Chapter Ten
A/N: I do not own anything other than my OCs when they come out to play. Everything else belongs to either Disney, the Greek Myths, or in Rea's case, LotusQuil.
Woo! Chapter ten for the record books—only 67 chapters to go until the end…why does that sound a bit more daunting when I write it down? No worries though, it will get done, I promise!
AmethystDragon14: Oh yay! And I hope those are happy tears because you're right, the wedding was so deserved for both of them! All hail Princess Ginny Charming! Yeah, the cake's pretty much the best part of weddings if you're single and awkward (waves hand). To be fair, Ginny and Chad don't really have 'a' song hence the medley :D And yeah, thank you pup for being nice to your mom!
danifan3000: I wouldn't put it out of the realm of possibilities for Hades, Lucifer, or whoever's tormenting her to use! :D
LotusQuil: Oh I'm so glad you liked it! Yeah I have to say, fanfic Chad has grown on me, meanwhile canon Chad can go take a long walk off a short pier. Lol yeah well everyone needs at least one denial couple!
OceanBlueSeaEyes: Oh there's definitely be squealing! But you're right, Evie can keep a secret—both in canon and here, after all she didn't tell anyone about Maleficent having her steal the wand to get her dad back (not even the other VKs for that matter).
Katt Kiki: I'm so glad you liked it! :D
Marcus Emrys: I think that's a good idea, having extra tissues for everyone reading because you're right, I don't think there'll be a dry eye there.
Anonymous Reader: Not going to lie, it was one of my more favorite wedding chapters to write! :D
Angel Cauldwell: I'm so glad you liked it!
twilightgirl587: I love that song too, and I wish they had the movie version on iTunes I can only find the broadway version which I'm sure is good but not the one I want iTunes! The officiants speech is usually the same-ish but the vows I try to make different since they're different couples. Yep! Happy ending for Chad! :D
Hope you all enjoy this chapter! Let me know what you think! :D
Hadie chuckled as he and Chip worked to finish up the decorations in the ballroom they'd taken over with the help of Emir and Akiho. Actually Emma at the very least had requested that they take Emir off of her hands for the day.
You see, one of the two shadows had in fact managed to time the pregnancy of their significant other to Mal's pregnancy. Something that in all honesty would have concerned Hadie more if he hadn't grown up around Jay and Harry.
"How're those balloons coming Geene?" Chip called and Hadie looked over at the corner where his little sister and his adopted sister-in-law were hard at work blowing up balloons.
Though Rea still needed help tying off the balloons so it had quickly become an assembly line where Rea blew them up and Genevieve tied them off.
"How many balloons do you need Chip?"
"Akiho requested that we do as many as we can so that when Mal and Ben walk in here, it's like a waterfall of balloons falls down on them."
"…how is he allowed to be an adult?"
"It's something we question every day. Now about those balloons?"
"I can't count that high!"
"What do you mean?"
"I'm six you imbécile!"
Chip shook his head. "Remember what your maman taught you about using nice words Genevieve? But good job on the French!"
"Thanks Chip!" Genevieve said, perking up slightly at the compliment. "Can you come help me count? I think Rea and I have blown up a bajillion balloons!"
"Coming right up," Chip chuckled. "Hadie, are you good to finish up the streamers while I help the girls?"
Hadie nodded. "We'd better hurry though. Akiho and Emir can only keep Mal and Ben districted for so long after all."
"Please if I know those two, they could keep Gaston distracted," Chip said, shaking his head.
"That's…that's not that hard. All you'd have to do is show him something shiny where he could admire his reflection."
"Why am I in no way surprised about that?"
Chip and Hadie chuckled before Hadie shook his head and went to finish up the streamers while Chip went to help the girls with the balloons.
It was a good thing because not fifteen minutes later, they heard the familiar yip of Estelle down the hall and the voices of Akiho, Emir, Ben, and Mal carrying. Almost as if Akiho and Emir were trying to let the others know they were coming.
"You guys seriously didn't decide to throw us a baby shower did you?"
