Family Maintenance

Author's Note

I just thought I'd update FM as well. Updates are no longer going to be every weekend since a girl is officially on summer break (woohoo!) and will be much more frequent! There's fluff in this chapter as compensation for the next one... Um, all I can say is my apologies in advance. ENJOY THE ELEVENTH CHAPTER OF FAMILY MAINTENANCE!

Leave those reviews, they make me smile!

It had been a few weeks since Mal revealed it all to Ben and he had been even more attentive to the two of them, a bit like an overbearing mother hen. Akiho and Emir kept calling him out on it, which always made Mal laugh, but Ben knew she was grateful inside.

And that was why he was standing in her dorm room, trying to calm her nerves while Evie chased an energy-filled Este around the room to put on her dress.

"Family Day is a really calm event, don't worry, Mal," Ben murmured, bumping her shoulder gently with his. "Everyone will play nice since there are cameras everywhere." he added and Mal whacked his arm lightly.

"That's not what I'm worried about." she said softly, glancing at Este, who was laughing at Evie.

Ben softened at her quiet tone and he squeezed her shoulder, giving her a small smile. "Hey, it'll be fine, you'll see. It'll be fun-"

He was cut off when Este shrieked, running between the two of them and hiding behind Mal's leg, clinging to her mother and sticking her tongue out at Evie, who huffed in exasperation.

"I still have to get dressed," the blue-haired girl muttered as she shoved the purple dress into Ben's hands. "Here, put this on her. You guys can go ahead, Doug said he'll come pick me up and we'll meet you guys there."

Evie disappeared into the bathroom and Ben coaxed Este to let go of her mother. She gave him a toothy grin, raising her arms up so he could slip the dress onto her tiny frame. His eyebrows furrowed at the ribbon in the back and Mal smiled at him, removing his hands gently and showing him how to tie it into a neat bow.

He wasn't really paying attention to that part, though. Her hands on his felt nice. He'd like to hold her hand.

His thoughts were put on hold as Este grabbed Cuddles from off the bed, laughing loudly as she did, her ruffled skirt flouncing as she jumped around.

"Okay, ready to go, baby girl?" Mal hummed as she brushed a loose strand of hair from Este's face, pulling lightly on one of her daughter's pigtails. Este giggled as Ben scooped her up and was about to buckle her into the stroller when she yelled.

"Wait! Mama, where are my wings?"

Mal fished out the purple dress-up wings that Lonnie had gotten for her from Este's toybox and wiggled the straps onto the little girl. "Here you are, baby."

Este laughed when she bounced up and down in her seat, making the wings flounce behind her, while Ben finished tying her shoes.

"Ready to go now?"

"Yeah, Ben!" Este paused, her face wrinkling in confusion. "Wait, where we goin'?"

"Family Day! Remember I told you? We're going to meet lots of people there."

"Wha's Fam'ly Day?"

"It's a special event," Ben explained as they headed out the dorm room, Mal pushing the stroller alongside Ben. "Everyone's mommies and daddies come to visit."

"My mama's right here!" Este pointed at Mal, whose smile grew wider, and Ben chuckled.

"Yes, she is. You're going to meet my mom, too, she's really excited to meet you. She's the one who sent you all your new toys, remember?"

Este tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Can I ask her for mo'?"

"Este…"

Ben chuckle grew louder as Mal just shook her head. She squinted as they stepped out into the courtyard, the sun blinding down on them. "You all are spoiling my child rotten."

"But, Mal, look at her face!" Ben exclaimed, gesturing to Este, and as if on cue, she grinned, puffing her cheeks out, and giving her mother puppy-dog eyes. Mal rolled her eyes, pinching Este's cheek gently.

"You two are crazy."

"But we're cute." Ben said, wiggling his eyebrows and Mal laughed, shaking her head again while Este babbled happily to Cuddles.

As they approached the lawn, Este lost interest in her bear, gasping in wonder at the decorations, blue and gold banners decorating the tops of the gazebos and flower arrangements on all the circular tables. Her eyes widened at the chocolate fountain at the buffet table and she started whining, tugging on Ben's hand.

"Ben! Look!"

Ben glanced at Mal for permission and after her eyes darted quickly around the lawn, she nodded and Ben picked Este up from the stroller, carrying her to the chocolate fountain while Mal parked the stroller at an empty table.

Soon, Ben came back with a plate of chocolate-covered strawberries in his free hand, followed by Akiho and Emir, who were drinking cups of lemonade.

"Baby, you have chocolate all over your face."

"Is yummy, mama! And Ben says you can put it on the sta'bewwies." Este demonstrated by shoving one in her mouth and Mal laughed, swiping a napkin across her face.

"You can put it on bananas, too." Emir said and Este made a face.

"I don't like bananas, Emir!"

Emir feigned offendance, bringing a hand to his chest. "Excuse me, what? You don't like bananas?"

"They're fo' monkeys! I'm not a monkey!"

