Chapter Eight

A/N: I do not own anything other than my OCs when they come out to play. Everything else belongs to either Disney or the Greek Myths!

*waves* hello! Yes I know, I'm posting slightly out of order but I've decided to do a new thing in terms of my uploads. Instead of waiting to post each update for Truth or Fiction, Choosing Life, Half and Half, and Small Twists of Fate, I'll be following my muse. Why? Because waiting seems to kill my chapter ideas nine times out of ten and I'd rather you guys not have to wait too long for the ideas to come back. :D

So to make a long story short: yes those stories will still be updated, the update cycle just won't be in affect (until I at some point end up changing it again lol) :D

Side note, can I just say how insane it is that we're only eight chapters in and we're already over 100 reviews? Thank you all so much for your support on this story! I know I probably sound like a broken record but it truly does mean the world to me! :D

Oh, and yes, I did borrow a bit from Uma's Wicked Book for Villain Kids for some of the stuff near the end of the chapter. The supplemental books may make me question canon a bit but they sure do help in terms of supplementing my own writing!

Marcus Emrys: I can definitely see that as a Huma thing! And yeah, no matter what universe, Harry will propose through sparring!

Katt Kiki: I'm so glad you liked it! :D

danifan3000: Yeah I can see Maddy and Zevon's kid spending more time with his aunt Yzla rather than being around his mom or dad.

AmethystDragon14: Oh yay! :D And yeah how could you not love Huma? They deserve so much love (side eyes Kenny Ortega for not giving a canon kiss). Yeah I'm half on Uma's side too but like you said, at least he's got Yzla! :D

OceanBlueSeaEyes: It definitely took them long enough! :D

Anonymous Reader: Yeah Harry took a while but he finally got out of his denial and popped the question! I'm so glad you enjoyed it! :D

twilightgirl587: I think Huma kids are in the cards for them! :D

61394: Oh I'm so glad you enjoyed it! Yeah I know Uma's the captain of her ship but she'd want her family with her (or at least the family she liked aka Hades, Steph, Mal…). And yeah like Uncle like niece lol :D

LotusQuil: Trust me, it took some effort to make sure that chapter didn't turn out to be an exact copy of The Last Bridge so I'm glad you liked it!

Hufflepuff24: They really are! :D

slytherin4thewin: Oh I'm so glad you're enjoying it! Hope you continue to enjoy what's coming up! :D

IWantColouredRain: It's probably my second favorite ship—Bal being my first :D

Hope you guys enjoy the chapter! Let me know what you think! :D

"You ever think this would be where our lives would end up?"

Mal looked over at Uma who was looking at her engagement ring, her hand lifted to the ceiling so that it was right over her face. Both girls had commandeered a guest room and were having what would have been called a sleep over by anyone but them.

To them, it was just tradition. There was hardly a night where Uma and Mal weren't curled up under what scraps of sheets they could find in their clubhouse, or in their beds in the Underworld after Mal found out that her dad was her dad.

Even once both of them were in Auradon, they tried to have their 'sleepovers' though they became few and far between as they got closer to Evie. They didn't want the other girl to feel left out.

Though this definitely called for a Godling sleep over.

"You mean you finally out of your denial and finally engaged to Harry and me pregnant with the next ruler of Auradon?" Mal asked.

"Oddly enough that is what I meant. It's almost as if you can read my mind."

Mal snorted in amusement before shaking her head. "No, I never thought this was where our lives would end up. If you had told me, the day I left the Isle for Auradon, that I'd end up being the Queen of Auradon and pregnant with the kingdom's heir…I'd have you thrown off the docks out of fear you'd gone mad."

"Jay and Harry would have done that for you too," Uma nodded. "I have to say, Uncle Hades has good taste when it comes to an engagement ring."

"Well he is the God of Wealth after all," Mal chuckled. "He has so few opportunities to use that title that when he does, he wants to make sure it's memorable. He made your ring by the way."

"He did?"

"Yep. Took notes during the planning session and everything so he wouldn't forget exactly what Harry wanted your ring to be like."

Uma chuckled softly. "I'm surprised Uncle Hades didn't make your ring too, considering you're his daughter and all."

Mal sighed softly. "I'm sure he wanted to. But dad was on the Isle when Ben asked him for permission to marry me so all he could do was the gem."

She shook her head. "But enough of that, what are you guys going to do for your wedding?"

"Well, we actually don't want to wait that long," Uma said. "You know us Mal, we don't need anything fancy or over the top. Just a few friends, The Lost Revenge, and a cake should be fine."

