Author's Note: This is written with great respect, love and gratitude for the talents of Robert Carlyle, Emilie de Ravin. I do not own the OUAT characters.

Thank you very much to Snapegirlkmf for helping to proof this chapter.

Chapter 3 "Being Real"

After feeding Bae pureed carrots and cleaning the remnants from the baby's face, Reimund placed his son in the makeshift play area. Bae's play area consisted of several infant play mats lined up on the floor, running the length of the parlor to the kitchen, with plastic fencing to keep him from crawling or bottom scooting into unsafe areas. Reimund had spent several minutes sitting on a mat playing with his son, when he heard the sound of a car pulling into his driveway.

Mumbling nervously, he said, "This is it.", as his baby was blissfully unaware of his father's anxiety.

When he caught sight of Belle exiting the vehicle, it felt like his heart leaped into his throat. He had spent much of the morning attempting to convince himself that she was not nearly as beautiful as he recalled from the night before, that it was merely the heat of the moment that made her seem so. However, one look at the sun dancing through her hair, her radiant blue eyes and her soft smile, made him realize that she was even lovelier than he recalled. Now, standing in front of the window watching her climb the porch steps, he has to coax himself to walk to the front door as his legs feel unattached from his body.

Arriving at the door, gazing upon the colors of stained glass sidelight, Belle takes a deep breath as adrenaline seems to be coursing through her veins. She wonders, "What's the protocol for greeting a man, who almost proposed in a bar and who I'm thinking of marrying?...handshake?...hug?...what?!" She swallows her questions, as the door opens before she can knock, and she breathes out, "Hey."

Nervously, Reimund says, "Hey Belle...you look lovely."

Blushing, wondering why she blushes so much around him, she replies, "Thank you...you look great as always.", and he is struck by the fact that the sentiment appears to be a sincere compliment. He's never thought himself particularly attractive.

Looking down at the floor awkwardly, then back up to her gaze, he says haltingly, "Uh thanks. Please come in."

As she steps forward, her shoe catches on the raise of the threshold, causing her to stumble forward, and he catches her in his arms. With her in his arms, and her clinging with her hands grasping his deep purple and royal blue striped shirt, she thinks, "It's sort of a hug..." as she inwardly cringes, "...God, I'm must look like an idiot!"

"I...uh...thank you.", she curses the fact that her swollen feet have made her especially clumsy today.

His heartbeat quickens with her in his arms, uneasily he says, "No matter. It isn't every day a beautiful woman falls for me.", trying to cover his uncertainty with humor.

Straightening herself, she replies trying to match is wit, "I may have to ask around about that.", smiling with a hint of mischief in her eyes. The glint in her iolite eyes makes his heart pound harder, and he licks his lips as he feels suddenly parched.

The sound of Bae's jabbering at a stuffed giraffe catches Belle's attention. Reimund gauges her reaction to his son. Her face becomes a fount of emotion, starting with pleasant surprise, to beaming delight, transitioning to confusion, then what appears to be a mixture of anger and disdain. Her mouth hanging open and her brow furrowed she looks, repeatedly between Bae and Reimund, saying with derision, "That's a baby...an infant...he...he's a little one..."

Reimund goes rigid attempting to sort out this change in her demeanor, "She doesn't like babies?! Well HELL, it didn't take her long to show her true colors!"

Belle's noses crinkles as if smelling something foul and her lips curl into a sneer, "She...she...is leaving a baby with whatever friend is around?!"

"Pardon me, what?"

Absentmindedly, speaking partly to him and partly to herself, her agitation obvious, "Last night, you said sometimes his mother leaves him...a helpless baby at some 'random friend's house'. What's wrong with her?!"

He stands silent, assuming that was a rhetorical question, yet it is a question, he has pondered on many occasions. He stares at Belle as a result of the mental whiplash of what he had started to assume about her reaction to his son versus what he now knows is her reaction to Milah's despicable behavior towards their son.

Noticing his body language and expression, Belle is pulled from her thoughts of disdain for neglectful parents, embarrassed that her personal experiences are coloring her attitude. Worrying that she appears to be a judgmental shrew, her voice softens, "I'm sorry. I must sound terrible.", and then extending her hand, she asks, "Can we start over?"

