This time: a proposal, a confident Belle taking out the trash (plus an enamoured Gold), and one final surprise :)

Chapter Three

Belle smiled at the feeling of lips on her neck.

'Tristan,' she whispered, turning her head for a kiss. He obliged.

'Good morning. Happy Valentine's Day, my love.'

She smiled again. 'Happy Valentine's Day, darling.'

'So, last night,' he began.

She blushed a bit, amazed at her own daring. 'Yes?'

He didn't go on for a moment, and she grew nervous. 'Too much?' she asked.

'No!' he said at once. 'No, Belle, God, it was amazing. You were amazing. Any time you want to take control like that, please feel free. It was incredible: thank you.'

'You're welcome,' she murmured. 'I'm glad you enjoyed it. I just wanted to do something special for you. It was really good for you?'

'Couldn't you tell?' he asked cheekily.

She laughed a bit. Their lovemaking had been pretty intense after her little striptease and lap dance. He'd certainly shown his appreciation. They'd both enjoyed themselves very much.

She kissed him, which led to other things, so they had a very late breakfast that morning.

0

Gold had made plans for the evening, which he wouldn't tell Belle about, much to her chagrin, but when he suggested a trip to the Louvre for the afternoon, her attention was diverted.

Once again, she was enchanted. Seeing pictures of all these incredible works of art couldn't compare to the wonder of seeing them up close. The majesty and the artistry were humbling, and she loved the fact that, bleak as the world could be, people could create such beautiful things. It was heartening.

Of course, she had to see the famous Mona Lisa with her enigmatic smile. There was quite a crowd around the painting, though, and Gold resolved to see about a private tour, where Belle could see it properly.

Aside from Da Vinci's masterpiece, there were many, many artworks to see. Among the multitude they marvelled at were the Venus de Milo and the statue of Cupid and Psyche by Canova.

'It's erotic, isn't it?' Belle whispered, staring at the winged god leaning over Psyche and her reaching up into the kiss.

'It is,' Gold agreed, kissing her neck, smiling as she shivered in pleasure.

They saw so much, but Belle could have spent the whole day there, wandering around. She was happy enough, though, to head back to the hotel for whatever Tristan's surprise was.

No matter what she tried, she couldn't get the secret out of him, so she was very excited when they stepped into the elevator, dressed to go out.

Tristan had told her she wouldn't need her coat, so she was rather surprised when, instead of descending, the elevator ascended a few floors.

The doors opened and they exited, and then, rounding a corner, Belle gasped.

It was a heated rooftop terrace, hung with lights, a table set for two, and in her eyeline was the Eiffel Tower once again, the twinkling lights of Paris spread below.

'Tristan!' she cried, turning to him.

'Surprise,' he said simply, once again, a satisfied smile playing on his lips.

Her eyes welled up and she gasped in surprise at her emotional reaction. She'd just…never expected to be loved so much.

'Hey,' Gold murmured, taking her into his arms. 'What is it, sweetheart?'

She shook her head. 'It's so silly,' she said, laughing at herself. She looked up at him. 'Just…no one ever loved me like this.'

He smiled tenderly. 'I'll love you forever,' he murmured. He knew it wasn't exaggeration: there would be no one else for him.

'And I'll love you forever,' she said, voice wavering with emotion.

He kissed her. The little velvet box in his pocket was calling to him, but he decided to wait just a little bit longer.

'Are you hungry?' he asked. And, as he did so, a waiter appeared, ready to cater to their every cuisine-related want.

Belle smiled and allowed Tristan to pull out her chair for her. Then the two of them enjoyed a wonderfully romantic dinner.

0

'Oh, I'm so full,' Belle said, leaning back in her chair.

'Will there be anything more, Monsieur: Mademoiselle?' the waiter asked politely.

'Sweetheart?' Gold asked.

'Oh, I couldn't eat another bite,' Belle said. 'Merci beaucoup, monsieur: c'était délicieux.'

The waiter smiled and nodded.

Gold reached into his inside pocket and pulled out a bill. He handed it to the young man, who nodded again, smiled, and left. He would return when they were gone to clear away.

Gold stood up. Belle watched, wondering what he was at. He walked off to the side and then music began to play. He'd arranged for a record player to be brought up.

Her eyes widened, but she smiled at Gold's smile as he returned.

'Care to dance?' he asked.

'I would love to,' Belle murmured, and, stepping into his embrace, she slow danced with him for a long while.

Gold had been quiet for ages, but now he spoke.

'I've been doing a lot of thinking since we got together, Belle,' he said, looking at her as she looked up, giving him her full attention, 'and, for the first time in my life, I know what I truly want.'

'And what's that?' she asked wonderingly, eyes wide.

'You,' he said simply.

She smiled, blinking, her emotion getting the better of her again.

