At Belle's dismay, Gold drove Belle to the hospital the following day. As he drove the Cadillac, he could see out of the corner of his eye Belle's leg shaking nervously. The way she seemed appeared as if she was ready to bolt at the first sign of danger. At her distress, he reached over the threshold of the front seat and held her hand to calm her. At the touch of his hand, she looked down at their fingers intertwining. She gave a quick exhale and glanced up at her husband who gave her an assuring smile. Belle returned the favor with only a half-smile, unable to hide her true feelings of discomfort and apprehension towards their destination. But still, the gesture was sweet and slightly comforting reminding her that wherever she was going she wasn't going alone.

"I was thinking," Gold said breaking the tension filled silence, "that we should visit your father." Belle didn't know what to think as she stared nervously out the window. Gold hesitated for a moment, allowing her a chance to respond and when she didn't he continued, "There's more to your mother's story than what we're being led to believe. I know you mentioned your father's reluctance to talk about her, but now that she's here and walking around Storybrooke, I think he'll be more inclined to talk about her."

"And how will knowing more about my mother benefit us?" Belle calmly asked.

"My dear… I know you, just as much as you claim to know me, and I know that what you fear is what you don't know. Don't get me wrong, it's a legitimate fear. You don't know your own mother and her sudden reintroduction back into your life frightens you. So knowing more about your mother will not benefit me so much as it will benefit you. If you won't talk to your mother about what happened when she abandoned you, then the least you can do to confront your fear is talk to your father. I'm sure his tale on the situation may enlighten your perspective on her." Just as he finished his sentence they pulled into the long-term parking lot and parked in the first vacant spot closest to the entrance. "Just… think on it."

It was certainly something to think about. Gold grabbed his cane that rested between the two seats and exited his side of the vehicle. Belle opened the passenger door, but hesitated getting out; partly because of her size, but mostly because she dreaded the inevitable. Gold walked around to her side of the vehicle and assisted the reluctant Belle out of the car. She closed the door to the car and when their hands found each other again they proceeded to the hospital, entering the building together.

The hospital doors opened automatically and Gold allowed Belle to enter first. With a steady, assuring hand supporting Belle's backside, they approached the front receptionist who did a double-take, recognizing the people in front of her.

Gold spoke with confidence, "We have an appointment this morning. 11:30 for-"

"Belle Gold. Yes," said the female receptionist. "we've been expecting you. Just sign in on the clipboard and Dr. Whale will be with you in just a mome-"

"There's no need. I'm here," Dr. Whale said, cutting off the receptionist. "Mr. Gold," addressed the smug doctor.

"Dr. Whale," Gold replied with a slight growl, showing his obvious distaste for the man. Belle stood close to Gold with an arm wrapped through the crook of his and despite the cane he used to support his maimed leg, he still exhibited an authoritative and intimidating stance frightening both the nurses and patients who were waiting in lobby area.

"I have to say, I was incredibly surprised to see your last name on the patient list," said the Doctor, walking toward the couple with his version of authority.

"And I was incredibly surprised to learn that out of all the doctors in this facility, you happened to be the only one available," retorted Gold. Helpless, Belle silently watched as the tension of their interaction escaladed.

Dr. Whale replied defiantly, "The other doctors and nurses are scared of you, but I'm not. I know monsters and the kind of monster you are."

"Well, well. Someone is very sure of himself. How brave of you… and foolish," Gold replied sarcastically. "I would have thought from our last little spat in the parking lot that I would have been the last person you'd have wanted to see. I wonder, what merits this kind of foolish bravery?"

"I know that you are without magic," Dr. Whale answered arrogantly. "I mean, why else would you be visiting the hospital unless it was something that magic couldn't provide? Actually, I'm quite flattered that you came to see us."

Faster than Belle could say 'help', the situation had gone from civil to madness. Before the doctor knew it, he was instantly pushed to a nearby wall by Gold's cane.

"Rumple!" exclaimed Belle at Rumple's sudden movement. Ignoring Belle's pleas for tolerance, Rumple pressed his cane against the doctor's throat and threatened, "Well you can just take your flattery and choke on it."

"Rumple don't!" cried out Belle, helpless in her condition to intervene on such a violent brawl.

"Ah ha," laughed the doctor maniacally as he struggled to breathe beneath the cane. "Go on! Just say it! Science trumps magic! Science trumps magic! In the end, you know it does! Say it… and no one will be the wiser," egged on the doctor.

