Took a small break from studying, but now I am going to dive head first into it. I got this idea and wanted to get it out there in case I forgot about it. I am not sure what you guys will think about it, but I am hoping you guys like it.

"What are you doing?"

Mal was fighting against the older woman as she was shoving her down a dark hallway, as she was yelling Ben's name.

"Shut up!" The woman yelled as her grip held on tighter around Mal's arm.

The young girl felt Leah's nails digging into her skin, and she swore she could feel something warm dripping down her arm.

"You don't belong here," the older woman stated as she threw Mal in front of her.

The scared look on Mal's face said it all as she looked up at the furious Leah. This woman was about to do something bad, and no one was here to help her.

"Leah, leave me alone," Mal said as she backed up against a wall. "I will…"

"You'll what?" Leah asked as she moved closer to Mal. "You'll yell?" She asked with a wicked grin on her face. You could see the hatred in Leah's eyes, and for the life of her, Mal did not understand why this woman hated her so much. "Ben is in a meeting on the other side of the mansion with his parents, the staff are getting things ready for dinner, and here we are… alone."

Mal's eyes swelled as Leah held her hand over the young girl's mouth. She wanted this girl gone… and she knew the perfect way to get her and her abomination to never come back. She pulled the sharp blade out of her pocket and held it close to Mal's throat.

"Now, you are going to listen to me," she said as she squinted her black eyes at Mal.

Mal had never seen such cold eyes in her life. She had never been mean to anyone, or mean enough for anyone to hate her this much.

"You and your fucking little bastard are going to leave," Leah said as she dug the knife a little deeper into Mal's throat, enough to draw a little bit of blood. "You don't belong here. You don't deserve to be here."

"And who…"

Mal stopped when she felt the heat of her blood falling down from her neck to her clavicle.

"Shut the fuck up," the old woman spat. "Now, I will give you the option," she said as she was centimeters away from Mal's face. "You leave and get to keep that thing inside of you, or you lose it and your life."

Mal's tears started to fall. She had no other choice. She had to go. She couldn't make Ben suffer with the loss of her and their child. She loved Ben with all of her soul and being. She didn't want to go a day without him, but she had no other choice. What would Leah do if she didn't leave? What would she do to their baby? All she could do was nod her head and she saw Leah's wicked smile through her tears.

"Smart choice," Leah said as she backed away. "I will tell Ben and his parents that you left," she said as she pushed herself away from Mal, letting her fall to the floor and cry. "Oh, will you shut up. You get to keep your stupid runt, and I never get to see your face again. Now, leave before I change my mind."

Mal rubbed her eyes as she stood up from where she was and walked away from Leah, but stopped when she heard the older woman call her name.

"And remember, if you try anything stupid, you will regret it," she said, before she pointed at Mal's flat stomach with the knife in her hand.

FIVE YEARS LATER

"Come on," Audrey said as she pulled on Ben's arm. "I want you to taste…"

"I don't have time for this," Ben said as he cut off Audrey from her annoying rants. "I am busy. I don't…"

"Ben, this is our wedding," she said as she pulled on his arm. "I have been running ragged, trying to make our wedding the most magical day of our lives."

Ben rolled his eyes. He didn't want to get married, yet here he was. Engaged to a sweet girl, so full of love and compassion… but he did not love her. He hadn't loved anyone in a really long time, other than his parents.

"I get you are not the hearts and flowers type of guy, but…"

"If I go to this stupid dessert tasting, will you get off my back and let me go back to work?" He asked as he cut her off again.

He knew he was being rude, and he didn't want to hurt her feelings, but he didn't want to be here. He wanted to be in his office or in his squad car… basically way from everyone who was not related to his work.

Audrey, on the other hand, was starting to grow furious with the way Ben talked down to her. Sure he is a very handsome and successful man, but he should know how to respect a lady.

"Fine," she said as she dropped her arm from his. "I promise to leave you alone after."

"Okay," Ben said with a stiff nod. "Let's just get this over with."

