Something was wrong, Mal was cold, and the bed seemed too big, too empty, too high off the ground. She sat up in a panic. "The babies!" She gasped out, throwing the thick warm blankets she was wrapped in off.

She was out the door before she even remembered where she was. She blinked in confusion, she was at Ben's place, in Auradon.

"Is everything alright Miss Mal?" A servant asked, arching an eyebrow at her.

"The girls?" She asked, "They've never slept in their own room before. What if they wake up and get scared because I wasn't there?"

The servant almost chuckled, "The children woke up about an hour ago. They have been changed, fed, and dressed for the day."

"Why didn't you wake me!" Mal almost shouted, "I'm their mother."

"I'm sorry Miss, but His Majesty made it quite clear that you were not to be disturbed this morning."

"Well," Mal said softly, "If King Benjamin ordered it then…" She took a deep breath, curling a hand into a fist, "If it involves my daughters, I would appreciate it if you would come to me first."

"Of course, Miss, I'll let the others know, would you like to be shown the playroom?"

The playroom was huge, and the girls were busy running from one side of the room to the other, pulling out toys from every box, chest, and cupboard they could find.

Bree was the first to spot her, "Mama!" She called out, racing over to her with arms spread wide, her sisters quickly following suit.

Mal laughed as the girls pulled her inside, showing her all the treasures that they had discovered.

Mal had a strange feeling that all of the dolls and doll strollers weren't left overs from Ben's childhood.

She wasn't sure how long she spent playing with the girls when she heard a soft chuckle from behind her, "Who would have thought that the daughter of Maleficent would get down on the floor to play with toddlers."

"Who would have thought that the son of Cinderella and Prince Charming could be evil, and the daughter of Maleficent and Hades could be good?"

"I did," Ben pointed out, "I knew that if you were just given a chance you would totally choose good."

"Yeah," Mal agreed, "Glad we changed my mind. So what are the plans for today?"

"Today is Christmas Eve," Ben explained, "There's a big Christmas Party tonight, and Mom's wondering if there's any family traditions that you want to do."

"We didn't celebrate Christmas on the Isle, Ben. We covered that before."

"Yes, well, I figured you might have done something for Christmas last year, with the girls?"

"I didn't celebrate Christmas last year," Mal confessed, "I didn't have money for gifts, and no one to give them to. Besides, we were all pretty sick."

"You were sick, Mal?"

Mal shrugged, "I was mostly exhausted, I was only getting half an hour of sleep tending to the babies. They were only two months old, you know."

"Well then we're going to have to make this the best Christmas ever," Been announced, "We'll need fun food, little snacks for them, games aimed for their age group, and presents, lots and lots of presents."

"What! Ben, you don't have to do that, I've seen the nursery, and these toys aren't second hand," Mal picked up a small baby doll and held it up to Ben, "your father's already buying a jungle gym for the girls. Honestly the girls have more than enough."

"That is what Dad got them, the playroom and nursery was my mom, now I need to know what you want."

"I don't need anything," Mal insisted.

"Are you sure, anything at all," Ben offered.

"You just bought me a van, stroller and carseats," Mal pointed out, "That's more than you should have spent on me at all."

"Those were things that you needed, now what are some things that you want?"

"Want is something we don't do on the Isle," Mal explained, "We barely could get our needs met. We didn't get any wants."

"Well, what about your art, is there anything you need for it? Paint, easels, canvases, anything?"

"I don't need anything," Mal insisted, "But art supplies and stuff for the girls are always appreciated."

"Great," Ben said, typing something into his phone, "So do you and the girls have party dresses for the party tonight?"

"No we don't, we haven't attended many parties while in hiding."

"Right, don't worry I'll find something."

…

Mal had been surprised at first when Ben had showed up an hour after talking to her with a dark purple party dress. It wasn't something that she was expecting. After all, dark purple wasn't a popular color in Auradon. Or at least it hadn't been one when she left. She took it in her hand reverently and checked the tag, arching an eyebrow, "How in the world did Evie have time to make this?" she demanded, "It isn't something she had made up for me before I disappeared. I don't recognize it, and besides it isn't the color scheme I was using at that time."

"I think Evie made you two dresses for cotillion, the blue and yellow one that you insisted on, and a purple one that was more you than your chosen dress."

Mal grimaced, "I was trying to blend in more," she confessed, "But you know that."

"Shall we see if the dress still fits?" Ben asked, "It's made out of your old measurements, and Evie was worried that it wouldn't fit right."

"It might be a little bit tight, but I'm sure that we can make it work," Mal insisted, "Thanks Ben."

