Page 18 of Providence

I laughed even though my heart was beating a thousand miles a minute. “We aren’t married, Solomon,” I teased.

He just dropped a kiss on my lips. “Yet. But I love you, Serendipity. You deserve everything we can give you, and more.”

Judas unlocked the door, and pushed it open, waving Solomon into the house. We stepped into a light drenched lobby and Sol spun me in a circle. Fuck, I was going to cry.

He set me on my feet and kissed me with so much passion I was panting for breath when he pulled back. Everyone had stepped inside except Bear and Goose, who were checking the perimeter. Marco was holding Sammie and Cara’s hands, his eyes taking everything in. Cain stood beside him, the baby carrier in his hand, Madoc asleep inside. Judas stood beside me, and behind us all was Goliath, leaning lazily inside the front door.

They were all here and I was so fucking happy I felt like I was about to burst into a million pieces. Goliath pushed off the wall. “I’ll check the rooms.” He purposefully didn’t look at me, but I watched his tight shoulders as he strode up the stairs.

Solomon kissed me softly. “I’ll check the ground floor. Be back in a second.” He whipped out his gun, holding it loosely by his side.

Judas rested his hand on my lower back. “What do you think?”

I shook my head. I didn’t know what to think. I loved it. It was too much. But it was perfect all the same. I couldn’t find the right words to express what I was trying to say, so I leaned forward and kissed him. I poured all my feelings into that kiss, and hoped he understood how much this all meant to me.

“Clear!” Solomon yelled from somewhere in the house.

“Clear!” Goliath echoed. Marco must have been holding the kids back, because as soon as he let them go, they were racing up the stairs at a breakneck speed. “Careful!” I called after them, and Judas laughed.

He looked over at Marco. “I gave them the master bedroom. They’ll need the space, and I thought they’d prefer to be together. Your room is right next door to theirs. Third door from the landing.” Marco nodded, signing quickly. I looked at Judas. “He said thank you for thinking of the kids.”

Judas shrugged. “They are family now, too. I want them to feel happy and safe.”

Fuck. I was going to cry. I reached down and tangled my fingers in his, squeezing them. Marco came over and kissed my forehead softly, before following the kids upstairs.

“GOWIATH!” I could hear Cara yell, and Judas chuckled. “She’s going to have him wrapped around her finger.”

It almost seemed impossible to think, considering he hated every member of the female race barely a few months ago.

The next hour was a whirlwind of unpacking and acquainting myself with the house. There was a huge playroom, and my room had a walk-in closet with a window that they’d turned into a nursery for Madoc. They’d painted it the same blue as the tips of his wings. I’d curled myself into Cain then and cried with happiness.

Hormones. I swear it was still the hormones.

It didn’t have much furniture, but they said they wanted me to pick whatever I wanted and they would go and collect it.

How the hell had I gotten so lucky? “This is too much,” I whispered to Judas when he was showing me the entertainment room. They’d already decked out that room, filling it with soft couches and a huge TV. There was also an old fashioned pinball machine in the corner.

He wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “You deserve it, Dippy.”

I wasn’t sure I did. What had I done other than get knocked up and bring trouble to their door? But I kept my mouth shut, because they seemed to love giving me this place as much as I loved receiving it.

Someone ordered pizza because we didn’t have any food yet, and we all stood around the kitchen island as we ate. I didn’t think I’d ever been so happy.

Until Cain opened his big mouth. “I think we should invite your father and Hope over for a barbecue.”

I stopped chewing and swallowed hard. I didn’t say anything. I didn’t know what to say to that. Solomon frowned, opening his mouth to argue probably. Cain held up a hand to stop him. “No, hear me out. Madoc is an angel. He has wings, which I’m going to assume aren't ornamental. One day he’s going to need someone to show him how to use them, or hide them, or whatever else you need to know about wings. Our options are the former Angel of Death, the Devil, or Madoc’s actual grandfather.”

I sighed heavily. Cain was right, but I didn’t know how I was going to overcome centuries of this bitterness. A bitterness I had used as a shield to protect me from feeling anything. Cain reached over and grabbed my hand.

“You didn’t see him when he thought you were going to die, Sera. I’ve never seen such desolate grief. Well, not in a really long time.” His eyes flicked toward Judas, then back to my face. “You need to give him a chance. If it goes pear shaped, we are made to kill Angels. We'll shoot first and worry about the consequences later.”

I raised both eyebrows at him. “That’s not very reassuring, Cain,” I said, my lips quirking. “Okay. Arrange it with Hope.”

It was probably time to get past this shit. For Madoc. Maybe even for myself.

I’d gotten comfortable,and as much as I resisted the urge, I could feel myself putting down roots. That was never the way I’d been. I was always careful to avoid getting too attached to anything or anyone, always ready to leave in an instant, and if I really loved a place, I could return in a hundred years. I couldn’t do that with people. In a hundred years they would be dead, so I just stopped getting attached to them.

I looked over at Marco, who was setting up a huge long table on the back deck of the house. I’d fucked up somewhere, because I was well and truly attached to this man. We were two planets circling ever closer, and soon we would collide in a burning ball of emotions and need. As if he could feel my eyes on him, he looked up, our eyes meeting. I drifted closer to him, and he held still. I wished I knew what was going on his brain, but his face never gave anything away.

---