Hell's Bells

by K. B. Draper

  “Ummmm, Aunt AJ said a bad word! I’m telling Mommy!” The youngest of my two nieces was already off and tattling.

  “Super chill, got it.” Ashlyn snickered. Danny full-on guffawed. Michael muttered a “Jesus, Lord almighty something-something, and Apoc, magically out of his restraints, was climbing over Danny to get to Avery, my oldest niece, still grinning through the driver’s side window.

  I carried Avery into the kitchen by her ankles. She was laughing so hard tears were running up her forehead. “Okay, okay,” she wheezed. “Let me down.”

  “Not until you say it.”

  She laughed. “I’m going to pee.”

  “That would be super embarrassing and kind of gross since it would run up your sides and pool in your armpits,” I teased. “All you have to do is say the magic words.”

  “Fine. You’re the coolest and I’m the drooliest.” I put her down and she tore off to the bathroom, with Hadleigh, the most adorable redheaded snitch, laughing in her wake.

  My sister came at me with a smile. “F-bombs and making my kid almost pee her pants. I see you haven’t changed, Sis.” She opened her arms and I stepped into them. “It’s good to see you.”

  “Good to see you too.” When we released each other, I stepped back. “Brook, this is Ashlyn. Ashlyn, this is my sister, Brook.”

  “Very nice to meet you,” Ashlyn stated, extending her hand in greeting.

  My sister pushed past it. “Sorry, you’re getting a hug for putting up with this one.”

  Mom slid a pot from a front burner to a back, giving it one more dash of salt, before turning and greeting her new guests. “Hey, sweetheart.” She hugged me, then moved to Ashlyn. “And my newest sweetheart.” She looked behind us. “Where are Danny, your friend and baby, and your puppy?”

  “They were getting the extra coolers from the garage for the ice we brought,” I said, just as I heard the door open behind us. “That’s probably them.”

  Danny received the same meet and greet, but the whole kitchen went still when Michael entered stage right. Mom’s hand fluttered over her heart, and my sister muttered her own f-bomb.

  I sighed. “Mom, Sis, this is Michael, the original Magic Mike, and his son, Apoc.”

  “Very nice to meet you,” Michael greeted, adding his thousand-watt smile to his showboaty package.

  Mom started fanning herself with her tea towel. My sister grabbed my arm. “Ouch!” I pried at her fingers. “Jesus.”

  Mom recovered first. “Michael, welcome to our home. I’m so glad you and your son …” And give or take a second, that’s when Apoc fell in love with my mother. It didn’t surprise me; it happened to the best of us. He leaned away from his father’s chest, doing the rapid “gimme gimme gimme” thing with his chunky little hands. “Gra-ma, gra-ma.”

  Mom took Apoc with well-practiced ease.

  “I’m sorry, he—” Michael started.

  “Is the most special little guy ever,” my mom finished.

  “Understatement,” I muttered, flexing my bicep, trying to get blood flowing back into it after my sister’s death grip.

  “Danny, why don’t you show Michael around and then get him settled in with a drink. Justin and Roy will be out back, overseeing the grill. Ashlyn, Brook, Apoc, and I will keep watch over things in here. And AJ, I thought since it was such a beautiful evening, we’d eat outside. Vera and Mia are out on the patio setting the table, so why don’t you see if they need help.” And that would be Mom code for “go apologize to Mia for being an ass-munch, so it’s not awkward all evening.”

  “Sure.” I leaned in to give Ashlyn a quick cheek kiss, then pointed at my sister. “Don’t listen to a word she says.”

  My sister wedged herself between Ashlyn and me, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. “Out. We have things to discuss.” She turned Ashlyn away from me, “Starting with, did you know AJ went through a prolonged Beanie Baby phase?”

  Ashlyn shot me a smile over her shoulder. “I didn’t; please go on.”

  “Ugh. I told you those were an investment opportunity.”

  My sister answered with a skedaddle wave of her hand.

  I stood at the double patio doors for a long moment watching Mia move chairs and adjust placemats. She still had the slim toned body of an athlete, something she’d excelled at in high school and college. Whereas her grandmother was closer to five feet than to six, with dark skin, dark eyes, and once dark hair, Mia was my height and was of mixed-race lineage thanks to her sperm donor: tall, white, blond, and a “big bag of pathetic” if you let Vera fill out his toe tag.

