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Papa Emeritus IV exhales. He was barely an hour into his day, and he was already over the meeting he was currently sitting in with the High Clergy. Jotting down a few notes on his notepad, he tries to pay attention to the Cardinal droning on. He sets his pen down and it accidentally rolls off the table. The sound of it hitting the marble floor made all the Guard Ghouls jump. They’ve been on edge the last few days and basically the entire month of November. His Prime Mover had recently had her blood moon and she was due any day to be ready to conceive. As soon as she was ready it would throw him into a heat per the consequences of performing the Prime Mover ritual with his beloved Sorella. As a preventive measure, he was constantly being followed by six Guard Ghouls, should he not be able to control himself and accidentally hurt her. While he was annoyed with them constantly around, her safety was his number one priority, so he tolerated it for her. The Clergy were getting tired of having to repair his clothes his wings tore through constantly. The Ghoulettes sewed him special shirts that had holes in them for his wings. This meant no jackets or robes until he was done with his heat. Just the tailor made black clerical shirts, and his black laced up pants. He added a black cravat to finish off his look for the day.A Nameless Ghoul dressed in the Impera uniform came over and picked up the pen for him then set it back on the table. Papa takes a sip of water and looks at all the Cardinals sitting around the long mahogany table in their leather executive chairs. He sat at the end of the table on his gold throne. Secretly, he wished his chair was more comfortable because the blue velvet pillow he sat on was doing nothing for his back.He leans into his chair, closes his green and white eyes and takes a deep breath. A familiar, yet new sweet and intoxicating scent he had never smelled before makes his nostrils flair. His now red and white eyes shot open, and he looked around the room wildly, confused and searching for the source. It was the best thing he ever smelled in his entire life. He sits up in his seat and starts to feel hot. Really hot. He tugs at the collar of his shirt and begins to sweat down his painted face. In the corner of his eye, Papa sees the Ghouls getting anxious watching his every move. Considering they go into heat cycles they would know he was in distress. Their tails begin to swish from side to side as they gesture among themselves, pointing at him.Papa takes another breath and this time the intense scent hits him like a lightning bolt though his body, straight to his cock. He shudders and grabs the desk. His talons emerged without warning and drug across the tabletop, leaving claw marks. His fully erect arousal strained against his pants. Every breath he took he was consumed by the need to fuck his Prime Mover. A low growl of desire escapes his lips. The Cardinal that was going over his report stops speaking and everyone turns to look at him at the end of the table. His horns were growing out of the sides of his forehead, and up and over his salt and peppered head.Papa stands up out of breath, panting and trying to use his notepad to cover his boner. “Um. I... I need to step out. I don’t feel...” Suddenly his body jerks and his wings rise out of his back and spring open making all the High Clergy jump. Papa looks horrified at everyone. “Mi scusi.” The Ghouls start to approach him and point at the door, telling him it was time to leave. He nods at them wide eyed. “You keep going without me. Okie Dokey? I’ll just be in the hallway getting some air.” All the priests were giving Papa confused looks and whispering amongst themselves. He takes another deep breath to try and calm down and moans loudly from the aroma. His clawed gloved hands cover his mouth, dropping the notepad onto the floor, announcing his current situation in his lap. He doesn’t even stay to see their reaction and bolts out of the conference room into the hallway, followed by his Ghouls. In the hallway, the scent was even more intense, causing his eyes to roll back into his head as he leaned against the wall. His heart was beating wildly, and he was starting to ache for her. The Ghouls surround Papa, giving him space but ever watchful should they need to intervene. They knew better than to touch him because he was too wound up. He groans, trying to ignore the Sisters of Sin watching him struggle. “How do you Ghouls survive this every cycle? Where is she?” The mere mention of his beloved causes his dick to twitch. He growls at the need to spill into her. He yanks his cravat off and pulls at his collar, ripping