Page 12 of Generally Hospitable (Good To The Last Demon #7)

CHAPTER SEVEN

Abaddon was tense and worried. I knew I had good news to share that I hoped would make him happy. He wasn’t in on it yet, but he would be very soon.

“Sit,” I said, pointing to the bed.

“Can’t,” he replied, pacing the room in agitation.

“You have to,” I shot back. “When I tell you what I have to tell you, your knees are going to give out.”

He gave me a perturbed look that should have terrified me. I just smiled and pointed at the bed.

“You are killing me,” he ground out, but warily sat on the very edge of the bed. “Speak.”

Pulling up the chair from my vanity, I sat in front of him, our knees touching.

I wasn’t sure if I should just blurt it out, or be more delicate with the reveal.

I decided to go with cryptic. That was how the Immortals did it.

I’d been on the receiving side of that method for a while now.

Abaddon was one of the biggest offenders of the cryptic method.

It was time for a little payback. I didn’t always love it, but was learning to appreciate it.

I had only one chance to tell Abaddon that he was going to be a father for the first time. Making it memorable was the plan.

“Okay, so you know we’ve had sex,” I began.

His head tilted in alarm and his eyes widened. “Umm… yes, but I’m not sure we should do that right now. Your mom is going to be here any second. The walls in your house are thin and you tend to be… you know… loud and screamy.”

“Oh my god,” I said with a laugh. “Not where I was going, dude. But thanks for letting me know I’m loud and screamy.”

The Demon was mortified. “Not what I meant,” he insisted. “I love that you’re loud and screamy. It’s great. And, I mean, if you want a quickie, I’m all in.” he stood up and began unbuttoning his pants.

This was going very left of center at lightning speed. Grabbing his hand, I stopped him. “Nope, it’s definitely not nookie time. Sit back down, please.”

He was confused. I didn’t blame him. Clearly, I hadn’t mastered the cryptic method yet.

Pretending to be a cryptic Immortal wasn’t working for me.

Granted, I was great at pretending when I was acting in a role, but I sucked at it in real life.

I was an honest-to-goodness straight shooter—a rare commodity for a Demon, but I was who I was.

That wasn’t going to change any time soon.

It was time to get to the point and release Abaddon from the panic attack that was welling up inside him. “You’re going to be a daddy,” I blurted. “And I’m going to be a mommy.” I threw my hands up. “I’m pregnant.”

A feather could have knocked one of the strongest Demons in existence to the ground right then if his expression was any indication.

His mouth opened to speak, but no words came out.

He tried multiple times to make a sentence and failed.

My handsome Demon looked like a fish out of water, gasping for air.

His eyes went from mine to my stomach, then back to my eyes… then back to my stomach.

For a hot sec, I was terrified that he wasn’t happy about the news, but that wasn’t the case at all. The shout of pure unadulterated joy that came from low in his gut then out of his mouth at a volume I was sure could be heard for miles, assuaged my fears. My Demon was over the moon.

“For the love of everything fuckin’ inappropriate—pun totally fuckin’ intended,” Candy Vargo shouted from the living room. “I’d tell you horny fuckers to get a room, but it sounds like you already have one.”

“We’re not banging,” I shouted back.

“Could have fooled everyone in California,” she replied with a cackle.

I ignored her. Abaddon was so consumed with the life-changing news, I wasn’t sure he’d even heard Candy Vargo.

“Cecily,” he shouted, jumping to his feet, scooping me up, then gently placing me on the bed like I was fine China. It made me laugh. His frantic movement as he paced the room was dizzying.

“Do you need food?” he asked, unsure what to do. “Pickles? Ice cream? Pizza or maybe sauerkraut with peanut butter?”

“Sauerkraut with peanut butter?” I asked, wrinkling my nose in disgust. “Why would I want that?”

“I don’t know,” he said in his outdoor voice, clearly freaking out, but definitely happy about the new and wonderful life that we’d created together.

“I know nothing about pregnancy or babies. I’ve heard that pregnant woman eats unusual combinations of food and can have hormonal rages that include knife throwing and the occasional castration of the offending partner. ”

“Oooookay,” I said, trying not to laugh. I failed. “Where are you getting this information?”

He shook his head, wearing a path in the floor as he walked back and forth in front of me. “I don’t know.”

I laughed as I got off the bed and grabbed his hand to stop the pacing. “I’m not hungry right now.”

His gaze met mine. “Are you sure?” he asked, doubting my sincerity.

“Positive. I’m good. I’m thrilled and just a little bit scared.”

He nodded. “Okay, that’s good. I’m terrified.”

I giggled. “And that’s good too. Means we care. People have been having babies since the beginning of time. We can do this.”

“You’re right,” he agreed, still a bit panicked.

“We’ve got this. I say we go to an undisclosed location and wait it out until the baby is born.

We can have security and any kind of food you want brought in.

I’d like to suggest that we don’t keep any knives on the premises.

Although, if you want knives, that’s fine.

