You know what's worse than starting the new school year as a freshman without your best friend?
Starting the new school year as a freshman with everyone whispering behind your back about the secret you revealed a month ago to the guy that raped and impregnated your best friend.
To make matters worse, it's your best friend's birthday and you have nothing to give her to cope with being fifteen and expecting a baby.
Yeah, Jay was not having a good morning.
First, he had to endure the beginning passing hour, knock a few pipsqueaks around for snickering behind his back, grab his and Mal's class schedule when she starts in a couple weeks, and defend himself for being gay.
On the bright side, the headmaster scheduled Mal's classes so she could spend at least three hours of the day with her daughter or son, since they still weren't sure about the gender.
With Mal's schedule, she had Lady Tremaine for second hour, a half-an-hour study hall next to a thirty-minute lunch, and then Dr. Facilier for seventh hour. The headmaster reassured the thief the schedule could be modified, and he could skip his class if needed.
Feeling relieved that everything was under control for the school year, Jay headed to his first hour class, which happened to be Lady Tremaine's. The school bell rang, signaling the beginning of class, but no teacher. A few minutes passed with the old woman still nowhere in sight. Some students mumbled about something possibly happening to her and wondered if they needed to do something. Right before a decision could be made, Lady Tremaine walked into the classroom like nothing was out of the ordinary.
"Apologizes for being later than expected," Lady Tremaine greeted as she strolled to her desk. "As most of you are aware, Mal contracted a disease that made her incapacitated these past few months. After checking on her this morning, I can inform you that she is feeling better and should be back next week."
While his classmates whispered about the unusual illness, Jay's eyes widened in surprise. If he assumed correctly, he missed—
"Jay," Lady Tremaine called, snapping the thief out of his thoughts. With a small smile, she informed, "Mal asked that you go see her since you failed to visit her a couple hours ago. I'll tell your next teacher you won't be in class, but I expect you to be back by third hour."
Nodding briskly, Jay roughly grabbed his bag before barreling out of the classroom—
Scolding himself for missing such an important occasion.
Jay didn't slow his pace once during his journey across the island.
He pushed past bystanders, jumped over oddly placed merchant carts. Basically, he dangerously crossed any obstacle that stood in his way. He wanted to get to his destination as fast as he could to make up for not being there to begin with. He didn't bother with the miner bike since he could get there faster without it.
When he finally burst into the living quarters of the cave, Jay noticed no one in the general facility. Everything was quiet like a sneaky mouse.
"Mal?" Jay called out, his voice echoing in the cave.
"In the bedroom," he heard her beckon, her voice calm and soothing.
Hurrying across the home, Jay accidentally slammed the bedroom door open, causing Mal to flinch on the bed.
"Don't be so loud!" Mal scolded, though her tone sweet and loving as she cradled a bundle of joy in a blanket gifted by her uncles. "You'll wake your niece if you keep that up."
Suspicion confirmed, Jay slowly ventured to the bedside to take in the wonderful sight. Being rocked in her mother's arm slept a beautiful baby girl with skin as pale as the moon, just slightly paler than her mother's. The infant's hair was the same purple color as her mother's, though she barely had enough to cover her soft, newborn head. The little girl slept soundly in her mother's arms, though her face was slightly scrunched up from the abrupt noise.
"Mallory," Mal cooed affectionately, "this is your uncle, Jay-Jay."
Surprisingly, Jay snickered at the name. " 'Jay-Jay'?" He repeated with a smile. "That's all you could think of for me?"
"More like the only name that would be easy for her to say," Mal joked, carefully not to move her daughter too much. "I think we're going to have Mallory call Dad 'Grandpa Aido', since his first name given to him by the mortals was 'Aidoneus'. Dad suggested the nickname because he wants her to be the only one allowed to call him by his real name."
"Well, Mallory is beautiful," Jay complimented as his smile grew. "She looks identical to her mother."
"Except for one thing," Mal claimed cautiously.
When the new uncle looked confusion, the new mother gently woke her daughter up with a simple abrupt rock. Letting out the cutest yawn Jay ever heard, Mallory stubbornly wiggled around in her baby blanket before opening her eyes, revealing the lightest blue eyes, nearly translucent.
"She has her father's eyes," Mal announced softly, watching as her little girl gazed at the stranger with wide eyes.
"That won't be a problem," Jay reassured, though he kept his attention on the newborn baby that didn't know what to make of him. "No one will know from eyes alone that he is her father."
"I'm more worried about her sight," the fairy insisted stubbornly. "Dad said her lighter colored eyes may cause her bad sight as she grows older."
"By then we will hopefully be in Auradon," Jay commented optimistically. "The prince is supposed to become king in another year or so. Rumor has it the prince is debating on letting a few villain children attend Auradon Prep for a trial run. The goblins claim he's thinking about four children."
"The goblins are terrible gossip," Mal reminded, careful to not sound rude in front of her daughter. "They never get anything right."
"True," Jay agreed before shrugging carelessly, "but I think they are right this time. I think we'll be going to Auradon soon."
"Someone's eager to find their thief," Mal teased. "For now, you better head back to school. Lady Tremaine will come by afterwards to check on Mallory. I'll let you hold your niece after Lady Tremaine makes sure everything is alright."
"Will you be fine by yourself?" Jay interrogated as he briefly looked over his shoulder to gaze at the main living area. "Where is Hades?"
"I'll be fine, but I don't know where he is," Mal claimed, her tone suggesting that she was slightly nervous about her father's whereabouts. "He said something about going to the marketplace to get groceries for my birthday dinner, but that was nearly an hour ago now. He should be back in a few minutes."
