Hey all! Long time no update!! Sorry for the wait. I was trying to get the hang of my classes for the semester...

Anyway... I hope you like this chapter and PLEASE let me know whta you think. I would love to have some recommendations on what you guys might like to happen in this story!!

danifan3000: Will Ariana be next? I don't know... we will have to see, but I do have plans for her!! Please let me know what you think!!

brimason0201: You are very welcome! I hope that this chapter will fulfill what you would have wanted Ben to reactish... Please let me know what you think!!

AmethystDragon14: I am a BAL shipper. You are correct. But it has been a little over a month since the incident, so the baby could be trevor's... We will have to wait and see who the father will be ;)

Creator of Magic: I am so glad that you love everything going on in my story right now!! As for planning this plot fro Trevor... No. I did not plan this from the start. I was just going to have Ben and Trevor fight for Mal's heart and see who she would pick, but obviously she would have picked Ben!

Rebeca Woset: I hope so too... I plan my next chapter as I write current one, so I am hoping that my brain doesn't take a turn and makes me write something stupid. lol

SlytherinAvengerPrincess: PARTNER! Yes. Mal is pregnant. I hope you like what I did in this chapter and I hope that you like where I will be going with this. PLUS!! one thing I wasn't clear about when I wrote last time, about my high school frined, is that she hid so much and it made her depressed and distant with everyone she loved. The rest of the story that I am writing has nothing to do with her.

As always...

*I DO NOT OWN DESCENDANTS*

WARNING FOR SWEARING!!!


(MAL'S POV)

"I'm pregnant."

My stomach tightened again. Gods if it's called morning sickness why is it lasting all day? I felt the acid in my throat and I knew I was going to be sick.

"What?" I heard Ben say, but I couldn't answer back.

I was going to be sick and know I won't be able to make it to the bathroom. I quickly fell to my knees and bent over the trash can next to Ben's desk. I felt Ben next to me in an instint. He put his hand on my back and the other was pulling back my hair. After I threw up I kept my face in the trash in case I was going to be sick again.

"Are you okay?" he whispered as he rubbed my back.

No! I'm not okay. I am fucking pregnat and I don't know if the baby is yours or not! How am I supposed to… how do I… what am I going to do? I wiped my mouth and looked up at him. His eyes were wide and I didn't know what he was thinking. I shook my head. I can't do this! I can't! I need it to end! I need it all to end!

I met his eyes again. "I'm sorry," I whispered and then teleported away.


I found myself at the draw fridge, leading to the enchanted lake. I slowly made my way across the bridge and toward the lake. I slowly made it down the path and to the ruins where Ben and I had our first date. I stood there looking at the water. I don't know how long I was standing there but the sun was starting to set, with the skies turning orange and pink. I looked back at the water and took a step in.

"I'm so sorry."


(BEN'S POV)

Fuck! Where did she go?

I was still kneeling on the ground when I started to look around the room and then I saw Mal's promise ring and my signet ring sitting on the edge of my desk. No! I grabbed them and ran out of my office. Please. Please. Please, be there! I ran up the stairs to where Mal and I's rooms were.

"Ben? What's wrong?" I heard my mom ask as I passed them on the stairs. "Ben?"

I continued to run, not answering her. Please. Please. Please. I ran to her room and burst through the door.

"Mal?!"

Her room was empty. I ran to her bathroom and it was the same. I ran to her closet and nothing.

"Ben. What's wrong?" my mom said as she walked into Mal's room.

"I have to find Mal!" I yelled.

My mind was going 100 miles an hour. I needed to find her. I need to make sure she is okay. Why did she run away? I pulled out my phone and called her, but no one answered.

"Fuck!"

"Ben! What is going on?" My mom shouted at me.

I pulled my phone away and called Evie. I walked past her again and walked to my room to find it empty.

"Ben?" Evie said after the second ring.

"Evie! Have you seen Mal?" I asked in a panic.

"Not in a while. Why?" she asked.

"Where are you?"

"I'm just walking back to our dorm," she said.

"Is Mal in there?"

"Hold on let me check," she said.

"Ben!" my mom yelled.

I turned to look at her and saw she looked irritated.

"What the hell is going on?" she demanded.

"I need to find Mal," I said.

"She was in your office. She came earlier. Did you not go and see her?" she asked.

Fuck. Do I tell her? Do I wait until I find Mal?

"Yeah. I did," I said.

"Ben, she's not here," Evie said.

"Check Jay and Carlos' room and then check mine. Mal has a key in her bedside table drawer to my room," I said.

"Okay, but isn't she with you? She said she was going…"

"Just do it Evie! She's not here anymore!"

"She told you?" She whispered.