Taking her hand, then placing his other hand over her delicate digits, "There's no need to be sorry...now, Belle, please remove your shoes."

"Huh?"

"House rules with a mobile infant traversing the floor."

Belle looks down, seeing Reimond's shoes next to the door, and his feet clad in blue and black socks. Somehow, seeing the always dapper Mr. Gold, in his stocking feet, endears him to her, and also reminds her of something that he might not remember. She'll have to bring it up sometime and see if she and jog his memory. Belle reaches down untying her laces and slips off her flats, which still gave her a little more height with their thick soles. Placing them next to his shoes, she is thankful that her own socks don't have holes in them and says with a hint of self-deprecation, "I suppose as long as I'm in this house, I'm destine to be short."

He smirks, "You're not short. You're delightfully petite."

Smiling warmly at him, she says, "It sounds so much nicer the way you say it. Does this mean you volunteer to be my go-to person to get things from high cabinets and shelves?", aware that he is a bit under average height for a man, but he's definitely a good bit taller than her.

"As you wish, dearest.", then with a quirk of his brow, he adds, "I'm glad to see you're not wearing those stilts today."

"Circumstances required I be more practical."

He walks ahead of her, and Belle's eyes shift down. The lack of a suit jacket gives her an unobstructed view of his bottom, and she smiles and thinks with a hint of envy, "Some drunk girls have all the fun."

In a tone full of fatherly pride and adoration, he says, "Miss Belle French, I would like to introduce you to my son, Bae Gold."

Bae, who had traveled half the length of the parlor, turns around to look at his father, his large eyes beaming in excitement. Belle pulls her hand to the side, miming as though she has a skirt to hold, and curtseys, "A pleasure to make your acquaintance, sir.", and then kneels down on the closest play mat. Reimund stares for a moment, looking upon her with a mixture of amusement and awe, then seats himself next to Belle on the mat and pats to encourage Bae to crawl towards them.

"Come here, Bae."

As Bae crawls his way back to them, babbling and squealing all the way, Belle looks upon his wide excited eyes and observes, "Someone has his daddy's eyes. I hope you have good security here."

Reimund looks at her in confusion, and she goes on, "In about fifteen years, you'll have love struck girls lining up around the block...maybe sooner. I had my first crush when I was five years old."

"Five?!"

"Girls start early."

"Apparently. Who was this dashing tot?"

"Michael Presley...He had dark wavy hair, and I was sure he was Elvis' son."

"Elvis? Really?"

"My mom used to watch Elvis movies when I was little.", she refrains from saying the movies were her mom's only form of escape from the lout she married.

He notices the bittersweet tone of reminiscence in her voice, as a veil of melancholy momentarily passes across her face, but then is quickly transformed into sparkling jubilation as she looks upon the infant, who is already wooing her with the direct gaze of his deep brown eyes meeting hers and with his newly acquired skill of clicking his tongue. Instinctively, she clicks her tongue in response.

Though Bae is a fairly happy baby, despite his visits with his mother and Killian Jones and whichever degenerate who's hanging about, getting more attention than the child, Reimund has never seen Bae take to someone as quickly as he has taken to Belle. Watching their expressions, it is as though kindred spirits have just met. Bae eventually crawls into his father's lap, and yet his chubby little hands reach for Belle's hair and pulls her towards him, but not with a great force. Reimund, having hair longer than the average man, started teaching his son early not to yank harshly at people's hair.

"Careful son, be gentle.", he croons a tender fatherly reminder.

"He's fine.", she reassures Reimund, as she leans in towards Bae as he directs her with the soft tugging of her mane.

Once she's close enough, his hands explore her face. Belle feels a strange stirring inside her. She flashes on memories of Grace at this age. It is familiar, yet different. She adores her God-daughter and always has, but there wasn't this sense of yearning all those years ago, when Belle was in her twenties and focused on education, work, and just being a helpful friend to Jefferson and Alice. Now, she feels drawn to Bae on a primal level. How had she gone all this time without realizing how much she wants this life experience with a child? She never felt like she was missing out, until now. His little fingers attempt to probe her mouth, and she cups her lips inward to cover her teeth as she gently nibbles his invading fingers.

