Mary-Margaret walked Henry back to Regina's large white house. Henry thanked Mary-Margaret for the escort and proceeded into the house and up the stairs into his bedroom. He opened his book bag and dumped all the library books he borrowed onto his bed. The book club meeting was interesting to say the least. He was more curious, if not, interested in seeing the reactions of everybody reading about themselves. The meeting was not as he had expected. Everyone took turns reading short stories from a book that Belle chose. At the end of each story they discussed the decision-making and ethics of each character. Were they relatable? Were their actions justified? What other options or paths could the protagonist have taken?

For the next club meeting they were to find a few books from within the library and discuss the stories they read. What are the morals? What were the choices? And what would you have done differently?

Henry only checked out a few books; Bedknob and Broomstick by Mary Norton and a book from the Classics section on The Mighty Hercules. Seeing that Bedknob and Broomstick was a much lighter and less intimidating read than the Hercules book, he dove straight in and began reading it. He sat on the end of his bed directly across from his bedroom mirror. He flipped through the pages quickly and read how the children in the book were forced by war to move in to live with a witch. He read how the witch, Ms. Price, turned Charles into a rabbit. He saw the words of the spell written directly in the book.

Filigree Apogee Pedigree Perigee

Could it really be that simple? He looked up from the pages within his book and looked at the mirror that was directly in front of him. He knew Storybrooke was a place of magic. He wondered. Could he wield magic?

He memorized the spell. He stared at himself in the mirror and chanted out loud, "Filigree Apogee Pedigree Perigee."

His nose began to twitch. Odd? Then suddenly he sprouted whiskers. His ears shot out and became elongated and he found himself engulfed in gold dust. He closed his eyes for a moment and when he opened them he discovered his form a lot smaller than usual. He turned his small body and looked at the mirror only to discover a small white rabbit staring back at him. The same gold dust encompassed him again and he was back in his normal body.

Henry was awestruck. He almost couldn't believe what had just happened, but it did. He performed it. He performed magic on himself. An excitement brewed within him, and he became enamored by the sudden and endless possibilities that lay before him. He marveled over his newfound abilities, smiling as he blurted out, "Woah!"

… …

"Will you be coming home for lunch? I can whip up something light for you," offered Gold. Belle stood in the library's bathroom staring down at the pregnancy tests all confirming her pregnancy. When Belle didn't respond right away, Gold called to her again through the phone, "Belle? You still there?"

"Um, yes. I'm here… that, that would be great. Let me… uh… wrap up here at the library and I'll be home shortly."

She ended the phone call and continued staring unbelievably down at the tests. The gravity of her situation was too much to bear. A baby. Wow. She became frightened, overwhelmed by anxiety, paralyzed and numbed by the news. But why was she so afraid? What would be the price to having a child of magic? What did she know of motherhood? With little experience she had of the time she had with her mother, she realized that what she was afraid of was what she didn't know. So she resolved to finding out more information to ease her anxieties.

Belle disposed of the evidence in the bathroom and locked up the library. She looked both ways before crossing the street and headed toward her husband's Pawn Shop. She pulled out her keys and found the ones to his shop and opened it up. She felt weird entering the shop without his consent, not that it wasn't permissible of her to enter his shop, they were married after all; what was his was now hers and what was hers was now his.

She went behind the curtain to his private workshop. She looked around the room scanning for books; his books. She wanted to understand the Dark One curse and if, by having his child, would have any consequence or affliction to her. It would be the key to understanding her anxiety. If she could understand her fear, she would be empowered by facts and it was something tangible she could work with. She had used his books before. She was able to use his books to figure out the time portal spell Zelena had been concocting, so why not use them again to figure out her own dilemma?

Then another thought sprung into her mind. What if he wasn't ready to have children again? Neal's passing was still fresh in everyone's minds. It was just too soon! Was he even done grieving his first child? The timing of all of this was just not favorable and she suddenly found herself frightened on how to tell the news to him. She just didn't know how.

Belle walked over to the back wall to his private library. She didn't have much time. She knew that he would be expecting her home soon. She scanned quickly over the titles of possible books that would help her in her situation.

Basics in Magic.

The History of Dark Curses.

Wielders of Magic.

