Summary: It's Gold's fiftieth birthday, but the celebrations don't pan out quite as expected.

In which Archie panics (not without due reason), Ruby curses Cajun chicken, Belle meets a dinosaur and Gold gives a Dalmatian a pep talk…

Note: Miran requested a declaration of love in the chapter notes in honour of her managing to get me out of my block for this chapter. So: Love you, Miran!

Birthday Cake

"Happy birthday."

Gold gave a non-committal grunt and pulled the covers up further in the (admittedly foolish) hope that he could somehow turn the bed into a time machine and that when he actually opened his eyes, he would still be forty-nine. He had never normally had a problem with birthdays; they were things that happened to come round once a year and brought with them cake and whiskey, but this was the first time that he had actively not wanted it to be his birthday. This year he was acutely aware that he had now seen rather a lot of the blessed days.

He felt Belle's hair tickle his ear and knew that she was leaning over him.

"I know you're not asleep," she said conversationally, and Gold felt a delicate finger trace up his spine. "You can't hide from the day under the duvet, you know."

Gold's response to this remark was to pull the sheets up over his head completely.

"I can try," he muttered. "Now, it's Sunday, it's my birthday, and I'm officially old, so I'm having a lie-in."

"You are not old," Belle scolded. "You're mature, like a good wine."

Gold pulled the covers down a fraction and rolled over onto his back so that he could look at Belle, who was propped up on one elbow grinning down at him.

"Or a ripe cheese," he grumbled.

"No, no, no," Belle said, punctuating her words with kisses. "You're whiskey. A perfectly-aged Glenmorangie. And you've had a lie-in."

Gold glanced at the alarm clock; it was almost ten already.

"Ruby and Archie are coming over to take us out for lunch, since you refused point blank to have any other celebration. And as tempting as it is to stay here in this lovely warm bed with my lovely handsome fiancé, I feel that Ruby would not appreciate her child being scandalised before he is even born when we answer the door in varying states of undress. I don't want to be a corrupting influence on my godson too early on."

Gold laughed and pulled her down for another kiss. Ruby's due date was fast approaching, and Belle was having trouble downplaying her excitement at becoming a sort-of aunt.

"What time are they coming?" he asked.

"No, we do not have time for a quickie," Belle said. Gold raised an eyebrow.

"Consider it a birthday present?" he suggested. "One that you would also enjoy?"

Belle smiled. "Ok. Maybe a quick quickie…"

X

Lunch had been a pleasant affair, even if they had been slightly late to the table, but Ruby had been restless. Gold couldn't blame her. As far along as she was, her baby would be very low in her abdomen and making her perpetually uncomfortable no matter what position she was in. He wondered what the baby would weigh at birth; from the outside Ruby's bump looked very big, but Gold wasn't sure if this was simply a matter of perception because she was so naturally tall and slim. When they had returned to the pink house after lunch she had managed half an hour before needing to get up and move about, and Gold gave it a few minutes – until Archie and Belle were immersed in discussion about the new periodicals wing that was being built at the library – before excusing himself to find her. He was remembering a cold November night almost twenty-five years ago, when his heavily-pregnant ex-wife had been unable to sleep and wandered round the house for two hours. Bae had been born that night, and Gold had the creeping suspicion that Ruby was beginning to go into labour.

He ran her to ground in the dining room, leaning on the windowsill with her forehead pressed against the pane.

"Are you all right, Ruby?" he asked. "Do you want to lie down?"

She shook her head.

"No, I'm ok. Well. I've got heartburn. Should not have had that Cajun chicken. Bloody cravings. I just ache all over. And I'm tired." She rubbed her belly. "This one's nocturnal at the moment. It wouldn't be so bad if he wasn't in training to become the next Fred Astaire as well."

She turned and looked at Gold. "I just can't wait to meet him, for him to come out and say hi. On the other hand, I think about actually giving birth and…" She tailed off. "What was it like for you? When Bae was born, I mean."

"A damn sight easier than it was for Liz." Gold laughed. "If you're asking 'will Archie faint?' then I think it's highly unlikely. He'll keep going on adrenaline alone. He's just as eager to meet his son as you are."

