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The sight before the group when they reached the town was an amazing one to say the least. Now that their new barrier was up, it was like the fail safe had never happened and the town was back to normal. People were walking around in amazement as they looked at the fixed street and buildings, clearly happy to see their town back to normal.
"Well, Belle, we did it," Ruby said, grinning at the other brunette as they walked through the pristine town and greeted the people they passed. "Now the town is safe thanks to you."
"I couldn't have done it with your help," Belle said modestly, also smiling as she looked around the town.
"That may be true, but you know that all magic comes with a price," Ruby said, her face turning serious all of a sudden which made Belle extremely nervous. They had just done a large amount of magic to protect their town, so what kind of price would they all have to pay in exchange? Ruby then grinned at her once more, clearly just trying to scare her slightly so Belle relaxed a bit. "And I know just the price you have to pay to keep this town safe with those new powers you seem to have."
Belle looked at her in confusion as Ruby took her hand and led her and the dwarves back to Rumpelstiltskin's shop. Belle was even more confused by Ruby's action as the female werewolf stopped in front of the shop.
"I think your price is to run the shop and help out all of us in the place of Gold," Ruby explained with an excited smile. "I think your kindness will be a great change of pace for everyone who normally has to deal with Gold. And it's also a great way to support you and that baby of yours."
"I'm not pregnant," Belle immediately said, giving a nervous laugh at everything Ruby had just said. It was true that her only optioned seemed to be running either the shop or the library, but she didn't want to think that it could possibly be true that she was pregnant even if all signs had pointed to it so far even before the wolf had picked up on her new scent. "I'll run the shop for Rumple, but I'm telling you that I'm not pregnant."
"Tell me that in nine months and then I'll listen," Ruby rolled her eyes at Belle's stubbornness, now seeing how she had managed to put up with Rumpelstiltskin for so long. "Just go see Doc once you're settled into the shop and let him make the final call."
Belle looked at the dwarf as he smiled back at her. Belle frowned, unsure of what to do since he was a close friend of Ruby's and could easily lie to her about this. She didn't know the dwarf, so how was she to know if she could trust him to confirm or deny their suspicions without an ulterior motive to prove Ruby right?
"I wouldn't lie about something so precious as a new life," Doc said calmly, reading her nervousness like her face was a book. "It would go against everything I stand for as a doctor."
"Then I will come see you," Belle said slowly, still unsure if she really trusted the doctor just yet. "But only once I'm sure I can run the shop on my own. I haven't been able to be myself for so long that I would like to get adjusted to everything before then."
"Just call me when you want to come in," Doc reassured her as his brothers began to take their leave. He gave her his card before he followed after the other dwarves to go make sure everyone else was okay.
"Would you like some help?" Ruby asked Belle as they turned back to the shop.
"No thank you," Belle said politely as she opened the door to her new home. She smiled slightly at Ruby, though the werewolf could tell it was a bit strained. "I would like to be by myself for a little while after everything that has happened today, if you don't mind."
"Yeah, sorry," Ruby apologized sheepishly, just realizing how forceful she was being with Belle when she hardly knew the woman. "I'll see you later then? Come by Granny's for dinner if you feel up to it."
"Thank you, I think I will," Belle said with a genuine smile before she slipped into the shop and closed the door behind her, making sure to lock it so she could be alone among the various items that reminded her of her True Love. She sighed as she leaned against the door, her hand resting on her stomach. "Oh Rumple, why was I so stupid while I was cursed?"
She hadn't wanted to admit anything in front of the others, but she had to admit it to herself that she was quite loose while she was Lacey so it was no wonder she was pregnant now. It seemed that that was her price to pay for her memories to come back, but, oh, what a price this is to pay for being cursed against her will.
Shaking the thoughts from her head, Belle turned to look around the shop with a bit of unease. She recognized many of the items from Rumpelstiltskin's castle and knew the general idea of what it all was, but she couldn't be too sure since she had no idea how her new found powers were to work. She decided that opening the shop would have to wait until she figured out her powers. Until then, she was going to comb through all of the books she could find in the shop to see what kind of spell her True Love had cast on her.