"Ben, you've got her bottle, right? And you know where the formula is?" Mal questioned, and Ben nodded, smiling at his wife as she gathered her purse and her things before she left out the door.

Ben was supposed to be watching Mallory, Mal's and his beautiful baby girl that he was honestly still so amazed by every day, while Mal and Evie went out to go and spend time together. Evie had insisted upon it, and Mal had originally been not as enthusiastic about the idea as Evie. However, the closer that it came to go out, the more Mal was ready and impatient to go. However, if Evie's current position was anything to judge by, Evie had now taken Mal's original stance on the subject.

Evie was standing nearby Ben and Mal, holding sweet baby Mallory there in her arms as she kissed her cheek fondly, nuzzling her as she practically drowned the baby with her love. But Mallory was undoubtedly eating it up, giggling with each kiss Evie pressed to her cheek. Evie was giggling with her, enjoying the game as much as the baby in her arms.

"You know where diapers are?" Mal checked and Ben offered a gesture of affirmation.

"Yes, ma'am," Ben told her.

"And emergency numbers?"

"Of course."

"And you are aware of where the medicine is?"

"Definitely," Ben assured her, and Mal nodded, lingering next to Evie as she furrowed her brow in thought.

"E? Am I missing anything?"

"I don't know. All I'm missing are these wittle bitty chubby baby cheeks," Evie baby-talked Mallory, cooing at her lovingly, and Mallory squealed with delight as Evie rubbed her nose against Mallory's face.

Mal eyed the two fondly before leaning over and kissing Mallory's cheek. Evie looked at Mal and grinned, playfully kissing Mal's cheek when she was nearby. Mal snorted, enjoying Evie's attention despite how randomly placed.

Ben looked at the three of them fondly, loving to see his three most favorite girls that he each viewed so differently being so happy with each other. Mal hugged Evie from the side as she stroked Mallory's hair. She then started to take Mallory from Evie gently, and Evie very begrudgingly pouted as she had to give up her niece.

Mal handed Mallory to Ben, a serious expression on her face.

"I am entrusting you with my most prized possession. Don't let anything happen to it," Mal told him, and Ben smiled at her, cradling the baby in his arms as he leaned forward to kiss Mal.

"Don't worry, nothing will happen," Ben assured her, kissing her quickly. Evie looked at Mal sweetly and Mal nodded to her, the two linking arms and starting out the door as they launched into that usual comfortable, easy conversation that they were always so famous for having.

Ben shut it behind them carefully, holding his baby in his arms as she conversed along in her usual gibberish.

"So, honey, just you and me," Ben announced, and Mallory reached up, squeezing his chin with her small fingers. Ben chuckled as he held her, trying to figure out what they could do. Ben didn't have a clue what to do with a baby. He had no idea whatsoever, but he nevertheless wanted to find something to spend time with her doing.

"Would you like Daddy to read to you?" Ben asked her sweetly, and Mallory just started with her usual gibberish. Ben nodded, guessing that was as close to a yes as he was going to get.

"Daddy's going to get you a book, then, okay?" Ben questioned, and Mallory made noises at him as she tried to take his tie in her mouth. Ben smiled, kissing her forehead as he headed down the hall to her baby room. He leaned down, carefully holding his girl as he reached in the midst of the vast collection of books on the shelf that Belle had gotten for the baby.

"Huh… What do you think of this one?" Ben asked, holding up a board book with a duck. Mallory looked at the book, but she quickly looked away from it, showing no interest whatsoever. Ben pursed his lips before grabbing another.

"What about this one?" Ben offered, and Mallory turned to look at the brightly colored worm on the cover. Mallory did at least keep looking at that book, so Ben considered that to be a good sign.

"Well… The Very Thirsty Inch Worm, it is, then," Ben took the book and headed back for the living room. He sat down in the armchair, Mallory on his lap as he opened the book. Mallory grabbed his nearest arm, laying down in his lap as she inspected it. Ben chuckled at her, taking his hand and stroking her hair fondly as he tried to get her attention.

"Mallory, hey, let's read, okay?" Ben suggested, raising his arm up as Mallory came with it. She was hanging onto his arm with her own small ones and she was giggling like a madwoman as she clung on tightly. Ben grinned at her, and he righted her in his lap. She leaned back against his stomach, and he opened the book.

"Okay… So… Once upon a time, there was a very thirsty inch worm," Ben started, but Mallory reached her foot out, kicking the book before he got very far at all. Ben laughed, reaching down and nuzzling her head.

"Honey, you're hitting the inch-worm," Ben told her with mirth in his voice and Mallory just giggled wildly. Ben rolled his eyes fondly, a giant smile on his face as he kissed the top of her head.

