AN: Some Gaston next chapter but with him interacting with the two characters in the second part.
Chapter Sixteen
16.1
Adam recognized how hard it was for Belle to endure learning even the simplest magic whilst managing her pregnancy and with much fewer staff at the castle. She never complained about it. She always worked hard and took care of both himself and Juliet. However, now that she was seven months pregnant, he worried about her having too much stress. He couldn't sleep but he refused to leave the bed with her holding onto him so tightly.
He looked to his wrist where the rose was and moved it in the light. Since his wounds had started healing, sometimes he would take the bandages off and look at it. What he hadn't shown her is that sometimes, when struck by the right light, he could look into what appeared to be glass embedded into his arm and his human reflection stared back at him.
As he looked at the reflection of his human self, he sighed and turned his head slowly to stare at the black rose. Could he do it? Could he kill someone? He wanted to be human so badly but to murder someone, would he be able to betray himself and worse betray Belle and do that no matter how much hate he felt.
He sighed and looked back at the ceiling. What could he do? As he closed his eyes and prepared himself to just lay there until he finally fell asleep, he heard sobbing and felt tears on his chest. He felt Belle grab his shirt more as her body shook. He looked at her nervously, panic showing in his expression. Should he wake her? Was it a nightmare?
He very gently let his paw go through her hair. He felt shock as he started to see images of their wedding but from her perspective. He could see his excited human face as she walked down the aisle, he could hear the words when he said that he would always love her and would happily become her husband, he felt the warmth in his heart as they kissed and he hugged her closely. Important memories to him but he had never seen this point of view. He saw the ending part again but slower. He could see him kiss her and then hold her. He felt such pain and longing but also love.
Was this making her cry? He looked at his paw again. She deserved the man she had fallen in love with. She deserved to be with the prince not who he was now. She wanted to have that love with a man, not a monster. He heard her sob harder and felt tears in his eyes. He couldn't give her what she wanted. He had to hurt himself, he had to go against all the promises he had made for himself, he had to kill Gaston so that she would be happy again.
He shifted in the bed, trying not to disturb her but her eyes started to open and she saw him moving and gripped tighter to his shirt. "A-A-Adam," she choked. "Please stay…stay…" she whispered as he looked at her heartbroken. "What is it? What's wrong?" she sniffed as she moved slowly and looked at him pleadingly. "Adam," she said as she saw the pain in his eyes. "I need you to hold me," she told him.
"I can't…" Adam whispered and Belle sobbed harder, wrapping an arm around herself. "I'm the reason you're hurting. I'm responsible for making those tears stain your beautiful face."
Belle reached for him again and shook her head. "Please?" she begged and he looked at her in a battle against what he wanted and what he felt she really needed. "A-Adam," she sobbed. "If you love me at all, you'll hug me."
Adam opened his mouth to protest before getting back onto the bed and took her in his arms, he held her protectively with his arms and his paws. She fell into his chest, still crying painfully. Adam sat there with her, his paw working its way lovingly through her hair. After a while, Belle finally stopped crying.
"I saw your dreams," he told her. "Just like I saw the death of my brother," he told her and Belle wiped her eyes before thinking of the memories. She saw the pain in his face.
"Adam, I dreamed those things because they are precious memories to me. I didn't think that there were any men that I wanted to marry and I married my prince," she told him and Adam looked away from her. Belle made sure to touch his larger cheek. "I keep reminding you of this but I still see you in that way." Adam opened his mouth but no words came out so Belle kissed him. "I love you," she told him before crying more. "You are most important to me. My sadness has nothing to do with you. I love you."
"You wanted to love a prince," Adam argued and Belle raised an eyebrow despite her puffy red eyes. He could barely make out her face but with the moonlight shining through the window, he could make out just enough.
"Are you that forgetful?" she asked him. "What do you think broke the curse? I fell in love with you when you looked like this. I love you. I love you so much." She took his paw and brought it to her belly. "We're a family. You are such an important part of this family."
"You were crying," Adam stated.
Belle looked down, "I…I would like….I would -"
"Anything," Adam said quickly. He meant it. Even if it meant letting people hunt him, skin him, kill him, then he would let her do it. Belle was his everything and he would do anything, give anything to make her happy.
"I want to see my father," she said and Adam nodded.
"I don't think I can go with you," he said honestly, "but I'll have someone accompany you. Just make sure that you're safe. If you need anything to do an enchantment then we can get it. We can send someone to get it for you. Then you can stay with him for as long as you need to."
Belle pressed her forehead into his chest. "I want him here," she said and Adam hesitated again. How would Maurice feel coming back to the state that this castle was in? How would he feel with the wolves surrounding the castle? How would he feel seeing his son-in-law like this, the beast who had imprisoned both him and his daughter, the hideous creature that the mob wanted to kill. "I can enchant the road, the wolves will sleep. I know I can protect him."
Adam stared at her before nodding, "Okay," he told her. He didn't know how he would even be able to face that man. He had done such terrible things to him. Yet, Belle wanted him here and so Adam would give her what she needed. "We can send someone to fetch him," he looked away. He wouldn't be able to face Maurice like this. His father-in-law was uncomfortable with him enough when he was human, when he was like this, he could never apologize enough for what he had done.
