You're doing it again," Ben whispered as he hovered over the limp body of his wife, Mal. She laid on the soft tufts of grass outside the palace garden that her mother and law so enjoyed, staring up at the cloudless sky with her arms extended out like a cross. She exhaled, her train of thought being so rudely pulled to a stop by her overbearing husband.

"Doing what?" she murmured, closing her eyes. Although she was fully aware of what he was talking about now.

Ben laid down beside his wife with a stifled grunt. His back had been hurting from all those hours hunched over paperwork and sitting through boring meetings. He crossed his arms over his chest as he peered at Mal out of the corner of his eye. "Overthinking,' he replied.

"I like thinking," Mal said. It was true. The thinking was like an escape from her reality. The reality in which she is a Queen to a kingdom that hasn't yet learned to trust her even though she had been here since the age of sixteen. Sometimes she wished she could just kidnap Ben and run somewhere far, far away. But she couldn't do that to him, but she couldn't leave him either. She needed him. But she'd much sooner scratch Dude's butt than ever admit that to him.

Ben shrugged. "Don't get me wrong, thinking is good. But I worry about you sometimes."

A faint smile tugged at her lips. "I can take care of myself your highness."

"Obviously," Ben rolled his eyes. "But the scan is tomorrow. Are you worried?"

Mal thought about how she would answer. She had never been afraid of anything before, ever. And she wasn't afraid of the scan at the hospital tomorrow. But maybe she was a bit worried about it. Last week Mal had been rushed to the hospital after collapsing like a rag doll in the library. She began seizing which alerted Lumiere, who had nearly had himself a heart attack on the spot. They assumed Mal had just collapsed from exhaustion but other doctors suspected something...worse. The scan would figure it all out.

"Perhpas a little bit," she admitted. She didn't want to mention all the sleepless nights hovering over the bathtub with the notion that she was going to empty her stomach out into the warm water below. "Are you?"

"Of course," Ben said instantly. "I don't want anything bad to happen to you."

"Ditto to that."

"I don't know if I mentioned this," Ben grinned, "but I'm in love with you."

A light blush warmed Mal's cheeks and she didn't try to hide it. It would be of no use. "You flatter me."

"Also, did I mention that your son has been waiting to finger paint with you all day?" Ben asked, referring to their five-year-old son, Ryan who was obsessed with anything that could make a mess.

"I told him to wait," Mal sighed. "I hadn't been feeling so hot this morning."

"Do you need me to take you to a doctor?" Ben's protective side was immediately back in a flash.

Mal laughed. "I think I'll be fine. But you are right." She reluctantly pushed herself off the grass that ticked her bare feet. "I have to go dip my hands in a bunch of paint in order to entertain our very artistic son."

"I detect a drop of sarcasm," ben pointed out. "Just make sure not to get any paint in your hair this time."

Mal wrinkled her nose. Her hair had grown significantly longer over time. It reached almost to her waist and its shade of purple had darkened quite a bit. Mal had gotten a strand of grey hair in the front a little early due to the stress of running a Kingdom. But Ben thought it just made her even more beautiful.

She left Ben to bask in the warm rays of the sun while she snuck into the back entrance of the castle. She made her way straight to the second floor where her son's Bedroom was. When she opened the door he was already sitting crossed leg on his race car rug with the containers of pain spread out neatly on the floor. He smiled at Mal when she entered.

"There you are mommy," he beamed. "I saved you a spot!' He patted the bare spot on the floor next to him.

"Well don't mind if I do!" Mal sat down crossed leg next to her brown-haired son. He was a bit of a surprise. Mal never envisioned herself being a mother. It was far from her mind and at the time she thought it was far out of her capabilities. But when he showed up Mal just didn't know what to do. All her fear evaporated in the hospital room as she sobbed over his pink, wrinkling body. She wouldn't trade him for a million strawberries. "What are we painting today?" she asked.

"Ummm." Ryan shrugged. "I don't know."

Mal smirked. "Well, how about a brave knight?" Her son loved those incredibly pathetic stories Ben tells him at night about the brave knight who captured the heart of the princess.

"Ok!" Ryan dipped his fingers in the blue paint and slathered it over his little canvas sloppily. Mal smiled as she dipped her finger in some paint and smeared it over her own white canvas.

As Mal was painting something had come over her like a soft wave by the surf of the beach. A wave of dizziness and sickness came over her. But not like the usual sickness. This one was different...it felt exactly like the time she had-

"Ben!" Mal called suddenly freezing. "Ben!"

"Mommy?"

Her muscles seized and her thoughts started to crumble like a castle of sand. Her vision blurred and she just only see the polished shoes of her husband entering the room. He was real quiet, and in the blink of an eye, her head was in his lap as her body seemed to move on its own. She stared dumbly at the other side of her son's bedroom. Where was her son? They had been painting, and now the world was sideways. She closed her eyes and inhaled Ben's scent. Then...nothing.