This is a collection of Bal one-shots that aren't necessarily related to Give Me A Reason, but wouldn't be out of place. Some of them are kind of long, admittedly. They will not be in any chronological order.

It was a quiet Sunday morning, for once. No councils, no press conferences, no visiting dignitaries, no traveling - at least, not for Mal. She took this precious time to visit the one room in the castle that was just for her: her studio. Her latest artwork had been languishing for several days, as Ben's absence meant she was busier than ever.

She'd been under a lot of pressure. Even after all these years, she couldn't say she enjoyed being royalty. It was more than she had bargained for, more than she could do, at times. The late nights painstakingly going through drafts of proclamations to edit and check for loopholes, followed by early morning meetings trying to convince others - who she was sure barely tolerated her presence - with research that the law would strengthen Auradon's economy or increase the citizens' safety, was just the half of it. Paparazzi hounded her daily, with ridiculous questions about her choice of dress or hair or makeup, and printed exaggerated versions of her statement, which was usually, "Does anyone really care about this?" A constant influx of people from around Auradon brought her problems that she had no hope of solving, though when she tried she inevitably upset somebody. Even when she visited her friends, who were all too far away for her liking, reporters questioned her commitment to the kingdom. Her every move was watched, judged, criticized; it was exhausting under normal circumstances, and for the past several weeks it had been getting harder for her to stop dwelling on negatives.

But for Ben, it was all worth it.

Damn him, Mal thought, smiling wryly while squeezing a tube of paint over her palette. They spent very little time together, compared to most of the other couples Mal knew, but those precious moments kept her going. Surprise lunch visits to bring her coffee. Proud smiles when she (occasionally) did something right, and reluctant smiles when she cheered him up. His arms around her and a kiss goodnight, no matter how tired they both were. That look in his eyes, whenever they saw each other, that said, I love you more than anything else on Earth. This is what it was to be Ben's wife, and she had accepted it.

In front of her was a large canvas, smeared with colors that as of yet formed no discernible image. Mal added strokes here and there, wiping the brush off on her apron in between. It was in between mixing increasing amounts of blue into yellow to achieve the perfect shade of blue-green that she heard the door open.

"I thought I'd find you here."

Mal whipped around, beaming. "You're back!" Ben leaned against the door frame, returning her smile. She set her brush and palette down on a paint-stained table before approaching him. "You've been gone a week and you're not going to give your wife a hug?"

He eyed her dirty apron, which she hadn't taken off. Still in a crisp suit, having likely come straight from the limo that brought him back to his castle, he pretended to think about it. "Um...I think I'll pass."

She turned away from him. "Whatever. Who needs - " Ben had taken her arm and whisked her around again, pulling her into a fierce kiss. Mal had actually been planning on taking the apron off after teasing him, but all protest escaped her even though he had her pressed flush against his chest. Her hands slid up to those familiar shoulders and met each other behind his neck, keeping him from breaking the kiss for just one more second.

But break they had to. Ben rested his forehead on hers, smiling softly. "Hey."

"Hey," she murmured back.

"I missed you."

"Should've thought of that before you left me here." He straightened and rolled his eyes. Mal laughed at the front of his suit, now covered in various colors. "'What an interesting jacket you have on, King Benjamin,'" she mocked. "'Who designed it? What do you call this look? Do you think it will catch on as this season's trend?'"

"Ugh." He made a face. Ben didn't have to deal with the gossip magazines as much as Mal did, but he was quite tired of them all the same. "I call it 'something I hope my wife will magically clean up so Lumiere doesn't yell at me.'"

"That's funny. I was about it call it 'why ruin a good show?'"

"Because you love me and don't want to see me miserable?" he tried.

She smirked at his pout, but then gave in and pointed in his direction. She'd gotten quite good at wordless spells since arriving in Auradon - the paint was gone in a flash.

After she removed her own messy apron, Ben much more gently wrapped his arms around her and kissed her again. Her eyes fluttered closed and her hands came up to cradle the sides of his face. She'd missed him too, as he well knew. He deepened their kiss, and after a few seconds Mal pulled back, questioning but not complaining. "The door's still open."

"I know." He pressed his lips to her forehead. "I'm enjoying this while I can, because in about two minutes you're going to be really mad at me."

