Chapter Thirty Five
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.
*blows horn in celebration* Holy cats you guys! We are officially over 900 reviews! Thank you all so much for your support with this!
One thing I do want to note, the older version of Ben and Mal are from the Choosing Family universe not the Watch and Learn one. The only people in this story from Watch and Learn are Audie and Lucas.
Urmimala Hazra: Oh thank you—but Bal is an older version of the Bal who's there. Glad you liked the chapter though!
Katt Kiki: It'll be very interesting to see how they react!
shortanamx: What record are you referring too? But I'm glad you're looking forward to the next chapter!
Marcus Emrys: Not really, just Audrey and Lucas. Ben and Mal are the future versions of the Bal who're there.
61394: Abby is from this timeline, but yeah the break will be interesting that's for sure!
Tracie Adams: I'm so glad you enjoyed the chapter!
medical ranger: Informative and hilarious is a safe bet!
InuKagLove22: I'm so glad you liked the chapter!
danifan3000: I'm sorry, Mal went to Audrey for her makeover?! Yeah, there's not enough words to unpack that!
TR Lara Croft: I promise I won't be long with the update!
WIQLWN: Oh wow, hmm, my favorite of your one shots would have to be the one where the Last Bridge folks are freaking out about everyone missing and Mal is just like 'THE CAKE IS GONE…oh yeah so is Evie'. It just makes me chuckle every time!
Guest: I'm so glad you liked the chapter!
darkpegasuzz: Thank you! Glad you enjoyed the chapter!
AliceCullen3: Oh I'm so glad!
Dance love 2007: Thank you so much—I'm happy with any review you want to leave!
billyandkimfan1994: It will definitely be interesting for sure!
AmethystDragon14: Yay! Yep we are closer to the Bal! They're here! Ah the glorious takedowns!
HufflepuffInDaHealingCoven: In You and Me, I always thought Evie and Carlos seemed to be closer friends and Mal and Jay were a closer duo. And yeah Frick indeed!
JaclynnM: Oh yeah that'll be awkward for everyone!
Anonymous Reader: Oh I'm so glad you liked it!
Monkeymama1516: Future Bal are from CH! So glad you liked the chapter!
Hufflepuff24: Well you're not wrong there—the only one from Audie's timeline though is Lucas. Mainly because I never introduced him in the current timeline.
Isabelly Silva Sousa: I'm glad you liked the chapter!
Heroesweardogtags209: Hope you like the chapter!
Guest: Oh man I loved it! Definitely a creative spin on Freddy! :D
EllaBSinging: So Abby was going to be born when Ben was three—so she would be twelve/thirteen.
LOST MUSES: Yeah I was really inspired to update! So the only people from the WAL timeline are Lucas and Audie—and Audie was brought in after the Freddy incident at the soup kitchen. Lucas could be brought in from any time really. The older Ben and Mal are about 23. And yes, the next scroll is when the CF characters were brought in.
quil . theimperial: Yep we're going into the future for the CF people—but it's the past for the adult Ben and Mal since they're from the future!
twilightgirl587: Yeah it's going to be a long story! Yep Auradon time! I honestly think he'll never really be over the resentment…he just dialed it back a lot. Yeah Freddy's definitely not in Ben's good books! Demeter is growing on me that's for sure! I'm pretty sure you're right about that re: Auradon not locking their doors!
smc-smfan1: Glad you liked the chapter!
midnight rose112358: Not at all! And yeah older Ben and Mal will definitely give us Bal moments and embarrass their younger counterparts!
AthenaArtemis25: Well it might change…if that was the WAL Mal and Ben:D
Massive HTTYD Fan: Oh very true—parents aren't going to just forget about that talk!
Guest Numbah One: They're from the CF timeline! :D Glad you liked the chapter!
jessaminego5134: Very true—Ben always sees the good in people! Like you said, it's admirable if annoying and dangerous.
TheGirlofManyFloods: Hope you like the chapter!
Hope you guys like the chapter! Let me know what you think! :D
Lucas shook his head as he stared at everyone. One moment he'd been sitting on the loveseat with his Chip, the next he was transported to a room that was clearly controlled by the Fates judging by the floating eyeball that had dropped the older version of Ben and Mal in front of them.
Now the real question is….which version of Ben and Mal were they? Were they the older versions of the ones already in the room? Or were they the older versions of the Ben and Mal he left?
"Oh dear Gods, there's two of them," he heard the older version of Mal mutter as she looked at the two Audreys.
