Day by Day

Chapter 23: Goodbye Girls

The day had finally come. The day where Brelyn and Jacey would be handed off to the orphanage for who knows when was today. Things weren't exactly the happiest to say the least. The two families tried to take their minds off of it as much as they could, but obviously, something like this wasn't something to be taken lightly. Carlos and Jane and Evie and Doug didn't know what to do to help their friends in this situation. The best thing they could do was be there for when they needed it.

Ben and Mal and Jay and Lonnie decided to head over together. Maybe if they had the other with them, it would take a bit of the pressure off. However, it didn't seem to do much. Both families were incredibly upset about everything that was going on. They were sad that they could no longer be in their daughters' lives. They were angry at whoever was sending the threats, which continued to happen, and who caused this entire situation to happen in the first place.

Before leaving, the families let the girls have some time with their grandparents. Belle and Beast held Brelyn closely, knowing this would probably be the last time they would see their granddaughter. It was hard to see, not only their son's child, but also the next heir of Auradon be handed off. As for Jacey, Mulan and Shang cooed and cuddled her before handing her back to Lonnie.

When the two families arrived at the orphanage, they were greeted by two women: a middle-aged woman named Trina Anderson and a young lady named Kylee Jones. Trina was the school teacher at the orphanage, and Kylee was the owner of the establishment. Mal and Jay knew her very well given that she was an orphan on the Isle of the Lost when she was a kid. Kylee had wanted to start the orphanage to give those without a family a home, which was something she didn't have on the Isle.

They were given a tour of the orphanage to see just how safe their girls would be. There were kids happily running around and playing with each other. Seemed like a good environment for two, little girls to grow up in. Ms. Jones had warned them that they do run low on food once in a while, but they always make sure every kid gets fed something. Ben then promised to send some food over.

After a couple more hours, the time had finally come where it was time to say goodbye to the girls. Lonnie had already started tearing up within the first hour of being there. Mal, however, was able to hold it in at that moment. She knew Brelyn would be fine there, and, hopefully, she would see her again one day, but there was just so much more that was on Mal's mind.

The families finally left in the orphanage in a crying mess. The only sound that was heard on the limo ride home was the sound of sniffs from crying. The two families didn't really speak to anyone for a bit. One couldn't blame them. Giving up their children wasn't something that could be gotten over in a day. These things took time, and that's what everyone was giving them.

Eventually, a couple weeks had passed, and Ben and Lonnie seemed to have recollected themselves and returned to their everyday schedules. Of course, they weren't exactly the same as they were before, but they were still, slowly, getting over it. Mal and Jay, however, hadn't really recovered the same way their significant others had.

Everyone noticed this and thought it was kind of weird. They weren't talking to anyone. Ben and Lonnie even had a hard time getting through to them. Carlos and Evie had gotten the idea to just stick the two in a room alone and have them talk about it. They had mentioned that the two were best friends since they were little kids, and there was no doubt that they were basically brother and sister.

The day that the group stuck Jay and Mal in the room had come, and Mal and Jay sat in a room alone in the castle. The two were silent for quite some time before one spoke up.

Jay was the one who ultimately broke the silence. "So," he began, "how are you holding up?"

"Honestly, I'm not....really," Mal said. She chuckled. "There has been a lot of...."

"Crying?" Jay finished for her.

"Yeah."

"Hey," Jay began, "everything's going to be okay. If Brelyn and Jacey are anything like us, if they're anything like Ben or Lonnie, they'll be fine. I know they will be."

"I know she'll be fine. I know they'll be fine together," Mal said. "It's just..."

"Yeah," Jay said, nodding his head.

"How do you even know what I was going to say?"

"I think we may be going through the same thing," Jay said.

"What is it that's going through your mind?" Mal asked.

Jay sighed. "I guess Jacey was my chance to show the world that I truly am not my dad," Jay said. "To show people that I could care for someone besides myself. To show people that I am not the villain that everyone thinks I am, even though a lot of people don't believe this. And not only to the people. To prove-"

"To prove to yourself that you can be the parent that your parent never was to you," Mal said. "To prove to yourself that you can do this despite everything you've been through and everything you knew. To prove that...your past does not define you. To prove that your past is not today, and you can be something else. Basically, actually taking to heart everything they taught us back in our Auradon Prep days. We are not our parents." Jay nodded. "Jay, I know you and I both know that we are nothing like our parents."

"I know," Jay replied. "But the feeling that you could one day snap is just so scary."

"I know what you mean," Mal added. "Hey, just promise me this." Jay payed attention very closely. "No matter what happens, we will stick together. This also includes Carlos and Evie."

"I promise."

"Also, even though I know all of them are pretty careful, it isn't certain that Jane and Carlos or Evie and Doug won't have kids at some point," Mal said. "If that happens, we have to make sure they are alright. Unlike us, they won't have a couple months or a couple weeks. They'll have, at most, like a day."

The two continued to talk about their feelings, which was something they had learned from living in Auradon. They liked having talks like this. It gave them a chance to talk about the things they couldn't bring themselves to say to their Auradon-born spouses. They laughed once they started talking about their memories from when they were younger. It was in that moment that they knew that they would be okay. Everything would be okay.

(I gave Ms. Jones and Mrs. Anderson first names. Yay!)