Chapter 33-2

"Yeah, yeah. I know." Thankfully the lobby was empty, so we went unnoticed as Hadley cracked open the door of the room used for daily mass, where we'd gotten ready for our wedding, too. I quietly shut the door behind me, checking the time on my watch. "We've only got a few minutes. How's this going to work?" Hadley shrugged, taking a few tentative steps further into the room. "I usually just started talking whenever I needed to see him, and eventually he showed up." She didn't sound too sure about that. "Let's hear it, then." I didn't have to be looking at Hadley to know she'd be rolling her eyes, but she took a deep breath and said, "So. Um. Death? Look, I know you're probably busy...doing whatever it is that you do. But we were just wondering if you'd be able to spare a bit of time for us? There's something we wanted to ask you, and I hope that - " "My, my. It's been years since you've asked for my help, Hadley Jamison." I tried not to jump about a foot in the air as Death leaned casually up against the wall beside me, arms crossed, a relaxed expression on his face. He looked considerably better than the last time I'd seen him. Remembering how his final meeting with Lucrezia had gone, though, I suspected she was still taking up a large portion of his thoughts. "You know, I am married," Hadley said to Death, giving a small smile. "It's Morales now." "I know," Death said. "Saw that one coming from a mile away, kid. But you'll always be Hadley Jamison to me." I wasn't quite sure what was going to happen next, but I definitely hadn't expected Hadley to walk forward and throw her arms around Death, hugging him tightly. I was sure Death was just as surprised as I was, but he hid it well, loosely wrapping his arms around Hadley in return. "Thank you," I heard her mumble against his shoulder. "For everything." "Yeah," Death said quietly. And those were the only words they exchanged on the matter. When Hadley stepped away from Death, she came to my side, reaching out to lace her fingers through mine. "So why exactly did you need to see me?" Death asked, clearing his throat. He looked a little awkward after Hadley's unexpected hug. I imagined human contact was nearly nonexistent for him. "We, ah...were hoping to ask you something," I said, exchanging a glance with Hadley. "And that would be?" "We were wondering if you would be Milo's godfather." It was difficult to describe the look that slowly came over Death's face as the realization of what we'd said sunk in. Surprised. Confused. Pained, even. "You want...Milo?" he said hoarsely. "Our son," I clarified. "Your son." A slight smile pulled at the corners of his mouth as he looked to Hadley. "Looks like I was wrong, wasn't I?" Hadley shrugged. "No harm, no foul." "Wait. What're you two talking about?" I asked, confused. "It would take too long to explain," Hadley told me. "But it's nothing to worry about. Death just showed me a...a version of our future, I guess. And we had a daughter, not a son." If the events of the past few months had never occurred, I would have been a lot more baffled and angry. Now I'd learned to just accept it. Weird things were probably always going to happen to us from now on. "That's why you were so convinced the baby was going to be a girl," I said. "Exactly." "I've been wrong occasionally," Death said. "It's been known to happen." "Listen, Death," Hadley said, bringing us back to the matter at hand. "I understand if this is something you'd rather not do, but we just thought that after everything you - " Death held up his hand, cutting Hadley off mid-sentence. "Let me just get this straight. You two really do want me to be your son's godfather." "Yes," Hadley and I said together. "We really do." It might have taken only a moment as Death clearly had some sort of internal debate with himself, but it seemed much longer than that. I couldn't possibly begin to imagine what he was contemplating, but surely there were a few things to consider. In the end, when he finally spoke, it was what sealed the deal. "Then I would be honored to be your son's godfather." Hadley broke out into a wide smile. "You had to have seen this coming a mile away." Death actually smiled at that, something I would've thought impossible. "Thank you," I said. I'd never been any good at conveying emotion, and I hoped Death understood just how much I meant that. Death clapped a hand on my shoulder, like he had the night I'd left Hadley. That seemed to say more than enough. "We should get going," Hadley said, heading for the door. "Mass should be starting any minute now." We crept our way out of the room, through the lobby, and back up the side aisle to where the family was seated. It was impossible not to notice the shifty look in Death's eyes as he glanced around at all of the people seated in the pews, especially at our very loud family as we approached them. He looked nervous, actually. It would've been funny if I wasn't nervous, too, at the prospect of my family meeting Death. "We were just going to send out a search party for you," Mom said, looking relieved when she saw us. "Where did you two wander off to? Not that anybody's minding getting their share of holding Milo." "We didn't go far," I said. "But listen, Ma. There's somebody we'd like you to meet." That was when Mom's eyes fell on Death, and all color seemed to drain from her face as she took an immediate step back. I'd almost forgotten how downright creepy Death looked with the whole terminally ill thing he had going on. The polite smile on his face really wasn't helping either. It just made him look even creepier. "Um." Mom dragged her gaze away from Death and stared at me blankly, like she'd forgotten how to speak. "What?" "This is, ah..." Hadley and I exchanged awkward glances. We couldn't exactly tell the family that they were being introduced to Death, right? "Aleph," Death said, nodding curtly. "My name is Aleph." Hadley shot Death a curious look, and I remembered I'd never told her that Aleph was Death's real name, but she went along with it, saying, "Right. This is Aleph."