Chapter Twenty Four
A/N: I do not own anything other than my OCs when they come out to play. Everything else belongs to either Disney or the Greek Myths.
*stares in shock* guys, we're 39 reviews away from 600! I can't believe it! Thank you all so much for your continued support! :D
Tracie Adams: You're very welcome! I'm glad you liked the chapter!
Marcus Emrys: I have to say that image put a smile on my face!
AmethystDragon14: Yay! I think Leah will be Hades' to torment sooner rather than later! And there's no way Ben will actually go through with the contract, not when he sees that it's an option not to!
Guest: Thank you so much, I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter!
Urmimala Hazra: That she certainly did! As for Abigail, she'll come but probably not until Choosing Love.
Katt Kiki: It's no less than what Leah deserves!
InuKagLove22: Sure did—if for only because I can actually spell Regina a lot more easily than I can Grim's full name.
danifan3000: It's definitely on the books because it wouldn't be fair for Harry to be the only Hook sibling to not have a moment with their mother.
ObsidianDarkArrow: You're very welcome! So glad you enjoyed it!
61394: Glad you liked the reunion—as for the name change, ease of spelling. It's all I can say.
quil . theimperial: I'm always eager to put in some review suggestions! Ooh that's a good point about a bathroom!
lilyflower101: I won't argue otherwise!
miranda88: I was toying with it but then decided to do it since I think Harry should get to see his mother one last time—and actually remember her. That's pretty much the reason how I came up with Milah's name—borrowing from OUAT. :D
Katie2001: I'm so glad you enjoyed the chapter!
jedblack1997: Ooh that's not a bad idea!
AthenaArtemis25: I can definitely see about having Elsa come in! Though I think Estelle's busy acting as guard duty (self assigned of course!)
CrystalKaouri: Of course I did! And thank you so much, I'll definitely see if I can add that line! Yeah I don't know why but I just…I can't stand animated Snow White! But the animals and the dwarves don't earn my hatred—just Snow and her Prince. Hehe that made me smile, the thought of Leah getting a public shaming and then feeling the fire of the souls she murdered! Elsa and Abigail are definitely on my list of characters to show up! And that's an interesting point—I never noticed that before!
shortanamx: Glad you liked the chapter!
billyandkimfan1994: No they certainly did not, and of course Jay held Harry back—to do otherwise might result in Harry getting stuck on the Isle.
Snowwhite45: Yeah I don't think Milah will be happy about that one bit!
darkpegasuzz: Glad you enjoyed the chapter!
Ghrumfwggrvjdafbhs: Thank you so much, I'm so glad you enjoyed it!
Anonymous Reader: Judging by your review, I take it you enjoyed the chapter? :D
medical ranger: Thank you so much!
Guest: Trust me, Leah gets on my nerves too!
LOST MUSES: They'll probably wait until after the readings…or until her death in Choosing Love.
Names: I love your one-shots! :D
twilightgirl587: I love Hades too! And trust me, CJ and Harriet are on the list of people to come!
Hades55: I'm so glad you enjoyed the chapter!
Dance love 2007: Thank you so much!
Fangirlnerd001: Thank you—and yep, there be OUAT references a plenty! :D
Hope you all enjoy the chapter! Let me know what you think! :D
Naveen quickly grabbed a scroll and unfurled it, smiling a little at the sight of Harry with Milah. It reminded him of his own relationship with his parents and he was happy the young boy was able to get a second chance with his mother.
Persephone couldn't help but smile softly as she watched Mal try to get Estelle to sit on the floor in Mal's room, the training book she'd purchased for Mal propped against a pillow so Mal could see the pictures inside.
"I remember training my dog Sultan," Beast said, a fond smile forming at the memory. "Of course all that training went out the window when he became a footstool."
"And who's fault was that again?" Chip asked, a grin on his face as Beast turned to give him a look.
Normally they would have done this in the den but Estelle still made Virgil nervous and the now nine year old was spending more and more time here rather than at Vanessa's.
I don't blame him, Carlos thought thought it was a lot less nerve wracking being around Estelle now that he had put himself on guard duty rather than sniffing around everyone.
