This chapter will be where Belle tells her side of the story including her relation to Miranda and how she originally helped her in her scheme. I'm expecting it be slightly longer than the others, possibly as long as the last chapter if not longer. We're nearing the end and this chapter is going to push the story so far along and I have a special surprise at the end that I don't think you've been expecting. If any of you has an idea of what the surprise is PM me please don't write in a review because I don't want everyone seeing it and thinking that's it and getting hopes up. Anyway, I'm also going to have Adam butt in a certain time and Belle's story will not be a flashback but I will put it in paragraphs so it's not one big monologue.
Belle nervously looked at her children. She took a deep breath.
"Okay, so as you both know. I'll be telling a part of the story tonight. Before I begin I need you all to keep an open mind about this." They all nodded their heads slightly confused. "Okay, well, as you all know I don't speak to my father. There's really good reason for that and that's because years ago before any of you were born, we got into a fight. I was dating this man named Gaston Prince. My father wanted me to marry him however I was fifteen at the time so for obvious reasons I didn't want to marry him. This all happened after my mother died. My real name isn't Belle either. I was born Belinda Spinner. My father owns to biggest spinner foundation in Storybrooke and always has. My mother used to call me Belle because it means beauty in French and she was from France. She met your grandfather when she came to America to study in an American school. They fell in love and got married when my mother graduated. My mother had a child before me and you'll find out about my sister in a minute. However, a couple of years after having me my mother fell ill. She fought until I was fourteen then she died. When she died so did Belinda. My father wanted to erase every trace of my mother as if she was never there which meant I was never to refer to myself as Belle. I moved out when he wanted me to marry Gaston and changed my name to Belle French so he couldn't find me. My sister helped me, but it came at a price. My sister's name is Miranda." She looked at saw her children's eyebrows shoot up.
"Miranda wasn't always a heartless cold creature, there was time where she loved me. I thought I could trust her, until she told me her price. She told me she could keep Gaston away from me. Gaston used to beat me and… do bad things to me that's the main reason I didn't want to marry him. Miranda said she could keep him away and I was so scared that I agreed. Unfortunately, I didn't understand the price of her magic. She wanted me to help her con her rich boyfriends out of their money. I helped her at first and I lost sleep over it every time. There was time where I was taking care of Henry for Emma and I did it because she would give me a cut. I don't remember what I did because I've blocked it from my memory. There was one case that I wanted to quit and I did. When Miranda wanted my help to con your father."
"At first I didn't see the problem. It was just another job until my sister told me who it was. At the time your father was just my child care professor. I knew if he found out he'd fail me for life and my life would be over. I had to be careful. I got the job as the nanny and used that to my advantage. I looked through everything." Now came the hard part because not even Adam knew about this. She closed her eyes and started again. "I looked through every file in his office, every drawer in this house, over turned every mattress, and looked through every possible hiding place I could think of, even the safe behind the painting in the dining room." She could feel Adam's eyes on her but couldn't bring herself to open her eyes "I couldn't find a single shred of evidence she could use against him to get Bae and Hannah. I would tell her that I didn't feel right doing it and she would yell at me that I worked for her that I belonged to her and threaten me with telling me that she would tell Gaston where I was. I was scared but then I started to fall in love with your father and I knew I couldn't do it so I called Miranda and quit."
"I found out that the day after I quit was the first court day. I overheard Aunt Ruby and your dad talking and heard him say he was starting to love me and I knew he had to know everything. I started to tell him what I'm telling you but then Miranda showed up at the door. She told him everything before I could. I saw the disappointment and the hurt and the betrayal in his eyes and I wanted to die. Needless to say he was furious. He told me that I never cared for him and I only wanted to help her. That I didn't care about Bae and Hannah and only carried about the part of them that was my niece and nephew. He threw me out of his house and Ruby for some reason took me in. Miranda had told Gaston where I was living and he him waiting in the apartment. Ruby let me stay with her until Gaston left and your father surprisingly came to her house the same day he found out everything."
