Chapter Eleven: Hashtag King Daddy.

The moment Mal realized that Ben had Bree, and had called himself Dada, she knew what was going to happen. Ben had just ruined their reputations, and now everyone was going to know that she was a coward hiding away in Arendelle. She could already feel everyone's eyes on her as she eased her daughter out of Ben's arms, hear the click of a thousand cameras. It was just like right before she had left, everyone watching her, everyone judging her, everyone waiting for her to mess up.

Now they had it. Mal a teenage mom, Mal not being able to keep her child from running around unsupervised in a crowded park. Mal the woman who undid King Ben. She had to leave, and she had to leave now before things got worse.

She took Bree into her arms, mouthed a sorry to Ben, and teleported back to the others, grabbed the stroller and teleported home.

…

It took an hour to clear things up with the press, and Mal was long gone by the time he finally was able to go looking for her.

Carlos shook his head, "She disappeared next to you in a puff of smoke, reappeared next to me, and then just disappeared with the girls. I think she might have gone home."

Ben nodded, grabbing his phone out of his pocket and dialing the number he had memorized so long ago, maybe this time she'll pick up, or at least listen to the voicemail.

"Hey, you've reached Mal, I'm busy plotting so leave a message."

At least Mal had personalized her voicemail with something that was totally her and not some generic princess thing like she had before she left, "Hi Mal it's Ben, I'm taking it you don't have service where you're at, so I'll make this quick. You can hide like you have been, or you can show those anti VK's that those from the Isle of the Lost are tougher than they thought and can't be scared away. If they think they won with you, they'll attack other VKs. You don't want that do you?"

…

Mal played the message for the fifteenth time, why did Ben have to be right. Why, just why?

She glanced at the sleeping figures of her girls, after the long day they had had, they were exhausted, nodding off as Mal had bathed them and zipped them into pajamas. They had all been asleep before she could finish their bedtime story.

The creaking of the front door pulled her out of her thoughts. The front door was locked, she had made sure of that when she had first got here, and the only person with a key besides herself was Ben. Ben, who probably was in the middle of a press conference that her daughter had triggered. Probably trying to explain, fruitlessly, that Bree was not his daughter. And it was all her fault.

"Mal!" a voice called out, up the stairs, "I bought your van back."

Mal grimaced, she honestly thought that Ben would be swamped by the press still.

"Look, I know that I can't force you to do anything," Ben insisted, "But you're letting the Anti VK movement win hiding here. If they think that they can drive you away, they'll do it to Jay, Evie, and Carlos, and any other kids we bring over."

Mal slumped against the door to her bedroom, listening to Ben talking, he was right of course, she wasn't weak, she was strong, she grew up on the Isle of the Lost. More importantly, she survived growing up on the Isle of the Lost, not everyone could say that.

Ben waited, but there was no sound up above, she might have gone to bed already, "I'll see you tomorrow," he insisted, "And don't worry about the press. They were more interested in whether or not I was dating you, and if Bree would receive any royal titles. 'Though what they are going to say when they learn about the others is beyond me."

There was still no response, so Ben sighed, "If you need anything, anything at all, I'm just a phone call away, okay?"

Ben glanced once more up the stairs before turning around and locking the door behind him.

…

"I can't believe that I'm doing this," Mal thought aloud as she finished buckling the girls into their carseats, but Ben had been right, she couldn't let the anti VK's win and if that meant facing the press again, so be it.

"Mama sad?" Adelle asked, peering up at her mother with wide hazel eyes.

"Mama's nervous," Mal corrected, ruffling her hair, "A lot of people know that I'm here now, and they will want to talk to me and I don't really want to talk to them."

Adelle just looked at her with confused eyes, reminding her that Adelle was only fourteen months old, despite how smart she seemed there were somethings she still didn't understand.

"See Dada?" Bree asked.

"Yeah, we'll probably see Dada, and Aunt Evie and Uncle Carlos," Mal said. She hadn't seen Jay at all yesterday, but then again she had left early and it was rather crowded.

Finding parking near the fairgrounds was near impossible, but she soon found a spot in an underground parking garage. She had hardly parked and was in the process of pulling out the stroller when a deep voice behind her called out her name.

Mal stiffened, for about a second, she recognized that voice, "Jay?"

Jay chuckled, reaching up from behind Mal and lifting the stroller down to the ground, "Yeah, I watched the Tree lighting ceremony last night. Have to admit, cute kid."

"Where is she?" a new voice added, as Lonnie appeared, "We drive all night to get here," she confessed, "Is she in the van?" Lonnie asked, yanking open the door. She paused, glancing at Mal in surprise, "They're so cute, Jay she has five!"

Jay gave Mal a look of surprise, but Mal just shrugged, "I had quints, it was one of the reasons I left."

"Well I'm here to tell you not to worry about the press or anything, I'll steal their mikes and cameras if I have to."

Mal chuckled, allowing herself to briefly relax into him, "I'm sure you were."

"Yeah, and anyone who so much as looks at you funny is going to receive a knuckle sandwich."

Lonnie chuckled, "We weren't even planning on coming this year, but the moment he saw you on the television, he insisted."

"Someone needs to keep you out of trouble," Jay insisted, "And just remember, you don't have to do anything you don't want to, I'll stand by your side no matter what, even if you decide to stay here in Arendelle."

Mal nodded as she carefully buckled the girls into the stroller, making sure that Bree was in the back so that it would be harder for her to escape. However, Lonnie suddenly jumped out of nowhere and grabbed the stroller, as Jay placed a gentle hand on Mal's back.

"We've got this," he insisted.

Out of the garage there was a group of people standing at the table next to a sign that read "Sleigh Stop".

"Only in Arendelle," Mal muttered, shaking her head.

"Only during the winter fair," Lonnie added, "It's one of the attractions."

Mal nodded as Chelsea suddenly strained against her belt, "Dada!" she exclaimed, waving her hands as high up in the air as she could.

Ben chuckled, "I see you took my advice," he announced, scooping Chelsea up, and giving her a quick peck on the cheek. A soft click could be heard, but when he turned to look at who it was, he couldn't see anyone with a camera.

"They are adorable Mal," Lonnie insisted from where she was crouched next to the stroller playing peek-a-boo with Bree and Mae who squealed in laughter.

"Yeah," a voice said from somewhere in the crowd, "It's amazing that the kids she used to destroy Ben are so cute, tell me was it part of the plan all along."

"Audrey," Ben called out, glaring in the direction of the voice, "I suggest that you watch what you say, because your whole family is under suspicion right now."

"What," the princess exclaimed, "Why?"

"Chad used Iron Rope on me," Mal insisted, "Just like your grandfather used Iron on my mother. You can't blame us for noticing the similarities."

"Mal," Aurora exclaimed, placing a hand on her daughter to silence her. However, whatever the princess was about to say was cut off by the arrival of Kristoff and Sven pulling a large wagon.

He smiled as he pulled to a stop, and jumped down to help everyone on board. When Kristoff got to Mal and her girls, he smiled, "Don't let Anna get her hands on them," he advised, "She loves babies."

They soon settled into their seats and Ben steaded Mae who was clinging to the edge of the sleigh watching the buildings move past. When suddenly there was a ding on his phone from social media, he pulled out the phone and looked at it, "Ben with Mal's daughter," it read, before showing a picture of Ben greeting Chelsea that morning, "#King Daddy."