Thank you InkyTheHalfling for reviewing! You'll see soon enough what kind of gift.
Thank you Queen of Light 17 for reviewing! Thanks for the positivity.
Thank you Alex Beckett for reviewing! I don't think things with the Blue Fairy and Rumpelstiltskin will ever be good.
Thank you Helena Menezes for reviewing! Thank you for following this! It seems everyone is waiting to know who the father is.
Word soon spread through town that Belle was not only pregnant, but running the magic shop at a much fairer rate than Gold was. Soon, she had seen just about everyone in town for one reason or another as she made her day to day life. Six months after the scare of the fail safe, no one had yet heard from their leaders and Belle was growing worried for them. She now constantly checked the small pocket watch that Rumple had given her before he had left with specific instructions to always carry it with her just in case. She had no idea what it was for and her spell didn't even have any knowledge about the simple watch.
"Belle! I brought lunch!" Ruby called to her from the front of the shop, dragging the woman from her thoughts about her True Love. Belle heaved herself from a chair as her large belly weighed her down. Ruby came around to the back of the shop right as Belle was beginning her slow waddle to meet her. "Really girl, I wouldn't be surprised if you had twins in there no matter what Doc says."
"I hope not. We've only been preparing for one," Belle laughed softly, smiling at her friend as the taller woman came over and helped her walk more steadily. Belle paused when she saw that the front of her shop now held a beautifully carved bassinet and seven dwarves. "What is this?"
"You hadn't picked out anything for the kid to sleep in," Leroy explained, smiling slightly at Belle. "So Geppetto carved this up for it out of a tree in the forest."
"It's wonderful," Belle murmured, walking to it so she could run her hand over the smooth carved flowers and vines in the wood. "He must have been working on this for months."
"Ever since it was confirmed," Doc told her with the other dwarves nodding. "We went out to get the tree ourselves."
"Thank you everyone," Belle said tearfully as she hugged each of her new friends in turn. "It's perfect."
"Hey, this kid is special," Leroy shrugged, embarrassed like the other dwarves by the hugs they received. "It's the least we could do after all the help you've given the town, Belle."
"I've never seen this shop so empty," Ruby added, looking around the partially cleared out shop. Belle had been incredibly busy ever since people found out that her prices for help were so much fairer than Rumple's were, so the shop had temporarily lost many of its treasures to people who needed help of the magical sort.
Belle frowned when a strange buzzing sound filled the air. She turned to Ruby to ask what it was only to see that the wolf didn't seem to hear it. Finding this strange since Ruby easily had the best hearing in town, Belle glanced around for any sign of something being out of place. This buzzing was nothing like the times she had been offered gifts from people without equal payment in return, so she couldn't quite place what it could be. That is, she couldn't place it until her pocket began to grow hot like she had been set on fire or a hot coal had been dropped into her skirt. She hesitantly reached into her pocket to pull out the only item that was resting in it.
"What's that?" Ruby asked when she noticed Belle staring at her pocket watch with a strange expression.
"I'm not quite sure, but I believe some kind of spell is activating," Belle murmured, examining the watch closely for any sign of something being different now that the temperature of the metal began to return to normal. The lid of the watch then popped open to reveal that the face of the clock was pitch black and no longer seemed to tell time.
"Belle?" Rumpelstiltskin's voice came from the watch as his image soon appeared on the clock. He looked tired, but unharmed as he sat by the light of a fire. Belle couldn't help but give a tearful smile at the sight of her True Love.
"Rumple," she murmured, nearly falling to the ground as her knees gave out if it wasn't for the quickly supporting arm of Ruby. "Oh Rumple, where are you?"
"We are still in Neverland, but we've managed to find Henry," Rumple reported with a small sigh as he tried to relax against the log he was leaning on. "We hope to bring him home tomorrow so we can be back after only a few days."
"But Gold, you guys have been gone for almost seven months, not a few days," Ruby said, voicing what her friend didn't seem to be able to. Rumpelstiltskin looked surprised by her words and they could hear someone cursing within the camp their leaders had made. Ruby took the watch from Belle so she could talk to the man. "You guys have missed a lot going on around here."
