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“Would you slow down for just a minute?” Ben pleaded with his wife. After all, if wouldn’t be healthy for the baby if Mal collapsed from exhaustion.
Mal ignored him, continuing to flutter around the room, restacking the books on the coffee table, even though they had already been in a perfect stack.
Before Mal could continue though, Ben stepped in front of her, stopping her in her tracks when he slipped his arms around her waist.
“Mal,” Ben said gently. “What are you nervous for? He’s seen our house before. He knows you’re pregnant. What are you fretting about?”
Ben lifted a hand to brush a strand of hair out of Mal’s face. Mal sighed, finally stopping to take a breath.
“I honestly don’t know,” Mal replied, sagging into her husband’s chest. “I think it just has to do with hormones with the baby or something. I know I have no reason to be nervous. It’s not like I have any news I need to tell him; he’s just coming over for a visit. Maybe I’m just nervous because I never really had a caring parent for the majority of my life.”
Mal lifted her face, lips pouting. Ben grinned before leaning down and brushing his lips against hers. Ben didn’t have a chance to continue the kiss and keep calming down his wife as a knock sounded at the front door.
“Oh! He’s here already!” Mal jumped out of Ben’s arms and raced to the door. Ben just chuckled and shook his head before following her to the foyer.
“Dad!” Mal greeted Hades when she pulled the door open.
Mal pulled him into a hug, grinning widely. Mal never thought she would be one to like physical affection, but then again, she never thought she would end up marrying a king and having a (good) relationship with her father.
“Hi, Mali,” Hades said, wrapping his arms around his daughter.
Once breaking apart, Mal led Hades into her and Ben’s living room, Mal and Ben taking a seat on the couch and Hades dropping in the armchair across the coffee table.
“So, what’s with the visit today, Dad?” Mal questioned. Hades had called earlier in the day and asked if he could stop by. It had been a month or two since Mal had broken the news that she was pregnant, and she had started showing, but not too much. Mal had gladly agreed, but Hades had never mentioned why he wanted to come over.
It’s not like the father-daughter duo hadn’t seen each other in that time; Mal had still been visiting Hades’s little cottage every Friday for their weekly date.
“No special reason,” Hades said. “I just wanted to come visit. Plus, once you get farther along, you’re not going to come visit me every week.”
Mal looked ready to protest, but Hades quickly cut her off.
“I don’t exactly live super close by, and what if something happened?” Hades reasoned. “I could never forgive myself. Plus, you shouldn’t be traveling a lot or even moving around a lot when your due date approaches.
“But, that doesn’t mean we still can’t visit, I’ll just come visit you instead of the other way around. And, I figured I would start getting used to the travelling by visiting today.”
Mal looked ready to argue again, but Ben quickly cut her off by putting his arm around her shoulders.
“Mal, he’s right,” Ben said, turning to his wife, who looked ready to murder him. “It’s not like anything’s changing! You still get to see him, and now you don’t have to spend any time on the road!”
Mal just huffed before knocking Ben’s arm off her shoulders and slouching on the couch.
“Fine,” Mal growled. “But that means I get to pick what we do!”
Ben laughed while Hades raised his hands in defeat.
“Whatever you want, sweetheart,” Hades laughed. “As long as you and my grandbaby are happy and healthy.”
Mal subconsciously placed a hand on her stomach, rubbing up and down.
“I’m going to go make a cup of tea. You two play nice,” Mal said, pulling herself off the couch while turning to raise an eyebrow at her dad.
After Mal had made her way into the kitchen and the door shut behind her, Hades turned to his son-in-law, who just smiled at him.
“Listen here, beasty boy,” Hades growled, hair igniting. “If you let anything happen to my daughter or grandbaby, no one will ever see you again. Remember, there’s magic on Auradon and I steal souls.”
“I would never, ever do anything to harm Mal or our baby!” Ben replied, shocked. He knew Hades wasn’t the king’s biggest fan, but he figured that over the time that him and Mal had been married, they had seemingly gotten along fine. He had no idea where this came from, though he couldn’t blame the man for wanting the two safe, especially after everything Mal had been through not only on the Isle, but in Auradon as well.
“See that it doesn’t, or I will have your head,” Hades said, leaning back in the chair, satisfied that he had scared the young king.
The two men sat in silence for another moment before approaching footsteps could be heard before the door to the kitchen opened and Mal appeared with a mug in hand.
“It sure is quiet in here,” Mal said suspiciously, glancing between Ben and Hades. “What did I miss?”
Mal sat her mug down on the coffee table and snuggled into Ben’s side.
“Nothing,” Ben answered quickly.
Mal raised an eyebrow, but didn’t push it.
“So, how is the baby? Everything go okay at your last doctor’s appointment?” Hades asked excitedly, leaning forward in his seat. Hades didn’t think he would ever get over the fact that he was going to have a grandchild, though if anyone asked, he wasn’t old enough to have a grandbaby.
Mal smiled, placing her hand on her stomach again.
“Everything’s fine, Dad. Nothing out of the ordinary, though the doctor still isn’t sure about how mixing fairy with being a beast is going to affect the baby, though we’re talking with Fairy Godmother next week to see if she has any insight,” Mal said.
Ben placed his hand on Mal’s knee and squeezed.
“Everything is going to turn out fine,” Ben said gently, leaning over to kiss Mal’s head.
Mal smiled, placing her hand on top of his and squeezing it back.
Hades felt like he was intruding on a private moment. Mal really did love the beast boy, and he would never admit it aloud, but the boy was beginning to grow on him. Hades knew the king would never hurt his daughter, and he couldn’t be happier that Mal had ended up with a guy as great as Ben.
“I’ll take that as my cue to leave,” Hades said, standing up.
Mal was pulled out of her love bubble, standing up to hug her dad before walking him to the door.
“I’ll see you on Friday, Mali,” Hades promised before heading to his motorcycle parking in the royal couple’s driveway.
Mal called out a goodbye before closing the door behind her and making her way back to the living room where the king was still sitting.
Quickly making her way back to the couch, Mal wasted no time in snuggling back into her husband’s side.
Mal had no idea what she had been to nervous and worried about. As long as she had Ben and Hades at her side, she would always be okay.
Rubbing her stomach for probably the millionth time that day, Mal drifted to sleep, a smile on her face.