Choosing Family

Chapter Twenty Five

Mal smiled as she watched Hadie played on the floor of the den, Estelle keeping a watchful eye on the proceedings. A couple of years had gone by since her brother had been born and Mal wouldn't have traded it for the world. Nothing had really changed in terms of her family dynamics—there was just an extra person now who got her protection.

Her nasty inner voice had been wrong, something Mal had never been happier to think.

Plus, Hadie allowed her to test out her skills drawing people. Whenever Hadie went down for a nap, Mal snuck in and sat by the crib with her sketchbook in hand. So far her sketches looked like a deformed potato but there was one that looked close to human.

"Hey Mali," Persephone said with a smile as she walked in to the den.

"Hey Steph," Mal said, looking up. Ever since she had that talk with her dad, Hades and Persephone always seemed to find ways to prove Mal wasn't being replaced and that she had a spot in the family. For Mal's eighth birthday, Persephone gave her a leather jacket she had made using material she had obtained over in Auradon. It was mainly purple and silver but had a smidgeon of green near the elbows. No one would question it though—green was Maleficent's color after all even though Mal pretended the green was for Persephone instead.

But Mal's favorite part of the jacket was on the back. There, on the center of the jacket, were two dragons: one purple and one dark blue, almost black. No one would question it at a glance and with Mal being known as Maleficent's daughter on the Isle, no one would dare look twice.

Mal never took it off—sure the sleeves were a bit long and Steph had made it slightly bigger than a normal jacket to allow Mal the chance to grow into it but Mal didn't mind. The best part was definitely the dragons, Mal still couldn't believe Steph had included them. She still remembered the talk she had had with Persephone regarding her love of dragons when she was eight.

Mal bit her lip as she sketched out the outline of a dragon, one of the many attempts on the page. She couldn't help but feel a bit guilty but she found that she really liked dragons. Despite the link they had to Maleficent, Mal couldn't help but be drawn to them.

"Mal?" Persephone said, knocking on her door. Mal looked up and quickly closed her sketchbook. The last thing she wanted was for Persephone to realize that Mal liked dragons. That might be the straw that breaks the camel's back so to speak and Persephone would kick her out of the Underworld.

"Yeah Steph?"

"What are you drawing?" Persephone asked, giving Mal a smile.

"Just sketching," Mal shrugged. "What's up?"

"Nothing much, just wanted to stop by," Persephone said as she sat down on the bed and picked up the sketchbook. "Can I look?"

"It's not all that good—"

"I'm sure it looks just fine," Persephone said. "Your drawings always are amazing."

Mal smiled slightly before sighing. "Go ahead," she said softly.

Persephone opened the sketchbook and couldn't help but smile slightly as she looked through the sketches of Hadie, Uma, Estelle...and then she came across the page of dragon attempts.

"I...I know who dragons are connected to," Mal said softly as Persephone remained silent. "But I can't help it. Dragons are still awesome, the way they look with the curves and the rough exterior of the scales. Not to mention the ability to fly and breathe fire—"

"Mal, there's nothing wrong with liking dragons," Persephone told her. "Just because Maleficent is who most people think of when they think of dragons doesn't mean you need to be ashamed of liking them. As well, dragons are often connected to the Gods so it would make sense that you're drawn to them."