Mal smiled as she looked at the sight in front of her. It was honestly hard to believe that Stephanie and Maurice were one but the date on the calendar didn't lie. It was indeed the twins' first birthday.
"How's it feel? No longer being able to use months to talk about your kids' ages?" Jay asked with a chuckle.
"Remind me to ask you that when it happens to you," Mal told him. It had been a few months since Jay had told her about Lonnie's pregnancy and Jay had been calling or asking questions almost every day.
Mal did remind him that he had a mother-in-law who had been pregnant twice but Jay had confided that after she'd reminded him about the possibility of the baby having Jafar's Genie background, he was only really comfortable asking Mal pregnancy questions.
Well, Mal and Uma but Harry had kinda put the kibosh on questions after Jay had accidentally called when Harry and Uma were putting Helena down for a nap. Or at least trying to put her down for a nap.
Harry had apparently warned Carlos about the possibility of Jay calling with questions because Jay's number had somehow been blocked on Jane's phone. And Akiho had called Jay as soon as he got wind of Jay's question spree and said point blank that he'd answer any questions he had, but if he threw off nap time, it would be the last time he took Jay's call until Jay's kid was born.
"You know you're worrying over nothing," Lonnie told him as Ben got her one of the more comfortable seats. "And honestly Ben, I'm not going to break if I'm on my feet you know."
"I know," Ben nodded. "But you're one of my friends and I want to make sure you're comfortable."
"You're sweet...you may be insane but you're sweet," Lonnie said. "Jay, go put our gifts with the others. I don't think Ben'll let me stand up again once I've sat down."
"Hey, he wants to make sure nothing happens to either you or the kiddo," Jay chuckled. "He's got to do his job as honorary uncle."
"He did it to me too, Lonnie, when I was pregnant with the twins," Mal said with a small chuckle. "I think Ben's default mode is 'worrier'."
"You guys know I can hear you right?" Ben asked.
"I know," Mal nodded. "Was I wrong?"
"...Lonnie, do you want anything to drink? Eat?" Ben asked, opting to ignore Mal's question and looked over at Lonnie.
"I'm fine Ben," Lonnie said, shaking her head. "Go focus on your other guests that are filing in rather than spending all your time worrying about your lone pregnant guest."
"Actually...Lucy's pregnant too," Chad's voice said from behind Mal.
Ben looked over and gave Chad a small smile. "Really? That's great news! But she didn't have to come if she—."
"Ben, she said, and I quote, 'if anyone tries to keep me home just because I'm carrying a kid inside me, someone's getting smacked'," Chad said, shaking his head. "She also pointed out that this was an invitation from the High King and Queen and it would have been rude for her not to attend."
"You know that wouldn't matter to me," Ben told Chad as he walked over to the curly haired man. "She's like a sister to me, you know that."
"I know, and so does she," Chad said. "Which is another reason why she wanted to attend. Didn't want to disappoint her brother."
Ben gave Chad another small smile before leaning over to whisper to him. "How are you doing? With Lonnie and now Lucy being pregnant?"
Chad sighed and shook his head. "We can talk about that later Ben, this is a party for your kids. Don't let me bring the mood down okay?"
"If you're sure Chad...where's Ginny by the way?"
"Petting Estelle and Nyx, plus I hope you don't mind we brought Bruno too," Chad said, gesturing over to the playpen that held the guests of honor, plus their friends, and that was guarded by the two loyal Cerberi much to the relief of all the new parents. The lone Golden Retriever wagged his tail and gave everyone a doggy grin.
"Of course we don't mind," Ben told him. "I believe we stated canine friends were invited after all since we all knew Carlos would be bringing Dude."
"They seem to be loving the attention," Mal said with a small chuckle as she walked over. "Chad, you want me to take that and put it with the others?"
"Huh? Oh, thanks Mal. You don't have to—."
"Hush, I'm from the Isle," Mal said as she took the gift from Chad's hands. "A little walking never hurt me."
She walked over to the gift pile where Jay thankfully was still standing.
"Do me a favor," Mal muttered as she set the gift down.
"Anything Mali, you know that."
"Don't talk about your kid for the length of the party," Mal said. "I know you're excited and I don't blame you."
"I'm sensing a 'but'?" Jay said, keeping his voice down so that he could be sure not to be overheard.
