In the morning, Mr. Gold and Belinda woke up to the sound of Rose crying, the silence of the early morning broken by the wailing of their little infant. Belinda groaned into her pillow and was just about to get up to fetch her daughter when Gold put his hand on her arm and offered a sleepy smile to her.
"I'll get her. You stay in bed a little longer."
She looked like she wanted to protest, but then her eyelids began to droop. She nodded her head and fell back to sleep.
Mr. Gold gave a happy sigh. The sun was just beginning to pour through the curtains in his windows. His heart felt light. It was the most amazing feeling to wake up to Belle sleeping beside him. He approached the crib and lifted Rose up and into his arms. "You just have the most perfect timing, little one." The baby cooed and then her face lit up into a large smile and his heart was warmed through. "Let's go change you, and then we'll see about feeding you."
He did just that. When Rose was wearing a fresh diaper and had been fed her breakfast, he put her over his shoulder and begin to pat her back. The morning was so quiet, and he had dreamed of having this for so long, that it was almost surreal and he wished that he could hold onto it for forever. Of course, that was impossible, and the moment was broken sooner than he thought.
There was a knock at the door, and Mr. Gold's eyes wandered to the clock over the mantlepiece. Eight o'clock. Who would be coming by at eight o'clock? He held Rose firmly to his shoulder and continued to burp her as he limped over to the door, unlocked it, and then opened it. His eyebrows rose in surprise when he saw Jefferson standing there.
"What are you doing here, Hatter?"
Instead of answering, Jefferson looked at the baby and smiled. "Wearing a baby on your shoulder really suits you, Dark One."
Mr. Gold didn't have the heart to grimace back. He looked at Rose and let a small smile grace his lips. "Why are you here, Jefferson? Belle's still asleep."
"That's good. I was hoping we could have a little chat before she woke up."
"You couldn't just call?"
Jefferson feigned hurt. "Why? You don't want to see me?" Mr. Gold frowned, making Jefferson grin once again. "I figured this would be easier. We have to talk about our next move. Besides, I wanted to see my goddaughter."
"Your...what? Who made you this child's godfather?"
"No one. Not yet. But since I'm Belle's best friend, I figured I deserved that position the most."
Gold rolled his eyes. "Are you going to come inside, or do you want to just stand out there all day long?"
Jefferson didn't reply. He stepped inside and made himself comfortable on Gold's couch. Mr. Gold followed suit and then handed Rose over to Jefferson. The little girl was placed on the man's shoulder and he began to pat her back, both still waiting for her to burp.
"You're sure Belle's asleep?" Jefferson asked as he glanced towards the stairs.
Rumpelstiltskin nodded. "What did you want to discuss, Hatter?"
"I heard you were put in jail for beating the crap out of Belle's ex. But you're out now. I'm assuming our dear Queen had something to do with that?"
"You guess right, Jefferson." He grimaced as memories from the previous day flooded into his mind. "She knows who I am."
"She knows?"
He nodded. "It would seem my identity is not as much of a secret as we had hoped. I'm afraid we've lost our advantage against Regina."
Jefferson took on a thoughtful look. "Then that means she knows who everyone is." He looked at Rumpelstiltskin. "Including Belle. She's not safe here, Rumpelstiltskin."
"What makes you say that, Hatter?"
"Now that the Queen knows you remember, who's to say she won't use Belle to get to you?"
Mr. Gold gritted his teeth. "I assure you I can protect her."
"You can't protect her all of the time. You've still got to keep up appearances for the sake of the rest of the town."
"Then what do you propose?"
Jefferson looked down at Rose when the baby let out a burp. He smiled with pride and then he took the child off his shoulder and held her in his lap. "Why don't you let them come and stay with me?"
"What?!" He cried incredulously. "How will that help anything?"
"Think about it, Rumple. My mansion is right on the outskirts of town. I hardly ever leave the house, no one really knows who I am. I could look after her and Rose better than you could. And Belle won't be alarmed. If she stays with you, she's going to know something's up."
"If I ask her to stay with you, she's going to know something's up."
Jefferson sighed. "Well, it's up to her. But I think it would be best."
"Up to who?" A female voice said and they both turned their heads to see a groggy Belle coming down the stairs. "What would be best?" She took a seat beside Jefferson and he passed Rose over to her.
Rumpelstiltskin shifted his body towards and took her hand. "We were just discussing some things."
"Like what?"
"Belle, I would like you to go and stay with Jefferson. Just for a couple weeks."
She furrowed her brows. "Why? Robert?"
"I don't want you to be alarmed, Belle. There's nothing wrong."
"Then why do I have to go and stay at Jefferson's? Why can't I stay with you?" Neither of the two men knew how to respond. She looked from one to the other. "Does this have to do with those fairy tales? I thought you didn't believe in that stuff, Jefferson?"
"Well..." He began but she interrupted him.
"Why didn't you tell me?" But before he could respond, she raised a hand and shook her head. "Never mind. That's not important. Robert, I told you that I would trust you, even if I didn't believe you. So why don't you tell me what this is all about?"
Mr. Gold sighed and rubbed at his eyes. "Belle, we're all in danger. Regina visited me yesterday. She, um, she knows that I know who I am. She knows that I'm Rumpelstiltskin. And now that she knows I know, nothing is standing between her and the ones I love."
"Hold on. You think the Evil Queen might use Rose and I to get to you?"
He nodded. They both could tell that Belle was having a really hard time wrapping her head around all of this new information. She must have really thought that they were speaking nonsense, and they could tell she was desperately trying to understand what they were saying.
"Exactly, Belle. That's why I think it would be a good idea if you went and stayed with Jefferson for a couple weeks, just so that I could take some time to assess Regina's plan, and see if she meant any harm to you."
