Soli Deo gloria
DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Descendants.
Out of all the original 4 VKs' performances in D2, my favorites were definitely Carlos and Evie. They were fantastic!
"Carlos, what are you looking for? You haven't been paying attention since we started." Jane looked up from her Good Substitutes for Evil Choices homework to see Carlos looking anxiously around their feet and then back around campus.
"Dude." Carlos sighed, tapping his pencil against the picnic table. "I don't know where he is. Either I keep losing him or he keeps running away."
"You haven't told me this. How long has he been doing this?" Jane said. She put down her light blue pen with its feathery eraser and focused on her boyfriend.
"A couple of months," Carlos admitted, cowering a little under Jane's suddenly alarmed eyes. "He always came back, so I never worried about it. But he's been disappearing for longer times lately, like, for whole days at a time. I scold him and ask him where he was every time he comes home but he never tells me where he's been." Carlos sighed and said sarcastically, "Usually I can't get him to shut up."
"Well, you need to follow him the next time he runs away and find out where he goes," Jane said matter-of-factly. She shook her head against her hand. "What could he be doing?" A sudden thought struck her and she said abruptly, scared, "What if he's mixing in with the wrong crowd? Or doing something evil? Or dangerous? Or all of the above?"
"Well, considering who his owner is, that's not a bad guess," Carlos said, a little teasingly, a little self-deprecatingly.
"No, no, that's not what I meant—" Jane protested.
"I'm teasing, Jane. I'm totally, totally teasing," Carlos reassured her.
Jane sat back down, relief filling her face. She reached out and grabbed Carlos's hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. She'd almost slugged his arm again before she remembered the true benefits of being boyfriend and girlfriend. She gave him a smile before picking up her pen and resuming her homework.
Carlos bent over his work again, but couldn't focus. Too distracted. Too worried about stupid Dude. So, in true procrastination from his homework, he picked up his cellphone and texted Jane.
Jane pulled back her laser-focus from her homework and sprang on her cellphone, ever at its spontaneous beck-and-call. She giggled, and the two teenagers, though they sat right next to each other, paid attention solely to the hil-ar-ious conversation they enjoyed over text.
So absorbed were their attentions that neither of them noticed Dude bounding frantically around the green, searching desperately for his owner. "Carlos, Carlos, where are you? Now is not the time to disappear! Oh, that sounds rich, coming from me." Dude bristled and sniffed, his small brown eyes darting around the groups of studying or gossiping students. He needed to find him now. It was an emergency!
He suddenly found Carlos and Jane and scampered over to them, running up onto the picnic table's bench right between their clasped hands. Carlos said, "Dude, you're back!" Dude barely heard him as he stood up, pressing his paws against the boy's chest and frantically looking at his face. "Carlos, you have to come with me! It's an emergency!"
"Dude, where have you been? Are you okay? You look like you've just run a mile nonstop," Carlos said. "Sit." Dude followed his command and Carlos petted the back of Dude's head soothingly. "Calm down."
"I'll get him some water," Jane said helpfully, scrambling up and running towards the water fountain.
Dude whined under his master's hand. "What part of an emergency do you not get? There's no time to lose!"
"We'll hear you out. You gotta calm down and drink something first," Carlos explained firmly. Dude groaned as Jane returned with her water bottle dripping over its edge. She tilted it to pour some into Dude's mouth when he reached his paws up and held it almost upside down. Jane's eyes widened but she said nothing, just stared, as Dude drained the water, then pounced on Carlos once more. "Okay, water drunk, I'm calmed, let's go!"
"Dude, where are we going? What happened?" Carlos wanted to know. "We're not going anywhere until you answer some questions!" He sounded like a desperate parent exasperated with his trying teenager. "You run off for days on end, you come home smelling like tea and smoke, and you won't tell me where you've been! I feel like locking you up in my dorm! What's your big secret!?" Jane stood behind Carlos and rubbed his shoulder. Still, that did little to calm his agitated anger.
Dude gulped and looked Carlos straight in the eye. "I've been seeing a girl."
"Oh. A girl. Like, a girl dog," Carlos said, faltering, not sure what to say.
"What kind of a dog is she? Does she look like you?" Jane asked curiously, soothing over the awkward silence between dog and boy.
"Oh, no. She's a Dalmatian. The most gorgeous girl you've ever seen. Andddddd," Dude dragged this out before he sighed and said, breaking the truth out, "She's expecting puppies. Like, specifically my puppies."
