Page 7 of Hades

He only felt slightly bad that he had forgotten to call his brother and let him know that their nephew had been born. He knew Eris didn’t because she was on this wholeno phones for a few days after giving birth so they could bond with the babykick. She forced Cade to go along with it, so telling his brother about their nephew really had fallen on him, and he dropped the ball. Lucifer would be alright though.

It really was an oversight. Eris knew to bring her ass to Hades as soon as she went into labor, and when they couldn’t get ahold of her midwife, Hades took matters into his own hands and snatched Harley up. Shit happened so quickly from there, he hadn’t even realized Lucifer had been left out until it was all said and done. Hades knew neither he nor Eris would ever hear the end of this.

“Too hectic to fuckin’ call me?” Lucifer barked, causing Hades to chuckle. He was about the only man on the planet who could get away with elevating his voice at him.

They had been like that since they were young. Hades was only a year older than Lucifer, and they constantly went at it. Hades had to remind his little brother who the big dawg was many times. Now, they were pretty much equally yoked when it came to size. Muscular and intimidating as hell in stature, but Hades was always a touch crazier. Well… more than a touch. Nigga was truly touched in the head, but that had a lot to do with their rough upbringing and making it his priority to make sure his siblings were straight. He was a loose cannon on any day that ended in Y, but he was much worse when it came to protecting the people he loved.

Hades opened the door to the room Eris was in, not bothering to knock and completely ignoring his brother, who pushed his way past him and walked into the room first.

Hades bit down on his back teeth and shook his head but let his brother have that. Deep down, he knew he fucked up by not calling Lucifer, so he would let his attitude rock for now. His brother knew how far he could take it before Hades lost his shit.

His eyes swept the room, and he realized he was looking for Harley. When he realized she wasn’t in the room, and neither was Cade, he allowed his eyes to fall back on his siblings. The urge to snatch his nephew from Eris was strong, but he refrained. He knew if their mama was alive, she would go upside his head because of how much of a bully he was. Every once in a while, her voice in his head offered him calming reason where he otherwise wouldn’t have any.

Eris’s eyes lit up when she spotted her two brothers. “Lu!”

“Nigga, I know you see me.” Hades barked at his sister, who simply rolled her eyes at him as she reached up to hug Lucifer.

Hades stood back and watched, a smile threatening to tug his lips up, but he kept it at bay. He loved the relationship Eris and Lucifer had. In a lot of ways, they were closer to each other than they were to him. Though he was only a year older than Lucifer, he was eight years older than Eris, who had just turned thirty. Hades and his brother were closer in age, but since Hades took on the fatherly role because their biological dad wasn’t shit, his younger siblings had more of that sibling relationship vibe going on. He was looked at more as a protector and parental figure.

Quiet as it was kept, he was glad his younger siblings could have that kind of relationship. It proved to him that he had provided some kind of normalcy in their lives, and it caused pride to swell in his chest.

“You okay, Sis? You good?”

Tears swelled in Eris’s eyes. “I’m good, Lu. Why didn’t you come last night? Dante has been waiting to meet his uncle.”

Lucifer’s eyes cut into slits as he looked back at Hades. “Ask him.”

Eris peered over at her oldest brother with her face scrunched up. “You didn’t call him, Hades?”

Hades grunted as he pushed off the wall. “You ain’t remind me to.”

Her mouth dropped open. “Hades Orion Ashford! He’s our brother. I shouldn’t have to remind you to call him when I’m in labor! You knew I wasn’t going to have my phone on me?—”

“Okay,” Hades snapped, holding his hand up. His threshold for his siblings bucking at him had officially overflowed. “I fucked up, aight? He’s here now. Better be lucky I’m letting him hold my nephew before me.”

“You were with him all night?—”

“Ain’t the point,” Hades barked. “Give my nephew to this big head nigga before I raise hell.” The grin on his face looked menacing, but neither of his siblings were worried about his idle threats.

Eris shook her head and mumbled under her breath, but neither of his siblings said shit else to him, which was exactly what he wanted. One thing about Hades… he wouldalwaysget what he wanted. Even they knew exactly how far to push him.

Hades watched tentatively as his brother fell in love with their nephew as soon as Dante was in his arms, just as he had the night before. Hades hadn’t been able to hold him yet, though, which pissed him off, but he decided to pull from the tiny drawer of patience he had within him and waited.

“Nigga so small,” Lucifer muttered.

Eris reached up and smacked Lucifer’s muscled arm. “Don’t call my baby nigga, nigga.”

Lucifer turned to look at Eris. “He black, ain’t he?”

Hades watched in amusement as Eris’s mouth opened and closed repeatedly as she searched for a comeback. As brothers, their favorite thing to do was to irritate Eris’s soul. She was onetough ass woman dealing with them her whole life, but she was still no match for them.

Finally, she simply lay back in bed and released a deep sigh. Hades walked over to her and rubbed a rough hand over her head. “You good?”

She nodded and closed her eyes for a moment. “Just tired and hungry. Cade went to grab some food.”

Hades peered down at her with his brows pushed together as he thought about Cade. “Dude taking care of you, right? I don’t gotta get them boys on him?”

Eris’s eyes popped open as she shook her head incredulously. “Hades, you been knowing Cade for forever. When has he not taken care of me? You don’t need to get your lil motorcycle crew on him. He’s in the club, anyway. He’s the Sargeant at Arms.”

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