'I want to wake up beside you every morning, lie down beside you at night. I want to show you the world. I want a family with you.' He smiled at the joy on her face. It was as if she hadn't expected this. Well, Belle would never presume. It was a mark of her own lingering self doubt that she didn't assume she was what he wanted.

'So…'

She watched as he stepped away, his hand going into his pocket.

'What are you…?' She gasped as he knelt and took her hand.

He smiled. 'Belle, I must ask you… Will you marry me?'

'Yes!' she cried, pulling him up and flinging her arms around his neck. 'Yes, yes, yes!'

He laughed. 'So, that's a yes?'

Instead of answering, she kissed him fiercely.

He pulled away before it could go much further, though. 'Hold on, we need to make it official.'

And now Belle noticed the box in his hand. He opened it to reveal a diamond ring, the cluster of diamonds like a flower.

'Oh!' she cried, putting her hands to her mouth.

Gently, he pried her left hand away. She trembled in excitement as he slipped the ring onto her finger.

'It's so beautiful,' she sobbed.

'Only the most beautiful ring would be good enough for my Belle,' he said tenderly.

She kissed him for a long moment. Then, grabbing his hand, she pulled him towards the elevator. She planned to show him just how much she loved him and how happy she was. Gold was only too happy to follow his beautiful fiancée's lead.

He followed behind her with a goofy grin on his face. She'd said yes! Belle was going to be his wife. He'd never been so happy.

0

Belle returned from Paris buoyant and confident. It was amazing what the love of another person could do for your self esteem, and Belle felt brave and ready for anything, including facing her father one final time.

'Are you absolutely sure about this?' Gold asked worriedly, as they waited in his office for her father to show up. 'You know I'm happy to deal with him for you.'

She stroked her hand over his chest, admiring her beautiful ring again.

'I know,' she acknowledged, 'but I must do this by myself.'

'Alright,' he said, kissing her forehead, 'but if he upsets you, I'll kick his arse.'

She laughed at the image, though she didn't doubt that he could do it.

'Thank you,' she said, kissing him.

Her father was announced and Gold retreated to the couch, leaving Belle to take her seat behind his desk. They'd worked it all out: her father wouldn't expect to see her in control and would be wrong-footed. He would soon see that he would not be able to intimidate her any longer. Gold was there to provide moral support, but Belle would do all the talking.

Sure enough, her father was surprised to see her seated at Gold's desk like she owned the place.

'What is this?' he demanded.

Gold smirked. He could spot nervousness a mile off. French didn't stand a chance against Belle, who was glorious on her throne.

'I'm not going to beat about the bush,' Belle said, looking dispassionately at her father. How he'd made her feel was in the past. Tristan was her future. After today, she would never have to see her father again.

'What is this, Gold?' French demanded, turning to the other man in the room, investing him with authority, much to Gold's annoyance. Misogynistic prick, he thought.

He shook his head. 'You're not dealing with me today, French: you're dealing with her.' And he pointed to Belle.

'I'm not wasting my time—'

'You want to be able to do business, don't you?' Belle asked, talking over him. 'Ah, that got your attention.' Her father had turned to look at her.

'What do you want?' he demanded irritably.

'I'd be a little more polite if I were you,' Belle said, 'because I'm the one holding your future to ransom.

'Your boyfriend's the one with the power,' her father sneered.

'Fiancé,' Belle corrected, holding up her left hand. 'Soon-to-be husband. And Tristan only threatened you because he's in love with me. If you were anyone else, he'd do that deal with you and you could go on your merry way. I'm the lynchpin here, whether you like it or not. So, are you ready to hear my terms?'

She looked mildly at him as he looked like he wanted to argue. His face went various shades of red as he got angry and tried to think things through.

'What do you want?' he demanded uncharitably, hating that he was beaten.

'I want Mother's books,' Belle said immediately, 'and I want all the other things you kept out of spite, and you'd better still have them, because if you've gotten rid of even one thing, you're never making this or any other deal, and you can tell Greg that you're the one to blame for it.'

Her father looked at her, incredulous. 'All this drama over some sentimental crap?' he demanded, furious.

Gold thought Belle was going to break down. Her lips trembled, and she paled a little, but she pulled herself together, a flush coming into her cheeks and a fire igniting in her eyes.

That's my Belle, he thought admiringly.

'You know how much I miss her,' she said: 'you know how much she meant to me, and you kept her things from me to be cruel. None of it means anything to you.'

'This is bullcrap,' he growled. 'You've always been oversensitive. Let me tell you, my girl, I have better things to do than deal with your tantrums.'

'You never wanted to deal with me,' she said. 'You never cared what I thought or how I felt. You never comforted me when Mother died. You bullied me and belittled me every chance you could, and I, because I loved you, gave in, hoping that it would make you love me, make you respect me, but it never did. Well, now I'm done. I'm getting married to a wonderful man, who loves me, and I'm going to have a family of my own, and you won't be part of it. I'll be happy and you'll be alone with your anger and resentment, and, one day, you'll get tired of being alone, and you'll be sorry for how you treated me, and maybe, if you're really sorry, I'll forgive you, but, for right now, I want you out of my life.