Carlos stopped rubbing his fingers in circles against his temples and stared dumbly at his weakly smiling dog. Jane found her voice first, and said, astonished, "You're going to be a dad?!"
"Yeah. Whoo-whoo," Dude said, trying for a cheerful hurrah and falling flat on his face.
"Dude's . . . a dad," Jane said, blinking. She turned to Carlos. "Dude's a dad," she repeated, as if she needed affirmation from someone else in order for it to be true.
"Dude's . . . a dad," Carlos said. He exhaled a puff of breath that deflated his cheeks and said, "Dude's . . . a dad."
"I think we've established that fact," Dude said, moving along, "though, it's something that will happen as opposed to has happened. As in, Perdy's due any day now."
"Wait, what's the problem, Dude?" Jane asked.
"Besides the fact that you're gonna be a dad and you didn't tell me," Carlos said, not looking his dog in the eyes.
"Her owners found out about us and locked me out. I can't get to her, and she's due any day! I need your help!" Dude stood in a begging position. "Carlos, come on, man. You gotta help me."
Carlos rolled his eyes, not entirely pleased with Dude's deceit. He sure knew what it was like to be on the other end of deceit, but it'd never hurt him as much as this had. He didn't want to help Dude, not after he ignored him for two months. "So, you come and tell me when you need help. Sounds like a villainous thing to do." Carlos sighed. He was his dog, after all.
Dude put his paws on Carlos's shoulders and licked his face over and over. Carlos didn't want to give in, but he was still a boy with a boyish heart and a never-ending affection for his stupid dog. "All right, all right, all right!" He shoved Dude down, laughing as Dude leaned further to lick his nose. "Okay, I'll help you." Carlos looked at Jane, and she eagerly nodded. "We'll help you. So, who are Perdy's owners?"
Dude sat back, a little troubled and anxious. "Her owners are two siblings who live in a house in the middle of Auradon."
"Well, what are their names?" Carlos wanted to know.
Dude winced. "Anthony and Rhonda Radcliffe."
Jane's eyes widened as Carlos blinked. "Anthony and Rhonda Radcliffe. As in related to Anita and Roger Radcliffe, as in the couple whose dogs my mom stole?!"
"As in Anita and Roger Radcliffe's kids." Dude grinned. His wide, teeth-filled grin did little to assuage the burning look Carlos glared at him. Of all the dogs in Auradon—!
"Wow. You could not have planned that any better," Carlos said sarcastically, shaking his head as he rolled his eyes. He chuckled drily to himself. A year ago he was scared to death of dogs. He never dreamed he'd even have one, never mind find himself in such a ridiculous situation as this.
Carlos met Jane's eyes. Worry was the prominent emotion on her face. "Will they let Dude see Perdy if they find out that you're Cruella's son?" she wondered, worried.
Excellent question. Carlos turned back to Dude. His voice held a bit of sarcasm mixed in with his firm question. "Yeah—do they know de Vil's son is your owner?"
Dude's weak grin presented itself again. Carlos grew to despise the sight of it. "Maybe . . . not . . . yet."
"Dude! What the heck, man!? You expect me to waltz up to the Radcliffes' front door and say, 'Excuse me, sorry to bother you. I'm Carlos, the son of the woman who caused your family undue pain and anxiety, and hey, my dog mated with your dog—can he go be with her? Pretty please?'" Carlos scoffed and shook his head. "Not everyone on Auradon is okay with us Villain Kids being here, Dude. Some people really don't like us. I can't imagine the descendants of my mother's quote-on-quote 'worst enemies' will embrace me with welcome arms." Carlos sighed and gave his dejected dog a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry, Dude. But honestly, what do you expect to happen?"
Dude laid his head on the bench and whimpered. "It's hopeless, then? I'll never see Perdy or my puppies ever, ever again?" Dude's tail stopped thumping against the picnic bench. His ears drooped.
Jane sat down next to him and petted his back. Her face screwed up in concentration. She was a solution-oriented person, and it distressed her to see both boy and dog so dejected, failed before they even started. "Dude, you love Perdy, don't you?"
"Yeah, totally. Was that ever in question? I'd die for her." Dude sighed and laid his head against his legs. "A long life spent without her is a punishment worse than death."
Jane looked up at Carlos; surely such a sad and despondent, yet honest truth such as that could move him to make an effort, however hopeless it seemed, to unite the two lovers?
Carlos's eyes were somewhere far away. Jane asked softly, "Are you thinking about your mom?"