Now frowning, she asked, "Why?"

Ben caressed her cheek for a moment, then sighed and stepped back. "We couldn't reach an agreement. The raiders took refuge in the mountains, and they're plundering the villages in the valleys to help them set up camp. We told them that if they stepped out of line again it would be an act of war - since they've declared secession from Auradon - and they didn't stop. So now I have to go back, and I'm taking Lieutenant Sinclair and her unit with me."

"Okay," said Mal slowly. Ben hated armed conflict, so he tried to avoid it if at all possible - in the past, the presence of a dragon had cowed the opposing side before the fighting could even begin. "So when are we leaving?"

"You're not coming, Mal."

Her response was immediate. "Like hell I'm not!"

"Please." If his previous statement had been an order, this turned it into a supplication. "I need to leave now, and I know you're angry with me. We can talk about it when I get back - and I will get back, Mal. There are fifty of them and five hundred of us. They'd be stupid to attack."

"They're already attacking!" she seethed. "There's no way you - "

"Mal," he said softly. "For me."

How dare he play that card? When she said she'd do anything for him, that didn't mean 'nothing'. She was furious, and turned her back on him. "Go," she spat.

"Thank you." Then he was gone.

There were only three men Ben could see fully. Others were hiding in the trees up the slope, likely holding weapons they'd found when they robbed the nearby villages. Sinclair's unit, however, was in full view of the bandits. It was a fraction of Auradon's army, but more than enough to scare the living daylights out of an amateur militia.

Ben signaled to Sinclair to stay back while a rebel checked him for weapons, and he walked forward to meet with his counterpart. The man opposite him was heavy and bearded, with a permanent scowl on his face. Ben knew him as Raza, the unofficial leader of this rebellion.

"We'll fight you," said Raza gruffly. He was at least half a foot taller than Ben, and made sure Ben knew this by tilting his head down to speak. "We won't pay your shit taxes for nothing. You ain't a king to no one here." He smirked. "You ain't even a man."

Ben had been listening to this sort of talk all week, and had assumed it was just bravado until this point. He thought back to what he had said to Mal. Could they possibly be that dumb?

"The offer stands until the first arrow flies," he replied, using a fairly archaic term for 'until the battle begins.' "You still have a seat in the council if you feel you aren't being represented - though I've already told you that you haven't been forgotten."

This group was made of mostly farmers from the surrounding lands. There had been a terrible drought last year, and they'd been understandably inconsolable at the thought of an entire season's worth of lost crop. Ben had spent days in meetings, trying to allocate resources and send enough aid so their families wouldn't go hungry. And then one day, Mal left mysteriously. She'd only come back after dark, exhausted and covered in soil. She'd never said anything, but the crops had somehow made it through the dry spell with a fairly good yield.

That was the day Ben realized how much Mal was doing to keep his kingdom together.

She wasn't supposed to be using powerful magic without it being approved by Auradon's council. Her dragonform, for example, was allowed in war scenarios only. But Ben had looked back through records and noted that small miracles had been occurring around Auradon ever since Mal became queen. Nothing ever too obvious, apart from the one that tipped him off, but things that could have become worse, and could have made his life that much harder.

He couldn't explain that to these men, though. They didn't know the royal family had helped them - couldn't, because Mal was violating a law made specifically for her. Their rage at abandonment had grown, spurred by every perceived slight, until they decided they wanted their own government. Some of their wives and children had joined them - some had not. Still, there were enough innocents on that mountain that Ben wanted to avoid a fight by any means possible.

"You'll see. You and yours'll starve without us."

There would be a noticeable dip in some of the warm-weather crops heavy in this region, but Ben had to explain to him that by no means was anyone going to starve - that this whole venture was, both literally and metaphorically, fruitless.

"No it ain't." The bigger man grinned menacingly. "Because if your soldier's know what's good for 'em, they'll let us do as we please or we'll kill you."

Raza, it turned out, was not only looking down on Ben because he could, but because they had both been patted down by someone on the opposing side before entering this conversation - and he'd had the audacity to tape a dagger just under his chin, hidden by the shaggy brown carpet that was his beard. In a split second, he'd grabbed Ben and pressed the tiny knife to his throat, in full view of the unit from Auradon. Behind them, the other rebels cheered.

