‘OUAT’ Season 6 introduces the Rumbelle baby in a huge way

We bet you didn’t count on the Rumbelle baby this soon, or this grown up!

The Season 6 premiere of “Once Upon a Time” delivered on the promise of Rumple (Robert Carlyle) and Belle’s (Emilie de Ravin) son in a big way, before they even delivered the child or showed a baby bump.

Thanks to some nifty dream magic, Rumple is able to walk in Belle’s dreams, where he meets the mysterious Morpheus (Giles Matthey), who puts a ticking clock on how long the Dark One has to wake his beloved up. Try as he might, Belle won’t be fooled into giving him yet another chance to win her back, choosing instead to stay locked in her dream world.

RELATED: Will ‘Once Upon a Time’ end after Season 6?

Enter Morpheus, who actually turns out to be Rumple and Belle’s son. As not-Morpheus tells it, he was also hit with the dream dust, being inside of Belle, and he created the scenario as a test for his mother.

Somehow, this unborn child senses that Rumple is not a good influence on his mother, and he urges her not to give in to her feelings for her true love. This kid has major daddy issues before he’s even entered the world! Here’s hoping Belle can help him see Rumple’s good side once he’s no longer in the womb — and that she picks a less daunting name than Morpheus. Poor kid would get beat up every day.

As for where this leaves the beloved Rumbelle couple, Eddie Kitsis and Adam Horowitz say it’s complicated.

“I think that Belle really, kind of, is in a place where she’s given up on Rumple, but they have a child and so that makes things messier because once the child is involved you actually have to put aside your own feelings and put the child first,” says Kitsis.

Belle may have given up on the possibility of Rumple ever being a better man, but Horowitz assures us that the love between them is still there. It’s just masked by anger and disappointment.

“She’s really struggling now with how to move forward in life. Rumple has positioned himself in a position where it appears to be an untenable relationship, so Belle has to figure out, ‘How do I raise this child and what do I do about his father and the fact that I love this man?’”

Fans of the Rumbelle relationship will no doubt be heartbroken over this new — admittedly bleak — development between the pair, but we’re actually beyond excited to see how this scenario pans out. Loving the father of your child, but refusing to be with him for moral reasons is the kind of angsty obstacle that makes our hearts flutter.

RELATED: Everything you need to know about ‘Once Upon a Time’ Season 6

Belle doesn’t seem like the type of person who would keep Rumple from his son, especially given that she knows he would never dream of hurting his own child. We’re interested to see how that parenting situation works out, and if helping to raise his son (in whatever capacity Belle is comfortable with) will help or hurt his case with his true love.

“Every year I always remind our fans that [Rumple] warned us in ‘Skin Deep,’ ‘I’m a difficult man to love,’ and every year people fall for him,” Kitsis says of the Rumbelle relationship. “And then when he reminds you of that, they get upset. This year will be no different.”

Ultimately, Rumple is an incredibly difficult man to love, but it’s obvious that Belle loves him and always will. How that love will be expressed in Season 6 is one of the stories we’re most excited to see this year.

And for those of you still curious about Rumple and Belle’s fully-grown son, Kitsis and Horowitz confirm that this is not the last we’ll see of him.

“Once Upon a Time” airs Sundays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.

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