Choosing Life

Chapter Forty Seven

"Yeah Carlos, congratulations," Ben nodded. "Why didn't you mention it? You know Mal and I would have been happy to throw Jane a baby shower, especially since you guys all did so much when Mal was pregnant with the twins."

"Jane didn't want to put more work on your plates, plus Mal was busy getting Jay up to speed in regards to being her advisor and we were trying to get Caroline used to the idea of having a little brother," Carlos explained. "Which come to think of it, that might have been one of the reasons why Caroline might have turned her toy into a real dog."

"Ah, let me guess. The little lass was jealous that her little brother was getting all the attention?" Harry asked.

"I mean I'm just guessing," Carlos told him. "But it's a reasonable assumption right Gil? You've got more older siblings than anyone here so you know what I'm talking about."

"Huh? Oh yeah," Gil nodded. Had he not known about the...rocky relationship between Harry and CJ when they were kids, Gil might have asked Carlos why he didn't just ask Harry. But, while Gil might not have been the sharpest dagger in the set, he was still smart enough to not want to hurt Harry by picking at that old scab.

"How are your sisters doing?" Harry asked.

"Well...Georgia's dating Rick and Gillian's apparently been spending time over at Strat's personal training gym—."

"Wait, hold up," Harry said. "One: Strat is actually running his own business in Auradon and two: you're okay with one of your sisters being around a former fanatic of Freddy's?"

Gil shrugged. "She's my older sister Harry. I might not feel entirely comfortable with it but I can't control her, and Piper's already given Strat the 'shovel talk' so I don't think Strat'll try anything. Plus I think Strat's turned over a new leaf since he arrived here."

"Being pummeled to an inch of your life would do that to someone," Harry nodded.

"I forget, do we like Strat?" Akiho whispered to Ben.

"At this point, I find it wise to just follow Harry's lead on who to like and not like from the Isle," Ben whispered back. "Well, unless who he likes or dislikes counteracts with who Mal likes or dislikes."

"Always smart to go with who Mal likes," Akiho nodded.

"I think we all knew that," Harry snorted and Akiho flushed slightly as he realized he hadn't whispered that last comment.

Carlos shrugged. "I mean that's just common sense right? Mal can turn into a dragon therefore, it's safer to like who she likes."

Everyone chuckled at that. Meanwhile, over in Elle and Akiho's castle, there was another meeting happening. Only these meeting attendees were less prone to freaking out as their counterparts were.

"So, tell me again. How much did Akiho freak out?" Uma asked as she munched on some chips.

"Probably about as much as Carlos, I'm guessing," Jane said with a fond smile.

"And Ben," Mal nodded. "I know I had to call mom probably after the fourth or fifth dive Ben had to do to avoid Effy going after his buttons."

Uma shook her head. "Honestly I had to chuckle when Grandfather told me about how much Harry was freaking out. I mean, we grew up on the Isle. We saw stranger things than a toddler flooding a kitchen. Plus, he had to expect that Helena would have some magic."

"To be fair to Harry, there's expecting it and then there's living through it," Mal said. "After all, I'm sure Ben expected the twins to have some magic but expecting it is a lot different than a toddler dragon dive bombing you because she wants the shiny things on your shirt."