Chapter Text
Aurora knew how they got here and it was all her fault- she’d made a deal with a demon. She gingerly wiped a tear away and plastered on a fake smile for her little girl. The 4 year old was healthy as a horse now. Alastor had kept his promise, now it was time for her to pay the debt, albeit she didn’t realize it was right now. She assumed, which was her problem, that the reasonable time to cash in on his side of the deal was after her death. Maybe her ex-husband was right, she did sometimes rush into things when she was desperate- but it was their daughter! The sweet little girl that was blissfully unaware of the fact they were now in Hell.
Aurora sat with her daughter, Emma, in a room perfect for a tiny princess. They were on a plush pink carpet with a tiny white table. Alastor had made sure they would “Want for nothing, Darling!” his transatlantic accent thick in her mind. And Emma certainly wouldn’t. The little girl was adorned in a puffy pink dress, satin looking play gloves, a tiara that suspiciously didn’t even fall no matter what her little girl did. They were having a tea party, with a small porcelain tea set. It was adorned in flowers and fairies. Eerily similar to the one she had back home. Aurora bit her lip when Emma looked away to insist that both her and her mama “the queen '' needed jewelry and ‘maket up!’ as Emma cutely always added ‘t’s to any word that had a ‘k’ in it.
She mused to herself as Alastor upon making the room up for her with his magic, commented something very typical of a man in his time. The room when he brought them there was blue, light blue everything. He had explained his mistake and with a snap of his finger it turned pink. Aurora wanted to say “Make it pink!” but Sleeping Beauty from Disney was well past his time. He didn’t even realize her very name made this situation slightly ironic. “You know, it's funny how time changes things my dears! Blue used to be a girl’s color and pink a boy’s! Now it's been switched!” he chuckled, twirling the little girl with her wrapped around his index finger. The magic in and of itself was something the curly haired woman was trying not to dwell on since it made her head and heart hurt for various reasons.
Aurora had wanted to defend herself. When Emma was little, the woman and her then husband tried to be neutral about things, offering all colors to their daughter, offering her “boy” things and “girl” things, but the little girl watched Beauty and the Beast one time and it was done for. She wanted princess EVERYTHING. She breached out to superheroes but only Heroines, such as Spider Gwen, Ladybug and Ms Marvel. But she sighed, resigned, there was no use explaining herself to someone who just wanted to dote on a little girl who was happy to be doted on.
As her daughter cheered victoriously upon finding the little girl's makeup kit, Aurora lost herself in memory.
This morning started normal, Aurora had her makeup on, in her business attire to go to work. Emma trailing at the slowest kid speed behind her, unicorn stuffy in hand and drinking from her Disney princess themed water bottle. Slung on her back, stuffed with all the spare things needed for preschool, was her plush pink princess cat backpack. She proudly wore her Spider Gwen dress with pink and blue sneakers that had hearts adorning the bottom. Said hearts would light up as she walked, making a light show on the walls as they went to leave. Aurora’s hands were full, her coat on one elbow, her purse slung over one shoulder, her daughter’s coat on the other arm. Lunch boxes for both of them in her left hand and the car keys in the right. She struggled to open the door only to be greeted by Him. Clad in various reds and accented with black, like an old timey movie. He grinned, casually acting as though he’d not been adjusting his bowtie and dusting his lapels.
Aurora had been frozen. Her eyes wide in horror at the over 6 foot something demon grinned down at her. Emma smiled up at him and waved, shyly clinging onto her mother’s dress pants. Aurora loved 1930s to 1940s style clothing, so she was dressed with a high waisted navy pants that flare out above her heels and a collared structured black shirt tucked into said pants. Despite the dread rising in her throat and the fear coiling in her stomach, she couldn’t panic her daughter. Parents have to remain calm or it makes the situation worse. “Good Morning, Sir.” Aurora almost choked out but she managed to make it sound smooth.
“Good Morning Dear!” He practically shouted, making Emma shyer and hiding behind her mother now. “Why is this little darling, Miss Emma?” He actually crouched down to be less intimidating for the girl. Though he was still a force to be reckoned with, his smile was politely dangerous. “Don’t you remember me from the hospital?” He took a carefully folded piece of paper out of his crimson pinstripe pocket and presented it to her. On the paper were childishly good drawings of three people, one very obviously Emma with the pink dress and crown. Her mother is in a pink dress as well but taller with long curly brown hair and an even taller man with red clothes.
