"It's not our job to toughen our children up to face a cruel and heartless world. It's our job to raise children who will make the world a little less cruel and heartless."
-L. R. Knost
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Chapter 3
The four teens sat around the table in Jay and Carlos's room. The silence was pervaded only by the rapid clicking of Evie's sewing machine and the occasional giggle from Mal and Carlos who were reclining on Carlos's bed watching a children's cartoon on a laptop. Every time Evie flicked the switch to lift the foot, she looked up at the boys at the table. Jay was sitting with a piece of paper in front of him, absently tapping his pencil against the table, his forehead, Doug's arm, and anything else within his reach. He looked as though he were concentrating, brows furrowed. Occasionally he would bite his lip and look as though he were going to write something down before pausing and resuming his pencil tapping.
Evie adjusted the fabric underneath the needle to sew another line. She flicked the switch down and pressed the pedal gently. Evie was hastily making simple clothing for Carlos and Mal to wear. The two only had the outfits they had awoken in and Evie refused to let them wear the same clothes for two days in a row. She turned the blue fabric forming Mal's dress so that the needle would follow the line of pins she'd made. The fabric was blue because Evie hadn't had time to design and prepare to make Mal and Carlos custom clothing, so she only had spare blue cloth. She had managed to find enough red fabric to make Carlos a pair of shorts, but other than that, she only had varying shades of her favorite color.
When she reached the end of the cloth she flicked the switch up, again to readjust. This time her eyes found Ben. He was sitting next to Evie and across from Jay. He had his head pillowed in his arms, laying on the table. He was stressed, and Evie knew it. He'd shifted several times, unable to find a comfortable position. His hair was out of place, and seeing the King disheveled from anything but tourney was not a common occurrence. He sighed softly—again—and turned his head towards Evie. For a brief moment they locked eyes and Evie saw the concern that he was unable to mask. Ben worried about them a lot, Evie also knew this. Even from when they'd first met, Ben had wanted to take care of them and make everything better. It wasn't a stretch for Evie to assume that this situation was driving Ben crazy. He didn't like being helpless, feeling like there was nothing he could do to find a solution.
The presser foot went down. Evie was concerned about having clothes for Mal and Carlos in time. Sewing was easy for Evie, she'd had many years to hone her craft and could work with just about any type and style of fabric, but despite her ability, sewing took time. You had to know what you wanted to sew and plan accordingly, purchasing or crafting a pattern, cutting out fabric, piecing the fabric together, and then finally sewing it. The whole process was time consuming, which was why Evie normally took a few days to create a new outfit. Between school, homework, joining the Mathletes, and hanging out with those she cared about, time was becoming a scarce commodity, meaning she didn't have as much time for sewing. But Mal and Carlos needed clothes that fit them, this was simply a fact that Evie acknowledged as true.
The villain's kids didn't have much money to their name, so purchasing clothes was never an option. Monetary problems were why Evie sewed clothes for all of them in the first place. The four had discovered that buying clothes in Auradon was expensive. The princes and princesses that lived here never batted an eye at such expenses, but when you don't come with a fortune attached to you, obtaining clothes becomes more difficult. However, purchasing fabric in bulk was another story, one that fit much more easily into their price range. The current problem was time. Mal and Carlos would need several outfits which would take time that Evie didn't have, especially if she was now to spend most of it chasing after them. She hurried to finish the dress, which had to be regrettably plain and boring in order for her to have enough time to make Carlos some clothes before they put the kids down for bed.
She flicked the switch up and tied the thread, snipping off the excess. She looked up and this time observed Doug. He was on his laptop, ignoring Jay's ministrations with the pencil, and taking notes about whatever it was he was researching into further. When Doug was faced with a problem he didn't know how to handle, his go-to response was to research anything he could find related to that topic. Evie assumed that he was probably looking up parenting strategies and tips, or maybe reading an article about reversing de-aging spells. Although now that she thought about it, Doug would probably have a harder time finding anything useful about magic on the Internet. Lots of people were parents, but not many people used magic anymore, so there wasn't as much of a need for magical forums as there was for parenting forums.
She looked down at the dress, assessing what needed to be done, and admiring her work. Despite not having enough time to make it fancy, she still had a standard to uphold, so she added a bow to wrap around the waist and be tied in the back. She set the fabric in place so that she could hem the bottom of the skirt.
"Wait!" Jay exclaimed, making everyone at the table jump. Evie stuck her finger in her mouth from where she'd pricked it on a pin—again—and waited for an explanation for his outburst. "Evie, what about your magic mirror?"