Both walked down the street, not saying a word to each other. It was a Monday morning, in the beginning of August, and the streets of Seattle were beautiful. Ben had always loved Seattle, and after everything that had happened 5 years ago, he needed to leave California. There was so much heartache there, and he knew if he stayed, he would have ended up… well he didn't know how he would end up, but he knew it wouldn't be good.

Audrey on the other hand moved with him and his family, while her family stayed in California. They would visit enough to where she thought that they should just move here, but she wasn't going to put that kind of pressure on them. They were already doing so much helping with the wedding and with how much Ben is not helping, she was thankful to them. She stopped in front of the gate to the cafe and Ben looked up and his eyes furrowed.

"This has to be the cutest cafe I have ever been to," she said as she twisted the knob on the gate to open that large door.

"Cafes don't cater," he said as he followed her in.

Ben had to admit that this was a really nice cafe. He didn't know what the name of it was, but the inside looked like something out of a fairytale. The gate was an entrance to a patio where there were gorgeous flowers and greenery. There were small wooden tables all around the place and it looked just… magical. Ben turned to look left and saw a window that led inside. Audrey was ahead of him and he followed slowly behind her. When he walked inside, he was consumed with the smell of sweet treats. There was a giant glass display of treats and sweets that everyone in the building was drooling over.

"Here," Audrey said as she tugged on Ben's sleeve. "I called ahead and they reserved a table and we are going to meet with the owner."

He didn't say anything as he followed Audrey and sat on the opposite side of her. He would rather be any place else other than here, but the sooner he got this over the sooner he could leave. They had been sitting in silence for a couple of minutes before Ben saw a flash of purple, making him turn to the large window. He shook his head, before he turned back to face Audrey, but a shiver went up his spine when he heard her. A voice he had not heard in years… the voice that was constantly in his dreams.

"You have got to be kidding me!" She said as she ran into the cafe and toward the counter. "I only asked for one morning off, and the new guy scheduled a meeting for today."

She was walking through the building with authority, and Ben's eyes locked onto her. She had yet to even notice anyone in the building, as she walked into the back room. His eyes were fixated on the black door, waiting for it to open again. He felt like he was going to make the door burst into flames from how intense his stare was. He felt like time was moving so slow, and that he had imagined her standing there.

"Ben?" Audrey called.

She was looking at Ben with such worry. His demeanor has always been standoffish, but she had never seen him this focused on something. He didn't even acknowledge her calling him. He just continued to stare. Waiting for her to appear again.

"How long have they been waiting?" He heard her yell as she walked backwards out of the back room.

She was facing away from them, and another girl around her age walked out with two large trays in her hands.

"Here, E," she said as she took one of the trays from her. "Give me one of those. Can you lead the way?"

Ben's chest started to rise higher as she drew closer to his and Audrey's table. He couldn't see her past the other girl, but she was there.

"Hello," the girl said as she stopped at the table. "We are so sorry to keep you. We had a little misunderstanding with the scheduling today."

"No worries," Audrey said with a smile. "Are you the owner?"

The girl shook her head. "No, I am not. This is the owner."

She moved to the side and the smile on the girl's face fell when her eyes fell onto Ben.

"Mal."

"Ben?"

EARLIER THAT MORNING

"Come on, sweetheart," Mal said as she called for her daughter. "We do not want to be late for your first day of kindergarten."

Melody rushed over to her mom. She was wearing a baby blue sundress and her hair was pulled into a half back. She was very excited for her first day of school, and she was even more excited that her mom had the morning off to take her.

"Mommy?"

Mal turned to look at her daughter and saw her smiling from ear to ear. The more Melody grew, the more she could see the resemblance of Belle in her.

"Can we go to Chick-fil-A after school?"

Mal walked over and picked her daughter up in her arms and twirled her around. No matter what she had gone through with Leah all those years ago, she could never imagine a life where Melody was not with her, though she wished Ben had the chance to meet her.

"Of course we can," she said, making the little girl in her arms cheer in excitement. "But mommy has to work after school, so are you going to be okay sitting in my office?"