This hadn't been entirely unexpected, though the king had hoped these men would see sense. Ben grasped at the arm that held the knife, waiting to execute one of the many maneuvers that would free him from this position with only a scratch to show for it.

"Now here's what's gonna happen!" Raza yelled as Ben's soldiers took up defensive positions.

He never got to finish that thought. To Ben's horror, a purple-scaled dragon dived out of the sky and spiraled towards them, fast as a bullet, breathing a pillar of fire that burned close enough for both Ben and Raza to feel its heat. Ben smelled burning hair - she'd actually singed the top of Raza's head. The bandit screamed, releasing the king to put out the relatively small fire with his hands. Ben scrambled a safe distance away, immediately grabbed by two of his own soldiers and pushed behind the front line.

Mal landed in front of the Auradonian infantry and let loose a roar that shook Ben to his very bones. Now she was the one looking down at Raza, another fireball threatening to leave her mouth.

"Disarm!" Sinclair had the good sense to yell. "Disarm and you won't be hurt!"

Another roar wiped away the resolve of most men, who appeared from their hiding places and threw down their guns. Some, however, were not quite finished.

Ben's blood ran cold when he heard the shot. Someone had fired their rifle, and the noise was deafening to Ben - louder than Mal, even. Mal lost control of the fireball as the bullet hit her, lighting up several trees. She roared again in pain, and then she was angrier than ever.

"Where did she get hit?!" Ben demanded of whoever was listening.

"In the leg, Your Majesty," Sinclair replied. "She's bleeding, but not badly. On your orders, we open fire."

Ben was seeing red. A part of him knew that he shouldn't give that order, that men were surrendering and any attack now would just be murder. He fought to keep his sanity. "Arrest them."

Mal had approached the idiot who'd fired at her, who was visibly shaking. She bowed her head so it was right in front of his, bared her teeth, and roared loudly enough to burst his eardrums. Blood began running out of the raider's ears, just as tears began running from his eyes. For good measure, she snapped her jaws in the air just in front of him, and he fainted dead away.

When the entire militia had their hands up in the air, allowing the heavily armed Auradonian forces to cuff them, Mal let one of the soldiers remove the bullet from her leg. Thanks to her scales, it hadn't burrowed too deep; it did about as much damage as a needle stick. When that was done, Mal looked back at Ben. He shook his head, and she took to the sky.

Mal hadn't really needed to go to the clinic. The wound had decreased in size with her, and looked significantly less alarming. Her calf had already stopped bleeding. Still, nurses had cleaned and dressed the shrunken bullet hole, and conducted quite a few other tests Mal found unnecessary.

"We have our orders, Your Majesty," said one of them apologetically when she protested.

So she was sitting, bored, when Ben stormed into the room. Noticing the nurse, who was cleaning gel off of Mal's stomach, he said stiffly, "Please give me a moment with my wife."

Neither of the women liked the sound of his tone. The nurse hurried out, and Mal crossed her arms.

"I told you to stay home." He was angrier than Mal had seen him in a while, but was trying to control it.

"You also said no one would attack you. I saved your life."

"No, you didn't. That guy didn't know a dagger from a kitchen knife, and I've been trained to get out of situations like that one. So all you did was get shot!"

"So what? I can take a hit!"

"I know you can!" he thundered, pointing at her stomach. "But SHE can't!"

Mal covered her still very flat belly possessively. "Nothing happened to her! The ultrasound tech said she's fine."

He completely lost it. "You only got an ultrasound because I made them do it - did you even think about her? What if he'd shot you in the stomach, Mal? She could have died! And there's no way you knew whether she would survive your dragon transformation in the first place!" Mal shifted uncomfortably. She'd thought about it at the time - but the risk to Ben was too great for her to ignore. "How could you put our daughter in danger like that?!"

She gaped at him, but a suitable answer did not come quickly. "She's fine!" Mal repeated uselessly.

"Is that all you can say? You brought her onto a battlefield!"

"I didn't have a choice!"

"You had a choice. You could've chosen to stay here, safe!"

"And what about you? I was just supposed to hope nothing horrible happened after you declared war? I'm not going to be treated like some invalid just because - "

"It's not about how you're being treated! It's about protecting our family. That's what parents do!"

