Chapter Sixty One


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.

Whoa, another chapter for the record books! You know, I honestly don't know which has gone by quicker—this year seeing as we're almost at Halloween or this fic since there's 18 chapters to go before the end! But don't worry, there will be a sequel!

fayeriegodmother: Oh I'm so glad you liked it! I have no doubt that Evie and Doug will be great parents, especially since they have such a great support system :D

AmethystDragon14: Yay! You know, Daniel wasn't originally gonna be in that chapter? But the chapter just felt too short so I thought it'd be a good idea to have Daniel at least be told :D

charmed princess imzadi: So glad you liked it!

danifan3000: I couldn't not give Evie her own title! I'm cruel at times but not that cruel lol :D

bal4ever: Glad you liked it! And yeah, I did hear about the site going down in July but I'm just glad it's back up!

OceanBlueSeaEyes: I'm going to be honest, your review actually inspired a bit of this chapter!

Bowling4real: Hmm, I'm not sure if Evie's child will have magic but that's always something that can change!

Guest: Yes, Locklyn will appear again in here !

Hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Let me know what you think! :D


"And that should be the last bit of furniture!" David said with a smile as he and Daniel lugged an old rocking chair up the stairs and set it up in the corner of the nursery. It had been the rocking chair that had been in Emma's and Neal's nurseries and also in Ethan's and Eva's nurseries, but as soon as Emma had heard that Evie was pregnant she had insisted on giving the rocker to her step-aunt.

Evie was family, Emma had said, and the rocking chair had been passed to each child when they were born. It would be a shame for Evie's child to not be included in the tradition.

"Thanks for helping with this," Daniel said as he wiped a bit of sweat from his brow.

"Are you kidding? I wouldn't miss this for the world," David chuckled.

"…Doug asked you to keep an eye on me while he was over at his parents' house and Snow went shopping for baby items with Evie, didn't he?"

"…Okay maybe I'd been asked to make sure you didn't overdo setting up the nursery but I haven't set up a nursery in ages so I'll take all the blame if and when Doug finds out I failed," David said, giving Daniel a sheepish smile.

Daniel chuckled. "Feeling grandkid fever again? You know you still have Neal if Emma's done having kids, right?"

"I know, but Neal and Grace have said they want to still enjoy their time as a married couple before they think about kids," David said. "They've said though that they might start trying next year, and Emma told us that once Eva's a bit older, they might try for another kid."

"But for right now you're going to enjoy Evie's pregnancy and lavish her with any assistance she might need?"

"Of course, that's part of my step-brother in law duties!"

"Is that a word?"

"According to Emma, it is and arguing with her about made up words just seems to summon my son in law who will make up even stranger words in response in his quest to have everyone accept his motto of 'being normal is vastly overrated'."

Daniel shook his head in amusement. "You know, I think Emir would have fit in nicely on the Isle, from what Evie's said about Mal's crew."

"Honestly he probably took the news that the food to the Isle was being tampered with harder than even King Ben did, from what Emma told me," David said. "They'd have food drives about once a term in Auradon City when Emma was about eight, and of course other kingdoms would help out. When King Ben was around thirteen, however, he along with his friends took over running the food drives."

"Who was running them before?" Daniel asked.

"You know I don't really know," David said. "I had assumed Fairy Godmother but once it fell into King Ben's purview, it just always seemed to be something he handled."

"…But he was a child?"

"He became High King at sixteen and no one batted an eye, does the idea of a child running the Isle food drives really seem all that odd to you?"

Daniel opened his mouth and then shut it as he realized David had a point.

David shook his head. "We really should have looked more into what was going on with the Isle, but unfortunately the Summerlands didn't exactly have the pull on the council the Auroria council member had."

"The council member being Queen Aurora's mother?" Daniel asked. He faintly remembered Evie telling him something about the former monarch but it had been so long ago, Daniel had pushed it out of his mind.

"That's right," David nodded. "Honestly, Leah could probably be the only person in the world who could manage to rile up Snow. Well, except for her 'colleagues' over at the Gazelle."

"Oh, that's the gossip rag Evie had told me about," Daniel nodded. "They had written about her after the whole coronation fiasco."

David chuckled. "Oh yeah, they did. Probably the only thing that saved them from Snow's bow and arrow going straight through their note pads was the fact that they stopped, though that was per their M.O. It would be rare for them to focus on one person more than a week."

"Judging by your tone, I'd say they changed it up?" Daniel asked.

David sighed. "After King Ben put out the press release saying anyone inquiring about then Lady Mal's parentage could ask Lord Hades and Lady Persephone, I asked Emma how long the Gazelle had been writing about Mal. Because the tone in King Ben's words was such that I knew it couldn't have been the typical M.O. of the Gazelle."

"And what did she say?"

"Apparently, Emma said that the Gazelle had been writing about Queen Mal for at least four months or so. Of course, she wasn't entirely sure of that information. She only heard it second hand from Rowyn Fitzherbert who had taken it upon herself to burn any copy of the Gazelle with Queen Mal in it that she could find."

"That's determination," Daniel said, more than a little impressed.

