. The light of her life. If she had lost him too there was no way she could have gone on.

"Oui," she answered quietly.

"Oh Diane," Louis said as he saw the tears begin to form in her large eyes, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to stir up bad memories."

"Non non, it's alright," She said whilst wiping away a stray tear.

Prudence sat silently, looking at the kitchen maid. She had an idea.

"Diane," Prudence began, "Has Princess Cinderella been served yet?"

"Not yet," the maid answered, "I believe Mrs. Potts was just about to do so."

"Why don't you bring it instead? You could talk to her Diane. Tell her your story. It may help her to speak with someone else who has gone through this."

"An excellent idea Prudence!" the king exclaimed, "I don't know why I didn't think of that sooner!"

"Me?! Talk personal matters with the princess?! I couldn't!"

"Please Diane," the king pleaded with her, "You're the only one who knows exactly what she is going through. She needs you."

"Yes please talk to her," Anastasia begged, "For the sake of the child."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Cinderella absently sat at the window seat in her bedroom, staring blankly out the window. Her eyes were shifted towards the gardens below, but she didn't really see them. All she saw was the face of her beloved Charming, a face she would never see again in person. Why? Why did this have to happen? She had lost both her parents. Wasn't that enough? A fresh set of tears broke from her eyes at the memory of her father breathing his last breath, his hand falling limp in hers. Not only would he never see his grandchild, Charming would never see his child.

"Cinderellie please don't cry," Jaq the mouse said, coming out of a hole in the wall where he and his friends lived, "Prince-prince wouldn't want you to cry."

But hearing that only made her cry harder. Jaq sighed as he tried to think of some way to cheer up his friend when there was a knock at the door, making him run back into the hole before anyone could see him.

"Who is it?" Cinderella asked.

"Madame Chevalier, Mistress. I've been sent with your breakfast."

The princess wrapped a robe around her nightgown before opening the door. There stood a brunette woman she had seen in passing before, holding a silver platter of food, who gasped upon seeing the state of her superior.

"Oh Mistress!" she exclaimed, "What have you done to yourself?!"

The younger woman was a sight to behold. Her strawberry blonde hair looked as if it hadn't been washed in days, her skin was a ghostly white, and she was far too thin for a woman so close to her delivery date.

"Do I look that bad?" asked the soon to be mother, stepping aside to allow the maid in.

"Mistress you look almost as bad as I did before coming to this castle!" she said as she walked over to the bed and placed the breakfast tray on a nightstand, "And I had already given birth by that point! Just imagine what this is doing to the baby!"

"I know," Cinderella said as she slumped onto the bed, "I just can't believe he's gone. I'll never see him again and my child will never know their amazing, wonderful father!"

She began to sob again and the thirty five year old maid wrapped her arms around the princess in a tight embrace. Perhaps this was out of place for her position, but it didn't matter. She knew the girl needed it.

"Hush now, my Princess," Diane whispered, rubbing small circles over her back, "It'll be alright, trust me."

"What is there to trust in anymore?" Cinderella cried, resting her head on the maid's shoulder, "I thought all my heartaches were over and now this has happened!"

"I know Mistress, I know."

"No, how could you know?" she asked shakingly, "How could anyone know?"

"Trust me," Diane answered, "I know… I've been down this road before…"

"What?" Cinderella lifted her head, looking into the older woman's brown eyes that were now beginning to water also.

"I was much younger than you when it happened," Diane explained, "and much earlier in my pregnancy but I too lost my husband while with child."

"What…," Cinderella sniffed back her tears, "What happened to him?"

"Murdered," she said quietly, looking down at her feet, "It was late at night. We had both been asleep when we heard the door being broke down. Jérôme told me to stay in bed while he went to fight them off. Minutes later I heard the gunshots. I came out of the room to find all the furniture destroyed, our money gone, and Jérôme…" Her words trailed off as her voice cracked.

"They had killed him," the princess finished for her. The maid nodded silently.

Cinderella grabbed a tissue from the nightstand, offering it to the kitchen maid.

"Merci," she said as she wiped at her eyes and continued, "I was only six months along, but the shock of it all must have been too much. My water broke and… everything went black after that. I must have fainted, as the next thing I knew I was on the ground and there was an old woman stroking my hair. Old, but so beautiful, in blue robes. Things went black again before I found myself in a hospital bed. They said I'd been brought there by an elderly woman. I assume it must have been her but… she never showed up again."

"And… what happened to the baby?" asked the princess.

"They said it was a miracle he survived," Diane said as a smile slowly spread across her face, "A second later and we both would have died. I wanted to cry as I remembered everything that happened… Then they showed me my son. Oh Mistress, it was as if… as if he were the one source of light in a world that had turned so dark, so fast."

"Oh Madame, I'm so sorry," Cinderella said in utmost sympathy.

"Please Mistress, call me Diane," said the woman, "And don't be sorry. My son's birth was more than enough to light up my life from then on. From that moment all my thoughts were of him and only him. He is my reason for going on now. Of course I'll always miss mon cher Jérôme, but when I look at my boy… What I'm trying to say Mistress is that this child you are carrying will become your comfort amidst all this sorrow. You'll see what I mean once he or she is born. Nothing else will matter. Just the child."

For the first time in a long time, Cinderella smiled a genuine smile.

"Thank you Diane," she said, "I'll remember that."

Diane smiled and gave the princess one last hug.

"Try to eat something and then get some rest," she said as she got up and walked towards the door, "I'm afraid I must return to my work."

"Diane," Cinderella called out, stopping the maid in her tracks.

"Oui, Mistress?"

"May… may I talk with you every now and then?" the princess had been truly comforted in knowing there was someone else who'd suffered as she was.

"Oh Mistress of course. Whenever you need me, you can find me in the kitchens."

With that, the maid left.

"I like her," Jaq said as he and his mouse friends came out of their hole, "She a nice lady!"

"Yeah, nice nice lady," said Gus, "She nice to Cinderellie!"

"She is very kind isn't she?" Cinderella agreed as she picked up a croissant from the breakfast tray, "I'm only sad I didn't become friends with her sooner."

Cinderella crumpled half of the croissant into little bits for the mice while eating the other half.

"Are you two friends now Cinderellie?" Mary asked as she picked up a crumb to eat.

"I think so," Cinderella said with a smile then let out a gasp as she felt a kicking sensation.

"What's wrong Cinderellie?" said Gus as he noticed the princess clutching her swollen midsection, "Is baby okay?"

"Yes Gus," Cinderella said, this time having tears of joy, "The baby just kicked!"

The mice shouted and squeaked in excitement as Cinderella pet her bump.

"Yes, everything is going to be alright," she thought, "As long as I have you everything will be just fine."

Okay, so a bit of a sad start. But I wanted to include elements of the original written versions of these stories as well as the movies. Who was this mysterious old woman? Will we meet Diane's child? Will Cinderella get over her depression? Will the royal baby be a boy or a girl? Find out in the next chapter. In the words of Wotso videos:

Have a magical day!