Final chapter!

Having used up the only marker they could find that wasn't in the workshop on Harry's face, Carlos had agreed to let Jay teach him the dance Jay performed at a bachelorette party.

"Mosey forward," Carlos was reviewing what Jay had taught him. "Name in lights. Comb your hair."

"Don't forget the butt pop after name in lights," Jay reminded. "Try thrusting your butt a little bit before name in lights to help you remember to pop it."

"Is it me, or does this dance feature a lot of butt?"

"Ladies love the butt."

"Do I want to know," this was how Jay and Carlos found out Uma was behind them. "Actually, yeah, I do: context please."

"Jay's teaching me a dance he learned at a bachelorette party," Carlos elaborated. "We're trying to keep my mind off what's going on with Evie."

"Yee-ah…you go ahead and pop that butt then. You," Uma pointed to Jay, "wake up Hangover Hook over there. I need as many hands on deck as I can get."

"Need help getting ready for prom?" Jay jested. "And where's your good buddy Gil; why isn't he helping?"

"Hmm, where is my good buddy Gil and why isn't he helping? He actually is helping. Good buddy Gil needed to stay in the workshop with Princess as she pops a baby out of her."

"What?"

A very anxious Carlos resumed his choreography. "Typing motion, pull it back! Typing motion, PULL IT BACK!"

"You only need to do that once."

"TYPING MOTION, PULL IT BACK!"

"I'm gettin' supplies," Uma explained, "but without help, I'd have to make a lotta trips. I'm gonna get a bunch of pillows, I assume you know where the towels are so I need you to get those, and Hook can get some bottled water—preferably one that's cold. I think there's something else I'm forgetting, but I don't know. I do know that we have to get the stuff, and we have to get it fast."

"Wait," Carlos tore off his pink jacket and handed it to Uma, "you're gonna need something warm to wrap the baby in. But if Evie asks, I'm letting her use it because it's warmer than a towel, not because she's having a girl." Carlos stamped his foot. "Also: don't tell Evie's she's having a girl." He turned away and returned to his dancing. "Jump forward. Pelvic pump."

"Carlos doesn't always do well in a crisis," Jay didn't really know what to say. "Okay: I'll help get what you need and then come back here to keep Carlos away from Evie and me away from Gil."

"I know now's not the time," Uma began, "but when this is over you need to find the time and make up with Gil so he can get out of my house. Right now, you need to wake Hook up and have him get the water. I'll get pillows," Uma ran off to fetch pillows.

Jay went over to the sofa and lightly shoved Harry. "Harry," now came some tapping. "Hey man, you gotta wake up." When that didn't work, Jay's shoving and tapping got a little more forceful. "Wake up, you lazy drunk!"

Harry bolted up with a start. "I can't stay I've got a thing in the mornin'!"

"What?"

"Oh, it's you." Harry yawned. "Automatic response."

"Don't care. We need you to get some water bottles and take them to the workshop. Make sure one of them's cold. Captain's orders."

"Ugh," Harry begrudgingly stood up and went to the kitchen. He went about his task and headed into the workshop. "What am I s'posed to do with these?" he noticed Gil and Evie on the floor. "Oh, ho-ho," he sauntered over to them, "may I join in?"

Gil shot him an "are you serious" look. "Dude, really?"

"You're clearly making a bed," Harry lowered himself next to Evie, "and the most fun things happen in the bed." He winked at her.

"I suddenly feel the need to vomit again," Evie bemoaned.

"Harry, since you're here, can you help to keep Evie sitting up?" Gil requested. "It's not a good idea for her to be totally laying down."

"Though some might beg to differ," Harry suggestively quipped as he got behind her.

Evie let out a groan that they weren't sure stemmed from pain or annoyance. "Does he have to be here? I'd rather have Uma hold me." Harry's naughty chuckle elicited a scoff from Evie.

"When she gets back, Harry will leave," Gil assured. As Harry was about to protest, Gil cut him off with, "Harry. Will. Leave." He then sat across from Evie. "You gotta open your legs so I can check you out—Harry, don't say anything."

"I'd…I'd really rather you not. Can we put a sheet or something up and you can just kinda feel your way down there?"

"Okay, even I know that's a stupid idea." Harry nodded in agreement. "Evie, please understand I take no pleasure in doing this. I'm only at this end because I've seen it firsthand and it doesn't make me nauseous."

"Doesn't that contradict your orientation, Mate?" Harry questioned.

