9

Belle's Little Indisposition

After the excitement of Emma's announcement, it was about three hours till everyone calmed down, including Regina. Snow asked if she might borrow their bathroom, and gave Regina a quick bath, finally getting the toddler out of her costume and into her fuzzy purple Rapunzel feet pajamas. It had been a long day, fun-filled, but tiring, and Snow nodded off on the couch while trying to read Regina a bedtime story. David did also, while watching the game, which was typical of the serotonin induced sleepiness turkey produced.

The Carstairs, and Emma's family were also kind of sleepy, so after taking home bunches of leftovers and Alice's soup tureen, they decided to head on home, before they all ended up in comas behind the wheel, as Emma put it.

"What about them?" Emma asked, smothering a yawn, as she gestured to her sleeping parents.

"Don't worry, they'll wake up in a few hours, and if not, well, they can always spend the night here," Rumple said. "It's not like we don't have plenty of room."

Once they had left, Alina said she was going upstairs to take a nap, and took Nala with her, leaving Rumple and Belle downstairs with a rather sleepy slightly cranky Regina.

Rumple could see Belle was tired, so he said, "You stay here, dearie, and drink some tea and I'll take care of Little Mischief there."

"All right, Rumple," Belle agreed, glad to put off their talk for a bit longer.

Rumple approached the toddler, who still had Sofia in her cradleboard, and said, "Regina, do you want me to read you the rest of that story?"

"Uh . . . okay," she said, and nestled in his lap while he finished reading Too Many Turkeys, a new Thanksgiving story Snow had bought her. Then she squirmed and whimpered, "Unca Rumple, my tummy hurts."

"Hmm, I'm not surprised after how much apple pie you ate tonight," he said. He summoned his bottle of cherry cordial and a spoon and said, "Will you be a big girl and take this for me? You've had it before, remember? On Halloween after you ate too much candy."

"Do I hafta?" she whined.

"You do if you want that tummyache to go away," he replied.

She pouted and dithered, for even though she knew quite well the soothing potion didn't taste bad, she was cranky. "Don't want medicine!"

"Okay, dearie. Your choice. I guess you like to suffer then," he said, knowing full well why she was refusing it. She was being contrary because she was tired and hurting.

After a few more moments, with her little tummy aching from indigestion increasing, the toddler started sniffling.

Rumple sighed. He could tell the child was just being stubborn, and she was in pain, so he cuddled her against a shoulder and rubbed her back, saying, "Dearie, if you take my cordial, you won't hurt like this."

She squirmed and cried a bit more before finally saying, "Okay . . ."

Then Rumple sat her up and had her swallow the standard two teaspoonfuls of his potion. "There! See, was that so terrible?"

She shook her head and then snuggled with him. The potion worked quickly, and soon her tummy felt better, and she put her head on his shoulder and fell asleep.

Rumple sat with her a few more moments, thinking about how wonderful it felt to have a child cuddled up against him again, her breathing a soft hush in his ear, the sweet scent of cherries wafting to his nostrils, and the feeling of warmth as she curled into him. The old feeling of protectiveness swept over him as he held her, and he thought that soon enough he'd be holding his own children like this, and a new grandchild as well. And there was nothing quite like it. It was the greatest magic, he thought, as he gently rocked his niece.

When he determined she was truly asleep, he gently placed her beside Snow and covered them with one of his afghans, figuring they'd all sleep here the rest of the night. He could have put Regina in her little bed upstairs, but figured the child would be better with her mother beside her, and so opted to leave her on the couch.

David was snoring slightly in the recliner, so Rumple put another blanket over him, turned off the TV, and dimmed the lights.

"Belle, they're all sleeping like they're under a curse, so what do you say if we went to bed ourselves?"

Belle had almost nodded off at the table, so she quickly agreed, and they went upstairs, leaving the Charmings all drifting happily through dreamland.

Belle waited until Rumple was in his pajamas and brushing her hair as they sat on the bed together before she reluctantly admitted to herself it was time to tell Rumple what she had discovered from the Blue Fairy yesterday. She ran her hands over her bulging abdomen, feeling the babies within her shifting and settling before she said, "Rumple, do you remember when the plane almost crashed returning to Storybrooke at the end of our vacation?"

"Of course I do. It was those damn Fabrizios, may their intestines knot up and strangle them for eternity," he growled, recalling how helpless he had felt and the way the dark sorcerers had put all of their lives and those of the other passengers in danger. "What about it?"

"Well . . . you know how Snow and I had to sprinkle pixie dust all over the plane?" Belle murmured. "Snow talked to Blue and she . . . told her that . . . there was a slight chance . . . very slight . . . that the pixie dust might . . . affect a fetus . . . but we really had no choice . . . we could have all died . . . so I helped Snow . . . and now . . ." her throat closed and she was afraid to say the words.

Rumple almost didn't comprehend what she said for a moment. His hand halted moving the brush through her hair. "Affected how, Belle?"

"Well . . . you know those . . . symptoms I've been having . . .?"

Rumple froze.

"What are you saying? That our baby . . . babies . . . are . . .f-fairies?" He almost couldn't speak the word aloud, as if by doing so it would somehow make it come true.

"No, Rumple. That's impossible," Belle said quickly. "But they could have fairy-like powers, according to Blue."

"Fairy-like powers," he repeated dazedly. His head was whirling. "So . . . that's why you've transformed our home into a garden . . . and when I woke up one night and the bed . . . was flying . . .that wasn't a dream either. And the time you were sleep walking and gliding down the hall, dreaming about pixie dust and granting wishes . . ."

Belle moved to clasp his hand in hers. "Those were all symptoms that . . .the babies most likely have fairy magic to some degree. Blue wasn't sure though if one or both of them had it . . . but she did say it was likely."

