Belle came home in the afternoon, letting out a deep, weary breath and untying her cloak. Reaching over, she took her apron off of the hook and tied it on, heading down the hall and to the kitchen towards the aromatic smells wafting through the house.
"Papa?" She asked, reaching around to refasten the ribbon holding back her hair.
"I'm in here, just heating up some soup for dinner."
Entering the kitchen, Belle went over and kissed him on the cheek. Her father bent over the stove, fussing with the contents of the pot, fingers still smudged with patches of charcoal from a long day in his studio. "Good afternoon."
"Good afternoon to you too. Good day?" He asked, watching her wander off to take out some bread and butter.
"It was. It went smoothly." cutting off a thick piece, knife crunching through the crust, she dipped the blade in butter. "I was so hungry during the last hour though, I wasn't sure if I could make it home without stopping by the pie shop first."
Maurice watched his daughter take a bite, chewing with the slightest of smiles to indicate she was satisfying her hankering. He smiled in amusement.
Belle looked at him curiously, drawing a brow up and wanting an answer.
"You know in the week he's been away you've gone from looking like you've eaten too much to looking like a young woman expecting a child." He offered. Watching his daughter's chewing slow, a hand ghosting down to cradle the small round mound that her dress could no longer hide.
She blushed, head tilting down so she could examine the spot. "I wasn't sure if it was just me."
"Well, it's not." He reassured, smiling at her and the prospect of his first grandchild. A little Belle or Ansell in his arms, toddling through the halls. The house was already a happy home, and a baby was only going to make it brighter. "You're showing. And when he gets home that poor man's going to be beside himself when he sees you."
Laughing lightly, Belle finished her hunk of bread. "That sounds about right."
"Do you need anything, Dear?"
"Just another slice." She said with a sigh. "How was your day?"
"Good. New painting for an Earl who's visiting the castle. Should be profitable." Maurice announced, adding some spices to the soup. "And supplies for the next music box. So productive overall."
"What's the Earl commissioning?" Leaning against the counter, she buttered her next piece.
"Oh, the usual proud nobleman painting. Astride a big Spanish horse, sabre raised, all that." Taking a tentative sip from the spoon, he nodded his head in accomplishment. "Mm. I know it's not dinner yet but seeing as you have an appetite, would you like a bowl?"
Belle hesitated.
Maurice gave her a prompting look.
Sighing in defeat, she took a small bowl from the shelf. "Just a little so I'll still have something at dinner."
"I believe you're allowed to eat whatever you want whenever you want." He reminded her, taking the bowl. Hearing the door open and close the pair both looked up towards the door that led to the small foyer.
"I'm home." Ansell's voice rang out happily, boots clomping down the hall as he neared. The door began to open as he kept talking. "I managed to sneak away a day early and I- Belle-" he froze, parcel dangling from his hand and nearly dropping. Eyes widening at the sight of his wife; piece of buttered bread stuck out of her mouth, visibly expecting.
Setting her snack down, Belle went over to her slack-jawed husband.
Tossing the parcel on the table, Ansell quickly went to her as a wide, bright grin spread across his mouth so quickly that it hurt. "Look at you!" He gasped happily as he caught her in his arms and picked her up. Capturing her lips for a proud kiss.
"Did you miss me?" She laughed as he set her down, sliding her hands onto his hips and kissing him deeply.
Gathering her face in his hands he kissed back. Grinning against her mouth afterward, heart fluttering in his chest, he could barely breathe. "I missed you so much, and now I come home to find you looking so-"
"Pregnant?" She supplied.
"Beautiful." He exclaimed joyfully. "I was going to ask how you are but I think it's safe to say someone's getting big and strong."
"I don't know about strong, but certainly hungry." Winding her arms around his neck she kissed him tenderly, eyes closing contentedly at the thought of him home. Their little family whole again. "I've missed you so much."
"And it seems I've missed so much." He nuzzled, looking down at her stomach. "You had to tie your apron higher."
"Just a little bit." She pecked.
"I'm not taking another trip." Her husband reassured, carefully tucking a stray lock of hair behind an ear. "I've barely been gone a week and now you've got this belly."
"I had no say in any of it." The big blue eyes were brimming with love and joy, warming her inside and out. "It just happened."
"Well, I love it." Kissing her forehead, he looked up and across their kitchen to the father-in-law he had completely forgotten about in the moment.
"Did you have a good trip, Son?" Maurice watched the young couple, all smiles, as his daughter smoothed her husband's good silk waistcoat out across his chest. Ansell in his traveling clothes, ever the well dressed yet practically clothed bearded gentleman that he was. "Daring, prosperous tales I take it?"