Aurora was trying to steady her breathing. The beeping of the monitors at the hospital from 6 months ago became the only noise in her head. Memories of countless nights she and her ex husband spent in the hospital room. They switched turns sleeping with her in the bed when they could and the stiffish recliner and pull-out couch bed in that room. Her child, the babe she nursed and cuddled and grew in her body for 9 long months, was so tiny in the hospital bed, weak, sickly pale, and hooked up to monitors. Emma’s delighted squeal broke her invasive memory trip as she ran to Alastor in a bone crushing hug. “Mister Alastor!” He picked her up and gave her a hug back with a delighted chuckle that was echoed by a studio audience cooing and awing.
“Yes, uh, Mister Alastor, how can we help you this morning?” Aurora asks, softly chiding Emma for playing with Alastor’s bowtie. She didn’t want the demon to hurt Emma, even though that would go against their deal. But she wouldn’t put it past a demon to break a deal.
“Can’t blame the little darling for having good taste!” he boops the little girl’s nose with a softer smile. Emma is giggling and snuggling into the crook of his neck. “I am here to cash in on our deal.” With one hand he’s holding Emma and the other is out for Aurora to take.
“Now?” Aurora drops all her stuff, “What do you mean? You told me you don’t even like kids, wouldn’t it make more sense to cash in when I die?” She reaches for her daughter and Alastor grabs her hand and twirls her as if they were dancing. He brings her into him and laughs heartily.
“I don’t like children, generally, but this little darling has thawed my cold dead heart!” he smirks now, his face much too close for comfort. He sighs theatrically and leans his head atop Emma who is smiling up at him. “You know my mother always wanted me to marry a good Dame and give her some grandchildren.” he spins Aurora back out and she almost trips over her purse and their lunch boxes but she catches herself at the last minute. Alastor grabs her hand again before she can rip it away and kisses her knuckles. “I could wait, but I figured what the hell!” He brought her back up and the room got darker despite the sunshine coming in through the door behind his looming figure. “After all, I saved your daughter's life in exchange for you to become my wife.” The room illuminated again in a burst and he went back to being jovial, “Go pack your bags darlings, its time to go!”
“Go where!?” Emma asked, her little brows raised and her little body wiggling in excitement.
“To your new home!” Alastor shouted, he kissed Aurora’s hand again and released her with a small shooing motion. “You and your mama will be coming home with me, and I will have a fresh batch of Jambalaya for dinner!” He gently set the little girl down. He dutifully brushed her dress down and tucked her hair back into places.
In typical child fashion, Emma reached for his hand and once receiving it, pulled him along. “Can we bringed my bed? It's a tall bed, mommy bought it for me, when I was a baby.” as if she wasn’t barely above a toddler at this point. For Alastor’s part he listened attentively to her ramblings, occasionally answering calmly.
Following them closely, her nerves shot as this demon just casually held her tiny daughter’s hand, absentmindedly corrected her daughter, “Emma, honey, past tense is not needed for that, it’s just ‘can we bring my bed?’” She was suddenly struck with embarrassment as Alastor laughed with a laugh track echoing behind his booming voice. What made the woman’s brows frown was the fact her daughter was so accepting and taken with Alastor. They had only had 2 maybe 3 interactions at the hospital before Aurora found out who the mystery helper at the hospital was. Her daughter normally didn’t even like strange men, and barely liked the ones in their family outside of her dad and grandpa, Aurora’s father. But not Alastor, she proudly presented him with her tea pot, florals and fairies and he immediately sat cross legged on the carpet and took the tiny cup and saucer with grandiose gratitude.
He animatedly began gossiping about someone named Susan. Emma giggled profusely and tried to play along but was confused and just winged it. A tap on her shoulder from her position in her daughter's room's doorway startled her. The shadow was Alastor in features but almost all shadow. He gestured to her room across the hall from Emma’s. “Ugh, Susan would say something like that, she’s such a bore!” Alastor commented for Emma before shooting a pointed glance at Aurora.
The woman swallowed thickly, hands in fists to her sides, but nonetheless found her suitcase and started filling it with various items. “Alastor, pray tell, how long will we be staying with you?” she tried sounding polite but the whine gave away her distraught.
He called from the other room, “Indefinitely, darling!”