Ben opened his mouth to read again, but he suddenly heard a knock on the door. Ben furrowed his brow, wondering who that could be. He stood up with Mallory, sitting the book down on the coffee table as he headed over to the door.

He reached for the knob, turned it, and what to his wondering eyes should appear but a father-in-law, looking scary as usual. Ben offered him a large smile, straightening as he attempted to look presentable.

"Hades, hello! What brings you here?" Ben politely greeted, and Hades raised an eyebrow at the boy.

"My daughter and her best friend just told me that they left Mallory all by herself with you," Hades informed him, cutting to the chase immediately. Ben furrowed his brow, trying to understand what was wrong with that, but he kept a big smile on his face.

"Yeah. I'm babysitting her so Mal can get a little bit of a break from all the baby business," Ben explained himself and the situation, and Hades smiled somewhat condescendingly.

"Yeah. I know. But she left her all by herself with you. No offense, Florian, but I don't think that you know how to handle babies," Hades told the boy. Ben wanted to argue, but he decided that he wouldn't. After all, he did want to be on good terms with Hades.

"Well… I don't-"

"Give me the baby," Hades instructed, not asking any questions, and he took the baby from Ben quickly. Ben offered a smile to his father-in-law, watching his daughter and her grandfather interact sweetly.

"Hey, Mallory," Hades greeted with a huge grin, and Mallory's eyes lit up as he spoke to her. The whole time, she had been entirely too absorbed in her workings with Ben's shirt, but now that she realized that her Grandpapa was here, she was very excited as she immediately held onto him tightly.

However, after only a moment, Hades sniffed hard, furrowing his brow in mild disgust. He sniffed again, drawing a bit nearer to the baby, and he looked at Ben, his lip curled in revulsion.

"You stunk her up," Hades proclaimed, and Ben immediately knew exactly what was going on. He leaned near the god, sniffing, and he then had confirmation.

"She must need her diaper changed," Ben told the taller man, and Hades looked at Mallory with some worry.

"Okay…"

"Here, I can go take care of it," Ben offered, and Hades let the boy take her from him.

Ben headed further into the room, going for the changing table, and Hades followed along. He stood behind the boy as he surveyed Ben's work.

Ben laid the baby on the changing table, and he was getting out a clean diaper and some wipes. When he had that set up, he very carefully started trying to remove the diaper without getting too close. He carefully worked on one side, and Hades soon grew bored with the young king's much-too-slow work.

"Look, this is how you're supposed to do it," Hades informed him huffily, turning toward the diaper, and taking it off with relative ease and not near the carefulness that Ben had used.

Hades turned to Ben and was just about to give the boy a victorious smirk, but before he could get too far in that endeavor, a horrible stench hit his nose and his eyes widened. He turned back to the baby laying there on the changing table, and his mouth curled into a disgusted frown as he took in the sight.

"Are you sure you didn't get that child from the pits of Tartarus?" Hades questioned, trying to keep from gagging as he made his voice gruffer to disguise it. Ben almost laughed, but he kept ahold of himself, and he edged over closer so that he could start to change Mallory's diaper.

"You have to be careful when opening her diaper. You never know what surprises might be there," Ben remarked, trying not to breathe too heavily as Hades stared at the two.

"Yeah, no kidding, Florian. Why didn't you warn me?" Hades questioned grumpily, standing firmly in his position directly in front of the changing table, knowing that stepping away meant defeat and letting Ben be right. And he could not let Ben be right.

"I was trying to," Ben finally chuckled slightly, and Hades rolled his eyes, crossing his arms in front of him.

Mallory looked up at the god and her face lit up in a big, barely-toothed grin as she reached a hand up while Ben was changing her diaper.

"Ooh, gigi gopa," Mallory cooed.

Hades sighed, his heart softening significantly after seeing her happiness. He reached a hand down and let her grab his finger the best that she could in one fist. She quickly latched on with a surprisingly sure grip, and he chuckled fondly.

"You are a stinky princess," Hades teased, talking in a bit higher-pitched voice as he moved his finger in her grip. She just laughed joyfully at him, and he stuck his tongue out, making a disgusted face as he tried to make her laugh more.

She did, and then another voice joined along. Hades stopped mid-smile and looked at Ben, narrowing his eyes as all of his humor dissipated. Ben immediately stopped chuckling and looked back down at his work sheepishly, clearing his throat.

Hades looked back at the baby, and she was watching him intently. When he was sure Ben wasn't looking, he waggled his eyebrows. She giggled, and Hades' face immediately lit back up in a pleased smile.

"Okay… And… Done," Ben finished changing her diaper, and he picked her up, handing her to Hades. Hades easily took her from the younger man, her head bobbling up as she watched Hades.