"Chad and Ginny have been having issues conceiving a child," Mal told him. "Chad's been trying to play it cool since it's been impacting Ginny but Ben said it's been rough for him. And with Lucy now pregnant as well..."
"Got it Mal," Jay nodded. "Don't worry, I won't say a word."
"I mean, obviously if someone asks I don't want you to deny it," Mal added. "Lonnie's stomach is kinda a big sign that she is pregnant. Not to mention the freaking press conference she had to have to address the fact that she wouldn't be partaking in the next ROAR season. Just don't go overboard okay?"
"Okay," Jay nodded.
"Great, now let's go join the party, shall we?" Mal said with a small grin as Jay nodded. The two of them left the gift table and went back to join their friends and partners, as even more people joined the table.
"So how much did your coach cry when you told him you were leaving the Lions?" Emir teased as he saw Jay.
"Probably about as much as the coach of the Agrabah Scorpions cried when we handed them that ten nothing loss for the championship," Jay teased back with a small chuckle, causing Emir to shake his head.
"You know you walked right into that one, don't you?" Akiho said with a chuckle as he and Elle joined the group. "And thank you Jay for beating the Scorpions in the championships. Now at least Emir here will stop with the comments about how you like Agrabah more than Arendelle because you beat the Arctic Foxes in the first championship you won."
"Dude, I'm technically from Agrabah," Jay pointed out. "If I was going to pick a team in Auradon to be loyal to that wasn't the Lions, I'm pretty sure it'd be the Scorpions."
"You wound me Jay!"
"I'm sure you'll be fine," Jay said, shaking his head with a small chuckle. "You know Mal, I'm honestly surprised you're okay with such a big party. It's the twins' first, isn't that just for family?"
Mal shrugged. "Yeah...but you're all family. Even if you're not related by blood, you'll always be my family."
"Speaking of family not related by blood, I think I see Chip and Lucas," Ben said with a grin. "Stay here Mal, I'll go and greet them."
"I'm pretty sure they'd be offended if you didn't," Mal chuckled and Ben smiled as he walked toward his brother in all but blood and the man who was technically his brother-in-law if one ignored pesky things like Chip not being related to Ben.
"Hey Benji," Chip said with a grin. "Where're we putting the loot?"
"Gift pile's over on the far table Chip, and you know you didn't have to buy the kids anything," Ben told him, reaching over to give him a one armed hug before shaking Lucas' hand. "Lucas, I'm so glad you could make it. Apologies for the insanity."
"Your highness, I live with your brother. Insanity is part and parcel with him," Lucas said with a small chuckle.
"Yeah, and you love it and me," Chip told him.
"You weren't saying that when I stopped you from buying the kids an actual video camera."
"They'd grow into it! And you bought them art supplies!"
"Yes but they're still age appropriate art supplies! The one year olds can't even walk yet...they can't walk yet, can they King Ben?"
Ben shook his head. "No matter how many times we see each other, I still have to remind you that you don't have to use my title?"
"Call it common courtesy," Lucas said. "And you didn't answer my question."
"I don't believe they're walking yet," Ben said. "All the books on parenting said that babies can walk anywhere between ten and eighteen months so we're in that window. I do know that Stephanie and Maurice have been crawling all over the place to the point that Estelle and Nyx have to carry them by the collars of their shirts when they want them to stay in one place."
"Isn't it a bit young for them to be crawling?" Lucas asked.
"The books all said anywhere between seven and ten months is normal," Ben said with a small shrug. "And even if it is a bit advanced...well their grandfather's the God of the Dead and their grandmother's the Goddess of Vegetation. I'm not going to question some advanced milestones."
"Here's papa," Mal's voice broke into the conversation and Ben turned to see his wife holding their children; Stephanie in her purple and blue dress while Maurice wore an Isle version of a suit.
If only because Mal had said that the day her son wears a suit will be for her funeral or his wedding, or because he chose to. Seeing as he could not choose to wear a suit as a newly minted one year old, Mal won the argument there.
"Hey you three," Ben smiled. "I thought Effy and Reese were with the doggy babysitters?"
"Reese had a diaper emergency and Effy wouldn't leave without him," Mal said, keeping her voice down as to not embarrass her son. Not that he'd remember any of this but it was the principle. "Effy, Reese, do you two want to go crawl to papa?"