"Then . . . that's why you were at the convent yesterday."

"Yes. I needed her to confirm what was going on," Belle admitted softly. "And now she has. Rumple . . .please understand . . . I would have told you sooner . . . but . . ."

The brush fell from his hand, landing on the carpet with a soft thump.

"But what?" he made himself say. "You knew . . . all this time . . . you knew and you didn't tell me?" he was unable to keep the shock and hurt from his tone, which was followed by anger that she had kept this secret from him. "Why, Belle? Why?"

Belle looked at him, and saw his brown eyes wide with alarm, glistening with hurt, and sparking with anger. She winced, guilt and regret clawing through her. "Rumple, I'm sorry . . . but I thought . . . I thought there was nothing to worry about. That maybe Blue was just being . . . overcautious. So when I didn't feel any differently . . . I just figured they were okay and I didn't need to worry you by telling you they might . . . have been affected. I know how you feel about fairies . . ."

Rumple's mouth tightened. "So you thought it better if you never let me know? Something could have happened to my—to our—babies and you didn't tell me because of how I might feel about fairies? My God, Belle! All this time . . . I thought I was hallucinating . . . imagining pixie dust and . . .you knew . . . and didn't say a word!"

"Rumple . . . I should have told you right away, but . . . like I said, I hoped it was nothing . . . and then when I realized what was happening . . ." She pulled her hand free and twisted it about her other one, as she sometimes did when nervous and upset. He was right. She should have told him right away, instead of hoping it might go away, like some foolish child hoping if she cleaned up a broken vase no one would notice.

Rumple drew in a deep breath. His mind was still reeling, still trying to process the fact that his babies had fairy powers and his beloved wife had deliberately kept it a secret. He could feel the weight of the knowledge pressing down on him, making his temples throb. "When you realized what was happening, you should have told me, dammit!" he half-growled. "Instead of keeping me in the dark. How exactly did the Blue Fairy say they might be affected? Word for word. What did she say?"

Belle moistened a throat gone dry with dread. She was not afraid for herself, she knew Rumple would die a thousand deaths before he would ever harm her. She was afraid she had destroyed his trust in her, afraid that he would resent his children. Licking her lips, she made herself recall Blue's words.

"She . . . did a test . . . with her wand, to determine if they had powers. A blue light glowed . . . and then she said that yes, the spell revealed to her that one or both of them had some magic . . . she couldn't be sure because they were so tiny, it was hard to tell, but . . . she said the pixie dust could have affected them in a number of ways. They could . . . be able to alter their size at will, use wands and pixie dust like a true fairy, they might have the ability to speak with animals, cause plants to grow . . . they might need to drink nectar and honey along with milk when they're born . . ."

"What about wings? Will they have them? Can they fly?"

"It's a possibility, yes. She couldn't say for sure. They could also have the power to grant wishes, tell truth from lies . . .from what she said I was experiencing, there was a better than 90% chance that one or both of them had powers . . ."

"And if . . . if we had known about it sooner . . . would there have been a chance to . . .reverse the effects of the dust?" Rumple queried sharply.

Belle shook her head. "Probably not. What's done is done. Rumple, I was wrong not to tell you, I know that now and I wish I had been honest with you from the beginning. But I didn't want to upset you, especially knowing how you feel about fairies . . ."

"How I feel about fairies? Yes, I don't like them. And do you know why? Because I feel that a fairy was directly responsible for tearing apart my son and me. If she hadn't given Bae a magic bean and convinced him the best way for him to break the Dark One's power was to go to another world, we never would have been separated! He could have found another way . . . I could have found one . . . but because she meddled . . . because she thought in her wisdom she knew best . . . I lost my son! Yes, I know I'm partly to blame as well, but she started him down that path. And when I came to her afterwards for help in getting him back, she refused me! She told me it was all my fault and refused to help me!" His hand clenched on his knee. "That's why I don't like fairies, dearie! Because they can't be trusted. They claim they use their powers only for good, but actually they're no different than any other magic wielder—because they use them how they see fit! And they're as capable of any of us of making mistakes, they just don't admit to it. They're self-righteous and hypocritical. And their good intentions cause more harm than anything."

He was seething now, and she could feel his magic rousing, surging through the air like a silent clap of thunder.

"Rumplestiltskin . . . I understand how you feel . . . it's why I waited, because I didn't want you to . . . resent our babies . . . though I hoped I would never have to worry about it," she whispered, her blue eyes filling with tears of endless regret.

He stared at her, shocked. "You thought . . . is that the kind of man you think I am?" he demanded.

"Rumple, no! I didn't mean it like that!"

"Then say what you mean, dearie!" he snapped, rising to his feet. "Say you don't trust me. Because that's how I feel right now. Like you didn't trust me enough to tell me that my children might be born different . . ."

"Rumple, I do trust you!" she cried.

"Do you? Then why did you wait so long to tell me?" he asked bitterly. "Did you think I would hurt my children? Is that it? You think I'm still a monster." He shook his head, blinking back tears.

"Rumple! You never were a monster! I've always known that."

"But you didn't trust me enough," he said thickly. He walked towards their bedroom door.

"Where . . . are you going?" she stammered, tears flowing down her cheeks.

"For a walk. I need to be alone. To think. Go to bed. You needn't wait up," he said shortly, then he walked out the door, his shoulders hunched slightly, as if he carried a great burden.

A/N: So there's what Rumple thinks about Belle's secret. I know this story now ends on a cliffhanger . . . on purpose . . . and the story arc will continue with the Christmas segment of this series. So . . .hope you liked this and tell me what you think will happen next. Thanks so much for all your support and please review and let me know your thoughts!