"You know?" I asked in a whisper.

"Yeah. I was the one to go and get the test," she said. "What do you mean she's not there anymore?"

"She came to my office and she was off, like she has been. She looked better, but I could tell she was still off, then she told me," I said as I ran my hand through my hair.

"Yeah, she was in shock when we found out. I stayed with her and missed class. She sat on the floor for 3 hours this morning and when I went to get her something to eat she texted me saying she was going to talk to you," she told me.

"Ben? Where is Mal?" My mom asked.

"I don't know, mom," I said.

"Ben. She's not with Jay or Carlos and your room is empty, but…" she started.

"But what?"

"Her phone was sitting on your bed," he told me.

"Fuck! Get Jay, Carlos and the others and meet me in front of the school. I'll be there in 15 minutes," I said before I hung up the phone and threw it at the wall.

"Ben. Will you tell what is the gods name is going on?" My mom asked again.

"Mom, I can't right now. I have to go find Mal," I said as I tried to walk past her.

"No. You are going to tell me what's going on. What's wrong with Mal?" She asked.

"Somethings wrong with Mal?" My dad asked, walking into the room.

Great. I ran both my hands through my hair. I have to tell them. Gods they're going to be so mad, but they're going to find out sooner or later.

"Mal's pregnant," I said, as I stopped pacing and looked at them.

They stood there with wide eyes and in shock.

"What?" My dad asked. "Where is she?"

"I don't know. She came here towards the end of my meeting. She met me in my office, she told me she was pregnant, she got sick, then she said she was sorry and teleported away," I said. "I have to find her."

"Let's go," my mom said. "We will talk about everything later."

I nodded and ran out of the room with my parents running behind me.

Where is she?


By the time my parents and I got to the school everyone was standing and waiting for us.

"We need to check everywhere she might be," I said. "Lonnie, Audrey, Chad, and Jordan double check everywhere in school. Mom, dad and FG go back to the castle and check to see if she is in any of the rooms. There is a spare key to her art room in my office desk. Doug, Jane, Aziz and Ryder you guys check in town and see if anyone has seen her. Evie, Carlos, Jay and I will check the forest and the enchanted lake. If any of you find her, call me," I stated.

They all nodded before running off for their search.

"Do you think we should check the meadow or the lake first?" Jay asked.

"I don't think she'll be in the meadow. She stopped going after everything happened. Our best shot would be the lake," I said. "We'll take my car. Jay your driving," I said as I threw him my keys.

"Really?" He asked.

"Yes. You have your permit and I don't have time to talk about this. Just drive. We have to find Mal." I said.


"Okay, Jay. Stop here!" I said.

I jumped out of the car and started to run toward the bridge.

"Ben! We don't know where we're going!" I heard Evie yell from behind me.

"Across the bridge! Jay and Carlos make a right at the fallen tree and head up to the cliffs!" I yelled, but didn't stop running. "You guys can see high up there! Evie, follow me and we will check the lake surrounding."

Evie and I ran to the ruins, while Jay and Carlos climbed up the side of the cliff.

"Mal?!" Evie and I yelled.

I could see the ruins up ahead, but Mal wasn't there. I saw that Jay and Carlos were already at the top of the cliff and looking around in a panic.

"Do you see her anywhere?" Evie yelled.

Mal wasn't at the ruins and we couldn't see her anywhere. I ran to the edge of the lake and walked through the shallow end of the water toward the waterfall.

"Ben!" Carlos yelled.

I looked up and saw him staring at the middle of the lake in horror.

"She's right there!" he shouted and pointed to the water. "She's in the water!"

Jay ran over to where Carlos was standing and his face paled. He tried to jump in, but Carlos held him back. I dove into the water to see where she was and saw her floating above the bottom of the lake. No! No! No! I swam as fast as I could to reach her. Gods please no! I scooped her up into my arms and swam to the surface.

"Ben!" I heard Evie shout.

I lifted Mal as high as I could to keep her head out of the water and swam towards the ruins. Once I was able to feel the surface under my feet I started to walk and adjusted Mal in my arms so that I had a better hold on her. I walked out of the water, back onto the ruins and laid her down on the stone. I checked her pulse, it was faint and she wasn't breathing.

"Ben, she's not breathing," Evie said as she started to cry.

"She'll be fine," I as I laid Mal flat on her back.

I lightly shoved Evie out of the way before I started mouth to mouth.

"Come on, baby," I said as I started chest compressions. "Don't leave me."

Jay and Carlos came to either side of Evie and were in a panic. I repeated the actions a couple of times and it was like dejavu. Why does this seem so familiar? I continued to do cpr on her until I remembered why this was so familiar. I did this in the vision about Mal and I if I hadn't made my proclamation! I pinched Mal's nose and took a breath in when she spat water in my face and she started to breath heavily. She sat up and started to cough.