The sight of Belle and Bae's connection makes it difficult for Reimund to remember to breath as her head hovers just below his chin, staying within Bae's grasp. The sincere affection that Belle displays for his son, combined with the scent of this beautiful woman lingering so close is dizzying. His mind his screaming for him to be cautious and keep his wits about him, as he's been burned before, and now the stakes are much higher. However, on a spirit level, he can't deny something quite extraordinary is happening.

Lost in his thoughts, he doesn't notice that Bae is now holding Belle by her cheeks, a maneuver he has witnessed once before, and a moment later, the infant sticks his tongue out and raspberries in Belle face, sending bits of baby spittle flying.

"Bae!", Reimund groans a low, gentle fatherly reprimand.

Belle jerks back, eyes closed tight and laughing, as she shakes her head, eliciting a triumphant squeal of delight from Bae. The only other time Reimund had witnessed this particular maneuver of Bae's was two weeks previous with Milah as she was returning Bae. As he watches Belle seated further back making smaller, less explosive raspberries back at Bae, producing raucous giggles from Bae and Belle alike, he contrasts this moment with Milah's experience that she handled with all the good humor of a wet cat, even carrying on about sending Reimund the cleaning bill for her new designer suede jacket. To which, he promptly pointed out that he paid for that jacket and all her clothes for that matter, including any "hooker thong" she might be wearing.

Later, he made a mental note to start choosing his words more carefully, particularly since Bae was starting to mimic speech, and the last thing Reimund needed was to have his child, within the coming year, repeatedly saying "hooker thong, hooker thong, hooker thong..." while they shopped at the grocery store. One thing he learned from his friends back in Scotland who were parents, what ever word or words you don't want a child to repeat, those are certainly the ones that will be a favorite in the child's repertoire. Sure, it wouldn't sound the same as an adult saying it, but it would certainly raise some questions about Bae's upbringing.

Reimund remembers the current situation and reaches for the box of baby wipes that is sitting on the end table. He removes one and offers it to her, "If you would like to clean up from being in the splash zone."

She chuckles and wipes her face. "Maybe it will keep me youthful."

"As though you need that."

She raises an eyebrow and smirks at him. Gazing upon him, her eyes drift downward, "Bae was fed recently, right?"

"Yes, right before you arrived. I fed him a bowl of..."

"carrots", she interjects.

"Yes, how did you know?", baffled by her insight.

"It appears that before I got here, you were in the splash zone."

Indeed, there are semi-dried carrots blotching his tie. He isn't sure why he wore a tie...well, yes, he is, he wanted to make a good impression. "Guess that's shot to Hell!"

Before he can even think, she is using the clean side of the baby wipe to remove the splatter of carrots from his tie, and then she looks up to see him staring down at her hands on his tie. His hair hangs down obscuring his features. Watching him for a moment she feels a thirst for something, something no beverage can quench. She smooths down the tie over his chest, feeling Reimund's heart beat against her finger tips, and then makes an adjustment to the knot and his collar, centering the tie. He wears it a bit loose, and her hands are temptingly close to his neck. She recalls television shows and movies in which a woman straightens a man's tie. She never saw the allure of it...until now.

He has never felt so affected by a woman, and he thinks, "If this is what I get for a messy tie, I'll let Bae finger paint my ties from now on."

Belle has never felt this level of intimacy with a man. Though she found Robin extremely attractive, before she found out the truth what kind of person he really was, she never experienced an attraction so palpable. Her hand travels from his tie up upward, her fingers combing Reimund's silken hair away from his face. He looks up at her with a look that she recognizes as desire, and her fingers graze the back edge of his ear. Her hand hovers there, as her mind goes back to their possible deal for marriage. If it were to be a marriage in every way, which she finds herself wanting, as this would not be a temporary arrangement with Bae's well-being at risk, she must tell him today...she must have the conversation that she dreads...the conversation that has never gone well, hence why she has rarely mentioned the subject to other men. However, despite her apprehension, she must tell him the truth about her status today. They will have a life time to get to know each other in theory, if they move forward with this plan, but some details are more time sensitive than others. she needs to know how he will react, because that will tell her a lot about what kind of person he is.

