Ben was seated with his parents in the family room of their castle. The fire was going. Belle and Adam were cuddled together on one couch. Ben was on the other, wishing Mal was with him. But she had yet to arrive. She had gone out a few hours earlier with Evie, Audrey, Jane, and Lonnie. She was supposed to be back already. Knowing the girls, though, he knew that they would be a little late. They always were.

"Mal! Come back here!" He heard Evie yelling. He was more than surprised. The girls were early, by their standards, and Evie was yelling at Mal. Neither of those things ever happened. He saw a purple blur rush past him and his parents. Then, he saw a blue one, but this one stopped. "Mal! Why are you running?!"

"Evie? What's going on?" Ben asked as Evie jumped in surprise. Her eyes widened as she noticed the royal family for the first time. Her hand flew up to cover her mouth.

"Oh, that's why she's running," Evie whispered, her voice barely audible. "Sorry, to intrude. I should be going." She gave a small curtsey as she took off after Mal. Ben looked to his parents, they seemed confused by the two women as well. They heard a loud bang not long after. They knew the sound well. It was Mal slamming her door shut. Ben immediately stood and headed over to his wife's room. They may have been married, but Mal had a separate room for whenever she needed some space. Ben didn't mind though. He was just glad that she had stopped running away whenever she wanted to be by herself. He was always worried about her when she left to be on her own, but at least now he knew exactly where she was. As he neared the door, he heard muffled chatter on the other side. He gently knocked.

"Mal, sweetie, is everything okay?" He asked softly. The talking immediately stopped.

"Go away Ben!" Mal yelled, but she didn't sound angry. She sounded hurt and upset.

"Mal, can we talk about this?" Ben questioned as he softly knocked again.

"I said go away!" He heard something hit the door with a muffled thud. She was throwing pillows at the door in an effort to get him to leave. It didn't work the last few times she had done it, so he wondered why she thought it would work this time. The talking resumed, but he kept quiet. He leaned against the door, allowing his wife some alone time with her best friend. After a few minutes, Belle and Adam made their way down the hall to find their son sitting on the floor against the door, staring off into space.

"Ben? Dear, what's going on?" Belle asked.

Ben simply shrugged. "She wants some space."

"Did she say why?" Adam questioned as Ben shook his head.

"I stopped asking when she starting throwing pillows."

Adam and Belle shared a small smile. They know they shouldn't, but they always found it funny when Mal started throwing pillows everywhere. It reminded them of when Ben used to have tantrums as a kid.

Sometime later, Evie finally opened the door. She looked irritated. "You can come in now." A few pillows were still flying around the room. As Evie stepped aside, and Ben moved forward, one hit him squarely in the face. The force of the throw, and the surprise element of it, caused him to stumble back a little. His parents caught him before he fell over.

"You have quite the arm," Ben stated as he regained his balance.

"Sorry," Mal said with wide eyes as she watched the scene unfold. She was sat in the middle of the floor. She quickly put her head in her hands.

"It's no problem," Ben replied as he moved closer. "Mind telling us what this is all about?" As he got closer, he noticed how red one of her wrists was, and how it was already starting to bruise. Same with Evie. Mal stayed quiet. He sat down in front of her. "What happened to your wrists?" He directed the question more towards Evie than Mal, because he knew his wife probably wouldn't answer.

"Chad," She growled out.

"What about Chad?" Belle asked as she sat down next to her daughter-in-law. She placed an arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer.

"We ran into him when we were leaving the mall. By then, the other girls had already left and his girlfriend was off somewhere doing who knows what," Evie recalled as she moved to sit on the disheveled bed.

"He found out that Evie and Doug are next in line for the throne since Snow and Florian don't have any kids," Mal explained quietly, shocking the royal family.

"That's great, Evie!" Belle congratulated as Evie offered a small smile of thanks.

"That's not all, is it?" Adam asked as Mal and Evie grimly shook their heads. Mal finally lifted her head, only to reveal a hand shaped bruise on her cheek. Ben and Adam growled at the sight. She turned to Evie, who already knew what she wanted. Evie handed the purple haired woman her purse. Mal took a deep breath before opening it. She stuck her hand in and pulled out a small white stick. Belle gasped upon seeing it. It was a pregnancy test. And it was positive.

"He found out I was pregnant," Mal added as Ben glanced in between her and the small stick with wide eyes.

"You're… you're pregnant?" Ben asked slowly as Mal nodded.

"I only found out this morning. When Chad found out, he was furious," Mal explained as Ben's anger grew. How dare Chad lay his hands on his wife? How dare he even think about slapping a pregnant woman?

"I'm going to go talk to Chad," Ben muttered as he stood. Mal quickly gripped his hand, pulling herself up.

"You're not mad at me, are you?" Mal asked quietly. Ben wrapped her in a hug.

"Never at you," Ben responded as he kissed his wife.

"Promise me you won't so anything stupid?" Mal pleaded as Ben smiled.

"I promise." With that, Mal released him, even though she didn't quite believe him, as Belle and Adam hugged the soon to be mother of their first grandchild and the future heir to Auradon's throne. Ben stormed off to find the man he once called a friend.

Hey guys and gals! This is just a short one shot. I wrote it a while ago, so I thought I would just upload it. It's my first one shot. If you want another chapter, just let me know. I hope you enjoyed!