AN: Warning, this chapter contains slight prejudice and miscarriage, so read with caution and enjoy.

During the 30-minute break, everyone in the theatre-like room was either huddled and chatting amongst their friends, like the Aks and the Adults, or at the snack table, taking up whatever snacks and drinks they could find before the break period was up.

And speaking of the snack table…

Diego was at the snack table, staring at the array of delicious fruit snacks that were laid out neatly on the table, when he looked up from the fruit snacks and saw the same pretty raven-haired girl, who was a few meters away from him, picking out some chocolate snacks from the tray. She was the same girl whom he had seen earlier.

It was almost as if he sensed that this girl was coming here at the snack table.

And now this was his chance to meet her.

Or that's what he had hoped.

Anyways, Diego took a deep breath and gathered all the courage and confidence he could muster as he slowly walked over to the aforementioned girl. The fruit snacks can wait, as Diego wasn't necessarily hungry.

By the time Diego found himself beside the girl, he leaned against the edge of the table, his right, and planted on his hip as he gave a friendly wave, hoping to get her attention.

Like how Diego was in Auradon (he had no idea if he was, but let's say he does) he had to act like a gentleman, although he was one.

"Hello," Diego greeted. He had a warm smile on his handsome face.

The girl ignored him, pretending that Diego wasn't beside her.

Diego's smile faltered, but he wasn't going to give up that easily.

So, he tried again.

"Hello," he said again. He had a hopeful smile.

This time, the girl paused and turned around to face him. She narrowed her indigo eyes at him, looking annoyed.

Just by looking at her, Diego could tell that she didn't want him beside her. So, he meekly took a step back.

She still looked annoyed, but Diego was determined.

As Diego is about to say something, the raven-haired girl cuts him off.

"I have no interest in dating Isle boys," she said sternly and had a scowl expression on her face.

Diego held his hands in the air defensively.

"Whoa, I'm not here to date you," Diego said with a soft chuckle, "I'm just here to say hello and start a little conversation."

"Yeah, which leads to getting to know me, and then liking me and starting dating me," the girl said. There was a trace of irritation in her tone.

'God, this girl is a tough nut to crack,' Diego thought.

"Look, I'm not here to date you, since I just met you," Diego assured her. "I'm just here saying hello and getting to meet you like how we're stuck here until the reading is finished. Look at the other AKs and VKs. They are conversing with each other."

Diego motioned his left hand to the crowd of AKs and VKs talking amongst each other while sitting in their bean bags.

The girl rolled her eyes.

"Look, just because you see other AKs and VKs are talking to each other, that doesn't mean I should talk to you or get to know you," the raven-haired beauty said sternly. "And like I said, I have zero interest in dating Isle guys like you. I'd rather date a dwarf boy than an Isle boy."

The girl's words pierced threw Diego like a sword as he stared at her in shock. He couldn't even find words to say because he was in a state of shock.

That was mean of her to say that.

Then the dark-haired girl pondered something, 'Why is this Isle boy coming on to me…?'

She paused for a moment as the realization hit her; the person who was staring at her during Hera's reading was Diego.

Audrey's cousin gaped at the black and white-haired boy for a second before shooting him a death glare.

"So it was you who was staring at me during Goddess Hera's reading, huh?" She demanded angrily.

The girl's question snapped Diego out of his shock as he chuckled nervously.

The raven just gazed at him in disgust and was about to say something when she heard her name being called from a not-so-far distance.

"Ariana, hurry up!" The voice called.

Ariana…so that's her name!

"I'm coming!" Ariana responded before she fixed her attention back to Diego.

"You disgust me," Ariana spat, her voice low and bitter as she walked away from Diego and went over to her friend.

If Diego was honest with himself, he was genuinely hurt by Ariana's words, even if he tried to pretend that it didn't or brush it off. He would expect that from the Isle kids to say mean things to him, but never in his life, he'd expect that from an Ak, especially a lovely one like Ariana. He thought that this girl was meaner than Lucifer's kittens, not Beelzebub.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, cuz," the voice said.

The voice startled Diego as he turned around and noticed that the voice belonged to his younger cousin, Carlos, who was behind him with his arms folded across his chest and shaking his head in amusement.

"How long you have been here?" Diego asked.

"Just now, but you think you're gonna get Ariana that easily?" Carlos replied as he raised his eyebrows.