"Oh gods, Mal!" Evie exclaimed , pulling Mal close to her chest. "What were you thinking?! You both could have died! We need to get you to a hospital so you can get checked over!" she stated.

I stood as Carlos and Jay hugged either side of Mal. I watched as she shook her head.

"No!" she said breathlessly. "No. I don't want to see a doctor. I'm fine."

What the hell was she doing here? Why the hell was she in the water? She knew she couldn't swim. I froze and looked at her. No! She wouldn't. I stood there getting irritated. How could she do something so stupid?

"Mal. You fell into the water. We need to make sure you b… you're okay," Evie said.

Jay and Carlos still didn't know Mal was pregnant, because they both missed when Evie said 'both' earlier.

I knelt down, moved between Carlos and Jay, and picked her up in my arms. "You're going to go to the doctor," I said as I started to walk back toward the bridge. "You're going to get checked over and I don't give two flying fucks if you get mad," I stated.

I could hear Evie, Jay and Carlos following behind us.

"Evie. Can you call my mom and the others and tell them we found her?" I asked as I turned around. She nodded her head and pulled her phone out. "Jay and Carlos can you guys run ahead and get the car started?"

"Yeah," Jay said.

Both of them started to run back to the car while Evie walked faster behind them, leaving Mal and I behind.

"You're mad," she said quietly.

I didn't look down at her. Of course I'm mad!

"I'm more than mad," I said.

I walked to the bridge and didn't say anything more.

"Ben. I wanted…"

"You tried to kill yourself and our baby," I said, cutting her off. "What the fuck were you thinking?"

"I don't know if…"

"I don't give a fuck right now. I want to get you to a damn hospital to make sure you and the baby are okay," I said.

"But…"

"No. I don't want to hear it right now," I said as I walked off the bridge. "We'll talk about it later," I snapped.

"Okay," she said quietly.


The ride to the hospital was quiet. Evie was worried about Mal and the baby. Jay and Carlos knew I was pissed and they were worried about Mal, and Mal was quiet because I was mad at her. When we got to the hospital I picked Mal up and carried her into the emergency room, while the others parked the car.

"Your majesty. Lady Mal," a nurse said in shock when she saw us walk in. "What happened? What can we do for you?"

"I need Lady Mal to be checked over. She fell into the enchanted lake and she can't swim. I had to do cpr and mouth to mouth resuscitation on her because she wasn't breathing." I said.

She ran to grab a gurney and I laid Mal on it.

"Lady Mal. We're going to move you to a room where a doctor is going to look you over. Does anything hurt? Are you dizzy? Nauseous? Is it hard to breathe?" The nurse asked.

Mal shook her head. Of course she isn't going to say she is pregnant! Why would she?! Gods if we didn't get there in time she would have been dead. Our baby would have been dead.

"She has been ill for the past couple of days and was throwing up earlier today," I stated.

The nurse looked up at me and nodded her head. "Okay. Lady Mal, I'm going to move you to a private room. Your majesty, if you could wait in the waiting room."

"No. I'm coming with her," I stated firmly.

"I'm so…"

"I'm coming with her. That was not a question," I stated again, glaring at her.

"It's fine," Mal said calmly. "He can come."

"Okay," she said with a nod and then started to push Mal down a hallway.

"Ben!"

I turned around to see Evie and the guys running toward us.

"Wait in the waiting room and call my mom again. I'm going with her," I said.

"Okay. Come out and tell us what's going on," Jay said.

I nodded and then ran to catch up with Mal and the nurse.

Once we were in a room and the door was closed I looked at the nurse.

"Okay. Listen," I said looking down at her.

"Ben! Stop," Mal said.

I snapped my head in her direction. "I'll be talking with you in a minute," I said pointing my finger at her. I looked back at the nurse. "I do not want this information leaving this room," I said. She slowly nodded her head and looked at me with wide eyes. Typically I would feel bad about scaring someone, but I don't care right now. "Lady Mal is pregnant. I want the baby checked over thoroughly. I don't care how long it takes or how much it costs. I want the full works and I want to make sure the baby and Mal are both okay," I stated.

The nurse looked at me with wide eyes and then looked at Mal.

"Yes, your majesty. I'll have a doctor in right away," she said before she ran out of the room.

Once the door was closed again I ran nothing hands through my hair and down my face. I took a deep breath and started to pace back and forth in the room. My shoes were squeaking across the floor and my clothes were still wet. What was she thinking? Why the hell would she do something so stupid? I looked at her and saw she was playing with the cheers on the gurney.