"If she is such a threat, then why don't you both just work to break this curse already?"
"That's a delicate situation, Belle," Jefferson cut in. "The Savior doesn't believe anything that I have told her. Rumpelstiltskin – I mean Robert – and I are trying to figure out how we can get her to believe and break the curse."
Belle looked from one to the other, and then down to Rose. "Fine."
"What?" Both men said at the same time. They were both surprised by her answer.
"I trust both of you. I don't want to, but if you two think that this is the best solution, then I'll go along with your plan. Rose and I'll go and stay with Jefferson."
Both men sighed with inward relief. One problem was solved.
0o0o0o0o0o
"I'll see you in a couple days," Mr. Gold gave her his most reassuring smile as he stood in the doorway to Jefferson's mansion. He trailed a finger down Rose's soft cheek.
"Why can't I see you tomorrow?" Belinda frowned. Jefferson took the suitcase that she had managed to pack in under an hour and he left the couple alone.
Mr. Gold sighed. "I think it would be best if I'm in town as much as I can be, that way Regina feels like she can keep an eye on me."
"Won't she notice that I'm gone?"
He shrugged. "She'll probably just assume that you're staying at home with Rose now that we're together." Belinda nodded, knowing that this was necessary, knowing that she needed to fulfill her promise to trust Robert no matter what, but still sad that she wouldn't be waking up beside him for many mornings. He frowned at her. "Hey, I don't want this either, Belle. But I need you to trust that this is necessary."
"Okay. I will." She gave him a smile before practically jumping into his arms and pressing her lips to his. "I love you."
"Love you too." He smirked. "You let me know if Jefferson starts getting on your nerves. He tends to do that."
She slapped him lightly on the shoulder. "I won't believe it. I'm sure we'll get along just fine."
Mr. Gold nodded his head. "I'll see you before you know it." And then he turned around and left. Belinda waved to him as he drove away, and then she shut the door and looked down at Rose.
"Well, hun, I guess this is gonna be our home for a little while. Let's go see if we can find Uncle Jefferson."
"Uncle Jefferson, huh?" The man in question appeared from the hallway. "I was rooting for godfather, but I do have to say, being an uncle has a special ring to it."
She grinned. "You'll have to live up to it."
"Do you have any doubts?" They both laughed. He took Rose into his arms and then began to lead the way. "Your room is this way."
Belinda marveled at the size of the home. It was simply amazing.
0o0o0o0o0o
And it had been such a delightful morning. Had.
"What do you want, Regina?" Rumpelstiltskin asked as he put his hands on the glass counter.
The woman walked through the door of his Pawn Shop, and it was amazing how much she resembled the Evil Queen of old now that he remembered.
"I was just concerned, Rumpelstiltskin. You came into work an hour later than you usually do."
His eyebrows rose. "So now that you know everything, you're spying on me? Why so concerned, your Majesty?"
"I don't trust you. I didn't trust you before, but I really don't trust you now."
"I'm flattered," he said with a grimace and he limped around the counter. "So what do you really want?"
She rolled her eyebrows. "I want to know why you came in late? You're never late."
"Well, this is my business. I think I can come in whenever I want. This is still a free country, right, your Majesty?"
"Of course." She nodded her head in an attempt to appease him. "Enjoying your time with Belle?"
"Perhaps."
"Oh, you don't have to go into details, Rumple. I really prefer not to know just exactly how you've been spending your time with her. But. You're smart, and I'm sure you want to spend all the time that you can with your dear girlfriend."
He glared at her. "And why's that?"
"Because you don't know how much more time you have with her."
"Are you threatening her? Because that's really not a wise move, Regina."
She shrugged lazily. "I'm only saying that you might want to spend as much time with her as you can, because you don't know what could happen. You don't know who would want to get their hands on your beautiful Belinda French."
He pointed a menacing finger at her. "If you lay a finger on her, I swear-"
"Well, I have to find her first, Gold."
"Find her?"
She looked at him as if he were stupid. "You really don't think that I think that she is still at your house, do you?" Regina shook her head. "You're too smart for that. You knew that she was in danger the minute that you revealed to me that you knew everything about our past lives. So, it would only make sense that you've moved her to some other location. I just need to find it. And I have spies everywhere, Dark One. I'll find her. Mark my words."
"You don't want to cross me, dearie. You really don't."
"You don't scare me here, Rumpelstiltskin. Here, you are just a crippled coward with no magic. You can't hurt me. But I can hurt you." Before he could say anything else, she turned to leave. "Have a good day," she called out in a sing-song voice. Rumpelstiltskin grimaced at her back.
0o0o0o0o0o
Jefferson picked up his ringing cell phone and held it to his ear. "Hello?"
"Is Belle alright?" He heard Mr. Gold's voice through the receiver.
He scoffed. "You've only been without her for a couple hours, Gold. I'm sure you can survive."
"Regina visited me. She knows Belle's not at my house. She says she's got spies everywhere. Do not let Belle or Rose out of your sight. Do you hear me?"
Jefferson sobered instantly. "Don't worry, Dark One. I will guard your beauty with my life. I swear."
"Thank you." To Jefferson's surprise, Gold actually sounded genuine. Not only that, but he also sounded as if he trusted every single word coming out of Jefferson's mouth. The thought almost made the Mad Hatter smile.
"You're most welcome. I hope you realize I would do anything for Belle."
"I know you would. That's one thing we have in common, Hatter." Then, the phone clicked and Mr. Gold hung up.
Jefferson turned to Belle and smiled. She was rocking Rose to sleep. "He's worried about you already." Belle smiled back and then they continued to sit in companionable silence as the day dragged on.