Evie pulled her finger out of her mouth and hesitated, before saying, "I don't know if that'll work."
"What do you mean? Of course it will! Just ask where Mal's spell book is, and whoever has it we go take down!" Jay asserted, looking hopeful.
Evie stood up and walked over to where she'd left her purse on the dresser. She rooted around inside of it, pulling out the broken mirror. Returning to her seat she explained, "After the coronation, Mr. Deley reported my mirror to Fairy Godmother. She put a range on it."
"A range? What do you mean?" Ben asked, chin propped on his fist.
"I can use it to ask for things like where my phone is or to define a word, but if I try to ask it for something that's too far away, it gets static-y. Like if I asked where something was miles away it wouldn't show anything. I don't really know how far the range is because I haven't needed to use it in months," she trailed off, clutching the mirror in her hand.
"We can try, though, can't we? Just in case?" Jay asked desperately.
Evie looked at her mirror, "Mirror, mirror just a look, where can I find Mal's spell book?"
Just as Evie expected, the mirror displayed nothing but static on its screen. She turned the mirror to show the others, avoiding Jay's fallen expression.
"I'll keep trying," She insisted, "Maybe sometime during the day I'll happen to be close enough for the mirror to find it."
Jay stood up from his chair, tossing his pencil on the table. Ben reached out and grabbed the skittering pencil before it could fall off the edge and started playing with it, effectively signaling the end of the conversation. As Jay paced, Ben fidgeted, and Doug researched, Evie returned to her sewing. She startled again when Jay placed a hand on her shoulder.
"You scared me!" she complained, placing her hand over her heart. "What do you want?"
Jay gave her a smile, abruptly changing moods. "Mal and Carlos fell asleep, come look." Evie's eyes lit up and they crept over to the bed. Mal and Carlos were curled up, facing each other. Carlos had his thumb in his mouth and Mal had reached out and grabbed part of Carlos's shirt.
"Oh my goodness," Evie cooed. "This is too precious. We need a picture so we can hold this over them when they turn back."
"That's exactly what I was thinking," Jay agreed, keeping his voice low to avoid waking them.
"Doug," Evie whispered, gaining his attention. "Quickly go get your camera. We need a picture of this." Doug shut his laptop and bounded out of the room. Ben joined them at the bedside when Doug returned, snapping a few images.
"You know, instead of using these pictures for embarrassment, you guys could just make them a photo album so they can know what happened," Doug suggested, looking through the photos he'd just taken.
"Why would we do that?" Jay countered incredulously. "That sounds like a lot of work."
"Perhaps," Ben cut in, "But I like the idea. I'm assuming none of your parents ever made you a scrapbook with baby pictures, so we have a unique opportunity to give Mal and Carlos something they've never experienced before."
Jay raised an eyebrow, "You realize that there aren't cameras on the island, right? And even if there were, how would we get the photos made? Besides, how do you know they even want them? Like you said, it's something we've never experienced before," he finished bitterly.
Ben swallowed and bit his lip before answering, "I apologize if I upset you Jay, but was I wrong in assuming none of you have had a scrapbook made for you?" Jay and Evie remained quiet. "We don't know what will happen when Mal and Carlos turn back, but at least we can have a gift for them that can help explain what happened to them."
Evie nodded, "I think it's a good idea." She knew that she wouldn't have wanted a scrapbook of her childhood on the isle, but if she had lived here in Auradon, things would've been different. "Doug, do you mind being the official cameraman?"
"Not at all," Doug saluted her, almost dropping his camera in the process.
Evie smothered a giggle at her clumsy boyfriend. "Alright, we should probably wake them up soon."
"Why on earth would you suggest that?" Jay objected, "They're quiet and not moving."
"According to a parenting website I was on earlier, by the time a toddler reaches four years of age, he or she should begin to outgrow napping," Doug stated, "If they do nap, then it shouldn't exceed an hour's length in time or bedtime gets a little, well, yeesh," He gestured drawing a line across his throat. "If they don't nap, however, quiet time is suggested where they spend some time relaxing as to avoid overstimulation which can result in tantrums. Also—"
"Okay!" Jay held his hands in the air, surrendering, "You win! We'll wake the gremlins up." Evie moved so she could sit on the side of the bed. She gently shook Mal's arm.
"Mal sweetheart, rise and shine. It's time to wake up," Evie babbled as Mal began to stir.
