"Oh and then me and daddy went to the zoo! It was so much fun! I couldn't see the animals very well so he picked me up and put me on his shoulders! It was so cool! I was on top of the world!" Olivia squealed out excitedly as she began to talk about how much fun she had on her daddy daughter day yesterday. Mal just nodded along even though she was starting to feel upset.

Mal didn't get why that was. Mal always loved hearing about her friend's adventures, but for some reason hearing how much fun Olivia had with her daddy was making her want to cry. She never had a daddy before and she was okay with that. She had her mommy and all her aunties and uncles. She didn't need a daddy, but why was she feeling this way?

Before Mal could realize what was happening she just burst into tears making her friend quickly stop telling her story as she ran over to the younger girl. "Mal what's wrong! You love hearing about my adventures. Are you okay," the seven year old asked her friend in concern.

Mal was about to nod her head yes until the door opened as Olivia's daddy had just gotten back from work. "Guess who got home early!" Olivia's dad called out, making the young girl release her hold on Mal as she quickly ran over to her dad excitedly and hugged onto him.

"Yay! Daddy you're home!" Olivia exclaimed excitedly as she became distracted by her dad leaving Mal to just watch sadly as the upset feeling returned again in fact it got stronger as a realization hit the small girl. She wanted this. She wanted a daddy.

Olivia continued to be distracted with her dad until the preschooler couldn't hold back anymore as she started bawling her eyes out. "Mal are you okay," the older girl asked her friend again once she let go of her dad and saw her younger friend bawling.

"I wanna go home! I wanna go home! I wanna go home!" The young girl cried out as she didn't like watching Olivia with her daddy. It was hurting and making her feel worse. She just wanted to go back home and be with her mommy and aunties.

"But Mal you're opposed to sleepover tonight," the seven year old told her friend who just shook her head no as she continued to just sob and beg and to go home. "Okay I'll go tell mommy and daddy," Olivia told her friend as she quickly ran off to get her parents who both came running in to see the sobbing little girl curled up on the floor as they immediately bent down to be at her eye level.

"Aw Mal sweetie what's wrong? Olivia said you're upset," Olivia's mom told the small girl who just kept crying as she looked at her friend's mommy it wasn't helping seeing how happy everything was with a completed family it was hurting more.

"I wanna go home! And I no feel good!" Mal cried out as she threw up, making her cry more. "Aw sweetie, it's okay. Come on let's get you cleaned up and call your mommy," Olivia's mom told the young preschooler as she carefully helped her up and helped clean her up and change out of her throw up covered clothes.

Once Mal was cleaned up the older girl's mom wrapped her up in a blanket because she was shaking as she then helped her lay down on the couch and grabbed her phone to call Evie. Evie picked up right away to her relief.

"What's going on! Is Mal okay!" Evie panicked out as soon as she saw her phone was ringing due to Olivia's mom who was keeping Mal over for a sleepover. "Evie relax, remember to take deep breaths. And yes she's fine, but she is feeling a little sick and begging to go home. And she did throw up. Don't worry I cleaned it up and her clothes are clean too. I know how much you love that outfit," Olivia's mom told Evie over the phone.

"Okay thank you so much for that and thanks for letting me know. I'm on my way now," Evie told the older mom as she quickly hung up then looked at Ben. "Is everything okay," Ben asked his friend as Evie had been over at the castle helping him out with some paperwork.

"Yeah everything is fine. Mal just isn't feeling well and wants to come home, so I have to go get her. I'm sorry Ben I would love to help you with this but I really have to go get her now! Ugh where did I put my stupid keys! I know I have them!" Evie quickly told Ben as she began to grab her stuff while trying to stay calm.

"Evie hey calm down it's okay. And you don't have your keys with you. I drove you here remember," Ben told Evie in his calm voice trying to get her to calm down as he knew Evie was about five seconds from breaking down.

"Oh right! Ben, can you take me to Olivia's house then! I don't want to waste anymore time by going home and getting my car then going over," Evie told Ben who just smiled a little as he nodded.

"Yeah I can drive you. Let's go," Ben told Evie as he grabbed his keys and they both quickly left. As soon as they got to the house Evie immediately opened the car door as she went running. "Don't worry baby mommy is coming!" Evie cried out as she ran inside the door making Ben laugh a little as he looked at the confused mother on the other side of the door as Evie just opened it and ran inside not even bothering to close the door.

"I'm so sorry about that. She's just been worried ever since you called," Ben told the mom who smiled as she nodded. "No it's okay your majesty. I figured she would react like that. A Mother's intuition is very strong," Olivia's mom told the king who laughed.