"I'm gonna ignore you and take off her sweatpants."

"Now why couldn't I do that part?"

"Harry, could you keep in your pants," Gil reprimanded as he tore Evie's off. "Oh-kay, that's definitely a baby head."

"Is she…" Harry had caught on, "is she about to spew a child out of her?"

Evie gave another groan. "Can he please leave now?"

"Yes, can I please leave now?"

"I got the pillows!" they heard Uma announced.

"Oh good, you're here," when Harry saw her enter, he immediately hurried away from Evie, letting her fall to the floor in the process. "Sorry, 'bout that," he did apologize as he ran out.

"Uma, please help keep Evie up," Gil requested.

"Yeah," she started placing pillows under Evie as Evie tried to suppress a scream. "Okay, you gotta stop holdin' in the shrieks and moans and just let out." When Evie did, Uma winced in regret.

Jay came running in. "I got the towels," he dropped them next to Gil so that he could back away and not catch an unwanted glance at Evie's "lady area". "Uma, don't forget about the jacket."

"Right!" she found a pink jacket smushed amongst some pillows and set it next to the makeshift bed. "Carlos is letting you use this to wrap the baby in."

"Do we need anything else?"

"I need to get this baby out of me!" Evie cried out in pain. "Can I just start pushing?"

"No!" Gil told her. "That baby birthing book says something pushing about ten cent-i-meters," no one corrected him at his pronunciation gaff. "Jay, hand me the book on that desk." Jay found the book and practically threw it at Gil. Thankfully, Gil dodged before it him. "Thanks, for almost hitting me with that, Man."

"I don't want to look down there!" Jay defended. "I'd really rather not be in the vicinity of baby fluid, thank you very much."

"Then why don't you just go."

"Okay, I will," Jay marched out of the room.

"He's useless here anyway," Gil opened the book and compared its pictures to Evie. "You're not at ten cent-i-meters yet. Judging from the pictures: you're a little more than halfway there. Probably about…" he glanced in between the book and the Evie, "seven cent-i-meters."

"What?" Evie didn't want to believe that. "I can't be that close! First babies are supposed to take their time! I'm supposed to have time! This can't be happening that fast! Doug's not even here!"

"No, he's not; but you've still got some ways to go. And according to the book: the act of pushing the baby out can also take hours."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better right now?"

"You're probably around the…" he struggled to read the word, "tran-sit-ion-all stage. I'd tell you more what that means, but I can't really read too good."

A contraction caused Evie to cry out in pain, much to Uma's chagrin. "I'll tell you what it means: it means this stage is causin' all the pain!" Uma defined. "Isn't she supposed to do some weird breathing thing to help?" She noticed the confused looks. "In movies and TV she goes to some classes and they have this weird way of breathing that's supposed to help with pain."

"Do you remember it?"

"Only because it was stupid."

"Maybe it's not stupid right now. Can you at least try?"

"Okay, who are you and what have you done with Gil Legume?" He couldn't help but grin at that. "How did they do that?" Uma thought back at what she saw, and then demonstrated what she remembered. "Try that, Princess," Evie (and even Gil) soon joined in. It did manage to calm Evie. "Maybe those idiots on TV did know what they were talking about."

…

"Ben, stop," Mal instructed before he pulled up to the border between Auradon and the Isle. "That's her." As he took his seatbelt off, she stopped him. "You stay here, I'm gonna go alone."

"You sure?" he double-checked.

"I got this."

"Kiss for luck?" They smooched. "Good luck."

Mal took a deep breath and headed over to where a figure was sitting. She didn't say anything as she took a seat beside Dizzy, opting to have the other girl break the silence. When Dizzy just buried her head in her knees, Mal decided to speak up. "We found Celia and she told us what happened." Dizzy let out a whimper. "I don't want to say that you're not in trouble, because Fairy Godmother did say there will be consequences for your actions. I can say that those consequences do not involve sending you back to the Isle."

"But I blew up the school," Dizzy reminded.

"Not all of it."

"They're gonna kick me out of Auradon Prep and then I'll have to go back to Granny."

"No, they're not. This was only your first mess up and you didn't do this alone."

"Celia wouldn't have done it if it wasn't for me."

"You could have said no to her and just do it in the chemistry lab."

"I didn't want everyone to mess up and make fun of me. Practicing alone was going well until I accidentally mixed the wrong chemicals because Celia and I were laughing. When I realized what I'd done, I just ran. I know I wasn't thinking. Now I'm in trouble and I'm gonna be arrested."