"Doctor!" shouted a mousy nurse. The two men paused in their struggle for dominance over one another and looked over at the nurse who dared interrupt their squabble. The entire medical staff as well as the patients on-looking the brawl all seemed surprised to have witnessed such a tour de force coming from such a petite young woman. The nurse with dark brown hair and plain features, stood there and stared at the two men, but mostly Doctor Whale for his deplorable and surprising behavior. In almost a motherly way, she said firmly, "Sir! You have another patient waiting for you in exam room twelve. I can take mister and Mrs. Gold down in exam room four."

When the two men weren't moving, she stepped forward and with a raised eyebrow said sternly to Mr. Gold, "I insist." Gold gritted his teeth and remained unmoved in his threatening position. "Mr. Gold," the nurse reasoned, but this time with empathy, "Sir, please look at your wife." His heart felt like it was pounding in his throat, forgetting once again the link that their hearts shared. At the nurse's request he glanced over at his wife and saw only distraught. The nurse continued, "Do not stress her any further. Remember, you love her and that is why you are here… for her."

Gold continued staring at his upset wife. Realizing the distress he was causing her, he looked back at the doctor and reluctantly removed the cane from his throat. As soon as Gold removed the cane, the doctor inhaled forcefully and fell immediately to the floor, gasping for air. Gold stepped away from the doctor and turned to face Belle only to be greeted by mortified embarrassment as she turned away from him.

"I'm sorry, Belle," Gold apologized softly. Gold looked down at the doctor who was still slumped on the ground. When he went to look back up at his wife again, he only saw the back of her head as she marched quickly to her assigned examination room. He followed after her into the room, passing Dr. Whale and the brave nurse. When he closed the door of their examination room they found themselves in complete silence. Belle was so upset she couldn't even look up at her husband.

"I really am sorry," Gold apologized again.

"I don't even know what to say," Belle said with stunned disgust, making an attempt to sit on the examination table. Gold moved forward and offered his hand and assisted her onto the exam table. She heaved an irritated sigh and said as if with some restraint, "But I suppose, if I were to have words to describe how I feel at this very moment, I would say that I feel very pregnant and because of that I am feeling every emotion all at once. So, I can tell you what I'm not feeling at the moment… and that's happy."

Helpless, Gold took his seat to the right of the exam table. He lifted the clipboard that was on his seat and noticed that it was intended for the patient. He looked up at his wife who didn't seem to want to be disturbed and decided to fill out the documents for her. Seeing that he needed to give his hands something to do, he figured it was the least he could do. He couldn't tell what kind of mood she was in so he decided to just not say anything at all.

The exam room fell silent for what felt like an eternity, but it was enough time for Belle and Gold to temper their emotions. To pass the time, Belle closed her eyes and pretended to be anywhere but the hospital. While trying to relax, she began massaging her belly, taking her time to slowly breathe in and out when suddenly they heard a gentle knock against the exam room's door.

Belle jumped at the noise and watched nervously as the door opened slowly, afraid that they would have another awful encounter with Dr. Whale. But when they saw the mousy young woman from earlier enter the room, she exhaled a sigh a relief. Belle looked over at her husband who seemed just as relieved as she was to see the nurse as well.

"Hello. My name is Rosa Bouquet. I am so sorry about what happened earlier. Dr. Whale isn't usually like that with his patients," said Nurse Bouquet as she confidently shook both Belle's and Gold's hand.

"He and I have history," claimed Gold, surprised by how unafraid this young nurse was of him.

"As I think you do with a lot of other citizens here in Storybrooke, Mr. Gold," remarked Nurse Bouquet.

"Bouquet…" said Gold eyeing the nurse up and down trying to recognize her and her name. When he couldn't make the connection he asked, "Did I make a deal with your mother?"

"Yeah, who were you in the Enchanted Forest?" Belle questioned, just as curious to find out who she was in their world.

Nurse Bouquet nodded and obliged, "Back in our land my family ran the farm close to the village that supplied your castle with fresh straw. One day my ten other brothers and sisters along with my old mother found ourselves destitute. A lot of us barely even had shoes on our feet. I think I was nine when you approached my mother. All I remember was you saying something like, 'no we can't have that' and something about 'not breaking regiment'. I think you might have taken pity on us, but the deal was, as long as we produced straw we would always have a place to live… and so you took what little we had which happened to be one of my brother's boots and magically transformed it into a house."