Ruby smiled. "It's weird; when I was younger I never thought of myself as a mother. Even after I got pregnant I still couldn't imagine actually having a baby. I've read all the books and been to all the classes and I'm still worried that I'm going to do it wrong."

"Ruby, you will be fine."

She sighed and nodded.

"I suppose. I just get thinking too much sometimes. You know…"

There was a long pause and Gold's brow furrowed.

"Ruby?"

"Oh God."

Ruby looked up, her face bleach white and terrified.

"What's the matter?" Gold asked, but his question was answered in the next moment by the steady drip of liquid onto the floor.

"My water just broke." Ruby squeezed her eyes tight shut. "Forget what I said before, I'm not ready at all. It was the Cajun chicken, I swear, they say spicy food can induce labour. Oh God, and on your birthday too. And on your carpet..." She opened her eyes, glanced down and whimpered. "And on your shoes…"

Gold took Ruby's hand.

"Ruby, I couldn't care less about my birthday, my carpet, or my shoes. The latter two can be cleaned and the formermost I have seen enough of already. Babies come when they want to and nothing can change that."

He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze before going over to the dining room door.

"Archie!" he called. The psychiatrist came out of the living room and Gold beckoned him over. As soon as he saw Ruby, standing in a puddle of fluid, wringing her hands, his face took on a similarly terrified aspect.

"I think we need to call the hospital," Ruby said weakly.

Archie nodded mutely and Gold stepped out of the room to allow the couple to talk in peace.

Belle came out of the kitchen with some tea-towels and cleaned the fluid off Gold's shoes without a word.

"I had a hunch of what might have happened when you called Archie through. I thought that Ruby might have been slightly more vocal had her contractions started." She glanced towards the dining room door, left slightly ajar. "Do you think they'll be ok?"

"I'm sure they'll be fine."

They waited in the hall for a few more minutes before Archie came out, looking worried, apologetic, but a little bit exhilarated at the same time.

"We've rung the hospital, and because this is Ruby's first baby they think that she ought to go in straight away. The thing is, obviously we don't have anything with us, all the stuff for the baby's back home and it'll take us about forty-five minutes out of our way to go back home and then go back to the hospital as opposed to going straight there, and Ruby's really worried and wants to get there as soon as possible…"

"Archie." The younger man tailed off at Gold's firm tone, his panicked eyes pleading. "Take Ruby to the hospital. We'll bring your bags."

"Thank you." Archie gave a weak laugh. "Interesting way to spend your birthday."

Gold shrugged. "A godson is fairly unique birthday present. I'm not complaining."

X

Pongo bounded up to them as soon as Belle opened Archie and Ruby's front door, and Gold crouched down to scratch his ears.

"Jefferson's right," Belle observed. "You really are squidgy in the middle."

"There's nothing wrong with liking dogs," Gold protested, before returning his attention to the Dalmatian. "You've got to be good, hear me? When your humans come back, they'll have another very small human with them, and they probably won't pay you quite as much attention for a bit. But don't worry, they haven't forgotten you. So don't go getting jealous of the small one. He's going to be very loud, and very smelly, but you'll get used to it. He's also going to be very helpless as well as very small, and you're going to have to be his personal guard dog." He continued to scratch behind Pongo's ears, leaning back slightly when the dog tried to lick his face and wobbling a bit on his precarious balance. Belle grabbed his shoulder to steady him and Pongo got his lick in. Gold raised one eyebrow at the dog.

"Pongo, I thought we had established that Mr Gold is not a person for licking," Belle said, taking him by the collar and pulling him back a bit to allow Gold to get to his feet. "He'll scratch your ears as much as you like, but please don't lick him."

Pongo gave a little whine and looked up at Gold with doleful eyes. Gold wiped his face with his handkerchief. Belle tried to suppress a smile and failed, miserably.

"Ok," she began, "I'll do things for Ruby and Archie; as much as she loves you I don't think she'll want you going through her underwear drawer. You get things for the baby as you've had more experience with, to use your own words, very small humans."

