Chapter 33-3

"N-Nice to meet you." I was shocked. That was the first time I'd ever heard my mother stammer before. "Pleasure," Death said. "Aleph is going to be Milo's godfather," I explained. "Oh," Mom said, and now she looked incredulous. "I...I see." I knew we wouldn't be able to escape the barrage of questions sure to be thrown at us after mass, but we had more important things to be worried about. I didn't think anybody would be too pleased that we'd picked an apparent stranger to be our son's godfather, but hopefully that would change when they had the chance to speak with Death. The man could be charasmatic when he wanted to. Even I had to admit that. "Lauren," I said quietly, reaching over to where she was sitting beside John to squeeze her shoulder. She looked up and gave a smile when she saw me. The bruises on her face had faded over the past few weeks and were not too noticeable now, but I knew her ribs were still giving her trouble. "Hey, Archer." "Will you come here a sec?" "Sure." She joined us in the aisle, excited to see Hadley, giving her a hug, but her expression slipped and her eyes widened when she saw Death. She didn't say anything, but it looked like she was suddenly anxious to get the hell out of here. "Lauren, we wanted to ask you something," Hadley said, drawing her attention away from Death. "Yeah?" Lauren said slowly, looking back at us. "What's up?" "We were wondering if you would be Milo's godmother," I said, giving her a smile. "Me?" Lauren choked a little on an intake of air. "We didn't think there'd be a better candidate for the job," Hadley said, squeezing Lauren in a one-sided hug. "Absolutely," I agreed. Truly, there wasn't. The first time Lauren saw Milo a dumbstruck look came over her face, and she refused to give him up for a good half hour, just cradling him in her arms, brushing a finger across his cheek every so often. Milo had slept soundly, but held tightly onto her finger, and it was immediately clear she was just as taken with him as the rest of us were. "Wow," Lauren said shakily, her eyes oddly bright. "Godmother. That's...definitely something." "So will you do it?" Hadley asked eagerly. Lauren pulled Hadley into another hug, saying, "Yes, of course I will." "Nice choice," I heard my mother say quietly to me, giving me a smile. I couldn't help but feel relieved now. Milo's soon-to-be godfather had shown up, Lauren had agreed to be his godmother, and the baptism was going to go off without a hitch. Of course, seeing as our life was occasionally bat-shit crazy, it wouldn't surprise me if something unusual did happen. Like, would Death burst into flames if he stood inside a church for too long? That was just one question my mind was currently skipping around. We were approached by the deacon a moment later, informing us that mass was about to start, and that we would begin with the baptismal proceedings. Hadley took Milo from Zia Sophia and Death, Lauren, and I all joined her in heading to the baptismal font up towards the alter. The priest was waiting for us and gave us a delighted smile as we gathered around the font. Surprisingly, the baptism did go pretty smoothly, if you didn't count the fact that Hadley had to make mad dash for the bathroom with Milo to change his diaper halfway through mass. Unsurprisingly, our son also put his lungs to the test wailing to his heart's content when the priest blessed him with holy water. There seemed to be a never ending stream of sniffles and tears from all of the women in the family, as well as the continuous flashing of cameras. Milo's baptism was the spectacle we figured it would be, which I assumed caught Death unawares, considering he looked like he wanted to sink through the floor anytime somebody took a picture of him, which then made me wonder if he would even actually show up on film. Holding Milo for the five seconds that he did seemed to make him even more uncomfortable, and he was only too happy pass him off to Lauren as quickly as possible. But I had to commend him for the brave front he put up, going with the flow, even though he never once cracked the smallest of smiles. Mass went a little longer than its usual hour thanks to the baptism, but once it concluded, the family was eager as hell to book it to the cars to rush back to Mama Rosa's for the "after party." "As flattered as I am that you asked me to be your son's godfather," Death said as Hadley buckled Milo into his car seat, "I'm not so sure I - " "You've done enough," she said with a laugh. "You aren't required to come to the party." He looked visibly relieved at this. "Thank you." "Well, my aunts and my mother won't be too pleased about it," I told him with a smirk. "I'm sure I can come up with a feasible lie, though." "Thanks," Death said, rolling his eyes. "Are you ready to go, you guys?" Lauren said, coming over to us. "Your mom wants to leave before traffic gets too bad." Traffic was always shit in New York, so I figured loitering around for a few more minutes couldn't hurt. "We'll be good to go in just a second," I said to her. Both Hadley and I looked expectantly at Death once Lauren wandered off again. I wondered if there would ever come a time where we weren't going to thank Death profusely for saving our hides, and he seemed to realize this as he held up a hand, cutting us off before we could even begin. "I'll be apart of your son's life as his godfather, but I make no promises that it'll be frequent. There are things I have to...constantly take care of." "Yeah, I think we're better off not knowing the details of whatever the job you have is," I said. "We'll take what we can get." Death laughed. "Good to know." When we said goodbye, it wasn't emotional and there weren't any tears. We seemed to have a silent understanding as we shook hands. Death bent down to have a few words with Milo and say goodbye, and after tipping us a salute, he took off down the side aisle, disappearing from view in that unnatural way of his. I glanced down at Hadley, and she was watching the spot where Death had been standing just moments ago, a blank look on her face. "When do you think we'll see him again?" she asked me, her voice quiet. "Not for a while," I answered without hesitation. "But...but at least we have closure. It's over now." "I don't know if it'll ever really be over," Hadley disagreed. "Not with him as Milo's godfather." "Maybe. But honestly, who the hell knows? I feel like I don't know a damn thing anymore." "You and me both." "Hey! Are you two coming or what?" Carlo's voice echoed back to us from the front of the church where he was waiting with zio Vito. "Keep your pants on, Carlo," I called. "We're coming." "Ready to tackle another hurdle?" Hadley said as she hefted up Milo's car seat. "Keep 'em coming, sweetheart."