Not that it was a bad thing. Persephone couldn't help but smile at the thought of her home being a safe place for the children of the Isle.
Thank you Lady Persephone, Milah thought as she held Harry close to her. Yes she knew her son was sixteen, nearly an adult. That didn't matter—and despite the want to appear tough in front of the Auradonians, it didn't matter to him either.
Plus she welcomed the privacy Mal's room provided. A conversation like the one they were about to have required a bit more privacy than a regular conversation.
"I wouldn't have eavesdropped," Hades said, shaking his head.
"And Pain and Panic?" Persephone asked, raising an eyebrow.
If Mal took the news of Persephone's pregnancy the wrong way, Persephone wanted to be sure Mal felt safe to let her emotions out rather than bottle them up.
Yeah, I failed at that didn't I? Mal thought. Gods, I'd've had weeks with my brother if I didn't have the stupid thoughts that he was replacing me.
"Hey Steph," Mal said, looking up and giving her step mother a small smile. Persephone returned it. Lately she'd noticed that Mal had been calling her 'Steph' instead of the title of 'Lady Steph'. That, plus the hug she'd gotten her first day back, never failed to make Persephone smile.
Then again, pretty much everything Mal did made Persephone smile.
"Spoken like a true mom," Rapunzel said softly, smiling as she looked at her brood.
How could she not? If it wasn't for that stupid registry, she could refer to Mal as her daughter rather than by the pointless title of 'step-daughter'. A daughter was a daughter, it didn't matter that Mal wasn't genetically Persephone's.
Snow White and Cinderella both couldn't help the sad smiles that formed on their lips as they heard that. How they wish they could have had the same relationship, but they wouldn't begrudge Mal her relationship for anything.
"Hey Mal," Persephone said, pulling herself out of her thoughts. "How's the student?"
"Great!" Mal said with a grin. "Watch!"
Looking back at Estelle, Mal cleared her throat. "Estelle, sit! Sit!"
Estelle gave Mal a little puppy grin before sitting down.
Audrey rolled her eyes. Great, it can sit. Now could you train it to stop glaring at my grandmother?
Mal grinned and fished out a dog treat from the bag of pet supplies Persephone had brought with her.
Estelle's right head looked over at Naveen while the other two kept a watch on Leah.
"Um…?"
"Okay does anyone have something we could use as a dog treat?" Mal asked. Normally she would have told Estelle that there wasn't any there but it was just cruel to say the 't' word in front of a dog.
Ariel perked up. "Oh! I think I have some in my pocket!"
"Why—?"
"I was playing with Max earlier dear. You know how much he loves these," Ariel told Eric as she fished a couple of dog treats out of her dress pocket. "There we go."
"Awesome," Mal said as she took the treat and gave it to Estelle, who wagged his tail in thanks.
"Good boy!" Mal said and handed Estelle's middle head the treat, which he happily took before trotting off out of the room to eat it.
"Max does that with his treats," Melody said with a smile.
"Maximus does that sometimes with his apples," Rachel nodded.
"I guess it's just a pet thing," Esmeralda said. "Djali used to do that sometimes as well."
"That would explain the treat your father found in his shoe the other day," Persephone said with a small chuckle.
"Estelle was just saving it for later," Mal told her. "Three heads means he has to share his treats after all. Saving them makes them last longer."
Ben nodded. "That just makes sense. Almost as if he's putting the snacks in a savings account to accrue interest."
"Except for the fact that it's a dog," Audrey sniffed. "They don't know what savings accounts are Ben."
"Audrey!" Aurora scolded.
"I see." Persephone said with a small nod and walked into the room, shutting the door behind her to guarantee them privacy. Not that Hades would eavesdrop but there was no guarantee Pain or Panic wouldn't snoop. "Mal, I need to talk with you."
"Probably the scariest words a parent can say to their child," Evan nodded.
Mal seemed to tense up a little, as she always did whenever Hades or Persephone needed to have a private chat with her. Not for the first time, Persephone cursed the fact that Maleficent had gotten her talons into Mal during her formative years.
Demeter's hands curled into slight fists at the very thought. Ooh, Maleficent had better consider herself lucky she was trapped behind the barrier.
