Az looked up, though, knowing he would have to deal with whoever was here; he had said he wanted Gabe’s crazy family, after all. He guessed that started now. Az sighed as he saw human Michael (at least it wasn’t the archangel one), Grams, and Seraphina all staring at them.
He merely raised an eyebrow at all of them, at which point Gabe looked up at Az and gave a mumbled, “Everyone but me,” which didn’t quite make sense to Az.
Gabe then looked over and saw his whole family, sighed exasperatedly, and griped, “Well, I guess the celebration sex will have to wait.”
Az sadly agreed. He supposed it would have to wait. Oh, the trials of the mortal world.
Chapter27
Gabriel
Gabe wasn’t really sure what had just happened, but he was back in his kitchen, Az was doing the enviable one eyebrow thing, and his siblings and Grams were all staring at him.
He heard a croak, and he looked over to realize that Mr. Frog had also somehow gotten out of his aquarium and was sitting on the counter. Everyone seemed a bit startled by Mr. Frog’s appearance—Michael even gave out a bit of a shriek, which Gabe found somewhat satisfactory, since he was still annoyed at his brother—and he saw Grams start towards the frog, who then began ribbitting and croaking up a storm. Gabe didn’t think he’d ever heard so much out of Mr. Frog before.
Grams looked taken aback, Michael and Seraphina looked confused, but Az just gave a huge, deep laugh, cutting off what sounded like a bit of a froggy tirade.
“Oh, Beel, I had forgotten about you, but don’t worry,” Az assured the frog. He turned to Gabe then, asking, “Do you consider Beel… or, err, Mr. Frog, a part of your family?”
Gabe gasped in outrage. “Of coursehe’s part of my family!” Gabe insisted. “You’re stuck with him, too, Az! I love Mr. Frog!”
Az just chuckled again, kissing Gabe on his head, which made Gabe realize he was still seated on Az’s lap. He got up, walked over to Mr. Frog, who hopped into his hand, and headed toward the living room.
“If we’re going to have a family meeting, we might as well sit in the comfy chairs,” Gabe grumped. “Although I still wish you would all leave us alone for a few moments to figure out what the hell just happened.”
“Or so you can have celebration sex,” Seraphina sassed, walking in behind him. Everyone followed her, and Gabe shot her a dirty look before placing Mr. Frog back in his aquarium on his favorite heated rock.
Az sat down in the oversized chair and beckoned Gabe to sit next to him. They both barely fit, but Gabe didn’t mind being sprawled across Az a bit. He was feeling the need to be close to his demon after all they had just been through.
Michael, Grams, and Seraphina all sat on the couch. Mr. Frog gave another ribbitting tirade, but Az just laughed again.
“We arefine, Beel. As for you—I do believe you are officially stuck with us, so don’t worry about being sent back anytime soon. We very clearly stated that we wanted to be topside with Gabe’s family, and since you are a part of his family, according to him…” Az trailed off, shrugging his shoulders.
Ahh, so Mr. Frog had been worried about them, and apparently he’d been worried about himself as well.
“We are absolutely not giving you up, so don’t worry, Mr. Frog,” Gabe added in.
Michael and Seraphina looked utterly confused, but Grams stared at Az, asking, “You were given the choice, then, to remain here with Gabe? Thank goodness. After he dies, he should be able to choose Limbo, and you’ll be able to see him there, but we’ve plenty of time to figure all that out…”
Michael interrupted Grams then. “Wait, Az is staying? And who the heck is Beel?”
Gabe rolled his eyes. “You are an asshole,” he groused.
Seraphina snorted, looking at Michael. “You know it’s bad when the middle child and peacemaker calls you out, dickhead.”
“Now, children,” Grams started, and Gabe had flashbacks of his childhood. He was sonotdealing with a lecture on siblings sticking together.
“No, Grams. Let me have my say. I just sat in front of GOD and the DEVIL, for fuck’s sake, and Michaeldeservesto be told off for his part in all the shit that went down,” Gabe fumed.
Michael flinched a bit, but Seraphina looked gleeful. “OMG, spill the tea! Both godandthe devil? Were they, like, eight feet tall? Was god all blinding and grandfatherly? Was the devil crazy scary looking? I need details! I mean, heaven would be my obvious landing spot, but I don’t know, if most demons look like Az, I could totally start being bad,” she mused.
“Ser,” Grams said warningly, but Gabe ignored her.
“God is androgynous, not grandfatherly, and they both look pretty normal otherwise. No horns or wings or anything in sight,” Gabe answered. “That is also totallynotthe point. Thepoint,” stressed Gabe, “is that Michael specifically did something I asked him not to do. Thepointis that mybrotherwent behind my back and basically betrayed me.Thatis thepoint.”
“I didn’t—” started Michael, but Gabe interrupted him.
“Youdid, Michael. You totally did,” Gabe refuted. Az gave him a comforting squeeze.