Gold followed Belle up the stairs towards the bedrooms of Ruby and Archie's little cottage. The nursery had been decorated in various tones of blue and green, and a border of rather plump- looking fish was swimming around the top of the room near the ceiling. He looked around, opening drawers and cupboards and taking out blankets and baby clothes before stopping to admire the mobile that hung above the crib. It was made of wood, beautifully carved and painted, and he remembered Belle telling him about a carpenter who had been one of their most frequent customers at the café. Apparently Ruby had been trying to set him up with Granny for a long time now; perhaps the mobile had been a gift to either thank her for her efforts or try and prevent any more. The drops were in the shape of various fishes and animals, including a spotted Dalmatian with an uncanny resemblance to Pongo.

"Gold, come and have a look at this! Oh, it's the sweetest thing I've ever seen!"

On hearing Belle call through from the master bedroom, Gold ventured through with his pile of things and was rather alarmed to find himself face to face with an enormous purple and orange stegosaurus, Belle's grinning face behind it. Gold raised an eyebrow.

"Oh come on," Belle said. "Even you've got to think that he's utterly adorable. He's even smiling, look! Smiley Steggy!"

She touched him on the nose with the furry toy in a little stegosaurus kiss, and her grin became even more devilish, as she knew that she was the only person over the age of four and a half who would be able to get away with such an action and not suffer any repercussions. She placed the stegosaurus in the bottom of the wardrobe where she had evidently found it and put Gold's items into the overnight bag that was open on the bed.

"I think we've got everything," Belle said. "Spare clothes, towels, pillows, toiletries, baby things…" She leaned over and grabbed Ruby's plush wolf and popped him on top of the other things in the bag. "You never know," she said. "If Ruby ends up breaking one of Archie's hands she'll need something else comforting to squeeze through the contractions, won't she?"

Gold couldn't fault her logic.

X

It had been four hours since they arrived home from the hospital having dropped off Ruby and Archie's things, and Belle had spent the majority of that time pacing up and down the living room.

"Belle, darling, you're going to wear a hole in the floor at this rate," Gold said. He looked up from his book and patted the sofa beside him. Belle gave up her pacing and flopped down beside him. He put his arm around her and pulled her in close to press a kiss into her hair. "Ruby is going to be fine, and Archie will call as soon as there's any news."

With impeccable timing, the phone rang and Belle jumped off the sofa and raced into the hallway to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Belle, it's Archie."

"How's it going? Has the little one arrived yet?"

"No… There've been some complications. Ruby's in surgery." Archie sounded like he was on the verge of tears and Belle's blood ran cold in her veins. "I know it's a big ask and I know it's Gold's birthday, but could you come over to the hospital again please? I don't think I can cope on my own and I didn't know who else to call; I can't get through to Granny."

"Archie, it's never too much to ask, we're on our way."

Gold came out into the hallway as Belle shoved the cordless back into its dock.

"What's happened?" he asked.

"I don't know," Belle said. "From what I can make out they've taken Ruby for an emergency caesarean. Archie's distraught. We're going to the hospital. Now."

Gold needed no further prompting, simply nodding and grabbing his car keys from the dresser. The drive to the hospital was a tense, silent one. Belle spent the entire journey envisaging a thousand and one nightmare scenarios that could be playing out in the hospital in parallel.

The psychiatrist was waiting in the carpark when they arrived, and Belle ran over to him. The poor man was white as a sheet and shivering uncontrollably despite the warm April evening.

"Archie, what's happened?" Belle asked, throwing her arms around him and stroking his back to try and help him calm down.

"I… it's… Can we go inside? I just came out for some air, I want to be there if there's any news."

"Of course, come on."

Gold had joined them by this point and they made their way back inside to the maternity unit waiting room. Archie went over to the nearest midwife and Spoke with her in low tones for a moment. Belle made out the response 'I'm sorry, she's still in surgery' and her insides twisted nervously.

Archie came back over to them and collapsed into a chair with his head in his hands, Belle and Gold on either side.