Reimund has never desired a woman in this way, and the truth of the matter is that it scares him. The last time he felt true desire for a woman was before the tragedy...before the horrific moment that is seared into his brain. Ever since, he has been sexually ambivalent...sure sex could be a great stress reliever, but the affect was short lived euphoria, hardly worth the anxiety it created within him. He'd rather take himself in hand on the rare occasion that he felt the need. That said, it was a night of less than stellar, completely emotionally unfulfilling sex, that had produced his greatest gift in life, his son. He momentarily thinks about the day, years from now, when he will have to have 'the talk' with Bae. Beyond the one thing he is sure to tell his son, "Never, ever hurt a woman and don't push her to do something she doesn't want to do", he doesn't know what the Hell he could offer on the subject, that isn't tainted by his own feelings about sexuality. It isn't as though he can even tell Bae that he had been conceived out of a great love, because he wasn't. The only thing that kept Reimund from filing for divorce before the night of Bae's conception was his Catholic upbringing. In hindsight, his marriage was over long before that night. It was Milah's lies, following their son's conception, that had triggered his flashbacks of the tragedy...the tragedy that he failed to prevent, coming roaring back with a crippling vengeance. If he could rewrite the book of his life, he would have skipped that damn final exam at university and been with Fi when she needed him. His failure has colored his view of sexuality and every relationship that he has had with a woman. Hence, he is astounded to find that he is even capable of having real desire for a woman, not just a façade he puts on like a mask to please her.

Her hands drift down into her lap, as she tries to clear her thoughts from her mind, noticing he has the most confounded expression on his face. There's so much there that she sees churning beneath the suffice of this man. The desire is still there, but she also sees confusion and pain. Feeling the need to bring them both out of their thoughts, she decides to lighten the mood.

"We'll have to wait for your tie to dry to be certain whether I was able to get all the carrot staining out. If it doesn't come out, maybe we can throw a bunch of different baby foods on it, and you can claim it's one of those artsy designer ties."

His dimples appear and the gleam in his eyes returns with a bark of laughter. "I was thinking something similar a while ago."

"Great minds think alike."

"Perhaps we could make a family project to redesign all my ties.", the words "we" and "family" seem to hang in the air as he questions whether he spoke too rashly.

Belle's eyes sparkle with unspoken emotions as she replies, "I think we'd have a lot of fun with that.", as she reaches down and caresses Bae's unruly, feather soft, dark brown hair, and again, Reimund thinks how much he wants this life.

He is brought brought back to the present by his son vocalizing, "ti..ti..tink..tink..tink..tink..le", while looking directly at Belle.

Her mouth gapes open, and she says in a bewildered tone, "He's already telling people he needs to go 'tinkle'? Wow!"

Chuckling, Reimund explains, "He's trying to say 'twinkle'. We go to the Christmas store regularly, because he loves the twinkle lights. Lately, if he has great affection for something, he says 'twinkle'."

She nods, mulling over this information, and he says with a twinkle in his own eyes, "So the lad has clearly fallen for the beautiful brunette that came to play today...is she equally as smitten?", knowing the answer already, seeing that she is very enamored with his son...something that makes her seem even more luminous to Reimund.

"Are you kidding?! He's so precious; he makes my ovaries ache!", and suddenly feeling self conscious she thinks, "Why do I keep saying whatever pops in my head?"

"A high compliment indeed.", as he tries not to read too much into her quip, beyond a sudden outburst of enthusiasm for his son. Assuming that she means she wants to bear his children would be an astronomical leap of logic.

Reining in her exuberance, she says quietly and sincerely, "He's very handsome and sweet...like his father."

"You know, you had me going there, until you added 'like his father'...ask around, I doubt you'll find anyone in this town uses the word handsome in the same sentence as my name, unless they are saying they want me mowed down by a Hansom cab, and you'll have even less of a chance of someone calling me 'sweet'".

"First things first, that was quite the stretch on the 'handsome' versus 'Hansom' remark, I hope you didn't pull a muscle. Secondly, I'm pretty sure the bride-to-be might call you handsome"...

"Alcohol will do that."

