Months passed with no one suspecting a thing, which surprised the pregnant fairy.
After all, Mal's belly grew every day, forcing her to wear bigger and bulkier coats to hide the pregnancy. Luckily, the students of Dragon Hall never spared her a second glance. They all feared doing the wrong thing toward her would end in bad repercussions.
Speaking of passing time, the winter weather changed later than expected, giving the main trio more time to plan Mal's 'disappearance'. Like Jay suggested before, Mal agreed to cause a dramatic scene at school to display her illness. In Lady Tremaine's or Dr. Facilier's class, either teacher will expose a smell that is delightful to the classmates yet pungent to the pregnant teenager. It will cause her to 'unexpectedly' flee the classroom for the bathroom. Jay will check on her, come back into the classroom, say Mal's sick, and then leave to carry her home.
During the first week of March, the group decided it would be the best opportunity since warm weather was predicted to start. So, on that Wednesday morning, Mal dressed for her last day of school in her father's bedroom—careful to hide her baby bump once more—before walking into the main room of the cave.
Mal sighed in slight remorse. "Dad, you shouldn't have to do this," she commented glumly. "We need to take turns or something. I know sleeping there must be uncomfortable."
Groaning at his awkward sleeping position, Hades straightened to a sitting position as he stretched out his sore muscles. "You are not sleeping on the couch," he sternly scolded lovingly. "In case you miraculously forgot, you are four months pregnant with my grandchild. You need to be comfortable, so nothing happens to your baby. You sleeping on the bed is the best option."
"That doesn't mean you have to be uncomfortable!" Mal insisted stubbornly. "At least get a cot or something. You can't sleep on a couch forever."
"I'll think about it," Hades reassured with a yawn. "By the way, Lady Tremaine has an old crib in her mansion she's giving us. It will need some repairs, but I thought I could fix whatever's needed and you can paint it however you like. Since you are such a fantastic artist, I thought you would enjoy it to pass time."
"I really would like that," Mal agreed with a small smile. "I already have the perfect design in mind for the headboard; two dragons, one green and one purple, with their heads pressed together to create a heart. The purple dragon will be bigger and sort of towering over the smaller green dragon."
Hades raised an eyebrow in amusement. "Let me guess: the purple dragon is you being protective of Mallory, who is the green dragon?" When his daughter nodded eagerly, he couldn't help chuckling. "Sounds wonderful, Mali. I'll get you the best paint to use in your condition. For now, enjoy your last day of school."
The day dragged on longer than Mal thought it would, as she awaited the perfect opportunity to play out the scheme.
Her morning class with Dr. Facilier would be too early and may seem too obvious. Her classmates would assume she was trying to get out of school for the day. Lady Tremaine's class was the better option since it was a couple hours before the school day would end. Besides, everyone would genuinely believe something was wrong because Mal enjoyed the wicked stepmother's class the most. She wouldn't do anything to get out of it.
Just a few moments after the tardy students arrived for that class, Mal felt something unusual happening with her hidden bump. With such a faint tickle, the fairy believed it to be her imagination.
However, once Mal subtly ran her hand over her baby bump, the feeling morphed into a gentle tap.
Mal inaudible gasped in revelation, understanding the unfamiliar sensation. With wide eyes and mouth hanging open, the fairy attracted her peers' attention quicker than anticipated. Locking eyes with a confused and curious Jay, Mal made a split decision—
She bolted out of the classroom.
That may seem a little dramatic, but it is what they planned a few days before. Since she had a better excuse to leave, Mal's action appeared more authentic than faking an illness.
Of course, Jay followed her as originally intended, not knowing a new development had occurred.
With everyone in the classrooms, the hallways were completely void of students and staff. By the staircase, Mal eagerly awaited with a wide excited smile.
"What happened?" Jay interrogated concerningly. "Why did you leave early?"
"It's not my fault," Mal whispered stubbornly, her smile never faltering. "Blame Mallory."
The infamous thief furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "Mallory?" He repeated with a snarled nose of uncertainty. "What does she have to do with this?"
"She kicked!" Mal squealed energetically. "My baby girl kicked!"
After fulfilling the plan accordingly and returning home, Mal eagerly told her father of what transpired nearly an hour before. Although he found her reaction amusing, Hades admitted he acted the same way when he first felt Mal kick in her mother's womb. In fact, the god was so in awe that he always had a hand on his ex-wife's baby bump so he wouldn't miss any kicks, much to her annoyance.
It wasn't hard to believe Mal inherited her father's admiration for the 'miracle', as Hades called it. From that day onward Mal kept a gentle hand on her baby bump, which grew little by little. There were a few times Hades would catch his daughter trying not to sleep, so she wouldn't miss a single kick. In the middle of the night, he would wake up to her squeals of feeling the baby move.