"I don't wanna," Mal mumbled.
She clutched the fabric of Carlos's shirt tighter before opening her eyes. She released Carlos and stretched, yawning and lazily rolling over into Evie's leg. Evie reached over Mal and began to wake Carlos up in a similar manner.
He took his thumb from his mouth and sleepily rubbed at his eyes. "Momma?"
"Carlos, it's Evie." Carlos looked at Evie and sat up.
"Where's my mommy?"
"We're in Auradon now, remember? Evie and I are taking care of you, buddy." Jay sat on the opposite side of the bed, near Carlos. Carlos nodded demurely and stuck his thumb back in his mouth as he wriggled his way into Jay's lap.
Evie poked at Mal again, "Wake up or Jay, Carlos, and I will do something evil and we won't let you participate."
Mal scrambled to stand up. "You wouldn't," she pouted, unwilling to miss a fun opportunity to be evil, even though she wasn't entirely sure what being evil entailed.
"We would, but now we don't have to because you're up." Evie insisted.
Mal looked around the room and shook her head. "Nuh-uh, Ben wouldn't let you be evil, he's too nice."
Ben laughed. "Well. she's got you there. Also, there's no time for evi. We only have ten minutes until dinner."
Both Carlos and Mal perked up at the thought of dinner. Carlos insisted on being carried by Jay, and Mal wouldn't settle until she was perched on Ben's shoulders, looking down at everyone. Evie trailed behind them, fingers interlocked with Doug's.
"How do you think dinner will go? The school is about to see Mal and Carlos for the first time," she worried, swinging their conjoined hands gently.
Doug shrugged, tugging her hand with the motion, "I'm not sure, but it's not like we can keep them hidden forever."
Evie knew that, but it didn't stop her from being concerned. At least Mal and Carlos were in a good mood, with Carlos babbling to Jay about something and Mal laughing as she discovered a few dandelion strands in Ben's hair and calling him "the dandelion dande-Ben" as if it were the most hilarious thing she'd ever experienced. Evie sighed and continued to walk towards the dining hall.
"Ben, I don't know what to do!" Evie cried into the phone. "They won't calm down! I can't get them in bed."
She stood in the doorway of Jay and Carlos's bathroom and watched the chaotic scene before her. She'd bathed Mal and Carlos, an event that had gone much better than she'd hoped after dinner had proven to be very tense. The dining hall had been quieter than normal, with many faces turned towards their table, watching and whispering. No one directly approached them, but the attention alone was enough to put the teens on edge. Mal and Carlos quickly picked up on their unease and began to fuss, causing a bigger scene than Evie wanted.
When she finally got them back to the room and into the tub so she could scrub off the dirt from their picnic, she let herself believe that they were in the clear. Mal and Carlos gleefully splashed in the water and let her wash them. She lifted them out of the tub and wrapped them in separate towels. She had just finished dressing the two in their older self's tee-shirts to wear as nightgowns when everything went haywire. When she'd opened the door to let them back into the bedroom they ran out of the room and the calm fell apart. The two were running around, bouncing on the beds, climbing on the chairs, and yelling. Evie was pretty sure that they were trying to sing something, but for some reason had decided that the proper volume for this serenade was at the top of their lungs. Her eyes followed Jay as he chased them around the room to corral them onto Carlos's bed, only succeeding in containing one child at a time.
Ben's voice sounded in her ear, "Try reading them a story, I always loved that when I was younger."
"We don't have any children's books. We don't actually have any books other than our textbooks right now," Evie responded, whining more than she'd intended. She ran a hand through her curls, frazzled from the crazy evening, and attempted to smooth them back into place.
"Make one up then, it just has to be something to distract them while they fall asleep," Ben suggested. "Make sure it's not too interesting though or else they'll want to stay up all night to know what happened next."
"Make up a story, okay," Evie nodded, despite Ben being unable to see her gesture. "I can do that, I think."
"Are you sure you don't want any help?" Ben asked.
Evie could feel his worry over the phone. He'd offered earlier to help put them to bed, but Evie had wanted her and Jay to do it themselves. Doug had read online that routine was important for children and she wanted to start right away. Ben wouldn't normally be there to put them to bed, so why have him there one night and not the next? She and Jay had decided that the girls would temporarily stay in his room since neither of them wanted to be alone in taking care of a four-year-old and Jay's room had the largest beds. Part of Evie was regretting that she'd insisted on her and Jay doing this alone, but she was determined to see this through.