"Ben, of course we did!" Emir said with a grin. "What kind of friends and shadows would we be if we didn't throw you a shower?"
"Um friends and shadows with their own wives?" Mal ventured as she walked over to give Hadie a hug, Estelle following her to give Hadie a lick before trotting over to the girls.
"Irrelevant!" Akiho shook his head. "Besides, Emma and Elle are having a girl's day while we spoil you as the siblings, bio or otherwise, we are!"
Ben snorted as he walked over to Chip. "How'd they rope you into this?"
"You seriously think I need to be roped into insanity like this Benji?"
"Oh right. Forgot who I was talking to," Ben chuckled as Chip pulled him into a hug. "Still, you didn't have to do this. I know you're busy with work and—."
"Ah ba ba ba, Benji. Rule number one of being the big brother is your siblings come first."
"…you're the baby of your family though."
"I'm older than you Benji, therefore I'm the older sibling."
Ben snorted slightly. "Honestly there have been times where I questioned how you could be the older one between the two of us."
"Well it's because I was nine when you were born Benji. I know you're smart enough to know that nine is greater than zero after all. Besides, growing old is mandatory. Growing up is optional."
Ben shook his head and smiled as Mal walked over. Resting his hands on her stomach, Ben said, "And we're going to keep you as far away from your Uncle Chip as we can until we know that his insanity isn't contagious. Okay firefly?"
"Firefly?" Emir asked.
Mal chuckled as she nibbled on a strawberry that had been on a tray of fruit, provided of course by Mrs. Potts. "We both have pet names for the kid until we find out the gender," she said.
"Oh like how dad called Rea 'Sprout'?" Hadie asked.
"He did?" Rea asked, slightly cutting off Mal's answer, but Mal didn't mind because she got to see her little sister's eyes light up in excitement.
Mal smiled as she looked over at her little sister, looking far too content in her little ocean of blue and purple balloons. While she was still three, her speech pattern had gotten much stronger over the past couple of months.
Mal suspected that it had something to do with the fact that she was a full God. Hadie suspected that either Geras or Hebe had grown tired of the toddler talk.
"He did," Mal nodded. "So I'm following in that pattern and so's Ben since we both don't feel comfortable calling our child 'it' or 'the baby' all the time."
"Let me guess…Ben's has something to do with dragons?" Emir asked with a grin.
"Do you even need to ask Emir?" Akiho chuckled.
Ben shook his head. "Dragons can fly and breathe fire," he said. "Hence…firefly."
"And I use 'pup' because dad's symbol is the Cerberus and dogs have puppies," Mal explained.
Estelle yipped softly and wagged his tail at the thought of his girl having her own pup. It was a nice thought and something his girl deserved.
"Sorry boy," Mal said, mistakenly thinking that Estelle had been asking for puppies of his own. "Maybe after I give birth we'll look into getting you a girlfriend of your own so you can have your own pups?"
"Wait, another Cerberus?" Ben asked.
"Of course," Mal nodded. "Why not? That way you're not hogging Estelle all the time when you go on your runs."
"I don't hog him!"
"Okay, okay," Chip chuckled. "Maybe later you two can talk about getting a second Cerberus for Benji but for right now it's time to celebrate the new Prince or Princess that's g…going to join us soon."
Hey he may have loved Genevieve the same way he loved Ben but he was not giving a six year old and a three year old the facts of life talk. Giving it to Ben was bad enough thank you!
"Okay so normally baby showers have games right?" Hadie said. "So we're going to play 'how old were they' with photos courtesy of mom and Chip!"
"Wait, what?"
Hadie chuckled as he turned on a projector and shook his head at the very first image. "Ben, why am I not surprised that you had a stuffed dragon?"
"He still has it," Mal said with a fond smile. "Gotta say Flamey looks better in this photo than when I saw him."
"Flamey?"
"I was a very uncreative child," Ben said as his brother-in-law shook his head in amusement.
Chip grinned. "Oh yeah, I remember Flamey!"
