The Redeemable Part Three

by Grace McGinty

  “Pitchfork-ish?”

  “Uh huh. And less normal. He's drinking beer and watching baseball. He makes pop culture references. That's just weird.”

  “Yeah. I found it was best if you just threw out everything you thought you knew about the world and started again.”

  Clary stared at her fingernails for a minute.

  “Clary. What Luc said about your family, you know none of that matters to me, right? Hell, I find it hard to even imagine. I mean, they are loud and boisterous, but mob? I wouldn't have known in a million years.”

  Clary shrugged. “They are old school like that. Keep the women pregnant in the kitchen, and out of the family business. They aren't like you see in the movies, though. It's not that brutal, well the Mulligans aren’t anyway, and the Irish mob is losing ground, going more legitimate. But I went to a lot of funerals when I was younger.”

  I gave her a hug, and a baby kicked. Empathetic little things.

  Valery and Ri walked in, saw Lux and Luc sitting at opposite ends of the couch and Oz on the rocking chair we’d gotten, and headed towards the kitchen with arms full of food. Then came Sam and Tolliver, with the drinks and appetizers. Eli wouldn't be home until six, he had a surgery.

  The party had started. Ri placed the food on the breakfast bar and leaned over, kissing me gently, nipping my lip.

  “You look sexy as hell.”

  “If orcas are your thing, maybe.” I kissed his cheek and he headed off to the living area. Tolliver kissed me, and then my stomach, and Sam did the same.

  “Hey babies,” he whispered at my belly, and I smiled happily. What a weird family we would be.

  The smell of food permeated the apartment. Even my mouth watered, and I’d lost my appetite weeks ago.

  I dipped my finger into the gravy boat and stuck my finger in my mouth. I let out a little moan. “You are an artiste, Valery. This is amazing.”

  “I will make it for you by the gallon if that is what you desire, Ma chérie. Now, please, go rest. Tell one of those good for nothings to give you a seat.” I had no doubt that someone would be quick to offer me a seat, but it was usually on their lap. They needed to touch me, and I didn’t mind. I felt the same pull to touch them as well. But tonight, I needed to stand on my own two feet. Or sit on my own two butt cheeks, in this case.

  I walked out to the lounge room and sat in the large empty space between Lux and Lucifer.

  Luc turned to me. “What is the gender of your babes? I had children once.”

  “Really?”

  Yep. It's why he fell. He questioned god, lay with the daughters of men. Reproduced a bunch. And then came ruler of hell. He’s been a busy boy. Ace sounded amused again, almost like she was proud.

  “Uh, they are girls. We are having girls.”

  “Ah, wonderful. Females are a gift. The vessels of life. A fact beings like Azriel fail to understand. Angels cannot reproduce with other angels. To experience the joy of creating life, you must fall. The problem with this religion, the one that casts me as the devil, is that they’ve demonized women for far too long, as betrayers and temptations. They are the givers, not the takers.” He smiled at me. “You know what's a nice name? Lucia.”

  I stared as he went back to watching the baseball. Huh. I was beginning to see why he fell.

  “I'm not naming my kids after you, you know that right?”

  “Well, if it wasn’t for me, they wouldn't exist. These guys wouldn't exist. They would still be dead souls, being tortured in the pits of hell. Did you know one of the gifts I acquired when I became Satan was the ability to see the various strands of a person’s fate? All the better to deal with, if you catch my drift. For instance, I can see that if it weren’t for my interference in your life, you would still live in your little hick town of Nowhere, and you never would have come to the bright lights of NYC. In fact, you would have married your high school sweetheart, become a bank teller, had 4 boys, all who would get caught up in the drug epidemic that would sweep the town when they were in their teens, two would go to jail, you would hit the bottle and die from cirrhosis of the liver at 55. Your husband would marry his secretary, with which he’d been having an affair for three years, as soon as your body was in the ground. They wouldn't let your sons out to attend your funeral.”

  “I can’t believe you can see the future. I can’t believe I became a bank teller. I hated math in high school.”

  “It was one of many possibilities. You may still die, but at least you will know happiness. You have free will. What happens in this life is up to you. I can only tell the outcomes of the lives that did not happen.”