"Thank you," Belle said as she kissed the back of his paw. She looked at his other arm before her eyes widened. She could have sworn that she saw the human version of Adam there and she stood quickly. She needed to get bandages so that she could protect that glass shard and the rose. She knew that was his consciousness separated from his subconscious which had existed inside the body. "We need to protect this so you can become human again."
Adam looked at her feeling guilty. She wasn't comfortable with him like this. Was she lying to him? As she bandaged his wrist, she stared at him with a fierce passion. "Don't think like that," she told him as she kissed him again. "I don't mean that you need to be human for me to love you. If I didn't love you regardless of how you appear then the spell would never have broken. I'm just scared….for my father. I feel that he would be safer here."
"Of course," Adam said. "You know that your father's safety is important to me too. He can come here with as many inventions as he wants to bring if that's what you would like," he tried to assure her. He couldn't face Maurice like this. Hopefully there would be a brief moment, no matter how brief, when he could see him whilst in human form. He wanted to at least speak to him. He couldn't like this.
"Do you think someone would go?" she asked and Adam nodded.
"If you assured them that they would be safe then I think there would be many volunteers," he told her honestly. "Do you think that it can wait until morning?" he asked and Belle nodded.
"As long as you remain with me tonight," she said and Adam sighed before laying back down. Belle snuggled up close to him. He just wanted her to be happy. As Belle slept, Adam dared himself to place a paw on his forehead and what he saw surprised him. It was the same scene but he was in a beast form, he was telling her he would be her husband in beast form. He looked at her, drawing his paw back. She was smiling again, she didn't seem scared or depressed. She loved him. Adam allowed himself to sleep still in disbelief that he could ever be this lucky.
16.2
Something felt wrong and Maurice preferred to keep those feelings to himself. He had heard all about Gaston's heroic actions and he had heard about the death of the first prince in line, the heir to the throne. He had wanted to hear from Belle about it and whether either she or Adam needed him, Adam never spoke about his family, but no news had come and no visit. Of course, it was harder to travel when pregnant.
So when a knock came to his door just before the middle of the day, Maurice had hope that it was Belle and he also had hope that it wasn't Adam. Gaston had somehow arrived back in the village and was showing his medals and bragging about how he had done some noble actions that sounded more like fairy stories than the truth. Maurice wasn't expecting anything other than an argument to come from them meeting.
Instead of facing either of the pair, he was surprised to see a mustached gentleman in very formal wear and a carriage with a driver. "Hello?" he asked as he looked at the man. "You're…you're from -"
"We met many times, sir," Cogsworth told him with a look around the house. He didn't have judgment in his eyes but there was the sense of a need to be practical. "I am here by request of the master," he said and Maurice raised an eyebrow. "Lady Belle has requested you to come to the castle."
"Your master?" Maurice asked skeptically, "I thought that things with -"
"I dare tell you that," Cogsworth laughed, "the master would be horrified that I am calling him anything other than Adam, even His Highness, but I do think that a lot of respect and formality is needed here. You are right though, if I were to address him in that way then he would be horrified."
"Is he here?" Maurice asked as he tried to look around the former clock. "He requested you to come in his place? Is Belle okay? Is he unable to lea-"
"The master's reasons are not a point of discussion," Cogsworth coughed. "Of course it is not my place to force you to come to the castle. I am only here due to the care which I show to the two of them and knowing that what pleases our Lady Belle is -"
"Did it happen? Is she in danger?" Maurice asked and Cogsworth adjusted his collar.
"Right now, or at the point I left the castle, to my knowledge they were okay. Whatever harm might befall either one of them is not publicly stated information and I would prefer that it not be told by an outsider of the situation. The master is keeping her safe, healthy, protected. He would do anything in his powers to -"
"He's transformed hasn't he?" Maurice asked cutting Cogsworth off and the younger man coughed as he straightened his back. He nodded in response to Maurice.
"Yes, he has," he admitted. "However, that does not change anything. He is prepared to care for his family and those within the castle despite the physical alterations to his body."
"You don't think that he'll be vicious, that he'll hurt her or hurt the baby," Maurice asked and Cogsworth's eyes widened as he stared at the father in complete horror. He opened his mouth to speak but the words wouldn't come out. "He is a beast, isn't he?"
"Adam is nothing of the sort,"Cogsworth defended the prince. "He would hate to hear me saying this as he doesn't want people to stand up for him but he is not a monster. Despite the curse he has to endure, he is far far from a monster. He is a prince and the level of respect he holds for you in particular, it makes me feel attacked that you wouldn't see how much good is inside of him. He wants you there for Lady Belle's sake but, if Adam were not so against it himself and if he would not be heartbroken by my desired reaction, I would be more on his defense. Please remember that he was cursed as a young child for the first time. A child who I, myself, failed to guide in the right direction."
"Belle wants to see me?" Maurice asked and Cogsworth nodded silently.
Adam deserved more than this and this was just an example of the disdain which the outside world held against him. All Cogsworth wanted was for the safety of the young family. Every great father-to-be deserved to have the safety of his wife and newborn to be secured.
End of Chapter Sixteen
Thank you for reading
Thank you to the reviewers of Chapter Fifteen
BellatrixBlack1997, KathyMesser