"You could ask Mrs. Potts to make the cake," Mal said. "I'm sure Chip would be happy to ask her for you."

"Hmm…would she be able to avoid making it all fru-fru?"

"Uma, it's Mrs. Potts. The most fru-fru thing she does is put a piece of tomato in the middle of a grilled cheese sandwich. The woman's like a second mother to Ben anyway and a third mother to me, if you told her you wanted a cake shaped like The Lost Revenge, she'd probably make it for you."

"Well now we don't need it to be that fancy. Just a chocolate cake would do…but could she make our hats?"

"Of course she can! It's Mrs. Potts after all."

Uma and Mal both chuckled as they leaned against the pillows on the bed they were sharing.

"What's it like?" Uma asked after a few minutes. "Being married?"

Mal shrugged. "Not that much different than having a crew. Basically…you have a co-captain through thick and thin, someone who'll help you weather the storm and lead you to port even when you think you can't do it yourself."

"So…like what I've had with Harry my whole life?"

"Pretty much. Only difference is he probably won't feel like your grandfather will smite him if he kisses you."

"You've noticed him tensing still whenever we show affection too huh?"

"Uma, a blind monkey with a sledgehammer could notice that," Mal sighed. "The thing is I don't blame him. Ben gets the same way sometimes if I show him affection and dad's in the room. And we've been married for three years. Not to mention, unlike Ben…Harry's from the Isle."

"So?" Uma asked. "We're from the Isle too, Mal, and we don't tense whenever we get affection shown to us."

Mal sighed. "True Uma but don't forget. Harry spent all his time on the Isle acting as our protector. And what's the first thing anyone who would have looked to take us down back on the Isle would have gone for?"

"…anyone we had feelings for. If that was the sort of thing we did."

"Exactly. It's only been seven years since we four got off the Isle. Sometimes it takes a while to teach an old Cerberus new tricks."

Estelle looked up from his spot at the end of the bed and yipped softly.

Mal chuckled. "Sorry boy, I didn't mean you. You're the smartest Cerberus there is after all!"

"Yeah boy, we could teach you any trick we wanted and you'd get it right away," Uma nodded.

Estelle grinned and put his heads back down, contently chewing on a chicken rawhide. Mal had been sure to lay a towel out before giving it to him since the rawhide tended to stain whatever it was on.

Uma shook her head. "How's it feel? Being pregnant I mean?"

"…weird," Mal told her. "Like a good weird. I'm preparing to bring someone into the world who's part Ben and part me, and a part of me is terrified that I'm going to mess up this child from all the time I spent around the Dragon."

"And the other part of you?"

Mal smiled slightly. "The other part of me is excited to see how much more goodness there'll be in the world from bringing Ben's child into it. Because I know we're not our parents and I would never pressure the pup to be Ben if they're a boy, but how could Ben's child be anything but good?"

"You're forgetting something Mali," Uma said. "You've done so much good for Auradon. You stopped Freddy."

"We did that together," Mal said. "You, me, and Macaria. I would have never gotten up on the roof had you not lifted me up."

"Shut up and listen to what I'm telling you," Uma said. "What I'm trying to say is that there's no way you're going to mess the kid up. And you want to know why I'm sure about this?"

"Why?"

"Because you're worried about it." Uma told her. "If you weren't worried about turning out like the Dragon, then I'd be worried that you might mess this kid up Mali. But you won't."

"You sure?"

"Mal, how many times did you fight to make sure the younger VKs of the crew kept their innocence as long as they could on the Isle? And yes, I know we were co-captains and we both did that but I'm talking about you. Not to mention Ben wouldn't have married or wanted to have kids with you if he thought you wouldn't be a good mom."

"…Ben didn't marry me for kids though."

"Yeah I know," Uma nodded. "Still he was probably thinking about it. I mean he's the High King of Auradon, how could he not have thought about the possibility of having an heir at some point?"

Mal smiled slightly. "Have I told you the names we have picked out?"

"No I don't think you did," Uma said. "So come on, hit me."

"So if pup's a girl we're going to name her Stephanie Isabelle Hailey Le Bête and if pup's a boy we're going to name him Maurice Benjamin Adam Le Bête."

"…Adam?"

Mal sighed. "Uma, you do know my father-in-law has a name other than Beast right?"

"Oh I know," Uma nodded. "I'm just trying to figure out why you would want to name your child after the man who imprisoned us on an island for sixteen years and never bothered to look into the food situation we had."