"This lockdown was mostly put up so we could find you. Above all: everyone was worried about you."

Dizzy couldn't help but sob. "And now everyone's gonna hate me."

"No," Mal pulled her closer and soothed her back, "no one's gonna hate you. You made a mistake, we want to help you fix it."

"When Evie finds out she won't-"

"Evie is not going to kick you out. She loves you like a sister. And even if they were gonna kick you out of school, she'd still let you keep your job. Even more so because she's gonna have a baby. And since you're like her sister, this baby will be like your niece and you-"

That last statement cheered Dizzy up and she squealed with delight. "Evie's having a girl?!"

"Dammit," Mal cursed under her breath knowing Dizzy couldn't really keep secrets either (though at this point, Mal herself could be included in that list). "Okay, yes, but you're not supposed to know."

"Can I at least tell Celia?"

"I guess; I don't think she'd really care."

"Oh my God, this is so cool! I can't wait to play with her, and teach her everything I know, and do her hair and makeup, and…oh this is so exciting!" Dizzy suddenly stopped. "I'm still in trouble though."

"Dizzy, I promise you're going to stay in school and stay here in Auradon. Even if I have to use my Queenly Privilege to keep it that way."

Dizzy embraced Mal in a hug. "Thank you, Mal."

"Come on: let's get you back so we can lift the barrier."

"Then can we get ice cream?"

"After your punishment."

"Ugh, fine." Dizzy followed Mal to the car.

"Dizzy, thank God," he went over to her to make sure she wasn't maimed. "Are you okay?"

She nodded. "Are you mad at me?"

He shook his head. "No; but I've been really worried. What made you go and run off like that?"

"We'll explain in the car," Mal told him. "For now: let's go home so we can end this lockdown."

…

"And butt pop," Jay was choreographing Carlos and Harry. "Wow, Harry, you catch on quick."

"And sorry about the whole drawing on your face thing," Carlos apologized.

Harry shrugged. "You didn't use permanent marker. Plus you just gave me glasses, a mustache, and a goatee; that's rather tame compared to the phallic drawings."

"What does 'phallic' mean?"

Before Harry could define, Jay clapped his hands together. "Let's try it from the top guys! A five-six-seven-eight." He clapped his hands to the rhythm as he listed the dance moves. "Spank that bottom! Spank that bottom!"

"CARLOS HAS A MESSAGE!" the sound of Dude's voice had everyone looking around the room in confusion.

"The bloody hell is that?" Harry questioned.

"That's just my text notification," Carlos clarified. "I recorded my dog-"

Jay had interrupted him by bringing up, "How could you get a text notification if electronics aren't working?"

"I couldn't unless…" immediately, all the guys went for their phones as the TV started droning in the background. "Hey, I think everything's working! Guys!" Carlos ran into the workshop. "Guys," he paused when he noticed a pained Evie trying to breathe around an uncomfortable Uma as Gil read a book at Evie's legs. "Guys, wait til you hear what's happening!"

"Kind of in the middle of something Carlos," Evie replied through gritted teeth.

"I think the lockdown's ending. Our phones and the TV are working. I'm gonna see if we can go outside." Carlos ran past them and out the workshop door. "WE CAN!" He cheered as he came back in. "Guys, we can go outside!"

"I'm so frickin' happy you can go outside, Carlos! Why don't you go and-" Evie's next choice in words weren't exactly Carlos friendly. Heck, even Uma and Gil were staring at her in shock.

"She uh…" Uma didn't know what to say to that, "…she didn't mean that; that's the pain talking."

Carlos pointed to the door. "I'm gonna go around the front and see what Jay and Harry are doing."

No sooner had Carlos left did Evie's phone ring. "I'll get it!" Uma bounded from her spot next to Evie and over to the desk where Evie's phone was. "It's your man." Uma answered her phone. "Hey Doug, what up?"

"Uma?" on the other end of the line, Doug sounded confused.

"That's my name."

"Are you still with Evie?"

"Unfortunately."

"Can I talk to her?"

In the background, Evie let out another agonized moan. "Yee-ah, I don't really think she can talk right now."

"What? Why not? What did you do?"

"Me? Nuh-uh, I had nothing to do with this; this was all you, Dork."

"She's in labor isn't she?" Doug sounded surprisingly calm.

