Part III
"Do you trust me?"
"Always." Even when Mal had no idea what Evie's plan was, this was the most straightforward truth. Mal trusted Evie with her entire soul. The half-fairy would undoubtedly put her life in the hands of her blue-haired princess.
The purple-haired girl just followed her girlfriend without any other word. The boys were following closely too. None of them talking. Just walking through the dark and filthy streets of the Isle of the Lost. It was almost dawn, not precisely the best hour to be roaming the streets, especially when Mal was not feeling herself, and all she wanted to do was lie down. The chilling morning was taking a toll over the purple-haired girl.
Since she had acknowledged her condition, almost two weeks ago, the half-fairy felt tired, susceptible, queasy, with many food cravings and aversions, and a frequent insufferable need to pee, which, to the purple-haired girl, was the worst feeling ever.
Soon, but not soon enough, she noticed they were heading to Lost Revenge. The shorter girl stopped in her tracks, making the whole gang stop with her.
"What exactly are we gonna do at Uma's ship?"
"You said you trust me." Evie reminded her.
"And I do. I really do." Mal planted herself in front of the blue-haired princess, making eye contact with her girlfriend. "But I don't understand why you wanna go see her."
"I'll explain it to you, but you have to go along with it for now."
"Evie, really, you can't expect us to just go along with this." Jay interrupted the girls. "I mean, Uma? Seriously?"
"Yeah, she can't even see Mal from a mile away without trying to kill us all, and you want to go inside her turf?" Carlos was almost shaking.
"Well, you either come with me," Evie crossed her arms, making clear she was not changing her mind or explaining herself at the moment. "Or I'll go alone, but either way, I need to talk to her."
Mal gave a heavy sigh. "Of course, we'll go with you."
The purple-haired girl looked at the boys with a clear intention to stop any discussion from them. As predicted, none of the boys said anything else, and Mal was a little grateful because of that. The scary part of all this was the fact that she was not sure of what to expect. Why would Evie need to speak with Uma from all people? The purple-haired girl figured she soon would find out.
The four Villain Kids resumed their walk down the hill to where Uma's ship was docked at the shore.
"What the fuck are you doing here?" One of Uma's pirates greeted the core four.
"Please let Uma know I want to talk to her." The blue-haired girl answered, politely as always but with firm intention.
"And why would I do that?" The pirate insisted.
"Because I am telling you." Mal shuddered with Evie's voice. It was infrequently, but when the princess wanted to be intimidating, she indeed could.
The pirate rolled his eyes, trying to hide his discomfort, and went looking for his Captain.
"Why on earth are you in my ship?!" The sea witch sounded angry as always, looking directly at Mal's eyes. Which intensely irritated the purple-haired girl. Mal squared her shoulder, ready to fight.
"Can we talk privately?" Evie planted herself between both girls, shielding her girlfriend from the fury of the sea witch and taking all the attention toward herself.
"Why? What do you want?" The sea witch growled at the blue-haired princess. Mal shifted uncomfortably. No one should dare to talk like that to her girlfriend.
"Please, in private, Uma." The princess insisted.
The sea witch rolled her eyes, but nonetheless turned on her heels, clearly expecting the core four to follow. Mal had a bad feeling in her gut while they walked through the Lost Revenge. At some point, Harry and Gil joined Uma and the core four, which made Mal more uneasy. Uma guided them to inside a cabin on the lower level of the ship.
Once they were away from prying ears and with the door soundly shut behind them all, the sea witch had little to none patience.
"What do you want? Speak now."
"I need to make a deal with you." The blue-haired girl deadpanned.
"And why exactly would I agree to that?"
"Because once you cared about me."
Uma shifted, visibly upset with the blue-haired princess words, and Mal felt no better. She hated the idea of Uma caring about her pretty girl. Hated that her girlfriend once knew and befriended the cruel and awful sea witch.
"What do you want?" The sea witch repeated herself, making a futile effort to control her facial expression.
"A truce between your crew and ours." Evie began. "You manage the seashore, which gives you greater access to food. We will do favors for you in exchange for better food."
Uma looked at the blue-haired girl like she just grew a second head.
"Since when do you care about food?" The sea witch circled around Evie, trying to understand what kind of plot Mal's gang pretended to pull. "You essentially live from air. Your mother has made her mission to keep you as thin as a twig."
Mal felt her blood boiling inside. This was a sour topic for her girlfriend. The purple-haired girl was not sure what exactly did Evie want to achieve, but everything in her body was screaming for her to come forward and shield her girlfriend from the judgmental look Uma was giving to the blue-haired princess.
"Yeah, well," Evie answered, relatively calm. "I can't afford that anymore."
"And why's that?" Harry interrupted the conversation for the first time, with his annoying yet charming voice.
"Because I'm pregnant."