  The BBoP had bailed on Mia and her mother as soon as he’d gotten his high school diploma, not letting a pesky girlfriend who was in need of a baby on board sign hold him back from his college plans. Mia had flawless, creamy caramel skin. Her hair was a little shorter than when I’d last seen it, the natural loose curls with their exotic brown and gold tones now lying just below her shoulders. Add to the package intelligent gold eyes that had the uncanny ability to read a situation and a person, which had kept us out of more than one grounded-worthy situation. Now, combo all that with those “don’t have to study to get straight A’s” brains of hers and fierce, protective heart ... Mia was, in a word, beautiful. Inside and out.

  Mia laughed at something Vera said, and my lips curled up in response. Mia’s laugh had once been my happy place. She laughed with her whole being. It was infectious. And I missed it. I missed her. If I was being honest, she had likely been my first girl crush, but it had quickly developed into something much deeper. She’d been my safe place. That one person that got me, even when I hadn’t gotten myself.

  And just then, as so many times in the past, her eyes came to meet mine, instinctually knowing I was there. Our gazes locked, and for a long beat we stared at each other. She took a step in my direction, then two as I slid the door open, pausing as soon as I shut it behind me.

  Mia raised a finger to point it at me. “You are a jackass.”

  “The biggest jackass of all jackasses in the history of ever,” I agreed.

  Then she engulfed me. Mia gave me a good and thorough berating, while simultaneously hugging and, I was really hoping, forgiving me.

  Ashlyn came out with the first wave of covered dishes. She took in the scene and gave me a smile. I introduced them and, well that was that, my first crush became instant best friends with my perma-crush.

  Danny broke up our lovefest a few minutes later. “AJ, your dad said … oh sorry, I …”

  Mia left her arm hooked in mine as I did the intro thing again. “Danny meet Mia, my sister from another mister. Mia, meet Danny, my other sister from a—”

  The can of beer Danny had been holding slipped from his hand; he recovered enough to catch it around his knees.

  Mia smiled. “Nice reflexes.” She gave him an up and down. “Nice everything.”

  “And here we go,” I groaned as I watched Danny go all Lady Gaga over my oldest friend. “Wipe the drool, D-man. What did Dad need?” I asked. I got a noncommittal hand wave in the general direction of Dad’s outdoor BBQ sanctuary and something that sounded like “Milk Duds.” “Whatever.” I slid out of Mia’s hold, whispering, “Be gentle with him. He has a complex about his webbed feet and his mini penis, and he has a rash he says is psoriasis, but—”

  Mia gave me a gentle shove. “Go away.”

  “Geez, first you want me to be here, and now you want me to go away. See why a girl could get confused about—.” Mia shot me a look. “Too soon?” She held up her thumb and index finger pinched super close together. “Right. Got it.”

  I headed off toward my father, swinging wide to do a drive-by whisper in Danny’s ear. “Be careful, she’s super wiggy about her tail. Docs say it’s merely some extra vertebra, but I’m serious, the thing swishes.” I got a second shove off. Huh, I was starting to sense a theme.

  I rounded the corner to see Six standing guard as dad gave Michael his BBQ 101 class. Michael stood over the massive grill in rap
t attention. My brother-in-law handed me a beer as I passed. “Have I told you, you’re my favorite person in this family?”

  “Not recently,” Justin said.

  “You’re my favorite. What did you need, Dad? Danny’s message was interrupted by his testosterone.”

  Dad looked at me curiously, but fell back on his years of training and skipped the questions. “Didn’t need anything, just wanted to say hi to my girl and to let you know before I forget that I found a box of Granny Mattox’s things, and I put it up in your and Ashlyn’s room.”

  “Cool. Thanks.”

  Avery and Hadleigh came screaming onto the scene, declaring their starvation to death timeline. Which FYI was minutes, maybe seconds. That was until Avery saw Six and Hadleigh saw Michael. “Can I play with your dog?” Avery asked, her arms already around Six’s neck. Six answered for himself by giving her a chin to hairline lick of his tongue. Hadleigh moved toward Michael. “Can I touch your wings?”

