Mal's POV.
No sooner had I stepped out of Ben's office and closed the door behind me I was engulfed in a pair of arms belonging surprisingly to Audrey. That was over an hour ago. Since then I have been sat in mine and Ben's room while Evie, Jane and Audrey did my make up and hair for me. Lonnie should have been coming tonight but with her coming to the spa day tomorrow and staying tomorrow night Mulan wanted her at home tonight. I can understand it really and we would all be seeing her tomorrow.
"Okay M. You're all done." Evie told me and I have never been so happy to hear those words from Evie in my life. I needed to pee and I was starting to get quite irritated by basically being used like a styling doll.
"Thank god." I mumbled to myself but the playful glare Evie and Audrey sent me proved to me they heard me anyway. Jane was just smirking slightly. I quickly moved into the bathroom before anyone could stop me and used the toilet. While I was washing my hands I looked in the mirror above the sink and I had to admit they had done an amazing job. My hair was perfectly curled with the beautiful gold hair slide Ben had bought me and my make up was minimal yet pristine and lovely. Sat on my left wrist was the charm bracelet I had been given on my birthday. Yet as I looked at my reflection I couldn't help but think something was missing.
I walked back into mine and Ben's room and went straight to my dresser. I picked up the purple rectangular box and opened it pulling out Belle's rose necklace. I held it out to Jane since she was closest and she smiled as she took it from me. I crouched down slightly so Jane could reach since I'm a little taller then her and she fastened the necklace onto my neck. As I stood back up my fingers traced the rose pendant hanging from the gold chain. It was then I realized I never have thanked mom for giving me this necklace.
"You okay, Mal?" I heard Audrey ask me.
I turned to her nodding. "Yeah, why do you ask?"
"You just looked lost in thought is all." She told me.
"Sorry, you all ready to go?" I asked as I had glanced at the clock while talking to Audrey and we had a little over half an hour before our reservation at Tiana's place. They all nodded to me and began heading to the door.
"You coming, M?" Evie asked me when she realized I hadn't moved to follow them.
"Yeah I'll meet you down there in a minute." I told her. Evie looked at me sceptically before reluctantly nodding and heading downstairs. I walked towards the bedroom window and looked out. The window had a view of part of the kingdom and the Isle. Looking at the Isle I couldn't help but wonder what Maleficent's next move would be. I knew she wouldn't get anyone else off the Isle. The colours of mine, Evie's, Jane's and Fairy Godmothers magical barriers shined brightly completely untouched. She had been very quiet since the Halloween dance. All the fights she has been involved in either others have fought for her or she has retreated quickly. That alone is worrying then there's the fact of we have no idea who the hell she has helping her. Plus, Gaston is now in Auradon and no doubt looking for revenge against my parents. I let out a stressful sigh as I felt Ben wrap his arms around me.
"What are you doing up here?" I asked him as I felt my body instantly relax into his embrace.
"The girls mentioned you seemed a little off. It was either I came up or a set of over protective parents came up instead." Ben explained. I couldn't help but chuckle slightly at his comment. I have absolutely no doubt that if we weren't downstairs soon they would come up anyway. "So what has you looking so worried? Is it Maleficent?" Ben asked me.
I turned to face him and smiled. He knew me so well it was kinda creepy at times. "Yeah but lets not let he ruin tonight okay? Come on." I told him. I gave him a quick kiss before heading towards the door. Ben caught up with me before I had even walked through our bedroom door and took hold of my hand tugging on it, silently asking me to stop.
"I love you, Mal. So much." Ben told me. I honestly don't think I will ever get tired of hearing that from him.
"I love you too, Ben." I said before he kissed me again, a little deeper this time.
We broke the kiss when we heard Evie shout "What the rotten apples is keeping you two!?" He both chuckled as we carried on going down stairs. Stood around in the foyer was our full family minus Lonnie and Maurice obviously. Even Aziz was there. Jasmine, Aladdin, Allison, Elsa and her family would be staying here for their dinner. Aziz looked a little but more happier since our talk but you could still see that something was on his mind. I shot him a small smile. I could understand why he was so upset about it but he had to put his foot down and not let the councils or his people run his life.
