A/N: So, here it is... The last of my first multi-chapter red cricket fiction. I hope you all enjoyed it and will continue to enjoy my others that I have put out there. Please review and as always, happy reading.

Epilogue: Ever After

Ruby felt the heat of the sun fall over her face and she frowned before she turned away and into the warmth of another body. She hummed happily as the other body wrapped her closer to them and out of the way of the sun. Her left hand ran over a bare chest, the gold band gleaming just so and a pair of lips kissed the top of her head.

"Are you awake, or just repositioning?" Archie asked into Ruby's hair.

"I am not answering, I am still asleep," she mumbled into his shoulder.

He chuckled a little and ran a hand through her hair and then down her arm, "We have to get up soon. You have an appointment with Belle to keep and I said that I would help Granny with a few things around here."

"But it's so nice and comfortable in bed with you," she said with her eyes still tightly shut as if that would make everything else go away. Her arms tightened their hold on him as he began to move away from her, "Jiminy… please."

He sighed heavily, put on his glasses and looked at the large clock at the side of the room, "Ten more minutes and then I am shoving you into the shower, Red."

She paused and let a wicked smile cross her features before he turned her head to look up at him, "Are you coming in with me?"

"You are insatiable," he said with his own smile and kissed her.

The ten minutes passed too quickly to Ruby's liking. True to his word, Archie got out of bed and rounded it to help Ruby up. She rolled to her other side and scooted to the side of the bed. A very large, heavily pregnant stomach was the cause of such effort just to get out of bed. She grabbed his arms as he held them out for her and let him pull her up. She huffed and put her hands on the lump.

"I feel so fat," she pouted and rubbed at the stomach she had never had.

"I think you look more beautiful each day," Archie told her and kissed her nose and then her lips after she smiled up at him. He tilted his head to the side, "Did I say the right thing?"

"Did you mean it?" she asked with a rise of her brows.

"Do I ever lie?" he asked back with the same lift of the brows.

"Good answer," she nodded and he walked with her to the shower so they both could get ready for the day.

As she dried herself off right out of the shower and got dressed she began another topic while he put on one of his plain shirts and work slacks, "I wonder what it's going to be."

"You're the one who wanted to wait for so long," Archie smiled at her and then looked at the lump under her large maternity dress. She still maintained her small frame during her pregnancy and the stomach that she now supported looked a little misplaced on her. For the life of him, Archie couldn't see anything wrong with it. That was his child she was carrying. He was happy whatever it may be as long as it's healthy.

"I wasn't the only one," Ruby reminded him and poked at him with her toothbrush before she put the toothpaste on it, "Belle wants to know hers now too."

"Thus why you are going together," he rolled his eyes playfully and kissed her cheek, "I am going to go downstairs and see where Granny wants me. I will see you before you leave."

"Yes, you will," she nodded and he left her in the bathroom.

She carefully, as she termed it, 'waddled' out of the room and carefully made her way down the stairs. The pictures along the hallway showed their wedding day and the days that they celebrated different events. There was the day after Cora and Regina were defeated, the day that Mary Margaret and David found out that they were expecting another addition, the day that Emma finally let Hook court her officially (much to David's chagrin), and the day that they had found more fairy dust. They still had not found a way home, but it was close. She could feel it.

At the bottom of the stairs Pongo was jumping in excitement as he wound himself through her legs and was careful not to jump on her, "Hello, good boy! I am happy to see you too."

As she baby talked the Dalmatian, granny came around the corner with a hammer in her hand, "Morning, Ruby. How's my great grand baby doing today?"

"Just fine," she patted her stomach, "Heavy as ever."

"You're almost there," Granny reminded her and patted her stomach. As she did the baby kicked a few times and she smiled wide, "My goodness, that child has your strength, doesn't it?"

"You have no idea," she huffed and followed her Granny to the front of the Bed and Breakfast, "Jiminy said that you had some work for him today."

"Room 25 is having some plumbing and air problems," she said with a nod.

Both women turned the corner and saw Archie pushing his sleeves up as he talked with Belle at the door. He noticed the two women and then pointed to the visitor, "Look who just got here."

"Hi, Belle," Ruby smiled at her and kissed her cheek. Belle, though not as far along as Ruby, was also sporting a pregnant belly and rubbed it constantly.

"Are you ready to go?" Belle asked happily.

"Yeah, let's get out of here before my hubby gets covered in plumbing things," Ruby nodded and hugged her Granny and then kissed Archie goodbye, "It's a good thing you aren't seeing anyone at your office today."

"That's enough," he chuckled at her and pushed her toward the door, "I will see you later. Love you."