"It was going ok," Archie said. "Ruby was in a lot of pain though, despite the medication, and it was really stressing her out, and that made her panic even more because she thought she might be hurting the baby, and so it turned into a vicious cycle. Then the baby's heartrate started dropping and the midwives started getting worried as Ruby was still nowhere near ready to push, she was only five centimetres dilated. They were just deciding whether to take her for a c-section when Ruby said she felt really wet down below, like her waters had broken all over again. She thought she must have wet herself but when they moved the blankets off her… I've never seen so much blood." Archie shook his head. "They rushed her straight into surgery for an emergency c-section; they were worried, they thought that the placenta was coming away too early and that the baby's blood might be mixing with Ruby's... She needed general anaesthetic; I wasn't allowed in with her."

Archie began to cry and Belle anchored her arm around his shoulders.

"I couldn't stay here. I just ran outside to throw up and call you, and I felt so awful because Ruby was in there all on her own, hurting, and they're cutting her open and I don't know if she's going to be ok. I can't lose her, Belle. I can't lose either of them." He drew in a shaky breath. "Ruby's got a rare blood type, she's AB-neg, what if she needs a transfusion and they don't have enough for her?"

Belle cast a glance at Gold over Archie's bowed head. She didn't know what to say to console the terrified man; she was feeling the same nauseating horror herself. Her fiancé gave her a worried look that did nothing to reassure her, and it was clear that this was beyond the scope of his experience as well.

It felt like they had been sitting there for hours when the nurse came in.

"Archie Hopper?"

Archie's head shot up, and it was to Belle's infinite relief that she saw the nurse was smiling as she came over to them.

"Are they ok?" Archie asked frantically, before the nurse could speak.

"Yes. Both mother and baby are going to be just fine. Ruby's out of surgery and we're waiting for her to sleep off the anaesthetic. She's lost an awful lot of blood and needed a transfusion; she'll be very weak for a while so we'll need to keep her in for observation for a few days, but there's nothing that indicates that she won't make a full recovery."

Archie gave a sigh of relief. "And the baby?"

The nurse grinned.

"We were worried about his heart rate and we'll be keeping him under observation as well just in case, but you have a perfectly healthy little boy who's ready to meet his daddy."

"Oh thank you, thank you." Archie threw his arms around the nurse, who took it all in her stride and patted his shoulder.

"This way."

Archie looked back over his shoulder at Belle and Gold.

"Go on," Gold said. "Go and hold your son. We won't leave without saying goodbye."

As soon as Archie had left the waiting room, Belle burst into tears of relief, and she felt Gold slide into Archie's vacated seat and gather her up in his arms.

"It's all going to be ok," he soothed. "Ruby and the baby are going to be fine, and you're going to be a godmother."

"I forgot to bring the elephant," Belle sniffed, fumbling for a tissue to dry her eyes on. The little blue elephant had been sitting on her dressing table for two weeks now, but in all the panic that had accompanied their departure to the hospital, it hadn't crossed her mind.

"I'm sure the new arrival can survive without his elephant for a couple of days. He's got a giant stegosaurus waiting for him at home. Come on, I think we need a cup of tea after that." Gold paused. "And someone should probably tell Granny that she's now a Great-Granny…"

X

Ruby looked very small and very pale. The stark white of the hospital gown and the sheets wasn't helping, and neither were the tubes snaking in and out of the crook of her elbow and her wrist. But there, wrapped up in soft fleecy blankets in the little plastic crib beside the bed, was a perfect little bundle with a shock of bright red hair. He was the most precious thing that Archie had ever seen. There were no words to describe how he felt. Archie had never been particularly good with fancy words anyway. With his patients he simply spoke the truth from the heart, and they appreciated his honesty and integrity.

"You can hold him," the nurse said.

"I'm scared he'll break if I pick him up," Archie admitted. The nurse shook her head with a smile, picking up his son and handing him to him.

"He won't break," she said. "He's a fighter, your little boy, just like his mum. He's very strong."

"He's so small," Archie breathed.

"He's eight pounds ten ounces, so he's actually on the big side," the nurse said. "He'll soon grow." She paused. "Just give us a shout if you need anything."

