"Why didn't you tell me you were pregnant in the first place, Belle?"
"You were angry with me! Plus, I don't think you even remember the night that it happened! Look, I knew you were about done with me at the time. You threw me out the day that I was going to tell you, so I just decided it would be better if you didn't even know."
"Why would that be a good idea even remotely? You're supposed to be the smart one here! I'm still the child's father!"
Belle huffs out a cold breath and speeds up her pace, making her way to Granny's. Now that they knew that their daughter was in Storybrooke, they figured they would look for her in the most obvious of places. Everybody was always getting together in Granny's, so maybe someone would know who they were looking for.
It's silent for the rest of the walk. Rumple stays a bit behind Belle the entire time, not wanting to get even deeper spun in her web of anger. She was on full mother mode right now, and he couldn't do anything to get her out of it except help her to find their daughter.
The restaurant nook was full, but Granny was behind the counter. Red was serving everybody their respective coffees and pastries. Belle power walked over to Granny first. Rumple followed along behind diligently.
"Have you seen a girl named Kayleigh around anywhere lately? She should be about 28 by now, I think?"
Red walks over before Granny can answer, "Kayleigh? Yeah, she left a while ago. I think she said something about them going to visit Snow."
"Them?" Rumple gives the owner a questioning glance.
"Yeah, well didn't you know? Kayleigh has an eight year old kid. She's adorable; you're gonna love her. Hey, how do you know her anyway?" Granny answers.
Rumple had gone stiff as soon as he heard the word "kid". Belle, on the other hand, had brightened up considerately.
"Come on, Rumple! Let's go!"
She pulls him along roughly, out of the restaurant and back into the cold air. The fresh air must awaken Rumple a bit, because he shakes his head a bit, like a dog trying to get water out of his ears.
"Our daughter has a daughter of her own? We're grandparents? When the hell did that happen?"
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe when I was locked up in a mental asylum, not even knowing what my name was?"
"Right..."
They walked briskly along in silence, eventually arriving at Mary-Margaret Blanchard's apartment. Rumple bites his tongue, knowing that he says anything bad about the family in question (Ugh, the Charmings), he would bring Belle right back down from Cloud 9.
"We're about to meet our daughter! We're about to meet our granddaughter!" Belle is practically jumping for joy on the balls of her feet.
They don't waste time, and soon they're face to face with Emma Swan, one of the inhabitants of the apartment. Behind Emma, however, there is a dark haired woman with the same facial structure as Belle.
The parents just stare at Kayleigh, who's hugging a small blonde girl with a book in her hands. To them, the two girls are the most beautiful things in the world.
"Hello? Mr. Gold? What are you doing here? And who's this?" Emma waves a hand in front of Rumple's eyes.
"That's our daughter! That's our granddaughter! Emma, you have to let us talk to them!" Emma looks taken aback, but she allows them into the apartment without another word. She disappears upstairs, most likely knowing fully well that the family needs to be alone to reunite.
"Who are you?" Kayleigh asks, her voice as clear and beautiful as church bells.
"Kayleigh, we're your parents!" Belle goes automatically to hug her daughter, but Kayleigh draws away quickly, setting her daughter on the ground and standing up.
"I don't have parents. I never have. Even if you really are my parents, I don't want you to come back into my life now. You're too late. Maybe Emma could give her parents a second chance, but I'm not like that. I'll never forgive you for abandoning me."
"We didn't abandon you! I saved you. I had to make a huge deal to get my hand son an enchanted basket that brought you here, to the land of magic. If I hadn't done that, you would have been sucked up in this curse as well." Belle said quickly.
"At least if I had been cursed as well, I would have grown up with my parents! I wouldn't have made the terrible decisions that I did! I wouldn't have gotten pregnant at 20, and I wouldn't be a young mother! I didn't deserve any of that, and neither did Allie! I wasn't ready for a kid, but I kept with her because I didn't want to abandon her like you did to me."
"But if you had a child, that means you found someone who loved you then, right?" Rumple speaks suddenly."
"If you count a husband who abuses you and your child then yeah. Totally makes sense that I found someone who actually loved me, right?" Kayleigh gives out a sarcastic laugh, then turns to Allie, "Darling, maybe you should go join Auntie Emma upstairs, yeah?"
"No! We didn't just come here to meet with you Kayleigh, We want to know our granddaughter too!" Belle says, and looks to Rumple for support. Rumple, however, is chalk white and frozen in place.
"Your husband... abused... you? Both of you?" He's shocked at first, but then the anger settles, "No one will ever lay a hand on my family! Who is this man? I'm gonna find him and I'll kill him! Even if I don't get to use magic!"
"You don't have to worry about that. He was a fireman. Got killed in a forest fire a few years ago, just as I was about to file divorce papers." Kayleigh walks closer to her parents, and Allie follows along behind, having closed her Harry Potter book a few minutes before already.
"Please, Kayleigh, just give us a chance to get to know you. Consider us to be good friends if you don't want to consider us to be your parents quite yet. I can't bare but not know my own daughter. Please, Kayleigh, please!" Belle practically begs.
"If we couldn't take care of our own daughter as she grew, let us at least help with our granddaughter."
It was silent for a while, and then Allie spoke out, "I like them, Mom. Please give them a chance!" She rushes forward too quickly for Kayleigh to be able to grab her and pull her back. Allie rushes and propels herself into Belle's arms, who hugs her tightly as she plays with her brown hair.
"She's beautiful, Kayleigh."
"She's the only the one that's been able to keep me alive through my life. This optimistic little nerd is my own personal sunshine. And so... if she wants to give you a chance, then I suppose I have no choice but to agree."