When his wife didn't respond - couldn't, because what did she know about parenting? - Ben just growled as he ripped the door open, and slammed it on his way out.

Mal sank low on the exam table, keeping her face impassive though she could feel the guilt like a hand squeezing her heart. When was the last time Ben had gotten mad at her? When was the last time Ben had gotten mad at all? Definitely not in the last month. Despite it being a surprise - she didn't think she could get away with calling it an 'accident' - Ben had never been more ecstatic than the moment she told him she was pregnant. He'd picked her up, spun her around, laughed, kissed her again and again - and it was infectious. Mal put to the back of her mind the minutes she'd spent in the bathroom alone, waiting, dreading.

But now it was back. Those pinprick-like thoughts that told her you could never be a good mother.

Look how you were raised. How would you know how to take care of a child? You don't. You don't know the first damn thing.

This is a mistake.

You'll be another Maleficent, and this little girl is going to hate you because you won't love her. You're supposed to love her already. Ben does. He's going to see, eventually, that you're no good for her...or for him.

What's wrong with you? Actually, you know what's wrong, don't you. Villains don't love their children.

She didn't see Ben for the rest of the day, as he was likely arranging trials, and could hardly concentrate on the things she was supposed to do. Evie called after hearing the news that Mal had been injured, but was alright. The phone call was mostly assurances - yes, I'm fine. Yes, the baby is fine. Yes, Ben is fine. I swear the baby is fine. It left her feeling worse than before.

When she got back to her room at night, Ben wasn't there. She changed and climbed into bed, lying on her side so she could gaze at the wedding photo on her nightstand. The best day of my life was the day you walked into it, Ben had told her when they spoke their vows in front of hundreds of people, and thousands more watching on television. I fell in love with you so fast I didn't even know it was happening.

Ben had a new 'best day of his life' now - the day that pregnancy test turned positive. And she had a feeling even that 'best day' wouldn't last long, assuming she was able to keep the baby alive until it was born. She sighed and closed her eyes, knowing her head was too full of hissing doubts to let her sleep.

Mal heard Ben enter a half hour later. He disappeared into their bathroom for a while, and then came out and climbed in next to her. She felt his arm encircle her waist and his lips press into her hair - a normal goodnight kiss. So she quit pretending to be asleep.

"You're awake," he noted when she turned to face him.

"Yeah." Mal rested a hand on his chest. "I hate it when we fight."

"Me too." He picked up her hand and kissed it. "I'm sorry. I was just so scared. Especially when...God, when I heard that shot..."

"I know. I'm sorry too." She still felt hollow, but tried not to show it. How many times would she have to apologize in the future for screwing their daughter up?

Ben noticed that her mood had failed to improve much. "Hey. You were right. She's fine. That's what matters. I shouldn't have gotten so upset at you; you were doing your best in a bad situation." He kissed her forehead again. "You know you're still my favorite person, right? At least, for the next six months." She forced a laugh, but that statement terrified her all the more. Ben stretched out and sighed. "Plus she's all set to morph dragon too. Now there are going to be two of you flying around. I think I'm going to be the boring one in the family." He glanced at her, waiting for another laugh, but she was silent, thinking.

Then, suddenly, "You would have blamed me, wouldn't you, if something had happened to her?" She didn't know why she'd blurted that out. She'd meant to just swallow her doubts, as always; she neither had the time nor the desire to indulge in self-pity. "If she'd been hurt today...if she'd been killed today...you'd have blamed me forever."

Ben's mouth hung open, like he was going to say something but didn't know what. His eyes were wide with shock. A couple seconds of that was all Mal needed. She got out of bed.

"Mal, wait - " He untangled himself from the covers.

"Don't." Her voice cracked.

"Mal - " She was forgetting how to breathe, which was made all the worse because she needed to run away. It took more force than normal to turn the door handle. She magically sealed the bedroom door behind her and could hear Ben struggling to open it, and the muffled sound of him desperately calling, "Mal!"

She'd let him go, but only when she was far enough away. She couldn't bear to listen to another word from him. Not when she knew how easy it would be to lose his love. How inevitable.