"Yeah and Evie's is like 10 times that," Ben joked out making the older mom laugh as she had known Evie for two years and she knew that what Ben was saying was definitely accurate but she found it cute.

"Yeah but that just means she's an amazing mom," the older girl told Ben who blushed as he thought about Evie and how caring she was especially when it came to Mal who was Evie's whole entire world.

While Ben and Olivia's mom were making small talk Evie immediately went straight over to the couch where she found the small girl curled up in a blanket and clinging to her favorite dragon toy.

Evie just held back her tears as she sat down by Mal and gently moved the covers so that she could see Mal's face as she then carefully placed the pace of her hand to Mal's forehead.

Mal woke up immediately and started crying as she had been sleeping peacefully and didn't want to wake up because it made her feel more sick.

"Aw I know sweetie I'm sorry. It's okay it's just me," Evie told Mal in her gentle voice, making the small girl look up and smile a little as she saw her mommy was finally here.

"Mommy you here! I no feel good mommy and I wanna go home," Mal cried out, making Evie nod sadly as she picked her up.

"I know my little apple. We're going home now. Just go back to sleep okay," Evie told the preschooler who just nodded as she laid her head down on Evie and fell asleep again.

"Hey I'm really sorry about the inconvenience. And please let Olivia know that she's always welcomed to spend the night whenever Mal gets better of course. Ben let's go now," Evie told her friends, making the mom smile as she agreed while Ben just nodded and followed Evie to the car.

"Is she okay?" Ben asked as he watched Evie gently place Mal down into her car seat and buckle her in. Evie just nodded as she quietly closed the door and got into the car.

"Yeah she's fine. She does feel warm though, so I'm assuming she has a fever. Ugh I knew this was a bad idea. Why am I so bad at this," Evie told Ben as she ran her fingers through Mal's purple hair.

"Evie you're not bad at this. You're an amazing mom and she's lucky to have you," Ben told Evie who just blushed a little before snapping out of it,

"You really think so?" Evie asked, making Ben smile again. "Yeah of course I do. Anyway we're here now. Do you want help or," Ben began but Evie just nodded as she looked at her friend.

"Yeah could you bring Mal in for me," Evie asked Ben who just smiled as he looked at the sleeping little girl cuddling with her dragon. "Yeah of course," Ben told his friend as he parked the car and then carefully unbuckled and picked Mal up.

"You weren't kidding. She does feel warm," Ben told Evie who just sighed as she slowly nodded. "I know I'm worried," Evie told the young boy as she unlocked the door and let Ben inside.

"Oh wow this place seems so um," Ben began but Evie interrupted as she nodded.

"Yeah Ava had to stay at her old dorm for a little bit. It's dead week at her school so she wanted to stay on campus for a few days to really focus. Lola's out with Jenny for the weekend. April is visiting Nick and Tessa is on tour with Reed. So yeah it's just me and Mal for a few days. I know it's really quiet right now. I'm definitely not used to this anymore," Evie told Ben sadly as she really was missing her sisters right now and she could really use their help right now with Mal.

"Yeah I can see that. I'm sorry," Ben told his friend as he felt bad. He could tell Evie looked stressed out as she always got paranoid when Mal would get sick and it probably didn't help that she was going to be alone.

"Yeah but it's whatever. I mean I've been alone before. I can handle it. Anyway you should just put her in her bed and you should probably go. I mean you probably have like a whole bunch of work to do," Evie told Ben who was going to try to argue but he knew Evie was right.

As much as he wanted to help he did have a lot of work to do. "You sure?" Ben asked Evie who just slowly nodded. "Yeah I got her," Evie told the young king who sighed as he carefully placed Mal down in her bed, but as soon as he tried to get up the small girl reached up and grabbed his sleeve with her tiny hand.

"No go!" Mal cried out as she didn't want Ben to leave. "Mal sweetie Ben has to go. He has a lot of work to do. It's okay we can just spend time together just you and me like old times. How does that sound?" Evie told the little girl who just started sobbing.

"Evie it's okay. I can stay," Ben told Evie who just massaged her forehead in frustration. "No Ben, I can't do that. You're so busy and it's fine. I'll get her to calm down. She's just cranky because she's not feeling very well. Ugh, that reminds me I have to get the thermometer and some medicine! I'll be right back!" Evie rambled out as she ran out of the room to get the thermometer and some child Tylenol.

Ben just laughed a little as he watched Evie. He couldn't help it. Just seeing how much she loved being a mom and how much she wanted to be a good parent it just made him feel a certain way. He couldn't explain it though.

Ben stopped smiling though when the little girl grabbed her stomach as she started crying more. "Mal what's wrong?" Ben asked the little girl in concern. Mal just kept crying though. "It hurts. I no wike it! And I feel icky!" Mal cried out, making Ben look at the girl in sadness.