Stephanie babbled what could only be assumed as an affirmation and Mal smiled as she set her daughter down on the ground. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Hadie seemingly moving people out of the way as to prevent them from stepping on Stephanie if they took an errant step back. Which was greatly appreciated by Mal.
Ben smiled and crouched down so that he could scoop Stephanie up in his arms once she got to him. His eyes widened as he watched his daughter look at him and Mal before looking down at her dress and then almost pushed herself backwards up off the floor so that she was standing up right.
"Please tell me you're filming this, they're going to want a copy," Ben heard Lucas mutter to Chip behind him.
"Darling, what about me implied I didn't have a camera on me in case the twins did something cute? Besides, you have to film first birthdays!" Chip muttered back.
Ben shook his head and tuned out the conversation to focus on his daughter. His daughter who was cautiously taking her first steps. One by one, step by step, Stephanie slowly made her way over to Ben; her little giggles of delight sounding like music to her father's ears.
"Oh my goodness! Did you just walk?!" Ben asked, a smile threatening to split his face in two as Stephanie finally tumbled into his waiting hands. "Who's a big girl? You are!"
He paused as he looked over at Mal. "Is...is Reese not walking yet? Is that normal for twins to hit milestones at—?"
"Benny, you're worrying again," Mal said with a small smile. "Reese is probably just shy is all."
So you're not going to tell him we saw both kids take their first steps to Estelle and Nyx before your son had his 'diaper emergency' as you called it? Uma thought to Mal through the mental link.
What do you mean Uma? Effy took her first steps right here because she wanted her father.
Mal, these are Benny's kids. You really think he'll be upset that Effy's first steps that he saw weren't truly her first steps? And now you've got me using the nickname?!
Catchy isn't? And Ben's worried about missing milestones because of his work, a white lie isn't going to hurt anything, Mal thought to her cousin, making sure to keep the fact that they both knew Harry would most certainly lie about when Helena's milestones actually happened in order to make sure Uma didn't miss them off the link.
"I guess she didn't want to mess up her pretty dress," Rea said as she walked over; a gift almost the size of her in her hands.
"I guess so," Mal nodded. "And do I want to know what our parents got the twins?"
"The present's from me Mali! It's swings!" Rea said with a grin. "Unca Hep made them for me, he said they should look just like dragons! And Effy and Reese should be able to sit in them and you can change the swings as they become big kids!"
Mal couldn't help but smile as she heard that. "I'm sure they'll love it," she told her sister. "And I guess on that note, we should go ahead and open up the presents before we sing Happy Birthday to Stephanie and Maurice and have cake."
"Yay!" Rea grinned as Ben and Mal made their way to the present table. Mal honestly wasn't going to lie, she had no idea how that table was still standing with all the gifts on it. Slowly, Ben and Mal helped their children unwrap their gifts (though really it was just Ben and Mal unwrapping them as Stephanie and Maurice took more interest in the wrappings and the ribbons).
Well, it was slow going until Mal roped in her sister, her sister-in-law, Henry's daughters, Gwen, Markos, Elliot Hood, and Ari and Paige.
Yes, she had to admit she never thought she'd have Freddy's children anywhere near her family but she didn't want the girls feeling left out if they heard about the party from Clara or Hali, and Mal wasn't going to lie, Ari and Paige were the exact opposites of Freddy to the extent that it was easy to pretend that he hadn't been their father and that Audrey had produced them via budding or something to that nature.
"Queen Mal?" Ari said softly.
"Yes Ari?"
"Um...now that you have your kids...can Paige and I have our magic lessons again?" Ari asked, her voice still soft as she worked on unwrapping a present from Akiho. "You...you said you couldn't before...because it wasn't safe for Effy or Reese while they were in you..."
Mal smiled, a little unsure as to where the younger girl got her nerves from but maybe it was just from the hope of a positive answer. "Let me talk to your grand-mére and grand-pére, but I'd be happy to.
"Thank you Queen Mal," Ari said with a smile before handing the unwrapped present to Mal.
Mal shook her head in amusement as she took it. "Akiho, did you really give my kids an Arendelle Arctic Fox snow cone maker?"
"Of course! Don't worry though, Elle vetoed the actual snow machine I wanted to get them," Akiho said with a grin. "There should be a present from Elle in there as well."
"You guys seriously did separate gifts?" Ben asked. "And judging by the wrapping paper with the trident on it, I think Geene's unwrapping Elle's present."