Well that solved that mystery, Lucas thought as he shook his head. Not to mention it looks like the older version of Ben is almost looking at Audrey with a sad look on his face. Like something happened between the two of them that he regrets.
"Mal! Ben!" Audie said with a smile as she got up to walk over to them. "Gods, you look amazing!"
The older version of Mal blinked in surprise. "Okay…there's a nice Audrey. And now she's hugging me. Ben, did we get transported to a world of opposites?"
"I'm just as perplexed as you are Mal," the older version of Ben said with a small chuckle as Audie broke from the hug.
"You are aren't you?"
"How did you know?!" Malinda asked, looking at Audie in shock. Mainly because there was a version of Audrey in front of her who wasn't ranting about how she ruined her life but also being happy that Malinda was with Ben!
"Mal, I was a cheerleader and a Princess. Certain things like weight gain became something I was taught to notice by like age seven. Combined with the slight curved nature of your stomach…"
"Wait a minute!" Persephone exclaimed, having heard Audie's question.
The older version of Mal chuckled as she looked over at the Goddess. "Hi mom. And to answer Audrey's question, yes. I'm pregnant."
One would have thought a bunch of pigs had been slaughtered by the multitude of squeals that had been emitted. Estelle whined slightly and covered his ears.
"Audrey!" Leah exclaimed as Audie hugged the older version of Mal once more before Persephone quickly rushed up to hug her daughter.
"Oh congratulations," Persephone said before breaking the hug. "But now I guess the question is, how do we address you?"
"I don't understand…"
"Well there's two version of me so I told everyone to call me 'Audie'," Audie spoke up. "It'll be confusing having two Ben's and two Mal's."
"Ah. Well then just call me Malinda."
"And you can call me Benji," the older version of Ben said. "Now then…why are we in the room of the Fates?"
"Good question young King," the voices of the Fates rang from the eyeball still floating above them. "We brought you here as we know the contents of the scrolls you're to read and they now go past the point in the timeline that we brought the audience from."
"That was in no way helpful," Hades said.
"We're now going to read the future," Audie said with a shrug. "Once you've watched the future version of yourself fight a dragon version of Mal, you get pretty used to being exposed to what might happen."
Malinda stared at her for a second. "Yeah…what she said…including the dragon thing, I'm sorry what world did I fall into?"
"I'm sorry but can we go back to the whole pregnant thing?" Uma exclaimed. "You said you'd never have kids!"
"Yeah well you always said you'd never get married cuz. Things change," Malinda said with a small chuckle as Uma stared at the older version of her cousin in shock.
"Who is it? Who's the groom?" Jay asked with a grin.
"Now, now Jay, like you don't already know. Who else could marry Uma without earning a hook to the stomach?"
Malinda chuckled once more as Jay and Mal hopped up in celebration. Though to be fair to them, they had been dealing with their friends' denial for many, many years.
"Our suffering will end! They'll finally see the light!" Mal exclaimed.
"You are so dramatic," Uma told her, shaking her head.
"Like Macaria said, being dramatic doesn't run in the family. It gallops," Mal smirked. "I don't even care that I broke my vow if it means you finally got over your denial!"
"Oh yeah, I forgot about that vow," Malinda said as she gently rested a hand on her stomach. "Trust me, live in Auradon for a few years with your crew by your side and a very devoted husband who wants to make you happy, you'll change your tune pretty quickly."
Harry smiled as he heard that. "We join you then I take it?"
"Of course!" Malinda nodded before giving Evie a small smile. She knew exactly what was going on in the blue haired girl's life at that point after all—and she could only hope that she could make it better.
"Uh…Mal's smiling at Evie and it doesn't look like she's about to pelt her with smoke bombs," Carlos said, his voice soft as his eyes went wide from shock.
"Of course I did! She's crew after all, same with you Carlos," Malinda told him.
Uma shook her head. "Okay so pregnancy has clearly made Mal's brain all wonky. Also, should we be concerned that Beastie and Belle haven't let go of the new girl?"
"That's…that's Abby," Benji said, his voice soft as he smiled at the sight. "That's my sister."
"The sister Belle…oh. Oh!"
Benji nodded. The one thing he always felt a little guilty about was the fact that he'd been able to at least talk to his sister while his parents had to be content with a photo. Malinda rested a hand gently on his shoulder, knowing where his mind had gone.
"It'll be okay," she said.
"I hope so," he told her. "Especially if we're supposedly reading about the future. Or their future I should say. Wait I just realized something…"
"Who's watching the kingdom while we do our reading?"