"And you're not freaking out?"

"Oh, I am; very much so. I'm just trying to remain as calm as I possibly can so that I don't say or do anything I'll regret. That being said: could you please put me on speaker so that I can talk to my wife?"

Uma brought the phone over to Evie and put it on speaker. "Okay Dork, you're on speaker."

"Evie? Evie, can you hear me?"

"Doug!" hearing her husband's voice brought some sense of comfort to Evie. "Doug, please tell me you're on your way."

"I'm just leaving the school. Everything's fine, I'll explain it all later, but right now I have to focus getting back safe to you."

"Everything's happening so fast. I'm afraid you won't make it."

"Don't think like that. Positive thoughts bring positive actions. I'll be there."

"I'm sorry, Doug, I should have listened to you last night when you said that discharge might have been my mucus plug."

"Oh my God," Uma was visibly disgusted by that.

"If I did, then I wouldn't be on the workshop floor having Gil deliver the baby."

Doug didn't expect to hear that part. "Gil?"

"Hi, Doug!" Gil greeted to the phone. "Hey Doug, she's almost to page fifty-three!" Evie let out another anguished cry. "But, uh…I think she already knows that."

"YA THINK?" Evie bitingly questioned back.

"Okay…" Doug was trying to form a coherent thought, "just…I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Doug-" too late, he had hung up. Another moaned cry. "He's not gonna make it!"

"Yes, he will, Princess," Uma tried to assure. "Dork's always been there for you and I can tell he's doing everything to get here. I hate to admit it: but I actually like you two together."

"Aww, you do?"

"Yes," Uma grumbled her admittance. "So maybe that will be enough for the universe to let him get here on time."

Another pain shot through Evie. "Oh no!"

"What 'oh no', don't say 'oh no'! 'Oh no' what?"

"I have to push."

"OH NO!"

"Evie, no!" Gil tried to sway her from not doing that. "You're only dill-at-ed to nine and you gotta wait til you're at ten before pushing."

Evie didn't exactly agree with that notion. "Screw that!"

"It's not gonna be much longer. Until then, you need to focus on something besides the urge to push. Uma, can you distract her?"

"Umm…" Uma looked around the room. "So Princess, what's the latest in fashion right now?"

"I don't want to talk about fashion, Uma!" Evie snapped at her.

"Well, I got nothin'."

"Hey guys," Carlos came back in the room with Jay and Harry. "I think we can help with the distraction thing."

"You gonna get her some drugs or somethin'?"

"No," Jay answered back. "Boys, let's get in formation," Jay did something with his phone before setting it down. Suddenly the sounds of "Push It" encompassed the room. In what was almost perfect synchronization, Harry, Jay, and Carlos were performing the full dance they had been taught earlier.

This simple gesture brought a smile to Evie's face. "I'm definitely distracted." She kept her eyes on the dance as Uma pulled out her phone and filmed.

As much as she didn't want to admit it, Uma was also enjoying this. "So. Much. Butt." When the dance was over and the men had taken their bows, Evie let out a shriek of anguish louder than her previous ones. "She'd give you a round of applause, but…" Uma gestured to the scene before them.

"Okay, we are definitely at ten!" Gil announced.

"What do you mean we?" Evie griped at him.

"Evie, it's all you! You can push with the next contraction."

"And we're outta here," Jay had informed them before he, Harry, and Carlos sprinted out of the room.

"Eh," Uma wasn't fazed by this, "they're pretty much useless anyway." The only response to this was Evie crying out in pain again. "Ah! Why couldn't they have used that time to call for medical attention?"

"It wouldn't get here fast enough," Gil answered her rhetorical question. "Evie, you can start pushing now."

Evie vehemently shook her head and repeated, "No."

"Didn't you practically beg to start pushing?" Uma questioned her.

"I changed my mind. I'll wait."

Gil practically vetoed that idea by telling her, "I don't think your baby's gonna wait."

Unfortunately for Evie, he was right. "Oh my God," she reached out and grabbed Uma's arm.

"Push!"

"Ah!"

"AH!" the last scream was Uma as Evie put her arm in a death grip. The back and forth screaming between the women continued until Gil asked Evie to stop pushing. Uma tried to hide the tears that welled in her eyes as she looked away and rubbed her arm. "Damn Princess, trim your fingernails!"

"I'm here!" Doug's voice could be heard approaching the workshop before he burst through the door.