  That was a scary ability, to know what could have been.

  “In any did I live to be an old lady?”

  Lucifer shook his head. “No. Though the possibilities are infinite, balance is balance. But when I put Ace into your body, I threw out the balance. Now your life is your own, your fate is whatever you want to make it.”

  “Is it though?”

  Luc laughed. “No. Not entirely. But more so than if you had never entered this life.” He put two hands over my stomach, and everyone in the room tensed. Lux’s body was poised to leap over me and tackle Lucifer. I held out a hand to him.

  “Wait. Luc will not hurt my babies, will you?”

  “And risk Ace’s wrath? Never. She's quite the little hellion when she's angry. I remember this one time when I got her a chai latte instead of a mocha latte during the wall street crash of ‘87, well, she didn’t speak to me for a year. Like I was meant to know the difference between these human beverages? They all sounded the same to me.” He tilted his head to the side. “Ah, strong and healthy. Even you, Arcadia, seem to be better than expected, even with the kale.” He looked into my eyes, but he wasn’t looking at me. He was staring directly into my soul. “Acerezeal, what have you been doing?”

  I have no idea what you are talking about. Ace sounded perfectly perplexed.

  I AM SATAN, THE GREAT DECEIVER. LIES DO NOT WORK ON ME ACEREZEAL. WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?

  I am protecting the one who gave me the chance to live again. She stared down the Angel of Death and protected me. Have you lost your sense of honor, Lucifer? Have you fallen so far?

  I WILL ASK AGAIN, MY BELOVED AND ONLY ONCE MORE. WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?

  The temperature in the room dropped suddenly, and Lux was on his feet in front of Luc, a sword that appeared from nowhere pointed at the Devil’s chest. Luc still had his hands on my stomach and I was frozen in fear.

  “Holy fuck, is that a sword? Did it just get cold in here? What is going on?” Clary asked, her voice high pitched.

  I felt Ace rise up, and like last time, she possessed my body and pushed me back until I was just a passenger.

  “I am feeding my life force to the infants. I will continue to do so despite you disagreeance. Feel them Lucifer, see their futures. Because I know you will sense what I do, that their lives are important.”

  Luc was silent, unperturbed by the sword at his throat or the tension in the room. “You will die!” He burst out into the silence, and Ace’s voice, my voice was gentle. “I will not die, my beloved. Not after everything you have accomplished to save me. I have thought this through. Cady means the world to me, she is your Redeemer. These babes are as much mine as they are hers. They must live, and they will. And then I will come back to you. We will be together again, one way or another.”

  The look on Luc's face broke my heart in two. Such a mask of tortured pain that my eyes welled. But then the moment of gone, and back was the rage. “You will do what you will, Acerezeal. You always have, and losing your immortal soul obviously hasn’t taught you anything.” He stood, the point of Lux’s sword drawing blood from the hollow of his neck. He looked at us all, and I’d never felt so small, so fragile. “But know this. If Acerezeal fades into oblivion, you will all promptly follow her.”

  Flames burst up from his feet, smoke swirled around his body and with a crash of thunder, he was gone. All that remain
ed was a scorched glyph on my favorite rug.

  Ace shrunk back into my body, swirling around the babies. I could sense her exhaustion, her torment. That show of defiance had cost her. I left her to her pain. She didn’t want to talk, and I wouldn’t know what to say.

  Clary was muttering the Lord's Prayer, and the guys looked tense and confused.

  “Well, it's not a good dinner party until someone storms out, right?” I said into the silence, and Valery gave a startled smile.

  “Can you please tell Ace that the whole possession thing is really not cool?” Oz said weakly.

  I shook my head sadly. “I don’t think she will be doing it again anytime soon.”

  Tolliver rolled up the now singed rug and put it outside the door. Out of sight and all that. Sam began putting the food out on the table. “We should eat. We can figure this all out of a nice meal. No need for all this hard work to go to waste.”

  The guys all glanced between Val and Sam. “I think they’ve been body swapped,” Orion muttered, and Oz laughed. “Maybe Valery has possessed Sam?”

  Valery just rolled his eyes. “Ha ha guys. But Sam is right. It’s time to eat.”