"What's happened Red?" Snow asked, though Ruby could not see her. Ruby thought about what to say for a moment before she began her report.
"We managed to get the town protected thanks to whatever spell Gold put on Belle so she could work with the shop," Ruby said slowly so they would get everything that she was saying since she didn't know how faulty the communication system was. "Nothing much has happened other than that, except Belle has become one hell of a shop keeper. Even with her being pregnant and all."
Ruby would have paid hundreds of times to be able to see the look on Gold's face at her words. There was a strange mix of joy, shock, and fury at her words, but most of all just plane shock.
"There must be some kind of mistake," he managed to say in what could only be described as a growl. "My True Love must not be so true afterall."
"How could you say that?" David nearly yelled at Gold on the other end of the watch, something Ruby was grateful for since she couldn't personally strangle the man for accusing Belle of cheating on him.
"Because we have been gone for seven months, dearie, that means that child cannot be mine," Gold countered the prince with a glare.
"She was pregnant the day you left, you bastard," Ruby growled at Gold, seeing his old Rumpelstiltskin persona coming out in him as he tried to shield himself emotionally from him. "She hasn't done anything wrong, so get off your high horse and be happy you're having a kid with such a great girl."
"Doc said I only have a few weeks left before I'm full term," Belle murmured sadly, having not expected her True Love to react like he was to the news of them having a child together. She took the watch back from Ruby after giving the wolf a grateful smile. "Rumple, I'm 33 weeks along and you've only been gone for 27. This child has to be yours if you think about how long we were together before you left."
"Is it a boy or a girl?" Gold asked, his eyes narrowed like he still didn't believe her, but Belle was able to see the softer expression hidden within his eyes.
"I don't know," Belle admitted sheepishly. "I didn't want to know anything until you returned so we could find out together."
Gold looked stunned at her selfless words, a small smile creeping onto his lips as the picture shook before he seemed to move away from the fire. Taking that as him wanting to speak to her alone, Belle motioned for the others to leave with a reassuring smile.
"How is the spell working for you?" Gold asked quietly once they were both alone.
"I think I've figured everything out about it now," Belle said, smiling at him as she glanced around the shop. "You could have told me about it before though. It would have saved me a lot of pain and confusion."
"I'm sorry, dearie, but it had to be done and I had just made it as a safety measure when I decided to give your memories back," Gold explained with a small sigh, a sign to Belle that he really did mean his apology. Belle couldn't help but to smile at the softer side of her True Love that was coming out now that they were alone until a sharp pain in her abdomen made her gasp. "What's wrong Belle?"
"I think they know you're their father," Belle managed breathlessly, rubbing the spot over where her baby had just kicked. "This little one is waking up and kicking mercilessly whenever you talk."
Gold frowned at her words before a small smile graced his lips. "May I see?"
Belle couldn't help a small laugh as she set down the watch and took a few steps back from it so he could see her swollen stomach.
"Beautiful," she heard Gold murmur as she stepped back to the watch, rolling her eyes as she scooped it up from where she had left it. "Are you sure it is just one?"
"Doc can't find another heartbeat no matter how much he searches," Belle told him as she rubbed her stomach over the small kicks her baby was giving. "The baby is just exceptionally large."
"Baelfire was also quite large," Rumpelstiltskin said as he remembered his first wife's pregnancy before a sad look came to his face. "Has there been any sign of him?"
"I'm so sorry," Belle answered sadly, knowing just how much pain her True Love must have been feeling knowing that his son was out there somewhere and possibly dead. "He'll come back to us when he can."
"There is no guarantee of that," Rumple snapped at her and Belle bit her lip, knowing she hit a nerve and that the only reason he snapped at her was to protect his own feelings.
"He has to. He has a son who needs him, a True Love waiting for him, a father who misses him terribly, and a new sibling to meet," Belle said soothingly, seeing her own True Love's lips twitch at her words.
"Your optimism astounds me," he chuckled softly before the image began to blur. "The spell is wearing off. I will contact you again when I can."
"Don't make it another six months!" Belle called to him as the picture went dark, hearing the echo of his chuckle as the spell completely faded. Belle sighed, rubbing her stomach a bit as she put the watch back in her pocket. "Let's make sure everything is ready for your father when he comes home."