"Wasn't that the start of Ben's dragon obsession?" Akiho asked. "So really this could be any time."
"Nah," Emir shook his head. "While Ben would always have his dragon obsession, he only carried Flamey around with him until he was about seven or so. Of course that excluded going to school but that was only because he couldn't carry all the books he wanted if he did that."
"…we've been around each other far too long," Ben said after staring at Emir in slight horror.
"No such thing Ben," Emir said. "So judging by the fact that Ben's both carrying Flamey and not wearing a suit, I'd say he was five in that photo."
"…you'd be correct," Chip nodded. "Interestingly enough that photo was taken right before the first official summit to Agrabah that Ben was deemed old enough to go to without needing me to watch him."
"Was that because he'd become friends with me the year before?"
"Probably, now that I think about it."
Hadie chuckled. "Okay, okay, next photo."
"Hadie? Where's the cake?" Rea asked. "You said we would have cake!"
"Cake?" Mal perked up. "Come on Hads, don't deny a pregnant woman cake! I thought you were my favorite brother!"
"I'm your only brother," Hadie shook his head. "And Rea, games before cake."
"But you said we'd have cake before presents! And I wanna see Mali open mine!"
"I have loot?!"
Ben chuckled. "I think you've lost the attention of the guest of honor there Hads. Might as well give Mal what she wants."
Hadie shook his head. "Well I guess we can always play more later. It's not like the photos are going to go anywhere."
"That's the spirit! Now give me cake!"
"Mal, didn't anyone ever tell you that give me's never get?"
"The person who invented that phrase wasn't pregnant and craving anything and everything under the sun Benjamin!"
It was Chip's turn to chuckle. "Fret not your highness, the cake is coming. In fact…here it is now!"
"…is that an ice cream cake made to look like a peanut butter and strawberry jelly sandwich?"
"Sure is!"
"Akiho, how much did you have to do with the choice of cake?"
"Everything!" Akiho grinned. "Why else would it be your favorite sandwich Ben?"
Ben shook his head. "I told you that when I was eleven, when are you going to let me live that down?"
"Never!"
"If the strange big kid would stop being weird, can we have cake?" Rea asked.
Genevieve chuckled. "She's got a point," she said as Akiho looked almost hurt. Almost being the key word.
"Ah one thing you need to know about Akiho, little Lady, is that he takes pride in being strange," Chip said as he began to slice the cake. "But if you'd like some cake, you'll have to come out of your little blue and purple ocean."
"No!"
"I'll take it to her, it's no problem," Mal said. "…how'd you guys handle Rea's powers not acting up?"
"Prototype for a portable magical barrier," Hadie said, pointing to a nearby rune. "Fairy Godmother's been working on them and wanted an excuse to test them."
"Because she knows that at some point, Auradon Prep will have another full Godling and wants to make sure Rea doesn't burn down the school?"
"Nah. I think she's just bored."
"Huh," Mal said, looking more than slightly impressed.
"Seems to be working fairly well," Ben said as he took a piece of ice cream cake over to Rea. And if it continues to work, I'll get one for the castle. Or at least Firefly's room, he thought.
"Yay cake!"
"Now, now Rea, what do we say?" Mal called.
"…yay cake?"
Genevieve snorted and whispered something into Rea's ear.
"Oh! Thank you Ben!"
Ben chuckled and ruffled his sister's hair. "You know you can't always give her the answers right?"
"But Rea's my friend and maman and papa and mama always said we should help out our friends!" Genevieve said.
Ben smiled as he heard his sister's reasoning, and his smile only grew as he heard Gia be included in the list of parents. They hadn't kept it from Genevieve that Gia was her biological mother, even if they didn't really dive into much detail there.
To Genevieve, she had an extra mom (and a boatload of aunts and an uncle) that Ben didn't have.
"That's right Geene," he said. "But sometimes if you help people out too much they won't be able to find the answer for themselves."
"Alright Ben, you can take a break from being a parent long enough to eat your cake before it melts!" Akiho called. "Because if you don't, then we can't open presents!"