Carlos nodded solidly once, not looking up.
Jane stood up to sit on the other side of Dude, next to Carlos. "I know what it's like to have your mom's reputation become your legacy. Not as bad with my mom, obviously. When people find out that I'm Fairy Godmother's daughter, they expect me to be a miracle-worker, all light-hearted and kind and able to do all kinds of stuff. I can't, though. I feel like I disappoint them."
"When people find out Cruella's my mom, they think I'm out to take all their pets. That I'm selfish, and ruthless, and devoid of any human decency. 'Cause that's what my mom is. That's what they expected of me when I arrived on Auradon, and that's still how some people see me."
Jane took his hand. "We've proven to everyone we know, to all of Auradon, that we're not our parents. We even proved it to ourselves. Some people might still hold it against us, but we know that we're different, that we are ourselves, our own person. If you know that, no one else's opinion should matter. And if they still don't like you, that's on them, not on you." She squeezed his hand. He looked up and smiled. Her words meant more than anyone else's, and she had the good sense to bring him around to common sense. Jane, after the coronation, had really, truly taken to heart her mother's wise words of advice, "Work on the inside, not on the outside."
"Besides, look at poor Dude." Jane waved a hand helplessly at the poor dog with his wagless tail. "He's like, heartbroken. If we don't help him, he'll be like this for the foreseeable future."
Carlos looked at his best dog friend and resolved to help him. He was the only thing standing between Dude and his future happiness. His dog needed him to get him out of a scrape, and he'd do everything in his power to help him. Carlos squeezed Jane's hand back. "Thanks, Jane," he said, giving her a kiss on the cheek before hopping up and thrusting a hand in a random direction, said, "Lead us to your lady love, Dude!"
Jane put a hand to where his kiss was and grinned to herself. Dude stood up and said, cocking his head in the opposite direction, "Uh, their house is that way, man."
"I meant for you to lead us," Carlos said, to hide his fumble.
Dude was instantly revived. "Perdy, I'm coming for ya!" He dashed off, his small legs lapping up the green grass; Carlos and Jane sped after him, almost outsped by the determined little dog.
The two Radcliffes' residence was a large manor with a thatched roof and long shutters. It was surrounded by a heavy wrought iron gate. Across its brick walls were several trailing, overgrown weeds. The entire vibe it gave off was 'We're homebodies/recluses. We're also not home. We don't like visitors. Go away.'
Carlos and Jane stood at its front gate doors. Their hands wrapped around the wrought iron as they peered into the small front yard. A tiny fountain bubbled over in one corner. Under the front windows were some neatly trimmed hedges. A brick walkway led up to the front door. Only a couple of strewn doggie toys gave any indication that human life lived within this manor's walls.
"So, do we just walk up to the front door or sneak in the back?" Carlos wondered aloud.
Jane looked alarmed. "Definitely front door."
Dude panted and whimpered as he banged his front paws against the gate. "Perdy! Perdy!" he called.
"Can't you get in the way you always do?" Carlos wondered, peering down at his dog.
"No. Once they found me talking to Perdy, they chased me out. I went back this morning. They'd found the hole I'd dug under the gate and filled it in with brick. Look." Dude scampered around the perimeter of the property, leading Carlos and Jane around to the backyard. "They've padded up the bottom of the gate all around with bricks. I can't dig entrances anywhere! I'm locked out!"
At the backyard was another iron door. Dude looked through the swirls and curlicues of the iron and saw the back door. A white face spotted with black dots peeked through the flap in the door. The little face lit up and she barked helplessly. She couldn't speak Human like Dude could, but even Carlos and Jane could tell that she was begging Dude to come be with her.
"I'm sorry, Perdy! I'm coming for ya, I swear!" Dude turned pathetically to Carlos. "She's too big to come through the doggy door anymore. Do something, man!"
"Okay, okay, we'll do something," Carlos said, waving his hands to calm down Dude. He turned to Jane. "Definitely front door? Not sneaking in?"
"Front door. Sneaking in's the villain way and they might totally not like that," Jane told him.
Carlos sighed but they three went around to the front, Dude calling after to Perdy, "We'll be right there, baby!"
The two iron doors opened ominously easily. Carlos and Jane shared a look that strengthened the other while not totally revealing how uneasy or scared they were. Dude ran up to the front door and slammed his paws repeatedly against it, hurting his paws as he knocked, but he didn't care. Carlos took a deep breath, and, approaching the door, whispered to himself, "You can do this." He knocked and inhaled and waited. He really wished his mother's past wouldn't come back to haunt him. Look where he was right now, though. He felt surrounded by ghosts of the past.