…

The dress was a little bit on the tight side, but it wasn't so uncomfortable that Mal couldn't wear it, and finding dresses for the girls had been easy enough. Ben had found five identical dresses at a local child boutique. They were red with fuzzy white trim, which Mal suspected wouldn't stay white for long.

"Yuck," Mae announced, holding up her dress while pulling a face.

"Sorry Mae," Mal said with a sigh as she pulled the dress over the protesting toddler's head, "Just for tonight, okay?"

"Mama!" Bree cried out banging into a low table, her dress stuck on her head.

Mal blinked, since when had Bree figured out dressing herself, well, sort of, she still had her clothes on, "Oh Bree, come here," she called out, helping the little girl with her wardrobe problem.

Hadley was difficult to get dressed mainly because every time you got close to her with the dress her hair burst into flames. As difficult as it was to dress Hadley, Adele was easy, sitting perfectly still while getting dressed and even while doing her hair. Chelsea had gotten dressed fairly easily, but then had immediately spilt grape juice down the front of her dress.

Ben knocked on the door just as Mal was cleaning up the mess, trying to do it without magic, since she knew that Beast was uncomfortable with all forms of magic. Even as harmless as a spell that removed grape juice stains.

"You ready to go?" Ben asked, before noticing the large stain on the front of Chelsea's dress, "Why did you give her grape juice in her dress?" he asked.

"I didn't," Mal insisted, "I didn't give her anything to drink. She must have magicked it up herself."

"Oh," Ben said, "Don't you have a spell or something to clean it up with?"

"Yes, of course, but magic is frowned upon here in Auradon, remember, that was what our big fight was about, me using magic."

"No," Ben insisted, "We argued because you were lying to me."

"I never lied to you, I just never told you what was really going on."

"You actively spelled me, Evie, Carlos, and Jay."

Mal muttered something underneath her breath, cleaning up the stain in an instant, before glancing at Ben, "Look, I know that I didn't handle that situation very well, but you have to understand my point of view, I'm from the Isle of the Lost. We don't ask for help, and we don't admit that we're weak."

"I should have considered your background instead of yelling at you about how things are different here."

"Let's just leave this in the past, please," Mal pleaded, "It's over with, you're dealing with it, and I'm back, that's all there is to it."

Ben sighed, "You're right," he admitted, "But it doesn't mean that I don't feel guilty about what happened."

"Don't be, it was my fault, Ben, I should have told you," Mal insisted, scooping up the nearest toddler, in this case it was Hadley, "You've more than dealt with it you know, Ben. All we really need is time to heal now," she insisted, "And that includes you."

Ben nodded, scooping Bree up, "Great let's go."

…

The party was loud and crowded, and Mal was rather uncomfortable, even with Ben next to her.

"You okay?" he whispered, nudging her softly.

"Everyone's looking at me," she murmured as Chelsea and Bree appeared, each holding up a candy cane, pleased looks on their faces before they ran off again with a squeal. Mal sighed, "I am never going to put them down tonight," she sighed.

Ben chuckled, "Get used to it, Christmas Eve is one of those nights that bedtimes don't apply."

"Great," she groaned, "Where are the girls anyway? Your father stole them away as soon as we walked into the ballroom."

"Don't worry we have several servants assigned to keep an eye on the girls, and we have a mini party set up in one of the smaller rooms for younger kids."

"Well, they aren't doing a very good job, seeing as Chelsea and Bree found us."

"Need I remind you that you lost Bree twice?"

Mal pulled a face at Ben, who chuckled, pulling her closer, "Audrey is headed this way," he hissed, "So we'll dance off this way."

Mal had never really waltz before but she allowed Ben to sweep her off her feet, grinning as she saw Audrey's face as they danced past her.

The music finally came to an end, and Ben drew them to a stop underneath a mistletoe.

It was at this moment that a servant approached them, "Excuse me, Mal, your daughter, the one with purple hair, has fallen asleep, would you like us to put her down in the nursery for you?"

"Could you?" Mal asked, she was actually really enjoying herself and didn't want to have to leave the party now that everyone had stopped staring at her, "And take the other girls up too."

"No problem Miss," the servant insisted.

"You know, I think I can get used to having servants around," Mal said, "Though it does make me feel bad. You've done so much for me and the girls the past few days and I have no way of repaying you."

Ben smiled, "Don't you get it, Mal, the only thing I ever wanted for Christmas was for you to come home."

Mal smiled, leaning forward and giving him a quick peck on the lips, "That's what you're supposed to do under the mistletoe right?"

"Right."