"Here, I've got to go wash my hands," Ben informed him, and Hades smirked wickedly.

"Washing is for giant pansies," Hades pointed out as he looked at the boy walking away. Mallory reached up, taking his face in her hands, and Hades immediately looked back at her.

"Hey, Baby-Cakes," Hades greeted softly, and she grabbed his nose with a hand, squeezing it.

"Aww, right in the schnoz!" Hades cried out in a nasally voice, and Mallory released a loud peal of laughter. Hades laughed with her, but they both froze when Ben came back.

"You guys don't have to stop. Don't mind me," Ben told them, raising his hands with a grin on his face.

Hades just huffed at him, completely unimpressed, and the baby prodded at his face carefully, feeling the short and bristly hairs covering the lower half of his face. Hades touched her nose with his own as he came around the armchair, wasting no time in plopping down in it comfortably as he held his granddaughter fondly.

Ben accompanied them, sitting on the couch nearby. Mallory tugged at Hades' hair the best as she could, and Hades caught her hand gently.

"Now, baby, don't mess up the hair. Got a fresh gel-job and everything," Hades informed her, pulling gently on a few sprigs of blue hair coming from the little girl's own hair. She just reached up, talking gibberish as she grabbed his hand in an attempt to bring it down to her mouth.

"So, has she said any words yet?" Hades asked, looking at Ben as he addressed the boy. Ben shook his head, watching his daughter fondly.

"No, nothing yet. I'm surprised, though, considering how much Evie talks to her. Evie insists that it makes her smarter to hear all of those words at that young of an age. I guess she knows what she's talking about," Ben offhandedly told him, shrugging as he thought of how Evie would carry on a constant one-sided conversation with the baby as she doted and showered endless affection on Mallory.

Hades just scoffed at his son-in-law.

"Of course she does. Evie knows a ton of things. More than you do, that's for sure," Hades unashamedly told the boy sitting nearby him. Hades was fond of Evie, and he had no problem telling it as he saw it. He thought Evie was smart, and he didn't think Ben was the brightest cookie in the box. There wasn't much that could change that point of view either.

"Evie does know a lot," Ben admitted, taking Hades' comment infuriatingly gracefully. Hades turned his gaze to the boy, offering him a somewhat odd expression as he wished he could find some sort of insult or jab that could get under the younger guy's skin.

But when Hades heard Mallory speaking more gibberish to him, he raised an eyebrow, reminded of the actual topic at hand. He couldn't help but wonder if Evie was actually right, and if it would work if he started talking to her. Maybe he could get her to say Grandpapa.

"Hey, Mallory, baby," he cooed, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ben stare at him as if he had lost his mind completely.

"Mallory? Can you say Grandpapa? C'mon, Baby-Cakes, Grandpapa? Grandpapa?" Hades kept repeating, and just because of the high-pitched tone of voice he was using, Mallory broke into laughter at him. Hades was not impressed with the lack of response, but her giggles were so sweet that he couldn't bring himself to be upset at all.

"Can I try?" Ben asked, and Hades looked at him strangely.

"Why?"

"I just want to see if I can get her to say anything," Ben explained, and Hades eyed him skeptically.

"Okay…"

Hades hesitantly handed Mallory over to Ben, and her face lit up in a big grin as she looked at her father. Hades leaned forward in his chair, watching the two carefully as he was practically itching to have his baby back in his arms again. Ben might be her father, but Hades was her grandfather, which definitely counted infinitely more.

"Hey, Mallory? Mallory? Can you say Daddy? Daddy?" Ben softly asked her and Mallory started making noises that remotely resembled what Ben was saying.

"A-wa, fa-da," Mallory returned, and Ben just smiled at her. Hades tilted his head slightly, watching the both of them with a raised eyebrow.

"Daddy? Daddy, Daddy, Daddy," Ben sang to her, and Mallory laughed at him. Hades' expression immediately softened upon Mallory's laughter.

"Badda, Badda, Badda!" Mallory repeated, trying to do what Ben had done, and Ben grinned at her, laughing as he hugged the girl.

Hades shook his head at the both of them, finally leaning back in his seat, despite how much he didn't want to. More than anything, he wanted his baby back with him.

"Well, I'm not sure she's going to actually say anything to either one of us," Ben told Hades, and Hades furrowed his brow.

Hades wasn't one to quit. He didn't believe in giving up when things got hard. He didn't believe in tucking tail when things were impossible. He knew Mallory was a very smart girl and he was sure that she could talk if she wanted to. Besides, he wanted her first word to be Grandpapa or something close to that.

Hades pursed his lips in thought before extending his arms.

"Here, give her back to me. She'll say my name, I'm sure of it," Hades expressed, and he started to try to get the little girl to say his name.