The door was opened by a very, very old maid. Her smooth grey hair was worn in a bun just out from under a little white cap. She narrowed her eyes at him as she asked in her accented voice, "Who might you be, young sir?"
Carlos gulped. He'd never met this woman before but somehow something in his memory triggered and he knew her name—she was the Nanny in the scary monster stories his mother told him at night instead of lullabies—"Um, hi, my name is Carlos, and I'm here to see Anthony and Rhonda Radcliffe."
Maybe Nanny's eyes were going; maybe she wasn't on the lookout for ill-intending visitors. Either way, she waved him in. "Well, come in, come in. I'll tell them you're here."
Jane curtsied on an inspiration. "Hello. I'm Jane, Fairy Godmother's daughter."
Nanny's eyes lit up with this news. "Oh, Fairy Godmother's daughter? My goodness! Auradon Prep is Anthony and Rhonda's alma mater! Oh, do come in."
"Nice in," Carlos whispered to Jane as they walked into the strange old house. Neither they nor Nanny noticed Dude bolting toward the kitchen.
Nanny led Carlos and Jane into the living room, full of old furniture and long curtains and a desk littered with papers and a typewriter. "Please, sit. I'll fetch the Radcliffes. Auradon Prep! My, my. . ." Nanny murmured to herself as she tiptoed away.
Carlos and Jane were silent for a couple moments. They listened to the sound of a ticking grandfather clock and waited impatiently for the Radcliffes. Carlos, never one to sit still for long, stood up and explored. He focused on several pictures of dogs dotting the fireplace mantel and the desk. One said in a corner of the frame "Pongo" and another "Perdita". "These are them," Carlos murmured to himself. It was all coming home to him. It was almost easier to pretend that all those stories your mother told you were just old stories, not memories, not of the past. These pictures cemented those stories as truths; they haunted him.
"Oh, you! You're back! How'd you get in here?! Scram, scram! Get away from Perdy!" Carlos was instantly startled away from the pictures and raced out of the room. He needed to find his dog. He stopped in the hall and listened for the voices. At the end of the hall, he heard dog whimpers and paws racing around a floor of tiles. He bolted to this room, the kitchen, and took two seconds to take in the scene before pouncing in himself.
In this kitchen, near the stove, was a large doggie bed full of blankets and pillows, with water and food dishes beside it. Laying in it was a very pregnant female Dalmatian, with a soft pink and black nose and a large pink bow in her hair. She wore a purple collar that read 'Perdy' on it. She looked on helplessly as a blonde-haired young woman raced around the kitchen after a dodging Dude, who recklessly escaped arrest by scampering into the tiniest corners and running between the woman's legs.
"Dude, Dude, come here!" Carlos yelled, joining the chase.
Dude recognized his master's voice and leapt into the boy's arms. He trembled but he barked fiercely at the blonde-haired woman, who stopped short with a gaping mouth as she stared at them. Carlos petted Dude, soothing him. When he looked up, he saw Rhonda Radcliffe point an accusing finger at him. "You're that boy from the telly, one of the Villain Kids. But I would've known you without that. You look just like her. . . You look like . . . like . . ."
"Cruella de Vil," Carlos finished for her, a little bitterness tainting his voice. "It's the family resemblance."
"You're . . . her son?" Rhonda stuttered.
Carlos put Dude down, then outstretched his arms, as if accepting her accusation with pride. "The one and only. I take it you're Rhonda Radcliffe."
Rhonda pointed at Dude, now nuzzling Perdy's face. "Is that . . . mutt . . . your dog?"
"Yes. Dude the mutt is my dog. Also, I'm pretty sure those are just as much his puppies as your dog's." Carlos squatted and waved a hand towards Perdy. She sniffed the air, as if searching for him. "Hi, Perdy. I'm Carlos. I've heard a lot about you."
Rhonda stepped in front of them, staring down sternly at him. "They aren't yours. They aren't your stupid mutt's." She scoffed. "Was this your plan this whole time?"
Jane by now had found the kitchen. She hung onto the doorway, listening to the conversation, and watched the speakers with anxious eyes. She saw confusion color Carlos's face. "My plan? What plan? I just found out about this today!"