the first two buttons off, exposing some of his flushed chest.The Ghouls beckon him to follow. Papa looks up and begins to walk with them. He was too turned on to fold his wings against his body. At least they distracted all the onlookers from noticing the enormous bulge he was sporting. With each step, he noticed the sweet smell was getting stronger and stronger. He didn’t need to be escorted to her. Why were they walking so slow? He wondered, getting annoyed. His pace increased. He began to follow his nose towards her scent.He pushes ahead of his Ghouls, and they try to keep up with him. Before he knew it, they were running and struggling to keep up with him. Soon they were behind him, and he was delirious with lust. He could almost taste her fragrance causing his wings to flap as he roared out her name throughout the Ministry. Based on the trail he was following, Papa figured out she was in the library, and he tore madly through the hallways growling and panting. He made sure not to run into anyone in his path, but his wings colliding into things and people were a whole other story. He reached the library entrance and leaned down to open the doors. His clawed hands grabbed the handles and with a metallic snap, yanked the doors off the hinges. “Aww! Shit!” Papa pants, throwing the doors aside with a crash against the marble floors and ran into the library, looking around frantically. He raised his horned head and inhaled the air letting out a moan overcome by the intense aroma of his Prime Mover. He takes a step backwards as his knees buckle. Terzo shouts out to the Ghouls to get everyone out of there. The chaos of the siblings running to get out of the area as quickly as possible only agitated his senses. Papa’s Ghouls finally reach the library, out of breath, tails twitching wildly.“Sorella!” Papa screams out, searching for her and flapping his wings and rising off the ground. “Where are you? I need you.” He flies around the open concept multi-floored library. Gliding circles around, looking between the desks and bookshelves for her on each floor. “Oh, Loverboy!” Terzo calls out, waving. Papa spins midair, eyes wild and hovers, looking for him. He spots him on the second-floor, waving in his Impera uniform wearing his helmet. “She’s over here.” He flips his cape, stepping aside. Behind him was Sorella, his Prime Mover. She wore a royal blue spaghetti strap sundress that flared out and stopped just above her knees. Her hair was in soft curls that she wore down today. Even though he woke up beside her this morning, she looked even more beautiful.“Hey, Darling. I’m ready.” She waved at him, trying to put on a brave face. She opened her arms out towards him, inviting him into her embrace and smiled warmly.Seeing her was too much for him physically and his wings stopped moving, causing him to drop suddenly. By the time he was in control again, he beat his wings as hard as he could. Unfortunately, Papa crashed onto one of the many desks in the middle of the library. While it wasn’t his worst landing to date, it could have been worse. Papa coughs having the wind knocked out of him. He groans from the pain of the fall, but also from his desire to climb on top of her. The Ghouls rushed to make sure he was OK as he lay spayed out across the table. It was a miracle he didn’t break it or anything else.He reassures everyone he’s fine, although that was the furthest thing he was in his state. Papa would have been embarrassed had he not looked over and saw his Sorella running down the staircase towards him. A sudden burst of energy surges through him and he scrambles off the table, running at her. With his demonic speed, he scooped her up in his arms in an instant. She let out a surprised squeak. Feeling her in his arms sent waves of electricity through his body down to his loins. He aggressively kissed her, and she tried to keep up. Her hands cupped his face, while he carried her over to the closest table. Holding onto his Prime Mover with one hand he takes the other and clears the table in one swift swipe. The desk lamp, books, and papers crash onto the floor. She throws her head back and takes a breath while he sits her down on the table. Papa kissed and nipped at her neck, causing her to moan. He lets her go and starts to fumble with his pants to get them off.“Copia? Are you OK? You just fell two-stories!”