Before I knew it me and Ben were walking hand in hand into Auradon Castle; however as we were halfway into the main hall before we heard a voice call out to the pair of us.

"Ben?" Adam called. "Mal" he added as we both turned around to see Adam and Belle walking towards us, with very concerned looks on their faces.

"Yes?" We both said together as they both stood in front of us.

"We know that you probably want to be on your own-" Belle started.

"Yes?" Ben prompted.

"But maybe-" she started but stopped to nervously purse her lips together.

"Yes Mother?" Ben smiled at his mother.

"You should stay in our suite with us," she offered. "We want to be there for the pair of you," she advised. "Especially after today" she finished and I couldn't help but nod at this. Yes it was bad enough for me and Ben to go through our witness testimony; but it must have been very painful for our family and friends to watch us go through this.

"I think what your mother is trying to say-" Adam interjected. "Is that-" he added. "We both don't want you locking yourselves up, away from your loved ones" he continued sincerely. "We are here for you," he finished.

"We get that don't we Mal?" Ben smiled down at me, and I nodded again. "I guess-" Ben started. "We have chosen to be on our own, as we thought that we could do this on our own" he told his parents.

"We get that," Belle replied. "And we don't want you to think we are being pushy" she advised.

"We don't," I answered happily. "We'll go and get our things" I advised.

"Ok" Belle said excitedly as we turned and started to head towards the main staircase so we could go and get our things.

"Is that ok Mal?" Ben muttered; and when I looked up at him to see that he looked nervous.

"Of course it is," I confirmed. "We need your parents Ben, we need our whole family to get through this" I told him as I realised something. "But I couldn't help but notice something Ben-" I began to advise.

"What?" Ben questioned.

"By your parents asking us to stay in their suite, it would appear that your parents need us too" I told him sincerely. "Mostly you" I quickly added and I watched as his eyes slightly widened at this.

"Mal-" he sighed. "They see you are their daughter" he reminded me.

"I know" I nodded. This was the truth; I did know that they treated me as their daughter; but during times like this I knew that they would need to spend time with Ben. This is something that I would never feel bitter or jealous of; a parents love was something that was special - and I would never choose to fight against this. "But you know what I mean," I offered.

"Yeah" he nodded at me. "It's hard for them as well," he noted. "I think we have forgotten that" he advised as he pursed his lips together. "I kind of feel bad," he admitted.

"Me too" I admitted. "But we will make sure that we keep checking on them" I suggested as we walked into our suite.

"Yeah" I heard Ben answer but I couldn't help but note the guilty look that was now on his face. I made a mental note to try and make sure that we didn't fall into this situation again. Yes I had always thought of Adam and Belle as my parents; but now me and Ben were married I wanted to make sure that I not only took care of Ben I took care of them as well. I wanted to be a good daughter in law and wife; and I was going to make sure I achieved this.


After packing everything that we were going to need for tonight and tomorrow into a bag (as we both agreed that this would make it easier in the morning) we then walked hand in hand through Auradon Castle until we got to Adam and Belle's suite. Me and Ben then went into the bedroom onto the left hand side of the suite and began to unpack our things. Thankfully it didn't take very long, and we quickly changed into some lazy clothes to prepare for our relaxing evening. And before I knew it we were walking into the living space of Adam and Belle's suite, to find them sitting on the couches talking amongst themselves. When their eyes landed on me and Ben I couldn't help but smile at their happy and eager faces. As I sat down next to Ben on the gold fabric couch in front of his parents I started to feel at ease; this is exactly what the four of us needed after today - and I was going to treasure every moment.


"Is it ok for us to ask how the pair of you are doing?" Belle questioned after Mrs Potts and her staff had placed down a meal of home made chicken Kiev's and chips with garden peas.

"Of course Belle" I answered as we all began to eat our food. "We have no secrets from you," I told her kindly. "We were actually saying we felt bad for not spending time with you two last night" I admitted.

"Hey!" Belle exclaimed. "Don't feel bad," she dismissed.

"We understood that you needed time alone together" Adam quickly interjected.

"Yes" Ben agreed. "At the time we thought we were doing the right thing; but we forgot that it isn't just us that is going through this. You are too" he explained. "And we are sorry for that" he apologised for the both of us.

"We appreciate that," Adam advised. "But you don't need to feel bad for putting each other first, that is what marriage is" he continued. "You put each other first" he added as he threw a loving look over to Belle, who happily nodded at this.

"Thank you," I answered. "And to answer your question we are both finding it hard" I began to explain. "Especially today" I sighed. "I just hated the fact that the defence has the audacity to suggest that me and Ben had planned this out!" I dressed as I shook my head. "I really couldn't care what Bobby and his little friends were up to, as long as they were leaving us alone" I explained.

"Here here!" Ben exclaimed and when I looked over to him I saw a very playful look in his eyes before his face dropped. "I hate how stressful it is for all of us, especially you" he advised as he pursed his lips together.

"Why me?" I questioned in confusion.

"Mal," he stated, as if the answer should be obvious. "Stress isn't good for you or the baby" he reminded me which made us both look down at my stomach.

"I know that" I answered as I looked back at my concerned husband. "But stress is part and parcel of this trial" I told him. "I won't be able to relax until it's over; and they all get what they deserve" I finished hopefully.

"I know," Ben said. "I want that too," he agreed hopefully. "But you never know how the jury is going to rule, it might even be a hung jury" he sighed sadly.

"Well let's hope it doesn't get to that?" Adam dismissed.

"What happens if it is a hung jury?" I enquired.

"It would mean that the case would need to be retried again-" Belle explained. "But with a different jury," she added.

"Well I don't really think that is fair!" I exclaimed. It was bad enough that me and Ben had to go through it the first time; never mind to have to go through the anguish again because the jury couldn't decide whether Bobby and his pathetic little band of men were guilty or not. "The defence could then build a better defence on the evidence that has already been put to them" I stated.

"I know" Adam sighed. "Which is why we really don't need a hung jury," he continued. "The evidence should speak for itself" he stated.

"Can we talk about something else?" Ben questioned. "I'd rather not think about the trial" he stated. "Or Bobby and the others or what may or may not happen" he added.

"Ok" we all nodded.

"Well why don't we talk about your renewal?" Belle offered. "We still need to make a few decisions" she reminded me and Ben.

"Of course" Ben smiled at this. We then went on to have a very lovely family meal as we discussed the final decisions that we needed to make for our wedding vow renewal - which was very exciting

After we had discussed our wedding renewal we then talked about anything that came to our minds. And as the conversation went on I couldn't help but note that all four of us were trying to make sure that the conversation didn't go on or had anything that could link to the trial - which was something that was affecting us all very deeply.