"Hardly daring," Ansell reported, arm hooked about her waist. "But rather prosperous. It's all very boring though, and I feel like whatever's happened at home while I was away is far more interesting." Smiling down at Belle, feeling fit to burst, he reached over and squeezed her hand. "Can I do anything now that I'm home? I have the strongest urge to dote on you, Darling."
"Let me eat?"
Tossing a log on the fire Ansell padded over to Belle. The firelight flickering and dancing off of her shelves of books, warming the room and fending off the fall chill that was winding through their home.
"Madame." Presenting the brown paper package as he took a seat on the floor with her Ansell settled into the nest of pillows and blankets arranged on the rug just so for their comfort.
Belle leaned against him, carefully unwrapping her newest book.
"Action, adventure, magic, and romance." He rattled off, enjoying the feeling of the weight of her back against his chest. The weight of her; against him, on the other side of the bed, he had missed it all so much. "It was published the week I was in the city, so you definitely don't have it."
Flipping through the pages, Belle smiled thoughtfully. Studying the book intently her fingers ran down the thick paper and underneath, feeling the hefty leather of the cover. "It's perfect." Turning, she kissed him, a pleased hum emanating from her lips. Looking at his mouth, that beautiful tempting spot she treasured, she pecked his lips again and took his hand, pressing it against her new belly. Watching the reaction on her husband's expressive face; how his tender smile melted into one of being stunned.
He was silent for a long stretch of time, mind churning with hopes, fears, joy, and hesitation. She could see the doubt edging in. All of his history with his own father coloring his ideas. Making him second guess his own competence as a parent. "This feels so much more real." He finally breathed as she turned into him and settled close.
"It's all yours." Kissing his chest, she smiled against his clean shirt. "Good job."
"Please, my contribution was the easy part." Reaching over he pulled one of the blankets up to her lap. "Though I do like being reminded it's mine." Sighing, Ansell closed his eyes as every last thought of parenthood rushed at him. The fleeting time before he was a father the last to creep in. "Spring."
"Spring." Petting the hand on her stomach, Belle listened to him grunt as he took a pillow and placed it behind his back, leaning against the couch. "I keep imagining you holding this little child wrapped in a blanket with the widest, proudest smile on your face."
"I'm looking forward to that day." He said, glancing down at the spot on her waist where her apron really was a little higher. "You're going to be such a wonderful mother."
"Ansell," Reaching up she cradled his jaw in her palm, directing his eyes to her own. "You're going to be the best father, I know it." His doubt broke her heart as it stared right back at her. "You're not like him-"
"I don't know anything, Belle." Voice crackling with fear, he took his hand off of her stomach and wrapped the arm around her shoulders. It was hard to even look at her, and he found the bookshelf a welcome distraction. The last thing he wanted to was to fail them both. "I hardly remember my mother, and all I've ever known regarding fatherhood is cruelness."
"You're acting like I know everything." Shaking her head with a small scoff, she stared into the fire. "You at least remember your maman."
"But you're so patient and kind with children-"
"And so are you." Belle pressed, fingers winding through the long hair damp from a bath to wash away the dust of the road. "You have the biggest, sweetest heart." Watching him hesitate again she soldiered on. "Ansell, you know why you'll never be like him?"
He gazed down into the big brown eyes that were so earnest in their belief in him.
"You love us." Kissing his chest near his heart, she said. "I know you love us, and he's never felt love for anything."
The blue eyes welled with tears. Us. The thought overwhelmed him. "I do, so very much."
"I have every bit of faith that you'll be a wonderful Papa to this baby." Feeling him relax, she did as well. "Loving and playful and so silly. You two'll probably drive me mad at some point, as bratty as you are."
Ansell chuckled. "I can't promise anything." Kissing her temple he whispered. "I like being called Papa."
"You'll be hearing it a lot come springtime." She reassured, sighing afterwards. It felt good to have him home, safe and sound. She could relax, and even more importantly, sleep. "I missed you so much. I know a week's not so bad and you always return successful, but it's hard when you're not around."
"I'm not leaving you again. Not until this little one's born and been with us a few months." He reassured into the top of her head. "We're going to go through this together, like we always do." reaching over he took a book from the stack next to them, finding where they had last left off, Belle drowsily snuggled against him and he relished the moment with her in the little library. "Do you want me to take the next chapter?"
"Yes, please."
-Fin-