"That's an understatement," David chuckled. "Emma told me that Rowyn noticed a distinct lack of any mention of Queen Mal after Lady Persephone arrived back to Auradon a couple of months earlier than she normally would have."

Daniel shook his head. "Proof someone knew they were doing something wrong. If they had the courage to stand by their writing, they would have kept going but I'm happy for Queen Mal that they didn't."

"According to Emma, the Gazelle remained quiet until recently when they made the genius decision to report on Chip Potts' wedding," David said, rolling his eyes. "Even though it doesn't really matter since the entire kingdom knew of Chip's love for his now husband, it was just in bad taste. Not to mention, it was a completely bone headed move since Chip is also the head of King Ben's public relations team."

"He is?" Daniel asked. "I would have thought that would have been a bit too nepotistic for King Ben's taste?"

"According to Emir, Chip basically appointed himself head of King Ben's PR team when they started attending the Auradon school system," David chuckled. "Then again, I'm not really surprised at that. Anyone who knows Chip could tell you that he'd do anything to protect King Ben."

"Why does that feel ominous?" Daniel asked him.

David shook his head. "Chip is pretty much harmless, though there was a rumor floating around, about six months before King Ben had the first wave of VKs come through, that Chip tried to break Into Beauty Castle."

"…Why?"

"He believed that's where the copy of King Ben's betrothal contract to Audrey Rose was located and wished to destroy it."

Daniel blinked, as if needing to take a moment to digest what he had been told. And then blinked again. And then blinked a third time for good measure.

"Yeah, that's pretty much what my reaction was when Snow told me about that," David said. "Thankfully, Edward Darling was the one who got the story first so he and Snow were able to bury it."

"Why?" Daniel asked. "Isn't it their job to report on things around the kingdom?"

David shook his head. "Technically yes, but because of Chip's position in the royal family, the last thing Snow and Edward wanted to do was risk getting their access to the High King revoked if King Beast or now King Ben held a press conference. Plus, despite his overall demeanor of insanity, Chip doesn't really do things like breaking and entering. Snow wasn't about to let a rumor spread over a one time incident, especially since there was no way to confirm it."

"Why was there no way to confirm it?"

"Snow wasn't coming back from King Beast's council meetings unable to hear from Leah's shrieking for one," David said, shaking his head.

"That actually created more questions than it answered," Daniel said, tilting his head.

"Considering Leah was the one who lived in Beauty Castle until she was stripped of her title and sent to the Isle, Chip would have been breaking into her home," David told him.

"…I see."

David chuckled and shook his head. "I didn't mean for this to turn into us flapping our gums, especially when we're supposed to be setting up the nursery for Evie."

"You just said that rocking chair was the last of the furniture," Daniel said. "Besides…I enjoyed our conversation. It helped me get caught up with some of the stuff I missed that Evie might not have known about."

"Well you know, we're family. I'm always happy to answer your questions Daniel," David said. "Have…have you spoken to Regina recently?"

Daniel sighed but couldn't help but give David a small smile. Despite the man's history with the Evil Queen, David was always careful not to refer to Regina by that title when he was around Daniel. David knew he would be upset if someone insulted Snow around him so he did his best to extend the same courtesy to Daniel.

"I have," Daniel nodded. "She was surprisingly okay with the fact that Evie was pregnant."

"I know Evie was concerned her mother would be critical of the weight gain the pregnancy would cause Evie," David said.

Daniel shook his head. "That was one of the few disagreements I had with Regina after Evie was born, the idea that Evie had to weigh a certain amount to be seen as desirable. Lady Persephone had managed to bring over formula for the babies of the Isle and had offered some to Regina and I. Regina had initially refused, claiming it would make Evie fat."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"I had that same reaction," Daniel said, shaking his head. "Thankfully, Jafar gave me a deal on some baby formula a few weeks later and I told Regina that I'd take over Evie's late night feedings since the lack of sleep wasn't agreeing with her. Regina never knew I was giving Evie formula."

"I mean I'm not usually one to applaud deceiving your wife but I'm all for Evie still being alive so I'm going to focus on that part," David nodded. "Did Regina ever find out?"

Daniel nodded. "I told her on the call where Evie told Regina she was pregnant."

"Huh…and she didn't explode?"

"In a strange turn of events, I think she was more excited over Evie's pregnancy that the news didn't sink in. She didn't even seem to realize that she'd be a grandmother, though that might have been because Evie also revealed you and Snow had granted her the title of Princess of the Summerlands which would be passed on to her child I'm assuming."

David couldn't help but smile as he heard that. There was something oddly touching about the fact that Regina still felt joy at the thought of a pregnancy in the family, even though Regina had, you know, tried to kill Snow once upon a time.

Yeah, he wasn't going to lie. It felt weird referring to the Evil Queen as family even in his head.

"Is there anything left to do? With setting up the nursery I mean?" Daniel asked, pulling David out of his thoughts.

"Let's see, we've got the crib, changing table, trash can specifically for diapers, the family's rocking chair…I can't think of anything else we're missing," David said.

"What about toys?"

Both men turned to the doorway to find Evie staring at them in bemusement, Emma and Snow both smiling at them from behind her.