Before the tears started falling, she found an empty guest bedroom and collapsed onto the floor - only then, crumpled in a heap, did she begin sobbing uncontrollably. The stress of the past week - maybe of the past three years of being queen - and all of the fears from the recesses of her mind and probably a good amount of pregnancy hormones had taken over. Who had she been kidding? This life required too many things she just didn't have in her. She could hardly keep up the facade of being a queen worthy of King Benjamin, worthy of Auradon. And now, at the same time, she somehow had to figure out how to be a mother worthy of the Crown Princess? Ben was already starting to see that she would fail. His outburst this morning was only proof that she wasn't good enough. Sure, he'd been scared. But he'd also been disappointed - he'd always believed in her, and she had let him down. How many times could that happen before he gave up? How long did she have left before he could deal with her mistakes no longer? A year? Less?

Please, no. She knew what it was like to lose him. She never wanted to feel that way again. The way she was feeling now. But I can't try any harder. I'm too far from perfect.

Eventually, Lumiere found her, probably drawn by the noise. It couldn't have been that long, because she was still crying. "Queen Mal?"

She took a shaky breath so she could haltingly say, "Please leave me alone."

He hesitated. They had a unique camaraderie built on quiet respect. He had accepted her long before even Ben's father had, and she'd always appreciated him for it. He was just trying to help, as any friend would. But in the end, he was a servant, and that was an order. "Yes, Your Majesty."

Lumiere went to find someone who didn't necessarily have to obey her, and Mal tried in vain to calm herself down. It was like all the hopelessness she'd been trying to shove into the back of her mind was exploding out, until she couldn't think about anything else. She wiped her eyes repeatedly, until the skin around them was raw, but more tears kept coming. Please let this be a nightmare. Please don't let this be happening. Please, please, please...

Ben skidded into the room, eyes wide at his wife's state. "Mal..." He made to help her up, but she flinched at his movement and he stopped, hurt. "Mal, you asked if I would blame you forever, and then you gave me two seconds to think about it. Of course I wouldn't. We'd figure it out. We always have."

"No, we haven't." She caught a fresh sob in the back of her throat. "I haven't. I just c-can't do it. I can't do anything right, no matter how hard I try. And I have tried, I have! But I'm always failing at something or d-disappointing someone and I can't do it anymore. I'm not good enough and I know that, everyone knows that, and I'm so t-tired of pretending that I am. I c-can't keep it up. I can't be a queen. I can't be a mother. I can't be the person you need me to be. I c-can't - " She took another shuddering breath, refusing to look at him while her heart broke. " - I can't be your wife." Any attempts to quell her crying went out the window. She buried her head in her knees and hoped that would muffle her weeping. It was over. She'd always known this day would come, subconsciously. And now it was here. Her last, ultimate failure.

Ben didn't say anything for a long time, until she was reduced to quiet heaves. When he did, his voice had a tremor in it too. "I...I had no idea you were so unhappy."

She didn't respond. She really had been unhappy, most of the time that wasn't spent with him. It had been a struggle, a long trudge through time just to get to those short, blissful oases. Mal had told herself to accept it. She thought she had. But clearly, she'd been bottling everything up in hopes that it would go away. Exactly how much she'd bottled up was made evident by the several ounces of water she'd cried already.

"Ten years we've been together, and I never once noticed you wanted out."

No! Mal wanted to scream. I don't want to leave you! When she looked up, she saw Ben seated on the bed, shoulders sagging, and the most heartbroken expression on his face. She hadn't meant to make him feel this way - this is what happens when you're too weak to handle your own pain. Other people have to bear it for you. What a joke, that she was occupying the highest position in the land. She was pathetic.

"How long have you been hurting like this?" he asked quietly.

She didn't want to tell him, so she didn't say anything.

Ben stared down at his hands. "I thought...I thought we were happy. If I had known you were so miserable, I'd have never dragged you into this life. I'm so sorry. Mal, I'm so, so sorry." Then he was wiping tears away, too. Mal tried to protest, but all that came out was another choked sob. "I loved you so much, I just wanted you by my side...I didn't realize that you'd been thrown into something you'd never asked for and it would do this to you." He gestured at her. "This was never supposed to happen. I didn't even..." And then a thought occurred to him that was clearly horrific, judging by the look on his face. "God. You've been crying alone all this time. You've been putting up a front, and then you come into this room and - "

"No!" she finally spluttered. It was too late. Ben had folded over and his shoulders shook.