There was a tiny smile tugging on Diego's lips. "I mean I must admit, she's a wild little kitten, but I can tame her,"

Carlos scoffed. "Easy for you to say. Ariana is like one of the meanest girls at Auradon Prep, if not the meanest."

"Eh..at least she's pretty."

"Yeah, pretty terrifying," Carlos rolled his eyes.

"Yes, pretty terrifying but like I said, I can fix her," Diego assured his younger cousin, sounding confident.

But Carlos stared at his cousin skeptically. "I'm not so sure about that, cuz."

Diego smiled. "Hey, my name's Diego de Vil, the one who works magic."

"Uh-huh."

"Yeah, just watch me," The older cousin winked.

"Yeah. Just don't come to me when Ariana bit you," Carlos said jokingly with a slight chuckle slipped through his lips.

"That won't ever happen," Diego said firmly, knowing that next time Ariana would calm down.

"Whatever you say, cuz," Carlos said. "Now c'mon, let's grab some snacks before the next chapter starts."

Diego nodded as he followed his cousin to the fruit snack table to take up a handful of fruit snacks before returning to their respective bean bag seats.

Diego knew that deep in his heart, he could win Ariana over. And he will.

…..

"I can't believe that Beast made us look like idiots," Naveen said, sounding disappointed as he passed a couple of canned sodas to his friends.

"Yeah man, I can't believe he stooped that low to feed those kids actual garbage!" Aladdin shook his head in disbelief as he cracked open his can and took a sip of his grape soda.

"And never told anyone about this," Shang added. "I doubt Belle knew about this."

Eugene scoffed as he took a swig of his pineapple soda. "Did Beastie ever tell Belle anything?"

Shang and the other two fathers shrugged.

"As a father, it pains my heart to see these kids looking so unhealthy, so small," Naveen said sadly as he put his hand on his chest. "It goes to show that these kids are trying their best to survive."

Naveen's friends nodded in agreement with him.

"What that pirate girl said about the water situation on the Isle strikes a chord with me," Shang said with a sigh. "I can't imagine what they've been through in terms of getting remotely clean water."

"And that's why we see her drinking whiskey," Eugene noted. "Which she shouldn't because she's probably around 17."

"That's Li'l's age."

"As well as Nina and Tyrone's."

"I highly doubt that there's a hospital or a clinic on the Isle to keep up birth records of the Isle kids," Aladdin told the three men as he shook his head before he gulped his strawberry soda.

The 3 men exchanged looks and then fixed their eyes on the Sultan of Agrabah.

"Either way," Shang began, "the whole situation on the Isle is bad. Very bad."

"I second that," Eugene agreed.

"Yeah. My heart sank when I heard Jahir had to sleep on a worn and torn carpet and drinking frog juice," Aladdin sighed sadly.

Jahir was Jay's real name before he got mysteriously kidnapped by Jafar when he was 3 weeks old in an attempt to seek revenge on Aladdin and his friends.

"Ooof, I can never understand what you and Jasmine went through, Al," Naveen said as he walked around the drinks table, went beside Aladdin, and gave a comforting pat on his friend's shoulder. "And I'm glad your son came home."

Aladdin gave him a grateful smile.

"Thanks, Naveen."

As the 4 dads were continuing the conversation on Jay and the topic of sons in general, Eugene couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable. He even took a step back, trying his best to avoid the conversation.

It was not to say that Eugene wasn't glad that his friend's son had returned home. He was elated that Jay had come home. It was just that the word 'son' triggered him, making him feel sad like a part of him died. He hoped that this conversation about sons would end quickly.

And Shang noticed.

"Eugene, are you okay man?" Shang asked gently as he placed a hand on Eugene's shoulder.

Eugene buried his emotions and wore a fake reassuring smile.

"Yeah, I'm alright," the king of Corona chuckled lightly. "Ya know me, the quiet one hehe."

"Hm," the general arched his thick eyebrows at his close friend, not entirely convinced by his answer but nodded anyway. Probably Eugene doesn't want to talk about what was bothering him so Shang decided not to push it further.

While the 4 men were discussing, there was an unwelcome visitor came over their way.

And it seemed as if Shang sensed that this person was coming over. So, Shang turned and narrowed his eyes at the person.

"Beast," Shang glared at the former King as he folded his arms across his broad chest. The other 3 men also saw Beast and followed suit.

Beast gave a nervous wave and took a step closer.

But all 4 men glared at him, indicating that he was not welcome in their group. He sighed and stepped back into his original spot.

