Half and Half

Chapter Twenty

It's often said that time moves fastest when one dreads having to do something and that was certainly the case for Belle as she stood in front of the portal once more. However this time, instead of merely having a conversation with her husband, she was having to say goodbye to her son.

"Okay, now you be good for your father...understand?" Belle asked as she bent down to fix the drawstrings on Ben's hoodie. He had originally been dressed in a blue dress shirt and slacks but then Mal had walked in to his room; the young purple haired girl having finally been released from the confines of her wheelchair and boot and was taking advantage of her new mobility by walking everywhere.

Anyway, when Mal had seen the blue dress shirt and slacks, she shook her head and began rifling through Ben's closet for something that she deemed 'Isle worthy'. Belle could still remember the look on Lady Persephone's face when she walked in and asked Mal what on Earth she was doing.

"If Benny here is going to be under my protection while we're on the Isle, then he's going to look the part," Mal said, still rifling through Ben's closet.

"I...I thought I looked okay," Ben said, tilting his head slightly as he looked over at his mom and Lady Persephone.

"Mal, you can't just go rifling through other people's closets," Persephone called to her ward and step-daughter who was still in the process of digging around in Ben's closet, to find any article of clothing that would satisfy her.

"Benny is going to be a sitting duck wearing that! If he ever wants to go outside or walk around the Isle, he can't look like he's about to go to Emir or Akiho's!" Mal called back before coming out with a blue hoodie, a pair of jeans that Belle swore she didn't know Ben had, and a yellow shirt that looked almost exactly like the same shade as dijon mustard. "Here we go. It's not exact but at least he won't look like he's about to attend a tea party at Blueberry's."

"Who...?"

"It's what she calls Evil Queen's daughter," Ben told his mom before biting his lip. "Shouldn't...shouldn't I look my best though? Good first impression for the Isle? Papa says—."

"A good first impression for the Isle is a good bad impression here," Mal said as she tossed the clothes toward Ben. "And trust me, if you want Uma and Harry to warm up to you at all, you're going to need a good Isle impression. Not a good Boreadon impression."

Persephone sighed. "I can't argue against the fact that she has a point," she said. "Though I might have been more tactful."

Mal shrugged. "Who has time for tact?"

Ben bit his lip once more. He wanted to make a good impression with Mal's friends...I mean allies but at the same time, what he was wearing was what he always wore if he needed to make a good impression or had to go to a royal event.

"Mal, can I make a suggestion?" Persephone said, noticing Ben's hesitation. "How about he just have the hoodie and we can pack that shirt and jeans for him to wear day to day around the Isle?"

Mal paused and looked at the sweatshirt, then at Ben, and then at Persephone before nodding. "Okay. That makes sense."

"Thank Gods," Belle sighed. She didn't want to worry Adam by not showing up at the portal on time.

"Maman?"

"Hmm? Yes Ben?" Belle asked as Ben's voice broke her out of her thoughts.

Ben gave his mother a small smile. "You stopped talking. Are you okay?"

"Oh! Yes, I'm just fine Ben," Belle said. "I just...I realized how much I'm going to miss you is all."

"I'll miss you too Maman," Ben said and reached over to give her a big hug. "I made Chip promise he'd be around all the time to make sure you smiled. You always said you loved his antics."