Looking at him with mild annoyance mixed with amusement, she continues, "...and thirdly, you're an acquired taste, like dark chocolate.", neither can contain their grins recalling the night before.

As Bae crawls away on a mission to reclaim his stuffed giraffe, they sit quietly watching him joyously frolic, and a thought occurs to Belle.

"You didn't tell me yours...your first crush I mean."

There's a pause, and Belle is too engrossed in Bae to notice Reimund swallowing hard.

"I was 8 years old. Her name was Fi...well, Fiona, in actual fact." He has never talked about Fi with anyone outside of Scotland. Any information Milah thinks she knows, was gleaned from her snooping and was sickly twisted by her wretched mind. There's a rush of childhood memories flooding his thoughts. "She was my best friend. One day in school, this lass, Laura, had made a point of inviting everybody in our class to her birthday party, except me. Fi was a school year behind me, but she heard about it. When school let out that day, Fi stuck a lizard in Laura's hair."

Belle bursting out in laughter, "Oh wow, that's awesome! A woman after my own heart!"

Quietly, he sighs, as both are still watching Bae, "Aye, Fi was always there for me. I tried to be there for her too...but you get older...there's things you think you're supposed to do, but it's not what you really should be doing."

"Yeah, sometimes life gets in the way...", and as she begins to turn her head, she continues, "...but you can always reconnect with someone and set things right." Her last word falls flat, seeing him staring intently at his son, as though he might disappear. Reimund's face is full of fresh sorrow, highlighted by glassy eyes. Realizing something terribly wrong must have happened, she stammers, "I...I..I'm sorry. I shouldn't make assumptions about things I know nothing about.", and she reaches out and grips his hand, firmly, but tenderly, continuing, "Sometimes I talk without thinking. It's a bad trait of mine. I apologize."

He nods, and again swallows hard, "You needn't fret about such things. I'm fine. Sometimes, there are things in life that can't be changed."

She knows he's not 'fine'...she can feel it, but she accepts his answer, and continues to hold his hand, as Bae giggles a few feet away.

After minutes tick by, he looks at their joined hands resting in his lap and asks hesitantly, "Are you actually considering what we talked about last night?"

"Of course I am."

"You say that, as though it's obvious, but it's not. Why would you consider such a thing?"

"You first.", she declares, feeling that after the cloud that has loomed over him for the last several minutes, he needs to be challenged to think of something else.

"What?"

"Why are you considering such a thing, with me?"

"Uh, well, um, you're fantastic with my son."

"Thank you, but you didn't know that when you almost proposed last night."

"True. I suppose that I like that you keep me on my toes. I liked to watch you eat dark chocolate and strawberries...you're both playful and serious when you do. That you're tenacious and fun. I never thought fun would even enter into the equation, when I first started concocting this half baked plan to marry someone to secure my son's custody. And your the only person I know that doesn't make me want to stuff cotton in my ears to get away from your voice."

She smirks at the last remark, and then ponders, as her front teeth press pensively into her bottom lip. "What if it doesn't work? I mean, God, I want it to. But what if being married to me doesn't stop her from getting full custody? I know I shouldn't ask. It's selfish of me to ask, but it's ringing in my head asking over and over."

"It's fair question. But I don't have an answer. I just can't. I can't think about the possibility of my life without my boy and him being at risk of God knows what with that irresponsible bitch. I'm sorry...I know it's not what you want to hear."

"What I wanted to hear was the truth...and you gave me that, to the best of your ability, considering the unthinkable premise the question was base on."

"What about you? Why is a beautiful, intelligent woman at her peak..."

"I've peaked?"

"Would you be quiet and let me ask the question?", he jokingly chastises, and she snickers and waves her free hand for him to continue, and he asks, "Why would a beautiful, annoying woman, who will likely spend decades at her peak want to tie her self to a marriage of convenience, when she could have most men falling at her feet vying for her heart?"