"What were you thinking?" I asked, letting my hand fly out in front of me. She looked up at me and her hair was clinging to her forehead. "I don't know what would make you do something so stupid."

"I didn't want to ruin anyone's life," she whispered.

"You didn't want to ruin anyone's lives? Well, let's make sure that you are getting this right. With you trying to kill yourself and the baby, you would have killed everyone. Your parents, Evie, Jay, Carlos, Hadie, all of your friends, my parents, me, and so many more people," I stated firmly.

She looked down at her lap and started to cry.

"I didn't want you to hate me," she cried. "I didn't want you to have the backlash of everyone knowing I am pregnant."

"Why the hell would I care about what people think?" I asked. "Would there be backlash? Yes. Obviously there would be, but I wouldn't care!" I exclaimed.

"Even if I don't know if you're the dad or not?" She asked, looking up at me and wiping her tears out of her eyes.

Oh. I stared at her and all of my anger washed away. I took a couple of steps and was reaching for her hand when a doctor rushed in.

"I am so sorry about the wait your majesty and Lady Mal," he said panting.

The nurse ran in after him and she was panting too.

"I got Dr. Boyce," the nurse said out of breath. "He's the best for your situation," she said.

"And I am assuming because of my speciality, Lady Mal is pregnant," he said walking over to Mal.

"Umm… yes she is," I said walking to the head of the gurney.

"Okay. Stephanie will fill me in and your majesty," he said gaining my attention. "If you would please wait outside in the waiting room. This may take a little while," he said.

"Can I stay?" I asked.

"Well knowing you want everything checked over and more I have to say no. I'm sorry," he said.

I nodded my head and looked down at Mal. She wasn't looking anywhere else other than her hands. Now I feel horrible for getting that mad at her. I don't know what could be going through her head. I leaned down and gave her a kiss on her head before walking out of the room. I walked down the hall and toward the waiting room with so many thoughts in my head.

"Ben!" I heard my mom yell.

I snapped my head up and saw her running toward me with my dad, Evie, Jay and Carlos behind her.

"How is she?" My dad asked.

"They're looking her over right now," I said.

"Okay good."

"She's going to be okay right?" Carlos asked.

"Yeah," I nodded. "Of course she's going to be okay. They just want to make sure she doesn't have water in her lungs and make sure she doesn't have trouble breathing," I said.

I didn't know if Evie told them or not, but they didn't ask so I'm not going to say anything until Mal told them.

"Okay, good. I was just scared," Carlos said.

"You and everyone else, little buddy." Jay said, resting his hand on Carlos' shoulder.

"Why don't we call the others and see if they are on their way," Evie suggested to Jay and Carlos. "Then we'll call Seph."

They both nodded and walked out of the waiting room.

"Ben. I think we need to talk," my mom said.

I looked up at them and nodded. I sat down in one of the chairs in the waiting room and was happy that it wasn't full of people.

"Before you say anything," I said looking up at them. "Mal doesn't know if the baby is mine or not, but I don't care. All I am going to say is that they are mine and I don't care what any DNA test says."

They looked at me and formed small smiles on their faces, confusing me. They're not mad?

"Ben. If you would have let me start talking," my mom said as she sat next to me and took my hands. "I was going to say that I knew why Mal freaked out and ran away."

What? How?

"When you told your father, Jen and I to go back to the castle, I told them I would meet them there later. I walked to Mal's room, because I was going to get more of her things and bring them to the castle. I went to pick up her sketchbook and found a seashell necklace on the floor, broken."

I looked at her with a weird look. What does that have to do with anything?

"Ben. The things Mal went through in January were traumatic and they broke her. You and her Isle friends, out of everyone, should have known she was not herself," she said. "No one is blaming you or anyone else for what happened, all of us should have noticed, but we didn't. I didn't have any idea why the necklace was broken, until I remembered Mal saying Trevor gave her one during the trial," she went on. "You know I'm a smart cookie and I put everything together. Mal found out she was pregnant and she didn't know what to do. She didn't know who the father was. She didn't know what you, I, your father, her parents, and friends would think of her. And that is a lot of pressure," she said.

I looked to my dad and he nodded his head in agreement.

"Plus the stuff she goes through after Trevor," she said.

I knew Mal was off, but I didn't want to push her into telling me what was wrong. I didn't want to make her feel that I was pushing her to be normal again. I should have known better.

"Ben," my mom said. I looked up and met her eyes as she slid one of Mal's sketchbooks into my hand. "Mal is suffering from PTSD and depression. She may have been trying to hide it, but she was not hiding it good enough. I had a feeling when she disappeared that something was worse than we thought, and that is another reason why I went to get her stuff. I wanted her to know that she is a part of our family no matter what, but maybe you should see for yourself."

