Summary: Belle announces her pregnancy.

Black Forest Gateau

Ruby was restocking the cake display when Belle came into the café just before opening, and she was glad to see her friend smiling again. Belle had been withdrawn for the last few weeks; she hadn't told Ruby what was wrong and although she had reassured her friend that she and Gold were still going strong, it was good to see that she was back to her normal self.

"Hello stranger," Ruby said. "How are you today?"

"I'm very well, thank you." Belle leaned on the counter. "I have a proposition for you Ruby. What are your thoughts towards becoming a godmother?"

Ruby looked up from the cake display and raised an eyebrow at her friend.

"Well, when I learned that the job doesn't come with wings and special powers I went off it slightly, but I'm still willing. Belle. In my experience, people only ever ask other people to be godmothers on one of two occasions. Firstly when they are pregnant and secondly when they are staging a production of Cinderella. Now, something tells me that it is unlikely to be the latter."

Belle was positively beaming.

"Yes, Ruby. I'm having a baby."

"Oh Belle!" Ruby positively squealed with excitement and shot up, rushing around the counter to hug Belle. She was so excited that she barely noticed her shoulder catch the top shelf of the cake display as she stood, sending an entire black forest gateau, freshly baked and decorated with whipped cream by Granny that very morning, flying to land against the inside of the glass with a soft fwop. "Oh Belle, I'm so happy for you! You know, I had my suspicions, but I didn't like to say."

"Ok..." Emma's voice entered the café. "Why are we giving Belle hugs? And why does the cake display look like a bomb hit it?"

"It wasn't a bomb, it was a black forest gateau," Ruby said airily. "And we're giving Belle hugs because she's got some excellent news."

Belle blushed slightly as Ruby released her and she turned to Emma.

"I'm expecting. Twelve weeks."

Emma grinned and threw her arms around Belle.

"Congratulations. This calls for celebratory tea and cakes. Although, perhaps not the black forest gateau..."

"It's half-past eight in the morning, Emma," Belle protested. "We can't have cake at this time!"

"Belle, you're having a baby, you're allowed cake whenever you want," Ruby said. "If there is one thing that I took advantage of to the maximum whilst I was pregnant with Connor, it was the ability to eat cake at three in the morning if I so desired."

Belle looked down at the cake display and the cream and cherries slowly dripping down it. She was visibly torn between the idea of eating cake at half-past eight in the morning and trying to be good and healthy for the sake of her baby.

"I suppose one piece of Victoria sandwich won't hurt," she said wistfully, gazing at the cake in question.

"Excellent," Ruby said, going behind the counter to cut some slices. "You've given us an excuse to have cake now."

It took a little while for them all to get sitting down with their tea and cake, mainly because Emma and Ruby were technically working and had to keep getting up to serve customers, but at last the post-opening rush quietened and the three friends were comfortably ensconced around a table.

"Do you know if it's a boy or girl yet?" Ruby asked. She could not quite contain her excitement at her friend's news but she did manage to stop short of actually bouncing up and down. Despite the slightly shaky start, Ruby had loved being pregnant and now that she had Connor, she couldn't imagine a world without him. It was hard to believe that he was nearly a year old; it seemed only yesterday that she had first held him. And now, in six months' time, she'd be holding another newborn: her godchild.

Belle shook her head. "I've only had the first scan, Ruby, they don't tell you till the second. I don't think we're going to find out though. We want a surprise."

Ruby shook her head in despair. "But Belle, how on earth will Tina and Granny know what colour to knit everything in?"

"Ruby, you do realise that there are more colours than just blue and pink, right?" Emma said, rolling her eyes.

Ruby waved away her statement and turned her attention back to Belle.

"So how long have you known?" she asked. "I noticed you'd been acting a bit odd these past few weeks but I didn't want to say anything."

"We've known for five weeks," Belle explained. "But I didn't want to tell anyone until I'd past twelve weeks and everything was still all right. After last time… I didn't want to jinx it. So I've been this little ball of nervous tension for five weeks. Meanwhile Gold's been trying so hard not to let the cat out of the bag. When I finally told him we could tell people… I don't think I've ever seen him so excited about calling Aunt Elvira."

"What did Aunt Elvira say?" Emma asked.

