by Stone, Leia
“She’s blowing spit bubbles,” Lincoln commented, trying to hold in the grin that I knew wanted to grace his face. Babies did that to people.
I nodded. “You wanted kids. Well, she can be our first one.”
Lincoln was a bit prejudiced when it came to anyone who had ties with the demons. Could he raise the Devil’s child as his own? A legion? I just wasn’t sure.
He reached out to touch Asha’s face, and her hand burst from her tight swaddle blanket—still wet with Raksha’s blood. She gripped one of Lincoln’s big fingers with her tiny hand, and pulled it into her mouth, sucking on it.
The grin broke free, and Lincoln sighed. “You know, we’re gonna need a bigger place. Can’t fit a crib in the trailer.”
A half laugh, half sob erupted from me as I nodded.
“And we need to get some formula and bottles. She’s clearly hungry,” he added, looking concerned.
Leaning forward, I gave her a kiss on the forehead. “It’s okay, baby. Everything’s gonna be okay now.”
I’d killed the Devil. Everything had to be okay now that that monster was gone from this Earth.
Twenty-Three
Everything wasn’t exactly okay, but it was better. When I killed Lucy, it set off some type of apocalypse on Earth. Permanent portals from Hell had opened up all over the place, and we couldn’t close them, so hundreds of demons crawled through daily. Our demon problem had definitely intensified, but the Devil was gone, so at least no more new demons could be created, and that was a plus.
Because we’d allowed so many people from Demon City to seek refuge in Angel City, they had shown their appreciation by registering in the Fallen Army. Now we had twice as many soldiers guarding the borders, and we also had Grace’s human demon hunters, who were almost about to graduate their first year. Things may not seem drastically different now, but as we culled the demon population more and more, we could reclaim our land.
“Does she need to be changed before we get out?” Lincoln turned to look into the back seat, where we had Asha clipped into her car seat.
It turned out she was six months old, and did in fact have black wings, and some freaky powers that were already manifesting when she got angry. If Lincoln was late in making her bottle, green smoke would leak out of her mouth as she cried. Also, her black wings intermittently popped out depending on her mood, but all in all, she was the sweetest baby. She slept through the night, and as long as we kept her fed and dry, she was happy. Although she and I had a special bond, it paled in comparison at times to her bond with Lincoln. He was wrapped around her little finger, and she was a total daddy’s girl, always reaching for him and laughing at everything he did.
We truly loved her with all of our hearts.
“Yeah, we don’t want to bring a stinky baby to the beach games!” I told Asha, tickling her foot. She grinned and kicked out at my hand, pumping her legs in an excited gesture.
As Lincoln pulled her out of her car seat and started to change her, I found myself thinking of Raksha. We’d just had her funeral, and everything was still so raw. Her wife and son were there, and the Fallen Army gave her a proper burial with a twelve-sword salute, and even paid her family a lump sum fee for their loss.
Raphael said that technically Raksha was working for our side by keeping an innocent baby safe, and therefore she deserved a soldier’s burial.
I’d profusely apologized to Elodie, but she’d told me she was actually a bit relieved. Now, at least she could move forward. Not constantly worrying for her wife anymore, and no longer living with the anguish of never knowing if she’d ever see her again, had healed her in a weird way. Every day that Lincoln and I cared for Asha, a little bit of Raksha was kept alive. Raksha kept her safe for us to take home, and I truly felt that this baby was never supposed to be raised by Lucy.
She was always meant to be mine.
“Are your mom and Raph coming?” Lincoln’s face scrunched up, signaling that it was a poopy diaper.
“Yeah, all the archangels RSVP’d.”
My mom and Raphael had been pretty inseparable since we’d gotten back from the war in Hell. I was genuinely happy for them.
“Ooh, can I hold Asha?” Grace’s voice came from behind me, and I spun to pull her into a hug.