I looked down at the sketchbook and opened it to the last page. It wasn't a sketchbook. It was a diary and everything was dated. I flipped through the pages and found the day of the trial.

February 1st.

Today was a rough one. I hope the dreams will go away soon. This was the second night having it. Yesterday, I slept with Ben and luckily he slept through my whimpering. I hate feeling weak and the dreams don't make anything better. I wanted to tell Ben or Evie about it but I don't want to bother them with my problems. My dreams felt so real. I could still feel his hands in he and the pain in my head. Today I woke up screaming 'no' and luckily Ben was already gone. You just have to remember no one likes weak people. You have to stop crying and letting people see your emotions. You have shown them too much already. Dad said this doesn't make me weak and I know it doesn't, but I don't know if I could hide the way I feel. Maleficent said weakness is what kills you. Maybe that's what is destined for me. I cried during the trial and let the entire council see it. Trevor may have been found guilty, but you showed that you are weak and that you aren't strong.

I flipped through some pages to read at further dates.

February 14th

It was my first Valentine's Day in Auradon. Evie went out with Doug all day, Lonnie and Jay watched movies and ordered in, Jane and Carlos were having a small date here on campus, and Chad and Jordan were in Cinderellasberg having a date at Chad's parent's castle. This morning I woke up in another cold sweat. This had been the 16th day in a row I had the dream about what happened in the meadow. Each day is getting harder and harder to get through. I just want it all to end. I don't know if I can take it anymore. I die a little bit more with each passing day and I don't know what to do. Plus, it doesn't help that I have had migraines for the past couple of days. Ben and my friends keep asking me if I am okay and I tell them I am, but I know they don't believe me and maybe if I keep telling them that they'll believe me and stop watching me like I'm about to shader into a million pieces. Ben had this big beautiful day planned for my first Valentine's Day and was so excited. He came to my dorm at 10 with a big bouquet of long stemmed red roses, a box of dark chocolate candies with raspberry cream and white chocolate with strawberry cream. He even got me a teddy bear that had honey brown fur and was wearing a blue suit and a crown that was sitting crooked on his head. I had planned his gift in the beginning of January, before everything else happened. I made him a scrapbook with pictures of us in them and wrote small little notes, and dates and what we were doing throughout the book. I even left the last of the book empty so he could fill it later, but I don't know if he will want to be with me later if I am still weak and broken.

I skipped to the last page she wrote in.

March 2nd

I can't take it anymore. They won't stop. I want to rip my hair out. I don't feel good. I have been sick for almost a week and I can't deal with these dreams anymore. I wake up EVERYDAY crying because of them. I'm weak. I don't deserve to have a happy life. Villains don't get to live happily ever after. I know Ben and all my friends want to know what is going on with me, but if I tell them they're going to hate me. I just have to wait it out and see if they will go away. I just hope I get over being sick soon so that I can try to get better from my dreams. I just want to be the best person for my family, for my friends, and for Ben. They don't need someone broken and weak.

I closed the book, dropping it on my lap and brought my hands to my face. How could I not see all of this before? How could she not tell me from the beginning, when I asked her? She doesn't want to do anything, but sleep after school. She hardly eats at meal times, except for a bowl of fruit at each meal. She lives off coffee to get her through classes. Gods! I'm the worst fucking boyfriend ever!

"Ben," my mom called, making me look up at her. "Why don't you go and see how she is doing and then come back out and tell me and your father how our grandbaby is," she said with a smile.

"You're not mad at me for wanting the baby with a possibility that they might not be mine?" I asked as tears started to gather in my eyes.

"No," my dad said. I looked up at him and he was shaking his head. "We are just the opposite. Though we wished it wouldn't happen this soon. We are proud of you," he said. "We love you. We love Mal. And we love your baby. Just as much as you will."

I let the tears fall down my face. "I was afraid of losing her today. I don't know what I would do if I lost either of them," I said.

"You'll never have to find out," my dad said. "Both of them are just down the hall."

I nodded my head and wiped my eyes. "I need to talk to Mal. I need to make her understand that I am not going to leave her for this and that I am going to be there for her every step of the way. I need her to know that she can come to me with anything and I am going to tell her that she needs to stop hiding her feelings away and thinking she is weak if she tells people what she is going through."

"Good." they both said.

"I was actually afraid of telling you guys that I didn't care if the baby was mine or not. I was afraid you would tell me that I couldn't be with Mal," I admitted.

My mom shook her head. "Never. We love Mal and have since the day you were born," she said.

I gave her a big hug and then stood to give my dad one. Evie, Jay, and Carlos came in as I let my dad go and they walked toward us.