"Oh, as if! I can see it all now. Your dog has puppies with my dog, so you can come and claim that they're half yours by birthright! No! I don't care to what measures your mother has taught you to do to get what you want! You de Vils have already wreaked enough havoc on our family! I don't know why you have such an obsession with just our dogs—maybe it's revenge, I don't know. But there's one thing I do know. They are not your puppies, you shall never touch them, and you and your mutt are never allowed on this property ever again!" Rhonda stood as a protective wall in front of her dog. Her resolute face held no hopeful hints of leniency.
Carlos looked at her, aghast. Anger accumulated in his face, wanted to break out in his voice, but he charged it away; he was not his mother. "We're not here to take your puppies," he said in a calm voice. "We're here to let the dad be with the mom with their kids."
Something in Rhonda's throat tightened. She wanted to speak, to send this villainous boy and whoever this girl was and their stupid dog away, far away from her house, and let her poor dog have peace hours before birth. She couldn't find the words, though. Something in the boy's voice, the sincerity in his eyes—either he was a master liar, an excellent deceiver taught at the knee by a mother bound on revenge and bursting with trickery—or he was telling the truth. It was the answer she wanted versus the answer she somehow knew in her heart to be true. She couldn't speak, because she didn't want to speak the truth, however simple this impossible truth was.
Just then Anthony came strolling in. He, like his sister, was just a few years older than Carlos and Jane. He took out his pipe and said, "What-o, what's all this?" Before Carlos or Rhonda could speak, Anthony noticed Jane and her pale face and recognized her family resemblance. "Oh, you must be Fairy Godmother's daughter. Nanny was telling me all about you. How's the old lady? Still as strict yet cheerful as in old schooldays?"
Jane produced an incredible smile considering how such anxious pieces she really was and shook his hand. "Yes, she is. Same as always, though maybe a little more lenient."
"Lucky you! What's your name, then?"
"Jane."
"Anthony Radcliffe, pleased to meet another of the 'new' generation. Tell me, how's life on campus? Still the same? Old mascot the knight and horse, tourney still the big game? I was never a sportsman—I was a school journalist, takin' after me dad. I heard you lot got a new campus mutt after the old one, Max, Jr., was taken home with Princess Melody after graduation. He was her dog, after all. Was there for four years. Anyway, who's the new one?"
Jane pointed a hand toward Dude and Perdy. "Over there."
Anthony's absentminded manner hadn't let him take in the full scope of the scene before now. He saw the campus mutt with his pregnant Dalmatian, and then his sister looking like she just yelled at a younger male version of Cruella de Vil.
"One sure misses a lot when one's upstairs," Anthony huffed. "What's this, then?" He walked over to the dogs and rubbed Dude behind the ears. "Hullo, old man. Looks like Perdy's your girl, right?"
"That dog is the one I found sneaking in and out of our yard, Anthony. He's the father!" Rhonda explained, folding her arms and tapping her foot impatiently on the kitchen tiles. "He's the dog of Cruella de Vil's son!"
Dude looked up truthfully at Anthony and said, ignoring the nice head rubs, "She's telling the truth, you know."
Anthony stopped a second. "He talks. Amazing!" Then he resumed his petting.
"Anthony, can you not hear me? Cruella de Vil's son's dog!" Rhonda hissed.
"Yeah, I heard you the first time, Rhonda." Anthony turned to Carlos, who stood still as a statue. "What's your full name?"
Carlos gulped but said, "Carlos de Vil."
"Huh. What's the dog's name?"
"Dude." Both Carlos and Dude said it at the same time.
Anthony chuckled. "Neat trick. Guess I coulda asked him that, eh?"
"Anthony, it's not a trick, it's magic! Cruella probably taught him it." Rhonda flashed eyes at Carlos.
"Actually it was an accident. Dude was never supposed to talk." Carlos walked over to Dude and gave him a look. "It would've saved us a lot of time and trouble if he'd just shut up."
Anthony laughed. "I bet."
Rhonda squirmed and thumped her foot impatiently as Carlos carefully reached out his hand and petted Perdy behind the ear. Encouraged by a warm smile from Anthony, Carlos found himself smiling as well. All his life he'd lived in mortal fear of someday encountering a dog. Dalmatians, of course, were the most terrifying of all. Petting sweet, pretty Perdy assured him once again that his mother had been so, so wrong about so many things.
Perdy appreciated the pets. She looked up at Rhonda with sad, pleading eyes.
Rhonda sighed, shaking her head as she looked away. When she looked back, both Anthony and Carlos stared up at her. That stupid mutt, too. All waiting. All asking silently with their eyes to let them be.
