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Abaddon’s mouth falls open.
“Which is where the aforementioned birds and the bees talk comes into play,” I deadpan from the sidelines.
“Then I was busy giving birth to my lovely children. Wave hello, sweetie,” Phoenix says to Asher. She must have mentally instructed him what to do because Asher waves. “Of course, they were babies at first, but they quickly started getting bigger, which was, ya know, a little disconcerting.”
“Then our evil father tried to claim them as his own, but my badass wife and I cut him into pieces with his own sword, and with his true name, she…” I look back at her, not really sure what happened next.
But Sabra pipes up. “The goddess used the evil circle of sacrifice I’d laid the day before and the power of his true name to irrevocably send him from his fleshly body and out of this world.”
Phoenix nods. “I sent his spirit through a cheese grater, too, before I shoved it into the deepest, darkest spirit pit I could find.” Then she sits back down, reaches for another piece of bacon, and starts munching happily.
“Badass!” Raven announces from where she hovers over the center of the table, a sausage between her fingers.
“Raven!” Hannah says. “Table manners!”
Abaddon has risen from his seat and approaches my wife. I frown, unsure of what’s happening. But when he gets on his knees and bows at her feet, I relax.
“You have relieved us of a great burden, goddess. I give you my thanks.” For once, the great Abaddon is humbled.
“Yeah, well,” Phoenix says, only looking mildly uncomfortable. “You can repay us with babysitting.”
Epilogue
PHEONIX
2 Months Later
“Can you believe it’s been almost three months since we got married?” I ask, leaning back against Layden’s chest as we lay out by the pool of the rental estate, looking up at the stars. His strong arms come around me. We’re finally on our honeymoon. A real honeymoon this time since the marriage, against all odds, has become real for us.
Layden huffs out a laugh. “Feels like three years.”
“Right?” I turn over my shoulder to look at him. Damn, he’s so handsome. And mine. Finally, after the long road we had to travel to get here, he’s finally all mine.
Ever since the triplets arrived, it feels like all we do is chase them around. Which you’d think would be less work since they’re already full-grown. Nope. It’s just three times as hard because when they start wandering, they can really run fast.
We moved to America last month, along with all the brothers and their wives, to a wide-open property in Montana. There are mountains nearby, and I’m hoping the coming snows will make the brothers feel at home. The mountains should make for good flying for Abaddon and little Raven, and for our kids too when they decide to spread their wings.
We’re mostly settled in, and the triplets have come a long way in their two months of life. They can talk now, so it’s easier to understand what on earth is going on in those fascinating brains of theirs. I asked Lilith what she was thinking about the other day when she was staring at the sky in our new backyard, and she asked, “What does blue taste like?”
They’re fast learners. Too fast, I worry sometimes.
But then again, they aren’t exactly babies. I was right when I suspected they were spirits being implanted in my baby’s bodies. They are my children. But they are also their own spirits and are starting to remember the worlds they came from before. At the same time, this world of flesh and matter is completely new and foreign to them.
They might as well be aliens. In a way, they are, but so am I, so I’m helping them adapt as best they can.
“Do you think your brothers can handle Asmodeus and Lilith while we’re gone?” I ask, biting my bottom lip.
“Of course. No one can get past Abaddon. He’s had to put up with Remus’s tricks his whole life. Plus, Asher is there to help keep his brother in line.”
I wince. “That’s even worse. I hate how the two of them fight.”
Layden just laughed at that. “All brothers fight. And the fights the two of them have are nothing to the brawls my brothers and I used to get into. We’d destroy entire cities tearing the shit out of each other. You always pull them off each other before they even get in a good punch.”
“You say that like you approve.”
I feel him shrug underneath me. “Maybe it’s better to let the aggression out than keep it bottled up. It worked for my brothers and me.”
I roll my eyes. “Your father was a psychopath who forced you to fight each other. It’s hardly the path I want for my boys.”
