"How about Amelia?"

Ben suggested to his wife.

In the middle of Thursday, the two of them are with their family in the living room, after a great lunch made by Mrs. Potts.

"Really?"

Mal didn't hide his thoughtful expression. She couldn't imagine her daughter having this name.

"It sounds like a lady's name."

Carlos said as he ate one of the snacks on the table.

"Give your suggestions then."

Ben declared.

"I like Belle."

Adam said.

"No, names are unique, and she doesn't have to grow up in the shadow of someone else's name."

Belle said, startling everyone by the tone of her voice.

"How did you decide on Ben's name, Belle?"

Mal asks as she snuggles closer into her husband's embrace.

"Well, I wanted a name with an important meaning, and as soon as I read Benjamin I knew it couldn't be any other."

"We'll have to think it over." Ben said and kissed his wife on the shoulder. "Her name has to be unique and have an important meaning."

"Well, it's a good thing we've run out of strange names."

Mal remembered her own name, which was too much for her.

"And apparently we're going back to the baby book too."

Doug kissed Evie's hand, surprising them. Suddenly everyone, except for Mal and Carlos who already knew, went to hug the Evil Queen's daughter and her husband.

"Jay and Carlos, looks like you're the only ones left."

Ben warned them.

"I'll pass." Jay said, earning a look from Loonie. "What? We moved in together not even two years ago."

"Nothing, if you're saying it, who am I to disagree?"

Loonie said, and Jay knew he had displeased her.

"Okay, back to the future princess." Ben turned his attention to him and Mal before he could start a couples' fight. "How about Rose?"

"Do you want to name our daughter after your ex-girlfriend's family?"

Mal glared at him, while the others laughed.

(…)

"You should stop being so difficult."

Mal said to Jay.

The two of them were walking in the palace garden. The son Jafar had been promoted by the king to position of queen's number one protector while he was at work.

"What?"

Jay asked without knowing what she was talking about.

Mal had to walk and Jay was forcing her to do so, even if he had to practically carry her.

"Did you have to talk to Loonie like that?"

"That?"

"Yeah, that. Shall we sit down for a while?"

She asked, already tired and quickly sitting down in the nearest chair.

"You and Ben took almost ten years, why should I go quickly?"

"Because we have a whole kingdom to rule, and you don't."

"I'm not ready to be a father, I guess." As he spoke, Mal began to feel short of breath again. "Mal? Mal, are you all right?" As soon as he noticed that she was getting paler than usual, he immediately became worried.

"Take me back to my room."

She asked, feeling that her energy was running out.

"I told Evie it wasn't good for you to be walking around."

"Jay, are you leaning on me?"

A risky idea crossed the queen's mind.

"Yes, I think so."

He said, slipping his hands around her neck to give her more support.

"Cool, here we go." Even though she knew she would lose all her strength, she teleported to the bedroom. "Did it work?"

"Wow Mal!" As soon as they reached the room, the queen collapsed and, lucky for Jay, she fell onto the bed. "You know you can't do magic." He ran to get the oxygen mask.

"Jay, what are you doing here? Mal?" Ben was in the closet and as soon as he saw Jay, he didn't understand why he was there, but his gaze went to his wife lying on the bed. "What happened?"

"She got sick while we were in the garden, so she used magic to teleport us here."

"She knows she can't do that anymore! Get a blue potion from the bathroom cabinet."

Jay ran into the bathroom and threw everything on the floor until he saw the right bottle.

"Here." Ben dabbed some liquid Rashid had given him on Mal's lips in the hope that it would help her regain her strength. "Is she going to be all right?"

"Yes, everything's fine now."

He sat down next to her, running his hands over her sleeping face.

"What are you doing?"

His friend asked when he saw the king pickup an ultrasound machine

"Checking the baby, just in case." Thanks to the wizard, he had learned how to do the "exam". Slowly, so as not to awaken Mal, he lifted his blouse and as soon as he saw his daughter's image on the monitor and heard her heart beating, he breathed a sigh of relief, but still worried. "She's beautiful, isn't she?"

"Man, are you okay? How are you with all this going on?"

Jay wanted to know, worried. He and Ben were friends, but they hadn't seen much of each other lately and now, looking at his face, he realized that the monarch wasn't looking his best.

"To be honest, I don't know yet." He wiped her belly and pulled down her blouse. Usually, everyone is so busy with Mal that no one has ever stopped to ask him how he's feeling. "I'm loving having a baby, watching Mal's belly grow, talking to the baby and following her growth, but at the same time, I know that the more this happens, the closer I get to losing her." He took Mal's hand. "This is the worst thing in my life. I don't want to lose her, Jay. I don't know how to live without her, how to rule Auradon without her, or how to raise a daughter without her around. I'm going mad already, every time she runs out of strength or air I go crazy."

"Calm down, we're all like this."

Jay tried to comfort him.

"One day at a time, right?"

He smiled, wiping away his tears.

"Yeah, it is."

Jay looked away to Mal. His leader. How could he do it without her?

(…)

Mal only got worse over time, and there was nothing anyone could do to help her get well.

"Okay, ready?"

Ben asked. He and his friends were standing in front of one of the castle doors, and Mal is wearing a blindfold.

"No, you know I hate surprises."

She warned them with all her latent bad humor.

"Stop complaining, we have to take advantage of the fact that you're fine today."

Carlos said, recognizing that this current mood was the best that Mal could offer.

"Absolutely, wait another ten minutes, and I'll throw up on you."

"Then let's hurry."

Ben took off his blindfold, showing her what in his opinion was the most perfect place in the world.

"You…you…how did you do that?"

Mal entered the purple room with a few shades of blue. A crib, a white armchair, a wardrobe with clothes already made by Evie, a bookcase with books, stuffed animals, and they've placed some dragons and bears around the room, which is honestly the cutest part.

"We all did." Ben replied, slipping his hand around her waist. "And this is on the door." He handed her a plaque with his daughter's name on it. "You and I like this one, so I don't see why not."

"The daughter of a great warrior."

Evie said what her niece's name meant, and before she could cry, she went to hug her friend.

"It's perfect for her."

Ben said.

"I love you all very much."

Mal said, enveloping them in the same hug.