"Love you too," she called back and walked out the door. The two women walked down the street and Ruby smiled at her friend as they walked toward the hospital, "I was surprised not to see Gold at your side. He has been like glue since you two found out you were expecting."

"He's been a bit better," Belle nodded and shrugged, "Trying to baby proof the house now that it's settling in that the little one is coming. He doesn't care what sex the baby is and is happy with either or. I think that he secretly wants a girl to coddle. Since I am going to find out the baby's sex today, he has gone nearly mad with preparation. When I left he was going over several baby safety cabinets with his magic touch. I can only imagine what it would be like when we get back to the enchanted forest and to the castle."

"Glad I won't have to deal with that much space," Ruby smiled and looked up at the clear sky, "I don't think Archie and I will have anything more that what we have here. I don't want to have a big house. Just something close to the woods, so I can run."

They arrived at the hospital not too long after that and waited in a room for a few of the nurses to come in. Both women looked at one another as two separate nurses came in and put the gel on their tummies.

"Your curiosity get the best of you, Mrs. Hopper?" her nurse asked and put the sonogram to her stomach.

"More like someone didn't want to be alone," Ruby looked over at Belle who was too busy looking at her own screen.

"Well, Mrs. Gold, are you ready?" the other nurse asked. Belle nodded her head frantically and bit her lip. The nurse chuckled at her enthusiasm and tapped on the screen, "Congratulations, you are going to have a healthy baby girl."

"A girl!" Belle squealed and looked over at Ruby, "Rum is going to be so excited!"

"I bet," Ruby chuckled at her friend's excitement.

"Hold still for a moment," her nurse instructed her and moved the equipment over her, "Well, this is interesting."

"Good interesting, or bad interesting?" Ruby said in an unsure voice.

"It's all in how you look at it," the nurse said and took a snapshot of the picture on the screen so she could point out her findings. She smiled at Ruby and took a deep breath, "I hope you are ready, because you are not just expecting one baby… you're expecting triplets."

"What?" Ruby's eyes bulged and her mouth hung open.

"Ruby, that's great!" Belle smiled from her table and looked at her friend's screen, "No wonder you are so much bigger."

"Thanks, Belle," Ruby said dryly and looked at the screen again, "Are you sure?"

"Yup," the nurse drew an invisible circle around each head of the babies, "One, two and there is three."

The nurse saved the picture and then moved the sonogram to take another picture, "It looks like you will have a son and two daughters."

"Wow," Ruby smiled and couldn't help the tug on her mouth, "And here I thought it was only going to be one. I am going to have a whole litter."

"Well, you are a wolf," Belle mentioned from her bed and looked at the pictures that the nurse had printed out for her.

"Thanks again, Belle," Ruby rolled her eyes and held the pictures that were printed out.

The two ladies walked back to the Bed and Breakfast with huge smiles on their faces. Belle said farewell at the end of the block to head back home. Ruby watched her until she turned into the pawn shop where Gold would be now that it was later in the day.

Ruby walked with the pictures in her hands and into the Bed and Breakfast. She looked around and then listened for any noise. There was a large thunk and then some quiet cursing from above her. Definitely 25.

She smiled and then called out to the house, "I'm back!"

Granny was down the stairs in a flash, followed closely by Pongo and Archie. All three stood at the foot of the stairs while Ruby stood with a smile on her face.

"Well?" Granny asked and looked at her granddaughter.

"You might want to sit down," she said and motioned toward their private living room. Both Archie and Granny sat down as she opened the envelop with the pictures and she bit her lip in nervous excitement. She looked at them both and then broke into a huge grin, "They told me something that I was not expecting."

"Don't keep us in suspense. It has to be good if you are still sitting there with that grin on your face," Granny began to frown at her.

"We aren't expecting a baby," Ruby shook her head and her two audience members looked confused. Ruby chuckled and turned the picture over with the three heads circled, "We are expecting three."

"Three?!" Granny asked excited and whooped with Ruby's nod of the head. She immediately grabbed her phone and called Marco with the good news, "You better make sure you can handle the work load, because we are ordering two new cradles!"

Archie was silent and stood up. He walked directly to Ruby and looked her in the eyes, "Three?"

"That's what I said," she smiled up at him, "When you knock someone up, you do it well. We are going to have a whole litter."

He blushed at the bluntness of her statement and then put his hands on either side of her swollen belly. He chuckled happily and kissed it through her dress. He looked up at her with a brightest grin she's ever seen on him, "You've given me a family, Red."

She ran a hand through his hair, "No, Jiminy… we did that together. Just like everything else worthwhile."

He stood up and kissed her passionately. She had given him his world and finally something to live his own life for. In return, she felt the last missing piece of her life simply shift into place.

END