"Thanks, but no. Um, I gotta go, goodnight!" She hung up the phone and walked over to Carlos's bed. "Jay!" she called loudly, "Would you like to hear a story?"
"Evie, is now really the time?" Jay droned as he lifted Carlos up off the ground, little legs still moving.
Evie gestured him over. "Jay, it's story time," she insisted. "Please."
Jay made a face of doubt, but set Carlos on the ground and joined her on the bed.
"Once upon a time," she began, looking at Jay, but speaking loudly enough to be heard around the room. "There was a little girl with purple hair and a little boy with white hair who liked to go on adventures." The yelling had stopped. Her mind was racing as she attempted to come up with a story on the fly that would capture Mal and Carlos's attention. "They had a friend who also happened to be the King. One day, the two went to the King's castle so that they could have a picnic but everyone there was running around in circles!" She paused, collecting her thoughts and ignoring Jay's raised eyebrow.
"Why were they running in circles?"
Evie looked away from Jay, down at Carlos, who had made his way over to the edge of the bed. She smiled, knowing that if she had Carlos's attention, Mal would probably follow. Jay reached down and lifted him onto the bed.
"You can only find out if you're under the blankets," Jay stipulated.
Carlos nodded, accepting this condition gracefully, and crawled under the covers, turning to Evie for the next part of the story.
"Can I know too?" Mal asked bashfully. "I don't really care, I just want to know what the little girl with purple hair did."
"You know the rules, under the covers," Jay said, pointing to a spot next to Carlos. Mal hesitated, sensing a trap.
"Lilly, come on!" Carlos said, patting the bed. "I want to hear what happens next!"
Mal jumped down from the chair she was sitting on and skipped over to the bed, climbing up the bedspread with minimal help from Jay. She settled under the blanket next to Carlos and crossed her arms defiantly.
"I'm just here so Carlos can hear the story," she explained, clarifying her behavior.
"Of course, dear," Evie placated. "So everyone in the castle was running around in circles because no one could find the King. The King was missing!"
Jay gasped dramatically. "Not the King!" he cried, clutching at his heart.
"Yes! The King was missing. Everyone in the castle was looking for him. They asked the purple-haired girl whose name was, um, Molly and the white-haired boy whose name was Carmen, what to do."
"What did they say?" Carlos asked Evie, completely enraptured.
"Molly said that they should look in the forest but Carmen had another idea," Evie continued. "You see, Carmen looked under a table and guess what he found?"
"What?" Mal breathed.
"He found a potion bottle!" Evie answered. "The bottle had been filled with an invisibility potion. 'The King must have been given this potion and drank it, not knowing that it would turn him invisible!' Carlos—um, I mean Carmen determined. Molly agreed that he was right, but they still didn't know how to find him." As Evie spoke, she lowered her voice and slowed her pace. "No one could see the King, so no one knew how to find him. They looked all over the castle, calling out for him. They looked in the throne room and the ballroom and the dining room and the sitting room," Evie continued, listing off every type of room she could think of. She watched as Carlos and Mal's eyelids drooped, growing heavier. She knew that they'd had a long and active day and was glad that they were finally crashing after being riled up. "Finally, they checked his bedroom but they still couldn't find him." Mal yawned and Carlos snuggled further into his pillow, still listening carefully.
"Molly and Carmen didn't give up because the King was their friend. Just then Molly had an idea! 'What if you can only find an invisible person if you're also invisible?' She asked. This made sense to Carmen and Molly and everyone in the castle so Carmen and Molly decided to drink some of the invisibility potion. Once they could no longer be seen, they began to search the castle again, but to no avail. Discouraged, they decided to go on the picnic and take a break. 'What if we never find him?' Molly asked, scared for her friend. 'Don't worry, we'll find him. Don't lose hope.' Carmen told her. Molly trusted him so they walked on the path through the woods to their special picnic spot."
"I hope we find him," Mal mumbled, blinking heavily.
"You'll see." Evie paused to clear her throat and take a moment to think. "When they got to the special picnic spot they were surprised to see that a picnic was already set up! The King was there too, sitting on a blanket. 'I've been waiting for you' he said, 'I was afraid that you'd gotten lost.' 'We were looking for you!' Molly exclaimed, glad that her friend was okay. 'Well, here I am!' The King said and they all sat down for the picnic and played games and had a fun afternoon. The End," Evie finished with a sigh. She reached over and turned out the bedside lamp, satisfied that Carlos and Mal were asleep.