After mom's usual amount of photo taking we were finally in the car on the way to Tiana's place. How there was a limo big enough to fit 12 people in I will never know but I wasn't about to complain. I had somehow wound up sitting between Ben and Adam so I snuggled into Ben's side as I watched our family interact. At the moment they were playfully insulting each other with me and Ben joining in here and there. Even Az had brightened up and was laughing away with the rest of us. I couldn't help but smile at the surrogate family I had found for myself. Sometimes it was like I was always meant to be a part of this family. It seemed like only a few minutes after getting into the car we were coming to a stop outside the restaurant.
As I got out of the car I looked around before looking towards Ben. He just shrugged back as he walked over to me and took my hand. Once everyone else was out of the car our mom and dad came up to stand near us and we were about to turn and head into the restaurant when we heard something that made us stop.
"Belle!" We heard someone shout causing me to look at Ben. I knew just by the smile on his face who that voice belonged to. I looked up at mom who was stood next to me and noticed she had tensed up a little but was slowly beginning to turn towards the voice. Me, Ben and Adam turned with her and none of us could stop the smile creeping onto our faces when we saw Belle's face light up.
"Papa!" She exclaimed before moving to embrace the short older man. He warmly returned the embrace before moving away from Belle and giving Ben and Adam a quick hug. He looked at me and I could tell he was about to say something but mom beat him to it. "I thought you weren't coming and how did you know we were here?" She questioned and she hugged him once more before moving to Adam's side and leaning into him much like I was doing with Ben.
"Well I received a rather long letter from you daughter explaining she thought it would be a nice surprise for you if I just turned up." Maurice explained to mom. I couldn't stop the slight blush that crept up my cheeks as both mom and dad turned to look at me after this. It wasn't until I saw dad's face that I realised I never let him in on the plan. I turned to look behind us at our friends briefly but found they had headed inside I assume to give us a little 'family bonding' time. With no one else to look at I turned back to our parents but was surprised to find them still looking at me.
"You planned this for me?" Mom asked. I couldn't help but nod to her but I was surprised when she pulled me into a hug. "Thank you, sweetie. You have no idea how much this means to me." She whispered to me as I hugged her.
"I think I have a pretty good idea. Besides I thought it would be nice since I know you haven't seen him for a while." I explained to her. Ben had told me when I had wrote Maurice's invitation out that the last time they had seen Maurice was two years previous so making a mental note of the address I decided to set up this surprise.
It wasn't until Ben spoke that Belle released me. "Well we have to be inside in like five minutes so shall we go?" We all nodded as Ben turned to head inside with Belle and Adam. I moved to follow them but stopped when I felt a hand on my wrist. I turned to find Maurice there with a kind loving face.
"Thank you, Mal. The look on my daughters face was certainly worth it." He told me. "And your sure she would like me moving to Auradon?" He asked. Did he even need to ask that.
"Are you serious? Mom will love it. When are you going to tell her?" I said to him. I didn't miss the smile I got when I called Belle mom but I didn't dwell on it for long.
"Not until I find a place and thanks for offering to send me and listings you find." He thanked me. Although I have no idea why. It was a win win for everyone involved. Mom would be able to see her dad more often, Ben would be able to spend time with his Grandpa and Maurice would be near his family. How could he think I wouldn't help if it ensured my family were happy.
"Come on, we better get inside." I told him. "If I'm not in there soon someone will come out to find me." I explained not really knowing how much of my past and recent events he knew. He smiled at me before he headed inside. Sure enough as we stepped through Ben and Adam were on their was out to us.
"Everything okay?" Adam asked us both.
"Yeah dad, we were just talking." I explained. Thankfully he seemed happy with that answer and lead us towards the table me and Ben had booked. I'm glad neither of them had asked what we had talked about since I hadn't even told Ben about Maurice's plan to move here. He wanted to tell them himself which I couldn't blame him for really.
It wasn't long before we had eaten our food and we were waiting on our dessert. It was as I heard the girls talking about tomorrow I realized I hadn't told them I had invited the others. "Hey guys." I said gaining there attention immediately. "I hope you don't mind but I've invited Jasmine, Ali, Ellie and Kristin to come with us tomorrow." I told them.
