Chapter Twenty Nine

29.1

Adam had fallen asleep on the ground in the stable whilst in beast form. He knew he had to explain what had happened to Belle but he had asked Cogsworth to allow him to do it. Then Belle had fallen asleep because she was tired, of course she was exhausted after such a transformation and he had fallen asleep whilst watching her, his body was still on guard in case something else happened.

As he blinked, he saw that the milk buckets were gone. He had asked Cogsworth to finish up and to save some milk for Juliet who wouldn't be breastfed for a while. Adam sat up slowly, still half asleep before hearing his wife's gentle voice. "A-A-Adam?" she asked and he looked to her. He had hoped that she would be in human form but she was still this brown and white cow.

He took a slow breath before realizing that even though she was in a transformed animal form, she had spoken his name and he was almost certain it hadn't been his imagination. Getting to his feet, he reached out a paw to place on the side of her head.

"Did you just say -" he said and Belle stared at him and exhaled slowly.

"A-A-Adam," she said in a scared, shaky voice. Adam reached out to hug her close. She let her head rest upon his shoulder. Adam reflected on what the enchantress had told them. There was no way for the enchantress to save Belle but she could save herself. Talking in French was a huge step forward.

"You said my name," he told her. "You're amazing."

Belle looked down, "A-Adam," she repeated before making a stretch of moos and then another word, "Papa," sadly what followed that were more moos but she was able to say some words in her natural voice. That was a big step forwards. "'Elle."

Belle nudged Adam back with her head, he didn't put up a fight and just let her do what she needed. She looked at him before tilting her head to the side and pressed her forehead against his neck, nuzzling him. Adam let her do what she needed and this time as she moved back, he could see the tears in her eyes. "Adam no," she said before mooing and Adam took a slow breath out. What was she trying to tell him? "L-Leave," she said and Adam looked hurt before he moved backwards.

"Really?" he asked her not wanting to show how painful that was, he saw her eyes widen in panic and more moos echoed through the barn.

"Adam not leave, Adam no leave," she said and Adam moved forwards and held her close.

"No. I won't," he promised her. "Not until you are okay with me leaving." He kissed her a few times as he saw how distressed she was at her voice sounding like that. "You're doing amazing," Adam tried to soothe her. She truly was, she was in the form of a cow and when she had first transformed she couldn't say any words. Even though she could only use limited words, she was speaking to him and he understood her.

"Adam," she cried and he saw tears down her cheeks.

"I love you," he told her. "You are so beautiful," he told her as he kissed her nose and felt her run her longer tongue over his mouth. What did he care, he was a beast for hell's sake. He heard her moo in pain and let his forehead rest on hers. "I'm so sorry that I couldn't protect you. I'll do whatever I can to solve this."

As he stood there with her, he heard footsteps to the side and turned to see Maurice there looking at the two of them confused. Adam coughed weakly before hearing Belle moo in panic. "Ssh, it's okay. He'll love you," he told her and Maurice narrowed his eyes looking at his son-in-law in beast form.

"I was told to come find you," Maurice said before looking at the cow. "So, you've purchased a cow?"

"P-P-Papa," Belle said as she looked at him before hiding herself behind Adam. Shock and horror coated Maurice's expression as he heard that. Adam placed his paw on Belle's head as she tried to conceal her body with his.

"Is that -" Maurice asked and then stared at Adam, "Did you -"

"I don't have that kind of magic," Adam said nervously. "But yes, this is Belle," he said as he looked back to her with a smile but saw that she had bowed her head. "Princess, it's okay," he said as he turned to her and then knelt down. "He's your father, he loves you, he won't hurt you."

"Of course not," Maurice coughed with his eyes widening. "Belle?" he asked and the cow nodded. Maurice stepped forward and hugged Belle before hearing her moos. He turned to Adam who looked guilty but protective and concerned. It was obvious his love was there but Maurice was angry at him. If he had never come to this castle and Belle had never followed him here, she wouldn't be a barn animal.

"Adam no leave," Belle said before mooing again, "Papa no leave."

"What happened to her?" Maurice asked and Adam slowly inhaled.

"She was turned into a cow because she stumbled upon some information people wanted to keep secret. She was doing nothing wrong, just being her curious self and they thought that turning her into a cow would make it so she was unrecognizable to us. He said something about an earthworm, the man who did this, a cow probably is a better choice but -"

"I mean her voice, Belle, my daughter, knows how to speak fluently in many languages. What did they do to her intelligence?" Belle mooed again and moved away from her father to press her head against Adam's furry body. He placed his paw on the back of her neck.

"She is still intelligent, I don't know any other cow who can communicate with humans. She didn't speak at first. You know Belle, she always does her best." He looked to her and then knelt down and kissed her head again and then her cheek. "I'm here, I love you, it's okay, you're safe."

Maurice stared at him. "If you had any other choice you would find yourself a woman of noble birth but of a whore's disposition," he said and both Adam and Belle looked at him in disbelief and disgust. "Because you look like that, you'd even take a cow as your…mate."