"Let me get those bags for you Evie," Daniel said, quickly rushing over to get the shopping bags out of his daughter's arms. "Where's Doug? He's not back from his parents' house?"

"Doug is actually home and is in the process of making me a roast beef sandwich while Gil apparently whips up some chocolate ice cream and of course both men are supervised by Emir," Evie said with a small chuckle.

"…Why is Gil here?" David asked.

"We asked the same thing when we saw Gil in the kitchen," Emma said, shaking her head. "And yes dad, Emir has both Ethan and Eva. He insisted on taking the kids as soon as he saw me."

"How'd you know that's what I was going to ask?" David asked.

"Figured I'd take a guess plus it'd be a logical thing for you to ask since you love being around the kids," Emma said with a small chuckle, resting a hand on her stomach. "And apparently Gil is here because Macaria took the kids to Hercules' for a visit and Gil figured he'd come and see if Evie needed any help with setting things up before she gave birth."

"That was sweet of him," David said.

Evie smiled. "Gil's normally that sweet," she said. "It may have made him a target by his brothers when we were on the Isle but he never let that break him. Though I did learn that he did try to be seen as 'manly' by his father and brothers once when we were on the Isle."

"…How could Gaston not see his son as manly? Have you seen the guy's biceps?" Daniel asked.

Evie chuckled and shook her head. "You remember what Gaston was like, don't you dad? If his sons weren't exactly what he thought a man should be like, then they weren't men. And Gil was too fond of crafts and sewing for Gaston to consider him a true man."

"Honestly, if I ever meet Gaston, I might beat Beast to the punch. Literally," David muttered.

"Yes well, thankfully Gil was also the only one of Gaston's sons who had the patience to learn to repair weapons, according to Mal," Evie said. "They had a member of their crew who was in charge of keeping stock of their weapons but Gil was in charge of forging and repairs."

David shook his head. "And that's enough Isle talk for me before my blood pressure gets too high and I make the mistake of asking how old Gil was when he started working in a forge."

"That was in Duels Without Rules wasn't it?" Daniel asked.

Evie nodded. "Since no one knew exactly what it was, it existed as a jack of all trades so to speak."

Snow shook her head, opting to remain silent as her step-sister continued to talk with David, Emma, and Daniel. Snow found that Evie tended to clam up about her life on the Isle when she was talking with her, and while Snow wanted Evie to be comfortable she was still curious as to what the Isle was like.

However, now was not the time to think about the Isle. Snow smiled as she looked around the nursery. "You guys did an amazing job setting it up," she said.

"Helps when you have a good partner helping you out," David said, patting Daniel on the back. "Gods, hard to believe we're almost at Evie's due date."

Emma chuckled. "Don't be getting all mushy on us, dad."

"I am your father, I will get as mushy as I want!"

"Come on girls, let's get these toys put away so that way Evie can sit down. I know Doug's been wanting her to take it easy," Snow said, giving Emma and Evie a small smile as David shook his head.

"He's been wanting me to 'take it easy' ever since he found out we were expecting a baby, though," Evie said as both Daniel and David took the bags from her and Emma.

"That just means you should listen to him," Snow told her.

"Or it means that Doug needs to relax?" Emma added.

Snow shook her head. "Let the man pamper his pregnant wife, Emma."

"I'm just saying, take it from someone who's husband loved to hover when I was pregnant with Ethan and Eva. Sometimes, it gets to be a little bit too much." Emma shook her head as she and Evie went over to the baskets designated for the baby toys. David smiled and went over to hug his wife.

"Hard to believe our family tree's getting another branch," he said.

"Not really," Snow shook her head. "It's a long awaited branch…and I know the baby'll be as loved as any baby can possibly be."

"With this family, you know that's a given," David nodded.

Daniel paused. "Is it a good idea to leave Doug and Gil alone for a long period of time?"

"If you had asked Harry back when we lived on the Isle, he'd probably say that it's never a good idea to have Gil around period," Evie said with a small chuckle. "I'm glad he was wrong about that, Gil's been great at Evie4Hearts…even if I think he hovers more than Doug does sometimes."

"That's possible?" Emma asked.

"It is," Evie nodded. "And I know you all want me to relax but the silence from downstairs is worrisome so I'm going to go check out what Gil and Doug have gotten themselves into. Would anyone like to join me?"

"I think we all would," Daniel nodded and the five of them made their way downstairs to see both Gil and Doug covered in flour. Daniel smiled as his daughter's laughter filled the house and he sneakily took a photo to put in his grandchild's baby book.

He couldn't believe he was so close to becoming a grandfather, something that he never thought would be possible when he was being held hostage by Maleficent all those years ago. And he was so glad that he had been wrong.

A cloud of white broke him out of his thoughts and Daniel raised an eyebrow as David grinned at him.

"Really?" Daniel asked.

"You looked far too clean," David shrugged. Daniel didn't respond but took the bag of flour and poured it on David's head with a grin. That was all it took for a full on flour war to break out in the kitchen, the only bystander being Emir.

Hey, someone had to hold Eva and make sure Ethan didn't get underfoot and so it was going to be him!