"Why would we mind? Ali, Ellie and Kristin are great." Audrey stated. The rest of the girls nodding their agreement to what she had said. I couldn't help but smile at them.
"So what's the plan for tomorrow anyway?" Evie asked me. Although since I hadn't planned it I had no idea. Thankfully Belle seemed to realize the problem.
"I have booked the entire spa for the day so you can have whatever treatments you like. You can also have your nails done if you like. That choice is entirely yours and it's all paid for." Mom explained. Once the girls nodded to her she shot me a smile and went back to her conversation with Dad and Maurice. It was during Belle's explanation that dessert was brought out but me and Ben had skipped it. Ben because he couldn't eat any more and me because I really wasn't feeling all that well.
I instinctively leant into Ben's side and he wrapped his arms around my waist pulling me closer. It took a few seconds but I soon realised why he was holding me like this. He had managed to rest his hand in the side of my bump without looking suspicious. I smiled at him but he saw through it immediately.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing." I tried to lie. I was having fun with everyone here and noticed nearly everyone had finished anyway. Although Ben just gave me a look that instantly made me regret lying. I did feel crap and I really shouldn't hide it from him. "I'm okay. I'm just not feeling too well."
"Those two statements contradict each other." Ben stated as he shifted so he could see my face fully. "Mal, you look really pale. Are you sure your okay?" I nodded to him but regretted to straight away. My hand flew to my mouth and I got up and all but actually ran to the restaurant bathrooms. Thankfully I made it there in time but I could only imagine what the tabloids would say if they saw that. After a few minutes I had finally stopped throwing up and heard the door open so I flushed the toilet and stepped outside the cubicle to come face to face with one of the last people I wanted to see. Queen Leah.
I tried to ignore her and get to the sink to wash my face but as I tried to get by her she roughly grabbed my wrist. "I knew you were trouble. What have you done? Got pregnant and trapped Ben?" She sneered at me. Usually these kinds of comments didn't bother me but since becoming pregnant my hormones were running the show and tears sprung to my eyes. "Ha!" She exclaimed. "I knew it! You're nothing but a slut who doesn't deserve to be Queen or marry Ben. He is only marrying you because of that thing you are carrying anyway." She snapped causing the tears to escape my eyes. I couldn't do anything to stop them even if I tried. Queen Leah just continued to laugh at my distress when I heard the bathroom door open again.
"What the hell is going on in here!" I heard mom shout. Both me and Queen Leah turned to face her and found Evie and Audrey stood with her. All three of the looking positively murderous.
"Nothing, your majesty. Just a girly chat." She said to Belle in such a faked, sweet voice it was almost sickening.
"That's complete bull crap and you know it!" I had expected the next comment to come from Evie but strangely it was Audrey who spoke up. "Mal is almost hysterical. What have you said to her!" She demanded from her grandmother as she took a step forward.
Rather then try and defend herself Queen Leah simply left but not before Belle gently grabbed her arm and said "Oh, and in case you hadn't already worked it out you are not welcome at their wedding." She then let Queen Leah go and the three made their way over to me but with those insults fresh in my mind I stepped back when I felt like they were getting too close. I could barely see through my tears. Belle, Audrey and Evie were just coloured blobs at the point but I couldn't stop the tears. The more I thought about what Leah had said the more I started to believe it. I mean she could be right. Ben might just be marrying me because of the babies and even I know I certainly don't deserve to have Ben or rule at his side.
"I'm sorry." I choked out to the trio in front of me before I transported myself away from them.
I had no idea where I had sent myself and since I couldn't see through my tears I certainly couldn't try and work it out. Everything was just a blur so I didn't recognise I was in a very familiar room. Until I heard a certain voice. "Mal!?" The very surprised voice of Fairy Godmother hit my ears as I slid down the wall to sit on the floor and brought my knees up to my chest. I couldn't believe myself. I could have sent myself anywhere in the damn kingdom yet I chose Fairy Godmothers office. I heard her chair scrape across the floor followed by the sound of her heels on the floor.