Adam's anger deepened and he forced himself to turn human again. "Belle is my wife and this is Belle. I don't care what she looks like, it doesn't keep me from loving her. I care that she's been hurt ad I want her to be human but that doesn't change how much I love her. I am not going to leave her. I know that I'm a so-called pretty boy, a prince but I would take on this curse, I would scar my entire body or distort it in a way that would sicken anyone who looked upon me to save Belle. I am doing my best and I will continue doing my best but this is my wife and your daughter. You might not accept me but accept that I love her and accept that this is still Belle."

Belle bowed her head, starting to cry more and Maurice reached towards her but Adam beat him to it still in human form. "I'm sorry," he told her as she hugged her and kissed the side of her head several times. "I'm sorry. I love you. I won't stop until I've done everything I can or that anyone can to bring you back to us. As for now though, we're here. I'm here for you, whatever you might need from me."

"Food?" Belle asked as she looked back at the bags of grass and Adam stood up, he looked at the grass and the straw before going to the fruit and picking out an overly ripe apple. However, Belle shook her head and went to the sack with the grass, starting to much on it.

Adam's heart burned painfully but he watched her silently. If she would rather eat grass than apples, he wouldn't stop her. He just wanted to be the one who was there for her.

29.2

Belle watched Adam from her position on the floor of their bedroom. It had taken a long time for her to get this far in this new body and she had to say that she understood the rage and pain which Adam had gone through a little bit better now. Yes, she could go out into the village and most people wouldn't pay attention to her as they would do to him but at the same time, he could at least speak although he didn't want to.

Somehow she still felt a connection to this castle, to Juliet, and most definitely to him. She walked over to him as he lay underneath some blankets on the floor in beast form. She wished that he would sleep in the bed. Just because she wasn't able to didn't mean that he should be uncomfortable. Her father kept telling her things, that he was going to take her away when Adam wasn't looking and that Adam was responsible for her being a barnyard animal. Adam would never choose this for her.

She saw him snore and looked around, her eyes connecting with the metal rose that meant his life would always be between two worlds, that of being a human and that of being a beast. She knew it would never change and that he had to accept that as his life but she hadn't realized that something like this would happen to her.

She looked over to Adam, what did he always tell her it was like becoming human? A test of endurance, a push, it was like pushing a bolder up a mountain each time but at the end, he was human. Belle closed her eyes, took a deep breath in and imagined herself rolling a rock up the hill. She started to feel dizzy but just concentrated on the rock.

She coughed and looked to her hand before something dropped down, a necklace in the shape of a cowbell. She looked at it before feeling as if something was filling her with liquid and she coughed, she saw blood on the ground and then felt tears against her skin as if she were getting scratched. She felt when the metal of the cowbell was close to her chest it felt better but soon she could feel blood in her mouth and she reached to her lips, her hand shaking.

She felt as if her body was in pain and she tried to put the necklace on, maybe this would stop it. She blinked and could hear muffled words, she saw paws one moment and when she blinked they were hands. She coughed again feeling her energy dropping. She tried again to link the chain and found herself crash down onto something warm and firm. Before she could drop the necklace, she found another pair of hands to take it and then heard the sound of the clasp.

She fell forwards and heard herself moo as she returned to the cow form of herself and looked up nervously. She knew that she had been human if only for a moment. She closed her eyes and bowed her head only to feel strong hands lift it and found the human version of Adam squatting in front of her.

"Are you okay?" he asked as his fingers very gently went over her cheek. "The blood's gone," he thought aloud before watching her, concern the primary emotion in his expression. "Belle," he whispered to her, "Can you hear me? Can you understand me?" he asked her. Belle nodded without saying anything. "Princess," he smiled to her, "You were human again. Only for a moment but I'm sure next time it will be for a little bit longer," he said and Belle could tell that he was holding something back, his smile was strained and fear was still in his eyes.

"Adam," she whispered and he stood but let his forehead press against hers. He kissed her nose lovingly. "Adam. I back human, now cow," she said and Adam smiled and sat down on the bed. She was using more advanced phrases than before.

"I know," he laughed weakly. "I know and I'm so proud of you but…" his face turned sad as a dark shadow cast itself upon him, "I don't want to see you that hurt ever again." He reached for her before touching the silver tag in her ear which now had the same icon of a cowbell as the charm of the necklace had had. "This," he said lifting it slightly but Belle couldn't see it, "is the key to breaking the curse."

Belle shook her head, "Like Adam, no break," she told him feeling as if that were true. She felt now she would have to lead a double life just like him. Adam moved from the bed and wrapped his arms around her.

"Just hold tight to the knowledge that I love you," he told her. "No matter what."

End of Chapter Twenty Nine

Thank you for reading

Thank you to the reviewers of Chapter Twenty Eight

Foreverandtrulyyours, KathyMesser