"…it seemed cruel to leave him out when all the other grandparents were being included," Mal said. "And we may be VKs but we're not cruel."

Uma shook her head. "At least you're not making it the first middle name. Small mercies I guess."

"Ben wanted to see if we could include his middle name," Mal chuckled. "I put my foot down at either of our middle names being included in our son or daughter's name."

"What's Benny's middle name again?"

"Florian."

Uma snorted in amusement. "I mean, compared to your middle name cuz, it's not that bad."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Mal shook her head. "Bertha's a really bad middle name. You know mom offered to have it changed when I changed my first name?"

"Oh really?"

"Yeah. I turned down the offer though. I thought it was kinda cool how my names were part Isle and part Auradon. Like how I was and still am."

"What would you have changed it to? If you had taken Aunt Steph up on her offer?"

"Hmm…maybe Fleur? I know it sounds prissy but it's French for 'flower'. Maleficent taught me some French in case I ever needed to use it for a spell or to recognize if someone was trying to curse me. Specifically your dad."

Uma rolled her eyes. "Dad would never curse you. You were one of his favorite students at Dragon Hall."

"Because he actually liked me or because he thought Maleficent was my mother?"

"…probably both now that I think about it."

Mal sighed and shook her head. "So…you excited?"

"About my wedding?"

"No about the birth of my child—yes I'm talking about your wedding!"

Uma snorted slightly before smiling. "In a weird way I am. I mean like you said, I've practically been married to Harry since I've known him. But now…it's more official you know?"

"I get it," Mal said, giving her cousin a small smile. "Trust me. That feeling of knowing that you made it to the finish line, that there's not as much to worry about because no matter what happens, you'll be able to make there as a team…"

"…you've really got to stop reading my mind cuz."

"Can't help it. It's a gift."

Uma snorted again before shaking her head slightly and looking over at Mal. "I um…I know I was your maid of honor and I know there's technically another term for when a married person does it but—."

"Yes Uma," Mal said. "I'll be your matron of honor. Did you really think I'd say no?"

"Well I mean, you're Queen. You might be busy."

"The best part about being Queen? You can set your own schedule. My cousin's getting married, something Jay and I thought would never happen because we didn't think you and Harry would get out of your denial."

"We weren't in denial!"

"You didn't speak to Harry for two weeks after you found him with me during our flirtationship!"

Uma sighed. "Yeah, what was that about? Did you…I mean, did you have feelings for him?"

"Gods no," Mal shook her head. "Harry was and still is my brother in all but blood, Uma. But I wanted to know what a flirtationship was like. Almost all the girls our age had had one after all but I knew Maleficent would say that love is weakness and teach me a 'lesson' if she found out I'd had one."

"So you went for Harry?"

"I went for one of the two boys I knew wouldn't pressure me into doing anything I wasn't comfortable with. The only things Harry and I did were a bit of cuddling in the clubhouse and he'd kiss me on the forehead. Stuff he'd do with Harriet. Besides we broke it off after you found us, it just felt too weird. You don't need to worry Uma, he's had feelings for you since he knew what feelings were."

Uma couldn't help but smile a little as she heard that. Yeah it went against everything they stood for as VKs but there was something nice about knowing that even when Harry was with another girl, he still had feelings for her.

Mal chuckled. "You know Jay owes me twenty bucks now right?"

"Why?"

"I bet him that you would be in denial about having been in denial. Oh speaking of Jay, you know you'll have to have your wedding either during a bye week or during his off season. He'd never forgive himself if he missed Harry's wedding. How could he do his best man duties?"

Uma chuckled slightly. "Harry's been tasked with coordinating it with Jay to make sure we've got the right date though I don't know if Jay'll be Harry's best man."

"Why wouldn't he be?"

"Because he wants Harriet to do it instead," Uma said. "Though now he's worried about somehow offending CJ if Harriet's the Best Matron even though Harriet would just be returning the favor after Harry walked her down the aisle for her wedding with Sammy."

Mal chuckled. "Did you ever think you'd see the day that Harry would worry about offending CJ?"

"Hey I mean he did almost kill Freddy for her," Uma pointed out.

"True," Mal nodded and then sighed. "Does it make me a bad person that a part of me wishes Harry had broken out of the hold he was in and managed to skewer Freddy with his sword?"

"I know what you mean cuz," Uma said. "And I want to say no. But that would be ignoring the two good things Freddy managed to create."

"Ari and Paige," Mal said.