Mal almost felt her jaw fell to the ground at Evie's words. What was her girlfriend thinking? The purple-haired girl felt her mind going at a thousand miles per hour, trying to understand what was happening. Nothing made sense. Why was Evie telling Uma, from all people, something that, in the first place, was not true, and secondly would give to the sea witch an advantage over Evie? Mal was totally confused, but she was no one to question her girlfriend in front of everyone. She would wait until they were alone.
The purple-haired half-fairy looked behind herself, searching for the boys and trying to take note of their reaction. This was a piece of real new news for them too. They were not aware of Mal's condition, and they were obviously not expecting something like this. Nonetheless, the purple-haired girl saw as they fixed their features, putting on a great poker face so they would not betray Evie's statement.
"Come again?" Uma said once she recovered from the shock, clearly waiting for the moment someone would call off the prank.
"I'm pregnant," Evie repeated with her most serious face.
"So, Mal has a penis that no one knew about, or did you cheat on her?" Mal locked eyes with Uma, feeling the venom behind the sea witch's smirk. The purple-haired girl had to control herself to not jump at Uma's throat.
"Forget I even asked for your help." Evie took Mal's hand in hers and pulled her towards the exit.
"Wait," Uma sighed, defeated. "It was just a joke. It's none of my business how you became pregnant. But what exactly are you asking for?"
The purple-haired girl felt Evie squeezing her hand before she let go and turned again to face Uma. Mal was not sure how Evie pretended to go along with this story. In a few weeks, it would be pretty obvious which one of them was actually pregnant. It is not like one can really hide a baby bump.
"Just what I just told." The blue-haired girl explained. "I'm just asking for a little truce between us and food, and in exchange, we'll do jobs for you." Evie paused for a moment as if gathering her thoughts. "I can't risk my mother seeing me once I start showing, so in a few weeks, I'll go into hiding, and Mal, being Mal, she wouldn't let me alone, so she will be hiding with me. Only the boys will know where we are, and they will keep working with you until the end of our deal."
Mal could almost feel the boys tightening behind her. Evie was mostly selling Jay and Carlos to be Uma's errand boys. This was not right, but she was also sure none of them would ever say no to the blue-haired princess.
"So you'll be hiding for the next what... eight months?" Uma asked, clearly trying to wrap her head around the idea.
"We'll be hiding for around six months. Right now, I'm almost two."
Uma kept silent for a while. Mal felt anxious. The purple-haired girl wanted to end with this charade and take her girlfriend away from the three pirates' prying eyes. There has been no other time when Mal wished more than now she could read people's thoughts. For starters, she needed to know what was going on in Evie's mind, and lastly, she was also trying to figure out what was Uma, Harry, and Gil thinking about this new information.
"Ok, you may have your truce."
"Good," Evie took a step forward, extending her hand for Uma to take. The sea witch shook the blue-haired girl hand, sealing the deal. "I trust you won't say a word about this outside this room."
"I don't have to explain to any of my crew." The sea witch voice was bitter. "And Harry and Gil wouldn't dare to defy me."
"I'm sure." Evie let go of Uma's hand and returned to her place beside Mal.
The purple-haired girl took Evie's hand in hers, possessively. Making sure everyone in that room knew the blue-haired girl belonged to her. Evie was hers, only hers, and the idea of five people believing her princess had done something wrong was killing her.
"Well," Mal spoke for the first time, looking straight at Uma's eyes. "If we don't have anything more to discussed, I would pretty much like to take my girlfriend back home."
The half-fairy did not wait for anyone to respond. The purple-haired girl needed to get Evie away from all these people, even their friends, so she could freely talk to her blue-haired princess. Mal pulled Evie's hand and led the way outside the steamy ship. She could hear Jay and Carlos' steps right behind them.
By the time the four Villain Kids were out of the Lost Revenge; the sun was up, and not-shinning since this was the Isle of the Lost, but Mal was mostly sure it was probably past mid-morning. The purple-haired girl was internally groaning for the early wake. Only her blue-haired girlfriend would drag them all up to Uma's ship this early.
They walked in silence most of the way. Mal was unsure of what to make of all the recent events. She was mostly waiting for Evie to explain herself, and she was also feeling exhausted. All she wanted to do right now was to sleep; -no, talk to her girlfriend, cuddle with her girlfriend, and then sleep with her girlfriend between her arms. That was what the purple-haired girl wanted and needed to do, in that precise order.
"I'm sorry I virtually sold you, boys, to Uma." Evie interrupted de silence once they were half the way between the Lost Revenge and the hideout.
"It's ok, Evie. We will always do everything for you." Carlos sounded sincere, but it was also evident that he felt hurt because Evie did not tell them first.
