Synching With the Devil's Son

Chapter 146

Bella's P.O.V.

For an instant I think my father is going to come to terms with what I just told him with grace and dignity. He's looking at me with love, which then turns to confusion, which is followed by a cracked sob that turns into wracked sobbing and heaving breaths. The Amon's stand quietly to the side while my father falls apart. I am eternally grateful to them for not interfering as I lead my Dad to the kitchen table. He falls into a chair and looks at me with tears streaming down his face.

"What have I done wrong?" he sobs. "I tried to be what you needed when your mother died, but obviously it wasn't enough. I should have married Mary years ago so she could have been a mother to you. I'm so sorry Bella," he moans, crossing his arms on the table and flopping his head onto them, crying noisily.

I look at him in confusion. "What...Dad? Wait...you're blaming yourself because I'm in love with Lucien?" When he sobs louder I stand next to him and say, "Okay, that's enough Dad." When he doesn't calm down, I raise my voice and say, "STOP! Dad, you are being ridiculous!" I've never yelled at my father before, and that's probably what gets him to stop crying and look at me. "I will go into details later, but right now, there are nine people outside looking for answers, so here is the short story. I am in love with Lucien. He asked me to marry him and I said yes." My Dad looks at Lucien briefly before focusing on me again. "Lucien is half human. Kate is human and his father is the fallen Archangel who just found redemption in our yard." I look up and smile at Samael. He quirks his lips at me and nods slightly. "Dad, these men are incredible! They have beautiful wings! Lucien's are cream with black and brown spots throughout them, Samael's are iridescent black that turn blue, red, green and purple in the sun like a humming bird." I give my Dad a moment to digest that since I know how much he likes hummingbirds. "Lucien and his father found the men who attacked me and threw them in jail." My Dad startles at this and glances quickly at Samael. I suppose there are parts of that story my father doesn't really need to know about, so I gloss over it. "I will never have to worry about them again. Lucien has sealed the cracks in my wounded soul, Dad. I am his soul-mate, just as he is mine." I watch him closely as he tries to absorb this information.

"But...but...the Devil? How...I....I can't..." my Dad stutters.

"Do you think I wasn't terrified of meeting him at first?" I ask my father. When he looks at me I smile gently. "Do you want to know how I got over it?" He nods slowly. "Lucien told me being the Devil was his father's job, not who he is. When I thought about that for a moment I was able to compartmentalize my irrational thoughts from my rational ones. What do we really know about God, Angels, Demons, Heaven or Hell anyway? Nothing, nada, zilch. Mr. Amon has been trying to raise an empathetic, kind and loving son...is that what we're taught to believe about the Devil?" My fathers lips twitch and I press on. "Yes he is the Devil, but he's first and foremost an angel. What you saw in the yard was Mr. Amon saving the universe from his asinine brother, who truly is a monster."

My Dad sits on the chair silently for a moment, brushing his tears away. Then he looks up at me and says, "Honestly, I didn't see much...one moment I thought there was a red monster in my yard and the next second I'm exiting the barn to all this carnage. What happened to our Elm tree? What happened to your car? Did I fall asleep or pass out or something?"

I sense Samael and Lucien shifting on their feet uncomfortably, but I ignore them and tell my father, "As far as I can figure, God doesn't want humans to witness His presence. He froze you all so you wouldn't see what was happening and freak out."

My Dad puts his head in his hands and sifts through his hair, scrubbing his face while he thinks. "You've met God?" he finally asks me.

I nod. "Twice, actually. The first time He was an undulating ball of light, so I don't know if that counts," I say gently, wondering if he will ever accept his new reality.

This gives him pause, then he continues. "And you're going to marry an angel?" At my nod he asks, "What about school?"

I quirk my lips, he's taking this quite well. "Nothing has changed, I'm still going. Lucien is looking at homes to purchase in Knoxville. We are going to move there, together, and you can visit us anytime."

My Dad sighs, stands up from the chair, and walks over to where Samael and Lucien are standing. They both look at him silently, waiting for him to act on whatever he has in mind. He surprises all of us when he reaches for Lucien and pulls him into a hug. "I always liked you, Lucien. Welcome to the family." Lucien sputters a surprised "thank you" and then my Dad turns to Samael. He puts out his hand and Samael slowly reaches to shake it. "Thank you. My daughter means everything to me and you helped her in a way that was impossible for me to accomplish. You've healed my family, and I will forever be grateful." Samael nods once, his brown eyes follow my fathers gaze, and after a brief staring contest, his lips twitch, causing my Dad's lips to twitch. They continue staring at one another until a smile blooms on Samael's face, followed quickly by my father's smile, and suddenly all the tension in the room dissipates.

My Dad pats Samael on the shoulder and turns to me. "So, what do we tell your friends?"

"Good question. Trish is probably the only one who will demand a truthful explanation, everyone else will want one, but we can come up with something logical to tell them. I was thinking about blaming the wreckage out there on a mini tornado." Everyone nods their head, thinking that's as good an excuse as any. "The real issue is Kate and I were in the barn with everyone when God showed up and then we were in the yard a second later, at least in their eyes," I turn to Lucien, asking him silently to help come up with a reasonable explanation.

"I think it would be best if you ignored that particular problem," Lucien's father says. "Garrett, if you act normal, they will take cues from you. Talk about anything but Kate and Bella being discovered in your yard while you were still in the barn. Everyone will begin to believe they just didn't see Bella and Kate walk out ahead of them."

Will that work? I hope so. "Dad," I inquire, "do you think you can do that?"

"Well, I expect you to run some subterfuge for me since you've become so adept at lying," my father tells me with a little scorn in his voice.

"Excuse me?" I say, offended. "I'll have you know there is a big difference between lying and purposefully omitting the truth because the truth is far more fantastical than any lie I could come up with." My father harrumphs at me as we walk out the door to face our worried friends.