"It's nothing bad," Persephone said gently as she picked Mal up and set her on the bed before sitting down next to her. "I wanted to tell you that I'm pregnant."
"Nice lead in there Steph," Hades muttered.
"Oh hush you," Persephone told him.
"Oh. That's nice," Mal said after a brief pause.
Eugene shook his head. "Rachel acting like that after we told her about Blondie's pregnancy with Evan made sense. But I thought there'd be a bit more excitement?"
"Dad, you told me when I had my nose buried in a book remember? Not to mention that was the fifth time in my life mom had been pregnant!" Rachel exclaimed.
Mal shrugged. "I don't really get excited."
"Mal, sweetheart, do you actually know what that means?" Persephone asked gently. She had seemed to accept that rather quickly so Persephone didn't know if Mal truly knew what Persephone being pregnant meant.
Mal shrugged. "Uma said it's how you get a new brother or sister. Right?"
"Ah, so glad to see you remember my wisdom," Uma said with a smirk, sitting up straighter. "Of course it is my job as the older cousin—."
"We're the same age!" Mal exclaimed.
"That's right," Persephone said with a small nod.
"So congrats. Good for you."
Milah held back a small chuckle at that—she couldn't help but be reminded of Harriet's reaction when they had told her about Milah's pregnancy with Harry and CJ.
"Thank you sweetie," Persephone said with a small smile. "Are you excited? You're going to be a big sister."
Mal shrugged again. She tended to do that a lot, Persephone thought, especially when it seemed like she was trying to hide what she really felt. "It's a little exciting I guess," she said. "But won't the baby spend most of its time in Boreadon?"
I wish you both could have spent all your time in Auradon, Persephone thought with a small, sad smile.
Persephone sighed and rested her hand on her stomach. She had begun to show slightly, which worried her a little as she was only about two months along. However, Eileithyia had told her that should be normal. A Godly pregnancy had a faster development time than a mortal one.
"Really? How fascinating! I wonder—?"
"No Ben, you can't go find out if there are books on the developmental stages of a Godly pregnancy," Chip said, shaking his head.
Ben raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me for being interested Chip."
"I'll find out if those books are available, Ben," Belle promised.
Persephone looked at Hera and Demeter. "They do know we're right here right?"
"I've stopped trying to understand mortals," Hera told her.
After all Athena and Aphrodite were born as full adults, Persephone thought. Then again, they weren't born in the most shall we say conventional methods.
"No, sweetie, they'll have to stay here," Persephone said softly after a brief bit of silence.
Mal tilted her head slightly in confusion. "Why? They'd be your kid and you're a good guy right?"
I hadn't thought about that. That there were kids of heroes and villains…though could Lord Hades really be called a villain? He's more of an anti-hero I'd think…kinda like dad is, Ben thought.
Persephone couldn't help but give Mal a sad smile. "They're also your father's child," she explained. "So they'd have to stay here with you and your dad."
Sighing, she added, "most likely they'll be born on the Isle, so they'll be classified as a VK meaning the Isle will have to be their home."
"But they'd be a baby," Mal said with a frown. "They didn't do anything to be classified as a VK."
"Spoken from the mouths of babes," Phillip Sr. stated, shooting a glare at Leah.
Persephone couldn't help but give Mal another sad smile. None of the kids on the Isle had done anything to earn their classification either and yet they still were.
"Something that will quickly be rectified!" Ben stated.
"Steph?" Mal asked after a few minutes of the two sitting in silence. "What if the baby's born in Boreadon?"
"I'm going to be completely honest, I didn't even think about that," Hades said, shaking his head slightly.
"I don't know sweetie," Persephone said softly, brushing a bit of hair out of Mal's face. "We'd have to discuss that with King Beast and your Uncle Zeus."
"And that, something tells me, would not be a quick conversation," Chip said under his breath.
"King Beastie wouldn't order you to stay in Boreadon would he?" Mal asked softly.
"More than likely one of the Gods would have been appointed guardian during the six months Persephone was on the Isle," Zeus spoke up.
"So dad would never get to see his kid and Hadie would never see his dad. Got it," Mal nodded.