Mal shook her head. "I have to say, the Auradon royal tradition of stamping your wrapping paper with your crests really makes it easy to figure out who brought which gift."
Ben smiled as his sister held up the gift. "I'm sure the kids will love the music box Elle."
"I made sure to get it custom ordered," Elle told him. "That way, it can play a certain song that made you, Akiho, Emir, Jay, Carlos, and Chad act so ridiculous at the Championship game when we were all in school."
Ben shook his head and Mal giggled before looking over at the progress the kids had made. So far, they had unwrapped two wooden swords that could have only been from Harry and Uma, considering they were red and teal respectively though Henry and Claudine had also gifted the twins wooden swords that were red and purple; an embroidered blanket with dragon and Cerberi decorations that had come from Alexandria Charming, a child's first archery set from Emma, and fairytale coloring books from Chad.
"Guys, this is too much!" Mal said as Gwen handed her a set of towels with hoods on them that were made to look like Fairy Godmother robes. The gift had been a collaborative effort from Jane and Evie.
"No such thing!" Kitty said with a grin.
"I have to agree with my sister-in-law," Ginny said with a small smile as Markos unwrapped the rocking horse and rocking donkey she'd brought for the twins.
Mal gave her fellow VK a smile before turning to Hadie and shaking her head. "You gave the twins plushies?"
"Hey, your kids' room is severely lacking in dragon and Cerberi plushies," Hadie said, crossing his arms in a joking manner. Mal smiled as she looked at the lavender dragon and the Cerberus plush that looked almost exactly like Estelle.
Out of the corner of her eye, Mal saw Elliot unwrap a toy sewing machine that had come from Gil and a robotic dog from Carlos.
"It plays music," Carlos said as Mal looked over at him. "It can also be used as a baby monitor though I know you've got Estelle and Nyx for that."
"Of course," Mal said and smiled as Ben unwrapped two Auradon Lion shirts and jackets that could only have come from Jay, and two Northern Wei Phoenix shirts and jackets from Lonnie. Knowing Jay the way she did, Mal couldn't help but wonder if Jay thought the chills she got in cold weather might be passed on to her kids.
And of course if Jay was going to represent his team, Lonnie was going to make sure her ROAR team got equal billing. Not that anyone saw anything wrong with that.
"Auntie Mal?" Gwen said softly.
"Yes honey?"
"Can you help me? Mama used too tight of ribbon on her present."
Macaria shook her head. "Sorry Gwen, I didn't realize I made it so tight," she said as Hades handed Mal a pair of scissors.
"It's okay mama," Gwen said before tearing off the wrapping paper and handing the gift to Mal.
"Twins' first year memory book?" Mal asked.
"I know you guys have paperwork out the wazoo but I thought it might be something cute for the twins to look back on when they're older," Macaria said.
"It's amazing Macaria," Mal told her cousin. "Thank you."
"Oh, that's a joint gift from me, Lucy, Roland, and Bobby," Kitty said as Elliot handed Ben an unwrapped gift.
"You got the twins a book?" Ben asked with a small smile.
"They're your kids Ben, of course we did," Kitty smiled as Ben held up the book for Mal to see. Mal had to smile as she saw the two mice on the cover holding paws under the title We are Twins!
"Kitty and Lucy wanted to do a twin themed gift, and since Margot and Robyn are twins as well, we thought it'd be okay if we joined in," Bobby said with a small smile.
"The book's supposed to help teach kids that from sharing to playing to helping each other, twins always have a friend by their side," Roland added.
"...Please tell me you didn't memorize the blurb from the back of the book?" Kitty asked her husband.
"Okay...I won't tell you that," Roland said and Kitty shook her head.
Meanwhile, Ben shook his head in amusement as his sister unwrapped a present that could only have come from Emir. "Think this animal set has enough tigers in it?"
"You can never have enough tigers Ben," Emir told him with a grin.
"Before we get treated to a 'which animal is better' debate," Persephone said as she handed Mal a gift bag. "I thought it'd be better than wrapping them in a box."
Mal raised an eyebrow but opened the bag and gasped to see two medium sized flower wreaths.
"They're for the twins' rooms, you can hang them on the headboards," Persephone said with a smile. "They're also enchanted to never die so you don't have to worry about dead flower petals falling on their faces during the night."
