Death's Lullaby

Easter

Takes place before Death revealed his true identity and is living with Joe as Cain.

It was early Sunday morning when Death woke up to hear Joe walking back and forth from the garage to some other part of the house. He cracked his eyes open and listened for a little longer. The creak of wood and the occasional mumble from Joe continued. Death decided it was best if he got up and helped with whatever Joe was doing. He yawned and stretched his arms and legs. Death walked out to the hall and watched as Joe passed him with a huge container containing multiple different decorations.

"Do you need some help Joe?" Death asked curiously.

"Sure, go in the garage and grab the box that is labeled 'Easter'. You shouldn't miss it," Joe said. Death walked out to the garage and located the box. The curly handwriting indicated that it was Joe's late wife that wrote it. Death carefully lifted the box and walked back inside.

"Where do you want it?" Death yelled.

"In the living room!" Joe answered back. Death walked into the living room and set the box on the couch.

"What's in there?" Death asked.

"Easter decorations of course! It was my wife's favorite holiday. She always enjoyed watching the grandkids hunting the Easter eggs in the yard," Joe said. His voice got quieter as he remembered a fond memory of his wife at Easter.

"Let's start getting the decorations up. Everyone's going to be here later for an early supper. No time to waste!" Joe stated. He opened the box Death had carried in. Stuffed bunnies and ducks with some colored eggs and other decorations lay in the box. Joe began to decorate the household. Death tried to help but Joe shooed him away. He wanted to do it himself. So, Death sat on the couch and watched Joe decorate the household. About two hours later Joe looked around the household and smiled widely.

"Finished," he said. Death looked around the household. There wasn't one spot where Easter wasn't present. Death even had a stuffed white rabbit and a few decorated eggs in his room.

"Alright, you go hide the eggs in the yard and I'll go make sure the food is all ready," Joe ordered, handing Death a sack of plastic eggs. Death looked at them oddly but went to the yard to hide them anyways. He hid them in bushes, flower pots, behind decorations, and anywhere else an egg wouldn't be seen easily. He walked back inside and laid the empty sack in the Easter box and went into the kitchen. Joe was sitting at the kitchen table reading the newspaper.

"All the eggs hid?" he asked him. Death nodded his head in response. Joe shook his head and smiled.

"No one is going to be here yet for a couple of hours so you can relax," Joe stated. Death sat in the chair opposite of Joe's and sighed. Peace at last. Death closed his eyes and dozed off. Joe eventually woke him up an hour and a half later.

"Is someone here?" Death asked glancing out at the driveway.

"No, but you need to go change. You can't just wear sweatpants to Easter," Joe told him.

"Fine," Death said.

"There's a shirt laying on your bed for you to wear!" Joe hollered from the kitchen. Death looked at the shirt and scrunched his nose. It was a peach colored t-shirt and Death despised it. He put it on anyways, knowing he would never hear the end of it if he didn't wear it. After changing he walked back into the living room only to be greeted by the first guests to arrive. The three kids, Fred, Lily, and Dallas, were all trying to catch Bubbles who was attempting to run away from the hyper children. Carol and Ben were talking to Joe on the front porch. Death stepped outside and stood by Joe.

"Well don't you look nice?" Carol said.

"Thanks," Death said distastefully. Ben laughed and looked at Death.

"Don't worry Cain you're not the only one that doesn't like dressing up," Ben told him. Death smiled and watched the three kids now chasing Arrow across the yard. Bubbles had retreated under the front porch out of the kid's grip.

"Hi Cain," Fred said walking up to the adults.

"Hey bud, how are you?" he asked.

"I'm o-okay," he responded. Death smiled and Fred ran back to his siblings to play. Soon, Joe's other three kids arrived and everyone was herded inside to eat dinner. A quick prayer was said and everyone got in line to get their food. Kids sat at one table and adults sat at the other. Death went to walk over to the adult table but Fred's voice stopped him.

"Can y-you sit b-by me?" Fred quietly asked. Death backtracked and took a place next to Fred. Fred smiled happily and began to eat. Death slowly ate and listened to the occasional conversation that was heard from the adult's table. Soon, everyone had finished eating and the kids were more hyper. Death didn't think it could be possible but it was. They ran around the house, screaming in excitement for the Easter egg hunt.
"Okay does everyone know what color they are finding?" Joe asked them. All of the kids nodded their heads in excitement. Joe chuckled and passed out the baskets that matched the color they were finding. All of the kids ran out the front door and began searching for Easter eggs. The adults followed them outside and stood on the porch watching. It was too nice out to be inside.

What's the whole point? Hunting eggs is kind of dumb," Death said to Bradley, Joe's youngest son, quietly.

"Well there's candy and quarters in the eggs. Didn't you ever hunt Easter eggs when you were a kid?" Bradley asked him.

"No," Death responded. Bradley looked at him oddly but said nothing more. Death had never celebrated Easter before. He's never celebrated any holiday before. Death knew about all of the holidays people celebrated but Powers didn't celebrated holidays. Soon, all of the eggs were found and the kids began to open them all and collect the candy and money that was inside them.

"Put all of your prizes in these bags so you don't lose them," Carol said handing out Ziploc baggies to all of the kids.
"Can we eat some of our candy?" Lily asked.

"Sure," Carol responded. Lily smiled happily and began eating a chocolate egg. Fred on the other hand wasn't interested in the candy that was in his eggs. He was counting the quarters that was on the carpet in front of him. Death watched him curiously. What child didn't want candy?

"How much do you have Freddie?" Ben asked.

"Ten dollars," Fred responded. He then began putting them all in his bag and zipping it shut.

"Don't you want the candy?" Death asked him, looking at the separate baggie that Fred had put his candy in.

"N-no, but y-you can h-have it," Fred said handing him the baggie full of jellybeans, chocolate eggs, M and M's, and other candy.

"That's your candy Fred. You should have it," Death said.

"B-but you don't have a-any ca-candy," Fred stated, putting the candy in Death's lap. "S-so I'm g-giving you m-mine."

"Thanks Fred," Death said kindly. Fred smiled and went to sit by his mom. A few hours later everyone had left and Death and Joe were cleaning up.

"What did you think of Easter Cain?" Joe asked.

"It was good. Everything was great," he responded. Joe smiled and began to clean a dish. After they cleaned up Death changed back into his sweatpants and gorged on the candy Fred had given him. Death had never eaten anything so sweet! The candy didn't last an hour before it was all gone. Death liked Easter, but he liked the candy more.

A/N
Note to self, Death likes candy. Easter is complete and the first holiday chapter is done! Hope you all liked it! Image up top is a cute bunny rabbit because I didn't know what else to put there and it's cute. Thanks for reading! Please vote and comment!

-DragonStar 🐉