"Oh, you're not? Well, what are you then?" Ben chuckled as he placed his hands on the back of Mal's seat, his fingers brushing against her back and she shivered, trying to keep her attention on Este.

"I'm an Este!" she said proudly and they burst out laughing, Akiho almost choking on his drink.

"Oh, hey! Este, have you tried lemonade?" When she shook her head no, he grinned. "Here, you can have some of mine." Akiho offered her his cup and she took a sip, her eyes widening, and she grabbed the cup, drinking the rest of it.

Mal shot him an apologetic look as Ben and Emir laughed at the loss of his drink. "Well then! I'm going to go get more, then go find my family. They just got here. I'll see you guys later."

"I'm going to go find my family, too, before my mom makes Rajah hunt me down." Emir booped Este's nose before also waving and leaving and Mal looked up at Ben as Este crawled into her lap.

"You should go spend time with your mom and dad." she murmured and Ben smiled, taking his chance to invite her to come with him.

"You should meet them! Come on, mom's dying to meet Este anyways."

Mal hesitated for a second before grabbing his hand and letting him help her up, shifting Este so she could hold her carefully. "What about the others?"

"I saw Carlos talking to Anita and Roger. And Emir's got Jay," Ben paused at Mal's worried expression and he smiled at her. "Don't worry, Mal."

"Yeah, mama! Don't wo'wy!" Este chimed and Mal chuckled.

"Okay, okay," Mal put on a show of setting her face into an amused expression. "See, I'm not worrying!"

Este giggled as Ben led the two over to a table set a little farther away, in the shade of a white tent. He peered through the flaps before ushering Mal and Este inside, where Belle and Adam were sitting.

"Ben! I was wondering where you were! I thought Leah had you on her warpath, she approached us again about your breaking up with her, Gods, she's quite annoying," Belle exclaimed as she stood up and kissed her son's cheek. "I was hoping.." Her kind eyes flitted to Mal and Este and she squealed.

"Oh, you did bring them! Goodness, she's adorable! Hi, little one!" Belle cooed at Este, who shyly buried her face in Mal's neck, the wings tickling Mal's face.

"Um.. Hi, Your.. Highness?" Mal greeted hesitantly and Belle waved her off.

"No need for formalities, Mal.. It's Mal, right? Your little one is just adorable! I had a bunch of girls' things from when people thought Ben was going to be a girl and I figured you'd be able to use them, they've just been collecting dust in the attic!" Belle chatted cheerfully and Mal blinked, a little overwhelmed at how easily Belle was just talking to her.

Adam chuckled at his wife's antics as he approached them, waving at Este. "Ben's been going on and on about Este and Belle's been excited to meet her. We're very happy to see that Ben's helping you guys out." Adam said, almost in a strained voice, and Ben resisted the urge to scoff.

Was he really happy about it? Adam was the one who refused his proclamation at first and the one who came up with the idea of the database, after all.

But as Este got comfortable, she started to babble away, showing off her wings, making Mal's cheeks flush with a slight embarrassment, and Adam's gaze and tone as he spoke softened, taking one more like Belle's.

Ben smirked at the realization that Adam was warming up to Mal because of Este. He knew the little girl was irresistible, her naive demeanor making one fall under her spell of adorableness, and it was working on Adam.

Mal's phone pinged and she glanced at it, smiling as Este squirmed onto the ground. "Um, Evie… One of my friends. She just texted and said she's here."

"Auntie Veevee!" Este cheered, hopping around excitedly and Belle laughed.

"Well then, we'd love to meet all of you, wouldn't we, Adam? I've to be honest, I was... A little reluctant at first, but second chances are always important. Oh, you two are just so sweet. Have you eaten something already?" Belle continued to ramble as she gently led Mal away, Este skipping ahead in front of them.

"She's sweet, son." Adam said after a minute of silence and Ben grinned.

"She is, isn't she? Mal's really nice once you get to know her."

Adam let the corners of his mouth turn up. "I meant Este, but Mal is very nice, too. She's quiet, isn't she?"

Ben shrugged. "Not everyone is as talkative. Este makes up for it."

Adam chuckled. "She reminds me a lot of when you were her age. Always had your nose in a book, but you'd talk so much when you were done."

Ben scratched the back of his neck as his ears turned red and Adam laughed. "Come on, son. Let's see if your mother's bored those two girls with her ramblings." He clapped a hand on Ben's shoulder and steered him outside the tent and Ben let himself relax.

His parents, especially Belle, seemed to have warmed up to Mal, with a bit of help from Este. And everyone else had smiled and cooed at how cute Este was outside and when they emerged from the tent, Ben saw Este chasing Akiho down on Emir's shoulders, all of them shouting while their parents watched and laughed and cheered them on.

Carlos had gotten over his fear of dogs and he and Dude, the campus mutt, became best friends, and now, Carlos let Dude chase after Akiho, too, as Mal introduced Evie and Jay to Belle.

It was going well.

So well! This is what he had wanted, for both Auradon people and Islanders to get along nicely.

It was going so well.

So far.