"And that's...all they're enchanted for?" Beast spoke up. "I know you mean no harm Lady Persephone, considering we share grandchildren but...enchanted flowers aren't exactly a good thing in this family."
Persephone gave Beast a kind smile. "I promise you, that's the only thing they're enchanted for. Well that and enchanted to keep bugs away so they don't inadvertently cause bees to randomly come into the room while the twins are sleeping if a window's open, but that's it."
"They're beautiful mom," Mal said as she held up one of them. "How'd you choose the colors?"
"Well dear, it was almost fate," Persephone said with a small chuckle. "What with Ben's colors being blue and gold and your color being purple, plus I threw a bit of black to make sure your father could be represented since the blue could be either Hades or Ben."
"Thanks mom," Mal said.
"I noticed you didn't complain about your mom spoiling your kids," Hades teased.
Mal shook her head. "That's because mom is a force of nature all her own and you know that dad."
"Ah yes, very true. I think one of your army of sunspot unwrappers just unwrapped the one from me."
"Flame nightlights?" Ben asked as he took the gift. "Also, is 'unwrapper' a word?"
"If dad says it is, it is," Hadie shrugged.
Hades nodded. "Don't worry, they're only designed to look like flames. I'm not looking to burn down my grandkids' nursery thank you."
"And we appreciate that!" Mal and Ben said at the same time before Mal was handed yet another present.
"Okay, for the twins' second birthday we're making a rule of one gift per family," she said as she shook her head. "And why am I not surprised it's a book?"
"Belle and I had it made special," Beast said. "Along with the extra bookshelves that young Markos just unwrapped, this is our gift."
"What is it?" Ben asked.
"It's our story," Mal said with a small smile and held it up so Ben could see the purple and blue leather bound book. "Thank you guys."
"Anything for our grandkids," Belle said with a smile.
"My turn!" Geene spoke up and handed Ben the present from her. "Mama said she loves Mal's bracelet, BB, so she helped me get something similar for Effy and Reese!"
Ben smiled as he held up the gift from his sister. It was two necklaces, each one with a pendant. One pendant had a shield with a dragon wearing a crown while the other had a shield with a Cerberus wearing a crown.
"They're beautiful, Geene, thank you," Mal told her sister-in-law.
Geene grinned before picking up another present. "I think this one's from Mal!"
"It's a small thing," Mal said as Geene unwrapped it. "But Belle, mom, and I were out shopping one day and Belle saw these blocks that let you spell out a word and you can have it made to be someone's name."
"Oh yeah, I had those," Ben said with a grin before looking over at Mal. "Please tell me you only got the twins' first names?"
"Of course," Mal said with a chuckle. "I tried to incorporate everyone's colors though since the twins have fairly long first names."
"I'm sure they'll love them," Belle said. "And there looks to be one more gift!"
"It's from me," Ben said as Gwen unwrapped it.
"Sippy cups?" Mal asked as she saw the gift.
Ben shrugged. "The twins are starting to eat solids now, they'll need the sippy cups. Besides, they look like dragons and Cerberi! How could I resist?"
"You couldn't," Mal nodded.
"Exactly!"
Everyone chuckled and the party continued on; only winding down after cake and ice cream had been consumed.
"There's...there's one more gift I have for the twins," Ben said softly after his parents left the party with Geene. "I just...your dad helped me get it and I didn't want to hurt Geene you know?"
"Ben...is it a message from Abby?" Mal asked.
"Yeah..." Ben nodded and Mal kissed his cheek.
"I think that's a sweet idea," she said. "And I'm guessing that's why dad disappeared thirty minutes before the party ended?"
"Just getting it set up," Hades said, coming back down the stairs. "It's in the nursery Benny."
"Go on Ben," Mal said, gently putting Maurice in her husband's arms. "I think this first one you should show the twins yourself. I'll stay down here with dad, Rea, and Hadie."
"If...if you're sure Mal?"
"I'm sure...though I think mom might be there for a portion of it since she's hanging up the flower wreaths."
Ben couldn't help but smile at that. "She's more than welcome," he said. "You'll be in for bedtime?"
"Wild seahorses couldn't stop me," Mal promised, stealing a phrase she'd heard Melody, Elle, and Uma use from time to time, and kissed Ben on the cheek once more before watching him go up the stairs to their children's nursery.