She and Jay carefully stood up from the bed and moved over towards Jay's bed, illuminated by a single lamp on his nightstand. "That was definitely a roller coaster of a tale," Jay joked, nudging her with his shoulder.
"Shush, you. You couldn't do better if you tried," Evie bumped him back. "It served its purpose."
"Is that a challenge I hear?" Jay quirked an eyebrow at her before ruffling her hair. "Just joking, E. Your story was cute. Though next time I think a blue haired girl named Evelyn and a brown haired guy named Jabir should make a guest appearance."
Evie laughed and the two mechanically prepared for bed, exhausted from the tiring day. They climbed into Jay's bed, laying back to back. Jay's presence was comforting to Evie, reminding her that she wasn't alone. They'd shared a bed before on the isle. Among their group, it was a known fact that if they needed to get away from their house for the night, Evie's door—technically window—was open to them. Evie always knew when Jay didn't meet his quota of stealing for the day when she heard his knocking on her window. She always knew when Cruella had a bit too much to drink that night or when Maleficent had punished Mal again for not being evil enough. There was once a night when they had all showed up at her window and Evie joked that she had a bad habit of collecting strays. That, of course, didn't prevent them from all piling up on her—queen sized—bed, and for a moment allowing themselves to relax and feel safe. They would get through this together, Evie was sure of it. She listened to Jay breathe beside her and let herself slip away, relieved to finally have the chance to sleep.
Jay awoke to a clicking sound and a strange pressure on his chest. His instincts kicked in and he was wide awake, assessing the situation as soon as he opened his eyes. The first thing he saw was Doug and Ben standing at the end of his bed, looking at the screen of Doug's camera and chattering quietly about the images. The second thing he noticed was there were more people in his bed when he awoke than when he'd gone to bed. Evie was in the same spot she'd fallen asleep in, as was Jay, but sometime during the night, both Mal and Carlos had crawled in with them, managing not to wake either of the teens. Jay was impressed, both he and Evie were light sleepers. Mal was in-between Evie and Jay, clutching Evie's arm while Carlos was half draped over Jay, thumb in mouth.
"What time is it?" Jay croaked, and shifting so he was leaning on his elbows while attempting to avoid disturbing Carlos.
Ben and Doug looked up from the camera, momentarily frozen. "It's seven thirty," Ben responded, checking his watch. "We didn't mean to wake you, we just wanted to ensure that everything was alright and once we saw this we couldn't help but take a picture."
Evie began to stir at their voices, opening her eyes when she realized that she couldn't free her right arm. "Jay?"
"We have visitors," Jay explained. "In the bed and room."
"Good morning, lovebug," Doug smiled, leaning down and kissing her forehead. "We came down to check on you guys and make sure you'd survived the night. We were thinking of grabbing some breakfast soon?" He ended his statement with the inflection of a question, inviting rather than telling.
Evie sat up, extracting her arm from Mal's clutches and looked around the room, still confused and not entirely awake. Jay mimicked her and sat up, cradling Carlos in his lap.
"I think we should show Mal and Carlos how many different ways that eggs are cooked here," Jay suggested, giving Evie time to clear her head.
"Yes, food," She agreed, stretching her arms.
"Can I have strawberries?" Mal sleepily asked, rolling over into the spot that Evie had been laying in moments earlier. "I like strawberries. They're yummy."
"After you get ready," Jay rubbed her back for a moment before turning to wake up Carlos. The domesticity of the moment was leaving Jay unsettled, and he was more than ready to break the metaphorical spell and get some grub. He also didn't want to let himself get used to the feeling of Carlos sleeping on top of him. He knew when Carlos turned back, he'd probably be embarrassed by the whole thing and Mal would probably make everyone swear not to talk about it again.
Jay was conflicted about the scrapbook because it would memorialize a closeness with Carlos that Jay couldn't have when Carlos was older. The thought of that made his heart ache. However, thanks to his years on the isle, he managed to ignore this feeling and lock it deep inside of him, deciding to deal with it later, or perhaps never. After dressing, the group made their way down to the empty dining hall to get some food before another long day began.
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Yay fluff, Evie worrying, and Jay pining! Thank you for your reviews, they mean a lot and they really help motivate me to continue writing. I'm currently taking classes so getting a chapter done a week is difficult, but all of your lovely comments inspire me to not give up! :)
Question: Which descendants character has the best hair? ;)
Updates ON Sundays and you know the drill, if you find a typo, let me know!
~Review!~
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