Belle smiled at hearing the nurse's prior history with Rumplestiltskin. It certainly explained a lot, like why the nurse didn't seem hostile towards them like the rest of the town, or how unafraid she was to take on their appointment. But what surprised Belle the most was finally hearing a deal that Rumplestiltskin made that didn't end poorly, so she looked over at her husband with surprise and proud fondness.

When he noticed that both of the women in the room were smiling at him, he replied defensively unaccustomed to such a positive reception, "Why are you both surprised? It was a simple business transaction. I needed straw to spin and they needed a home. If you ask me, I think I got the better end of the deal."

Belle shook her head and rolled her eyes over at her husband. Of course he would never admit to doing anything good for anybody. She knew of his soft spot, but it was refreshing to hear it from someone else for a change. Seeing that the couple was in a more delightful and receptive mood, Nurse Bouquet smiled, "I'm glad to see you smile, Mrs. Gold. How would you two like to see your baby today?"

"You mean… like, what? Deliver now?" Belle asked nervously and confused.

"No, no, no, I mean through an ultrasound," said Nurse Bouquet as she moved forward to the left side of Belle toward the mobile computer that was beside her. Belle tried to think through her Lacey memories whether or not she had ever heard the word ultrasound before.

"She's a bit unfamiliar with the technology of this world," said Gold to Nurse Bouquet.

Understanding the predicament, she nodded and explained, "I'll be taking what's called a sonogram. It shows a visual image produced by reflected sound waves and at the hospital we use it as a diagnostic tool. You'll see what I mean. Go ahead and lie back down on the table and raise your shirt enough to expose your mid-drift. Oh, I'll take that…" Nurse Bouquet said reaching for the clipboard in Gold's hands and taking it. She quickly glimpsed over the charts and nodded, "Just double-checking, are you allergic to latex?"

"What? No," Belle asked concernedly. "I, uh, I don't think so."

"No," confirmed Gold.

"Ok, good."

Belle looked panicked and searched for her husband's hand for support. "Rumple…" Belle cried out and reached out for his hand, unsure what was happening.

He got up from his chair and grabbed her hand immediately. "I'm right here. I'll be right beside you. I trust her. She's not going to harm either one of you," he said, looking at Nurse Bouquet expectantly for reassurance.

At Gold's insinuation Nurse Bouquet looked up and agreed implicitly, "I promise, this is not painful at all. All I'm doing is taking pictures of your child before it's born."

"You see, just pictures. Harmless," assured Mr. Gold. "Besides, I'm curious to see how this technology works. This will be a first for both of us."

Belle nodded and complied to Nurse Bouquet's request. She leaned back against the reclined examination table and lifted her shirt exposing her pregnant belly. As the nurse prepared the equipment Gold filled the silence and asked, "I have to ask… how ever did you get your name?"

Nurse Bouquet grinned and answered plainly as she turned on the machine, "My mother named us all after flowers she loved. We are her bunch of flowers, she always said. Huh… Don't you think it's ironic how the curse named us the way it did?"

"It is strangely coincidental," Belle remarked as she looked at her silent husband who appeared deep in thought.

"Speaking of names, have you two thought of any names?" Nurse Bouquet asked as she squirted gel onto the probe's latex sheath.

Names. Flowers. The connection between the two reminded Gold of the incessant dream he once had months ago. When he saw that the two women were waiting for his response, he replied, "Yes… and no."

"Yes and no?"

Belle explained, "We compiled a list together, but so far none of them have made the cut."

"Alright, you'll have to pardon me, the gel can be a bit cold," warned Bouquet as she carefully rested the scanning probe on Belle's stomach. As Bouquet moved the probe across Belle's belly the machine emitted what sounded like a garble of static thumps that pulsated rapidly. She looked up on the monitor which was just beyond both Belle's and Gold's purview. "That sound you're hearing now... that's your child's heartbeat." Belle and Gold listened in amazed silence. "So... no names, huh?" Nurse Bouquet continued, looking up at the screen and hitting a few keys, "I noticed on the chart it said that you are about eight or nine months along, but developmentally your baby looks closer to nine. Ok mom and dad, from what I see your baby appears big, healthy and normal; ten fingers, ten toes. Do you both want to know the sex?"

"We already know what we're having."

"Do you? Well then," said Bouquet, appearing both surprised and not surprised at the same time, "I have to ask, because my mother always had a knack for guessing correctly before each of us were born… maternal intuition?"

