Work Text:
Friday rolled around a little too quickly for Mal. She had so many things to do, including looking for items for the baby nursery, but luckily she knew Evie had been shopping on the side for her.
Mal loved Fridays since she got to actually spend some quality time with her father. Making up for lost time on the Isle, the two getting together to spend time together, do who knows what, quickly became a tradition that Mal wouldn’t trade for the world. She had years to make up with Hades, and she wasn’t about to waste her second chance.
“What are we doing today, Mali?” Hades asked once Mal opened the door. Mal stepped aside to let her father in.
Hades followed her into the kitchen where Mal had magazines covering the table.
“I thought maybe you could help me find things that I need for the baby?” Mal said, glancing toward Hades. “I have so much I need to do, and with the baby coming, and everything that’s happening politically, I want to be as productive today as possible.”
Mal sat down at the table, Hades taking the chair opposite her. Mal looked at her dad, waiting to see his reaction since he hadn’t said anything yet about her idea for their ‘bonding time activity.’ Once Mal say Hades’ face, she chuckled.
“Go on, just say it. I won’t judge.”
Hades breathed a sigh of relief, causing his hair to gain to slight blue tinge.
“Oh thank gods. I would love to help you pick out stuff for my grandbaby! Why wouldn’t I?” Hades gushed. “I never got to do it with you, and Auradon has much better stuff to choose from than the Isle ever had.”
Mal smiled and set to work looking through the magazines.
The two worked in comfortable silence, only breaking it every now and then to show the other what they had found in one of the magazines. They were slowly creating a very long list of items that Mal really, really wanted for her baby.
About an hour after they started, Mal put her magazine down and looked up at Hades. He was very invested in a magazine that had about 100 different kinds of cribs.
Something that Hades had said earlier kept turning over and over in her head, and it was causing more questions to pop up.
“Just spit it out,” Hades said lightly, never bothering to look up from his magazine.
Mal sputtered for a moment before giving up and deciding to just rip the bandaid off.
“Why did you leave? Since you seem to really want to be a good dad now, why did you ever leave? Why couldn’t you have stayed and been a dad that was there from the very beginning and not force me to grow up with that monster for a mother?”
Hades slowly set his magazine down and took a big breath before looking up at Mal.
“I knew this would come up sooner or later,” Hades started. “Especially since you’re about to have a child of your own, and I know you want, and you are, going to be a better parent than Maleficent and I ever could be.”
Mal settled back into her chair a bit, ready to hear whatever Hades had to say. All these years, she had blamed herself for Hades leaving, though she would never tell anyone that.
“On the Isle, no one ever got together for love, as you know,” Hades started. “Your mom and I were only together because of the power we held individually, and we knew that if we were together, we would be the most feared villains on the island. Then, your mom decided that we needed to have an heir, one she could groom into her perfect little minion, so you came along.
“Her and I, we never really got along. I only went along with it all because I knew if I didn’t, I would be the enemy of everyone on that island. Your mom sure could convince everyone to believe anything she pleased.”
Mal of course knew that; just look at what happened with Evie and her mother.
“The second you were born,” Hades continued, “everything changed. I never thought I would be a father, especially one that would ever actually care for any child of mine. The moment I held you in my arms for the first time, that all changed. I think your mother knew that, too, because she always kept me busy doing her bidding, and of course, I could never say no. I could never say I wanted to spend more time with you or show any kind of loving emotion.
“The time that I did spend with you was always the best part of my days. I loved holding you, playing with you, making you laugh. I was actually tempted to take you and run away to the other side of the Isle where your mom could never find us and we could live as happy a life as the Isle would allow.
“I squashed that dream the second it came into my head though. Your mother was set on having someone who she could control and do her bidding and grow up to be just like her, so I knew she would turn the Isle inside out to find you if I did get the two of us away.
“That’s when I knew what I had to do. I knew I had to leave. You couldn’t grow up with a father who actually cared. You couldn’t grow up with any sort of love in your heart and home or you would never survive on the Isle. I had seen kids, and villains alike, those who never really belonged on the Isle to begin with, meet their fate because they cared a little too much; because they had hope and love.
“I knew I wanted to give you the best chance at life, so I knew I had to leave and let your mother take care of you. As much as I hated the thought of leaving you with that witch, I knew it was your best shot. She would teach you how to take care of yourself and watch your back when no one else would. I knew you would grow up safe and sound because you would be the toughest girl on the Isle.”
Mal felt tears rise in her eyes as Hades spoke. She had never thought about him leaving like that. She had always thought she had done something that had made him not want her anymore, even though she had been so little at the time.
“And look at you now,” Hades said, a smile growing on his face. “You’re one of the toughest girls on the Isle. And you even made it to Auradon.”
Without any warning, Mal launched herself around the table into Hades’s arms. The tears finally running their way down her cheeks.
“I love you,” Mal mumbled into Hades shoulder, tears staining his shirt.
“I love you, too,” Hades replied, pulling her closer.
Mal had never felt more loved in that moment. She finally pushed the voices in her head telling her that she was the reason Hades left out, only love and happiness filling the space.
“What did I miss?” a voice sounded from the doorway.
Mal looked up where her head had been buried for who knows how long in Hades shoulder. Her tears had finally stopped, but her cheeks and Hades shirt were still wet.
Mal giggled, slowly standing back up and making her way to her chair.
“Oh, nothing,” she said, picking back up her magazine.
She gave one last glance at Hades, who was fondly smiling at her, and she felt her heart swell with love.
One thing she knew for sure: this baby was going to grow up surrounded by love.