As the months passed, Mal became impatient about her daughter, or son, making the grand entrance. One night, the fairy dreamed of her little girl in her arms, but then she suddenly shouted for her 'daddy' as she reached toward a handsome stranger. The man, either a prince or king with auburn hair and green eyes, happily swoop Mallory into his arms, blowing thousands of kisses on the girl's cheek. Mallory giggled a squeal before begging her 'daddy' to stop.
Obviously, Mal was confused by her dream. When she first heard her daughter shouts, she believed the man was Harry, but was surprised to see the stranger. From his spic-and-span fancy blue suit and the gold crown on his head, it was apparent that he had to be royalty of some sorts. The way he treated Mal's daughter made her believe he truly cared for Mallory. Still, Mal knew that would never happen. The prince-king wasn't real!
. . . Right?
Now that she thought about it, Mal could have sworn that she's seen the mystery man before. Though he appeared to be older, if she considered Mallory appearing older in the dream, he could be Mal's age.
But where had she seen him before?
Speaking of her baby's 'daddy', a small encounter occurred during the summer months, just a month or so before Mallory would come into the world.
Jay, being the amazing best friend, grudgingly traveled to the only fish restaurant for Mal's favorite craving while Hades ventured to the barges. Hades's younger brothers, unsure if it was one or both, had learned about the baby from him and wanted to do something to help. They sent the essentials: diapers, milk formula, a black baby blanket with the insignia Mal described previously—which was now on every shirt or jacket she owned—and anything else you could think of.
Anyways, Jay tensely waited for the food when Harry approached him once more. The thief advised to leave him be, but the pirate refused, wondering once again if Mal had her 'thing' yet or if she finally decided to get rid of 'it'.
"Her name is Mallory," Jay hissed quietly as customers mingled about. "And no, she hasn't had her yet. We're thinking one more month. Why? Have you finally decided to step up?"
Instead of answering, Harry scrunched his nose at the name. "Mallory?" He repeated incredulously, mindful to keep his volume down. "Where did she come up with a name like that?"
"She combined her name with yours to spite you about keeping her baby." Jay finally turned his head to gaze at the pirate. "So? Are you stepping up?"
"No," Harry quickly denied. "Like I told you before, it will never be mine. I would rather forget that this whole scenario happened."
"You know how you could have prevented this?" Jay questioned rhetorically, his anger spiking but still somewhat maintained. "By not getting my best friend drunk and raping her for your sick pleasure."
The infamous thief paused his scolding for a moment to pay for the food. Grabbing the grocery sack, he spared a moment to glare at the cowardly pirate. "As I said before," Jay continued as his glare sharpened, "stay away from my side of the Isle. Don't you ever come near Mal or Mallory."
Harry scoffed at the threat. "You don't have to worry about that. The last thing I want is for that baby to know that I'm its father. After this, I am more than content with being single for the rest of my life."
"Yet I doubt that will stop you from hooking up with random sluts you don't give a shit about," Jay retorted bitterly before brushing pass the pirate, not caring about his reaction to the assumption.
The thief walked briskly to the entrance as he silently fumed at the pirate not feeling any genuine remorse from what he hid. Resting his hand on the swinging door, Jay turned to face Harry again.
"You know, I used to have a crush on you," Jay revealed, finding himself amused by the pirate's shocked expression. "I thought you were a handsome guy that could be my life partner, but you were off-limits for too many reasons. Now, after what you did, I am disgusted with you. I thought about staying single because you nearly ruined my views on dating males. The next time we cross paths, you better pray to the gods that I don't kill you."
Taking in the customers' reactions—though they still had no idea what was going on—Jay dramatically pushed through the exit, finding himself surprisingly relieved at revealing his 'dark' secret.
Now the only thing he had left to hide was his beautiful niece, who has yet to make her grand appearance.
Returning to the cave where he woke the napping pregnant fairy, Jay tensely informed her of what transpired nearly half an hour ago.
"I told you he wasn't right for you," Mal reminded teasingly as she graciously took food she's been craving her whole pregnancy, comically resting it on her enormous baby bump. "You need an Auradon thief. Someone who can match your skills with ease."
Jay chuckled at the advice. "There isn't anyone that can compete with my talents, especially someone from a kingdom filled to the brim with goody-goodies. You would have a better chance at finding yourself an Auradon prince."
Tensing up at remembering her dream, Mal scoffed. "A prince won't want to be with me," she insisted bitterly, "not once he finds out I have a daughter at such a young age. Besides, I'm not exactly for someone to date. In a few weeks, I will have my little girl to worry about."
"Speaking of a few weeks," Jay began with a smile, purposely changing the subject, "your birthday is coming up soon. Is there anything you want for your big fifteen? Something to make it special?"
Pondering on an idea or two, Mal shrugged carelessly. "Just to spend the day with my little girl," she decided with another shrug. "She would be the best gift I could ever ask for now."
Mal didn't realize then that her wish would come true. Or that a few years from then, Jay would give her something that would nearly top being with Mallory—
Since she would be missing her daughter so much.