  Clary slammed a hand down on the table. “Eat? How can you guys even think of eating? You were just threatened by the Devil. Cursed by Satan himself. How can you even think of eating?”

  Sam shrugged. “Happens every time Luc visits. It's just the way he likes to end his conversations. Though the flames were new. I’m pretty sure that Cady and Ace’s little gambit has really pissed him off.” Standing across from him, I could tell Sam was more concerned than his light tone conveyed.

  The front door opened and everyone tensed again, only relaxing when Eli walked through. His eyes took us all in. “I'm going to assume from the looks on everyone's face and the fact there's a burned rug outside the door, that I missed something big?”

  I ran over and hugged him tight. His arms came around my shoulders and held me close to his chest.

  “Ace told Luc about her plan to ensure the babies are delivered healthy. He didn’t take it well. There were swords and flames.”

  “So just another day at the ranch?” He squeezed me tightly.

  I laughed at the truth of the statement. “Pretty much.”

  Chapter Eight

  I was restless. There was only so much online shopping and nesting a girl could do. I missed being able to leave the house without an entourage. Or having thirty-four pee breaks between my front door and the garage. I missed alone time. I missed not needing three naps a day.

  Oz had assembled all the baby furniture, and Sam and Tolliver had bought every stuffed animal they could lay their hands on until the nursery resembled a plush zoo.

  I stared sightlessly at the television, my head on Lux’s lap. He stroked my hair with one hand, the other resting on my protruding belly and one of the babies kicked at his hand. Oz was coding on his computer, sitting on the floor in front of us.

  “I want to go on a date.”

  “We can go out to Epicurean if you like. I’m sure Val is itching to check up on the new head chef,” Oz offered, his eyes not leaving the screen.

  “No, I mean I want to go on a date date, with each of you.” I tried to sit up, and failed. Lux put a hand under my back and helped me up. I used to have core muscles, kinda, now they were 80% infant. I was beached without assistance. “We all kind of fell into this weird romance thing. I never got to go on a real date with any of you. I want to have one perfect night alone with each of you before…” I died. But I couldn’t say that. Everyone was firmly in denial for people who were essentially the reanimated dead. “Before the babies are born.”

  Oz closed his laptop and turned toward me. “Eli says you are meant to be taking it easy, especially because they want to start you on chemo next week.”

  “So we won’t climb any mountains or run a marathon. I’m sick of being cooped up in this house.” And then I burst into tears. Again.

  Lux pulled me into his lap and held me close. Even though I cried all the time, Lux responded like my heart was breaking every single time, even though it was mostly hormones. I cried harder.

  “Hey now, we will go on hundreds of dates as we all grow old together. But if you want a special date with each of us now, then that’s what you’ll get,” Oz said, wiping my eyes with a tissue. “I’ll start. We’ll go to the baseball, or the gallery or whatever you want to do as long as you stop crying, okay?”

  You should totally milk this, make them take you somewhere fancy. Or S&M night at Dante’s. Ri owes you one.

  I look like the old lady who swallowed a cow. I’m not going to an S&M club, I scolded Ace half-heartedly. I was just glad to hear her voice. She’d been so faint lately, I was almost alone in my own head.

  Are you kidding? You are like a fetish dreamboat right now. Look at those cankles. The foot fetish guys will crawl through hell to get you to tie them up and dip those chubby little tootsies in their mouths.

  I screwed up my nose. Not to kink shame anyone but ew.

  I think I’ll pass.

  “Let's do something you want to do. Take me on a date to your favorite place in all of NYC.”

  Lux stroked a hand along my back. “I’m already here.”

  Ace sniffed, I think your hormones might be contagious. Damn, that guy looks like sin personified but he has some seriously sweet lines.

  I snuggled in closer to Lux, kissing his chin before tucking my head beneath it. I was exactly where I wanted to be too, but a girl needed to leave the house once and awhile.

  “I'm with Lux on this one. Before you came along, I rarely left the house. Hell, I rarely put on pants.” I was failing to see a problem with that last part. “So I don’t really have a favorite place in New York. But we can go somewhere I’ve always wanted to go?”

  I nodded, my spirits already lifting. This would be fun.