"Aw I know it's okay. Your mommy will be back soon and she's going to make you feel better," Ben told the little girl who just looked up at him. "Pwease no leave me," Mal told Ben who smiled a little.

"Don't worry I'm not going anywhere," Ben told Mal who smiled before she started crying in pain again. Ben just carefully pulled Mal towards him as he ran his fingers through Mal's hair like he always saw Evie do with her.

"Hey sorry it took so long I couldn't find the thermometer, but I finally found it. I really have to stop letting Mal play with it. Anyway thanks for watching her but you should probably go now and oh my gosh that is so cute," Evie told Ben when she caught her eyes on Mal sleeping cuddled up on Ben who was just running his fingers through her hair.

"It's fine and I think I'm going to stay. You look like you could use the help," Ben told Evie who smiled as she nodded. "You sure though?" Evie asked Ben who looked at the sick sleeping little girl.

"Yeah I'm sure. I'll just tell them my friend needed help. They'll understand," Ben told Evie who smiled as she got into the bed and carefully moved Mal so that she was sleeping on her after taking her temperature and giving her some child Tylenol.

The three of them stayed that way for a few hours before Mal began to stir as she looked up and saw that Ben was still there making her smile as she looked at the two feeling happy that she was finally getting to experience a completed family like the other kids even though she knew that Ben wasn't her daddy it still felt like it right now and that was enough to make her happy.

"Oh I really hate doing this, but it's getting kind of late I really do have to go now. I'm sorry Evie. Good luck and I really hope she feels better. Keep me updated," Ben told Evie who nodded. "Of course thanks for helping out. And yes of course I'll keep you updated bye Ben," Evie told her friend who smiled as he got up and hugged Evie making the two blush as they quickly tried to hide it. "Bye Evie and bye Mal feel better okay," Ben told the small girl as he ruffled her hair making her giggle a little.

"Bye daddy," Mal told Ben as she was still feeling sleepy and wasn't really sure what she was saying as she then fell back to sleep again. "Did she just?" The two asked at the same time as they both had no clue how to react.

"I think she did. Oh my gosh Ben I am so sorry. It's okay she's just not feeling well. She does this sometimes when she's not feeling well. She doesn't know what she's saying. I'm really sorry," Evie rambled out after the shock had finally worn off as Evie was feeling so embarrassed that her daughter had just called someone her daddy.

"No Evie, it's okay. I know she's just sick, she doesn't know what she's saying, it's okay," Ben told Evie as he tried to hide his slight disappointment.

"Okay good again I'm really sorry for that," Evie told Ben who just gave her a fake smile as he nodded. "Yeah anyway it's really late I gotta go. Again keep me updated okay," Ben told his friend as he quickly grabbed his stuff then left making Evie sigh as she looked at the little girl.

"Hey how's it going," Evie heard, making her look up and smile as she saw Ava. "I thought you weren't going to be home for a few more days," Evie told her sister as she ran over to her and hugged her, making them both laugh.

"Finished early. So again what's up? You looked like you were deep in your thoughts," Ava told Evie as she had come in to find her sister just sitting on the couch staring at the tv and clearly not focusing on it.

"Mal called Ben dad today," Evie told Ava, making Ava freeze as she immediately sat down by Evie. "Oh wow I wasn't expecting that," Ava told Evie who nodded as she looked at Ava's flask.

"I know I didn't know how to react. I always thought I was enough for her, but she started crying when Ben tried to leave. Am I not enough for her? I feel like I'm failing," Evie cried out, causing Ava to quickly pull Evie into a hug as she just let her sister cry on her.

"Evie you are enough and you're not failing. Trust me you're doing amazing right now. None of us could ever do what you do," Ava told Evie, making her smile as she started to calm down. "Thanks, I really needed that. I do think Mal needs a dad though," Evie told Ava, making her smile. "So are you going to finally admit that you like Ben," Ava asked Evie, making her blush.

"Okay so maybe I do. You can't tell anyone though," Evie told Ava who smiled. "Aw I knew it! And of course my lips are sealed. It's just our little secret," Ava told Evie who was about to respond when Mal started crying again.

"Well I would love to have more girl talk like this but I should probably go check up on her. Parent duty is never over," Evie playfully told Ava, making her laugh as she got up as well. "Yeah and I'm coming too," Ava told Evie as she followed after.

A few hours later

Evie smiled as she watched Mal cuddled up with all 4 of their sisters as Lola, April, and Tessa had all gotten home as well after finding out Mal was sick as they wanted to be there for her. Evie knew that this wasn't the same as being able to give Mal a dad like she wanted but at least Mal had a family who cared about her and that would be enough for now.