Chapter Seven

7.1

Adam took a step back feeling the change through his body and then bowed before walking off without another word. Belle stared at him wide eyed before coming over to him. She reached out to place a hand on his back but could see that the tail was struggling to come out. "Adam," she said as they got to the entrance way. "Are we leaving? Can you talk to me?"

Adam stopped before turning to her with an apologetic expression. "I'm sorry, it's not you who I'm mad at," he said before looking in the direction of where his brothers, Gaston, and his father was. He took a slow and measured breath. "I really should be grateful to you and Maurice, to the staff at the castle whom are my true family. I feel that if I didn't change then I would have become like them."

"Which makes you think, right? That you're special. That you changed for the -" Belle began but felt someone restraining her and saw the flash in Adam's eyes as he saw Louis, the eldest brother and heir to the throne and Gaston with their hands on his wife.

"Of course he's special, vermin like him," Louis mocked his younger brother. Adam felt the anger pulsing through him as Belle struggled but failed to escape.

"Let go of her right now," he said, his eyes narrowing as inside he could imagine a storm around him. No. They might be able to mock him but Belle was pregnant. Belle was his wife who had saved him from being forever cursed as a beast. He saw Gaston reach to her chest and grabbed his wrist, his nails had become longer without him knowing it and he took no notice of the blood on his hand.

Louis shoved Belle to the ground and pressed her down with his foot.

"You seem to lake trashy women," he said and Adam heard Belle attempting to get up. With a flash of anger, he ripped his brother off of his wife and pushed him to the wall. His eyes narrowed and he felt that he couldn't hold onto what was happening around him, it all seemed so blurry.

"You said you didn't kill me because I'm family. Let this be the reason I don't hurt you further. Do whatever you want to me but leave my wife and child alone," he growled. He went to Belle and softly placed his hand on her back, trying to make sure that she wasn't hurt. She threw her arms around him and he looked up to see the haunted and horrified look on Louis's face and the smug and disgusted look on Gaston's.

Belle could see a faint outline of Adam's former self over him as if he were wearing a translucent costume. She didn't know whether he knew this or not. "Let's just leave," she told him and Adam nodded. He made sure that she was all right before they went to go back to the carriage. He wasn't fully aware of what was going on until he looked at his hands whilst inside the carriage. Paws. These weren't his hands.

He stared at them wide eyed as he turned them over. The tail had been growing for days but these paws had just appeared. His breath quickened as he looked at her. His spine hadn't grown, he wasn't towering above her. "How much of the rest of me?" he asked as he felt Belle reach out and take one of his larger paws in her hands.

"Not very much at all," she said.

She looked him over, he still looked like himself but the horns were poking out underneath his hair and he had a beard that had just started growing, his top fangs were present and he hadn't seemed to notice that, there was a rip in his clothes as his tail rested on the seat beside him and she could see one of his bottom claws poking out of the shoe. He still looked human but a human/beast hybrid.

"It's okay," she tried to convince him, "We're leaving. We're together," as the carriage moved over a large stone, Belle put a hand to her belly and Adam's eyes widened. He couldn't see any blood but they wouldn't know whether harm had come to their child without her seeing a doctor. "I'm okay," she tried to persuade him and Adam looked to her terrified about her health.

"Can we go to see my father?" she asked him and Adam paused, he opened his mouth to argue but then bowed his head. If she needed to go there then they would go there. He would do anything for her, give her anything which she might need.

"If I transform then Maurice will not let me stay," he told her with a heavy voice and Belle looked into his eyes. She put a hand out and let her fingers slip into the beard on his face.

"Papa will not hurt you. He loves me and he knows that in hurting you, he'd be hurting me. I just want to make sure that we're all okay," she said as she placed a hand on her belly. Adam very nervously and very slowly reached out his paw to her belly and as he felt the area where his child was, he could see the paw becoming a human hand. Belle took this chance to take his hand and placed it on her heart as she saw that the changes he had gone through were mostly turning back and soon the only problem he had was the tail on the seat.