Grace and Michael had offered to raise Asha if Lincoln and I felt we couldn’t do it, but I’d kindly told them no. This was Raksha’s dying wish, and Lincoln and I had become way too bonded with her to give her to anyone else. She was our daughter, just like that. Family wasn’t always blood in my book.
“Of course,” Lincoln told her, handing Grace the baby.
“Oh, she has the sweetest little mouth, and those eyes!” Grace cooed.
Emberly walked up beside her mother and rolled her eyes. “She has total baby fever.”
Grace pinned her daughter with a glare. “I do, and since it’s not responsible for Michael and I to have another child biologically, I think we’ve decided to adopt. You both have inspired us. There are orphans being made every day in this war, and they need a family.”
“I think that’s wonderful.” Lincoln grabbed the baby bag, and tossed it over his shoulder as we all walked to the beach. Just last night, Lincoln and I had turned in the paperwork to legally adopt Asha Raksha Atwater-Grey.
“Just make sure it’s a girl. I want a sister,” Emberly told her mother. “I hear brothers are annoying.”
I grinned. “They totally can be.”
Mikey and I had become closer since I returned from Hell. We’d kept our weekly picnics, and he was opening up more about his shifter struggles. After becoming an uncle to Asha, he’d informed me that he was pretty set on having a big family one day, and it brought a huge smile to my face. I couldn’t wait to see my little bro settle down and have some babies.
“Oh my gosh, what is he doing?” Grace moaned, and we followed her gaze to see the archangels playing tug-of-war. Raphael and Michael were on one side, holding the thick rope tightly against Uriel and Gabriel on the other. In the center was a huge mud pit.
Noah stepped up to greet us all. “We haven’t even started yet. I told them they could practice, but it turned into some competitive bro-fest.”
“Get ’em, Dad!” Emberly yelled from the sidelines, and Michael grinned, yanking the rope with all his might. Gabriel’s foot slipped into the mud, but the look of determination on his face was unmistakable.
“Oh, Noah, you were sweet to invite them. I haven’t seen them this excited in years.” Grace grinned.
Raphael was tricked out in Hawaiian garb, complete with floral lei, and Michael was wearing a typical beach bum straw hat.
“Of course! We’re happy to have them,” Noah assured her.
“Except when they win all the events, and skew the results,” Lincoln mumbled.
“Aw, whittle Whincoln is scared of my daddy,” Emberly jived in a baby voice.
Lincoln reached out lightning quick, and scooped her into his arms—careful not to touch her wings. She shrieked and laughed, kicking and thrashing against him.
“Dump her in the ocean!” Grace called out as Lincoln walked her toward the water, to probably do just that.
“Excuse me, but Auntie Shea needs some baby love.” Shea popped out of the food tent, opening her arms toward Asha—who Grace was still holding. Grace frowned but handed over the baby, and Shea tucked Asha into her chest with a smile.
My bestie’s wedding was in six months, and no expense was being spared. Noah joked that he’d probably have to get a second job to afford it.
“I’m next!” Chloe piped up as she made her way over with Luke, to get a good look at Asha.
“No, Grandma is next,” my mother butted in, coming over to kiss my cheek. My mom watched Asha during the day while Lincoln and I worked, and they had such a special bond, almost as tight as ours.
My friends and family had surprised me. When I’d told them that Asha was part Lucifer, part Succubus demon, they hadn’t blinked an eye.
&nb
sp; “My mother’s a drug addict, so what? Our parents don’t define who we are,” Shea had declared.
They were right. Yes, Asha would have some powers to contend with, but so did I. If I could learn to control them and use them for good, then so would she.
A warm, muddy hand landed on my shoulder. “She couldn’t have hand-picked a better mother,” Raphael told me, obviously picking up on my thoughts.
I spun to face him, and burst out laughing. He was covered from head to toe in mud, looking like some kind of winged Loch Ness Monster.
My gaze dropped to the muddy handprint on my shoulder and shook my head. “I’m gonna have to pay you back for that.”