"Exactly. It's like you read my mind."
"Well we have been married for about three years Benny. Comes with the territory I would think."
"There is no way you're married!" Leah exclaimed. "Ben and Audrey are under a contract, there is no way this spawn is even legitimate if it even is Ben's—."
"Dear Gods, are you still on about that contract?" Abby snapped, glaring at the geriatric royal. "My brother deserves the chance to be happy in his relationships and not feel like he has to be in one just because you're obsessed with seeing Audrey in power!"
"Abby, calm down," Benji said, looking over at his sister.
"No I will not calm—."
"If you get Mal riled up Abby, you're dealing with the hour long rant about anything and everything under the sun," Benji said and then looked up at the floating eyeball. "Excuse me? Your fatefulnesses? Could we please have a snack or something? I'd rather not have my pregnant wife go hungry. Also, who is watching the kingdom while we're here?"
"Ben," Malinda said with a fond smile. "I can handle going without food. I've done it before."
"Don't care. You're my wife, I'm making sure you get food."
"Of course King Ben. As for your kingdom, you needn't worry. To everyone else, it's as if you and Queen Mal never left," the voice of the Fates came out of the eyeball which pulsed once before revealing a bowl of strawberries.
"Thank you ladies," Malinda said with a grin as she made a beeline to the bowl.
Benji nodded before turning to Leah, his eyes narrowing. "Mal is my wife and the mother of my child. I can assure you madam that our marriage is legitimate. For that matter, consider where you are. Do you really want to insult the grandchild and great grandchild of the Gods? Not to mention upset a pregnant woman with magic?"
"Ben it's okay," Malinda said as she took his hand, the other hand holding a strawberry. "Honestly let her rant. It's almost nostalgic considering everything—it's not like she can change anything. Let her think she has more power than she does if it'll make her happy."
"Mal, I'd rather not have her upset you. Not with our child in there," Benji said, his voice soft as he rested his hand on her stomach.
"Leah's a fleabite considering everything and at least there's nothing your little firefly can make explode."
Benji sighed and kissed the top of Malinda's head. "I know she's a fleabite but…with happened with my sister…the stress Leah put mom under…"
"I know…don't worry, she even thinks of harassing me that much, she'll get smote before she can blink," Malinda said, her voice gentle as she looked at her husband. "Our child will be fine Benny. I promise, the minute I think something's wrong I'll tell you."
"Now honestly! I really think—."
"Queen Leah, I'd consider your next words very carefully," Beast said, his voice low and hard as he looked at Leah. "You indirectly killed my daughter, made me go against my conscience and put my son in a contract that clearly makes him miserable but you're not going to be the reason my son loses his child!"
"Dad, really you don't—."
"Ben, she's had this coming for years," Abby said. "Besides, dad has never let loose like this from what I've seen. Ergo, let him rant."
"Gotta say, it's weird hearing Mal referred to as someone's wife. And Harry and Uma are married too," Jay said, shaking his head. "Guess I didn't want to break all the girls' hearts by getting married."
"Oh no you're married too. Your wife's just not pregnant, you're both focused on your careers," Malinda said with a smirk as she took a bite of a strawberry.
"Oho! Who's the lucky lass?" Harry asked as he patted Jay on the back.
"I'm sure it'll come up," Malinda said as her eyes flickered over to Lonnie for a split second.
"What about Evie?!" Dizzy asked with a small squeal.
"Same boat," Malinda said with a small chuckle at the younger girl's enthusiasm. "She's married but focusing more on her fashion business before having kids."
"My what?" Evie asked in astonishment.
Malinda smiled. "Your fashion business. Thank the Gods you branched into maternity clothing, otherwise I'd be swarmed every time I go out shopping."
"You and Blueberry get along?" Mal asked.
"Of course," Malinda nodded. "Keeping a grudge because we weren't invited to a party? Who are we? The Dragon?"
"Okay, here's a tough one. What about Emir and Akiho?" Ben asked, chuckling a little at the looks his best friends gave him as Mal stared at the future version of herself with her jaw dropped.
They can be as offended as they want, but the more that people are talking about the future, the less likely it is that mom and dad will remember that they wanted to talk with me, he thought.
"Happily married and expecting kids," Benji said with a small smile.
"They've got to keep up with Benny after all, though they ran late on proposing. I think we were engaged for almost a year before Akiho and Emir proposed to their girls," Malinda added.
"What about Chad?" Alexandria asked with a grin. "Oh and Kitty and Lucy?! And Ashaki and Phil and Melody and—?"
