Chapter Four
Rumplestiltskin wasn't sure if he wanted to see Charming or Snow White, but Baelfire considered them family and Rumplestiltskin held Belle's hand as he opened the door. They walked in the hallway as Snow White and Charming stood near the front doors and he wished he could use magic to slam the doors to show that he was still angry about ending up back in the cell.
"Well, this is a surprise," he said, placing his hands behind his back and gave them a blank look. "What can I do for you, Dearies?"
"We need to talk," Charming said.
"Do we?" Rumplestiltskin asked then winced after Belle softly poked her elbow in his ribs. Sighing, he motioned with his hands toward the dining hall as they walked in the room and he headed for the dining table. He sat down on the high back chair at the head of the table and Belle sat down on the high back chair to his left. Snow White and Charming sat down on the high back chairs to his right and Rumplestiltskin folded his arms over his stomach. "Well, you want to talk. Go ahead."
He coughed after Belle gently kicked his leg and gave him a warning look. He loved how she corrected him when he was being rude. There was a time when something like that would have irritated him, but after everything that had happened, he didn't mind.
"Is your back any better?" Snow White finally asked and he arched his eyebrows up.
"Yes, I heal very quickly," he sighed and slumped down in the chair.
"Where's Neal?" Charming asked. He didn't know that Neal had gone back to using Baelfire and Rumplestiltskin frowned "What we need to say concerns him as well."
"I'll go get him." Belle said as she got up and Rumplestiltskin looked at her with a look that begged her not to leave him alone with them. She kissed the top of his head then left the room and he sighed, looking at them.
"So, had anyone heard from Regina?" he asked.
"No, she's been quiet," Charming said and Rumplestiltskin frowned.
"That's not good. When she's quiet, she's planning something," he said when the door opened and Roland ran toward the high back chair then smiled at him. "Well, hello."
"Mister Rumple, look at what I found!" Roland said when he opened his hands and a small, green skin frog with black spots was sitting on his palms.
"Where did you find that?" he asked with wide eyes as he sat up and Roland slid onto his lap.
"I found him near the pond in the garden," he said then looked at Charming and Snow White, frowned and leaned against him. "Who are they?"
Rumplestiltskin knew that Roland was uncomfortable around people he didn't know and leaned lower so his lips were near his ear.
"They're no one important," he said while Charming glared at him and Rumplestiltskin looked at the frog. "Why don't you go put him back in pond? He must be missing his friends."
"Ok," Roland said then got off his lap and ran out of the room. Rumplestiltskin looked at them with a blank look on his face then sighed and folded his arms over his chest.
"Who was that?" Snow asked.
"He's just someone who's staying here."
"You're letting people stay here?" Charming asked.
"Just those I like, Dearie," he said and Charming frowned.
"You haven't changed," Charming said and Rumplestiltskin giggled.
"Why should I?" he asked as Baelfire and Belle walked in the room and sat down at the table.
"Belle said you wanted to tell us something," Bae said and Charming coughed, sitting up in the chair.
"Snow and I are having a baby," Charming said as Belle gasped and Snow White blushed.
"That's fantastic!" Belle said as she got up, ran around to the other side of the table and Snow White stood up so they could hug. Rumplestiltskin frowned as he looked at Baelfire and Baelfire clenched his jaw. He knew when his son was angry as he stood up and walked to Baelfire.
"Come with me," he whispered while patting Baelfire's shoulder and Baelfire got up. They left the room when Rumplestiltskin shut the doors and watched Baelfire pacing back and forth. "You're angry, aren't you?"
"Of course I'm angry! Papa, they…they... How could they do that to Emma?" Bae growled.
"What does she have to do with them having a baby?"
"She's their daughter!"
"I know that."
"How would you react if I went and fell in love with someone and had their child?"
"I would be happy."
"But they wouldn't be Emma or Henry," Baelfire said then glared at him. "Or don't you care about them anymore?"
"Oh no, Dearie, don't you dare!" he said and angry boiled in his heart. "I care about them. I miss Henry every day and would do anything to get him back."
"What about Emma? Don't you want her back?"
"Do you?" he asked, arching his eyebrows up. "After all, Dearie, she and Hook…"
"I know about that!" Bae said as Rumplestiltskin walked closer and placed his hand on his son's shoulder. "I miss them."
"And so you should," he said then thought about something he was nervous to talk to his son about. "Um, not to change the subject, but do you like Belle?"
"Of course I do," Bae said with a shy smile. "She completes you."
"Don't make this into something mushy," he said then coughed. "I…I want to…"
"Are you saying that you want to marry her?" he asked with wide eyes.
"Yes," Rumplestiltskin said with a nod of his head. "And, well, with Roland around, I feel like I want…"
"Now we're getting back on topic. You want to have a baby with her?"
"Well, I'm not sure, seeing how you reacted to them having a baby," Rumplestiltskin said, scrunching his nose.
"The difference, Papa, is I'm here and they're not," he said and Rumplestiltskin nodded his head. "Ask her."
Smiling, Rumplestiltskin patted Baelfire's shoulder and they walked back in the room. Belle and Snow White were talking near the spinning wheel as Charming looked at Rumplestiltskin and Baelfire and frowned.
"Is everything alright?" Charming asked.
"Yeah," Bae said as he walked to Snow White and Belle and Snow White turned, looking at him. Smiling, he hugged her as she patted his back and they moved back. "Congratulations."
"Thank you," Snow White said while Rumplestiltskin sat down and looked at Charming.
"So when is the baby due?" he asked.
"In about seven or eight months," Charming said then sighed and looked down.
"You miss Emma and Henry?" Rumplestiltskin asked and Charming glared at him.
