Abaddon’s mind beca cognizant long before he opened his eyes.
He knew right away that he was in his bed, yet not within the walls of his hos in Tehom or on Earth.
He was in Eden. The unmistakable, sweet-and-crisp air, at a perfect cool temperature, was a dead giveaway.
He opened his eyes and found himself staring at the familiar back of an even more familiar woman.
He wrapped his arm around Izanami’s waist and pulled her into his body from behind.
She stirred slightly at his touch, and in response, he buried his face in the back of her neck.
Not a mont later, he opened his eyes again in relative confusion.
"...Are you unwell?"
Izanami rolled over to face her husband. Her cheeks were flushed red, and her pores slled lightly of alcohol.
"I, umm.. couldn’t keep up with the rest of the party. I just ca up here to lie down."
"...Party?"
"It was everyone’s first victory after a while... Not just here, but the streets of ho are also quite rambunctious....It’s been about three days now. I thought I was holding my alcohol well, but then your mother suggested we take a drink every ti Satan said sothing racist, so..."
She touched his face with a gentle hand and a gaze filled with love.
"Enough about ... how are you feeling? You’ve been out for about three days."
Abaddon felt his skin tingle at her warmth. "...I-"
Suddenly, Entei jumped onto the lovers’ bed and made his presence known.
He trotted over to Abaddon with a note in his mouth.
Sitting up, Abaddon took the letter with one hand while petting the flaming creature with the other.
Izanami started to take the letter from him before he could read it.
"Oh, honey, wai-"
"Dear Dad. Happy you’re not dead. However, starting right this mont, I will no longer be talking to you."
Abaddon looked up from the letter with a crestfallen look.
Izanami turned to Entei with a pout on her face.
"...I told you to wait at least until he had a shower before you gave it to him."
Entei sat on his haunches and assud an innocent look that Izanami wasn’t buying.
Abaddon started trying to get out of bed, and Izanami shakily tried to chase after him.
"Honey, wait-"
"I have to try to talk to them. I don’t want them to feel insulted because I sent them away."
Izanami got her arms around Abaddon’s shoulders and held him in place before he could stand up out of the bed.
"It’s too soon for you to be worried about this. You’ve been out for days, you need a bath, so food, and maybe even sothing to drink first... our children will always be here, and nothing’s been done that can’t be undone yet."
Izanami felt her husband’s body stiffen a bit, though she wasn’t sure which of her words had inspired his reaction.
Abaddon placed his hand over his wife’s arm and turned his head towards her.
"...Do you ever wish that we had more?"
Izanami blinked at the suddenness of the question. "...I think we should also put that kind of play on hold until you’re better."
Abaddon chuckled. "No, well.. maybe, but that’s not what I ant. I’m genuinely asking, do you ever wish that we had more children?"
Izanami let her gaze drift around the room. She envisioned all of her children, big and small, human and dragon, all of them staring at her with a smile full of love.
"...I have made my peace with the number of children we have now. At this point, I believe that with our last two approaching adulthood so quickly, we are beginning to make the transition in our lives from parents to grandparents. It is also beautiful in it’s own way."
"But...?"
Izanami smiled wryly. "But I have always wanted...."
She did not finish her words, but Abaddon no longer needed her to.
He pulled her into his lap and rested his forehead against her own.
She reciprocated the gesture with her husband, and for a mont, the two of them sat in silence.
"...Why do you ask this?" Izanami said softly.
Abaddon divulged everything that Oblivion had told him without holding anything back.
If anything, the informational dump helped to sober up his darling wife.
"I don’t know if I feel that fond of the idea if I’m honest..." Abaddon stared out the window into their private world outside. "I have always wanted our children to be born out of love and desire. Now, having a child just to pass on this power that’s making sick... it feels as if we are using them before they are even born."
Izanami took her husband’s face in her hands and turned his gaze back to her. She gently used the pads of her thumbs to rub underneath his eyes.
"No matter what reason we decide to have a child, it will be loved all the sa. And if you feel that guilty about why or how they are born, then you should put that much more effort into being a good father."
Izanami suddenly kissed her husband on the cheek. "Though I know you won’t have any problem with that."
"...Am I to take this as you accepting the idea?"
"You are. But we still have to see what the others say. You gave them quite the fright, you know? They may want you to stay sick and in pain for as long as you can."
-
Abaddon and Izanami left their room quietly.
From the mont Abaddon woke up, he was aware of the fact that his vacation ho was bigger than it was the last ti that he was there. Though that didn’t surprise him all that much when he thought of the number of people who were there.
However, what did surprise him was the quiet.
Quietly, Abaddon and Izanami sulked in the shadows of a ssy living room.
There, most of the n in his family, and the roughest won were sitting on the sectional sofa, staring at an unaware Satan who was busy flipping through channels on a TV.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
The demon lord suddenly lifted his head. "You know, genies are-"
Cheers erupted around the room as the n began clinking their glasses together and drinking a shot of Darius’ famous kidney killers.
As he watched with a slight smile on his face, Abaddon suddenly felt a familiar body wrap around his own.
He looked down and found the shadows gradually transforming into a beautiful, ashen-haired goddess.
"Welco back to the land of the living, my darling. Sooo happy to see you."
Audrina showed her husband a smile that was not a smile as she squeezed her husband for all he was worth.
"...You’re upset, huh?" Abaddon winced.
"Oh..? Why would you think that?" Audrina squeezed him harder. Abaddon could feel his organs squishing into places they shouldn’t have been in.
"Oh, you know... just a hunch."
Izanami went towards her love and whispered in her ear.
Abaddon saw the anger slip off Audrina’s face in one giant blanket as she turned to him with a new look in her eyes.
"...Really?"
Abaddon smiled at her. "Are you up for giving it one more go around..?"
Audrina didn’t even answer. She just switched the way she hugged her husband from one of punishnt to one of adoration.
And Abaddon, arms sore and spirit full, hugged her back as warmly as he could.
Their act was enough to catch the attention of all the drunkards in the living room.
"Heyyy, he’s up!"
"My son!"
"Boy, we thought you was dead!"
Abaddon was suddenly sward by his family mbers, who stunk of alcohol, cigar smoke, and a mild amount of sweat.
He groaned in his laughter as he held Asmodeus and Absalom at arm’s length.
"I can’t believe I have to tell you this still, but let’s not forget to make sure we’re decent while we’re you’re celebratin-"
"Aw, hush, boy!"
Asmodeus suddenly wrapped his arm around his son and placed him in a jovial headlock.
"You had your daddy worried, boy! You had your mothers worried! Why didn’t you call or anyone else for help while you were surrounded??"
"I-I thought it would be cooler if I did it myself..."
"Cool!? Boy, I’ll give you cool, co here!"
Asmodeus ended up wrestling his son to the ground, fueled by the cheers and laughter of everyone else in the living room.
Their rowdiness ended up getting the attention of the won and children outside.
They all ca in, looking for the source of the noise, and found Abaddon on the floor, laughing as if he hadn’t been on death’s door re hours ago.
Abaddon accidentally looked up and locked eyes with his daughters.
Thea, Mira, and Gabbrielle all stared back at their father. Their eyes were relieved, but not overly enthusiastic in the slightest.
He smiled at them subtly. "Hey, girls... I’m ba-"
All three of his daughters imdiately turned tail and went back outside, making their father wince.
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