"Okay, okay, breathe Alex," Malinda said as Cinderella and Kit gave their youngest daughter a fond smile. "Chad's married and trying for kids, Kitty's married with one son, Lucy just got married and as for Phil and Melody…I'll let the scrolls explain. More than likely it'll be there."
"I'm married?!" Chad blurted out before Alexandria could ask about why the scrolls would explain about Phil and Melody.
"Oh so you and Ginny finally got out of your denial?" Audie asked with a grin as she looked over at Chad. "Good for you Chad. She's good for you."
"Who's Ginny?!"
"Ginny Gothel," Audie and Malinda said at the same time.
"Chad ends up married to a VK?!" Emir and Akiho exclaimed as Chad's jaw dropped in shock.
"Oh right, he's still in his anti-VK phase isn't he?" Audie asked. "Well like I said, she's good for you Chad. You'll see."
Chad shrugged. He didn't really believe them but it wasn't worth arguing—he didn't want to see if the disappointed puppy eyes from Ben had gotten worse as he got older. "Oh since we're talking about future partners, what about Alex?"
"She's the furthest behind but she is involved with someone."
"Ooh! Who? Who?" Kitty and Lucy asked with a grin.
"In the spirt of keeping the shock factor down, I'll let you figure it out," Malinda said with a chuckle as her eyes flickered to Hadie.
"…I'm pregnant?" Elle asked, her voice soft and her eyes shining with unshed tears as she looked at Malinda.
Malinda nodded. "Your due date is a month after mine. I promise you Elle, you're pregnant. Akiho spent about five hours dancing around Ben's office in excitement when he told us the news."
"And yes, we know that you regret nothing," Benji said with a fond smile as Ariel brought Elle in for a hug.
"I'm sorry, I know this is a happy moment for Poseidon's family but Mal, can you please let your mother quiz you on your pregnancy before she bursts?" Hades asked with a small chuckle as he looked over at Persephone.
Malinda grinned as she looked over at her parents. "Of course. Ask away mom…and dad, are you actually in a room with Poseidon and Zeus and neither one have been smote?"
"How far along are you honey? Boy or girl? Do you know yet? How're you feeling?" Persephone asked, sounding almost like a dam breaking.
Malinda chuckled as she rested a hand on her stomach once again. "I'm about three months mom. We don't know if they're a boy or a girl yet but we will be finding out. I'm feeling okay now…had a bad bout of morning sickness for the first couple of months. The main thing now is with their added magic I can barely touch anything without it exploding."
"We've gone through three alarm clocks because of the added magic. Thank Gods for Dean and the fact that Estelle now knows our schedule," Benji added.
"And on that note, come 'ere boy. I know it's confusing," Malinda said with a chuckle as Estelle looked between her and her younger self. He came over, looking slightly confused but giving her his typical grin after smelling her.
"Good boy. How've you been huh? You've been taking care of younger me? Yeah? Whatcha think? You up for the babysitting job again in the future?" Malinda asked as Estelle snuffled her belly.
Estelle yipped softly and wagged his tail, still gently snuffling her belly and giving her hand a small lick as well.
"Oh and Queen Leah, let it be known that if you call my grandchild a spawn or illegitimate again, you'll be spending the rest of your bitter days as dead grass," Persephone said, her fond smile turning into an icy glare.
"Mom, her words don't matter. If you've all found out the information I think you have, she has no more power to do anything but spout annoyances," Malinda said.
"Persephone, you don't have to keep a grudge against her," Demeter said. "That's what you have me for after all."
Persephone nodded at her mother before turning back to the older version of her daughter. "Do you have a name picked out?"
"If they're a boy…we're going to name them Maurice Benjamin Adam and if they're a girl…Stephanie Isabelle Hailey. We wanted to make sure all the grandparents are included."
"Stephanie?" Mal asked before her eyes grew wide in realization. "After mom!"
"Got it in one," Malinda nodded.
"As long as the child's healthy, that's all I care about," Persephone told her as Belle smiled at the thought of her grandchild being named after her father. "Congratulations Mali."
"Thanks mom," Malinda said with a small smile that turned into a slight grimace as the baby kicked. "Ooh, really? Right in the kidneys pup?"
"Pup?" Hades asked.
Malinda nodded. "We haven't gotten the ultrasound done yet to see if they're a boy or a girl but neither Ben or I feel comfortable calling our baby 'it'. So we came up with nicknames. I use pup since the Cerberus is a symbol of you dad. And Ben uses 'firefly' as a combination of my ability to fly and his dragon obsession."
