Between The Wicked

Chapter 9: Odd Behavior

Ben's POV

"Do you want to tell me the truth about why Heidi was here?" Mal asked as she closes our bedroom door. I give Mal an odd expression trying to cover up the truth. "Heidi told you why she was here, Harry and she had a fight and she needed someone." Mal rolls her eyes as she makes her way over to me and to the bed. "Judging from what I just saw I am starting to think the rumors of Heidi are true." I look at Mal for an explanation for what she just said. "Some people are saying that Heidi has been acting differently since Chris's curse." I get off the bed and walk over to Mal's side. "Different how?" I am a little taken back because this is first time I am hearing about this. "She has blown off her job at the museum, she hasn't been hanging out with her friends, she has been leaving little Henry alone with a babysitter most of the day, and I think she is one that pulled that nasty prank on Herkie." As soon as Mal mentions the incident with Herkie I am suddenly reminded of what Heidi told me about why Harry and she got into the fight. "Heidi told me that Harry blew up on her because he found someone else clothes in her purse." Mal pushes her way past me. "Where are you going?" I ask following right behind her. "I am going to talk with Heidi and get to the bottom of this once and for all." Just as Mal opens the bedroom door I shut it keeping my head on it. "That might make things worse Mal, if something is wrong with Heidi then she might now be aware of it." Mal turns her gaze to me as her eyes start glowing green. "I know that you want to protect her, but Ben there is only so much you can cover up before you have to make a choice to either side with the people of Auradon or blindly believe that Heidi can do no wrong." I take my head off the door and sigh because deep down I know that Mal speaks the truth, "She hasn't down anything serious yet, and if she is behind the Herkie incident I will talk with her." Mal wraps her arms around me giving me a much needed hug. "I have been thinking about something, and I wanted to run it by you." I say looking down at Mal whose eyes have gone back to normal. "You said that Heidi has been leaving Henry alone most days." Mal nods her head. "What if I could offer a solution that would kill two brides with one stone." Mal pulls out of the hug not understanding where I am headed with this. "We could start looking after Henry, that way we could keep an eye on Heidi, and we could spend some much needed time with our god son." Mal looks hesitant to answer making me start to wonder if she would even agree with this plan. "It would put both of our minds at ease." I smile down at her. "But as for spending time with Henry, Ben you spend so much time with that little boy that you treat him like he was your son." I incline my head because it is true I try to spend as much time with Henry as I possibly can. "How about you think of this as practice for when we decide to have a little boy or a little girl of our own." Mal's face turns red a little bit. "I guess I can't say no to spending time with my god son." I lean down planting a kiss on Mal's lips. "How do you know that Heidi will agree to this let alone Harry." I pull out of kiss tucking a strain of Mal's hair behind her ear. "If Heidi doesn't agree to it than that would be very odd on her part." Mal sighs again before taking my hand letting over to our bed. "We will work more on this plan in the morning." Mal gets into bed and I get in as well. "By the way how is Arabella doing on getting those new students from The Magic Kingdom and Hundred Acre Wood?" I pull Mal onto my bare chest letting out a deep breath. "Arabella said that 5 scholarships have been accepted from The Magic Kingdom, and 7 scholarships have been accepted from Hundred Acre Wood." Arabella has proven to be the best ambassador Auradon has to offer, she is constantly getting more and more students from all over the place to join Auradon. "Sounds like we can be expecting new faces soon at Auradon Prep." I kiss the top of Mal's head, "I have to finalize their arrival, but I think we could see them by the second quarter of the school year." I can see that Mal isn't sure about my policy of welcoming anyone to Auradon, but I want people to feel that Auradon is a safe place to come, and even more important that all who come Auradon will have a king that treats everyone equally. "Speaking of new students, how is Evie doing with getting new Isle kids to come to Auradon?" Mal sighs sadly. "I hate to be the one to tell you this but Evie told me that no one from the isle is willing this year." This makes me feel like I failed. "I think after Chris's curse most of the kids on the Isle are to wrap up in their evil ways to try to help themselves." I look out the window to see the Isle and my mind starts thinking of all those kids that will always be punished because of their parent's mistakes. I am pulled out of my thoughts by the feeling of Mal running her fingers along my neck. "Ben where did you get these scratches on your neck?" I take Mal's hand kissing it. "Just myself scratching my neck when it itches." I turn over shutting off the lights as Mal and I drift off to sleep.