If I Could

{30} - Beautiful Dreams

"You're such an idiot", Belle said as she followed him to the kitchen. "I stayed up late last night just to cook you dinner".

Rami and Belle were married now, their wedding had been surprisingly good despite being arranged in such a short amount of time, except for the immense amount of media coverage it received. It was safe to say that there wasn't as much tension between Rami and her anymore, but not for the right reasons: They had kept fighting for weeks in a row until Rami's mother found out and decided to intervene, threatening her son to take Belle with her if he didn't stop arguing with her.

"You know you didn't have to", Rami uttered. "If you allowed me to hire full-time domestic workers, you would probably have even more time to rest and call your friends".

"Not yet, Rami", she responded. "It's embarassing to hire all those people just for a house that barely gets dirty. We'd look so lazy, and cooking is not even that much of a chore".

"Well, since you don't want to hire full-time domestic workers, get me some whiskey and ice, princess".

"Excuse me?", she raised her eyebrow. "I'm not your bartender. Also, why would you want to drink whiskey at 8 a.m?".

"I just feel like it", he shrugged. "And I know you're not a bartender, that's why I called you a princess".

Belle rolled her eyes and raised her arm to open the fridge when she heard the phone ring, making her frown, wondering who could be calling at such an early hour.

"Go pick up the call", Rami said as he walked around the counter and towards the fridge to get his desired beverage.

"Hello?", she greeted over the phone.

"Hi, Belle, it's me, Brian", her best friend responded, sounding zealous. "Did I wake you up?".

"No, you didn't, don't worry. What's going on, Brian? Why are you awake this early on a Saturday? Everyone knows you're not much of a morning person", she teased as she chuckled.

"Well, you're right", he sniggered. "I'm calling you because I wanted to ask you if you're available to grab lunch today with Beatrice, Diana and me. We all miss you so much. We can pick you up if you want".

"Oh, Brian, I'd love to", she sighed as she leaned against the counter. "As long as the place isn't too crowded. Paparazzi have been crazier nowadays just because I'm pregnant and it's getting too stressful".

"Well, we can stay at home then, that's not a problem at all", he answered as he showed no sign of disappointment in his voice. "I can still pick you up, because I think that driving when being seven months pregnant and having paparazzi chasing you around is too risky".

"Thanks for the concern but don't worry about that, Brian, I'm pregnant, not disabled", she assured. "I can drive there".

"You know what? You won't", Brian commanded. "I'll pick you up at 12:30 p.m, is that alright?".

"Alright, you win, that's fine", she squealed. "I'll be waiting for you".

"Sounds like a plan".

Belle smiled as she ended the call, turning around just to find that Rami had already left the kitchen. She shrugged, and decided to eat breakfast before taking a shower.

5 hours later

"Diana is so beautiful", Belle said as she held the baby's hands, smiling after feeling how Diana closed her fist so tightly around her finger. "Oh my God, I can't get over her curls".

"Diana loves you", Beatrice said as she smiled at them. "I think she somehow can sense all of the presents you've got for her and just your love for her in general. I'll never get tired of thanking you for everything you've done for us".

"And I'll never get tired of telling you guys there's nothing to thank me for", Belle cooed as she placed her hand over Beatrice's shoulder.

"Girls, come here", Brian said as he served the food. "You can thank each other endlessly as we eat".

Belle and Beatrice smiled as they sat across the table, bringing Diana's pram next to them.

"I have to admit I've always thought that you are a very beautiful woman", Beatrice said to Belle as she took a sip of juice. "But you look special now that you're pregnant. I believe that the so-called "pregnancy glow" is real after looking at you".

"Thank you, Beatrice, and I get what you're saying. I remember that before I found out I was pregnant, my stepfather told me before I looked different and that I had some sort of new glow on my face. It's something that amazes me when I think about it now".

"And speaking of your child, Belle, I have to ask an unavoidable question; Are you having a boy or a girl? Asking this scares me because if you indeed know the sex of your baby, I'm going to feel very betrayed that you didn't tell me", Brian questioned as he simpered at her.

"I don't know", she stated. "I've decided not to find out till I give birth, much to Rami's dismay. He eventually agreed, though".

"That's exciting, but it will make it harder for me to buy a present for the baby shower", Beatrice uttered as she glanced at Diana. "But that's a really good idea that builds up the excitement".

Brian turned on the TV as Beatrice speaked and the atmosphere suddenly turned incredibly awkward: The daytime news showed live footage of Roger Taylor arriving to Taylor Enterprises' headquarters after announcing his divorce to Catherine Scarborough. The feeling in Belle's gut was indescribable, she had not heard about the fact Roger had filed for divorce before, sending an ugly mix of joy and disbelief throughout her body. She turned to Beatrice, who seemed to have thought of something funny.

"That's great", she chirped. "You both can finally go back to your lovers".

"What?", Brian frowned. "What does that even mean, Beatrice?".

"N-Nothing", she gibbered in a quivering voice, her surprised eyes looking at Brian in fear after his unexpected reaction. "I was - I was just kidding, Brian, there's no need to be that angry".

"Roger and Catherine have both hurt Belle and me in the past. I think you should keep your dull sentences to yourself".

"And you can keep your hypersensitive sentences to yourself", Beatrice snarled as she dropped her spoon in her plate. "Belle is here, Brian. Don't you dare to make a scene. You'll embarrass yourself".

"It's not like she doesn't know that you've always been really imprudent. Old habits die hard".

After a few minutes Belle's heartbeat grew unsteady, she was stuck in the middle between two people who had started fighting with each other and she didn't know what to say, uttering a weak "Stop" as they started yelling.

"Look, Belle, I'm really sorry you have to witness this", Brian apologised as he turned to his best friend, ignoring Beatrice's angry statements. "It's just that Beatrice has been saying tons of weird things lately and this just proved to be the last straw for me".

"You're a liar and getting back together was a huge mistake", Beatrice loudly raged as she stood from her chair, kicking it aside as she ran to an unknown place in the house. "This is so humiliating".

Belle rapidly took Diana in her arms as she started crying, rocking the baby to make her sleep again.

"I'm so sorry", Brian huffed. "Let's finish eating and we can maybe catch a movie after this".

"Or maybe not", Belle said right after realising the sky had suddenly got darker despite being midday, announcing an evident thunderstorm. "You have to drive me back home and it's going to rain".

"Hell, you're right", Brian said in a dejected tone. "Rain always ruins our plans".

Brian was so angry at Beatrice he knew he had to go somewhere else in order not to hear her yell at him, and he came to the conclusion that, after taking Belle back home, he'd go somewhere else to distract himself - somewhere he had not visited for a while now.

And it was time to go back to that place.