Little did his daughter know, Hades didn't just travel to the marketplace for her birthday feast. In fact, he had more important matters to deal with first.
One of them being the father of his granddaughter.
The god didn't go hunt the pirate down for no reason. In fact, the immortal wanted to have a little 'chat' about taking responsibility for his actions and give him one last chance to right his wrong. Besides, he wanted to have a little fun toying with the bastard that took advantage of his daughter.
Alas, Hades's powers on the island were slim to none, thanks to the magical barrier. The god still possessed his inhuman strength, which meant he could rough up the pirate a bit. However, Hades preferred the much more subtle approach—
Which involved slight psychological torture.
The bystanders stared at the god as he walked through that side of the Isle. Hades couldn't really blame for the looks. He almost never goes to that portion of the island. He hardly makes his presence known on his side of the Isle, only going to the marketplace twice a week, if not less.
Still, having little knowledge of the seaside town, Hades found the restaurant in no time. Due to talks at the marketplace days prior, the god knew that Serpent Prep—the other school for students on this side of the island—wouldn't start until next week—
Which meant he could find his target at his usual hangout.
Walking through the swinging door, Hades snarled at the stench that welcomed him. At least at the Slop Shop, the goblins attempted to maintain the establishment for their customers. At the sea-food restaurant, the god was surprised they had any customers. He couldn't believe his daughter enjoyed the food when the building was a mess.
Then again, Hades was groomed to cleanliness since he lived in Olympus. Mal, on the other hand, was raised on the 'Isle of Leftovers', so she had no problems with the dirtiness.
Hades could only pray his granddaughter wouldn't be raised on the island for long.
Speaking of his granddaughter, Hades caught sight of the bastard that took advantage of his daughter. The pirate was feasting on a disgusting array of food as he half-heartedly joked with the rest of the crew.
"Harry Hook!" Hades called out, effectively silencing everyone and catching the perpetrator's attention. "You and I need to have a little chat. If you value your life, don't ask questions. Follow me."
Obviously, the pirate followed the god since he was interested in why the immortal was interested in him. However, once in the dark alley, away from any witnessed, the pirate only then realized he should have feared for his life.
"Do you know who I am?" Hades questioned, crossing his arms to seem more menacing.
"You are a god," Harry answered with slight confusion. "The elder brother of Zeus."
"Wrong."
Hades leaned forward, the blue in his eyes like fire. "I," he began slowly, "am the father of the teenage girl you raped nearly one year ago."
The pirate's face grew pale with every passing moment. "You're Mal's father?" Harry wondered rhetorically. shaking his head in denial. "I-I didn't know—"
"Know what?" Hades interrogated as he straightened to full height, towering the pirate by nearly a foot. "That your actions would result in getting my daughter pregnant? That she would go to me for help? That my little girl would give birth to my granddaughter on her fifteenth birthday?"
Despite his current situation, Harry let his jaw hang slack in surprise. "She kept the baby? I thought—"
"You thought wrong," Hades interrupted in his best powerful tone. "Mallory is an innocent child that doesn't deserve to die because of your horrible actions. She looks identical to her mother. If you could have seen Mallory after she was born, you would have regretted ever thinking about getting rid of her. This is your last chance."
"I'm sure Jay already told you; I want nothing to do with the baby," Harry reminded cautiously. "I am perfectly content with it not knowing I was the 'sperm donor' that created it."
Hades raised an intrigued eyebrow at the pirate's wording. "I am the judger of souls," the god informed slowly. "This is your last chance to atone for your crime."
"I don't want anything to do with it," Harry firmly insisted. "I never wanted kids and I still don't."
Hades held the mortal's gaze, just to see if the pirate would waver in his resolve. After a moment, the god shrugged carelessly. "Alright. I'll meet you again in Tartarus or the Field of Punishment, whichever one I see is more fitting for a coward like you."
Sometime later, Hades returned home with bags of groceries. Though advised against it, Mal slowly ventured out of the bedroom with her newborn baby cradled in her arms to greet her father and asked why he was so late. Hades made a harmless fib about the shopping taking longer than expected, gently instructing his daughter to rest longer.
Showing off her stubbornness, Mal laid on the couch in the large open area. When her father suggested Mallory needed to be fed, she insisted she finished nursing her daughter a couple minutes prior to his arrival. With her daughter lying on her chest, slowly falling into another peaceful nap, Mal softly claimed he couldn't get rid of her that easily.
Amused by the new mother's behavior, the new grandfather apologized for not being punctual and promised it wouldn't happen again.
Finally, after dragging on, the school day finally ended, which meant the appearance of Lady Tremaine and the very eager uncle, who waited all day to hold his niece. After granting approval, Jay cautiously cradled the fragile life in his arms, careful not to move too much to disturb her.
"Mallory is beautiful," Jay complimented once more after Lady Tremaine left. "Maybe next time—"
"There won't be a next time," Mal interrupted abruptly. Sighing softly at his reaction, she explained, "There was a complication with Mallory's birth. I won't be able to have another child if I wanted, and I don't. Mallory is all that I need."
"And she will be loved dearly," Hades promised from the kitchen as he finished the last preparations for the birthday feast. "After all, I have to spoil her since she is my baby girl's baby girl."
"Don't spoil her too much," Mal requested. "I don't her teenage years to be trouble."
"Especially if she's raised in Auradon," Jay reminded hopefully. "The prince—"
"Won't do anything because of his parents," Mal argued doggedly. "None of us will be going to Auradon. Not you, not me, and especially not Mallory."
If only she knew on that specific day . . .
The prince was hard at work because of his dream—
Involving a purple-haired mother and her matching purple-haired daughter.