Chapter Nineteen: Alone Again

Adam bowed his head as he stood in his son's nursery. He needed to figure out how to solve this matter and leave it solved. Having each member of the family cursed and then bringing in others only to have them cursed as well was not something that Adam felt he could handle. There had to be something to contain this curse of the beast and give his son a human form so that he could live as a prince. His son had been born a beast but human should be possible even if it only was a disguise.

Adam looked over to Maurice who had hold of Leo and walked over to the dressed mini-beast. He picked up his son and brought him to his chest. "Hey, there," he smiled to the baby before turning back to Maurice. "I cannot thank you enough for taking him from here, for taking care of Belle and Isabella as well. You'll have the protection of my highest guards," Adam nodded. Maybe they weren't the most skilled or the ones who would be given the usual royal distinction but they were well-equipped, they knew how to fight, but they also were dependable, trustworthy, non-judgmental, and had no wives or children that could be used as either bait or blackmail.

He would stay here with the rest of the staff and the guards, his friends and family as well most fortunately. Here he could try to figure out a way for his family to be together again. It was the most painful but most motivating factor for him. If he succeeded in trying to fight for his son's freedom and for a way of having him at least take on the disguise of a human, then he could be reunited with the family he had built for himself but if not, he would be without them again.

Maybe it would be better to be entirely alone but Adam was selfish. He needed his friends to help him not feel completely disconnected with the world.

Adam looked at Leo as he seemed to turn his head into Adam's shirt and hide. Adam kissed the top of his head and sat down so that he could more comfortably hold his son. "I'm having your grandfather take you from here, you'll be with your mother and sister and they will keep you safe, but that doesn't mean that I don't love you. That doesn't mean that you are unwanted or unloved, I'm going to be doing my best to make this a safe world for you, a safe life."

Adam tucked the blanket around Leo again and saw Belle arrive at the doorway. He turned to her with a smile before passing Leo over to her. He looked sadly at the little prince, his son, and kissed Belle on the cheek. "Can you tell him about me? Remind him that I'm working hard for our family to be together again?"

Belle nodded, "Of course. I'll also be trying to find the answer whilst protecting those two lives most precious to you."

"Three lives," Adam said as he kissed her on the lips with deep passion. Belle returned the kiss with the same longing and they stepped apart with Belle continuing to cradle Leo in her arms. Adam looked down as he steadied his breathing and walked away.

"I think that we need to find out how much magic exists in this world," he told her. "If there are things like beasts and enchantresses then I don't know what else there could be but it would surprise me if it truly was nothing," Adam turned to Leo and smiled at him, his eyes feeling the sting of the tears threatening to fall.

"I need to find those voices and bring them out and respect them. I need to respect the people who are more intelligent than me and listen to what they are saying as well. I don't know how long that is going to take but there has to be more in this world than just me, than just us." Adam looked aside as he thought of how much there was still to learn and he hadn't had a chance to yet. All of those years living in silence and solitude there must be others out there similar to him and only by embracing the unknown could he hope to look forward to a better tomorrow and to help his son.

"Just take care of yourself as well," Belle told him and Adam looked at her and nodded. "Go and see Isabella before we leave."

19.2

"Adam," Cogsworth coughed as he stood beside the king in the empty hallway. He could see the saddened expression in the man's face. His family had just left the castle and left him behind. His wife and their daughter and their new baby had gone to somewhere safe and secure and somewhere where Adam didn't know the exact location of. He was prepared to face sorcerers and enchantresses in this kingdom and maybe others and wasn't going to allow his secrets to be taken from him or the address of where his son, the 'beast baby' was. "Are you feeling okay? Did you want to have a conversation or a cup of tea? Did you want to have a ride around the grounds?"

"I'm going to go to the library," Adam announced as he turned in that direction. "I want to find a book or at least a written record of the districts of this kingdom. I want to put together a proper plan to find these magical beings."

"Yes, yes, right," the former-clock nodded. "Well I don't think that they would just have a 'we are here to be recruited' sign on a map."

Adam stared at him with a tilted head and raised eyebrow as if seriously asking the older man if that's what he thought of him. Yes, when he was younger, Adam had been a brat who hadn't wanted to spend energy he didn't need to and wanted things done for him but he had tried to grow out of those traits and he had always had a curiosity to learn that his father hadn't approved of but had come to life again with the influence of Belle and some books.

He had also learned that he was intelligent, he wasn't intelligent compared to Belle but he could think things through, come to logical conclusions, become a good person to have a conversation or debate with There were a lot of traits that he was proud of in himself but it had taken Belle to find them.

"I think that we need to try to find a profile that works for us as much as it might insult others by the use of stereotypes and start with where they would go. We'll try the back alleys, the independent stores, theā€¦gothic-style shops and then we'll look for things from anything we find to spread out into the country. We need to get documentation from them and a promise that they will not be harmed."

Cogsworth watched him suspiciously and Adam stopped and looked at the head of staff, "Are you planning on offering them places in government? We don't even know the education level of some of this riffraff and I don't think that you can reward them with positions of privilege. Think of the good of the country."

"Again, we cannot be sure of what or who we'll find but yes, if there are people that I feel would do well for us to consult or to even run a branch of the government themselves, I think that we need to include them. We can't make decisions without knowing the facts," Adam said and Cogsworth coughed.

"That is what I am talking about, Adam. We can't plan to do anything unless we have the profiles of these individuals and the knowledge of what it is that is being hidden from us. We can't just hand the government over to some charlatans."

"Agreed," Adam said as he almost reached Belle's library with Cogsworth still following him. "I think that the first and only thing we can do is look." Adam walked into the library. "And this is the best place to see if there's a way of getting my family back."

19.3

Isabella looked around the cottage that she was now living in with her brother, her mother, and her grandpapa. She liked being so close to nature but it was confusing to her as well. Her father had told her that he wanted to be with her as soon as he could but why did they have to be separated at all? It wasn't as if she had done anything but she had heard that people didn't like her brother, they couldn't accept him.

She looked at her brother and sighed. Her father had asked her to take care of him but she missed her dad, she didn't like thinking about how lonely he might be. She closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around herself trying to send a hug to her papa. He had been scary when he had transformed before but she loved him and he shouldn't be alone again.

As she put her hands together, she looked to see that her hands were glowing slightly and she pulled back. She could feel warmth. She ran to her mother and saw that her hands were fine. What was that? "Mama?" she asked and Belle knelt down opposite her. "I did something. Something's strange," she said and Belle looked at her curiously.

"What did you do, sweetheart?" she asked and Bella smiled softly.

"I tried to give Papa a hug."

End of Chapter Nineteen

Thank you for reading

Thank you to the reviewers of Chapter Eighteen

KathyMesser