"Doug!" Despite the misery she was in, Evie was overjoyed to see him and she let him give her a quick kiss. "You made it."

"I told you I would."

"Great," Uma stood up. "Now that your man's here, I'm gonna-"

"No, don't go!" Evie stopped her. "I really want you to stay."

"Yeah, but I really don't."

"As temporary Captain, I'm ordering you to stay," Gil commanded.

"But-"

"Captain's Orders."

Uma huffed. "Fine, I'll go stand over there."

"Actually Uma, I need you to help hold Evie's leg back. I'm gonna need a little more space for the head and shoulders to come out."

"So you want me…" Uma was none too thrilled about where the needed location was. "Nuh-uh! Nope! No way!"

"Yeah-huh! Yep! And yes way!"

Naturally, the former captain grumbled as she got back down. "Okay, but I'm lookin' away and keepin' my eyes closed."

"Good luck with that. Doug can you get the other leg?" Doug nodded and held back Evie's other leg with one hand while Evie held onto his other one. "Cool," Gil looked down at the book. "Okay so after this next push, the head should be out."

"And then she's done, right?"

"I don't know, Uma; are you just a head?"

"I meant can't you just pull it out once the head comes through?"

"Can I?" Evie's screaming alerted them that it really wasn't the time to focus on that. "Right, gotta get the head first. Evie: keep pushing. Uma: hold up the book and turn it until you see a picture with a baby's head out."

With noticeably reluctant disgust, Uma picked up the book and saw its photographic contents. "Oh my God, that is unnatural!" She flashed him the book. "That's it, right?"

"One more page." Uma turned the page without looking. "That doesn't help me, it's mostly words! Read what it says!"

Uma held the book out to Doug. "You heard the man, read what it says."

Doug tried to. "I can't really read it with your shaking."

"Then take the book."

"With what, my foot? Uma, you're gonna have to read it."

"I'll just try to hold it so-"

Evie wasn't having any of this. "Will you just read the damn book already?!"

Uma swallowed the bile rising in her throat and made a retching noise. "The book says that once the head is it, the baby should be cleared of any fluid in its mouth or nose. If possible: clear the breathing pathways before or during the delivery of the shoulders. Once both of the baby's shoulders are delivered, the baby will essentially slide out. She's gotta push til both the shoulders are out." As she looked away from the book, Uma caught a glimpse of something coming out. Again, she somehow managed to hold back the vomit and eased some tension by revealing to Evie, "Kid's got a full head of hair."

Doug looked down and gasped in awe. "Evie, it's blue! The hair is blue."

"Why would you willingly look at that?"

"You're doing so good, Evie. She's almost out."

"Dude! She's not supposed to know."

"Evie couldn't wait; we found out a couple of days ago."

"You tellin' me Carlos could have been in here this whole time?"

"Please tell me the shoulders are out!" Evie whined.

"Just one," Gil informed as he finished cleaning out the baby's nose and mouth. "Uma, ready the jacket." Uma picked up the discarded jacket and readied it. "It's all you, Evie."

"You got this," Doug assured her as he squeezed her hand.

Evie nodded weakly and used whatever strength she could muster for one last push. And then, her cries of pain were drowned out by someone else's crying. "Is she okay?"

Gil smiled up at Evie. "She's okay." He wrapped the newborn in the jacket as a bewildered Uma watched. When Evie held out her arms, Gil took the hint and passed the jacketed newborn to her awaiting mother.

"Oh my God," despite the biggest smile on her face, Evie couldn't fight back the tears when she looked at her husband. "This is our baby."

"I'm so proud of you," Doug praised as he kissed his wife's forehead. "Evie, she's so beautiful."

They watched as their daughter opened her eyes and explored the world around her. "Doug, she has your eyes."

"Thankfully she has your looks."

"She's looking at me," Evie cooed as she stroked the newborn's cheek. "Hi," she let the baby grip her finger. "Thanks for coming out of me."

"Hey uh…" Uma cleared her throat unsure of what to say, "congratulations. You did good, Princess."

"Thank you, Uma. I really do appreciate you being here."

"You do realize I'm never gonna be able to look at you the same way ever again." This made the new parents laugh. "Also, there's some…birth on this dress I'm wearin', so you might wanna…"

"We'll worry about that later."

There was a tap on the workshop door. Carlos was standing there with Jay and Harry behind him. "You guys up for some visitors?"

"Come on in."