'Send Mother's things here by the end of the week and then Tristan will do that deal for you. Those are my terms. Whether or not you accept them is up to you, but I think you will, because if there's anything you truly love, it's money. That's it. We're done here. You can go.' And Belle turned away, her heart pounding.

She didn't turn around. Gold watched French falter, unsure what to do.

Gold wanted to go to Belle, thinking she was upset, but he couldn't undermine her authority at the same time, so he stayed seated on the couch.

French stood for a long moment, seemingly wanting to retaliate. His face was going all shades of red again. Finally, though, the fight seemed to go out of him and he seemed to diminish in stature.

Belle could actually feel that happening, even though she wasn't looking at him. So familiar was she with his power over her and her fear of his resentment and displeasure, that she felt the moment that all that…went away. The atmosphere lightened and she was free. Oh, did that feel good!

Seeming to understand that there was nothing he could say to hurt her any more, French turned and left, head bowed.

'Belle?' Gold asked urgently, standing and going to her.

She turned the chair and looked at him. She didn't look upset. She looked a little drained, but tranquil. She even managed a smile.

'That felt amazing,' she said. 'Now I know how you felt with Milah last Christmas,' she said. 'God, I'm free of him.' She closed her eyes and smiled. 'I'm free.'

'Yes,' Gold murmured, crouching down in front of her. 'Belle, you were incredible,' he breathed. Seeing her in control like that…

She opened her eyes and saw him crouched at her feet, staring intently at her.

'Tristan…' He had that look in his eyes, like she was the best thing he'd ever seen.

'It suits you, you know,' he said, his voice low.

'What does?' she wondered.

'This chair, the role of dealmaker: you look like a queen on her throne.'

She laughed a bit.

'I'm serious,' he said, leaning in. 'You could teach me a thing or two.'

She laughed again, reaching out to cup his cheek. He turned his head and pressed his lips to her hand. Her heart sped up.

'Tristan,' she said again, voice quiet, 'whatever you're thinking of doing…' She trailed off as his hand caressed her thigh.

'You know, queens have subjects who would do anything to please them,' he said suggestively, a glint in his eye.

'Oh, yes?' she asked, her voice growing breathy, because his hand was on her inner thigh now.

'Shall I please you, my queen?' he asked.

'Oh, God,' she breathed. She squirmed a bit.

'Shall I?' he persisted.

'Kathryn's right outside,' she reminded him, though she did want to give in to him.

'Easily remedied. Kathryn?' he called, pressing the buzzer.

'Yes, Mr Gold?' came the prompt response.

'Take the rest of the afternoon off. There's nothing urgent that needs dealing with. I'll see you tomorrow.'

'Alright, Mr Gold. You have a good evening.'

'You too. There,' he said to Belle: 'problem solved. Now, are you going to let me worship you or not?'

'You'd better,' she growled, staring at him. He smirked and set to work.

It was lucky that Kathryn left early because there was no keeping Belle quiet.

0

The following Valentine's Day found them married. They'd had the wedding over the summer, in the forest near the cabin, by an old well that they'd found on a walk together. It had been a simple affair, with just them, Neal, Emma, Henry, Ariel, and Eric. Neal had been delighted, and played his role as best man with enthusiasm. He'd said he'd always known Belle would end up his stepmother, but, instead of it being awkward, it brought them all closer together. Emma was delighted too, and young Henry. He was glad his grandpa and Belle had gotten to know each other enough that they decided they wanted to be married to each other. Now they could be together forever, like Belle had said at Christmas.

Before the wedding, Gold had begun to wind down his business. Most of his clients would be working with Regina, who was paying him a kind of regular consultancy fee in exchange. It was a good bargain for both of them. Regina was grateful to her old mentor for helping establish her, and Gold was pleased that he would soon be able to walk away, while still having a very tidy sum coming in, as well as savings and investments to keep him and Belle comfortable for the rest of their lives. He'd promised Regina he'd be around should she need him, and she'd told him she would, because no one was better at those tricky contracts than him, and his name would always carry weight. It would be advantageous for her to keep connected with him. Kathryn, Gold's faithful assistant, would be splitting her time between him and Regina for a while yet, but, eventually, she would switch to working full time with Regina. Regina was pleased about that too. Kathryn had worked with Gold for ten years, and there wasn't much she didn't know about his clients. She would prove a valuable asset to Regina, and, of course, Kathryn was pleased to be so highly valued by Gold as to make her working with Regina a condition of their arrangement, with a sizeable salary increase too. All in all, everyone was happy.