The tears pricked her eyes as she shoved her favorite things into the suitcase, keepsakes, some of Emma’s baby clothes. Toiletries. Her chest was heaving in quiet sobs, why did she do this? She had been so careful in negotiations with him, but she didn’t tell him that it should wait until after she died? Her stomach dropped and bile rose in the back of her throat as the tears spilled down her cheeks. She harshly wiped them away and finished packing what she could. Mourning the loss of her material goods and her home and ultimately some of her freedom. She pulled out a carry-on suitcase and began to stuff it with her hooks, needles , yarn, fabric; she even tried fitting her sewing machine into it. Much to her chagrin and his amusement, it didn’t fit. He was leaning casually on her door frame, his shadow reattached.
“My dear,” he starts. She refuses to look at him, simply putting the sewing machine down. “I will simply send what you want and need to the house.”
Aurora took one deep breath, willing herself not to cry anymore, “Oh, uh Thank you Mister Alastor.” she screams when he materializes in front of her, amusement dancing in his red eyes.
He tsks and offers a handkerchief from his breast pocket, a stylish A on the corner, in bright blood red on black fabric. “There, there dear.” he rubbed her shoulder as she politely took his handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes. “As discussed, you and your darling daughter are under my protection and I will provide you with everything you need, you both will want for nothing, Darling~” he walks around her and gestures enthusiastically, “What kind of gentleman would I be if I didn’t!” He suddenly has a cane- a cane with a one eyed microphone. “Remember, your part of the bargain is to help me live out that fantasy I never got to experience in life.” he patted her head, then with delight dancing in his eyes he took one curl, straightened it and then released it and gave off an amused static sounding chuckle.
“I keep my promises, Sir,” she said after a sniffle and hands it back to him, he refolds it and stuffs it back in his pocket. “But, 6 months? You are really cashing this in now?” she leans in conspiratorially, he leans in as well, in her eyes is a mild hope of talking him out of this, “What is 20 some odd more years, once she’s moved out you won’t have to deal with a child.”
“I know what you’re doing.” he said in a sing-songy voice and wags his index finger at her as if scolding her. He leans away and winks at her. Her blood boils for a second. “Darling, that’s part of the fantasy, having a loving wife and daughter to greet you when you come home- my peers wanted that ideal so much-” he smacks his cheeks and there’s almost a comical squeak as he does, “And I am so bored, after 100 some odd years, it's time for something new!”
“I’ve told you before, I am not very entertaining, just so you remember what you’re getting into.” she scoffs and points to the half made crochet blanket, "I am 33 and I have granny hobbies.” He snaps his fingers and suddenly her crafting supplies, sewing machine and select items are transported to the aether? The void? Space? She wasn’t sure but she knew there was no talking him out of this.
“A woman who makes things with her own hands, who can have pride in her work?” he shakes his head, his smile is still stuck there but dare she say it seemed more genuine? “Why wouldn’t that be something to be proud of.” he puts his elbow and leans on an imaginary something, “Modern people don’t take pride in their lives, homes or ideas- something that my generation kept up- but I blame that on a certain generation.” he rolls his eyes.
"Boomers?”
“Ugh, Boomers.”
She giggled and his ears twitched, he opened his mouth, ready to delight her again with more jokes when he felt a tug on his jacket. She could tell he tensed, his smile twitched, along with his ear and eye. She readied to lunge forward to take the hit for her daughter, should he react but it never came. He schooled his features back to calm and raised his arm to look down at Emma. “Is your favorite color red? Mine is Pinkt.”
“Red is my favorite color, and pink is just a lighter shade of red!” he crouched down once again and her heart had the audacity to flutter at how he became so attentive to her, even making himself, albeit not by much, shorter for her. “So, my dear, we have excellent taste!” She pointed at his monocle.
“Do your eyes need help like my mommy does?”
“No, but also yes, I don’t wear them as much as your mama, but I like to make small letters look bigger.”
Aurora self consciously pushed her large wire glasses up her nose a little, but smiled at the scene. The demon almost seemed normal. Emma sits on one of his thighs and wraps her arms around his neck, “Thank you Mister Alastor!” he’s taken back, his smile still there but small and his hands up in the air embrace her back. Aurora arches a brow, just as confused as Alastor.
“You're welcome,but whatever for?”
“You said you were gonna take care of mommy, she needs it, she’s so sad all the time, my daddy and her are not married anymore, and now I have two da-.”
“Uh, Emma, sweetie, we don’t need to reveal all of mommy’s secrets in one breath.” She cut her daughter off, unsure of how Alastor would react to being called “daddy”.
