Rumplestiltskin felt relief as soon as he came in from the cold. The house was warm from the fire, but also from the overwhelming amount of love he found inside of it. Belle was stoking the fire and she leapt to her feet and came to greet him as soon as she noticed he'd come through the door. She was so soft in his arms and so visibly happy to see him that he could hardly breathe for joy.

"Rumple!" Belle said his name with a smile and kissed his lips softly. "I'm so glad you're home."

"I'm glad I'm home, too," he replied, glancing towards the bassinet where little Colette slept. "Did everything go well today?"

"We were fine," she replied sweetly, pulling him by the hand to sit by the fire. "You worry too much. How was market?"

"It was long," he replied. "But we did well."

"Yeah?" she asked. "How did Bae do?"

The question triggered something in his memory, but he couldn't quite decide what it was, and anyway she was still waiting for his answer.

"He was great," Rumplestiltskin said. "He's just seeing to the horse and he'll be right in."

Bae rushed in at that moment and Rumplestiltskin felt a sudden shock of pride at how grown his son was. He looked just like he had the day he fell through the portal. How had they gotten him back? It wasn't worth focusing on, because they were all together and happy, just like he had always wished. Baelfire was so big, and he was so glad that he'd married Belle.

"Tell me all about it?" Belle asked sweetly, but all he really wanted to do was listen to her and hold their baby. As if on cue, the baby began to fuss and he was out of his seat and at her side so soon he couldn't believe it.

His little girl was so perfect. It was hard to believe she'd come from even some part of him, but so had Bae and he was just as perfect as she was. Rumplestiltskin brought the baby back to his seat by the fire and the rest of his family. Sometimes, it was impossible to believe that this was really his life.

Rumplestiltskin's eyes opened into the dark room, and it took him a moment to remember where he was: in Mr. Gold's house, in the Land Without Magic. He shot bolt upright in bed and he could feel Belle moving next to him. She groaned and sat up next to him, rubbing sleep from her eyes.

"What's wrong?" she asked. "Did you have a bad dream?"

All he could do was shake his head, because how could he tell her that he'd had such a good dream that waking up had been the nightmarish part? He jumped at the feel of her hand on his shoulder, then forced himself to relax. It was still dark outside, but he didn't think he'd be able to get back to sleep.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Belle asked again. "You can tell me."

"It's fine," he replied. "I just – it was a dream. Don't worry about it."

Even in the low light he could see her narrowing her eyes at him, and he was about to apologize for lying to her when she laid back down fast, crossed her arms over her chest, and rolled over. How could a woman lie down angrily? He laid down next to her and rubbed her back softly with his hand. She tensed at first, but he slid his hand down to rub her lower back and after a few minutes she relaxed and rolled back over to face him.

"You're lucky my back always hurts," she said with a sigh "but I'm still annoyed."

"I'm not hiding anything," he replied. "There's just nothing to tell. It wasn't a bad dream, I was just startled when I woke up."

"Okay fine," she said pointedly. "Then tell me what happened at the well today."

He should have known that the books wouldn't distract her forever; he just hadn't been prepared to have this conversation so soon. Still, he'd rather talk about a lot of things before admitting to his dream.

"It went as well as I could have expected," he replied. "Emma Swan and Snow White are safe and the portal was closed in time to keep Cora out."

"So we're safe?"

"You're safe," he replied. "She's not going to be able to get to you – either of you."

Belle smiled and he felt her hand moving under the covers and then she touched his hand gently.

"I know we are," she said softly. "I'm sorry I doubted you."

He didn't know what to say to that, so he just rolled onto his back and pulled her closer and hoped that was enough for now. It was a big thing to have her trust, and he didn't know what to do with it now that he had it.

"Did you know the baby has fingerprints by three months?" Belle asked. They were in his shop so he could work, so she'd brought one of her pregnancy books and they'd moved a chair next to the front window so she could read and watch the town. It was nice. She was getting to know Rumplestiltskin the man, not the Dark One. He was a different person here – or maybe she was different? She felt so much older than she had been when she'd first gone away with him.

"I didn't know that," he replied. "It could come in handy if the baby commits any felonies, I suppose."

She smiled at that. He had a surprising sense of humor, and she'd always liked it in a strange way. It always startled her to learn new things about the baby – it was strange to think about how much of a person it was now. There was a whole person inside of her, and she had fingerprints! Little tiny fingerprints. It was amazing how real this all was now, and more importantly how excited she was by it. Lacey may have been the one to conceive the baby, but she would be Belle's daughter with Belle's mother as her namesake.

She was still trying to wrap her head around all the ways her life was going to change when she heard the sound of the bell above the door ring and Emma Swan entered followed by her parents. They didn't seem to notice her right away as they charged forward to where Rumple was at the counter. There was a mask that seemed to fall across his face at the sight of the intruders, and she felt her heart skip a beat at the site of Mr. Gold reborn.

"Ah. Nothing warms the heart more than a family reunited," Rumplestiltskin said, stepping around the counter to face them. "You have your mother's chin, Ms. Swan."

"We know that you killed him," Emma Swan said, staring at Rumple as though she wasn't sure if she should pull her gun on him.
"And your father's tact," Rumple replied evenly, eyeing the interlopers with a cool detachment.

"Someone's dead?" Belle asked, struggling to get out of her chair before everyone turned to look at her. She was only partially successful, and Prince David quickly moved forward to offer her a hand which she begrudgingly accepted. Pregnancy was hard.
"Dr. Hopper," Emma said. "Dr. Hopper is dead."
"Why on earth would you think I had anything to do with that?" Rumple asked them slightly incredulously.