She still remembered the talk she had had with Steph, the day of Blueberry's party. Her stepmother had said that her agreement with King Beastie could have been worse, that she could have not been allowed to see either Mal or Hades.
That was the last thing Mal wanted.
"Me too!" Hadie exclaimed. He hated the idea of living without his mom for six months but he'd hate it even more if he never got to see Mal either!
Maleficent might not have cared for Persephone but the dragon really didn't care about anyone but the dragon. There had been more than one day where Mal caught herself wishing she had been Persephone's child instead.
You were my child sweetheart, Persephone thought to Mal. Even before the adoption, you were always my child.
"I don't know sweetheart," Persephone said softly. She doubted it since her agreement had been set before the creation of Auradon or the Isle. Beast may have been king of Auradon but even he couldn't get between an agreement of the Gods.
It may be time to look at revising that agreement, Hera thought. Six months is a long time to go without seeing your children and all it's doing is punishing Persephone.
"If he does, couldn't you guys just reverse the agreement?" Mal asked. "Dad spends six months in Boreadon instead of you spending six months on the Isle?"
"And if we did that, then who would run the Underworld?" Hades asked.
Persephone couldn't help but smile a little at the innocence in the question only a child could have. It was heartwarming to see that six years on the Isle and Maleficent hadn't removed it completely from Mal.
Sometimes there's nothing that can remove a child's innocence, Rapunzel thought with a small smile, thinking back to her own childhood and how she'd creep down the stairs every year on her birthday and watch the floating lanterns.
"That's a possibility," Persephone told her. "But we're not leaving you here."
"Not on your life," Hades nodded. "If I'm suffering in Boreadon in this hypothetical situation, you're coming with me."
Mal made a small face at that. "Six months in Boreadon? Without Uma, Jay or Harry? Yuck!"
"See you haven't changed much, cap'n," Harry said with a small chuckle.
Persephone couldn't help but shrug at that. She couldn't deny that it was likely not going to be fun, spending six months without her friends.
"Wait a minute, the way that's phrased…you were going to bring her to Auradon?" Demeter asked.
"If I was ordered to stay or if the agreement was reversed and Hades was given six months? Of course," Persephone nodded.
"Besides, according to Boreadon and that stupid registry, I'm Maleficent's kid and only Maleficent's kid," Mal muttered. "Would you even be able to take me off the Isle?"
"Don't underestimate me Mali."
"I think that's the motto every kid should have for their parent," Rowyn said, nodding her head slightly.
There was no way she would allow Mal to be alone with Maleficent ever again. Persephone had already spent five years with that-she wasn't going to make Mal go through that again.
"I'm not. But I don't want you or dad getting in trouble either." Mal said with a small shrug.
"Can…can Gods get in trouble?" Emir asked.
Persephone sighed. "We'll just have to cross that bridge when we come to it," she said softly and Mal nodded slowly.
"Hey speaking of bridges—oof!"
"What was he going to ask?" Ben asked, looking over at Mal as Jay massaged the side that Mal had elbowed him in.
"Nothing," Mal told him.
They were silent for a few minutes before Mal spoke up again.
"When will the baby be here?"
"Around September sweetie," Persephone said with a smile.
"Like I said, best month of the year," Hadie said, grinning from ear to ear.
"Oh. So they won't be here right away?"
"You actually thought that?" Jay asked with a small chuckle.
"Athena. Aphrodite."
"I see your point."
"No honey. We'll all have some time to adjust to the idea," Persephone said gently.
Mal nodded. "Will they have magic like me?"
"Yep," Persephone said with a chuckle. "You can teach them. You two will be giving your father and I grey hairs in no time."
Well, I wasn't wrong, Persephone thought. Mal running away and then that incident at the Cove certainly came close to giving me grey hairs.
What incident?
Mother? I thought I muted the mental link!
No, you didn't. Now what incident? Poseidon told her.
Poseidon?!
Mom, fair warning, I can hear this too. I'd like to request they not get 'spoiled' for lack of a better word, Mal thought. Hey if they couldn't be bothered to provide aid to the Isle then why should they get to be spoiled in terms of what was likely in the scrolls?
You heard Mal. It'll likely be revealed soon, Persephone thought.