"He told me that Bae and Hannah had grown to love me and that he was sure I was Bae's first crush and that he loved me. He hoped he wasn't too late and when I asked too late for what he kissed me for the first time. It took many weeks to finally earn back your father's trust and even though he denies it, I had to earn back his love as well. Through those weeks, the court dates went on and I could feel the nervousness on your father. He was actually starting to lose Bae and Hannah. Bae actually saved him and Hannah. In the per-nup that Miranda signed it had a loyalty clause in it. It stated that if Miranda had an affair, she was entitled to nothing including you two. Bae had said that he had seen a man come over to the house when Adam was at work and heard her making weird noises." Adam chose that moment to take Belle's hand and she finally opened her eyes. Adam began with the rest of the story.
"That was all it took for the judge to see that Miranda was incapable of serving a safe environment for you both. Her parental rights were terminated and you were mine. A few days later however, I was driving home and I saw a car speed away from the direction of this house…"
Flashback
Adam sped the rest of the way to the house and walked inside. He had called the cops on his way and grabbed the gun in the drawer of the table by the door. He crept up the stairs and looked in the master bedroom. He saw Belle lying on the floor unconscious. He knelt down next to her and tried to shake her way. Her eyes slowly opened.
"Belle, it's okay. Help is coming but you need to stay awake."
"Adam, no…" Before she could finish the sentence, Adam felt the cold of a barrel at the back of his head. He turned his head and found Miranda standing behind him holding the gun. He got up and held his hands up.
"Miranda, what are doing?"
"You took my children from me so I'm taking away something you love. Belinda doesn't deserve any of what she has. I'm going to make sure she never feels the pleasure I felt." She aimed the gun at Adam's knee and fired. He screamed and grabbed his knee and he fell to the ground. Miranda aimed again and this time shot his ankle. He screamed again and tried to grab both. Miranda felt a blinding pain in the back of her head and dropped the gun. She turned around and all three saw Bae standing behind his mother with a baseball bat and tears making small rivers down his cheeks. Belle saw Bae and tried to get up but didn't have the strength.
"Bae, get out of here." Adam said through clenched teeth.
"No Papa. Mama needs to stop. I did what you told me what to do. I got Hannah in the closet and called 911." Even though he was in excruciating pain, Adam felt proud of his son. He heard the sirens and when he heard the door open and footsteps up the stairs, he left the darkness take over his vision.
End flashback
"So you helped Miranda try to take us away from Papa?" Hannah asked.
"Not by choice. She didn't have any other option. It was help her or die." Bae said defending the woman he knew as his mother.
"But she still helped. She could have called the police on the guy." Hannah argued. Belle sat still listening to her daughter argue with her brother about what Belle could have done. Hannah was right, she could have called the police on Gaston. She didn't have to help Miranda and yet she chose to.
"Hannah, look at it from Mom's view. She's backed into a corner. She needs a way to get away from her abusive boyfriend and her sister is giving her way out without telling her the price. She agrees and then said sister tells her this is price and if she doesn't do it she'll tell the abusive boyfriend- ex now- where she is and let him beat her to death." Lucas tried to reason with his older sister.
"I take back everything I've said over these last couple of weeks." Hannah said as she stood up. She stared straight at Belle. "Everything I said about you being my mother I take back. A mother would not sell out her own children to her crazy sister no matter what the circumstances." Belle saw Adam start to say something but held a hand up to him signaling him not to. She knew Hannah had to say what she wanted in order for her not to have a breakdown. "I never thought you would do something like that and I hate you for it." Hannah passed both of them and stormed up to her room and slammed the door. Belle took a deep breath and blinked back the tears threatening to fall.
"Anyone else?" She asked just above a whisper. Bae looked at Lucas and Bria. Bria was the only one who hadn't said anything. "Bria?"
"I thought you were good. I'm just like you. If you did something like that does that mean I'm going to do that too?" Bria asked in small voice and Belle forgot she was looking at her nine year old daughter not her five year old daughter.
"Of course not. I didn't have people who cared about me to help me with Gaston but if you ever find yourself in that position and I hope to God you never do you'll have me, your father, your brothers, and your sister to help you. You won't be like that I know that for a fact." Bria nodded and hugged her knees to her chest. Belle got up and went over to Bria. Bria had always been the most fragile of her twins and she always worried about her daughter. She brought her daughter into her arms. "Don't worry. You'll never be anything like I was." She wiped her tears away and pulled back to look her daughter. She wiped Bria's tears away and kissed her forehead. "I think it's time we all go to bed." Everyone got up and went to their rooms. Belle sent Adam to their room promising she'd be there soon and there was something she had to do. Adam knew she meant talk to Hannah so he respected her wishes. She went to Hannah's door and softly knocked. "Hannah, sweetheart, can I come in?"
