CHAPTER TWO HUNDRED AND THIRTY-TWO

CHAPTER TWO HUNDRED AND THIRTY-TWO
The final month of the pregnancy was supposed to be the easiest according to Hailey, Alaric's mom. I call her mom now. However, she's the true representation of that word to me, even though she gave me permission to use her first name after watching a few movies.

She'd stopped hurting herself and had gotten into therapy, although I wonder what good that'd do; she's literally the Queen of hell without the crown and glory, who's gonna be able to understand her story?

But she kept herself busy with that, me and reacquainting herself with the real world. Lucifer had kept her in a bubble that ended in the Nineteenth Century and only allowed her to know certain things that benefited him.

Now, she's discovering how far the world has progressed.

Back to my last month of being pregnant, the only good thing was the sex; we'd increased from twice a day to four, and even now, as I waddled towards the kitchen, I was wondering when Alaric would be back for another one.

Everything else was chaotic.

I couldn't stand Octavio, I didn't want to spend time with any Fallen that I'd already touched and I was beginning to feel like I was schizophrenic at some point.

But Hailey told me the baby's personality overshadowed mine.

I had to force myself to take the drugs prescribed for me, which led to throwing up many times, but I insisted on it. Demon or not, I wasn't having an unhealthy child.

Another thing I noticed was how much I was falling in love with the baby yet hating my own body.

Maybe that's why we have sex so many times, assurances coming in every form possible.

I was due in two weeks, but as I ate what Kiara considered an abomination in the kitchen, I felt somehow for a second, and then I felt wetness run down my leg.

As I looked down, worrying about this new development, I screamed out in pain.

A second later, Kiara, Alaric, and Octavio were in the kitchen, colliding with each other with panic-stricken faces.

“The baby…. Ahhhh!! The baby is… c-ccominggg!!” I screamed loudly in pain, holding my waist.

They all stared at me, gobsmacked for a second before they swung into action.



I'm not a stranger to pain, but for the first time in my life, I wanted to just give up completely.

“Baby,” Alaric called next to my head, another of my scratches on his face healing, “you can do it, baby, you're almost there.”

“I'm nowhere close and you know it!” I yelled out in frustration.

I wasn't even 10 centimeters dilated yet.

“Don't worry, love, in thirty minutes, you'll be ready to push,” the nurse said kindly, but nothing was penetrating.

The pain was mind-numbing.

“Thirty more minutes??” I screeched, “I've been here for four hours! Tear me into two and bring it out damnit!”

“We want to, honestly, but we're scared of hurting the baby,” she explained.

“So you would rather I died from this? Is that your plan?”

They all looked so frustrated and torn, just as I felt with this baby tearing my uterus in two.

“Is it supposed to be this way?” Alaric asked his mother for the fifth time now.

“She's giving birth to a strong child, I'm sure that's why, but we're close, okay? Try to get her to calm down.”

“Calm down?? How the hell can I transfer power to you but not this fucking pain?!” I screamed.

I kept yelling, not because my throat was incapable of shutting up, but because it took my mind off the pain a bit, extremities, actually.

And when I had nothing to scream about, I just started crying.

Suddenly, the doctor burst in, a black, beautiful woman with locs. She's a Lust demon for sure but had made a life on earth delivering babies for centuries now.

“Let me see how far you're dilated,” she said to me with a smile that ordinarily would be charming but, in that moment, made me feel murderous.

“It's time!” she exclaimed with glee, more nurses rallying around to watch the whole thing.

I'd thought I was in pain before; I could have sworn nothing else could hurt more than the last few hours, but the baby moved down to my birth Canal, and everything went black.



“Ari?” I heard a familiar voice way before I could open my eyes.

I woke up, looking around for the voice. I was on the paved path of a beautiful garden with a beach off to the end of it.

“Aria, what are you doing here?!” The voice exclaimed, “Please don't tell me you're dead!” I finally found him running towards me, his eyes those sparkly blue orbs I used to know.

“Lucas?” I gasped, running into his open arms with tears immediately springing to my eyes. “I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to... I wasn't supposed to..”

“Shhh, it's okay,” he stopped my blubbering, “you didn't know and besides, since my parents died, I'd been pretty suicidal. I've never been mentally strong and the second I met you, I latched onto you because of your strength. So I don't mind that you sent me off to a better place. It's lonely though, but I'm used to that!”

He was so calm, happy, and carefree that I almost felt a little less guilty.

But I'd ended his life, he could have gotten better. That guilt and shame would never go away.

“But I'm still sorry and I really wish we could have tried to be friends instead of lovers. I knew deep in my soul that I belonged to someone else and was just dealing with the embarrassing possibility that no one wanted me, even those designated to do so. Just as you latched onto my strength, I was obsessed with the excitement of finally being chosen, even though it felt wrong, and in the end, I killed you. I'm really sorry even though I know apologies will never solve anything.”

“But you did do something really amazing. I'm getting sent back because of you and I've seen the parents I'm going to. They're pretty solid,” he told me, making me light up.

“Really? Can I see them?”

“Sure!”

He took me to a bowl and dipped his hand into it and closed his eyes.

In a few seconds, he withdrew it and the image of two faces appeared, one of them very familiar.

Kaiden was definitely crazy for what he did there but then I guess Kora wouldn't mind having him as her son. He's genuinely a good soul and with demon power in his veins, I am happy for the next generation of hell’s rulers.

Maybe in their hands, the rest of us can retire or do less ruling.

“They're amazing,” I told him with a smile.

“Yea. I just hate how much longer it'll take to get to the point when I can get there.”

“Don't worry, I'll try to speed up everything okay?”

“Thank you, Ari,” he hugged me again. “But what are you doing here?”

I sighed and looked at my body for the first time since I woke up.

I was wrapped in labor clothes, and it was bloody all through.

Oh well, I guess they finally were forced to use surgery as an alternative with me being out of it.

“Don't worry, I'll be back down soon," I replied with a smile, knowing immortality gave me an edge, “for now, you've got time to tell me what you've been up to.”

So we spent all day catching up, and I told him as much as I could about the supernatural world, something he was already a part of.

But then the skies changed, and the ground underneath me opened, hurtling me into darkness.