Carlos lead the way as the three of them gathered around the birth site. Once again in near perfect sync, Carlos, Jay, and Harry went "Aww," and fawned over the newest arrival.

"Hey guys, I want to thank you for the dance. It really meant a lot that you did that for me."

"Don't mention it," Jay brushed that off as he let his niece take a hold of his finger. "This one's got a strong grip."

"Does she have a name?" Carlos inquired.

"We thought about breaking tradition and not naming the baby with 'D' or 'E'," Doug explained. "That just made it all the more harder to find names."

"We also wanted to try to find a name that seemed unique," Evie added. "Like one that seemed normal, but you never really hear it."

"That was one of the reasons we spoiled the sex of the baby."

Carlos' jaw went slack. "Wait, you already knew?"

Evie nodded. "Anyway: Doug and I found ourselves coming back to the name 'Emma'."

"The only problem is the name is really common," Doug noted. "I mean apparently the name 'Emma' means 'universal' and you hear it practically everywhere."

"So we tried some variations on that name and found one that just…it just seemed right."

"And directly after we tried it aloud, our daughter kicked in response like she was giving her approval."

"Therefore: we're going to name her Emmy."

"Aww, Emmy's a really pretty name," Carlos complimented.

Jay tilted his head when he looked at the baby. "Yeah, she looks like an Emmy."

"Do we know any Emmys?" Harry asked Uma and Gil.

Uma contemplated this. "No, but does Emmy sound like some kind of award?"

"Well, she's my award," Evie defended.

There was a knock on the door. "That's probably the ambulance we called," Carlos observed as he answered the door.

"I'll get out of the way," Gil rose from his spot and walked away.

"Gil," Jay chased after him, "what you did for Evie: that was pretty amazing." Gil didn't say anything. "I'm sorry, okay." That got Gil's attention. "I just…I tried to make you jealous. I didn't know you were gonna freak out like that."

"Jay, I'm not good with words, and feelings, and stuff; but I had this weird feeling that I can't explain when I saw you flirting with Lonnie, and then she kissed you, and then you kissed her back, and you kept on kissing her-"

"Alright, I kissed her!"

"I had never felt like that before when you did that. Usually when you flirt with other people, you just flirt and then we go back to our place. I do that too, but we never take it as far as you did when you made out with her. I got really jealous and we both said some things. Then when I said what I said about wanting it to be just you and me: you just dropped the subject like it meant nothing and so I went back to Uma's."

"It caught me off guard: I didn't know what to say."

"So say something now. Are we in this together, just you and me? Can I call you my boyfriend?"

Jay grinned. "Only if I can call you mine."

Gil hugged him. "I missed you too, Jay."

"Come home." Gil nodded and the two shared a tender kiss.

"Ahem," everyone turned to see Ben had entered through the castle into the workshop with Mal, Jane, and Dizzy (who was eating ice cream) behind him, "what did we miss?"

…

Once everything was settled and everyone met Emmy, Ben and Mal returned to their own castle. "She's probably the cutest baby I've ever seen," Ben broke the silence when they arrived home.

"Yeah," Mal didn't put any emotion in her tone when she agreed.

"You okay?"

"Ben…" Mal sighed, "I've been lying to you."

"You have?"

She nodded. "There's a reason I haven't gotten pregnant yet."

"Is there something wrong physically?"

"I'm still taking birth control."

"Oh?"

"I wasn't sure if I was ready for kids. I was happy with it being just us and wanting to resist expectations to give you an heir. But after today…" she trailed off, "after all that with Celia, and Dizzy, and Evie and Emmy: I did some thinking."

"And?"

"And as an anniversary present to you: I'm going to stop taking birth control."

He approached her. "You mean that?"

A nod. "I don't think anyone's ever really ready to be a parent when it happens, but then it does and a sort of instinct takes over. I sorta felt that instinct today, and I want it. And if you really love the person you're with, you want to share a little piece of them forever and a child is the best example of that. I love you, Ben. I love you and I want to have your children."

"I love you too," he kissed her, "and if I could: I would want to have your children."

"I would definitely prefer you had them as well," they shared a laugh.

"We're really gonna try for a baby, no turning back?"

"No turning back."

Ben enveloped her in his arms. "You seem kinda tense. Everything okay?"

"Yeah," Mal assured him as she watched the clock strike midnight. She let himself fall further into her embrace as she confirmed, "everything's fine."

Thanks for reading everyone. Peace out!