She plucked the three thick tomes from his library and stuffed them in the depths of her bag. She adjusted his bookshelf and replaced the missing gaps with books she had from her own library. Belle hoped beyond hope that he wouldn't notice right away. Time was of the essence and she felt the pressing need to tell him, but only when she knew all of the facts.

… …

Belle opened the door to their home and felt absolutely exhausted. She walked down the hallway and heard Rumple call to her, "Belle, I made you lunch for you here in the kitchen."

She rounded the corner and entered the kitchen to see a delightful lunch arrangement. He had made them both sandwiches and tea, and at the center of the dining table stood a bouquet of flowers waiting for her in a vase. "Ginger tea and toast?" he said offering it to her.

"Aww. Thank you," she replied smiling at him, setting her bag full of books on one of the dining chairs. She hadn't really eaten anything and it was a pleasurable sight to see and to come home to. However, she was more exhausted than hungry. "But um, I'm exhausted. I think I shall go rest first."

Rumple couldn't help but notice her recent odd behavior. She was distancing herself from him. She claimed she was fine, but it was the way she said it to him that struck him funny. He cut straight to the point, wanting to know what was keeping her so preoccupied. Belle almost left him for their bedroom when he stopped her, "Is there something you want to tell me?"

Belle, caught off guard by his observation, dodged the question by playing coy, "No, I uh, I've just been preoccupied with what we discussed at club meeting earlier today." It wasn't exactly a lie. She had thought about what transpired at the meeting, but it wasn't what was consuming her thoughts so much and it was evident on her face.

Rumple stared at her, taking in and reading her body language. He could tell that she was holding back information from him. She was hiding something from him. He scoffed out loud to himself.

"What's so funny?" Belle said flummoxed by his reaction.

"I just never thought I'd see the day when you would avoid telling me something or try hiding something from me." She was caught by the master of words and loopholes and stood there frozen and speechless. "Darling, what are you so afraid to tell me?"

"Please forgive me. I just want to be a hundred percent sure of something before I get worked up over nothing."

"Worked up over what? What's wrong? Is everything ok? Are you sick? Please tell me," he begged, getting close to her and reaching out to her.

"No, I mean, yes," she said pushing him away, his questioning was overwhelming and she was already exhausted by the weight of her discovery. She desperately wanted to rest and process all that she had learned from today's events, "Yes, I'm fine. Please, all I ask is that you just give me some time and I promise I'll tell you everything."

"Alright, just," he said holding her hands, "Please know that whatever it is you have to say, I'm here for you when you're ready."

"Thank you, Rumple," she replied with a quick kiss on the cheek and gentle brush of his arm.

She left him with the uneaten lunch still on the table. Suddenly he heard the thudding of books falling to the ground. He turned at the noise and discovered books he recognized; books from his personal library from his shop. They had fallen from her purse that she had left perched on the dining chair.

How did these books get here? What was she doing in his library? What were they doing in her purse? What did she want to learn magic for? Why couldn't she just talk to him about it? Why was she hiding this from him?

All these questions demanded answers. He needed to talk to her. He needed to know. She had never wanted to learn magic and never wanted to use it before, so why now all of a sudden? What's changed?

He hunched over the fallen books and gathered them. He placed them carefully back in her purse and wondered, perplexed over her sudden interest. Some facts were certain: Belle wanted to learn something about magic, she didn't want to learn from him and she didn't want him knowing about her interest in magic. Rumple grew suspicious.

He was suddenly reminded of Cora and how she ended up wanting to kill him in the end. Initially, with his infatuation with Cora, he never thought that by teaching Cora magic she would one day want to kill him, but she eventually did. Would Belle? Belle was hovering dangerously close to repeating history. And in his mind, he made it a point to do something different this time. He was going to put his foot down and say no to her learning magic, fearing that she too would one day use it against him.

Alright class, if there are any young readers out there reading my story and you haven't seen or even heard of the movie "Bedknobs and Broomsticks"… you need to run (not walk) to the nearest store or computer, download/buy/rent this movie and watch it! It's a classic Disney film and a favorite of mine. And… it's super relevant to my story. So just a heads up… you've got some time to run to the store or whatever because these next couple of chapters are still going to be Rumbelle focused. Ok? Ok. Class dismissed.