"Everyone is on their way. Chad went to your dorm and got you a change of clothes and the girls went to mine and got some for Mal," Evie said.

"Seph is on her way. She doesn't want to teleport to a hospital and cause a scene," Jay said.

I nodded my head and picked up Mal's book off the chair.

"I'm going to go and see how she is doing. I'll be back and see if you guys can go in," I said.

"Okay, and your father and I will fill Persephone in when she gets here," my mom said.

"Thank you," I said and then walked back in the direction of Mal's room.

I slowly and quietly opened the door to Mal's room and saw the nurse, Dr, Boyce and Mal looking at a small screen. They didn't know I was there and Dr. Boyce had a wand type thing on Mal's stomach.

"Do you want to hear something amazing, Lady Mal?" Dr. Boyce asked her.

"Yeah," she answered quietly.

He then clicked a switch on the side of the screen and then the room was filled with this fast little flutter. Oh, wow…

"Oh, wow," Mal said.

"That's the baby's heartbeat. I would say you are 4 weeks along and their heartbeat is a little fast…"

"Is that bad?" I asked cutting him off and making them aware I was in the room.

Mal looked at me with wide eyes, nurse Stephanie jumped, and Dr. Boyce was calm.

"No, your majesty. It is normal and should slow down as they grow," he said.

"So, everything is fine? Mal and the baby are going to be okay?" I asked.

He nodded his head. "Yes, Lady Mal and the baby are doing just fine. She may have stopped breathing for a bit, but it wasn't long enough to hurt the baby. There was now water in her lungs either and she is breathing as strong as ever, but I have prescribed Lady Mal some prenatal vitamins and I have a list of foods and activities she cannot have and do," he said.

I took a couple steps forward and held my hand out. "I'll take it," I said.

Mal looked at me with a confused look, but didn't say anything. Dr. Boyce gave me the list and Mal's prescription and then stood up.

"I will leave you with Stephanie, and may I say congratulations on your little royal," he said with a smile before he left.

Stephanie cleaned off Mal's stomach and moved the monitor to one side of the room, while Mal looked down. I don't know what is going through that head of hers but I am going to find out.

"Okay, Lady Mal. You are all cleaned up and I was going to ask if you would like any pictures from your ultrasound?" she asked.

Mal looked up at her and then to me. She looked afraid to answer. Like I was going to yell at her if she didn't say what I wanted her to say.

"Umm… yeah," Mal said softly.

"Okay. How many would you like?" she asked.

"Just…"

"Can you give us as many as you can?" I asked, cutting Mal off.

Stephanie looked at me and smiled. "Of course. I'll be back with those in about 10 minutes," she said.

"Thank you," Mal and I said simultaneously.

She nodded her head and walked out of the room. I held Mal's book in my hand and took a couple of steps toward her. She looked up and me and then noticed it in my hand.

"Where did you get that?" She asked, pointing to the book.

"Well, while you were being stupid and throwing yourself in the lake my mom went to your room to get some of your stuff," I said, placing it down next to her. "She found the necklace Trevor gave you broken and thought she grabbed your sketchbook, but this is obviously not a sketchbook. Now that I am thinking about it, I don't know why she read your diary, but I am glad she did," I said. "Why didn't you come to me sooner?" I asked.

She looked down at the book and started to play with the spine. "I didn't want to bother you. I didn't want to bother anyone. I don't like people knowing someone was strong enough to break me."

"Mal, you cannot hide this stuff. You need to talk to people. You needed to talk to me," I stated.

"You have other responsibilities and school. You shouldn't have to deal with my problems too," she said. "And I don't want people thinking I'm weak."

"I could give two shits about my responsibilities. I understand that I am King, but you mean more to me than anything in this world," I told me, making her look up at me.

"How can you say that? How can you love someone who is weak? Who went through what I did and can't get over it? Who doesn't even know who's the father of their baby?" She asked as she started to cry.

"Mal you, and now OUR baby, mean more to me than anything. More than being King and more than my entire kingdom." I said as I sat on the side of the bed and took her hand in mine.

"Ben, I don't…"

"I don't care. I don't care if you don't know. And I don't care what any DNA test would say. They are mine just as much as they are yours," I stated.

It's true. I don't care if they are mine or not. I love them regardless and I love their mother. Nothing is ever going to change that.

"No. I don't want you to say that just to make me feel better. I want the truth. I want to know what you really think and feel," she told me.

"Fine. I'll tell you the truth if you tell me first."