"I'm..." Evie hesitated, and Mal was tempted to step in and tell the boys the truth. She could not bear the thought of her blue-haired girl feeling guilty for lying to Carlos and Jay. "I'm so sorry." Evie continued before Mal could even set her mind. "I know I should have told you first about everything, but I was afraid. I'm still afraid, and I know it was a dick move from me to go behind your backs, but right now, I need to put the baby first."
The purple-haired girl felt her heart sank at her girlfriend's words. From the very first moment two weeks ago, when they figured Mal was pregnant, Evie had been nothing but supportive. And here she was, once again being an awesome girlfriend, thinking about the baby that was growing inside Mal.
"We totally understand, Evie," Jay said, placing his arm around the blue-haired girl's shoulders while they kept walking. From Evie's right side, where Mal was walking, she could see the guilty look on her girlfriend's face. "We will protect you and the baby." Jay continued, and the purple-haired fairy was a little surprise none of the boys were making questions about Evie's supposed pregnancy.
"Thank you," Evie said to both Carlos and Jay.
"You have nothing to thank for," Carlos said with a warm smile.
After that, they kept walking in silence. Evie holding Mal's hand in her own, the purple-haired girl knew that was her girlfriend's way to say that everything would be fine. And for what was worth, Mal believed her.
None of the Isle's inhabitants were early risers, but by the time they reach the hideout, the streets were full of noise. The purple-haired girl knew soon they should be heading to Dragon Hall, especially since Evie refuses to let any of them become dropouts, classes start at noon, so the half-fairy figured she had some time to talk to her girlfriend.
"Do you guys need some time alone?" Jay asked once they were right below the danger sign outside the hideout.
"Yeah," Evie answered for both of them. "If you don't mind."
"Sure," Carlos interrupted. "We'll see you guys at school."
"Thanks," Mal told the boys.
Both girls climbed the stairs, side by side. Once they found themselves inside their home, Mal allowed the tension to leave her shoulders. The purple-haired girl pulled her girlfriend into a crushing hug, feeling her princess reciprocate the hug, and they stayed that way for a long time. They both needed that physical contact.
Reluctantly, after a few minutes, the purple-haired girl let go of her girlfriend but kept her at a close distance.
"Will you explain to me what that was all about?"
Evie sighed as she took her seat on the couch, patted the sofa to indicate that Mal should sit next to her.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you the plan, but I knew if I told you you'd disagree."
"Of course I don't agree, E. I'm worried that someone is going to open their mouth, and your mom will find out something that isn't even true. I'm sure Evil Queen will go crazy if she hears that her precious princess is pregnant."
"My mom is not going to find out. Even if you and Uma have a terrible history with each other, I know she would never dare to betray me. I can't imagine Uma explaining to her crew why our deal and she won't let Harry or Gil open their mouths either. Although we are no longer friends, I trust that she will be able to keep the secret."
Mal was uncomfortable with those words. It was not pleasant to hear that her girlfriend trusted someone else wholly. Somehow it made her jealous for all the years she could not be in Evie's life. Of course, if Mal thought about it, she was the only one to blame since thanks to her tantrum during Evie's six birthday party, Maleficent had banished the blue-haired princess and her mother.
"I am afraid," Mal confessed after a few minutes of silence. "You shouldn't have made that decision without talking to me."
"I know, M." Evie placed her hands on either side of Mal's face. "But I also know that there is no way you can handle the fact that other people may know you are pregnant. If I'd offered to make a deal with Uma, you wouldn't have accepted, and to be honest, we need help. Eventually, you won't be able to do much of what you do now, and I can't protect you with Jay and Carlos alone. We need more help. It's not like we have a reliable food source. I can't let you keep feeding the baby nothing but stale pudding."
"It's my favorite," Mal pouted in a sad whisper.
"I know, but it's not real food." Evie stroked her girlfriend's face. "I need you and the baby to be safe and as well cared for as possible. This deal solves several things. First, because I know you don't want people to know about the pregnancy, being in hiding, no one has to know. If, in the end, when the baby is born, you still feel the same way, I have no problem maintaining the position that the baby is mine. Since we won't have any contact with anyone for the next few months, people shouldn't have any reason to doubt it."
"What if the baby ends up looking just like me?"
"We'll figure that out when the time comes. For now, the important thing is that as long as we're in hiding, we won't have to worry about Jay or Carlos getting into trouble; our most significant enemy will be our ally, at least for a while. We'll have decent food to keep you and the baby as healthy as possible. Nothing could go wrong. I mean, a lot of this could, but I think the basic needs will be covered."
"You've really thought a lot about this, haven't you?"
"From the first moment, right after you told me that we would be keeping the baby."
"We?"
"Yes, Mal. Although it seems that it hasn't been clear in this hard little head of yours yet. I'm not going anywhere, I'm with you as far as you'll let me. And this baby," Evie placed a hand gently on Mal's belly. "I want it to be ours. I will dedicate my whole life to you and him or her."