"Got it in one," Uma nodded. "Gods, it's hard to believe those girls are related in anyway to Freddy. If it wasn't for Paige's grey eyes, I would have thought Audrey produced those two by budding."

"Honestly I keep wondering how Leah would have reacted to finding out Audrey not only had kids out of wedlock but also had them with a VK," Mal said, shaking her head. "Still, I know Aurora and Phillip wouldn't trade those girls for anything."

"Are you still helping Ari with her magic?"

"Yeah, or at least I was before I got pregnant. Thankfully she's got a handle on it and she's even started teaching a bit to Paige."

"…Paige has magic too?"

"Not as much as Ari does," Mal said. "Claudine told me once that she thinks it had to do with the fact that Audrey was wielding Maleficent's scepter when she got pregnant with Ari and still had some remaining in her system when she got pregnant with Paige, with how close it was from Ari being born."

"How powerful we talking in terms of magic?"

"Nothing too crazy. No shapeshifting or anything but Ari and Paige will manage fireballs and probably a few of Maleficent's weaker spells in her spell book. Her speed-reading spell for instance."

"…Maleficent has a speed reading spell?"

"It's better not to ask. I still don't understand half the things that the Dragon had in that spell book and technically it's my birth right."

Uma shook her head. "And on that note, we're changing the subject."

"Agreed," Mal nodded. "Talking about Maleficent will only put a damper on the night."

"And that's the truth," Uma chuckled before sighing. "Gods, you know there's a part of me that still can't believe we're in Auradon. You remember when Smee tossed a bucket of rotten meat at the barrier to see if Tick Tock and his kin would eat through it?"

"Oh yeah," Mal nodded with a small smile. "Though for someone not all that used to magic, it wasn't a bad idea. What was a bad idea was the Gastons trying to break down the barrier using a battering ram."

"Didn't one of Gil's brothers break his leg with that stunt?"

"Yep. Though he was lucky he didn't drown, the battering ram got wet and pinned him underwater because it slipped from his grasp."

"Wait…did they try to break the barrier while in the cove?"

"Yep."

"Idiots. The lot of them."

"Preaching to the choir. And how did you miss it? You're always on the ship."

"Mama had me work six days a week from sun up to sun down at the chip shoppe Mal."

"Oh…." Mal said before deciding to change the subject. "But hey at least they didn't do what Evil Queen did and just throw potions at the barrier. All she got out of that were her eyebrows and eyelashes burnt off."

"…I know we're friends with Evie now but is it wrong that I still want to laugh at that?"

"Do you still laugh at Maleficent being a lizard despite being friends with me?"

"Of course."

"Then I think you're good."

Uma chuckled. "I think the worst escape attempt was Cruella's. I mean she got the bright idea to just drive her car into the barrier. It took Jasper and Horace ages to fix it, DeVil's lucky he was in Auradon when it happened."

"Didn't you tell me once that Harry took her car for a joyride?" Mal asked.

"Yeah," Uma nodded. "He wanted to break it down and sell it for parts but people noticed like right away. I mean it's a bright red car, how could they not notice?"

"How'd Harry escape Cruella going after him?"

"He didn't. Horace and Jasper found him one night making his way back from Uncle Hades' restaurant and dragged him to the stocks."

"…no!"

"Yeah. Left him there overnight too."

Mal shook her head. "Remind me to smack your fiancé for not telling me about this! Thank Gods we had our alliance with the hyenas or else who knows what would have happened!"

"Yeah," Uma nodded. "Though Harry got a few good licks in. Jasper's got a nice scar on the side of his face from Harry's hook and Harriet gave Horace a black eye and a broken nose for messing with her brother. Not to mention what Uncle Hades did when he found out."

"Ooh, tell tell."

"He cut Cruella off from delivery. Said that if she can have her henchmen do her dirty work, she can have them pick up her food. Thankfully Harry wasn't hurt too bad after the altercation so it's not like Uncle Hades needed to flame up but still. You don't mess with his kids."

"Ain't that the truth," Mal nodded. "You know, once you're married, dad'll be Uncle Hades to Harry?"

"Oh man I didn't even think about that," Uma chuckled. "I can't wait until Harry realizes that. I hope I'm there to see his face when he does."

"Take a picture so I can see it too!" Mal told her.

"Aye aye your highness."

"Call me that again and I'll throw this pillow at you, Mrs. Hook!"

"Hey! That's Captain Hook to you!"

Both cousins looked at each other before bursting out laughing. They continued to talk through the night before their eyes grew heavy and, before long, they both fell asleep as content as could be.