If you castrate me, it’ll grow back. One of the perks of being an Immortal Demon. ”

Of all the ways I’d imagined Abaddon behaving, this wasn’t one of them. The Demon was losing his mind… and shockingly fine with losing his junk.

“Not happening, dude,” I said, cupping his cheek in my hand. “No safe house. No castration. No knives. I have a job. You have a job. If I don’t do my job there will be no world left to bring our daughter into. You feel me?”

“Daughter?” he asked with a delighted smile as he touched my stomach.

“Daughter,” I confirmed, placing my hand over his.

His expression went from serene to concerned. “Does Pandora know?” he demanded. His eyes began to sparks and the pacing ramped up again.

He was having the very same thoughts I’d had.

A female child being borne of a Goddess was automatically a Goddess.

My existence had infuriated Pandora to the point she’d committed the ultimate sin of killing another Goddess.

She’d been enraged that Lilith would have the upper hand in the Darkness with me on her side.

Granted, she’d been aiming for me to die and not my mother, but either way the end result was the same.

A Goddess was not permitted to end the life of another Goddess. Period.

“Stop,” I said firmly. “Listen to me.”

Abaddon reluctantly sat back down on the edge of the bed.

“Pandora was the one who told me I was pregnant. She offered herself up to the false God so I could escape. She knew that the balance wouldn’t be broken since I carry a Goddess inside me.

There would still be two Goddess even if she didn’t make it out alive.

She sacrificed herself for me.” I paused and closed my eyes.

If I thought too hard about what she might be going through at this exact moment in time, I’d lose it.

She would be pissed. She’d given me the greatest gift that could be given.

If I screwed it up, she’d haunt me for the rest of time.

“Pandora, gave me her magic. She’s trapped in there with nothing. ”

“She what?” Abaddon asked. He was having a hard time believing me.

Hell, if I hadn’t been there, I’d have a hard time believing me. This wasn’t the behavior of the Pandora people had known for millions of years.

“Gave me her magic,” I repeated. “I didn’t know she was doing it until it was done.”

We both stared at each other in silence for a long moment.

“What happens when there are three Goddesses alive?” Abaddon questioned. “What are the chances that Pandora will go after our daughter?”

It was a legit question. “She won’t go after our daughter.”

“She told you that?” he demanded. “Gave you her word?”

I shook my head. “She didn’t, but I know. I know in my heart and my soul that she won’t harm our daughter.”

Abaddon sighed. He wasn’t happy. “I wish I had your confidence, but I don’t.”

“Fair,” I said.

He looked me in the eye. “What I’m about to say is shameful. I shouldn’t even speak the words considering that you’re sitting here because of Pandora’s sacrifice… but if I don’t say it, it will eat at me for eternity.”

I blew out an audible breath. It came out like a raspberry.

I already knew what he was going to say and the answer was no.

I didn’t even want him to put the words together in a sentence.

He would have to live with that. Everyone was entitled to their thoughts and opinions, but I was the Goddess and I was about to pull rank.

I loved Abaddon with all I had. I would love him until the end of time, but his thought was dangerous and as wrong as Pandora killing my mother.

Two wrongs would never make anything right.

It would only leave a person who committed the wrong with regrets that time would never wash away.

“I will not leave her to die,” I said.

Abaddon wasn’t ready to back down. I got it.

I really did. Our daughter wasn’t even here yet and I knew without any doubt that I would die happily for her…

just like my mother had done for me. The gift of my mother getting to live out the rest of her life as a human by my dad’s side wasn’t a guarantee that I would receive the same gift.

“Do you think she would do the same for you? If the situation were reversed?” he pressed.

I didn’t need to mull his questions over.

“It’s moot. The situation is not the same.

Pretending won’t get us anywhere. Pandora offered to die for me and our child, knowing there would be two Goddesses without her and that the balance would be kept.

Even so, I won’t let her give up her life.

And, if Pandora gets pregnant with a female child, I’d embrace the baby Goddess as my own.

I know that if we can save Pandora, she will do the same.

I want to give her the chance to prove it to you and the rest of our people. ”

Abaddon inhaled slowly and blew the breath out even slower. “I love you. I trust you. I don’t entirely trust Pandora, but I will honor you by helping you save her. However, once our daughter is born, I will watch her like a hawk for the rest of time.”

“I’d expect nothing less,” I told him, knowing it wouldn’t be necessary, but if it made him feel better in this moment, then who was I to deny him the comfort?

I leaned into him, going up on my tiptoes, and kissed him.

He wrapped his arms around me, and the feeling of his lips on mine was perfection.

I would’ve loved to deepen the kiss, allowing it to lead into the natural consequences of our love, but we had things to do, places to be, a Stinky Whore to save, a public killing of Chub Chub Wang, and putting the Higher Power in Its place for good. It was a total lady boner killer.

“Hey, horny fuckers,” Candy Vargo shouted right outside the door to our bedroom. “Put your pants back on. Your mom is here.”

And the party continued to rage on. I just hoped the next part of the celebration followed to plan.

It had to. The alternative wasn’t acceptable.