  I shot the gulp of beer up and out my nose. “What? He … How?”

  “Hads, honey,” Justin caught his youngest’s outstretched hand with the ease of a father who had spent many hours navigating toy, cereal, and candy isles. “We don’t go around touching people we haven’t met, remember?”

  “I’m Hadleigh,” she said to Michael.

  Michael knelt, bringing him down to her level, and reached out a hand, “I’m Michael.” They shook. “Maybe later with the wings?”

  She nodded vigorously.

  “Hads, honey, I think Momma and Grandma probably need your help,” Justin coaxed, softly redirecting the attention of my big-hearted, enthusiastic helper niece.

  Hadleigh spun and jetted back across the yard, yelling “GRannddDDmaaa!”

  Justin watched her go, shaking his head as he brought his attention back around. “Sorry, man, she’s in a unicorn, mermaid, and anything that has wings phase.”

  Avery, arms still tight around Six, was staring at Michael, curiosity evident in the tilt of her head. “Two bucks if you can beat your little sister to the door,” I offered. Different kids, different motivators.

  “Five,” she countered.

  “Deal.” And she was gone.

  Justin held out a fist. “Nice.” I knuckle-checked him. “Misdirection and bribery are the keys to survival.”

  “And alcohol,” I answered.

  “And alcohol,” he agreed, cheering his bottle.

  “I think we’re good, Michael,” dad said. “Let’s get these examples of perfection to the table.”

  I carried a plate of hamburgers and hotdogs for the kids, while WTFing Michael on our way back to the table.

  “She hasn’t lost her innocence yet,” he explained.

  “So?”

  “My glamour won’t work on her,” Michael said with, if I’m being Judgy McJudgerson, a little too much glee in his tone.

  Besides Hadleigh trying to convince her mother that Michael had wings through first and second helpings; Avery adding to Six’s already impressive intake of food by sneaking him her vegetables; Danny and Mia playing cutesy face across the table; Apoc bouncing enthusiastically from Grandma Joy to Grandma Vera’s laps with slobbery kisses and slobbery fingers; my sister telling Ashlyn all about my grunge and bad hair years, and my heart feeling like it was in a juicer every time I glanced up and saw my dad and mom’s faces lit with the pure joy of having their family all in one place—it was a good night. It wasn’t until the pie and ice cream had been devoured and the dishes cleared that everyone settled in and began the Q&A part of the evening. “What have you been doing?” “Where have you been?” “When are you going to settle down?”

  I guess it was now or never. I was honestly leaning toward never, but Ashlyn jacked me in the side with an elbow, adding a pointed look. “All right. All right.” I sighed. This was it. I glanced around at my family only to circle back to Ashlyn. “I have some good news and some bad news,” I finally said.

  My sister piped up immediately. “Bad news.”

  I nodded once, and I gave it to them—all of it. Starting with the vacay in Oklahoma, the ritual, the coincidence, the denial, the acceptance, Grand, what Danny and I really did out on the road for so many years, an unfiltered version of the bridge incident, picking up Ashlyn, the preacher, Loretta, Michael’s grand entrance, Apoc, the queen, going to Hell, Michael’s grand re-entrance, and then last but not least what I’d done to Lucifer’s chimichangas, ending with the upcoming apocalypse and a gaggle of open-mouthed stares.

  Mom finally cleared her throat. “Well that’s a lot to take in.”

  “I know. And I know you probably think I’m crazy.” My sister snorted. Thank you, sis. “But it’s true.”

  “I wanna see your superpowers.” Avery cut in from the center of the circle, where she’d been playing with Six, and where Hads was playing with Apoc—bringing my sister’s full attention to the fact that her sweet little offspring were currently playing with a hell hound and a half demon-angel.

  “They’d never hurt them,” I reassured her. “I wouldn’t … I won’t,” I corrected, “let anything happen to them.” My sister and I did the soul gaze thing for a second, letting her read the full depth of that promise.

  “I know, sis,” she muttered, “I know.”

  And yeah, there were a whole lot of feels going on, so I cleared the catch in my throat and distracted because that’s what I do. “Apoc, buddy, why don’t you do your Lite-Brite thing?”