"Hey, I know you guys are upset with me-" he was cut off by Naveen.

"Upset? Dude, we're angry!" Naveen snapped. "You made the rest of us royals look like idiots!"

"No, not idiots Nav. Jackasses is a more appropriate word," Eugene added, but he was no less angry than his friends.

"Yeah, you made us look like total jackasses!"

"Look, I was trying my best to protect and look out for our country," Beast tried to explain.

Eugene, Naveen, and Aladdin scoffed.

"Trying our best for what, Beast? To dump excess rubbish on the Isle where actual children live? With no food or proper water for necessities?" Shang demanded furiously. "And to top it all off, you made it look as if we were involved in this insanity, to intentionally feed our enemies and their kids garbage when we are dads too!"

"Yeah man, you made us equally the bad guys like the villains," Eugene added. "Or you for that matter."

"And to make matters worse, thanks to you, Jafar kidnapped my 3-week-old son," Aladdin growled, showing off his teeth. "And made him suffer on that island and who knows what else Jafar did to him."

Eugene's heart sank at the mention of the word 'son'. He then cleared his throat as he continued to glare at Beast.

Beast was appalled at the sight of the 4 men who were hostile towards him. And at this point, who could blame them? They had every right to be that way.

Beast sighed, knowing that he was wrong for what he did. So, Beast decided to apologize by raising his hand to say something but Eugene shook his head.

"It's too late for apologies, Beast," Eugene said, his voice low and there was a trace of disappointment. "You've messed up big time."

Beast sighed again, letting out a shaky breath. It was no use to seek an apology from the 4 men or anyone else in the room.

With that said the former King turned on his heel and left quietly.

Once Beast was out of earshot, the 4 dads looked at each other in silence.

Were they being a little harsh on Beast? Maybe, but he deserved the backlash after the damage he had created.

After all, the Beast was a foolish King.

The 4 friends hoped that Ben wouldn't end up like his father.

….

"I can't believe Beast did such an awful thing!" Tiana shook her in disbelief as she poured out fruit punch into 4 cups for her and her friends. Once the juice was poured into each cup, the other 3 mothers took up their cups and thanked Tiana in the process.

"Yeah, when I heard that the children eat hardened oatmeal and drink a month-old milk, I felt like I wanted to cry," Jasmine said as she sighed softly and took a sip of her juice.

"I was silently crying when I heard it," Rapunzel spoke quietly.

"Me too," Mulan added. "These kids did not deserve this cruel punishment at all."

"Worst of all, the Isle kids thought that we as Royals intentionally ship rubbish to them when in reality, none of us had any idea that Beast made an order to dump garbage on the Isle as punishment to the villains," Tiana said, her voice started to crack slightly. She then took a deep breath to compose herself.

"Beast is truly a cruel man," Mulan muttered as she sipped her drink. "He better be thankful that I didn't have my sword."

Jasmine, Tiana, and Rapunzel nodded in agreement with the former Heroine of Northern Wei.

"Yeah, and this is the top of the iceberg," Rapunzel stated. "Who knows what those kids suffer on that Isle?"

"I don't know be honest," Jasmine began, "I hope the kids weren't abused or anything else,"

"I hope so too," Mulan said softly.

There was silence looming in the air for a moment before it was cut short by Tiana.

"And speaking of Isle kids," Tiana turned to Jasmine, "I'm happy that your son came home after so long. I can imagine you and Aladdin were overjoyed."

Rapunzel froze and pursed her lips.

The Sultana smiled. "Yeah, we were. I broke down when I finally saw my baby boy."

Rapunzel's heart sank. While she was happy for her friend, sorrow began to consume her at the word 'son', but she tried her best to put on a small smile to hide her sorrow and pain.

But unfortunately, that didn't work out for Rapunzel as she stepped back without the 3 moms noticing. Tears started to well from the corner of her eyes.

Mulan nodded with a smile. "That's understandable and I'm happy that Jay came home."

While the 3 moms were discussing Jay's return, a single tear streamed down Rapunzel's rosy cheek, and she felt as if her throat was itching as that memory of that fateful day came back to her like it had happened yesterday.

Flashback

'I'm sorry, Your Majesty,' the Obstetrician told Rapunzel and Eugene sadly. 'But your son didn't make it.'

Rapunzel shook her head in denial. 'No! It can't be! He was fine a few days ago! He was perfectly healthy! It can't be!' Her voice began to crack.

