𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝘽𝙡𝙪𝙚

𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯

King Ben awoke the next morning with a goddess by his bedside, watching her with half open eyes for more than an hour, before she started to stir.

When she finally awoke, her first stop was the bathroom, where she continued to puke her guts out.

Ben winced, running after her and helping to hold her hair as she vomited. When she was done, Max ran in, once again full of energy, as if on cue, and body slammed himself onto his father.

Evie giggled, picking him up after brushing her teeth, though Ben took him from her arms after Max kissed Evie on the cheek like he did most mornings. Evie raised an eyebrow. She knew Ben was concerned and didn't think she was strong enough to hold Max for so long and thought it was rather adorable.

The little family spent the entire day together, just lounging in the garden gazebos. Evie snacked on fruits and watched as Ben chased Max around the garden. Once, they brought her a bouquet of flowers they had plucked, prompting a series of complains from the old gardener, something they laughed about.

At the end of the day, they spent the night in the master bedroom, with little Max sandwiched in the middle and Evie felt truly at bliss.

She thought of Mal, and how she was betraying her best friend. Now Ben was going to bring up a divorce with her. Mal still loved Ben and Evie knew she loved Max too, she just couldn't handle all the stress and her way of coping with it was to disappear for a while.

Evie's heart broke for Mal but somehow she couldn't give up what she had now with Ben and Max. She couldn't bear to and loved them too much, and figured that she could be selfish once in a while after obeying every one of Mal's orders since they first met.

And that was the way it stayed for the next couple of months.

//Scene Change//

Mal arrived at the Auradon International Airport and hopped into a domestic flight, catching a plane from Aenmark to the capital of Auradon, where her family resided, with a myriad of mixed emotions.

First, she had huge news. She didn't know if Ben would rejoice or frown. Then, there was facing everyone else again after another of her sudden disappearances, which was always tough.

Of course, she was excited to see everyone, especially her son, but she knew she had to endure the disapproving looks that Belle, Adam, the servants and her friends would throw her.

She knew she had been away for too long, but she didn't feel welcome back in Auradon. Hanging with Harry and Uma in Ariel's Lagoon gave her a feeling of nostalgia, before her friends all got hitched and had babies and were tied down to so many responsibilities.

So much had changed, and she hated it. Carlos and Jane had gotten engaged and were talking about having children, settling down and they had even opened a veterinarian in Auradon. Jay and Lonnie had gotten married and had to move back to AnZhou to rule. They had a son around Max's age and a newborn daughter.

Mal didn't know why she refused to stay in Auradon. She loved Ben and Max, plus Evie was living in the castle now too, so why did she keep running away? She didn't know either. She wish she did.

She hated remaining in the castle with a bunch of paperwork she had to complete as Queen. Yes, she knew, she was being irresponsible and giving Ben an even bigger headache, but ever since Max was born, the overwhelming pressure to be the perfect Queen, perfect Mom and perfect Wife had become too much.

The first time, she left to visit AnZhou with Jay and Lonnie, staying there for two months. Consequently, she would visit the other Domains, living with the royal families who welcomed her with more than open arms at first, but as Max grew older, her friends began advising her to return and remain in Auradon to raise him, but she didn't want to be tethered down.