“Oh no, Emma, do tell me more!” he said in another sing-songy voice. Aurora met his teasing look with a dirty glare. With both of them blindfolded in a ‘game’ as Alastor played it off to Emma as they were teleported to Alastor’s home. The outside looked like a dilapidated hunter’s cabin. When he escorted them inside, Emma in his arms and Aurora on his other one, everything was plush, posh and stylish.
He motioned to a room, it was neat and organized. Standing up against a wall was a plush chaise lounge, a matching deep green ottoman, floral wallpaper and ceiling to floor shelving, her already owned craft supplies arranged in the open spaces with room for plenty more. There were woven baskets with plush blankets in them, and display shelves for her keepsakes she took with her. There was even child sized furniture to accompany it. He grinned a bit too proudly when Aurora turned to say something, so she stubbornly didn’t. Only muttering a ‘thank you’ before offering to take Emma which the demon refused, nuzzling the little girl and gesturing forward.
Then to Emma’s room that had some stuff brought here and others seemed to be new. “Now, we can collect more of your things, later, I need to attend an Overlord meeting, and buy some supplies.” He gingerly places Emma on a canopied bed. He ruffled her hair and she giggled. He holds his arm out for Aurora who takes it easily. She walked into the kitchen, “Now, if you need to bake or cook anything, the pantry is stocked and if I don’t have something you need then you simply say out loud, ‘Oh my Darling Husband, please give me ___'' then say whatever you need.” He took her hand and kissed it chastely. “I should be home in 5 or 6 hours, depending on the meeting, really, and if I manage to see another deal opportunity, I expect a loving wife and daughter to greet me !” he booped the woman’s nose. Aurora smiled, although not big or happy. It was taking all her willpower not to cry, not to scream and not to shake like a leaf. Alastor is turning to leave spouting on about something but then she saw the kitchen in its glory.
A delighted squeal rips from her throat. Alastor pauses, mid sentence hung in the air and turns with a bemused smile that turns into a closed mouth soft smile. “Oh my goodness! Is this an actual Magic Chef 700 Series!?''Aurora's hands go from her cheeks to the gas stove. It's red in color with decorative geometric shapes on the oven doors. “With an artile and finish!?” she gasped and fiddled with the handles, listening to the same ‘tick tick tick flumph!’ noise that her own modern gas stove at home made.
“Yes, it is!” He walks over to her and runs a gloved finger across the surface. His chest is puffed out with pride and he gives the floor a satisfying click with his cane. “I admit it, I did like this much better than the wood burning one I had.” he sighs, his eyes are far off in another time, “It made daily cooking much easier, but I still have the wood burning one, I can always bring it out if that is something my little wife would want to see?”
Aurora eyes are sparkling, no more fear clouding them and making them look dull. Her smile open mouthed and large, she practically bouncing. “You have one? I always wanted to have one, learn how to use it!” then her sparkle fades, he almost misses it now. Her shoulders go back down, her fingers hold each other and fidget in front of her outfit. Her smile drops into a neutral line. Oh, he hated that. Despite his ever present smile, his brows quirk and his eye twitches at the site. She offers a half assed smile, “I shouldn’t keep you from your meeting, have a good day, Mister Alastor, we’ll see you later.” she tenses as a finger tips her chin up.
“Smile, darling, you know you’re never fully dressed without one!” he says, then walks away humming the tune of said song. She follows him, with some distance between them. She waits patiently at the door. “Now, do not open this door for anything or anyone. The house is perfectly safe, but one can never be too cautious!” he snaps his fingers, a gesture she often did herself when she’d remembered something. “Oh, I almost forgot, how silly of me!” he snaps the fingers and a brush of cool then warm air flits over Aurora. She is briefly surrounded by clouds of pink and black until they vanish. She gasps and looks down and instead of her pants and dress shirt, she’s in a structured but flattering 1931 wrap dress with defined waist and collar.
A wolf whistle cuts through the air from his microphone.
He admonishes it and flicks it scoldingly. “We are gentlemen, there will be none of that!”
Her cheeks have the audacity to blush. She clears her throat and steps closer to him, his grin widens. “Have a good day at work.”
“See you soon!” and with that he was gone.
Aurora tuned back into her present time when Emma pulled particularly hard on her hair. “Oh, ouch Emma, be gentle with mommy’s head.”