"Go away!"
"Hannah, please talk to me honey." Belle pleaded outside the door. She heard something crash against the door. "Hannah, throwing things is not going to make you feel better and it's not going to make me go away."
"I don't want to talk to you. I barely want to see you right now."
"I know you're upset.."
"Upset! I was upset when I didn't get the puppy I wanted for my fifth birthday, I was upset when you wouldn't let me go to Henry's sleepover party, I'm beyond upset. I'm pissed as hell, Belle!" Calling Belle by her name tore at Belle's heart.
"Hannah, please talk to me. Do whatever you want to me but talk to me." The door flew open and Hannah stood there fuming. "Good we got the door open. Can I come in?"
"No because all I have to say is this. You may think that your life is perfect, well guess what, it's about to be hell. Miranda may have never wanted me but at least she told Dad that, she didn't lie. You lied to me my entire life. Here I am thinking that one you're my real mother, you're some kind of superhero who goes around saving people when in reality, you're nothing but a lying bitch to everyone. Bae may have known some things but only because he was older when it all happened. You should've been honest with me from the start. You should've told me you weren't my real mother, at least then I would have had time to process it and then maybe I wouldn't be so mad right now. But no, you lied to me and led me to believe you actually cared about me and loved me."
"I won't try to explain it you right now because you won't want to hear it right now but I am going to make one thing crystal clear Hannah Rosalie. I do love you. You and yours brothers and sister are my whole world. I would lay down my life for you all and almost did when Gaston broke into this house and tried to beat you and Bae. I told him to do what he wanted to me and leave the two of you alone. You have no idea what he did to me and I hope it stays that way because right now you are way too young to understand what most of it is and hope you never have to find out what it is. Don't ever doubt my love for you. You are and always will be my first princess. You love you more than words can possibly say and more than you will ever know." Belle said as she fought the urge to lean forward and kiss her. "Anything else you want to say or do?"
"Yeah, this." Hannah reached forward and slapped Belle across the face. Belle didn't grab her face and closed her eyes. "That's for my father." She slammed the door in Belle's face and Belle went to her bedroom. She found Adam sitting up in bed. When she saw him, the dams behind her eyes broke and she broke down in his arms.
"What happened with Hannah?"
"She's pissed. She doesn't think I love her and that I never did. She wishes I told her I wasn't her real mother from the start and explained what happened to Miranda sooner. I told her that I did love her and would lay down my life for her and her siblings and almost did when Gaston broke in." She wiped her tears away and didn't add what happened when Gaston tried to beat Bae and Hannah. Adam knows that Belle protected them but didn't know exactly what Gaston did to her and she wanted keep it that way. "She slapped me."
"She did what?!" Adam yelled. Belle held him tighter when she felt him try to get out of bed mostly likely to go and yell at Hannah.
"No Adam it's fine. She needs to get her anger out and if that's how she'll do it fine. She's angry right now and I know that it's not okay for her to hit me but she needs to get it out or she'll explode. I was talking to Emma earlier today and she agreed to let Hannah stay at her house for a few days if she needed to and I think it's a good idea to have Hannah there for a few days. Let her cool down and have a quiet place to think and reflect on everything."
"I'll ask Hannah if she wants to tomorrow. For now let's just try and get some sleep." Belle nodded and curled into her husband before falling asleep.
Okay so a lot just happened. The kids now know what Belle did and her relation to Miranda. Hannah is taking the hardest and may even leave the house for a little while to cool. Those of you who have been following close by know that Hannah is very special girl. She is very sensitive and when she gets mad she gets mad! As we've seen in this chapter, little Hannah has a lot of rage for Belle right now. She even wrote her off as her mother for the time being. Because I'm a huge fan of happy endings, I'll let you guys know that Hannah does forgive Belle just not right away. The next chapter is going to skip a couple of days or weeks and Hannah will be back home after staying with Emma for a couple days. Hope you guys enjoyed it and don't start throwing rocks yet. You guys know I always have a plan with my stories.