Choosing Life

Chapter Fifty Nine

Mal smiled softly as she held Bianca in her arms. A couple of months had passed since the birth of her second daughter and things had finally settled down enough that they could have another playdate.

Okay, technically it was a magic practice session for Effy, Ari, Percy, Maddie, Paige, Reese, Emily, Helena, and Caroline. The last thing anyone needed was for their magic to go haywire especially since they were still getting used to it. Using small amounts of magic would be better for their bodies to recover from than randomly occurring bouts.

Even if the randomly occurring bouts did make nap time easier.

"Thanks for letting us crash the magic session," Ginny said as she and Chad walked up, Ben getting up to give them a hand as each parent had a baby with them. Mal smiled as Bruno ran over to the other kids, who were already being watched by Estelle and Nyx.

"Did you think we'd say no?" Mal asked.

"I mean...Chris and Gabi don't have magic so I thought..."

Mal shook her head. "Ginny, your babies are what? Two, three months old? The same age as Elle's son and she brought him without any complaints from us. Your kids are more than welcome at our playdates."

"Plus the kids know they're not supposed to be close enough to hit us with any magic so the babies will be fine," Emma added. "Truthfully the only thing I'm worried about is Ethan potentially getting hit."

"Where's Eva?" Uma asked.

Emma shook her head. "Where do you think? My husband hasn't let her out of his sight since we brought her home from the hospital, claiming he's giving me time to relax though I think it's his way of being able to hover over the kids since he can't shadow Ben as often. I'm assuming Harry has Milah?"

"The little lass needed a change but she's all set now," Harry said as he walked up, his daughter cooing happily in his arms.

Jay shook his head in amusement, Jaxson babbling happily from his spot on Jay's shoulders as the three of them came up the path to the backyard. "Never thought I'd see the day where First Mate Hook was so domestic," he teased.

"Hush you, or do I need to hold up a mirror?" Harry asked, teasing Jay right back.

Henry chuckled from his spot under the umbrella, his red hair leaving him at a higher risk of burning even with the slight tan he'd developed after all his years in Auradon. Yes, Clara and Hali had no magic to speak of but Mal had insisted Ari and Paige not be left out of the magical play date as she called it and so insisted Henry bring his daughters as well. Plus, Percy and Maddie were here so she didn't want any of the cousins to feel left out.

"You know, sometimes it's a good thing you have a castle Mal," Claudine said. "Otherwise I don't know if you'd have enough room for all the kids."

Mal chuckled. "You can thank Ben for the castle, it wouldn't be possible without him you know."

"I knew you only loved me for my castle," Ben snorted in amusement as Mal smirked, scrunching up her nose at him as the kids came running up to Jay; their game/magic practice abandoned out of preference for the new arrival.

"Unca Jay, did you really play Tourney with Unca Ben?" Helena asked.

"Sure did kiddo," Jay nodded. "Your Uncle Carlos was also on the team, same with your Uncle Emir, Uncle Chad, and Uncle Akiho."

Reese crossed his arms over his chest, puffing up as if vindicated. "See? I told you!"

"But...they're not famous," Helena said. "How could Unca Jay be famous and not Unca Ben, Unca Carlos, Unca Emir, Unca Chad, and Unca Akiho?"