“Sorry mommy, but you need a crown!” the 4 year old explained. Oh that’s what just scraped the woman’s scalp. She touched the plastic crown on her head. It squeezed her skull, but anything for the little girl. She felt the sticky of the child's lip gloss on her lips and even on the skin surrounding it. She dared to glance in the mirror at the decent job her daughter did on the make up. Sure the eye shadow did go a little onto her temples, but the kid wasn’t doing half bad. Although Aurora was not fond of the fact bright orange had been picked for the eye shadow and the blush went down her cheeks instead of across.
“You’ve been practicing, I see how well you’re doing!” The mother coos to her. The little girl's eyes are bright, she grins and they hug. She pats the little girl on the back, she eyes the time and realizes it’s been 5 hours since Alastor left. “I am gonna get the kitchen cleaned up and start on something, can we clean our room up, put the make up away and then we will clean our faces?” There is a pout but a resigned nod from the 4 year old.
Aurora cleaned up her make up best she could in the bathroom just across the way from Emma’s room. That was strange, she swore she packed all her facial care stuff. Why hadn’t he teleported that? She grimaced as she washed her face with hand soap, just enough to lessen the blush and she cleaned up the eye shadow, not wanting to break the tiny girl’s heart. And fixed the lip gloss. It had been odd to find that when Alastor had changed her dress, he’d simultaneously got rid of her makeup too.
She walked back into the room with Emma still playing and a half cleaned room. “Nah, uh, missy, put the toys away completely!”
With a stuffy in hand, she sighed dramatically, “But mommy, I don’t remember where this stuff went!”
Fair, Aurora thought. “This is a new house huh? We still don’t know all the rules and where things go?” Emma nodded sagely. The mother laughs and helps her put the toys away, making an effort to emphasize that this should be remembered for next time. In true, practiced mom fashion, several wet wipes are used to erase the absolutely caked on various shades of eyeshadow, blush and lip gloss. Why the girl insisted on using every shade on every part, the woman would never know. With protest, the girl was re-adnored in just one sparkly pink eye shadow shade and one shade of clear lip gloss to tiny lips.
“I love being like you, wearing maket up, just like you.” The little girl spoke her truth with all her chest and it warmed the woman’s heart.
“Awww, sweetheart, as much as I love hearing that, you don’t have to be just like me,” she cups the girl’s cheek. “Remember, its always your choice, you choose who you are!”
With a big eager nod she announced, “I am a princess!” She does a wobbly curtsey and climbs onto her bed and resumes her stuffie play. Aurora takes her leave with a playful bow and goes to the kitchen. He had been right, everything was well stocked. The old fashioned icebox and fridge kept things well cool and it all matched the black and red aesthetics well. She cleans and dries the dishes from the fruit, salad and sandwiches that the two of them shared. She’s musing at the half eaten cherry tomato, the leaves of the salad all gone with the carrots but not the red cabbage. Typical little Emma. That’s when she hears a knock he father used to give. “Shave and a haircut”
With a sad smile, Aurora went to the door and answered it with the ending knock ‘two bits’. She announces down the hall that Alastor is home and he opens the door in time with Emma rounding the corner. He’s got one hand behind his back, and totes by his legs. Her eyes light up at the sight of him. “Alastor!” the little girl shouts and runs to him. The pure delight on this little girl’s face at seeing her new favorite person- well demon- you’d think she won the lottery. Aurora doesn’t miss the shock on his face, despite the constant smile, his eyes seem lost in contemplation as the patter of little mary janes clack on the flooring. His features seem to soften, was he touched? Aurora herself relished in the joy of seeing her daughter’s face light up when she picked her up from preschool after work. How it always made any day sunny to see just how excited the little girl was to see her. There was no better feeling, in Aurora’s opinion.
He takes a knee and opens his free arm to her. “What a delightful greeting!” he gave her a quick hug and stood up to Aurora and stuck his grinning cheek out expectantly.
The woman arched a brow at him, “Welcome home, Alastor, how was your meeting?” she kept her hands behind her back to not wrench her child away from him. Said child is currently hugging his leg and trying to get attention. He impatiently taps his cheek with an impish closed mouth smile. Oh, did he want her to? She blinks owlishly as he taps more insistently at his cheek. He did want her to kiss his cheek. She leaned forward and gave the quickest peck on his cheek. His smile turned saccharin and small.