"Cool!" Mal grinned but the grin faltered as she paused and tilted her head. "But wait, can Gods get grey hairs?"
"Sure they can! Just look at Grandfather," Macaria said with a grin.
Persephone chuckled. "Not literally but it'll certainly feel like it."
"This'll be fun!" Mal said with a small smile starting to form at the thought. "Me and my sister!"
"Wait…you thought I was going to be a girl?" Hadie exclaimed, looking at Mal.
"I was six," Mal said, shrugging slightly.
"And what's wrong with being a girl?" Uma asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Nothing but it's just weird to hear Mal think I was going to be one," Hadie told her.
Persephone couldn't help but laugh a little at that. "We don't know that for sure, Mal—"
"Nope! They're a girl! I want them to be a girl!" Mal insisted, grinning from ear to ear.
"It's safer for boys on the Isle though," Uma muttered to Mal.
"And how aware of that were you at six?" Mal muttered back. "Besides, can you honestly say it's safe for anyone on the Isle?"
"Well we won't know until they're born. They could be a boy."
"Nope! And I shall call her Haille," Mal said, the grin never leaving her face.
"Not a bad name choice honestly," Hera said.
Persephone once again couldn't help but chuckle. "You'll have to take it up with the baby sweetie."
"But it fits! It's an 'H' for dad and then her nickname could be 'Hail' which ties to you, you know weather yada yada."
"Isn't Lady Persephone the Goddess of Vegetation? How does she tie to weather?"
"And dear, what if they're a boy?" Persephone asked. "We can't control their gender after all."
Mal went silent for a minute before speaking. "We'll see," she said softly. After all, Harry had sisters. Why wouldn't Mal?
Actually, for a six year old, that's not a wild assumption to make, Belle thought. Especially if all her friends have sisters.
"Well brother or sister, we're all looking forward to their arrival," Persephone said with a soft smile.
Mal nodded with a small smile.
Mal doesn't seem all that excited, Hadie thought with a small frown but then shook his head. That's just how Mal is, if she jumped up and down in excitement we'd think something was wrong.
"Come on, let's go get the nursery ready," Persephone said. While there was plenty of time before the baby came, Persephone knew that most of her time was going to be spent in Auradon. With Hades running the Underworld and being a dad to Mal, the last thing Persephone wanted to do was put anymore stress on her husband.
"Steph, it was fine—."
"Hades, you said that enough during the pregnancy and then every time I'm off in Auradon. I'm getting close to banning the word from your vocabulary!"
"Is that possible?" Mal asked.
"And if it is, can you teach us?" Emir, Akiho, and Chip asked in unison, causing Ben to roll his eyes.
"Can I veto pink?" Mal asked with a grin as she hurried after Persephone. "Just no! My sister is not going to be a prissy princess!"
"Does anything pink exist on the Isle? I mean even Blueberry avoids it," Uma pointed out.
Persephone chuckled. "Of course! I was thinking maybe blue since that's your father's color with a bit of another color to accent it. What color would you like Mali?"
Cinderella smiled slightly as the memories of getting Chad involved in setting up Alexandria's nursery came coming back. They of course tried to involve him in the twins as well but he'd only been two at the time.
Mal bit her lip as she thought. "What about yellow? Or red? It goes with blue and it sort of represents you and dad. Plus, if for some reason she's not a girl, it'll still work."
Blue and yellow are Auradon's colors. I've no doubt Mal'll be at home in Auradon, Ben thought with a small smile.
Persephone couldn't help but smile at that, and made a mental note to get some art books for Mal the next time she was in Auradon. "I like red," she said. "Because red and blue also make purple, so that way the baby can also know that their big sister is around too."
Mal couldn't ignore the stab of guilt that hit her gut as she heard that. Because of her stupidity, she hadn't been there for Hadie at the start.
Mal couldn't help but smile slightly at that.
"I can't wait to meet her," Mal said softly.
"I'm very glad to hear that sweetie," Persephone said gently. It was nice to know that Mal wasn't jealous or thought that they were replacing her with the new baby.
No one noticed the slightly awkward looks on Hades, Persephone and Mal's faces, or if they did they didn't comment on them.