"Firstly, you over estimate my prospects greatly. I haven't dated in ages. I haven't wanted to. The effort that I put into dating wasn't fruitful. A risk versus benefit analysis, made it clear." He raises his eyebrows, intrigued by her analytical mind, as she goes on, "So, I went on a dating moratorium. I didn't miss it. Secondly, you mentioned a marriage of convenience...and I don't know if that's what you want...or if that's what I want, but I certainly don't want a marriage of inconvenience. I wasn't looking to get married. I was content with the thought of not getting married. I've seen plenty of Ashley's, our drunken bride-to-be, who fall for the football player, then end up wondering, 'Is that all there is?'. I never wanted to be that woman. I've had a front row seat to that woman...it's not pretty. But the more I was around you last night, it was nice to have someone to lean on, someone to play with, someone who seemed to get me. That last one is rare. I just heard something..."

"Voices in your head?"

She shoves him gently with her shoulder pushing his, "I won't introduce them to you, if you keep being a cheeky ass."

Giving her a pretend pout, he says, "Sorry, Miss, please go on."

"You know, it's this...", her free hand motions between them. ..."This kind of moment where I sort of want to smack you and hug you, but really, I want to hug you. You're infuriating and fun. You make me want more. I feel alive when I'm around you. I never felt that I was missing out on anything, but now there's you, and there's Bae...and I know it's illogical, but I think we could have something here. Dating is pointless and tedious. I know now, that I want something real."

"And a fake marriage is your solution?"

"Fake? Is that what you really want?", she looks at him and can see that he's trying to search his mind for exactly what he wants, versus what he thinks is possible, thus without waiting for his answer, she continues, "Something fake, as you put it, can become real, if you want it bad enough."

"Are you thinking we're a couple of velveteen rabbits?"

"How'd you know?"

"I've read Margery Williams, thank you very much.", and then his Scottish brogue takes on a deep, warm timbre as he recites:

"Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real, you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand.", and he realizes as he ends his recitation, that Belle's head is leaning against his shoulder, and she sighs contentedly, making him feel contented in turn. It's such a strange, alien feeling to have someone other than his son elicit from him, but there it is, and he doesn't want it to end.

Watching Bae crawl into Belle's lap this time, starting to gum the edge of her black and white houndstooth jacket, as her berry colored beret is now a home for Bae's stuffed giraffe, Reimund knows he could easily fall for Belle, but he is less sure that Belle could truly fall for him, once she sees the amount of baggage with which he comes, making him a difficult man to love. "...and now with these panic attacks. Why can't I just make them go away?! What will she think?", he worries. However, he knows that Bae is easy to love, and perhaps if they try hard enough, maybe they can piece together a patch work family, and even if she never loves him romantically, as a husband, maybe...just maybe, she could love him as family, and that would be enough to make him a happy man.

With Bae's giraffe in her hand, having the stuffed toy seem to trot along her leg, causing Bae to bounce with glee, she realizes how much she likes this, and it's both terrifying and wonderful. She doesn't want it to go away. Though she's already fallen head over tea pot for Bae, the feelings that Reimund stirs with in her are frighteningly real. She wanted real...she wants real, but she has no idea what to do with real, as she's never felt it before, and for all her hopeful platitudes, isn't sure whether she'll be real to him...she sighs, and thinks if they can create a real family, then that could be enough for her, for her life...and then she thinks of "The Velveteen Rabbit":

"'Does it hurt?' asked the Rabbit.

'Sometimes,' said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. 'When you are Real you don't mind being hurt.'", and she hopes the Skin Horse is right.

In a very relaxed tone, she says, "Oh and one more thing, you don't make me want to stuff cotton in my ears to get away from your voice either."

"Would make us two unstuffed rabbits for Bae to play with?"

"Yeah,...or maybe unstuffed howler monkeys?"

He snorts a laugh at the imagery, and replies, "Sounds like a match made in Heaven...", and then with a twinkle in his eyes, he adds, "...or a few feet lower.", and Belle decides that Bae is not the only one that enjoys things that twinkle.

Author's Note: Well, Bae is quite the little rascal and has Belle wrapped around his finger, which in turn has Reimund wrapped around Belle's finger. Could be the makings of a real family. More to come of this day with Belle, Reimund and Bae in the next chapter, possibly some Graham too. I'm still deciding whether his first scene will be in the next chapter or the following one. Please review this fic...guest reviews are fine. You don't need a FFnet account; I just like to read people's thoughts on my stories.