Belle and Gold had taken a long honeymoon, travelling around Italy, and Gold would fall in love with his wife all over again every time she began a sentence with 'Did you know…'. She would often catch him looking fondly at her and say 'You know, you could just take a photograph', and he'd shake his head and say there was no need, because he'd remember how she looked in that moment forever. She'd smile at him and he'd look at her with so much desire in his eyes… It was a wonder they'd seen anything of Italy at all.

Gold had intended to take his wife away for Valentine's Day again, but Belle had surprised him by saying she'd rather stay home for this one.

'Let's go up to the cabin,' she'd suggested, 'just the two of us.'

'If that's what you really want,' he'd said, a little nonplussed. She'd loved their travels so far: he was surprised she wasn't jumping at the chance to go somewhere new. Still, Belle wanted to go to the cabin, so to the cabin they would go.

She was lying on the couch, reading, as he tended the fire. She hadn't been feeling well these past few days, and Gold thought it was perhaps for the best that they hadn't ventured far.

'How about some tea?' he suggested now, the fire taken care of.

Belle looked up. 'That would be lovely.'

Gold smiled and went to the kitchen. Belle watched him go, the excitement in her belly swooping again. She'd been trying to read her favourite book, the one her mother had first read to her, and one of the things she had been most eager to get back from her father, but she couldn't concentrate.

Last year, Tristan had surprised her with that magical trip and the proposal, but now…now it was her turn.

She called to her husband.

'What is it, sweetheart?' he asked, coming to her.

'Forget the tea for a bit and come here,' she requested, putting away her book and holding out her hand.

'Something wrong?' he asked, sitting on the edge of the couch beside her.

She sat up and took his hand. 'No,' she said, shaking her head, 'nothing's wrong, love. Do you know why I wanted to come here for Valentine's Day instead of going away?'

'No.'

'It was because I wanted to be here, where we shared our feelings for each other, where we became each other's.'

He smiled.

'And then we were married near here,' she went on, 'and now…'

'What?' he asked, wondering what she was getting at.

'You know, you're not the only one who's good at surprises,' she said, smiling.

He frowned. 'Belle, I'm sorry, but I can't figure out where you're going.'

'You really can't?' she asked.

'No,' he said, shaking his head, totally confused.

'I haven't been feeling great for a couple of days: have you wondered why?'

He shrugged. 'I figured you had a bug or something. You'd tell me if it was serious. You would, right?'

'Of course I would, but it's not a bug, or anything like that. I'm not sick at all, actually.'

'Then you're tired, run down,' he said. 'We should go to the sun somewhere. Maybe Spain—'

'Tristan,' she said, cutting him off. 'Can't you think of another reason that I might be a little under the weather?'

Gold thought about what she was trying to tell him. It surely wasn't that she was pregnant…

Belle smiled as she saw him dismiss the thought that came to him, but then he looked at her, hope growing in his eyes as he considered it again.

'Belle?' he breathed.

She nodded, smiling. 'I'm pregnant,' she confirmed. 'We're gonna have a baby!'

'Oh, Belle!' he cried, pulling her to him, tears springing to his eyes. 'A baby! How wonderful!'

They were both crying and laughing as they clung to each other.

Gold pulled back first. 'When?' he asked, his expression full of wonder.

'I don't have an exact date yet, but it'll be September. It probably happened some time around Christmas.' She smiled. 'Are you happy?'

He cupped her cheek. 'Oh, Belle… Sweetheart, I'm happier than I can say. I never dared hope, and then you came along, and I would daydream of you with our baby, our own little family. It's wonderful.'

'I'm so glad you're pleased,' she said, blinking away tears.

'I'm ecstatic!' he declared. 'But how are you feeling, my darling?' he asked tenderly.

'So happy,' she said, leaning into him as he wrapped an arm around her. 'I've always wanted a child, and now I get to have one with the most wonderful man in the world. You're a wonderful father to Neal, and you will be to our son too.'

'Our son?' he asked.

'I think it's a boy,' she said softly. 'It's just a feeling I have.' She looked up at him, shrugging. 'I know it's too soon to tell, and I'll be happy with a girl too: I just feel that this one's a boy.'

He nodded. 'Well, boy or girl, I'm happy.' He placed his hand gently against her stomach. She held his hand there. 'Hello, little one,' he crooned, 'we can't wait to meet you.'

Belle smiled at him. 'I love you.'

He kissed her. 'And I love you.'

She kissed him, wrapping her arms around him. She was glad they had the house to themselves so they could celebrate.

'Sure you're feeling up to it?' Gold asked.

'Stop asking silly questions and kiss me,' she commanded.

'As you wish, Mrs Gold,' he returned, kissing her as he pushed her down onto the couch.

The house would be very full next Christmas, with them, Neal, Emma, Henry, and the new baby. What more could they want?

The end - thank you for reading! :)