  I stood hand in hand with Oz in front of a store in the Rockefeller building. “This is where you’ve always wanted to go?”

  “Yep.”

  “You want to go on a date to the Lego Store?”

  He began to look a little uncertain, so I smiled. “It sounds perfect. Let’s go.”

  For an hour, Oz whirled around me like a satellite, always within arm’s reach but he wanted to see everything at once. The stupidly big grin on his face made my heart lift. I had to admit that some of the large LEGO sculptures were amazing.

  The store was filled with tourists, but I didn’t mind. It was just nice to be out amongst humanity again. Oz decided he wanted to build the babies a two foot tall LEGO sculpture of a unicorn for the nursery, and set about finding all the bricks he’d need. I sat down on a chair, thankfully not made of LEGO, and rested. My belly was so big that I’d gotten a few curious looks, but so far no one had stopped to ask questions. That was probably thanks to Oz’s looming presence. He wasn’t nearly as terrifying as Lux, but he was still tall and built and had a big ginger beard.

  “May I sit too?”

  I looked up at a pleasant looking man in his late forties.

  “Uh, sure.” I scooted over a little, and the man sat down.

  “You’re just a wee little thing, aren’t you? All baby belly.” He smiled. It was a nice smile, one where you couldn’t help but smile back.

  Holy shit! Ace roused herself for long enough to say.

  The man tsked. “Acerezeal, such bad language.”

  I scooted away a bit more, my hands protectively around my stomach.

  Apologies, Michael.

  “Michael, as in archangel Michael.” I had to work hard to control my own expletives.

  Michael laughed. “Yes.”

  How can we help you? I’d never heard Ace so cordial to anyone. She basically spit it the face of Azriel.

  “Oh, I was just in the neighborhood and wanted to see what all the fuss has been about. Azriel has been quite vocal about your situation. Although, I do not know what he thinks I will do about it. It is the Father's will a
fter all.”

  Azriel is just a whiner, Ace replied and Michael laughed and it was the most beautiful sound I’d ever heard. I wanted to cry and laugh and fall at his feet.

  “Well, perhaps, but we all have our strengths and purposes. You are even causing a stir in the depths. Word has gotten around that the fallen Acerezeal is not dead, but alive in the body of a mortal. I see you are protecting the infants even now. From me.” He sounded amused.

  “No disrespect, Sir, but we have learned to be cautious,” I said. He just inclined his head.

  Have you come to heal her? Ace asked, her voice barely a whisper.

  “No, Acerezeal. That is not the Father’s will either. I am merely here out of my own curiosity.”

  Angels don’t get curious.

  “And fallen don’t protect the innocent. But all things change, do they not? Not even angels stay in stasis forever.” He stood, briefly touching my belly. “Ah. I see now. Good luck, Arcadia. Acerezeal, give my love to Lucifer.”

  Ace scoffed. I probably won’t do that. He still hasn’t forgiven you.

  Michael laughed again, and between one breath and the next, he was gone.

  Oz appeared next to me, three bulging bags of LEGO in his hands.

  “Hey, are you okay? You’ve gone a little pale? Maybe we should head home.” He lifted me from the chair with ease. I shook my head. I went to tell him about Michael, but changed my mind. I didn’t want our date to end. I wanted to cling to this little piece of normalcy for a little while longer.

  I shook my head. “It’s fine. I’m just hungry.”

  Oz wrapped an arm around my waist. “Well luckily, I know the greatest diner where they sell the kind of food that would horrify both Eli and Valery.”

  “Are their shakes green?”

  Oz leaned in an kissed my temple. “Nope. They make the best Blue Heaven milkshakes in America, though. And the best chili fries and their hotdogs are orgasmic.” He moaned.

  “Sounds perfect.”

  Normal.

  I stepped into a rowboat, Eli’s hand steadying me. Or maybe maneuvering my large frame. It wobbled a little but we were still close to shore, so I wasn’t worried about tipping. I sat down, taking the picnic basket from Eli as he stepped off the dock and onto the boat with nimble ease that made me jealous. The kid who was working the boathouse pushed us away from the dock with a heave, and we drifted to the middle of the lake in Central Park.