"Oh he still has that?" Audie asked with a smile.
"Sure does," Malinda nodded.
"Hey what about Chip?" Ben asked as the conversation seemed to almost come to a lull. Lulls were dangerous, they might remind his parents that they wanted to talk to him. "Anything new in his future?"
"I'm not exactly sure I want to know," Lucas teased. "What if you're marrying someone who's not me?"
"…I'm sorry what?" Chip asked, staring at Lucas in shock.
"Yeah…oh wait. Everyone in here knows right?"
"The VKs probably are the…the only ones who don't," Chip sighed.
Harriet shrugged. "What? You think we'd have an issue with that?"
"Yeah that seems like something Freddy would have an issue but that's about it," Mal nodded. "He dies at some point right? Freddy I mean?"
"That would be spoilers," Malinda told her younger self.
"Oh come on!"
Benji chuckled. "Now that Mal's given us her King Eugene impression, does anyone have any other questions?"
"Malinda never answered the question about Chip!" Ben said.
Benji shook his head and leaned close to Ben's ear. "You think I don't know what you're doing? Let me guess…mom and dad found out you missed dinner and slept at your desk? I've got some unfortunate news for you. That's not going to be something they're likely to forget, no matter how excited mom is over knowing she'll have a grandchild in a few years or getting to hear Abby's voice."
Ben sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "…they don't need to worry about it though. I was fine—."
"They're your parents. They're going to worry about you overworking yourself. Besides, how can you plan on running the kingdom properly if you don't take care of yourself?"
"You've heard that speech before haven't you?"
"I can recite it line by line," Benji said with a small smile. "Doesn't change the fact that it's true. Yes dad needs the chance to mourn Abby but how do you think he'd feel if something happened to you because you were overworking yourself to prepare for coronation? You think he wants you to work yourself to an early grave? To join Abby before your time?"
"But…but I'm not…I mean…the work still needs to be done and it's not like I can give up school. I'm already giving up Tourney and R.O.A.R to be King. Everyone says I need to learn to delegate but who do I delegate to?"
"That's what your council is for Ben," Benji said with a small smile. "I'm sure mom and dad can help you figure out a way to delegate things while keeping some of your duties. As for your workaholic tendencies, don't give me that look I am you you know, let me suggest a strategy Mal got me trying that really works. Set a loud alarm at lunch and dinnertime that repeatedly goes off until you physically turn it off."
"And if I agree, you won't bring up the fact that mom and dad haven't talked to me about the whole sleeping at my desk thing?"
"Depends. Have Emir and Akiho brought up the Imperial Academy game yet?"
"Yes."
"Lead with that next time. As much as I think you should have that talk, I don't think we're in the mood for a seven hour lecture about that game," Benji said, shaking his head.
"Thank you!" Ben said, nodding firmly.
"Okay, so who wants to continue reading?" Benji asked as he looked at the rest of the room as he swiped a strawberry from Malinda's bowl.
All of the fathers in the room stared at Benji, their eyes wide and their jaws dropped.
"Ben, a word of advice. Never, ever take the food of a pregnant woman," Beast said as he looked at the older version of his son.
"Dad, if Mal eats all the strawberries in Auradon, our child will be a strawberry," Benji chuckled as Malinda rolled her eyes.
"I'm not that bad!"
"Agree to disagree," Benji shook his head in amusement as he kissed the top of Malinda's head. "At least your cravings are easy to handle. If it's not your dad's garlic crispy chicken, it's strawberries. Or chocolate covered strawberries if you want something sweet."
Malinda chuckled and kissed his cheek. "You are completely ridiculous you know that?"
"Ridiculous and in love with you," Benji said, resting a hand on her stomach. "In love with both my girls."
"Ben you know we haven't had an ultrasound yet."
"Doesn't matter. I've got a feeling that soon there'll be a mini Mal running around the castle."
"Just for that, I'm sure we'll have a mini Ben curling up everywhere with as many books as he can find," Malinda told him.
"I see nothing wrong with that!" Abby called to them with a grin. "I think the world could use more Bens!"
"I definitely agree with that!" Chip nodded, leaning over and giving Abby a hug. "I can't believe I didn't give you this when you first showed up."
"To be fair, you were shocked by your husband showing up," Abby teased.
"…yeah I'm not going to be used to that."
Ben chuckled. "Who wants to read next?"
"I'll read!" Abby volunteered.
"Oh yeah, she's your kid," Chip said with a chuckle, looking over at Beast and Belle.
