Half and Half

Chapter Nineteen

Belle sank down in her seat, completely exhausted and yet exhilarated. It was Election night and some of the best news she could have ever received was currently being flashed across her television screen.

She had won. She was now officially High Queen of Auradon.

Ben, Abby, and Mal had gone to bed before the results were finalized even though Ben had tried to insist he be allowed to stay up. What if it was bad news, he tried to reason? She would need someone to help her then like he had promised his father.

Much to his surprise but to the amusement of the adults, that argument didn't work. Especially since Chip was leading him off to bed with the argument that he wasn't allowed to stay up ether so Ben honestly should have expected to be sent to bed. Belle knew he likely had stayed up reading until he fell asleep on his own but as long as he was in bed, she was fine with it.

She didn't want him worrying about the election results, just as she didn't want Mal to worry about them either or Abby for that matter but Abby thankfully was still too young to be cognizant of such things as election results. Ben and Mal were old enough though. The months the purple haired girl had spent in the castle had allowed a small fondness to grow in Belle's heart regarding Mal. And it hadn't hurt that Mal was one of the few of Ben's friends who had stuck to his side when his father had been sent to the Isle.

But at least there was one bit of stress that was removed from their lives. They wouldn't have to move out of the castle. The staff would keep their jobs. Abby and Ben would keep their status. She could start work on making the Isle more hospitable.

"Congratulations, your highness," Cogsworth said as he held a tray of tea in his hands. "I thought you might want a celebratory drink before turning in for the night?"

"Thank you Cogsworth but not right now," Belle shook her head. "I'm waiting for the call from Aurora and then I'll turn in."

"Forgive me for speaking out of turn, your highness, but do you really think Queen Leah will allow her daughter to concede to you?" Cogsworth asked as he set the tray down on Belle's desk. "Yes we're all aware that Princess Aurora is an adult with children of her own however..."

Belle sighed. "I'm aware of the concerns Cogsworth however I have to give Aurora the chance to concede. She might be putting her children down for the night and hasn't had the chance to see the results."

Just then, Belle's phone rang; the caller id showing the number for Honeymoon Castle.

"Hello, Aurora?" Belle asked as she answered the phone.

"Hello Belle, good evening," Aurora said, the smile audible in her voice. "Apologies for the delay in this call, unfortunately I was wrapped up in putting Audrey and Phil to bed. The joys of having two children as I'm sure you're well aware of."

"Oh yes," Belle nodded with a small smile, though she held her tongue from commenting further. It was rather rich that Aurora was talking about the struggles of raising two children when she had her husband by her side. Whereas Belle had to do it on her own.

Okay, and they both had a castle full of servants to help them but neither Belle or Aurora wanted their children to be raised by the castle staff. In fact, the closest it got was on Aurora's end where Leah practically was a second mother to Audrey.

Though Leah might have had her rough spots, actually it was hard to think of any good qualities the older woman might possess, Belle couldn't fault her for loving her granddaughter. After all, her father doted on Ben and Abby just as much as Leah doted on Audrey.

Well...Belle assumed that Leah also doted on her grandson but it seemed as though Audrey received more of the attention than Phillip Jr. did.

"Well I don't want to keep you any longer than I need to since it's quite late," Aurora said. "But I wanted to call and concede."