“Hmmm, I am starting to kind of see the appeal my old co host Jon used to drone on about.” he looks down at the chattering child and boops her nose, “Daisies for my little daisy girl!” He finally reveals a small bouquet of wild daisies that Aurora wonders where in the reddish landscape he got very normal looking flowers. Emma squeals and hugs the bouquet to her chest with a large smile.
“We say thank you when someone gives us a gift,” Aurora reminded her.
“Thank you mister Alastor!” she squealed and ran off with them. Aurora shook her head with a smile and started after her little girl when she saw her world twirl for a minute. She places her hand on his chest to steady herself but then shoots her hand back when she notices. His free hand grabs hers and they’re positioned as if about to waltz. His slightly clawed hand on her mid back and their hands together.
“Did you think me a cad?” he begins dancing with her, one of his tentacles brings bags in and the other closes the door from its opening in the floor where they were just at. Aurora is trying to follow along but she hadn’t danced in years, the last time she had was for her wedding almost 6 years ago. She clings onto him for dear life as he dips her, amused static sounding chuckle. She blinks as she sees a vase on the kitchen island counter that was definitely not there before. Rose pink colored Peonies. He brings her up and gestures to them, “What kind of breadwinner would I be if I didn’t bring the Dish waiting at home for me something?”
Her cheeks have the nerve to blush as she smells them, “They’re lovely, thank you.”
She hears the echoes of her daughter calling her from the room. She excuses herself to go after her daughter, but her wrist is caught gently. “I’ll send a minion, I want to talk to my darling wife.” Aurora shook her head.
“You’re gonna scare her, I am surprised she’s as taken with you as she is.”
A devilishly amused smile cracks on his lips, “I am no fool, dear, I have lots of magic at my disposal and a simple illusion is one of them.” he gestures to a decorative mirror on the wall. She glances over and sees a very human looking Alastor reflected next to her own reflection. He’s got light brown skin, brown eyes, a slight curl to his dark hair. He’s got his monocle on, still in the same suit but he looks entirely too human. His skin is warm not ashen and gray like she sees when she looks back at him. She hates that she’s trembling now, he’s keeping an on going illusion on for her daughter, without seeming like he’s breaking a sweat. “I was quite the looker during life, wouldn’t you say?” Both he and his reflection have the same cocky smirk with a flash of teeth, the only difference is the human one has normal blunt teeth and the other is yellow and sharp.
“Oh my goodness,” she’s backing away from him and she's shaking her head. All her self hatred coming full circle mentally. She puts a hand through her hair and starts to pant, its hitting her even harder now. Not only did she make a deal with a demon, but a powerful one. Any fantasy novel taught her that using something constantly was a drain and here he was, using a spell every second in their presence, and summoning minions. “I- I-” the tears are dripping without her consent, he’s advancing every step she takes, a wicked smile on his face as a small minion is summoned behind him and it walks down the hall at the beck and call of the 4 year old’s panicked little voice. Her maternal instincts kicking in, how she wants to run to her child’s aid despite knowing she’s fine. He coos as he wipes the tears from her cheeks.
“Tender little thing.” He croons to her, cupping her face. “Do you regret our deal now?”
Her tear stained eyes hardened, “No, you saved my daughter’s life, I regret nothing I did for her.” His eyes widen in delight and he croons at her again.
“My Darling, I love when you look like you’re about to punch me.” he laughs, as does his studio audience. “One minute, my little wife is trembling like a leaf and then next minute she’s ready to swing at me to protect her child.” he seems wistful, “Like a mother does for her child.”
“Do not get between a mother and her child.” She’s not sure why she says it, the hardened stare up at him, her hands as fists by her hips.
“My mother did many things for me,” he said and twirls one of her curls around his finger, “I know how strong a mother’s love is, I know the lengths a mother goes for her child.” his red eyes are far away and his smile fond.
“Then,” Aurora said, glancing at his finger twirling her curl and then releasing to do it again. “Why are you stopping me from tending to her?”
“Because mothers deserve breaks.” he boops her on the nose and she blinks rapidly. She pushes herself away from him and up against the kitchen sink to get away from him. She is about to dart to the side but both his hands go to either side of her hip and grip the counter her butt is currently squished on. “Don’t run from a predator dear, it makes you seem like prey.” She’s beat red from getting caught and he’s chuckling, relishing in her bashfulness. He’s so entertained.
“I will take a break when she’s down for bed.” Aurora says, she gently pushes on his shoulder and she wonders if he will resist but he doesn’t and steps aside, his cane reappearing. “I should start her dinner.”