“Oh, really?” Michael’s voice came from behind me, but it was too late to react. His arm wrapped around my waist, and then I was being hauled upward and out to the ocean, where Emberly was tackling Lincoln.
Raphael grinned as he watched Michael drag me out to sea.
‘We invite these archangels to one beach party, and they’re already acting like drunken teenagers!’ I commiserated to Sera.
‘Want me to blast him a little? Nothing to leave a permanent scar, but I could burn his thigh a bit,’ she called from her place at my hip.
I chuckled. ‘Nah, we’ll let him win this one.’
Sera sighed. ‘Good plan. He smells too good for me to really want to hurt him.’
We were at the water’s edge now.
‘What exactly does he smell like?’ I’d been dying to know the answer to that question for far too long.
Sera sighed dreamily. ‘Like true love, or your first kiss, or the day someone throws you a huge surprise party, and you’re so excited you just can’t take it.’
I couldn’t hold in my laughter. ‘Sera, those aren’t smells.’
She didn’t miss a beat. ‘They are to me. Michael smells like that.’
‘Well, simmer down. He’s married.’
Sera paused. ‘For now. His wife’s human. I can wait.’
Oh my God. I couldn’t even dignify that with an answer.
Michael chucked me out into the ocean then, and I shrieked as I plunged into the frigid cold water.
My head popped up to the surface just in time to see Emberly take her father down, and drag him into the water too. Lincoln swam over to me and pulled me into him as I wrapped my legs around his waist, hooking my ankles behind his back.
“Mrs. Atwater-Grey?”
I grinned. “Hmm?”
Leaning in, he kissed my neck, dragging his lips along my jawbone, before claiming my mouth. When we broke apart, his eyes were alight. “I think Asha needs a little brother sooner rather than later.”
Laughter pealed out of me. “Let me get one out of diapers before we have another.”
He shook his head. “No, I hear it’s better to have them close together, get through that phase quicker. Maybe we’ll get lucky and have twins.”
I smacked his arm. “Lincoln Grey, don’t you wish that evil on me!”
His hearty chuckle vibrated against my belly, and I smiled up at him.
“Are you excited to start teaching the humans next year?” he asked as we floated in the water.
Grace had already formally hired me as a professor for her growing Demon Hunter Academy.
I nodded. “They have no idea how badass Mrs. Atwater-Grey is about to be.”
Lincoln chuckled. “If you need any pointers, I’ll be around for a consult.”
A smirk pulled at my lips. “I got this.”
The world was still overrun with demons, but I planned on helping clean it up. I was going to teach others what I knew, in the hopes that my children would one day grow up in a world free of Hellspawn.
Lincoln leaned forward and kissed me again, that time with more passion than before, and I ran my hands down his biceps, tracing the scars on his wrists. I’d been through Hell and back with this man, literally, but we’d come out on top. I couldn’t ask for anything more.
“So, I’m teaching. What’s next for you, Captain Grey?”
Lincoln looked over at Emberly, who was swimming with her dad and playing in the water. “I made a promise to a certain barely sixteen-year-old girl, that I wouldn’t rest until I’d trained her to rid San Francisco of its demon stronghold.”
I chuckled. “I guess we both have our work cut out for us.”
He nodded, landing one more kiss on my lips. “That we do.”
I didn’t mind working on the demon problem for the rest of my life, as long as Lincoln, my friends, and family were by my side.
Shea appeared at the edge of the water, holding Asha out and away from her body. White spit-up coated my best friend’s hair.
“Okay, you can take her back now.”
Everyone burst into laughter and Lincoln looked at me. “Not it.”
With an eye roll, I pushed off him and headed for the shore.
Mommy-hood was about as complex as fighting demons some days, but I wouldn’t change it for the world.
THE END
***Please stay tuned for the two spin-off series I have planned for this world. Sign up to my newsletter for announcements, and join my social media groups.
One series will be based at the Demon Hunter Academy, with a new character you haven’t met yet, and the other will follow Emberly, Michael’s daughter, as she takes back San Francisco.
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