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Evie was fifteen when Jay and Aubrey had their daughter. Evie had been so happy for them. Jay and Aubrey had married, and were happy. But they also had less time for Evie, but she understood. A baby was a lot of work. Evie and Doug were attending Auradon High, living on campus, so she only saw her parents on every other weekend. But Jay and Aubrey stopped showing up on their weekends.

But then she was sixteen when Carlos and Jane, who had been married for three years, had their own daughter. She smiled when she met the baby, but she knew she was going to lose them too.

And she did. They had to give their attention to the baby, but Evie still had Mal and Ben. The two had King and Queen duties, but always made sure Evie had them in their lives.

But when she was seventeen, Mal got pregnant. Evie was happy for her mother, knowing that she would be a great mother, because she was one. But then her mother got busy. She had so much to get done before the baby came. And Evie was in her last year of Auradon High. She was reaching a milestone, and she was excited to talk to her mother and father about her post-high school plans. But her mother started to miss their days.

“I’m sorry,” Mal would say, “this is the only day I was able to get an appointment.”

“I’m sorry baby, there was a dispute that I had to handle.”

“I’m sorry Eves, Ben had to go to Arendelle so I had to step in for him.”

And each “I’m sorry ” felt like a stab to her chest. But she would grin and bear it. She had to do everything in her power not to be sent away.

Evie was home for the summer, and Mal was five months along. Evie didn’t see her mother too much. She was always busy, either with her Queen duties, or getting ready for the baby.  Evie was sure she saw Ben more, and he was busy ruling a whole kingdom.

Evie had spent a lot of time alone. She was used to it, but it did bring up memories she thought she had forgotten.

But instead of being left with “I wish you were never born” and “You are a disgrace”, she was left with “I’m sorry’s” and “I love you’s”.

Evie was excited for her new brother or sister. But she was not ready to lose another set of parents. She knew she would never match up with her siblings, but it didn’t make it hurt any less when they left her.

-

Doug looked at Evie. The girl seemed sadder and sadder every time he saw her. He’d try to help her feel better, but it seemed like nothing was working. The shine in her eyes was dissipating and it hurt to know she was hurting.

“Hey,” Doug whispered, looking at Evie. The blue haired girl looked up, “how are you doing?”

Evie gave him a half smile. “Good. Just thinking about what I’m going to do after school.”

Doug nodded. “I can’t believe so much has changed.”

“So much,” Evie muttered, getting a far away look in her eyes.

“Hey, what’s going on?” He asked, his voice taking a softer tone.

Evie’s eyes hardened for a second, before they softened. Doug was ready for her to snap, to become angry. And as much as he didn’t want her to be mad, he did want another emotion out of her. But Evie just sighed. “I’m going to lose them.”

Doug frowned. Lose who ? She looked at Evie, but she wasn’t looking at him. She looked down at her hands.

“I’m just some kid they found and felt they had to save. And the others, they have to accept me. And now they are having kids they actually want.”

“Evie-”

“My own birth mother didn’t want me. She hated me. She would tell me how much she hated me. How much she wished she never birthed me. How her life would have been so much easier without me.”

Doug knew of the Evil Queen. Had heard stories from his Aunt Snow. Had heard snippets of Evie’s abuse. But never from the girl in front of her. She never talked about the abuse she endured, and Doug was never going to push her.

“They are going to leave me,” she whispered, as if it was hitting her for the first time, but Doug knew it was something Evie had been thinking about for a while. “Papa, Jay and Carlos already did. Mom is next.”

“Evie-” Doug tried, reaching over to touch her, but the princess flinched. She blinked the tears in her eyes away and stood up.

“I have to go.”

“Evie-” Doug called out, but his girlfriend just walked away from him. He wanted to follow her, but he didn’t want to push her. He clenched his jaw. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He pressed a contact button and placed it against his ear. “I need to talk to you about Evie.”

Evie gripped the strap of her bag. She had walked around the neighborhood, wanting to clear her mind. She walked the driveway of the castle, and into her home, for however long that was going to be. Evie closed the door and turned, finding Mal standing in front of her.

“Hey Evie, can we talk?” her mother, no,  Mal asked. Evie’s eyes went to the growing belly of the woman.

“I, I’m tired,” she responded, shaking her head. She turned to look at the ground, not wanting the woman to see her break.

“Evie, it’s important,” Mal whispered, taking a step forward.

Evie opened her mouth to respond, but she could only think of one thing. This was it. They were going to get rid of her. They didn’t want her anymore. She felt her chest tightened. She felt like she couldn’t get enough air into her mouth.

Evie started to gasp for air, tears filled her eyes.

“Hey, breathe,” Mal said, pulling the teenager into her arms. Evie leaned into it, not having the strength to hold herself up. “C’mon, follow me, in, and out.”

Evie tried to follow Mal’s advice, inhaling when told to do so, and exhaling. She shook her head.’

“No, whatever is going through your head right now, it’s not real. It’s not true,” Mal whispered, holding Evie close. The young girl leaned into her mother, holding her close. Mal just rocked her, whispered for her to breathe.

Mal knew she was at fault. It was her fault. She had neglected her first child. Had put her on the back burner. And Mal knew how much not being a priority to your parents hurt. She had dealt with it with her mother.

Mal looked at the sleeping girl next to her. After Evie’s panic attack, Mal had helped her daughter to bed. Evie had fallen asleep with a tight grip on Mal’s shirt.

She waited until Evie’s grip loosened, and then kissed the top of the girl’s head. She pulled out her phone and called the boys, knowing they would have to undo what they had done to Evie.

It was twenty minutes later that the three former-villain adults sat around the living room.

“We have been fucking up,” Mal said, looking at Jay and Carlos.