It was like she knew she would always be their child—no matter what.
"Steph?" Mal asked with a small grin. "Can I tell Uma, Harry and Jay that I'm going to get a baby sister?"
"If you'd like," Persephone said with a smile.
"Yeah," Mal nodded her head. "Uma should know she's getting a new cousin anyway!"
Uma grinned and reached over to ruffle Hadie's hair. "One of the best cousins around too!"
Persephone smiled. Mal had told them that she had told her gang about her being Hades' daughter and thus, Uma had been around a lot more. While Hades had been a little hesitant at first, it had been nice to see him developing something of a relationship with his great niece.
Poseidon gave Hades a small smile and rested a hand on his shoulder. "Thank you brother."
"The kids needed someone looking out for them," Hades told him but didn't shrug the hand off.
They needed all the family they could get on the Isle.
"Come on, let's get the nursery ready and then you can meet up with your friends," Persephone said and Mal grinned.
"I mean, did it have to be done that day?" Kristoff asked.
"It was time I got to spend with Mal. I wouldn't trade it for anything," Persephone told him.
"What are we waiting for?"
Persephone chuckled as they headed off to one of the spare rooms that was close to the master bedroom. Hades had already set up Mal's old crib and chest of drawers; having refused to have Persephone do any heavy lifting while she was pregnant.
"Gee, why does that sound familiar?" Rapunzel asked, looking over at Eugene.
"Hades, dear, I can do that. Or at least help."
"Nonsense. I don't want you getting hurt Steph. Besides, it's almost in position."
"Hades, you know nothing's going to happen to the baby right now if I do any heavy lifting and it might be better for you if you had help."
"Husbands. They're all the same," Jasmine sighed as Aladdin gave her a sheepish smile.
"Steph, Mal's off at school and Virgil's nine. I'm not asking a nine year old to help set up a nursery."
"So does that mean you would have asked Mal?" Aziz asked, tilting his head slightly.
"Even if it's for their cousin?"
"Have we officially figured out whether or not that's the case?"
"Hades, the way you've been acting toward Virgil, he's practically family already. Does it matter if it's official or not?"
"I'd like to meet him," Poseidon said.
"I'll invite him to Auradon," Ben stated. "He can be one of the first new groups."
"He'll be more timid than DeVil," Uma muttered to Jay.
Hades sighed as he pushed the chest of drawers into position. "No of course not. But regardless, I'm not asking a nine year old for help with this Steph. That's my child in there, I'm going to do the work for the nursery. Just like I did with Mal."
"No man is an island, you know," Persephone whispered to Hades.
"You know, I seem to remember you had Pain and Panic set up Mal's nursery. Or did you lie to me about that?"
"I had a three week old Mal in my arms. I trusted those two more with the nursery than I did with Mal and there was no one else here to watch Mal while I set up the nursery."
"That…is a fair point I'm not going to lie," Persephone nodded. "No parent worth their salt would have trusted their three week old with Pain or Panic."
Persephone shook her head. "Hades, I was going to do this. You really didn't have to—"
"Hush. You're pregnant—I know you can still do things but you're just getting over the nausea fun part of your pregnancy. The last thing I want you to do is overexert yourself right away. Not when you're regaining your strength."
Great, now I have to like him, Demeter thought with a small sigh.
Persephone sighed. There was no arguing with him when he was like this. Plus, she hated to admit it but he had a point.
"Oh now don't let it go to your head," Persephone told Hades who smirked slightly.
"I'll need to tell Mal," Persephone said, breaking the silence.
"She's six Steph. Do you really think she'll understand?"
"She understood when I told her about the agreement."
"If I remember correctly, she ran to her clubhouse when you told her you were leaving for Auradon."
"Technically I just ran out of the Underworld," Mal muttered under her breath.
Persephone sighed. "Yes well once I had the chance to explain the agreement between my mother, Zeus and King Beast, she seemed to understand."
"But this isn't an agreement Steph. You're telling Mal she's going to be a big sister."
"Believe it or not Hades, I'm aware of that. But Mal's a smart kid, she'll know we're not replacing her."
And I went and blew that certainty out of the water, Mal thought, chewing on her bottom lip.