"Because all the evidence points to Regina," Emma said quickly, which was more than Belle wanted to listen to.

"And she's not possibly capable of doing something so vile?"

"It's a frame job," Emma replied, turning to face Belle again.
"It wouldn't be the first time you used someone to try to hurt her," Princess Snow said to Rumple.
"Nice to see your memory's still intact, dearie," he said with an enigmatic smile. "But this time, I'm afraid I'm gonna have to disappoint you. It wasn't me."
"Why should we believe you?" Prince David asked, and Rumple got a smug look on his face that sent a little thrill through Belle's body.
"Because I can prove it," Rumple replied. "Ask the witness."
"No one was there," Emma said as though it was painfully obvious, and perhaps it was but Belle knew Rumplestiltskin and she wouldn't dare discount him at this juncture even if she hadn't known where he'd been every single day this week.
"Well, that's not strictly true, now is it?" Rumple asked them like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Where is his dog?"

"His...dog?" Snow White asked, looking between her husband and daughter as though she hoped one of them might know what was going on. Belle was confused herself, but she was curious to see where this was going, and more than that Emma Swan had rubbed her the wrong way by barging in full of accusations.

So, Belle stood by Rumple as Prince David went off to collect the dog while the two women waited in the pawn shop. Snow White seemed at least a little interested in the pregnancy, asking if Belle was having a boy or a girl and making small talk about names and swollen ankles, but Emma Swan just looked uncomfortable until her father returned with the dalmatian on his leash. To Belle's surprise, Rumple lit up when he saw the dog, crouching down to pet Pongo in greeting.

"Hey, boy," he said affectionately, scratching the dog behind his ear. "Good boy. Good boy. Good boy."
"I didn't know you were such a dog person," Belle said, trying to keep down a smile at the sight of him. She'd never owned a dog – at least not as a pet – and she hadn't really wanted to before. Something about a dog and a baby felt right, though. Like being a real family and they were so close to that.

"Well," he replied. "A long time ago, in another life, I got to know a sheepdog or two."

It was probably her hormones, but Belle was suddenly envisioning life in the pink house with Rumplestiltskin, Baelfire, baby Colette, and a dog. Since it was Belle's fantasy, her father was there as well and he'd accepted that this was her life now. It was a lovely little fantasy - and maybe someday she'd see it realized.

"That's fascinating," Emma said. "But unless you speak dog, how is Pongo gonna tell us anything?"
"Through magic, of course." Rumple had that smugness back in his voice, and Belle felt that familiar little flutter again at the sound of it. "It won't allow us to communicate, but it will allow us to extract his memories."
"Extract?" Prince David asked warily.
"You don't have to worry," Rumple replied. "He won't feel a thing."
"Why should we trust you?" Emma said. "Couldn't you just as easily use magic to fool us?"
"Because I'm not going to be the one using magic – you are."

"Me? How?"

Emma seemed somewhere between suspicious and confused as Rumple walked towards a cabinet and opened one of the doors.

"You have it within you. Told me so yourself," he said to Emma before turning to her mother. "You witnessed it, didn't you?"
Princess Snow didn't respond, instead she looked to her daughter.

"Emma," she said. "You don't have to do this."
"If it tells us something about Archie's death, so be it," Emma replied. Rumple took this as implicit permission to continue, and Belle watched as he pulled something out of the cabinet and showed it to Emma.

"Now," he said in a business-like manner. "Do you know what this is?"
"A dreamcatcher."
"Well, it's capable of catching so much more."

He showed Emma how to hold it above the dog's head, and suddenly a rippling gold that Belle recognized as magic spread out from the blonde's finger tips and began shining brightly.

"What is that?" Belle asked,
"Memories," Rumple said. "Now Ms. Swan, you show us how."
"How?" Emma Swan asked. "It's just a jumble."
"Will it," he said. "Will it, and we shall all see."

"I can't," Emma protested.
"Yes, you can."

Belle watched quietly as Emma seemed to focus harder and slowly the golden glow began to take shape and form an image of Archie Hopper.

"Emma," Prince David said softly. "You're doing it."

The images continued to move and Archie looked up just in time to see Regina appear and then Belle couldn't bear to look anymore, burying her face in Rumple's shoulder and waiting.
"Regina." Emma said the name grimly, and her mother exclaimed no! just in time to let Belle know she'd missed the worst of it, and she turned her face back to see the other three looking stone faced.
"You were right all along," Emma said to her father, who didn't seem particularly happy at being proven right.
"I'm sorry, Emma," he said at last.

They didn't stay after that, and she was so thankful to have them gone. The entire encounter left her shaken and unnerved, and she just wanted to be out of this town as soon as possible.

Rumple took her home not long after they left, but Belle couldn't quite overcome the feeling that something was wrong, and by the time they were in the driveway she couldn't contain her suspicions anymore.

"Rumple?" she said his name as soon as the keys were out of the ignition, he hadn't even taken off his seatbelt yet but he looked at her as soon as se spoke. "You're sure it was Regina?"

He blinked at her in a painfully familiar manner – his eyes were no longer the too-large lizard eyes that she'd fallen in love with but his mannerisms remained the same nonetheless.

"Of course I am," he said finally. "Who else could it be?"

She didn't have an answer for that, just a hint of a fear that she was probably imagining, so she didn't respond, she just shrugged and let herself out of the car. It had been Regina, she'd seen the dreamcatcher with her own two eyes.