I have other stories that need to be loved and updated, but this popped into my head when Ben and Mal got engaged and Belle said she finally gets a daughter.

The party with their friends and the new arrivals from the Isle had died down, but the engagement party that catered to the leaders of other lands and longtime allies and friends of Ben's parents was underway. It had been a long day for Mal; not bad, just long and the enormity of what she had taken on hit her. Being Queen of Auradon was big enough, but add the Isle to that and top it off with planning a wedding and her head began to spin just trying to keep it all straight. Mal excused herself for a few minutes and went and sat on one of the balconies overlooking the rose garden.

"I see you found my hiding spot." Mal turned and was surprised to see Belle standing in the doorway smiling at her.

"I love seeing Ben in his element and I know I have to get used to it, but Ben was born in this world, with this expectation as part of his childhood. I wasn't prepared to rule anything except the Isle so this party, is a little…"

"Overwhelming, boring, tedious?" Belle smiled and laughed at Mal's expression. "Don't look so shocked, I did call this my hiding spot after all. You my dear are not the first Queen to find some peace and quiet on this balcony and I promise you won't be the last. Besides, you weren't wrong as a child: after your coronation, you will be the ruler of the Isle of the Lost."

"I promise you that back in the day I just assumed I'd be taking that title by force and no crown would be involved."

"And yet, here you are: engaged and on your way to being Queen of Auradon." Mal ran her hand against the smooth stone of the railing as Belle spoke.

"Not sure what scares me more: being a terrible queen or being a terrible wife."

"What gives you the idea that you won't be brilliant at both of those roles?"

Mal shrugged, "I've only had honest and true self-esteem for about 3 years, better known as the day we came here. Don't get me wrong, plenty of parents on the Isle were good parents, but if you got dealt some top tier villains as parents, you didn't grow up learning to value yourself. Like at all. Only child of a fallen god and the 'Mistress of all Evil'…Even if my dad had stayed, I don't think my upbringing would've been anything to brag about."

Belle looked a little worse for having heard that, "honey, I am so sorry. If we had known what was going to happen to you all we would've been more careful with how we handled creating the Isle."

Mal tried to pretend it didn't bother her, "it's not like it was your fault."

"It kind of was honey. I didn't like that we never seemed to regulate anything on the Isle except the embargo, but I never said anything about it. Silence in the face of something awful always benefits the oppressor."

"Even still. Our parents made decisions that you and Adam had nothing to do with and from personal experience those decisions left much deeper scars than living on the Isle ever did."

"I'm sorry Mal."

"My mother made her choice. It just so happened her choice was not to be much of a mother. Don't worry about it though, I survived." Mal forced a smile and Belle felt more and more guilty by the minute.

"You did survive and you grew up into a wonderful young woman, but honey, you don't have to make your childhood struggle seem not as bad just to make me feel better. You certainly don't have to share any of it with me, I'm sure you have all the support you need in Ben and your friends, but Adam and I are here too and we love you too." Belle got the impression Mal wanted some actual time alone so she got up and pointed to the doorway, "I should go make sure Adam isn't accidently taking over Ben's job. Take all the time you want out here honey, one queen to another."

Belle winked and started to leave, but Mal stopped her.

"Did you mean it?"

Belle looked puzzled, "did I mean what dear?"

"When Ben proposed. You said that you finally get a daughter. Did you mean it?" Belle realized that a comment she made in passing had touched Mal in a way that Belle had never thought about. She sat back down and patted Mal's hands.

"When I first found out I was pregnant with Ben I didn't know he was a boy, I just knew I was going to have a baby. That alone was exciting and scary enough. Of course most of the rulers wanted a prince: they lived with the ancient way of thought that only a man could wear the crown. Adam and I were just thrilled to be parents, but a small part of me wished for a girl. When we did find out we were having a boy I was so happy, but I never stopped wishing for a little girl, but it just never happened for us and so my focus was on being a good mother to my son. As he got older I turned my dream to maybe, one day, having a good relationship with his wife and sort of having a daughter in my daughter in law. When Ben was with Audrey, I tried to feel that pull towards her, but I never did. She was always trying far too hard to be Queen when she was still a child who had learned little about what the role meant. When you came around things were different. I know things started off rocky, but once you settled down with Ben and found your purpose here, you began to act like a ruler without the title. I felt that pull towards you at Ben's coronation and it never went away. So, yes honey, I meant it."

"I haven't been anyone's daughter in a long time. I mean, I don't know if my mom ever really embraced having a daughter and being loved from a far by my dad only amounts to so much. Guess I wasn't worth much to either of them." Belle hated that Mal had that kind of a thought about herself, but she knew saying it wasn't true wouldn't change things in Mal's heart.

"Let me tell you something honey. I lost my mother before I ever really knew her so I only ever had my father growing up, but I HAD him and no human being ever loved a child more than he loved me. I'm sorry your parents never valued the wonderful child they brought into the world, but the jokes on them sweetheart because you are amazing and watching you grow up would've been a gift to any other parent."

"You don't know that. I was kind of a brat growing up."

"Were you a brat or did your mother call you that?" Mal opened her mouth to answer, but nothing came out. Something that answered Belle's question without words.

"I thought so. Listen honey, I'm not here to replace your mother, but it would make me very happy to love you like you were my own. So, hell yeah I meant it that I finally get a daughter and nothing is ever going to change that in my mind or my heart so whether or not you were a brat, you my dear, are stuck with me till I die. Okay?" Mal looked Belle in the eye and studied her face for a moment.

"Promise?"

Belle brushed Mal's hair behind her ear and kissed her forehead, "I promise." Mal quite promptly collapsed into her soon to be mother in law's arms and cried. She cried for more reasons that she could really put into words in that moment, but somewhere in Belle's heart she was willing to bet that she was crying for all times she wanted to cry in her mother's arms only to find no comfort there. They were eventually interrupted when Ben came looking for Mal. He was concerned that his fiancé seemed upset, but felt better after seeing that his mother had things under control. He cleared his throat and Mal slowly sat up and brushed tears off her cheeks.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I couldn't find either of you and I wanted to make sure everything was alright."

"We're just fine honey." Belle assured her son that despite what it looked like, everyone was ok. Mal nodded and stood up to go stand with Ben. "We were just talking. Everything ok inside?"

"All good. People are starting to leave so we can probably wrap things up within the next hour or so. If you are tired though we can bail before then."

"Don't worry about me, I can handle the tail end of a party." Mal winked at Ben and he smiled, gesturing for her to walk ahead of him as they reentered the interior of the castle. Belle smiled as she followed the two inside and she made a mental note to have the groundskeeper replace the bench on that balcony and add some other plants to the space to make it more inviting to the future queen, her daughter in law.

So my thought was to do a few of these: them before their wedding, coronation and having a baby just to give some mother/daughter fluff to the story. I need to update some other stories but if people like this one then I am on board.