Needless to say, Hades, and Ben had just started engaging in a very futile process in which the odds were against both of them.

…

"C'mon, Baby-Cakes… Grandpapa! Grandpapa!" Hades desperately tried, knowing that it was truly a pointless endeavor.

Mallory had finally started to get bored with the both of them, and she wasn't really listening to either one of them as she rested her head on Ben's chest, her eyes closing. Of course, after such a long time of trying to get her to talk to them and say words, she had gotten tired of their attempts. They weren't doing anything that she found interesting.

Ben and Hades were at their wits end. They were both so desperate to get her to say a word that they had completely lost track of time, and they were getting quite frustrated with this game. They wanted to impress Mal when her and Evie came back, and they wanted to show her that they had gotten Mallory to say her first word.

Ben and Hades kept trying for a few moments more, but they finally both gave up, deciding that they were tired of this game as well.

"Good grief," Hades sighed deeply, exhausted just from trying to get the girl to say something.

"Yeah… I don't think she's saying her first word today," Ben told the other man, patting the baby's back gently as he stroked it carefully.

It was only a little while after that that Evie and Mal came in the door, hauling bags with them

"Where's my favorite girl?" Evie asked playfully, and Mal raised an eyebrow at her as she smirked slightly at her sister.

"Huh… I thought I was your favorite girl," Mal told Evie, enjoying teasing the older girl, and Evie just grinned at Mal as she nudged the faerie fondly.

"You are. I'm talking about my favorite little girl," Evie corrected, and Mal nodded, offering Evie a thumbs-up before returning to her task of putting away her purse. Evie came over to Ben, automatically going to sit in the armchair, but she was going right for Hades lap. Hades didn't say anything as he watched her sit. As soon as she sat on his legs, she shot up, turning to face him with a completely embarrassed look on her face.

"Getting comfortable?" Hades couldn't resist questioning, and Evie's face was practically glowing as she sat next to Ben instead.

"I am so sorry! I didn't see you there!" Evie exclaimed, and Mallory stirred awake, opening her eyes blearily as she looked at Evie who had just sat down next to Ben and Mallory.

Mallory quickly became more awake as she reached a hand out toward Evie, a small sleepy smile on her face.

"Annie Ee-ee," Mallory spoke, clearly calling Evie by her name, and Hades immediately straightened, looking at Mallory with wide eyes along with Ben as they both gaped at the child. Evie's face blossomed into an enormous grin as she took Mallory from Ben, cooing and praising Mallory.

"That's right, Angel-Baby! Auntie Evie!" Evie cried, holding Mallory in her arms tightly as she rubbed Mallory's nose with her own. Ben and Hades just shared a totally bumfuzzled gaze as they stared at the baby.

Mal came rushing in, her eyes wide as she nearly tripped over herself in her haste to get into the living room.

"What did she say?! Did she say her first word?!" Mal demanded, and Evie nodded wholeheartedly, cuddling Mallory close to her as she enjoyed holding her baby niece. Evie's pride over the girl was just coming off of her in waves, and Mal hurried over, leaning over the back of the couch as she looked at Mallory.

"What did she say?!"

"Annie Ee-ee," Evie told Mal, and Mal immediately melted on the spot with love as she leaned her head against Evie's as she cooed at Mallory.

Ben and Hades just slowly looked at one another, completely disbelieving that the girl's first word was not one of their names. After all, they had worked so hard almost the entire time that Mal and Evie were gone, and they had a hard time believing that it was all for nothing.

But they both allowed their expressions to melt into smiles as they enjoyed Mal and Evie's reactions to Mallory. They were proud of Mallory ultimately.

Although at least one of them would adamantly deny it later, the two in-laws had a rather enjoyable time babysitting the baby together.

Even if Hades still didn't think that the young King was a good babysitter.

A/N: Well, here's a little bit of Mallory fluff. I think we've all been missing this (maybe it's just me, lol), so I decided to post a oneshot. I've got several other Descendants oneshots planned that are not related to our favorite Bal child and I've got to finish writing Urban Cowgirls, too, not to mention the 2016 Adventures in Babysitting oneshot I have planned. Wow… A lot on my plate…

But anyways, I suppose I shall give you all a short rundown of what I've got planned in the way of Descendants oneshots. I've got a Jaudrey (Jay/Audrey) one in the works, one with Mal and Evie sister fluff and angst, and I am also planning for another Mal and Evie sister fluff that is part of my series including the directly Post-D3 oneshots "His Captain," "Keep Your Enemies Closer," and "Actions Speak Louder than Words."

Let me know what you guys think, and if you have any questions or a desire for spoilers, PM me, and I can give you a summary of what's to come in the next oneshots. :) I hope you all enjoyed and please let me know what you thought!