'Yes! Our son was doing well when we came for another check-up! What happened?' Eugene demanded. He was in denial like his wife.

The obstetrician sighed. "Miscarriages can happen without you knowing that you realize it."

"No.." Rapunzel trailed off, her voice was barely a whisper as she broke down in tears. Eugene saw this and immediately wrapped his arms around his slender wife's shoulder as he started to comfort her. He too wanted to weep at the death of his unborn son, but he had to be strong for his grieving wife.

Rapunzel buried her face into her husband's chest as she continued to sob.

'I'm so sorry, Your Majesty..."

End of flashback.

"Rapunzel? Rapunzel?"

"Huh?" The queen of Corona snapped back to reality as she looked around to see who was calling her.

It was Tiana.

"Rapunzel, are you okay, sweetie?" The queen of Maldonia asked worriedly.

Mulan and Jasmine also noticed their friend and they too became worried.

Rapunzel's lips trembled and her bright green eyes glistened, signaling that she wasn't okay.

"Um," Rapunzel sniffed.

"Shh..it's okay," Tiana cooed and quickly went over Rapunzel and enveloped the smaller woman into a hug.

Jasmine and Mulan placed their cups on the table as they walked around the drink table and gathered around Tiana and Rapunzel to check what was wrong with her. Although, Mulan might as well had an idea as to what happened to her friend, although she was skeptical of her result.

"Why you're crying, Punzie?" Tiana asked, fearing she might know the answer.

"M-my son," the grieving mother managed to say through her sobs.

Mulan, Jasmine, and Tiana exchanged looks sadly before focusing their attention on Rapunzel.

They knew about Rapunzel's miscarriage as soon as she told them after came home from the hospital and they too were saddened by the news.

It was indeed a devastating moment for Rapunzel and Eugene.

Only for that tragedy struck again.

A few years after Rapunzel lost her son, Mulan lost her 3rd child, also a son at 16 weeks. And till this day, that memory was still fresh in Mulan's mind.

"Oh, Punzie," Tiana hugged her friend tighter and the other two women joined.

It seems as if while they were discussing about sons, it triggered Rapunzel without them knowing.

Poor Rapunzel. Thankfully, she had friends who loved her and supported her in such a time as this.

While Rapunzel was being comforted by her friends, none of the 4 women noticed the former Queen Belle made her way over to the group, just to have a little chat but Belle noticed how the women were preoccupied.

Belle wanted to ask what happened, but she decided that it was best not to bother.

In all honesty, Belle missed her friends. She hasn't talked to them ever since her husband resurrected the villains and booted them off to the Isle and punished them for eternity(they thought Belle agreed to this idea but she didn't). At this point, she even became skeptical, wondering if the women would be hostile towards her, like what their husbands did to Beast because of the deplorable conditions on that ghetto island.

Belle sighed softly, thinking it was no use to talk to Tiana and crew or anyone else in this room. And with that, she turned and returned to her bean bag.

However, little did Belle know, Tiana caught a glimpse of her returning to her seat. Tiana heaved a sigh and continued to embrace her friends.

The 30-minute break had passed and everyone returned to their seats. Though the seating position was a little different; Tiana, Mulan, and Jasmine, along with their families huddled closer to Rapunzel and her family in support of her.

Belle though, decided to distance herself from her husband after hearing what he did, and Beast saw this. He stretched his hand out to her and asked why she kept herself further away from him. She ignored him, not wanting to cause a scene in the room. Although some people, both Auradonians and the VKs noticed.

"Oooh, I'm sensing some drama here!" CJ said excitedly. Harriet looked at her baby sister and nudged her gently in the side of her ribs.

Beast realized it was no use to ask Belle why she was acting like this to him, so he sighed and sunk into his bean bag.

He wanted this story to get over with.

Ben stared at his parents sadly and sighed.

Persephone was standing behind the podium, witnessing everything in the room as she cleared her throat to get everyone's attention in the room.

During the break, Blue Fairy asked the gods who else would like to volunteer to read and Persephone agreed to read. Hera was still reeling from the previous chapters.

Once tension between Belle and her husband as well as the soft chatter in the room died down, everyone gave their undivided attention to the goddess of flowers behind the podium.

"Is everyone ready?" Persephone asked, her voice was soft but loud enough for the people in the room to hear.

"Yes," everybody chorused.

Persephone smiled. "Alright, let's get started," she picked up the Isle book and opened it, flipped a couple of pages, and started to read the 3rd chapter.