Hades sighed as they all sat down on the sofa; Rea crawling up next to him and almost promptly falling asleep with her head on his stomach. "Gotta say Mali, that was an impressive party."
"Yeah, don't know how you'll top it next year," Hadie chuckled.
"We'll just cross that bridge when we come to it," Mal said, smiling as Estelle hopped up and rested his heads on her lap. It was rare that she got one on one cuddle time with her good boy since the twins were born.
Hades sighed. "Actually...it's a good thing Benny had that extra gift because there was something I wanted to talk to you about."
"What's up dad?" Mal asked.
"With the twins being born...how do we divide the Underworld inheritance?" Hades asked. "I don't want to leave anyone out but I don't want to force it on anyone either. Rea's too young to work in the Underworld right now anyway."
"Well...Effy's technically Ben's heir so you can take her out of the inheritance equation," Mal said. Ruling Auradon and helping run the Underworld would be too much work for her daughter. "Even though she and Reese are twins, she was three minutes older, making her the first born and the heir."
"Counting down the days until she's sixteen now Mali?" Hadie teased.
Mal shook her head. "Oh no, no way. Ben only did that because of Adam and Abby, but we're changing 'tradition' so that Effy gets the crown when she's twenty one. If she even wants it."
"I know, I was only teasing," Hadie said before looking over at Hades. "Well dad, I'll be your assistant in the Underworld until Reese and Rea are old enough for us to have shifts. It'll be like how Harry's your manager at your Auradon restaurant but you still own it! And you know, you could split it into threes so Rea could manage Elysium with mom, Reese could take care of the Asphodel Meadows and you and I could split Tartarus."
"And what happens if you marry Alexandria and have kids with her?" Mal asked.
"Then we come back to the drawing board," Hadie shrugged. "But that's not on the table for a good long while Mal so don't say things like that cause dad might freak."
"Babies...they're talking about babies having babies..."
Hadie shook his head. "See what you did Mal? You caused the 'babies' rant to start all over again."
"Sorry Hadie," Mal chuckled. "Dad, enough with the rant please. You might wake up Rea."
Hades sighed. "For you Mal? Sure. And I have to say, what we've designed sounds pretty good so far. Of course, like I said, Rea is not going near the Underworld until she's at least twelve. I don't know how my five year old daughter will react to dead people."
"...She's your daughter dad," Mal said. "Didn't you once find her hugging a raccoon outside your restaurant? Rea knows no fear."
"I still don't know where she got that creature...or how she caught it for that matter," Hades shook his head.
Mal smiled and leaned back in her seat. It wouldn't be too long before she'd be heading back up to get her kids ready for bed, to sing them to sleep and test the gift her dad gave them to make sure it worked.
"Go be with your sunspots Mali," Hades said, seeing the look on his daughter's face. "We won't burn the place down. Promise."
"Thanks dad," Mal said and she and Estelle went up the stairs only to almost run into Ben.
"I was going to call you," he said.
"Guess we've gotten pretty good at this bedtime routine," Mal said with a smile. "It felt wrong just siting there with dad and Hadie while you were—."
"Mal, they're my kids too," Ben said. "There's no place I'd rather be than here with them or with you."
"Nice save there Benny boy," Mal chuckled and gently kissed his cheek before both parents began the bedtime routine; never noticing Persephone still in the bedroom taking photos with her camera. She'd ducked out into the hall to give Ben and the kids privacy during the Abby video but she had gone back in after she saw Ben go to call Mal.
Persephone knew that at some point, Mal and Ben would want these photos. And even if they didn't, she wanted more pictures of her grandchildren and if she had to take them herself, then she would!
"Okay mom," Mal chuckled as she finally noticed Persephone in the room. "I will try to take more photos of the kids and send them to you."
"That's all I ask," Persephone said and gently kissed Mal's head before doing the same with Stephanie and Maurice. "Thank you all so much for a lovely night."
"I have no doubt it'll be the first of many," Mal said.
"I'm sure you're right," Persephone told her daughter before walking out of the room. Mal smiled and gently rested her head on Ben's shoulder as they watched their children fall asleep; completely at ease with the fact that no one was going to attack them or do anything to harm them.
"Ready to watch them take another round around the sun?" Ben whispered.
"You know it," Mal whispered back. As she had said downstairs, wild seahorses wouldn't have been able to stop her. And she meant that. Nothing would get between her and her kids.