Melody nodded her head. She loved being at the cafe. She loved watching her mommy bake from the large window in her office. Her mommy would even see her peeking from the widow and call her over to help.

"That's my girl," Mal said as she hugged her baby. "Now, let's get going because we cannot be late."

As Mal drove toward Melody's school, her phone started to ring and she saw it was Evie calling her.

"Hey, E," she said as she answered the phone, letting it connect to the car's Bluetooth.

"Hey," Evie said with slight hesitation. "So…"

"What's wrong?" Mal asked, knowing by the sound of her best friend's voice, that whatever was wrong was going to make her mad.

"So, everyone knows that you took this morning off to take Melody to her first day of school," she said, making Mal rub in between her eyebrows and she knew what had happened.

"Who?"

"Samuel," Evie said.

Samuel was a new higher, and had only been there for a month. Mal understands that this is a new job for him, but when she makes the schedule, she makes sure to block out when people have requested time off.

"Does he not understand that the black boxes on the schedule mean that they cannot come in?"

"Don't worry, I already told him," Evie said, trying to reassure Mal that she had handled it.

"What did he do?"

"He scheduled a catering meeting this morning… at 8:30."

"8:30?" Mal asked in astonishment. "I have Melody's…"

"I will try to stall them until you get here," Evie said, cutting her boss off. "Please, just take Melody to school, make sure she is excited and ready for the best day ever."

"Thank you, Auntie Evie!" Melody yelled.

"Thank you, E," Mal said. "I will be there as soon as I can."

Mal walked Melody to her class, and took an abundance of pictures to make wallpaper out of.

"Have the best day ever, and I will be here at 1 to pick you up," Mal said as she hugged her baby girl.

"Okay, mommy. I love you."

"I love you more," Mal said.

When Mal got back into her car, she saw that it was almost 8:10. The cafe was about 20 minutes away, and she knew she was going to have to put her foot on the gas if she wanted to make the impromptu meeting.

She parked her car and was rushing down to the gate of the cafe, and she was furious. She never asked for much and gave her all to her business and daughter. All she was red was one morning. One simple morning to take her daughter to school with no interruptions, but she couldn't even have that. She walked through the cafe, not looking around to see the people noticing her talking to herself. She walked into the back room and saw the nervous look on her employees faces and locked eyes with Samuel.

"Listen," she said as she walked toward him. "I understand you are new here, and I am giving you that benefit of the doubt, but next time, please use your common sense to see that when the time slots are blacked out that person is not available."

Her tone was not mean. She never talked to anyone like they were beneath her, but she did want people to learn from their lessons and make sure that it does not happen again.

"Yes, ma'am," Samuel said with a nod. "I am sorry again."

"It's okay," Mal told him. "But if you are not sure of something, please ask."

He nodded his head, before Mal turned to look at her partner in crime.

"Talk to me, E."

Mal started to walk backwards out of the kitchen as Evie he's two giant trays of treats.

"They are here and waiting."

Mal backed into the door and looked at Evie with wide eyes.

"How long have they been waiting?" Mal hated being late and when she got into the cafe she was there on the dot, so she started to worry about how long the clients had been waiting. "Hey, E. Give me one of those. Can you lead the way?"

Evie nodded before she gave Mal one of the trays in her hands. She didn't know what she would do if Evie was not here with her. She was like a saving grace to Mal, and she wouldn't be where she is without her.

"Hello," Evie said as she stopped in front of a table. "We are so sorry to keep you. We had a little misunderstanding with the scheduling today."

Mal stood behind Evie as she held the tray in her hand. She was hoping that this meeting wouldn't last long, because she had a couple other things she needed to do before she had to pick up Melody from school.

"No worries," a woman said kindly. "Are you the owner?"

Evie shook her head and chuckled. "No, I am not. This is the owner."

She moved to the side and Mal's eyes fell onto a very pretty brunette and a man that made her heart stop.

"Mal."

There was a lump in Mal's throat as she stared at the man sitting in front of her. She had no what or why he was here.

"Ben?"

Until next time my Lovies! Xoxo GM