Chapter 2, A New Year

January 1, 1772

"Oh, cherie, you always look so beautiful when you are just waking up in the morning."

"Francois, I have been awake for an hour now, and I think what you mean is that I look best when I'm like this, in our bed."

Babette lay in bed, her dark hair messed and tousled on the pillow, looking up at her husband. They had, as they often did on lazy mornings such as New Year's Day, started their day off with a passionate session of marital bonding. Lumiere was getting dressed, and was in the process of affixing his wig of curled brown hair over his natural head of hair, which was receding fast.

"Must you always wear that silly wig? You look so much more handsome with your natural hair. Cogsworth no longer wears a wig, he finally gave in to Pippa, she adores his balding head, and I adore yours!"

"Ah, Babette, but it is part of my uniform. Besides, my silly wig keeps those young maids from throwing themselves at me, you should be thankful."

"I guess you're right." She hauled herself out of bed, wearing the cream colored lacy nightdress she'd thrown back on a few minutes earlier. Lumiere, now dressed, sat in the chair near the bed and lit a pipe as he watched his wife go to the closet, grab a camisole, pantaloons, a petticoat and finally, her black maid's dress. Smiling flirtatiously at him, Babette proceeded to undress and redress while he watched in amorous delight, and as always of late, Lumiere wondered if this morning would result in their much hoped-for child.

Lumiere had to admit that his marriage now more than made up for those awkward times a few years ago, when hot candle wax would burn feathers painfully and they often became so frustrated at each other they'd not talk to each other for days.

At the same time, over in the West Wing's master bedroom, Belle and Adam had gotten dressed after spending the morning in a very similar fashion. Belle was starting to pull her hair back in a ponytail, but Adam approached the dressing table behind her and gently took her hand.

"I love it when you wear it down."

Belle put down the ribbon and looked into the mirror, her eyes meeting Adam's brilliant blue ones in the reflection.

"Christophe," she said matter of factly.

"That is my third name, why are you calling me by it?"

"If we have a son someday, that is what I'd like to call him. Prince Christophe. And I hope he has your blue eyes."

Adam smiled. "I wouldn't mind at all if he...or she, has your eyes. And Christophe would be nice. I don't associate it with any of my arrogant relations, so that is good. I was hoping to name a future son Vincent. But I like both names, time will tell. What about a daughter?"

Belle looked over at the little oval portrait of her late mother, which hung on the wall near her dressing table. "I'd like to name her Hélene."

"I like that, Belle. Perfect for a little princess." He leaned down and kissed her cheek. "Could we start working on creating that little prince or princess later this week? Or tonight?"

Belle stood up and on her tiptoes, gave him a peck on the cheek.

"Maybe..." she said with uncertainty.

"What do you mean, 'maybe?' His voice carried an edge of irritation.

"What I meant. Maybe. I can't predict the future. I am going to breakfast to see Papa before he gets busy building his Water-Aqueduct-Piping-System-Thingamajig. Are you coming down?"

"No!" Adam plopped back down on a chair and crossed his arms, scowling.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing that concerns you! Go eat with your father!"

"Fine. Go ahead and starve," Belle replied, shrugging and hoping the saying would be a reminder that he was getting into one of his moods again, and when he did as such, he was welcome to mope and brood as long as he did it alone.

She descended the stairs and into the Great Hall, still decorated for New Year's as it had been a week ago on Christmas Day. She saw Lumiere and Babette on the opposite East Wing stairway, skipping down happily. Babette playfully tickled Lumiere's shoulders with her feather duster before setting off to the castle's many rooms to make her rounds of overseeing the junior maids. The first thing Babette did was poke her head in the library and scold Mirielle to put the book down, it was kitchen clean up time. The girl reluctantly followed her into the kitchen. Madame Pippa Cogsworth could be heard in the library reading a book to Chip, a history book for his schooling. Belle looked into the library and announced, "Happy New Year!"

"Happy New Year!" Chip answered back to her. Pippa put a finger to her lips in a shushing motion to the boy, since a little bassinette lay near the chair Pippa was seated in, Felicity sleeping in it. She looked so cute, her little red-haired head nestled to one side.

Belle thought it would be nice to have her own baby someday, but that was the point. Someday. Not this year. She was still young. She wanted to travel to Paris come spring, she was collecting donated clothing from the staff as well as the villagers. In fact, the day after Christmas, the town clerk from Molyneux had arrived with goods, even a little money, that Belle and Lumiere would soon bring to the orphanage that they had adopted as their project. But they couldn't do such travel by coach until the long winter in their mountainous region was over. The last thing she wanted was a pregnancy at that very time, remembering how sick Pippa had felt for three months.

She wished Adam would understand. Why was he still such a grump sometimes? Perhaps it was the...precautions...that he had to take during their most private moments together. He often grumbled about such things, and Belle would try to lovingly make do with taking care of him in other ways, thanks to, well, certain books she had dared to read. She blushed as she thought about that, while going to the dining room to see her father.