"Mal, what's happened? What's wrong?" She asked me as she knelt next to me and place her hand on my shoulder. I shuffled away as soon as I felt her hand. Burying my face into my knees I couldn't control or stop the sobs coming from my mouth. I regretted leaving the restaurant now. I want nothing more right now then to have my mom or Ben here to hold me and tell me everything would be okay.
I didn't notice Fairy Godmother had sent a text from her phone and I certainly didn't notice the magic that swirled in the corner of the room. A few seconds later I was completely unaware of the people slowly moving towards me. I felt someone sit down next to me but I assumed it was Fairy Godmother so I ignored it but then they tried to pull me into a hug.
I started to pull away until I heard a voice. "It's okay, Mal. It's only me. Please don't fight me." A soothing but upset voice spoke. I couldn't help but make sure it was who it sounded like an dafter uselessly trying to wipe some tears from my eyes I asked "Mommy?" I didn't even care how broken or childish I sounded right now. I was far to upset to worry about that plus I knew Belle and Fairy Godmother wouldn't judge me for it either.
"Yes, sweetheart." That was all I let her say before I practically threw myself into her arms. Although she seemed to be expecting it as she quickly wrapped her arms around me and kissed the top of my forehead. Belle just held me and rocked me until I had calmed slightly. I could actually see a little better now I wasn't so hysterical. It was then I noticed Ben and Adam were also there and looking down at me with a caring, worried expression. "Do you think you could tell me what Leah said to you that made you this upset?" She asked me.
"Sh... She said... I w... was a sl... slut who trapped Ben by... getting preg... pregnant. Tha... that I didn't deserve h... him and he wa... was only marry... marrying me bec... because of the thi... thing I'm carrying." I managed to stutter out in-between hiccups and sobs. I could feel the anger in the room and this time it wasn't just the boys.
"Mal, you know none of that is true right?" Mom asked me. I just buried my face into the crook of her neck and shrugged my shoulders as a response.
"Mal." Dad said gently as him and Ben moved to kneel in front of me and Belle, although you could still hear the anger he was feeling. He clearly wasn't as good at hiding it as Mom. "I can promise you now she will pay for calling you a slut. You are not. You are a beautiful, caring, kind hearted girl who has won my sons heart and I an glad to call my daughter. Do you understand me?" I couldn't help but nod to him. Why is it these three always knew what to say to make me stop doubting myself and to get me to stop believing the comments people say to me.
"And I can promise you now," Ben started to say. "I know you haven't done this to trap me and I wouldn't ask you to marry me just because of the babies. I love you. I was going to ask you anyway but you being pregnant just sped things up a little." Ben told me. I honestly couldn't believe I had gained such as amazing family. What I had done to deserve them I had absolutely no idea but I will be forever grateful for having them in my life. While Ben and Adam had been talking I had slowly stopped crying and now just had the occasional tear falling down my cheek.
"Ready to go home?" Ben asked. "We still have our friends waiting for us." I nodded my agreement as Ben offered me his hands to help pull me up off the floor. Once I was up Dad gave the same gesture to Mom. I couldn't help but smile at my family. I placed my hand on my stomach rubbing my bump slightly before Fairy Godmother sent us and Jane, who I had only just noticed was here, back to the castle.
The rest of the night went by much in the same was as normal. Video games, card games, music, laughter, dancing and talking. Only this time we had five very welcome new additions to the group and one of our usual group missing. At least for tonight I forgot all about the problems we still needed to sort; like Leah, Chad, what Maleficent was up to, among others. It was nice just for tonight to be able to have such a good time that I was able to forget since those issues had been worrying me for weeks now. I honestly am struggling to remember a time when I felt this happy and carefree.
Going to sleep that night was the first time in months I haven't been worried or stressed. But what I didn't know was it would also be the first night in months that I hadn't had a nightmare.
Author's Note: So I'm not sure what to think of this chapter. I have rewritten it at least 7 times and I'm still not 100% happy. Also, I still would like to know what you think. Should I but the story on hiatus for a while or do you not mind reading Christmas chapters in the middle of the year? Please leave me a review or PM and tell me what you think. x