"What the hell kind of husband have I been?" he whispered, his voice ragged. "I promised to be there for you. I should have been there for you. You deserve so much better than this."

Mal found the strength to pull herself together, if not for herself, then for him. "This is the first t-time," she insisted, still hiccuping. "The only time." So far. Mal pushed that thought away. "I was fine. I was dealing with it."

"Until I lost it. Until I accused you over absolutely nothing." He looked at her, his eyes red and tears falling freely. "Is that why you don't trust me with what you're going through? Because you think I'll get upset instead of helping you?"

"No, that's not it! I..." She floundered. "We never see each other...and when we do I don't want to make you - " Mal realized it sounded like she was blaming him when he buried his head in his hands again. "Ben, we don't ask for help on the Isle!"

"You haven't been on the Isle for ten years."

"That doesn't mean I've forgotten everything. I hate asking for help. Even from you."

"Please try." He slid off of the bed until he was on the floor in front of her, and reached for her hand. This time, she let him hold it. "Tell me how I can fix this. If I can fix this. I don't want you to feel like you can't be my wife anymore. I don't want to lose you." His eyes were still glassy. "Please."

Mal felt that transient strength melt away, her hopelessness growing when he repeated her previous words back to her. "I don't know how to be a m-mother. Nothing's going to fix that. I'm going to keep messing up and eventually you're going to hate me for it."

"God, no." Ben pulled her into a bone-crushing hug. "Mal, I thought you knew...even when we fight, even when I'm angry, there's never, ever a moment that I stop loving you. I don't know how to be a father either. Neither of us have done this before. We're both going to make mistakes. I'd never hate you, Mal. I know you'd never do anything to purposely hurt her. Even today - today was my fault. It was entirely my fault. You didn't mess up. You didn't deserve what I said to you."

"But you were right, I didn't - "

"No, Mal. I made you choose. Between me and her." He loosened his grip a little so he could see her face and brush away some errant tears. "It was a terrible thing for me to do. I never should've put you in that position. I thought - I just assumed you would choose her, because I can protect myself."

"I know you can, but you're not replaceable!" It was out of her mouth before she understood the implications of that statement. She hadn't meant it in that way - she'd been trying to convey that she couldn't live without him. Ben pulled away further, and his countenance darkened. Now she'd done it. He couldn't possibly not hate her, now that he believed she cared as much for their baby daughter as she did for a pair of shoes. Mal was half a second from crying out the rest of her weight in water.

"Is that what Maleficent used to tell you?" he said instead. "That you were replaceable?"

Mal didn't even have to think about it. "All the time," she answered softly. "She'd say that all children were replaceable, until they proved otherwise. I tried so hard to prove to her that I wasn't worthless, so she'd stop hating me. And now...my God, I'm just like her."

"No, Mal," He embraced her again before she could spiral down further. "You're nothing like her. You know that's wrong. She didn't care." Ben stroked her hair comfortingly. "You've always been good enough. You've already proved yourself again and again as queen, even if you don't think you have. You always do more than you're asked to. More than you're supposed to. I know. I know." He made her lock eyes with him, so she understood exactly what he meant. "The people love you, and they don't know the half of what you do for them. There is no one, no one, in this entire kingdom who thinks you're worthless. Even Maleficent - you beat her. She's stuck the way she is because of you." He rested his forehead on hers. "And to me, you're worth the world and more."

He didn't understand. "I don't want to hate our daughter, Ben." Mal lowered her gaze, ashamed. "I already know I can't love her like you do."

"You will." To her surprise, he smiled. "I want you to trust me on this. It's not something I can describe, but it's something I've seen again and again. I'm absolutely sure that the minute you see her, you'll love her. I promise you'll understand." Mal furrowed her brow, still doubtful and scared. But it helped significantly when Ben continued, "I know that's not enough to go on right now. So until our baby's born, I'm not going to make you choose anymore. It was a no-win situation and it wasn't fair. I promise I'll stay here with you until then. I'll delay things, send other people in my place if I have to, but I won't leave you. I won't go anywhere even remotely dangerous until I can have my dragon next to me again."