She took a deep breath and sat up straight. "Okay. I have been having the same dream for over a month each night. I wake up in a sweat and sometimes screaming," she said. "I am guessing that you read my journal and know that," she said. I nodded my head, making her look down. "I don't want to sleep. I try to stay up, but I end up falling asleep from exhaustion. Whenever you or the others think I'm sleeping I'm not. I lay there with my eyes closed because I don't want you guys to worry about me. I don't want people worrying about me. I already have people staring at me around school, looking at me with sad looks."

"Mal. People are worried about you. I have been worried about you the whole time," I said.

"See. People worry after weak people. I can't be weak!" She exclaimed.

I can't believe she actually thinks she is weak. I scooted closer to her and took her face into my hands to make her look at me.

"You are not weak! You had something horrible happen to you." I said as my voice started to crack. "What happened… I wish… I wish what happened didn't. I want nothing more than to take all of your pain away," I said. We rested our heads on each other's. "But you have to tell me. You have to talk to me. You have to trust me. I am not going anywhere. I need you to talk to me. I don't want you thinking you're weak because of what happened to you. Everyone knows that you have been off and wants to help you get better, but we can't unless you meet us halfway," I said. "I am going to be there for you every step of the way. For you and our baby," I told her.

She started to cry, making me pull her into my arms.

"I have been lying. I am not okay," she cried. "I tried and tried to make it seem like I was okay that night, but I wanted to die. I felt like I wasn't worthy of anyone anymore. Like no one would want me because of what he did," she continued to cry.

I help her tight, holding her head to my shoulder. "Baby, you never have to feel like you have to hide your emotions from me or anyone else. You were so strong that night, but I should have known it wasn't completely real and I am sorry," I said.

She looked up at me and wiped her tears. "I was happy a couple of times," she said. "I was happy when you said that you would be with me no matter what and when my parents came with Hadie."

"And we were happy to see you too," we heard from behind me. We both looked to see Persephone, my parents, Evie, Jay and Carlos standing there. "But, I wish you didn't do what you did because now look where we are," she said, walking toward us.

She walked to the other side of the bed and pulled Mal into a tight hug.

"I'm sorry mom," Mal said.

Persephone pulled away and looked at Mal with squinted eyes. "Oh, you are so grounded."

Mal gave her a small laugh. "I'm 18. Am I still able to get grounded?" Mal asked.

"Oh, you bet your sweet ass you can," Persephone said in amusement and laughed. "You are so grounded that your baby is going to be grounded after they are born," she said, making Mal freeze.

"You know?" I whispered in case Jay and Carlos didn't.

She turned to me and nodded her head. "Yes, I do. Your parents told me," she said before turning back to Mal. "And now it is my turn to talk," she said. "I am not happy that you hid how you felt from all of us. Not one bit," she said, making Mal look down at her lap again. "Mally, Ben is right. You cannot hide your feelings and how hurt you are. No one in this world would make you feel like you are nothing after what happened. You have so many people who love you and want you to be happy. You may have fooled us and made us all think that you were better than you actually were, but we were all still worried about you," she continued. "I had to call Ben and talk with your friends, because you were not answering your phone. Do you understand how worried your father, brother and I were? Not to mention that you are pregnant now. Your dad is going to have a cow, but he is going to be fine afterward." she started to ramble and then I heard Jay and Carlos gasp from behind me.

I turned to look at them and saw them standing there with wide eyes.

"Seph, you may want to stay on one topic. Then go to the other," I said.

She nodded to me and then took Mal's hands into hers. "I am going to say this once and once only. You are NOT weak. You are strong. You are beautiful. You are brave. You are smart. You are talented. You are so many things and weak in never going to be one of those. You are one of the most sensitive people I know and for you to hide your emotions is not healthy. Everyone needs to show that they can be vulnerable."

"She's right Mal," Jay said walking up to the bed. "You have known me the longest and you know I never cry. Watching you that night broke all of us. And now knowing that you were hiding your pain from us instead of letting us help you is breaking us again."

"We are your family, Mal. We love you and don't want you hiding things from us," Carlos said walking up from behind Jay.

"From any of us," my dad said, pulling Belle and Evie with him.

I smiled at my parents. I was happy that they were supportive of my decision to be the father of the baby even though there is a chance that they may not be biologically mine. I looked back at Mal and took her hand into mine. She looked at me and gave me a small smile before Jay spoke again.

"So, you're having a baby?" Jay asked, crossing his arms over his chest and giving us a small scowl.

Mal looked up at him with a worried look like he was going to yell at her. I squeezed her hand and turned to Jay.

"Yes, Mal and I are having a baby," I said.

He walked to the foot of the bed and glared at the both of us. He slammed his hands on the railing, not breaking his glare.

"I am going to be the coolest and hottest uncle EVER!" he exclaimed before running around the bed to pull Mal and I into a big hug.