"Well, I'm not quite sure what she said at first," Belle said, sipping her tea. "Whatever it was, it was in Gaelic and it was very loud. Gold was holding the phone at arm's length. Then she said that she was very happy for us and we needed to invite her to the christening." Belle blushed again. "Then she said that she hoped the conception had not taken place whilst we were staying with her over Christmas and New Year's."

Ruby cocked her head on one side. "Belle, may I ask why you're blushing?"

"Well… Counting backwards… The doctor's pretty certain it was New Year's Day."

Emma raised her eyebrows. "Happy Hogmanay indeed."

Belle's furious blush refused to die down.

"It's something you're going to have to live with, Belle," Ruby said. "As someone who's been pregnant to someone who is currently pregnant, if there's one thing constantly on the back of your mind, it's that once people know you're expecting, they also automatically know that you've had a good time between the sheets at least once in your life."

"A very good time," Emma mused. "Everyone knows that when you're trying for a baby, nothing ever happens until you just take time to enjoy yourself for the sake of it."

"We weren't exactly trying," Belle murmured, her face buried in her hands. "It just happened."

"I know the feeling," Ruby said cheerily. "There's no need to be so embarrassed. There are thousands of pregnant women in the country."

"And hundreds more women getting pregnant," Emma added drily.

"At half past nine in the morning?" Ruby exclaimed. "What are they doing at half past nine in the morning?"

"I thought we'd just established what they were doing." Belle giggled.

"But at half past nine in the morning?"

The three women fell about laughing, but sadly their mirth was cut short by the arrival of more customers and Emma went to serve them.

"So who else knows?" Ruby asked. "Or are we part of a select group?"

"I've told Brenda," Belle said. "I'm pretty certain her squealing was ultrasonic. And Gold will probably tell Jefferson, Alice and Ashley today. And obviously, once Jefferson knows, the entire office will know. It's not that he can't keep a secret, but... well... he can't keep a secret. And of course, I still need to tell Tina so that she can start knitting. I mean, she's been waiting to get started ever since I came back from my honeymoon. I think she was most disappointed that I couldn't claim the luck of the Irish. Knowing her penchant though, she'll start knitting everything in the wrong size and it won't fit for four months."

"At least he or she can grow into it," Ruby said. "Always look on the bright side! Granny will want to get knitting as soon as possible as well. And she'll probably start planning a cake for your baby shower. Whether you have one or not." She sighed as Emma returned to the table. "I can't believe Connor's nearly one. It feels like only yesterday that I first held him. I was completely out of it on painkillers but I knew that as soon as I held him, I never wanted to let go."

"You think you've got it bad?" Emma exclaimed. "Henry's twelve! And it still feels like two minutes since I first held him. At least you can still pick your son up and cuddle him. Henry's going to be taller than I am soon, I swear."

"Do you think you'll have any more children with Graham?" Belle asked Emma.

Emma cocked her head on one side, seriously considering the proposition.

"To be perfectly honest, we haven't really discussed it," she said. "I suppose because Henry's so much older, I was a bit worried, but he's always said that he'd love to have kid brothers and sisters. What about you?" she asked Ruby.

"I can't wait to have more kids." Well, that was not entirely true. She could do without the traumatic labour and birth that Connor had come with, and she'd be quite happy if she never had to go through that again, but she and Archie were definitely planning on having more children in the future. For now though, she would content herself with anticipating her godchild's arrival.

"Ruby!" Granny's voice entered the cafe and it was at that point that Ruby realised that the black forest gateau was still a smeared mess on the front of the cake display. "What happened to my cake?"

Granny was staring at the cake display with an expression of utter horror, as if her life's work had just been ruined in front of her.

"It's my fault, Granny," Belle said. "I gave Ruby a bit of a surprise and that in turn resulted in exploding cakes."

Granny turned to the three women and raised one eyebrow. Belle, evidently not wanting to shout her news across the cafe full of people, went over to her erstwhile employer and whispered in her ear, whereupon Granny's expression changed completely and she gave Belle a hug, taking her off to one side and talking to her animatedly. Ruby smiled. She seemed to be off the hook for now. All the same, it was probably going to be a good idea to clean up...