Beautiful Lily

Going mobile

Belle woke the following morning to the sounds of whispers. She couldn't quite make out what Rumple was saying to her, but she knew he was intentionally making himself inaudible. Even with her eyes closed she could only make out a few words:

"...I love you and your mum... ...no idea what to do now... ...regret that Henry... ...all that magic... ...steep cost... ...the dagger..."

When she felt some pressure lift away from her belly she realized that his hand had been there the entire time. He wasn't whispering to her like she had originally thought, he was whispering to their child. Rumple saw Belle's eyes move beneath her closed lids and he knew as her eyebrows furrowed in concentration that she was listening. Belle was awake.

"Good morning, my beautiful wife," Rumple greeted.

Belle opened her eyes and saw that he was sitting at the edge of his bed facing away from her. He was already dressed for work. Belle noticed how bright the sun lit their room and she searched for the clock that was on his side table.

"What time is it?" she asked as she craned her neck to see.

"Eight-thirty."

"I take it that... you're... not going to go into the shop today?" assumed Belle questionably.

"I've had a lot on my mind. I do eventually intend on making it to my shop today though."

"Did you sleep at all?" she asked as she wiped the sleep out from the corner of her eyes.

"You know I'm a light sleeper. So naturally, I sleep very little."

Belle slowly placed her hands strategically behind her back as she pushed herself off from the mattress to sit up in bed. She wondered, "I couldn't make out what you were saying earlier..."

"That's because I wasn't talking to you," he said correcting a misunderstanding, "I was talking to our daughter."

"Yeah? About what?"

"About... things."

"Will I ever know what these 'things' are?"

"Nope. Father-daughter stuff."

"She's not even born yet and you both are already keeping secrets from me. This can't be good."

"Why do you assume that what we talk about isn't good?"

She countered, "because you always avoid giving me a straight answer whenever you think I won't favor it. What's really on your mind? Rumple..." She reached for his hand and he immediately averted his gaze from her. "...you know you can tell me anything."

"I was thinking...," he said hesitantly, thinking of a clever response, "that we should get you your own vehicle." He completely avoided the topic.

Misdirection and evasion... both are familiar tactics that only the monster would use. The man that was talking to their unborn daughter just moments before had runaway and she could tell with his new jovial disposition that he was hiding behind the monster's mask to protect himself. She was now facing the beast.

She rolled her eyes at him, disappointed that he diverted the conversation entirely. He wasn't going to talk to her today. Still, it was nice for a change that his mood at least appeared to be better than what it was yesterday. She sighed as she consented to let the conversation slide. It was a topic she and him would eventually have to talk about later.

"Well... I've actually been looking into getting my own car for some time now."

"You have?" he asked with a tone of surprise.