"They are going to be the most fashionable baby in the kingdom," Evie said as Jay let both of us go.

She ran up to Mal and threw herself on the bed and pinned Mal down. Carlos came up to me and gave me a hug. Mal's mom and my parents were talking and smiling at eachother.

"Oh!" nurse Stephanie said as she walked back into the room. "What a full room," she said with a smile before walking over to Mal with her discharge papers and a thick envelope. "You are free to leave whenever you are ready and I printed about 20 ultrasounds out for you. We normally charge for the extras, but I won't tell if you won't," she said with a chuckle.

"Thank you," I said as I stood and held my hand out to her. "And I am sorry for losing my temper when we first got here," I apologized.

She gave me a smile before shaking my hand. "No need, your majesty. I would and have done the same for my loved ones," she said as she put the envelope into my hand. "Have a wonderful rest of your day," she said before she left the room.

I noticed Mal was quiet and when I looked at her I saw that she was looking at everyone in the room and she had a small smile on her face. She looked different. She looked happier. Her eyes were bright again and she didn't look scared. I ran two of my fingers along her jawline, making her look up at me.

"Are you ready to go home?" I asked with a smile.

She gave me a small smile and nodded her head. I held my hand out for her to help her out of the bed. She took my hand and slowly got out of the bed. I wrapped my arm around her waist to support her as we started to walk out of the room, but Mal stopped and turned to everyone else.

"Can all of you come to the castle? I want to talk with all of you and I want to tell the otters about me being pregnant, because I bet they are out there waiting impatiently," she said. "But only if it is okay with Belle and Adam."

My mom walked up to her. "It is your home just as much as it is ours. You are a part of our family and are giving me and Adam our first grandbaby. You never have to ask us if it's okay for you to have people over," she said, pulling Mal into a hug.

I put my hand in my pocket and forgot what I had in there.

"Hey. Mal and I are going to make sure we didn't leave anything behind. Why don't we meet you all out there and we will all head to the castle," I said.

"Okay, we'll head out and tell everyone," Evie said as she walked out of the room.

Everyone followed her out of the room, just leaving Mal and I alone.

"Ben. I don't think we left anything," she said confused.

"I know. I wanted a minute with you," I said.

I pulled my hand out of my pocket, holding her rings in my hand.

"I wanted to tell you that I love you and our baby. I don't want you to ever doubt that ever again," I said, making her frown. "I never want to see you frown. I hate to see you cry. And I never EVER want you to take these off again," I said as I took her hand and slid the rings back into their proper spot.

"Can I make you a new promise?" she asked.

"You don't have…"

"I want to," she said, cutting me off. "I broke my promise to you and I hate that I did that." She said. "So, let me do this for you," she insisted, making me nod my head. "Since you are the best person, I know that you will forgive me, because you are so perfect. I am sure you won't be angry because you are the kindest person I know. I apologize with all my heart and I want to thank you for giving me a second chance. I can't promise you that dark clouds will never hover over our lives or that the future is going to be all rainbows. I can't promise you that tomorrow will be perfect or that life will be easy. I can promise you from this day forward, that I will be here for you. To listen and hold your hand. I can promise that I'll be willing to be your protector, your councilor, your friend, your family and your everything, because you are mine," she finished.

I smiled at her. I know she has been going through a lot and I wanted to talk to her more about it, but I wanted to make another promise to her.

I took her hands in mine and pulled them close to my heart. "I promise to you, that I will never leave you and I will always be your support, protector, your other half and I will always and forever love you," I said. "The both of you," I finished before I gave her a deep kiss.

We broke apart and walked out of the room hand in hand. I had a really good feeling that this was going to help Mal and make her feel better. I wanted nothing more in the world than to have my girlfriend back. Well, that and for our baby to be healthy. We walked out to meet everyone and Mal was swarmed in hugs by our friends. We were each handed a pair of clothes, but we told them that we would change when we got back to the castle. Once we all were settled to leave Jay pulled my car up and I traded him seats. Mal sat in the passenger and I held her hand the entire way to the castle. I just hope that everyone will understand and not judge her or my decision.

Evie gave Mal her phone and Mal saw that there was a text from her mom. When I was at a red light Mal showed me the text.

Mom to Mal: We still need to tell you father about the baby…

Oh, shit…


Okay. So that happened... Not horrible. I don't know if you have noticed, but Ben and Mal can think things and the other will say it. They cann ot read each other's minds, but becasue they are soulmates they think a lot a like.

What do you guys think I should do??

Ben's baby?

Trevor's baby?

I'm not sure?!?!?

And one more thing... What shoud the baby be?

A boy? Or a girl?

Until next time my lovies! xoxo GM