Mal felt that the tears were gathering dangerously in her eyes. Between the hormones and Evie's words, the purple-haired girl feared that if the dam broke, there would be nothing to stop her crying.
"I love you," Mal told Evie.
"I love you more."
The purple-haired girl buried her face in her girlfriend's neck, trying to hold back the crying that threatened to come out. She definitely did not know how she had been lucky enough to be chosen by Evie. She could not have asked for a better girlfriend than the blue-haired princess.
They moved from the couch to the bed, where Mal was being the big spoon for her girlfriend. There was nothing the purple-haired girl liked more than having her princess between her arms.
"When I start to get big and can't hold you like this anymore, I think I'll lose my mind."
Evie laughed softly at the comment. She took Mal's hand and held it to her mouth for a delicate kiss.
"Don't worry, it's still several weeks away. And when that's the case, I'll be more than happy to become the big spoon for you and the baby."
Mal could almost feel the smile in her girlfriend's voice.
"You really get excited about the baby, don't you?"
"Yes, it fills me with excitement to imagine a little person growing inside of you who will eventually fill my world with greater joy. I can't wait to meet the mini you."
"What if he or she doesn't look like me?" the purple-haired girl asked in a whisper. "What if they do look like...?"
"Shh..." Evie interrupted her and turned in the purple-haired girl's arms to look at her girlfriend in the eye. "Please don't think about that, this baby will be just like you and no one else."
Mal went even closer to her girlfriend to allow her arms to comfort her and chase away the tormenting thoughts.
"Do you want to know something else I've been researching?" Evie broke the silence.
"Tell me."
"Actually, it's kind of like a series of fun facts." The purple-haired girl looked at her girlfriend with great attention. "I found a book that explains almost week by week the changes in both the mother and the baby, and if the math is right, I think you're seven weeks along now."
"Seven..." Mal repeated severely, trying to wrap her mind around that idea.
"Yes, seven weeks," Evie repeated as if to help her understand the information. "And apart from all the symptoms, we have already discovered. That is tiredness, the constant urge to go to the bathroom, your aversion to food as well as your cravings, etc. etc. You will probably soon start to feel your breasts are more sensitive, you may feel your stomach congested, and we will definitely see more of nausea and vomiting over the next few weeks".
"And is there any good news about what you read? Definitely, nothing you've told me sounds appealing."
"Well, there's a comparison so we can imagine the size of the baby. Do you want to know how big it is?"
"Let's see, tell me."
"The baby is like a blueberry," Evie said in a dreamy voice.
"A blueberry? Like you?" When Mal used to call Evie 'blueberry princess', it was basically an insult, but it became a pet name for her over time.
"Yes, a blueberry like me." The blue-haired princess planted a delicate kiss on the purple-haired girl's lips. "Do you want to know another fun fact?"
"Yes." Mal didn't even hesitate.
"The baby has a tail." The princess said matter-of-factly.
"What?!" Mal almost jumped out of bed. "A tail? Why? I don't want a baby with a tail."
Evie laughed at her girlfriend's reaction.
"Don't worry, they will lose it during the next week."
"By Hades, I really can't imagine a baby with a tail. E, you really want to kill me with a heart attack, don't you?"
"I would never." Evie kissed the purple-haired girl tenderly. "You're my entire life. I could never harm you."
They were silent for a while, enjoying each other's company. Giving and receiving pecks from one another. Caressing their faces and simply being happy in their embrace.
"Do you wanna know another fun fact?" Evie said after a long time.
"Please tell me the baby has no horns." The purple-haired girl said in an alarmed voice, which made the other girl laughed.
"No," Evie answered between giggles. "But being your child, it is a possibility I wouldn't rule out."
They both laughed for a long time, imagining the little baby inside Mal with a tail and horns. It definitely was not something the purple-haired girl wanted, but considering that she is part dragon, it is certainly possible.
"And what's the funny thing you wanted to tell me?" Mal asked when they stopped laughing.
"It's not about the baby." Evie started. "It's actually about us."
Mal stared at the blue-haired princess. Hoping she would dare to continue.
"In a week, it's our first anniversary."
Both girls got lost in each other's eyes. Mal was unsure what exactly she was feeling, but it was warm and welcome, just like her blue-haired girlfriend. She could not believe it had been a year since they got together. It is not a frequent custom in the Isle of the Lost to celebrate anniversaries, but everything was worthied to give it a try with Evie.
"A year," Mal broke the silence. "Given everything, even with all the bad stuff, this is a year I wouldn't change for anything, E. My life with you is perfect, and I thank whatever entity that put you in my path."
"I do, too, M. I do, too."
"I love you, E. I know I already told you, but seriously you're the most important thing in my life."