"Eat your cake!" Rea and Genevieve exclaimed at the same time.
Ben chuckled. "As you command my Lady, my Princess."
"Thank you!" Mal said, shaking her head. "I want my loot!"
"You can take the girl out of the pirate crew but you can't take the pirate crew out of the girl," Hadie grinned.
"You've been around Dizzy too much haven't you?"
"Considering she was the one who handled my suit fitting to be one of Chad's groomsmen? I should hope I was around her a lot. Besides, I thought that'd be something you'd like Mal, considering Dizzy's not all that sarcastic."
"…what does that mean?" Rea asked, tilting her head.
Mal and Hadie looked at each other before looking back at Rea. "Ask dad."
"Okay!"
Ben snorted in amusement. "Okay, okay. I think Mal's about to dragon up right here and now if she doesn't get her loot."
"But you still haven't eaten your cake!" Genevieve said, her hands slightly on her hips. "Maman won't be happy about that BB!"
"How about this? Mal and I can switch off opening each present and I'll eat the cake when she opens her present?" Ben offered. "Does that sound fair Geene?"
Genevieve nodded. "Okay, that sounds fair. As long as everyone gets cake….ooh open my gift first!"
"…how'd you get them a gift?" Chip asked as Ben grabbed a blue and gold wrapped present from a table. "You're six."
"Maman, mama, and papa helped me!"
"Oh, gotcha."
Ben chuckled as he unwrapped the gift. "Thank you Geene, I'm sure Firefly will love these!"
"What'd she get you?" Akiho asked.
"The Magic Tree House box set," Ben said, holding them up. "We might not get to use them right away but at some point they will be read."
Chip shook his head in amusement. "Belle's kids will give books, I think that's an unwritten rule somewhere. Anyway, here's my gift."
"Thanks Chip," Mal said as Ben began to dig into his cake.
"No thanks needed Mal."
Mal smiled as she took the gift (though where the man managed to find a gift bag shipped like a tea cup, Mal would never know) and opened it. "Chip…you didn't!"
"Lady Persephone told me about a onesie you'd had as a baby so I thought I'd see if I could find one like it," Chip said as Mal held up two onesies. One was a purple and blue dragon onesie and the other was a blue and gold Cerberus. "Ever since you were crowned Queen of Auradon, a lot of the shops have been selling baby clothes like this so it was really easy to find."
"Why'd you get two?" Ben asked.
"Because according to mom, babies go through onesies like crazy," Chip told him. "You'll be thankful for two though I'm sure you'll have more than that once Lady Persephone and Belle throw you their own shower."
"Why do I have the feeling like that wasn't something you were supposed to tell us?"
"You can ponder that later Ben," Emir said as he handed Ben another present. "Open mine now!"
"Emir, you didn't have to get us anything!" Ben said, shaking his head.
"Yeah, yeah, I know," Emir said. "Now open it!"
Ben chuckled as he opened the present and shook his head. "A stuffed tiger?"
"Well someone's got to counter all the stuffed dragons you're going to get the kid," Emir said with a small shrug. "Besides everyone knows that tigers are the superior animal."
"I'm surprised you didn't say monkeys were considering your dad's best friend was Abu for so long. Doesn't matter though because you're wrong, dragons are the best animal."
"Um excuse me but do either dragons, tigers, or monkeys have a song about how much better they are?" Akiho asked.
Mal and Hadie looked at each other and chuckled. So you want to tell them why they're wrong and that Cerberi are so much better?
Now, now Mali, you're the guest of honor. You should be the one to break their hearts like that.
However, neither one of them was able to actually be the one to say it because at that moment, Estelle yipped and wagged his tail, giving everyone a doggy grin.
"I think Elle's saying that Cerbi are the best!" Rea said with a grin of her own.
"I think so too," Hadie nodded. "And now if people could stop delaying, we could continue with the presents."
"Ooh, ooh! Mali should open my gift!" Rea said. "Mama helped me get it!"