She reached the dining room, greeting Maurice and Emmeline, and back in the library she heard Felicity waking up and wailing. In less than a minute, Chip happily entered the room as well, grabbing a piece of sausage from the platter that Lumiere had just brought in and munching it, glad that the baby had allowed him a break from school time.

"Mama, can I go to the village with Yann and Annette today?"

"No, dear. You have tutoring today and you failed to pass your arithmetic test. If Pippa or Cogsworth are unable to, I will help you redo your arithmetic problems," replied Mrs. Potts-DeFleur.

"Awww, come on, no fair!" Chip whined. "Yann and Annette are going to a party. They just got engaged, and the party's for Luc and Noel! They both just got married on Christmas, and they and the brides are going on a honeymoon tomorrow."

Chip had been quite fond of the four men who had used to serve as Adam's palace guards. They had since moved to the village. Luc and Noel were making a living as farmhands, hunting, and helping their new friend Lefou in the tavern once in a while. Jean and Yann were working for the general store and blacksmith. All four were saving up to buy plots of farmland, and Luc and Noel had fallen in love with two of the Beaudette triplets.

"Ahem!"

Chip turned around and his face fell in disappointment. Cogsworth was in the doorway.

"Absolutely not, young man! I know exactly where that party will be held. Monsieur Goulet informed me that they will be celebrating in none other than that tavern! Not the place for a nine year old child, I must say!"

"I don't want to go into the tavern, I just wanted to find some kids to play with! There's that hill right by the church yard and I wanna take my sled and show it to-"

"Chip! No talking back to Mr. Cogsworth. You may go to the library and get your papers and pencil out, I will be there in a few minutes," Emmeline admonished her son.

Chip grumpily grabbed a muffin and stuffing it in his cheeks, left the dining room. "I didn't want to go to their grownup party anyway. I wanted to go make some friends," he muttered under his breath.

"The child's been impossible lately, Cogsworth," Emmeline said to Cogsworth apologetically.

Maurice, seated next to her, spoke up. "He's bored, Emmeline. His whole life is schooling, his chores, and a little playing outdoors all alone in the palace grounds. He has no friends. We go to Molyneux and we see boys his age- eight, nine- roughhousing and hitting balls around with sticks, chasing each other, getting dirty, things like that. He saw that when he visited the village on Christmas Day, right Belle?"

"You're right, Papa. It was hard to pull him away from building a snow fortress with two boys he'd just met while Adam and I were giving our Christmas appearance and tithing gifts."

"Where is Master Adam? Is he up yet?" asked Lumiere, coming in with pitchers of milk.

"He is up, but I guess he's just not hungry." Belle shrugged and smiled, and the foursome of Cogsworth, Lumiere, Mrs. Potts-DeFleur and Maurice DeFleur knew exactly what Belle's facial expression meant; Adam was in a sullen mood again.

There was a knock on the huge main door, and Cogsworth went to answer it.

A minute later, Cogsworth returned to the dining room to fetch Belle.

"Your Grace, Jean-Claude Goulet is at the door and he has a young lady with him. He wants to talk to both of you; I showed them to your study. I also asked your husband to kindly come meet with them as well."

Belle followed Cogsworth to the West Wing study, where she found Adam with Jean Goulet, one of the former guards who now spent most of his time in the village, but made deliveries of goods from the general store to the castle. He was sitting next to a young woman.

It took a moment for Belle to recognize her, and when she did, she felt very awkward. The blonde woman was pale and wan, and her hair, formerly done in a comely style similar to Belle's own, hung limp and tangled. She met Belle's eyes for a moment, then dropped her gaze to the floor.

"Hello, Gigi," greeted Belle quietly.

Gigi Beaudette muttered a whispered and reluctant, "Good morning, Your Grace," eyes still downcast.

"Good morning, Mistress Belle, and a happy New Year," said the amiable Jean-Claude, a fairly tall, lean young man with dark hair and mustache. "I take it you remember Mademoiselle Beaudette from your days in the village. I have decided to take her under my wing for a while, as her two sisters have just gotten married- Mimi to Luc, and Fifi to Noel."

"That is wonderful! Send them my congratulations." Belle was very happy to hear such news. Two of the three who had been so bitter and grief-stricken the year before had finally found new loves and lives for themselves. And the brothers Luc and Noel were kind, modest, and upstanding young men, besides just being handsome.

Gigi, on the other hand, looked dull and troubled, and she refused to make eye contact with anyone, even the kind and noble Jean Goulet, who sat near her protectively looking as if he wanted to touch her shoulder or take her hand, yet keeping his boundaries as just a friend.

"Your Grace, Gigi's sisters and their husbands are leaving on a honeymoon trip, and so she will be left alone at her ill mother's house. I would like to watch over her but since I am only her friend, not her husband nor fiancé, it wouldn't be proper. What I am requesting is for her to temporarily work in the castle as a maid. She has had a few years of food and beverage serving experience. And she needs a change in scenery. Is that all right with you, Gigi?"