Archie nodded, not really hearing the words. He sat down in the chair beside the bed, still clutching his son against him, almost afraid to move lest he disturb the little bundle. He wanted to take Ruby's limp hand, but he didn't want to shift his hold on his baby. Ruby would understand when she woke. He was there, as he had promised when they'd taken her for surgery. He would be there when she woke up.

It was another half an hour before she opened her eyes. She blinked a few times before she focussed on Archie and smiled blearily.

"Hello love," she croaked.

"Hello." He carefully stood up and came closer so that she could see the baby in his arms.

"I feel like I've been run over by a bus," Ruby said, "but seeing him, I don't care. He's worth every minute of it."

"You still look beautiful, bus or no bus." Archie said. Ruby snorted.

"You charmer." She reached up and tugged at the blankets a little so that she could see more of her baby's head, and she laughed weakly.

"He takes after his daddy," she said.

"Yes, but he's got his mum's spirit."

There was a brief knock at the door before the nurse popped her head round. "I thought I heard voices. Welcome back, Ruby. I should also tell you that your grandma's in the waiting room, but she said she would wait until you said you were ready before she came in." The nurse came into the room fully and checked Ruby's stats, drips and lines. "Now, I'll bet you want to hold your little boy."

"Am I allowed?" Ruby asked. "What with…" She indicated her abdomen, where the incision had been made.

"Of course you are. We just have to be careful with your wound and your IV's, is all."

The nurse helped Archie place their baby onto Ruby's chest so that she could cuddle him close without putting pressure on her stomach or elbows.

There was silence in the room as Ruby held her baby for the first time, tears streaming down her cheeks but the widest smile possible lighting up her face.

"You, my little cub, are perfect," she breathed. "Hello gorgeous. I'm your mummy. It's very nice to meet you. And this is your daddy," she added, reaching out for Archie, who caught her hand and laced his fingers through hers. "You've already met your daddy. He's the bravest, most brilliant man in the world. I love him very much and we both love you more than anything. You're going to have a fantastic life. We'll make sure of it."

X

"Happy birthday."

Belle toasted her now-empty mug of tea against Gold's and snuggled into his side. The sofas were a new addition to the hospital canteen and she was very glad of them. "Not the most orthodox way to celebrate your fiftieth, but what can you do?"

"I'm perfectly happy with this turn of events," Gold said. "Not Ruby needing an emergency caesarean and blood transfusion, of course, but since Archie and Ruby's son chose today to come into the world, it means that all future celebrations you might be planning for me are henceforth called off. I can't steal my godson's thunder on his birthday now, can I?"

Belle batted his arm playfully. "I'm just glad everything's going to be ok." She yawned. "Do you think we ought to be heading back now? I don't want to leave Archie till Ruby's woken, but we might be able to get an update if he's feeling more reassured that she's going to be ok."

Gold nodded and they left the canteen. As they were walking back across the carpark towards the maternity suite, Belle's phone buzzed with the arrival of a text message. It was from Archie:

Ruby's awake and we'd like you to meet your godson.

Belle smiled, at least they knew now that Ruby was conscious and compos mentis. When they arrived back in the maternity ward, the first thing they saw was Granny, waving at them from out of a doorway. Belle rushed forward, dragging Gold along with her.

Ruby was awake, if looking incredibly exhausted and absolutely elated at the same time. Archie was perched on the bed beside her, stroking his son's pink cheek. Ruby waved them over with one hand for a closer look.

"Thank you both," she whispered. "For everything you've done today." There was a pause and she beamed up at them. "Belle, Gold, this is Connor Richard Hopper. Connor, this is your godma and godpa, Belle and Gold."

She took the baby's tiny hand in hers and kissed it before moving it in the smallest approximation of a wave in Belle's direction.

"We all love you, little one," Ruby said. "We are your family, and whatever happens, you will always be loved."

Note: Two people suggested Connor, meaning 'lover of hounds/wolves' as a name for Ruby and Archie's baby. I added Richard, meaning 'brave, hardy', which I thought was appropriate given his slightly dramatic birth!