"I love you," she whispered to him. "Please believe me. I love you."

"I love you too," he whispered as he looked at his hand which Belle only needed one of her own to hold.

You must control your temper.

Adam sighed as he remembered that advice. "I don't know how well I can control my anger," he told her and Belle nodded. "My anger is what cau-"

"You protected us," Belle told him as she kissed his now cleanshaven cheek. "And no matter how angry you get or what it does to you, I'm here for you and we're going to be a family." Belle saw Adam bow his head as he tried to get rid of all of the pain and tension from that night. She kissed the top of his head a few times. "You're a very different type of person."

Adam laughed bitterly, "You mean the type that is turning into a monster?" he asked and Belle kissed him again but this time she let her arms embrace him, pulling his bowed head onto her shoulder and letting her cheek rest upon him.

"I was always seen as an outsider. I dreamed of larger things, adventure, seeing things that I would have to travel to do. I was seen as artistic and crazy because I didn't care as much about being a wife. I was glad to be intelligent. I was and still am very proud of my father and think he's brilliant," Belle said and Adam nodded.

"Maurice is brilliant," he agreed.

"See, all of that though led me to you. You weren't interested in reading first of all but underneath it all, you want to experience more, you're curious, you're ready to learn, you don't talk down to people," she said and he looked at her with a weak smile, hope in his eyes. "You have grown so much, Adam. You can't ever be like your brothers and father because you care and I am so happy that you're not like them." She reached out to touch his tail and he shifted nervously. "I really want to brush it," she said, tilting her head to the side. "Will you let me?"

Adam coughed, staring at her in surprise before nodding. He held her hand. "Only you though, only you get that privilege." Belle kissed him again. They both knew that at some point Adam would most likely turn into the beast again but this wasn't the night that that was going to happen.

7.2

After Adam had discharged, paid, and secured a room for their driver which was anywhere other than Gaston's tavern, he nervously stood with Belle outside of Maurice's home. Taking a step backwards he looked behind him. "See, there's a lot of grass out there, I could sleep under the moon and the stars. We don't need to disturb him, at least not both of us."

"Papa will help us," Belle insisted and saw Adam tug tighter on the cape that was covering up his tail. "I just feel safer try to look after our child here," she explained and Adam looked at her guiltily. The funny thing was that neither his father or his father-in-law were ever truly accepting of him. His own father for his weak nature and his very different personality than the other males in the family and Gaston because of the way he had been like his father and brothers for that limited time.

"Are you feeling okay, though?" Adam asked nervously. "No blood. No bruising. You still feel them in there?"

Belle nodded as she knocked on the door but as she waited for it to be answered, she held tight to Adam's wrist to prevent him from just running down the steps and away from the house, away from conflict. "Calm yourself, Papa doesn't hate you. He knows that what you went through would have damaged anyone and unlike many people at least you're trying to -"

"Belle?" Maurice asked in surprise as he saw her standing there and then saw that she had her hand securely on Adam's wrist and the young prince was trembling. "I thought that the two of you would be away for a number of weeks. I wasn't expecting to. Has something happened?"

"Belle needs to rest, I'm accompanying her here but I can make my lea-" Adam said quickly but Belle tightened her grip on him.

"I'd like to be somewhere safe right now. I want to make sure to rest so that our son or daughter isn't in danger any longer," she said and Maurice looked to her belly underneath the dress. During the half day trip down there, they had rested a few times and everything had seemed to be in good health but Adam still worried. He could summon doctors at the castle but Belle had wanted to come here.

"Would it be all right if I go to the castle to get the doctor to come?" Adam asked Belle and she stared at him firmly.

"As long as you will be returning with him," she said and Adam nodded, Belle raised her eyebrow and Adam nodded again. "Then, yes, but if anything happens to you, remember how much I love you and how much you love us." Adam looked at her, his fear showing in his expression again. "Promise me you'll remember that."

