“Make love to me,” Maddie whispered, and moved the towel from my waist. She walked us to the bed and we lay down. I crawled over my wife and kissed her. The flames stirred in my veins, but I let them burn. Maddie had already said if I burned, then we would burn together. But the flames didn’t seem to touch her. I kissed her lips. I kissed her neck and her breasts. Maddie’s hands combed through my hair. I kissed her stomach. I kissed our baby, who was sleeping. When I crawled back up the bed, I said, “I love you.”
“I love you too, baby.” Maddie pulled me on top of her. I pushed inside her. My neck strained as Maddie moaned, her arms wrapping around my back. She pulled me closer. I groaned as I filled her. I kissed my wife. I kissed her and started to move back and forth. I locked my stare on Maddie’s eyes and never looked away. She was my everything. I couldn’t live without her. She saved me. She always saved me. She saved me from the evil, from darkness. She saved me from being alone.
“Flame,” she whispered. Her cheeks flushed red, she breathed heavier. I moved faster and faster. The flames built in my blood, hotter and hotter. Blood rushed faster and faster through my veins, until I felt fire ignite. I kept looking into Maddie’s eyes.
“The fire,” I whispered, panicking.
“It will not burn you,” she said confidently. “It will not harm us. It is not evil. You are not evil. You are goodness and light.” Maddie smiled. “And you are mine.”
“Mine,” I repeated pushing harder, and harder. My legs fucking burned. “Mine.”
Maddie’s lips parted and she moaned loudly. “Flame.”
I came. I tucked my head into the side of Maddie’s neck and came. Maddie’s hands were on my back. Her fingers ran up and down, up and down. When I lifted my head, Maddie smiled at me. “Are you okay?”
I thought of the river, of Isaiah. “Do you really believe that God saved him? That he is in Heaven?”
“Yes,” Maddie said, and I rolled to the side. Maddie shared my pillow. I kept my hands on her waist. “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens; a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance…”
“What’s that?” I asked, a lump in my throat.
“Ecclesiastes Chapter Three: Verses One to Four.” Maddie kissed my lips. Her finger smoothed my brow. “It is time for you to heal, Flame. It is time for you to laugh, no more mourning. Think of Isaiah with love in your heart, and happiness in your soul. He is in a safe place, far away from darkness.” Maddie traced the flame tattoo on my chest. I hissed at the feeling. “He is in the light, Flame. It is time for you to step out of the darkness too.”
“I don’t know what makes me happy… except you,” I whispered. I dropped my gaze to Maddie’s stomach. I wanted to be happy about our baby. But I was also scared. I was scared I would fail our baby. “What if I’m a bad papa,” I rasped. Dread sank into my bones. “What if I’m like my poppa, but just don’t know it yet? What if I hurt our baby?”
“Not possible,” Maddie argued.
“How do you know?”
“Because I know you. I know the truth of your heart and the very blueprint of your soul.” Maddie kissed my cheek. “You love harder than anyone I have met.” She kissed my other cheek. “You protect me like no other.” She kissed my forehead. “You would do anything for me.” Maddie then kissed my lips. “You will do that for our child and more.” She took my hand and placed it on her stomach. “I thank God everyday that this baby has you as a father. It will be the most fortunate child alive. Our baby will grow up free from the horrors we have experienced.”
“Like the kids at the house?” I said.
“Like the children at the house.”
“They laughed.”
Maddie nodded. “And our child will laugh too.”
“I love the sound of your laugh,” I told her. “I want our baby to laugh like you too.” I couldn’t remember laughing.
“We can do this, Flame. Our souls may still be fractured, but they are healing. Someday, only faint scars will remain.”
I don’t believe in much,” I confessed. My eyes closed. I was tired. “But I believe in you, Maddie. I’ve always believed in you.” I fell asleep with my hand protecting our baby and Maddie’s head against mine. The flames were in my blood, but they did not burn. Isaiah was in heaven with mama… and now, I could sleep.
Chapter Thirteen
Maddie
Several months later…
“Come here, baby,” I said. Charon ran over to where I was sitting. I clapped my hands and he giggled. He wore a black onesie with the Hades Hangmen emblem on the front. His pitch-black hair was the exact shade as Mae’s. And his eyes were ice-blue. He was beautiful. Talitha and Azrael rolled on the floor, crawling when the mood struck them. Both blonde and blue-eyed, like Lilah and Ky.
“Where are my munchkins?” Sia entered Mae’s home. “Argh!” she praised Azrael when he smiled, drooled and crawled toward her. She picked him up and kissed his cheek. “How’s my little heartbreaker?” She kissed him until he giggled. I could not help but smile. “There he is! There he is!” Sia placed Azrael back on the floor and picked up Talitha. Sia kissed Lilah on the cheek. “How the fuck do you look like that after having twins?” She rolled her eyes, and then set them on Mae. “And you! Where are the dark circles? The haggardness?”
“Hello, Sia,” Mae said and got up to fix Sia a drink. Sia sat beside Beauty and Letti. Adelita was next to Beauty on the other side, and Phebe and Sapphira sat beside them. Bella sat beside me.
“How’re feeling, Madds?” Beauty asked.
“Very large,” I replied, as I cradled my huge stomach. I was three days overdue. I was waiting anxiously to meet our baby. I could not wait.
“Has Sister Ruth finished preparing your home?” Mae asked.
“Yes. And as soon as I go into labor she will come to us. She will inform the hospital too; in case I need their assistance.”
“Shit, darlin’. You’re a braver bitch than me, having a home birth. Give me all the fucking drugs, I say!” Sia said.
Lilah raised her eyebrow. “Do you have something to tell us, Sia?”
“Fuck no! I ain’t ready for kids yet.” She smiled wide and winked. “But I sure as fuck love practicing with my men.”
“Do you have names picked out, Maddie?” Adelita asked.
“Yes.”
“And you ain’t gonna tell us?” Beauty asked, picking Charon up and tickling his stomach. I laughed, as she playfully glowered across the room at me.
“No,” I refused, rubbing my protruding stomach for emphasis. “You will all find out soon enough.”