"Ach, fine! The mutt can stay with Perdy! But I'm watching you." Rhonda pointed a finger at Carlos before stalking out of the kitchen, muttering about people old Nanny let into the house.
Anthony nodded back to Rhonda. "Never mind her. She used to be terrified by stories of your mother as a kid, so I guess she's now scared of you. Perdy's the original Perdita and Pongo's granddaughter. She was the only one of her litter to survive; she's Rhonda's especial pet, and she's been paranoidly protective over her ever since."
Carlos thought about how protective he was of Dude, and nodded. He could understand that. "Mom used to tell me stories about dogs when I was a kid. She told me they were terrifying pack animals. Ever since I came to Auradon, I've learned that what my mom told me wasn't true. That dogs are pretty amazing." He rubbed Perdy behind the ears. "It's hard to think that I was terrified of Dalmatians. You're not scary; you're adorable!" Perdy wagged her tail at this.
Anthony finished with a pat on Dude's shoulder, and addressed Carlos. "I saw you on the telly during the coronation. I don't believe you're a bad kid, not a mite. I knew that Rhonda wanted to find Perdy's mate, and locked him out when she found him a mutt. I'm awful glad you brought him back, for Perdy's sake. Rhonda, she's not a bad person. She's just scared and paranoid, you know?"
Carlos nodded. "I know."
"I don't mind you comin' 'round here to see Perdy. Dude can come over here all he likes."
"Can't. There are bricks all around the fence," Dude spoke up.
"Huh. That's what Rhonda was doin' out in the garden this mornin'. I'll move 'em. Really, feel free to come over any ol' time, and maybe pop in to my study for a chat now and then. I'm not near as interesting as the dogs, but I'd love to have a good ol' news update 'bout what's happenin' 'round campus." Anthony lifted his pipe to Jane. "You too! I always enjoy a good story about pranks and such to rouse your poor mum!"
Jane laughed, and Anthony clapped a hand on Carlos's shoulder. "You watch out for Rhonda. She'll come 'round." He stood up and walked out, whistling as he dragged on his pipe.
Jane squatted down next to Carlos and petted Dude. Dude looked at her and Carlos with shining eyes, "Thanks you guys; I never could've done this without you!"
Carlos felt relief as Perdy looked at him gratefully. He'd gotten past his old fear of his mother's past coming back to haunt him, and faced the Radcliffes. Not a bad outcome, really. Dude could come over whenever he wanted (and he could too, and he just might, actually) and would be here when the puppies came. "You're welcome, bud. Next time, though, no big secrets! Seriously! I, as your owner, would happen to like to know if you're going to be a dad or not!"
"All right, I guess I won't keep secrets anymore. You get why I did, though, don't 'cha?"
"I guess I do." Carlos shrugged.
"I'll let you know the moment the puppies are about to be born. I'll drag you by the jacket sleeve outta class if I have to!"
"I wouldn't go that far, but thanks anyway, Dude," Carlos said. He sprawled on the floor when Dude suddenly jumped up from the doggie bed beside Perdy and leapt onto Carlos, licking his face and covering him with slobbery doggie kisses.
Carlos and Jane walked out hand-in-hand, a rather pleasant ending they hadn't expected when they'd first stepped through wrought iron gates. They left Dude snuggling by Perdy's side, with the back door slightly ajar so he could run back to Carlos's dorm. Anthony had seen them off with a promise that the bricks would be gone by tomorrow morning. Rhonda brooded on the couch while Anthony pushed aside the heavy curtains and waved to the two kids as they walked down the street towards campus.
"Well, I'm glad that's over," Carlos said, wiping sweat off his brow.
"I'm glad it ended well, with no fighting or bickering or sudden sword duels or anything," Jane said.
"Hey," Carlos said, making her look up, "thanks for coming with me. I couldn't have done it without you."
Jane smiled and they walked silently ahead for a few minutes, stupid, permanent grins on their faces. Then Carlos said, still sounding almost dumbstruck, "Dude's a dad?!"
"Dude's a dad," Jane said, a confirmation of the fact.
"Dude's a dad?"
"Dude's a dad."
They walked back to Auradon Prep at a leisurely pace, their conversation these same three words, Carlos always asking, just to make sure, and Jane always, almost laughing, confirming these words as the truth.
I wanted to delve more into the characters surrounding Carlos's story, seeing as Mal met Sleeping Beauty's grandmother and daughter in the first one. Also, I liked the humor of this story idea, lol.
Thanks for reading! Review?