"Come on, Belle!" Aurora said, looking her friend in the eyes.

"For the thousandth time, Aurora no!"

"Why not?"

"Because. Just because. Isn't that a good enough reason?"

"I vote no," Mulan interjected. "Not a good enough reason."

"Thanks for the help, Mulan."

"You're very welcome."

"Come on, Belle," Ariel said with a laugh. "We all know each other's partners."

"Yes, but yours all go to the same school as us. Robert does not."

"It doesn't matter," said Ella. "You still have to introduce him to us."

"Guys, if she doesn't want to then she doesn't have to," Ruby said.

"Thank you, Ruby!"

"Yeah, I'm going to have to agree with Ruby here," said Mary Margaret. "I want to meet the guy too, but it's up to Belle if she wants to introduce us."

Belle nodded. "See?"

"But why are you so against it?" Ruby asked. "He seemed fine saying hello when we saw him at Granny's. What would be so bad about us getting to know him a little more? Are you ashamed of him or something?"

"No," said Belle. "He just doesn't like most other people. He's a bit... distant."

"We'll be nice," said Mulan. "We promise."

Belle sighed. "I'll talk to him. But I'm not making any promises."

Mary Margaret put a hand on her stomach. "This is so weird," she said.

"I know," said David. "Seven weeks."

"At our appointment tomorrow, we'll probably hear a heartbeat." She smiled. "Our little baby's heartbeat."

"I can't wait for us to be parents."

"Me neither." She grinned. "Have I told you lately that I love you?"

"Pretty recently, yes. Have I told you the same?"

"I think so."

They kissed. Then Mary Margaret got a text. It was from Ella, in their group chat.

Hey. You guys said you would help me with my stepmom. If you're still willing, please come over to my place at 6:00 today. Dinner included.

Mary Margaret walked into Ella's house and was almost immediately greeted by her two stepsisters. "Hi," said the older one, sitting on the couch with her head buried in her phone.

"Hi, Anna," said Mary Margaret. As she remembered it, Anna was sixteen.

"Oh god, it's you," said Chloe, the other stepsister, who was fifteen. "Is your whole gang coming over?"

"I think so, yes," said Mary Margaret.

"Oh, great," said Anna.

She went downstairs, where Ella and Thomas were sitting. "Thanks for coming," said Ella.

"No problem," Mary Margaret replied. "Anna and Chloe weren't too pleased to see me."

"They're never pleased to see anyone," said Ella.

When everyone else arrived, Ella ordered pizza, then said, "Okay. So, a plan has been set in motion."

"Awesome," said Ruby. "What is the plan?"

"Well, tomorrow, Stepmother is having an auction of most of my father's things."

"Yikes," said Ruby.

"Yeah, well, we're going to halt the auction."

"How?" asked Aurora.

"By outbidding everyone there."

There was silence for a moment.

"Um, Ella?" Ariel said gently. "Your dad was like, pretty rich, yeah?"

"Yeah, before he went bankrupt."

"Right, so, how are we going to afford any of his things?" Belle asked.

"We don't," said Thomas. "We just bid so high everyone else backs off, then refuse to pay. That way everything stays here."

"Isn't that illegal?" Aurora asked.

"I don't think so," said Ella. Then she frowned. "But if you guys hate the plan..."

"No, no!" Mary Margaret said quickly. "That's not true. We're all on board. David and I have an appointment tomorrow, but we'll try to be here. When is it?"

"7:00 pm."

"Oh, we'll definitely be free by then."

"Yeah, we'll all be there," said Ruby.

"I'll even bring Robert," said Belle, and they all looked at her, eyebrows raised. "He, uh, finally agreed to meet you all. So maybe tomorrow is a good time. We can meet here an hour before the auction, and you can all get to know him. To the extent that anybody gets to know him."

"What does that mean?" Mulan asked.

"Well, you know, we've been dating for three and a half months and I still don't know his parents' names. That sort of thing."

"Really? You haven't met them?" Aurora asked.

"Oh, well, that couldn't happen," said Belle. "Anyway, the point is, is 6:00 pm tomorrow, here, alright with everyone?"

They all muttered their consent.

"Great. Then Robert will be here."

"What about the baby?" Mary Margaret asked.

"We'll see."