"I -" Adam choked and saw the firm way that Belle was looking at him. "I promise," he told her and Belle wrapped her arms around him again. "I'll be back with the doctor," he tried to reassure her before bowing again to Maurice.

Maurice watched Adam leave before turning to Belle. "Is there something wrong with him? I know that you were both worried that he was going to….change but…"

"He is changing, Papa," Belle replied and Maurice's shock showed in his eyes. "The outside of him at least but inside he's still sweet, kind, giving, loving, affectionate. He isn't at all how people think he's supposed to be. A bit like me. I think that being cursed like that helped Adam survive and mature, don't tell him I said that," Belle said before feeling a pain in her belly. Without her husband there, she felt tears in her eyes.

"Papa, can I lay down?" she asked. "I don't want to risk the health of our -"

"Of course." Maurice nodded. "Of course. Can't let any harm or danger come to my grandchild. You of course may rest. I'll get you some warm towels," he said and Belle smiled gratefully. "So he's changing?"

"Not on the inside though," she said with a smile as she made herself comfortable in her old bedroom. "Not in any way that really matters."

"You can't say that," Maurice began to argue, "I think it matters greatly if he gets to be eight, ten feet tall with -"

"It doesn't matter to me, as long as he's Adam," Belle smiled before finding herself falling asleep. If any harm had come to her or this child then Adam would never forgive himself.

7.3

Adam felt very lucky that Phillipe had faith in him because riding the horse had saved him a lot of time in returning to the castle. He dismounted as he came into the gates and gently let his hand rest on the horse's nose. "Do me a favor, boy, and stay here?" he asked as the horse did so.

Adam ran up to the castle entry before he slowed. His eyes widened and his body stopped still as he stared at a person who creeped him out to the bottom of his being. The 'old hag' in that more unattractive appearance. Adam managed to calm himself as he walked over to her. "Hello," he said trying to focus on the love he had with Belle. "Can I help you?"

"Ah, so you are human again," she said and he nodded. "I've come to request shelter in exchange for this," she said as she held up a white rose and Adam looked at her. It made sense if she was in charge of delivering roses. Being an enchantress seemed to be her primary job with a very specific florist being her side hustle.

"Yes, of course," he said as he tried to keep his mind balanced. Who knew what powers she had? "I'll have one of my servants find you a place to rest immediately," he told her and she smiled to him.

"Instead of this rose, would you prefer to have revenge on your family?" she asked and Adam's eyes widened. He slowly shook his head. He honestly didn't need to receive anything from her. She could easily manipulate him to do anything or give her anything she wanted. "Or you could have that beauty of yours forget you?" she asked, "That would be a selfless deed."

"Tempting," he told her before shaking his head. "But no. I don't think Belle would forgive me for making that choice for her and I don't trust myself to just stand and watch her from the shadows. I'll take the rose but I really don't want either revenge or for Belle to forget me, as selfish as that sounds."

"You're turning less human every day," the enchantress told him.

"I know that Belle loves me," Adam told her with confidence. "If she were to ask for it then I would support her but just as it would hurt her if I forgot her, Belle would feel hurt were she to imagine forgetting me, she's too kind and noble of a person."

"Don't you want revenge on the people who tried to sacrifice you to me?" she asked him and Adam's mouth opened a little.

Adam shook his head confused, "Belle has done nothing wrong. She's done nothing but love me and bring out the best in me. I would never want to do anything to hur-"

"You really think you were the first person I came to that night?" she asked and Adam paused. Wasn't he? He had been rude and selfish and unkind and he had been turned into a beast as punishment. He hadn't thought anything else of that story existed. "Your life was traded to me by your family so that I wouldn't curse them. Don't you want revenge to the people who said, not me, take my useless younger brother?"

Adam paled as he heard that and shook his head, he closed his eyes and exhaled slowly. "No. No matter what happened, I don't. You may have your shelter but all I want to do is get my personal doctor to see my wife."

End of Chapter Seven

Thank you for reading

Thank you to gisela19wwe for reviewing Chapter Six