Gigi finally looked Jean in the eyes and nodded at him.

"Yes," she said softly. Whatever sensuality and spunk the triplet had possessed two years before had faded.

Belle looked at Adam, who had been quiet until just then. He gave an agreeable nod.

"Well, we sure do need the help," he said. "I have been losing maids left and right for the last year or so. I had needed to cut staff, but now- I have lost half of what I once had, especially the younger women, who are always finding themselves husbands and moving away. I would hope for her to join us as a maid, as long as she wishes. Belle, dear, please take Mademoiselle for a tour of the castle."

Belle and Gigi looked at each other awkwardly for a moment, until Belle gave the other girl an accepting smile, and motioned her to follow her out of the room. They walked down the staircase together and through the Great Hall, still not saying a word to each other. Belle studied Gigi's expression. She was gazing about the beautifully decorated hall in a mixture of sadness and wonder. Finally, after what seemed like an internal struggle, she spoke up.

"Why did you never honor him with a statue?" she half-whispered.

"Who, Gigi?"

The blonde woman glared at Belle with a flash of hurt and anger. "How can you not remember...who killed the Beast?"

It finally dawned on Belle. Sooner or later, the chasm of understanding between what the villagers believed and what Belle, Adam, and everyone who had been an object knew and kept secret would eventually unravel.

"Gigi, it is a very complicated story. He was not a hero. I hate to say this, but there is more to the story of the Beast than what you- the village- could understand." she said gently.

She tried to touch the girl's shoulder, but she recoiled. After a moment, the blonde took a deep breath and decided to confide to the Princess.

"Your...Majesty...Belle...do you know why Jean wants me to work here? Why I need a 'change in scenery?'" Gigi asked, blinking back bitter tears.

Belle shook her head, a look of concern and pity on her face.

"It's because most of the village is turning against me. They...there are people who want to send me to the Maison des Lunes. They all think I should be over him by now, almost two years...that it has been too long. Why...why didn't you think he was a hero? I need to know."

Gigi was looking Belle straight in the eyes now, a sign of forgiveness and trust in the Princess.

"Please, tell me. I know there was more. I can tell. Jean, Luc, Noel, even Sophie- they all know this stuff and they've been hiding it from my sisters and me, and Sophie won't tell her own husband, but he's so dopey he doesn't even suspect she's keeping secrets about the Beast. And about...Gaston."

Belle smiled gently. "It is so crazy you would not believe it, Gigi. If you were to know, you must promise not to breathe a word of it to the village. Do you understand?"

"Yes! I do! You know what happens when people rave about crazy stuff in Molyneux. People talk. It's happened to me now. Not my sisters, they are in love now and happy. It even happened to Lefou, for a little while, but when he got together with Sophie they realized he was okay, not crazy. He's one of my only friends left. But the rest...they say I'm losing it. I need to get away from that village. I'd-" she forced a smile through her watery eyes- "I'd love to be a maid here. This place is beautiful. But I have to know."

Belle looked at her for a moment, studying her desperate expression. She finally decided to make a revelation. The girl was harmless. And she had certainly heard about the strange phenomena long ago, from the village men. What harm would it be to tell the truth, if she were to join the staff?

Belle's face brightened with a conspiratorial grin. "It was magic."

"Magic?" Gigi recalled the strange things people had told her about the night Gaston died. She remembered Lefou's description of "a candle holder running with a man's face on it," among other things, and the way Sophie oddly changed the subject any time he tried to mention it again. Gigi wasn't truly dumb. She needed an explanation, after realizing she had wasted almost two years grieving for a dead man who never loved her.

And then, there was that strange encounter with that strange woman one time... and the curse briefly put upon her and her sisters...oh.

"Magic that even I had to see to believe. And the Beast-" Belle whispered into Gigi's ear- "is still alive."

"No!" Gigi squealed, her face going pale. "Where is...it?"

"You were sitting in the same room with him a few minutes ago."

"Jean? No! It couldn't be...Prince Adam?"

Belle nodded. "Remember. Not a word."

So Gigi Beaudette became a maid in the castle for nearly two years afterward, and having been told all about the enchanted history of Adam and his castle, kept her promise. She was pursued by Jean-Claude for some time, and he was patient enough to let her affection, and eventually love, grow for him, as it took a while for her to not only let go of her idolatry for her old flame, but to trust a man again. She married Jean-Claude a few years later.

One year after this particular New Year's Day, a baby girl named Chandelle Josette Lumiere was born on a snowy January morning in the castle. Chandelle, a spunky, petite brown eyed brunette, and Felicity, a demure, blue eyed redhead- became the best of friends, despite a great deal of daily bickering.

And, about a year after Chandelle's birth, right after Christmas of 1774, a baby boy was born in the castle- Prince Vincent Christophe Maurice. Two years afterward, in the summer of 1776, came his sister, Princess Hélene Marie.

All four palace children, with Chip to look up to as a big brother figure, became as close as family, just like their parents.