"Well then I'm sure I'll love it," Mal said as Ben passed her the blue and green wrapped present. Mal quickly unwrapped it and chuckled. "Did Belle influence this gift?"
"What is it?" Ben asked.
Mal held up the gift. "A book."
"How fitting," Chip chuckled.
Rea shook her head. "Mama found it and thought you'd might like it."
"Love You Forever," Mal said with a small smile as she read the title of the book
Ben grinned. "Oh mom used to read that to me all the time growing up. I still remember part of it actually."
"Really?" Mal asked.
"That surprises no body," Akiho said, shaking his head.
Ben nodded. "Mom would change it a bit to fit with the French she was teaching me but the part I remember is what the mom says to the child."
"And what does she say?"
"I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as I'm living, my baby you'll be," Ben said as he gently rested a hand on Mal's stomach.
Mal smiled softly as she felt the baby kick slightly. "I think pup likes the sound of that. Remind me to thank mom for the gift."
"Hey!"
"Oh, right. Thank you Rea, that was very thoughtful of you."
Akiho chuckled. "Well looks like it's just Hadie and me to go. Hads, you want to go?"
"Nah I'm good going last," Hadie said. "You can go, Akiho."
"Okay then," Akiho grinned. "Don't worry you two, it's not something you need to unwrap so you can keep eating your cake."
"…that wasn't actually something that worried us Akiho," Ben said as Akiho walked out of the room for a minute. It wasn't too long before he came back, pulling a small sled that looked like a replica of the one his father had used as the Royal Ice Merchant of Arendelle before he became King.
"Akiho you know that Firefly won't be able to use that right?" Ben asked.
"Snowflake will grow into it," Akiho promised.
"…snowflake?"
"You're not the only one who can have a cute nickname for your kid!"
"Fair enough."
Akiho shook his head. "Besides they'll need their own sled to play in the snow when you guys come on trips to Arendelle. Don't think you're getting out of those!"
"You know we'll be busy running the kingdom right?"
"Don't care, you need breaks!"
Mal looked over at Hadie. "You know as well as I that they'll go on forever so why don't you get your gift over here and I'll open it?"
"Actually…it's kinda like Akiho's where it's not wrapped," Hadie said. "Look up."
Mal looked up and gasped at the sight of the crystal mobile that was hanging from the center of the ceiling.
"I took inspiration from your bracelet," Hadie said. "Well more like I asked dad to make it or help me reach out to someone who could."
"Hads…it's beautiful!" Mal said as Hadie walked over to a nearby lever to have the mobile lowered so that the expectant parents could see it better. "Are…are those little Cerberi?"
"Of course," Hadie nodded. "Cerberi, dragons, and the Beast insignia, though I also included spray cans, swords, a pirate hat, and a blue fireball. Just so they know who their favorite uncle is."
"Hey!" Chip exclaimed with a chuckle.
Mal smiled as she walked over and pulled Hadie into a hug. "Thank you Storm Cloud. Thank you so much," she whispered.
"Hey, you'll put the kibosh on niece or nephew spoiling when they're around so I figured I'd do it now," Hadie whispered back as he returned the hug as best he could. Was…was it normal for Mal to be so big? Mom wasn't this big when she was pregnant with Rea, he thought.
Thought but did not say out loud though because while his sister was not allowed to dragon up to protect the baby, she could still throw a fireball at him.
"You know he's got a point," Mal said, looking at Ben. "Have you talked to Adam about not spoiling Pup?"
"Sure did Mal," Ben nodded.
"Will he actually listen?"
"…hey you know there's still some cake left. Who wants some?"
"I do!" Rea and Genevieve said with a grin as Mal shook her head in amusement. She could worry about that later, the fact that her father-in-law might still spoil his grandchild. For right now though the only thing she wanted to do was have fun with her husband, brother, sister, in-laws, and her husband's shadows.
Though from the look in Akiho and Emir's eyes, Mal had a feeling that her child would not be lacking for friends their age. Not if they had anything to say about it.