"Of course I do. How could you ask such a thing?"
"I mean no offense, Dearie," he said then sighed. "I miss them, too. Miss Swan is one of the bravest souls I have ever met."
"Yes, she is."
"All that potential and I will never get the chance to teach her," he said and Charming frowned.
"I didn't like the idea of you teaching her how to use magic."
"Well…," he said then sighed. "It's not that she's like Regina…or me for that matter."
"You mean she isn't evil like you and Regina."
"That was rude, Dearie," Rumplestiltskin said in mock pain. "I was never really good or evil. I was always in the middle."
"You mean like when we were in Neverland. You could have killed Henry, but you didn't."
"Yes, even if he wasn't my…our grandson, I couldn't have killed him. I remember what seer had told me about a boy being my undoing. I also remember vowing to kill the boy. When I found out it was Henry, I couldn't. How could I kill my own blood? Then I thought I could change fate if I saved him instead," Rumplestiltskin said then frowned. "It didn't really work."
"Yes it did," Charming said and Rumplestiltskin gave him a confused look. "In the end, you saved us all."
"Yes…Yes, I did," he said with a giggle and Charming laughed. He wasn't sure why, but whatever anger he felt for Charming and Snow White was gone and he sat back in the high back chair, smiling.
The sounds of footsteps echoed behind her as Belle walked down the hallway then stood in front of the large doors that led to Rumplestiltskin's bed chamber. Rumplestiltskin had become quiet after Charming and Snow White had left and he had gone immediately upstairs. When he hadn't come down for dinner, she had gone up to his bed chambers and knocked on the door. From behind the door, he told her that he wanted his dinner brought up, but it was to be left at the door and she was not to come in. Looking down, she found the tray with his dinner still uneaten and thoughts of him having a relapsed played heavy on her mind.
"Rumple?" she asked as she knocked on the door.
"Come in," his voice said from behind the door as she opened the doors and walked in the room. The fresh scent of roses floated in the air. She saw rose petals on the carpet while two roses sat on the bed and only light in the room came from the fireplace.
"What?" she thought as a small giggle broke her train of thought and she blinked her eyes a few times.
"Close the doors, Dearie," he said as she closed the doors and saw him standing in front of the fireplace. He had changed into a cream color shirt with a high collar, a brown leather vest, brown leather trousers and brown leather boots that tied up the front. The shirt was open enough to show his collarbones and he had his hands folded in front of him. She did notice that he seemed nervous as she walked closer and he slightly smiled at her.
"Are you alright?" she asked as she stopped in front of him and he gave her a blank look.
"Yes, I'm fine," he said when he took her hand and she saw that his expression had changed into a timid look. "I just need to tell you something,"
"What is it?" she asked, getting worried.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" he asked with a puzzled look on his face. Had Snow White or Charming told her something? They were chatting as he went upstairs and he felt a cold chill move through him.
"I'm just concerned."
"Oh," he said then giggled nervously.
"Tell me. What's wrong?"
"It's nothing terrible. It's…," he said then turned and looked at the mantle.
"You can do this," a soft voice said in his head and he took a deep breath, letting it out slowly through his nose.
She watched as he opened the dark wood box sitting on the mantel and removed a small, black velvet box. He held the small, black velvet box against his chest when he walked to her and she wondered what he had in his hand.
"What's that?"
"What is in here is something I made a long time ago," he said and could feel his heart thumping hard in his chest. "You see, I had been testing you."
"You were…testing me?"
"Yes, I knew that what we had was changing from master and servant to us becoming friends. It was confusing me."
"It was?"
"Yes, I had spent so much time alone that the idea of having a friend was frightening. Not that I didn't want one. I did. It was because having someone close to me was dangerous. There were those out there who would use any friend I had against me. I was right. Regina found out about you and had her little "talk" with you."
"I was the one who asked her how to break your curse."
"Yes, I know, but she didn't have to tell you how to do it. She did that to get back at me. She knew I would get angry. She also knew I would either kill you or banish you."
"You said you didn't want me anymore," she said softly as a single tear trickled down her cheek and he felt his heart squeezing in his chest.
"I regretted it," he said softly and she stroked his cheek, making him smile. "Going back to what I was saying, the tests were to see if you would stay with me or leave. You told me you wanted to go adventuring and be a hero. If that was what you wanted, I wouldn't have stopped you. When you came back…every time you came back…I was delighted. You were choosing me."
"Of course I did."
"That day, I had one last test for you. If you came back then I would…I would admit something."
"You would have admitted that you loved me?"
"Yes, that's it," he said with a small smile. "What I didn't know was if you loved me."
"I did and do."
"Well, if you said that you did, I was…I would have given you this," he said when he held the small, black velvet box out to her and she picked up the small, velvet box. He could see the look on her face as he pressed his lips together and his heart slammed in his chest. She slowly opened the small, black velvet box as she looked at the gold ring tucked in the coral silk and the light sparkled off the small, sapphire chips and the rose colored, heart shaped diamond. Her hands were shaking as he took the small, black velvet box and removed the ring. She watched him sink to his knees as he looked up at her with sad eyes and she pressed her fingers to her lips. "My Belle…My wonderful Belle…will you honor me by being my wife?"
"Yes," she said with a shaky tone to her voice and he slid the ring on the ring finger of her left hand then slid his arms around her waist, placing his forehead against her stomach. She stroked his hair when he sighed, stood up and kissed her lips. Moving back, he looked deeply into her eyes as she placed her arms around his neck and he smiled.
"I think we should go tell Bae," he said as she nodded, linked her arms around his right arm and they left the room.