Azrael

Part Five

            Azrael is sitting on the boulder across from the waterfall when Rocco finally stirs. She is in deep thought. She sits with one leg dangling off the edge of the boulder, the other propped up with her right arm resting on it as she stares off into the distance. Valkyrie is laying down next to her, basking in the sunlight.

Rocco stands up and stretches before walking to the boulder and climbing up it to sit beside her. "What are you doing?" He asks her.

"Just watching the water and thinking." Azrael answers, turning to look at him.

"Thinking about what?" He asks.

"You." Azrael tells him.

Rocco giggles. "What about me?"

"Why all of this is happening to you. You are so little and you had such a long life ahead of you. So why do you have to leave now?" Azrael catches herself rambling and sighs. "And I want to know what you think of it all."

"I'm scared," Rocco informs her. "I want to go home and I don't understand why I can't and why Mommy couldn't hear me. How am I dead if I was still talking to Mommy? I thought when you die, you wake up with the angels. But I woke up with Mommy. I don't want to go live with the angels. I want to go live with Mommy."

Azrael nods as she takes in the information and thinks about the best response. "I bet this is all really scary and confusing. I would be scared too if I was you. But the important part is that your mommy loves you very much and she wouldn't want you hanging around like this. She probably thinks that you went to go see your grandma and grandpa already."

"What about the baby? Mommy might need help." Rocco says matter of factly.

Azrael looks at him. "What baby?"

"Mommy was talking to Daddy one day and she said that she might be having a baby brother or sister for me." He tells her, a smile finding its way onto his little face. "I wanna go see the bay. I can't do that in Heaven if I'm in Heaven."

A light bulb goes off above Azrael's head. 'Bingo.' "Well, what if you get to pick the baby for your mommy and daddy?"

Rocco looks at her. "How can I do that?"

"Well, babies are a gift from Heaven. Handpicked by the angels up there. I'm sure the angels would let you help them pick the right baby for your mommy and daddy if you were there with them." Azrael tells him. "That way, you can pick the best baby for your mom to help her when she is sad because you are gone. And you can tell the baby to give her lots and lots of cuddles until you get to see her again."

Rocco thinks about this for a little while. "Can I really?"

"Probably," Azrael tells him.

"I bet I would pick a really good baby for Mommy." Rocco nods mater of factly.

'Got him.'

"But then I won't be able to play with the new baby." He says.

And she deflates. 'Dang it.'

"Well, maybe you can play with the new baby in Heaven while they get ready to come to Earth to be with Mommy and Daddy. You'll get to have the new baby before Mommy and Daddy do." Azrael tells him. Valkyrie looks up at her and Azrael shrugs. 'I have no idea if I'm telling him the truth. Maybe his afterlife is him being a big brother to someone.' Azrael gazes at the toddler, who is watching the waterfall. 'He reminds me of Hecate.'