  Apoc looked back at me, then to my youngest niece. “Happy, happy,” he cheered, clapping on each word. A ball of light came alive before him; it spun and twisted as it formed. A blink later, a miniature white horse, complete with wings, a horn, and a rainbow mane, came out of the light to stand between them.

  When the revelry of Apoc’s creation died down, which was a while, cause duh, unicorn, I glanced at Michael. “Might as well pull out all the party tricks.” Michael nodded once and straightened as he dropped his glamour. Short version, there was a plethora of ohs and awes, and that was before he spread his wings to their full and stunning glory. Let’s just say the wing thing brought on some metaphoric panty-dropping and not just from the women in this crew.

  The questions and requests for demos started up. My mom moved away from the show, sliding next to me, her arms going around my waist. “I’m so sorry you’ve had to carry this alone. You could’ve told your father and me.”

  “I know. I just needed time to figure it out for myself. And I didn’t want you to worry.”

  “Sweetheart, that’s our job. Granted, we would have worried a little extra, but …” Her stiff upper lip started to quiver. “Oh, AJ.”

  “I got this mom. I have,” I looked at my family, both chosen and lucked into. “I have so much to fight for.”

  Mom smiled, tears glistening her eyes. “Yes, we do.” Her words wouldn’t click until later because at the moment I was watching my most favorite people, minus Grand, interact with each other. Two of whom were interacting a little too much, *cough* Danny, *cough* Mia.

  “You didn’t tell us the good news,” Mom said, interrupting my lock and target stare down of Danny and Mia’s swoon-fest.

  I turned my attention to Ashlyn, who was holding a laughing Hads as they danced around her unicorn. My voice tripped over my heart. “Her. She’s my good news. She’s my good everything.”

  Chapter 8

  “That went well,” Ashlyn said as we entered my childhood bedroom a good four hours later.

  “What size waist do you think Danny has? Thirty-four?” I asked, head down, clicking buttons on my phone.

  “Yeah, thirty-two or thirty-four. Why?”

  I dropped onto the edge of the bed, still scrolling. “No reason.”

  “I doubt that.” Ashlyn snatched my phone as she swung a leg over mine to straddle my lap.

  “Hey!”

  She leaned back, holding the phone out of my reach as she read. “Chastity belts for men?” She tossed the phone in the nearby chair. “No.�
�� She bopped my nose as if I were a bad puppy. “They’re adorable and you need to butt out of it.”

  “But—”

  “I like Mia, by the way.”

  “I liked her pre-Danny version better,” I pouted.

  Ashlyn slid her arms around my neck and did a little hip grind. It improved my mood a smidge. “He deserves a chance at happy, don’t you think?”

  “I’ll buy him a new hard drive. A 284-mega google bit gtwtf something, something.”

  Ashlyn chuckled. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.” She leaned down to nip at my lower lip.

  “I know that I’ve got some seriously icky images going around in my head.”

  Another nip as her hands came to the front of my shirt. “If only I could think of a way to help you get rid of them.”

  I lowered my tone. “You’ll have to think hard. I’m fairly sure they’re burned into my frontal lobe.”

  “Here?” Ashlyn asked, kissing just above my right eyebrow.

  “Maybe it’s more over here.” I tapped the side of my head.

  She kissed my temple.

  “Maybe lower,” I replied.

  She moved to tease the edge of my ear with her tongue. “Here?” she whispered, sending a rush of electricity straight to my girlie bits.

  “Umm, now I think it’s more down and around my Lady Antebellum.”

  Ashlyn leaned back, a smirk lighting her lips. “Cerebellum?”

  I flipped her onto her back. “You say tomato.” I undid the button of her jeans. “I say flambango.” Ashlyn’s chuckle turned to a husky moan as my mouth teased a path down the vee of her open jeans before I pulled them off completely. I left the simple black underwear in place for the time being as I moved back up her body to claim her mouth. I felt the familiar storm within me, growing in strength with every touch, with every taste. I found it ironic that our connection, this connection, could so easily toss my insides, but was also the one that anchored me. She, like no other, was able to keep me grounded when the waters got rough.