"She may be a smart kid but she's a kid who's had Maleficent mess with her head for five years."
Meg frowned slightly—there was no denying the fact that Hades had a point.
Hades had eventually agreed after Persephone had pointed out that there wasn't a way they could keep it a secret from Mal for long.
"Though that would have been interesting to see you guys try," Uma told her aunt and uncle.
"You ready Steph?" Mal asked, holding up some of the paint Hades had worked with her to create. Before Persephone had brought the already full cans of spray paint for Mal, Hades had worked with her on creating her own. It hadn't been something Persephone generally approved of—Mal was too young to be working with those chemicals. But Hades had been with her every step of the way so it wasn't like Mal was in too much danger.
"You really think I'd let anything happen to her?" Hades asked Persephone.
"Of course not," Persephone said, shaking her head.
That being said, most of their attempts only produced regular paint since they had a hard time getting the paint into the empty spray paint bottles that came from Auradon. So they kept it in storage in buckets that came from Auradon.
"And nothing leaked?" Jay asked.
"That stuff that you found that you all used to hang up the banner on my birthday came in handy there," Mal told him. "And no, we still don't know what that stuff is."
"I'm ready Mali," Persephone said, grabbing a brush and dipping it in the paint. "I'll go high, you go low?"
"I mean, I don't think Mal could reach the high areas," Uma said with a small smirk.
"I will make you into calamari if you don't drop the height thing!" Mal exclaimed.
Mal grinned and nodded. The two of them quickly got to work painting the room a middle of the road blue in terms of shade. Not too light as to be confused for an 'Auradon' color but not too dark that it would be too depressing for the Underworld. After all, with no natural sunlight, too dark a color would make the room feel cold and depressing.
Ben frowned slightly. There had to be someway they could get sunlight to the Isle even if they kept the barrier up.
Perfect for the Isle. Not so much for a nursery.
"Thinking back, it probably would have been a better idea to paint and then have your father bring in the furniture," Persephone noted after they finished.
"That would explain the pain splatter on the crib," Hades said with a small chuckle.
No one could accuse them of being professionals but it was done. The walls painted a nice, neutral shade of blue with the baseboards painted a dark red.
When I'm in Auradon, I'll pick up some red and blue fabric. Make a blanket for the baby, Persephone thought as she smiled slightly looking at the nursery.
Hadie grinned, he loved that blanket. He didn't know what his mom did when she made it but it was always the perfect temperature—not too hot and not too cold.
"Steph? Can I go meet up with Jay, Uma and Harry?" Mal asked.
"Go ahead," Persephone said. "Just be home before dark okay?"
"I always was," Mal said. "Even after we got our alliance with the hyenas, the lions and Shere Khan still roamed at night. Oh and not to mention Sabor."
Mal nodded and ran off. In the distance, Persephone could hear Estelle running after her and couldn't help but smile. The bond between Mal and her dog was one that could not be replicated.
"All I'm saying is that I'm also a child of Hades and I'm much older than Mal was when she got Estelle—."
"I'll think about it Hadie," Hades said.
Looking back at the nursery, Persephone rubbed her stomach lightly; as if trying to reassure herself that her baby was still there.
I promise you, you'll be able to enjoy this nursery for as long as you'll need it. Nothing is going to happen to you. You have my word—and you'll soon find out that your mom keeps her promises. Besides, you'll have a sister and father who I know won't let anything happen to you in the months I'm off the Isle.
"You got that right mom!" Mal declared, holding Hadie close to her.
Hadie smiled at Mal. Honestly, other than the fact that she somehow was certain he'd be a girl, he didn't know why Mal was so worried about his reaction to her finding out about him?
Speaking of which, her six months were coming up weren't they? She'd have to get ready.
Odds are when she came back, she'd be dangerously close to her due date. Gods help her, she couldn't help but hope the baby would be born on the Isle. As much as her child wouldn't deserve this life, at least they wouldn't be separated from their father and sister.
"Until Boreadon decides said sister would be better off on their side of the bridge," Uma added.
"Can I read next?" Dizzy asked with a huge grin.
"Go for it, fireball," Uma said with a small chuckle.