“Her dinner?” He questions, following her over to the pantry.
“Jambalaya is great, but her stomach won’t be able to handle it, she needs to keep healing, she got so used to plain, flavorless food at the hospital, if you cook her something spicy, she’s gonna puke.” Aurora explains, gesturing with her words. “Now, I am more than happy to eat your Jambalaya, but I will need to make her mac n cheese.”
“Ugh, don’t tell me, that Craft stuff, the processed, flavorless-...” he’s cut off by her giggles.
“You sound like my grandpa.”
He clears his throat, “Oh, Darling, please don’t compare me to your grandpa- that’s not how I want you to see me, Doll.” there is a tap of his cane. His studio audience goes “ooooo” as if it's some scandalous secret.
“I’m not,” she rolls her eyes, “I make her homemade, baked mac n cheese, I just need noodles.” She bends over and starts rummaging through.
A wolf whistle again, but it's cut off mid way, “Knock that off, she’s a lady.” he scolded his microphone. Once the elbow macaroni, bread crumbs, block of cheddar with a shredder, flour, salt, pepper, garlic powder, milk, and butter are all on the counter. She searched for an apron, being followed by the demon’s eyes. He’s humming, with an apron hooked onto his index finger for her. Its crimson and has black words that says, “Oh Deer!” she giggles at the apron and thanks him.
“We got kinda caught up with things, should I take your coat?” Aurora asked, thinking about all the old timey movies she used to watch with her dad on Saturday nights when they didn’t want to watch Star trek Next Gen or StarWars for the nth time. She was a woman of her word, so she needed to act the wife part that he would have expected from his time.
He shook his head, “Actually,” he’s saying as a shadow is whispering in his ear. “I may have to go back out, something is happening in my territory.” he snarls, his claws tapping impatiently on the counter. “They will pay for dragging me away from you two.”
Aurora didn’t want to read too deep into an aspect of what he just said. She nodded and asked if he wanted any dinner saved for him. He said no, thanked her and was gone in a flurry of shadows. Emma came out, stuffie in hand and glanced around. “Mommy, where is Mister Alastor?”
“He had to go back out for business honey.”
She begins to whine, that he and her new friend had disappeared and she had no one to play with but as soon as Aurora mentioned homemade mac n cheese, all worries were forgotten. After a full meal, both mom and daughter were in her bed, reading stories. There was their routine, tooth brushed, face washed, bath for tomorrow, little nightgown, books, then cuddles. Emma did insist that all her yawning was not because she was tired, but simply because she had ‘hicups’. Aurora just chuckled and rolled with it, letting the little girl wiggle and giggle and then after probably a good 30 minutes of it, the little girl finally drifted off to sleep.
Aurora, so lost in her daughter’s healthy, tiny face, didn’t see the two glowing red eyes watching her from the doorway. With a caress and kiss on the forehead she managed to untangle herself from her daughter and escape. The child muttered and almost woke up but went back to sleep. As she turns, the woman gasps, but covers her mouth. THere he was, silent and observing them.
“I didn’t mean to startle you my dear.” he offers his arm to her and she takes it. Leaving her daughter to rest soundly white noise machine and night light on. She’s led to the living room, where he gestures for her to sit on a chaise lounges as he pours a whiskey for himself. He offers it to her, gesturing with the bottle and she nods. He sits on the one across from her with a contented sigh and drinks.
“How did it go?” she almost regrets asking.
“The details are not for the fairer means,” he says, another sip and he places it down and loosens his bowtie. “A disrespectful wretch decided to harass one of fairer means, he’s not one of those under my territory so I took care of him, and sent the poor dear on her way.” he snarled through a smile, “Then another group decided they would invade, trying to take some of my bordering lands, so I had to- dispatch them.” he’s purposely hiding details and she’s okay with that.
“I am sorry you had to deal with that.”
“No matter, it comes with the job of Overlord,” he looks at her and chuckles, “You have flour in your hair dear.” he points at the top of his head.
She brushes it away, she asks, “By the way, where did you put my stuff? I want to get ready for bed, but I didn’t see any in the bathroom.”
“Hmmm?” he cocks a brow at her through his sip and glass of whiskey. “They’re in our bathroom.”
Aurora chokes on her whiskey. and oh boy does it burn in her throat, “I thought I-...”
“Darling, you’re my wife, of course we’re sharing a room.”
Aurora flushed behind her whiskey.