She wasn't completely relieved, but at least he knew where she stood and he didn't despise her. That already made her feel a lot better. Mal finally allowed herself to snuggle into his arms, letting his warmth chase away the last of her sniffling. The thought of their marriage ending had been so real, so terrifying, that being able to pull him closer - and have him hold her - felt like a gift. She could hear how rapid his heartbeat had become and knew he'd been afraid too. "You're making a lot of promises, Your Majesty," she remarked, gratified when his smile grew.

"And here's another one." He continued running his fingers through her hair. "I promise our marriage comes first. Always. I hope you never forget how much I love you, or think that I could ever stop. We're going to spend more time together, like we should've been all along. Every day."

"That's ridiculous."

"It shouldn't be," he noted sadly. "As far as I know, you didn't marry me to be queen. You married me to be with me."

Mal snaked her arms around his waist, sighing. "So much for that."

That strengthened his resolve. "I'm making it happen. That gazebo over the river behind this castle? That's our spot now. We're going to have dinner together every evening, and no one's going to bother us."

"Ben..." She appreciated it, but it wasn't practical. "This kingdom isn't going to run itself. And we're about to have a kid. Things like that get put on hold."

"Mal," he countered, "I came so close to losing you today and I didn't even suspect anything was wrong until everything fell apart. I don't want that to happen again." He tilted her chin up so he could kiss her. "Because you're not replaceable either."

Mal was exhausted, and sweating, and hungry, and in pain - although not from the waist down, since that epidural had worked wonders. Her upper back hurt, though, from the awkward positioning. She'd been through worse; she was just crabby.

Ben had been by her side through it all, and now was watching with a hawkish intensity, as she was, while the doctor examined their crying baby and the nurses cleaned her.

"Congratulations, Your Majesties." Finally, they swaddled her and brought her back over. "You've just had a healthy baby girl."

Ben's smile was a mile wide. He took her from the doctor, cradling her delicately. "Hey there, sweetheart," he whispered, swaying from side to side. "Mal, she's beautiful."

He handed the wailing bundle to Mal, who accepted her cautiously. She'd never held a newborn before, and was being extra careful to support the baby's very floppy head against her chest. Being held this close to a familiar heartbeat, the little girl's cries died down, and she blinked up at her mother.

Mal's breath caught. "Ben...her eyes look just like yours."

Ben's arm had come up from underneath Mal's to stroke his daughter's cheek. "I was hoping she'd get yours," he joked. Mal laughed quietly, watching her daughter's gaze dart around the room and her limbs twitch under the constricting blanket. When she yawned, Mal's heart felt like it would swell until it burst. For the first time in her life, she was crying tears of joy.

How could she ever have been worried she wouldn't love this child with everything in her?

The doctor came back and reached out. "May I?" Mal instinctively drew back. "My apologies, Your Majesty, but we need to do a five minute check to see how she's adjusting to life outside the womb. It will take as little time as the last one did."

Mal shamefacedly let him take the baby. Her stomach lurched when the child began to cry again.

"What are they doing?"

Ben rubbed her arm comfortingly. "They took the blanket off. I don't think she likes that." He was still grinning as if his face was now stuck that way. "Maybe she didn't get your eyes, but it looks like she got your temper." He laughed for far too long at his own joke, but Mal understood. She kind of wanted to laugh uncontrollably too.

"Everything looks good," the doctor assured them, handing the re-swaddled girl back to Ben. Mal rested her head on his shoulder, smiling when their daughter stopped crying again.

Ben turned towards her and kissed her tenderly. "You're really, truly incredible," he murmured.

Mal cradled his cheek. "I can't take all the credit." Ben chuckled and returned to gazing in awe at the girl in his arms. "She's perfect."

The doctor was finishing up his note. "We'll give you a few minutes before we invite in your family. Do you have a name decided?"

The couple looked at him and smiled.

"Amber."

Aha! I was trying to find some adjectives ( ftw) and realized that benevolent and malevolent are where Ben and Mal came from (with the added coincidence of starting with the letters of their parents' first names - very clever). So where would their daughter's name come from? Ambivalent, I think. This is now canon in my head and if it doesn't end up being canon on TV I will be a little miffed.