Carlos frowned, and Jay just looked confused.

Mal sighed. “When is the last time either spent any time with Evie?”

Jay opened his mouth to answer, before closing it. He frowned, “I-I don’t remember. Probably before Emily was born.”

Carlos looked heartbroken. He nodded his head. “Before Elena was born.”

“We’ve been neglecting our child,” Mal told them, “and it’s hurting her. She had a panic attack. And Doug says she is just waiting for us to send her away.”

“What do we do?” Carlos whispered, his eyes shining with unshed tears.

“We make it up to her,” Jay responded, sounding determined.

“We show her we love her,” Mal told them.

When Evie woke up, she was alone. She felt her heart drop, cursing herself for thinking that her mother would be with her when she woke up. She pushed herself up and flinched, her head pounding. She rubbed her eyes, trying to release the tension.

Evie got off the bed and walked out of her bedroom, heading to the kitchen to find medication for her headache.

Evie stepped into the kitchen and froze. She saw Mal and Ben, Jay and Aubrey, Carlos and Jane, as well as Emily and Elena. She watched as Ben, Aubrey and Jane worked around the kitchen. Carlos, Jay and Mal were just watching them.

“Evie!” Elena exclaimed, and Evie watched as everyone turned to look at her.

“Eves, come join us,” Aubrey told her, and Evie’s eyes shifted to Mal. The Queen of Auradon smiled and nodded. Evie walked into the kitchen, her eyes looking at everyone.

“Wh-what’s going on?”

“I thought we could have a family dinner,” Ben said, giving Evie an easy smile. The younger girl felt her heart thump against her chest. Her hands started to get clammy, and she felt her head spin. Her chest tightened.

Mal quickly stood up and rushed to her daughter. She placed her hands on the teen’s cheeks and looked into her eyes. “Hey, look at me. You’re okay, we’re here. We aren’t going anywhere.”

Evie looked into Mal’s eyes, and gave her a small nod. “Let’s have dinner, and then we can all talk, okay?”

“Okay,” Evie whispered, rubbing her eyes.

Evie sat down and watched as her parents all worked around the kitchen, and before she knew it, the food was spread on the dinner table.

Mal and Ben sat at either side of the table, with Jay, Aubrey and Emily on one side, and Carlos, Jane, Elena and Evie on the other. Evie between Carlos and Mal, with Jay across from her.

The food was passed around, and once everyone’s plates were filled, everyone started eating. Evie felt her stomach roll, and she spread the food around her plate. Evie flinched when Mal placed her hand on Evie’s. She looked at Mal, who looked concerned.

“Hey, I think it’s time we all talked,” Mal said, and Evie looked down at her plate.

“It’s okay,” Evie whispered, her voice low. “Grandpa Adam and Grandma Belle are nice.”

“Evie, look at me,” Mal said, and the teen looked at Evie. “I know we haven’t proved it to you, but we love you. And you aren’t going anywhere.”

“Evie, you are all our first kid,” Aubrey told her from the other end of the table

The teen looked at her, tears filling her eyes. She cleared her throat.

“Why do you think we named your sister Elena?” Jane asked, getting her daughter’s attention, “we wanted our kids to share the first letter of their name.”

“It’s the same reason we named our child Emily,” Jay added.

“You’re stuck with us Evie,” Ben told her, “you have been since we’ve met you.”

“We choose you,” Carlos said, reaching over and grabbing her hand. “We choose you and we love you.”

“You aren’t going anywhere, and we’re sorry we made you feel like you were. You are our first child, and you always will be,” Mal told her.

Evie felt the knot in her throat grow. She blinked, feeling the tears threaten to fall. “It hurt,” Evie whispered, “I-I felt like, I felt like you were forgetting me.”

“You have brought us so much joy Evie, so much happiness. You are the reason we searched for a better life,” Mal responded. “We have a lot to make up for. But we love you Evie. We all love you and I am never going to get rid of you.”

Evie looked up at Mal, and smiled softly. She nodded, feeling the tightness of her chest dissipated. She felt like she could breathe again, and felt like her world wasn’t ending.

“Okay,” the teenager responded. “Okay.”

Things did change. Her fathers took her out to family outings. She got to know her two sisters. She joined Mal when she had a doctor's appointment. Hearing her mother talk about her new sibling didn’t bring dread anymore.

Mal made sure to make time for Evie, even when she was tired. Fortunately she had an understanding daughter, and they’d just lay together and watch movies.

Evie started to open up about the abuse she remembered to Doug, who would just tell her how much he loved and admired her. It always brought a smile to her face.

It wasn’t until four months later that Evie officially met her new sibling. Evie wasn’t allowed into the room for obvious reasons. She sat with her fathers. They would distract her as much as they could, but Evie had read about complications during births. She knew her mother was strong, but she’d always have that small doubt in her head.

Evie was falling asleep on Carlos’s shoulder, when Ben walked to them. Evie shot up from her seat and looked at her father.

Ben gave her a smile. “Would you like to meet your brother?”

Evie’s eyes lit up. She nodded. She turned to Jay and Carlos, but they waved her off. Evie walked behind Ben. She walked into the hospital room, finding her exhausted mother holding a blue bundle. Evie walked to Mal, and her mother just smiled.

“Meet your little brother, Ethan,” Mal whispered.

Evie looked at the baby. He was so small. She reached down and touched his hand.

“Do you want to hold him?”

Evie nodded. Ben helped transfer the baby to Evie’s arms. The teenager looked down at the baby in her arms. She felt an enormous amount of love for him. She looked at her parents, who were smiling at her. She looked back down at the baby.

“Welcome to the family, little Prince. You are going to be loved.”