"More like paternal intuition," answered Belle.

"Ah, I see. Well folks, I would say you both should pick out a name sometime soon because your child could arrive anytime." Nurse Bouquet moved the probe around for a little bit and clicked a few buttons with her left hands. "I'm almost done. Just taking a few more pictures and printing them for you take home later… There. Done. Are you ready to see your baby now?"

"Yes," Belle replied eagerly. At Belle's excited insistence, Bouquet turned the monitor around and waited as she watched for the reaction of their faces. Belle's mouth fell agape with curiosity and wonder while Gold squinted into the monitor trying to understand what it was he was looking at. Upon seeing his stern confusion, Nurse Bouquet moved the probe around with her right hand and pointed at the screen with her left.

"See that? That's the feet. The head is further down in your pelvis, but that's normal because your baby is getting ready to deliver. This string of white dots right here… that's your baby's spine."

The expectant parents watched in joyful awe as they stared at the monitor's screen. Bouquet paused the shot and left it on the screen for them to continue marveling over. "I'll just leave this up for you to enjoy. And um… if you're considering at-home birth I'm actually a part-time midwife." Nurse Bouquet said as she handed Belle a few cleaning wipes. Belle slowly sat up in place and began cleaning the residual gel from her stomach. Bouquet continued, "I'm just going to leave my number here with the pictures I've printed out for you. In case you have any questions or need help with your delivery."

"That's very kind of you," said Belle as she continued cleaning off the remaining gel.

"And what experience do you have delivering children? Aren't you a little young?" Gold asked condescendingly.

"Aren't you a little old?" Nurse Bouquet retorted back cleverly. "Besides, I'm the oldest daughter of the old woman who lived in a shoe. Someone had to help her deliver all her children."

Nurse Bouquet's quick-witted quip left Gold unexpectedly stunned, yet impressed. So they both smirked as she collected her belongings and prepared to leave the room. Bouquet looked over at Belle who was still staring at the monitor and said, "Take your time leaving. There's no rush. Just leave the door open when you do decide to leave, that way we know to prep it for the next patient. It was a pleasure meeting you both."

As soon as Nurse Bouquet left the room and closed the door, Gold replied, "I like her."

"I do too," agreed Belle, sighing as she reclined back down on the table to stare at the monitor some more. He moved in closer to her and they silently stared at their child on the screen together. They studied the screen amorously as if trying to etch the image into their minds. An astonished grin grew on Gold's face.

Belle stuttered, "I'm… I'm… in love."

"I know," Gold said beaming at his wife. He leaned over to her face and kissed her lovingly on the lips when he noticed tears falling down on her face. "Darling, why are you crying?" he asked softly, taking his available hand to wipe her tears.

She stated affirmatively, helping him wipe away her own tears, "You were right… from earlier. We need to see my father. I need to know what happened to my mother. Ever since my mother arrived in town, I've done nothing but push her away. If our daughter ever treated me the way I've been treating her… I… I would be devastated."

"Then let's prevent that. Let's go pay your father a visit."

Hello my fellow beautiful Rumbellers! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. First, I would like to thank Imusicluver23, Montreat11, Grace5231973, and BreathingintheSun for reviewing. Thank you thank you! oxoxoxox. Second, Holy Cow! my 60th chapter. Never thought I'd write this much in my life, but I absolutely love this kind of writing so it has been an absolute joy.

Third, it has been brought to my attention that it is that time of year for the TEAs, or The Espenson Awards. Now you might be asking yourself... "What the heck is that?" Believe me, I didn't know what it was either until I googled it. (Darn FFN won't let me add links).

Basically, YOU the sexy Rumbelle reader get to vote for the Best Rumbelle fanfiction. As described on the site, its the Academy Awards for Rumbelle fiction. There are dozens of categories to nominate stories for, but to be "officially" nominated a Story has to be nominated for that particular category 5 times. Now... I'm not saying to vote for my story... or maybe I am... Am I unabashedly campaigning to vote? YES.

There are a lot of other lovely fanfiction authors out there, but I am a huge fan of Montreat11's work. Montreat11 inspired me to write "Lily" so if you like what I've written so far and you still aren't sure who to vote for, then you should definitely vote for Montreat11. According to the site, the last day to pre-nominate is Jan. 24th. I could be wrong. Go check it out!

Ok. That's enough campaigning from me. See you next chapter!