The Love of an Angel 8/9
Chapter 8
Gabriel had thought about this moment since he'd found out Bessie was pregnant, since he'd miserably failed to clean up his mess. In the end he went for dropping at least one bomb immediately.
They sat at the kitchen table and Gabriel grabbed Bessie's hand.
"Okay. What's going on? You've been weird the last couple of days." She laughed nervously not sure what was coming next, half expecting him to propose to her or to break up with her, that much Gabriel caught from her stream of thoughts.
"You're pregnant."
Caught off guard she blinked at him.
"Shouldn't that be my line?" She finally asked. "You know, if I was pregnant which I'm not by the way."
"You are." His thumb painted circles on the back of her hand. "It's just too early so you don't know it yet."
"O...kay?" She drew the word out as if she wasn't sure if he was joking or insane.
How do I tell her that the child she is carrying isn't human, Gabriel wondered.
"Would you like to have a child?" He asked instead. "A little baby girl?"
Apparently he wasn't the only one who was glad to be on safe terrain for a little while longer.
"I've never really thought about children." She admitted but thought about it for a second. "But, yeah, I'd like to have a child. With you." She smiled at him and it was warm and full of love. Gabriel swallowed thickly and felt like the biggest dick on earth.
"What if ..." He took a breath. Just say it, he encouraged himself. "What if the child would be different?"
Now she looked at him like she'd never seen him before, really looking at him, searching for something. For the difference, he thought.
"What do you mean different?" She let out a nervous laugh. "Something in the family tree?"
"You could say that." Gabriel sighed. Time to come clear, he guessed. "Remember when you said you weren't good with people and I said you could pretend that I just look human but was something different underneath?"
She nodded slowly and drew her hand out of his.
"Well that wasn't just a joke." He folded his hands to make up for the loss but it wasn't the same. She was sitting right next to him and he already missed her.
"Gabriel, what is this all about?" She looked him in the eye and there was still love.
"I'm not human." There he'd said it. "And our baby won't be quite human either."
Bessie tried to hide her reaction but the muscles in her neck stiffened and unconsciously she leaned away from him. Her expression told him that she had settled from joking to insane by now.
"What do you think you are, then?" She asked in a guarded voice and Gabriel just knew it could only go downhill from there.
"If I tell you, you'd think I'm crazy. I'll show you." With a heavy sigh he stood up and positioned himself in the middle of the kitchen with his back to the wall. "Bessie, please. I love you and I'd never hurt you, you know that, right?" He was pleading now and he didn't care.
"Of course I do." She hurried to say and it was the truth, he could see it in her eyes. "You're scaring me here."
Gabriel let his grace flow through him, let it shine through his vessel, his eyes, illuminated himself with the heavenly light. Then he spread his wings.
Bessie made a strangled sound, nearly fell out of the chair and stumbled backwards until she was plastered against the door frame, ready to bolt any second. Her gaze was fixed on him in shock.
Taking pity on her Gabriel ended the show. Now he was just an ordinary guy again. Somebody you wouldn't look twice at if you met him on the street. Just Mr. Cherry.
Not sure what to do next he waited for Bessie to say something, do something.
"What are you?" She finally asked as if she didn't have a pretty good idea already. It wasn't an everyday occurrence that your boyfriend came out as not being human and so far Bessie took it better than he'd expected.
"I'm an angel." Gabriel didn't dare to move, she was still caught between fight or flight. "I won't hurt you."
"An angel." She repeated.
"Could we sit down for this? Please?" Slowly to not spook her Gabriel returned to his chair and set down. After a second she followed suit.
"What do you want from me?" She desperately didn't look at him and she sounded scared. Gabriel took her hand but it felt stiff like a doll's one in his and he let go of her.
"I don't want anything from you." He reassured her and pretended that he didn't notice when she got her hands out of his reach and dropped them in her lap. "All I wanted was some pistachio ice cream. And then I saw you and everything changed."
Hell, if Gabriel knew how he'd ended up in this situation.
"This thing we have ..." For the first time since his little light show she looked him in the eye. "Is it real?"
"You mean if I love you?" Gabriel dared to breathe a little bit easier. "Yes, I love you."
"Why me?" She actually looked puzzled. "I'm nothing special, I'm not pretty, I'm not even a religious person." She spread her hands in a helpless manner. "Why is there an angel sitting at my kitchen table declaring his love to me?"
She breathed out with a laugh which only hold a tiny hint of hysteria.
"You are special." Gabriel tried again to hold her hand and this time she even returned the gesture. "I've never met a woman like you. And for the religious thing, believe me, I'm not that of a religious person myself."
"A not religious angel." This time her laughing was real. "And you got me pregnant? We used protection."
With his free hand Gabriel gave the table a little shove. "The table is still wobbling from the one time we didn't use protection and accidents do happen even with condoms."
She thought about that for a while. "So you're telling me I'm having a little baby angel growing inside me?"
"It's a little bit more complicated."
"How can this become more complicated?"
Gabriel told her. He told her about the Nephilim and the consequences they and their baby girl would have to face. Bessie listened for the most part, only interrupting him with a question here and there. After he'd finished they sat there, both of them lost in their own thoughts.
"What options do we have?" She finally asked and Gabriel's heart jumped at the we.
"If you keep the baby I can't stay all the time with you, if you even want me to be still a part of your life that is." Gabriel vocalized his biggest fear. After all this did she even want him in her life anymore? "I can conceal my presence or I can conceal hers but both of us in one place would draw attention sooner or later. But she'll need my help to gain control over her powers, to some point I have to stay in contact with her."
Now it was Bessie who reached out and hold his hand in hers.
"Or I could make it go away." He swallowed because that was the last thing he wanted to do but she needed to know the options. "I can make it go away and you don't have to see me ever again if you don't want to, I'd understand. I could even erase your memory, you don't have to remember any of this if you don't want to."
For a second Bessie just stared at him. Then she leaned forward and kissed him, hold his face in both hands and kissed him deep and sweet.
"I have to think about this." She said when they broke apart. "This is some weird stuff, I'm telling you. But one thing I'm absolutely sure about. I love you and if you've been honest when you said the same to me than I want you in my life as much as I can get. Don't you dare and disappear on me."
Gabriel closed his eyes with a silent thank you.
She bit her bottom lip in a lopsided grin. "You say it's a baby girl?"
continue to chapter 9
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