Spelled

Chapter Sixteen

Willa's POV:

"She's right," Jess said. "She's been through enough. She's going home."

"I'll stay," Wayne volunteered. "The rest of you need to go home."

"No!" Finn exclaimed. "We need your help. We can't defeat the OTs without you."

The group chattered and hollered not-so-friendly suggestions of who should stay behind to each other when Wayne interrupted. "You don't have to go home," he said. "It would be easier for all of you to stay."

I whipped my head around to face him. "What?"

"The OTs will be looking for you once you return. It will be even harder than before we were all cast into this place because they have had time to gain power." Wayne's eyes crinkled. "Like I told Charlene, once you hop through that portal, there's no getting off of this ride."

A bittersweet tear slipped down Charlene's face as she remembered. Willa was sympathetic. She knew that Char would miss being able to fight the OTs and such. But she was a mother now.

"Guys," I said. "I need to talk to all of you privately."

"No," Charlene snapped. "You need to talk to them away from me. But it's fine, I'll leave. The portal won't open initially without me." Her short skirt whipped around the corner of her door right before she slammed it behind her.

"You guys know how much I love Char, don't you?" I stood and played with my fingers, looking at my closest friends.

"More than us," Amanda said, but not in a mean way. Almost regretfully.

"So I obviously want what's best for her, right?" Everyone nodded. "She needs to stay here. It's too dangerous for her back home. Here, she's a queen. Maleficent won't hurt her, and she has the best protection from anything that might want to." I sighed. "Besides, she's pregnant. She'll be targeted back home."

"But how do we keep her here?" Finn asked. "Everyone has to step on the stones, then the portal will open up. If she doesn't want to stay then she'll just jump in."

"Which is why," a tear slipped down my cheek, "I'm not stepping on my stone."

Jess gasped, Amanda started crying, and the boys looked disparagingly at me. 

"You can't make all of us suffer for her!" Maybeck exclaimed.

"You should suffer, Maybeck," I pointed a finger at him. "You did this to her!"

Maybeck turned red. "It was consensual."

"I'll only stay off the stone until the baby is born. She won't leave her baby," I said, trying to salvage my friendships.

Philby strode desperately over to me and took my hands in his own. Our foreheads almost touched as he leaned down. "We have to go home, Wills. Aren't I more important to you than her?"

Silent tears welled up in my eyes and I leaned forward, locking lips with him. It was the longest, most passionate kiss we'd ever shared. A half smile lit Dell's face once I pulled away.

I backed away. "Until about 5 minutes ago, I thought so, yes."

I've never seen Dell cry before until today.

Everyone snarled at me. I felt so alone. I gasped. This is how Charlene felt all the time. I shook my head as I cried, "We are horrible friends," and ran out of the room, shoving past Dell, Jess, and the rest of the guys. 

I searched the castle, looking everywhere for Char. Finally, I found her in the library. I'd never seen Char in a library before. Lots of firsts today.

"How are you not crying all of the time?" I asked from about ten feet away.

Charlene squinted at me, a facade of hate in her eyes. "No tears left to cry."

"How do you not hate us?" I swallowed. "How do you not hate me?"

The facade of hatred snapped in her eyes and she looked genuinely at me. With a shrug, she whispered, "I don't hate my father. How could I hate you guys?"

Charlene's father had left on her 14th birthday. After he forgot her 13th, they'd had a falling out and he discovered that she wasn't all that important to him. Neither was his wife.

I pushed back my shoulders. "None of us are leaving, Char. I'm not stepping on the stone."

Charlene's eyes flared. "I have to get my baby home."

"To what, Char?" I asked. "To the OTs trying to kill it?"

Charlene flinched and her face lit up.

"What's wrong?" I asked, stepping hesitantly forward.

Charlene rested her hand on her stomach, looked down, then back up at me. "They kicked," she whispered. 

"They?" I asked.

"I think I'm having twins."

My eyes widened. "How do you know?"

"Mother's intuition?" she replied casually. How was she so calm? I was panicking and she was the pregnant one.

Charlene waggled her eyebrows. "There's one way to find out."

"What?" I asked. 

"It's not bloodwork," Charlene shuddered. She stood and grabbed my hand, dragging me back to her bedroom. At this point, I was a mixture of concerned and dreadfully confused.

"Everyone sit on a stone!" she announced, clapping her hands together. No one moved. Charlene narrowed her eyes. "Now."

Everyone, even me, scrambled to sit on a stone. "No one hops through," she cautioned as she walked towards the remaining stone. "One by one, we'll stick a foot through. I'll start." Charlene sat down on her stone. A purple/pink portal opened and she dangled her leg through.

I was next, then Amanda, Finn, Philby, Wayne, then Maybeck tried. It was like the portal was stone again. Jess tried. Charlene held her breath and took her leg out. Maybeck and Jess's legs sank through.

Happy tears flew down Charlene's cheeks.

"I'm having twins," Maybeck gasped, standing. The portal closed, kicking all of our legs out.

Charlene howled with laughter and looked up at Maybeck. "Don't worry, babe. I'll carry this one for you."

The room was silent as Maybeck walked over to Charlene, sat down beside her and pulled her into his lap. She rested her head against his chest and he kissed the top of her head, not looking up. They were both crying. So was Jess, because in that moment it was clear who Maybeck loved.

"We're really sorry, Wayne," Amanda said bittersweetly. Charlene looked up. 

"Really?" she asked hopefully.

Amanda nodded. "Disney can find another group to fight the OTs."

"And another mentor," Wayne smiled.

"We're a family," Finn said, slinging his arm around Amanda. "Families stick together."

Jess held up an arm. "I'm moving out. I can't watch," she gestured to Maybeck and Charlene, "that."

"Think about how I felt for the last few months," Charlene said into Maybeck's chest. Maybeck grimaced. "You can sleep in the shed."

We all laughed. That was the Charlene we all knew and loved.