“I’m fine!” He roared with an intensity that startled her. Papa immediately feels awful. He could see the apprehension in her eyes. Sweat was pouring down his brow and he was shaking. Tenderly, he kisses her head. “Oh, Sorella. I’m sorry. I just… I need you… bad. Can you help me?” Gesturing to his knotted laces of his pants. It took everything in him not to rip his pants off his body.She moves his clawed hands from the knot. “Always. Give me a minute.” She leans down and starts working on the knot. Her hands so close to his groin makes him that much more antsy, causing his breath to hitch and increase. He looks up and sees Terzo, Omega and the other Ghouls watching his every move. He forgot they were not alone. They gave them space, but their closeness was making Papa territorial. He glares at Omega, and Omega returns the threat with a low growl. Papa bares his fangs at him and puts his clawed hands on her hips, pulling her in closer.She undoes the knot. “There you go.” She coos. Her hands palm him through his pants, causing him to growl and forget about the others watching.“My Prime Mover.” He pushes her down onto the table and climbs on top of her, kissing up her chest to her mouth. His forked tongue slipped between her lips and tasted her. She sighs into him. Grinding himself into her hand, trying to feel as much friction as possible.She turns her head and takes a lustful breath. “My Papa.” Her hands continue to massage him. She reaches into his boxers and wraps her hand around his sex. Between the powerful scent of her fertile arousal and her touch he lost it. His body tensed up and his cock pulsed in her hands, cumming into her grasp. He throws his head back, wings opening wide and lets out a low-pitched moan that turns into an angry growl at himself. “I’m flattered.” She whispers then smiles at him and kisses along his jawline until he’s finished. Papa tries to catch his breath. “Cazzo! This is embarrassing. Everything about this heat is humiliating.” The realization of everyone watching them and what just happened makes him recoil inward. Terzo will never let him live this down. He doesn’t bother to look up at them or her.Papa climbs off Sorella and off the table. She tries to comfort him for getting too excited. He removes his shoes and pants. When he went to remove his soiled boxers, his full length sprung out ready. “Oh?” Looking down, he was shocked. “No rest for the wicked I see.” His newly freed tail flipped from side to side. Papa looks up to see Sorella staring. She looks up, making eye contact and gulps. The corner of his mouth curling up. In the blink of an eye, he was on top of her, groping her and trying not to scratch her or tear her clothes with his talons. He was failing to control himself enough not to do both. She struggled against his weight on top of her to get her dress hiked up. Papa reached down, grabbing the fabric and tearing a large slit into the front of the skirt.“I’m ready Papa.” She wraps her arms around his neck and her legs around him. She takes a deep breath under him and her body tenses up.“Veglia su di lei, Satana.” He growls, slamming his entire length into her. She grunts, squeezing his neck even tighter. His pace was furious. Slamming into her with such force, causing the table to scoot across the floor. His wings flapped as he groaned. He was finally getting some relief inside of her, making him tremble. Part of him wanted to spill into her as fast as possible and be done. The other part wanted to take his time and savor her.His tail swished back and forth then wrapped around her leg, pushing the spaded end of the tail into her skin. Sorella’s right hand trailed down from his neck to her clit. She swirled slow circles while he rutted into her. “Keep doing that.” She called out. The aroma of her arousal and her so physically close made him shudder. His cock kicked and he coated her insides, roaring his demonic cry. Soon after she followed him into paradise and let out her battle cry. Papa held onto her, trailing kisses long her neck and chest while she writhed under him. She panted and kissed him deeply, running her hands across his chest. His wings rose under her touch, while he hummed into her mouth. “Feeling better?” Sorella runs her hand through his hair then over his horns.Papa was still shaking. “No.” His body was exhausted, but eyes were still hungry.“No?” Her eyebrows raised. What can I do to help?” He jumped off the table and flipped her abruptly onto her stomach on the table. Grabbing her legs and pulling her toward him and lining himself up. “Again.” He plunges his eternally hard cock into her again. He throws his head back and moans. She grabbed onto the table out of surprise. “Whoa!” She yells out. He thrusted wildly into her. His tail flicked from side to side behind him.“Sorella? Everything good?” Terzo calls out. The other Ghouls watching. Omega begins to walk the perimeter of desks.“Yep. I’m good. Just wasn’t expecting to keep going. We usually cuddle afterwards.” She was holding onto the table for dear life.The guilt washes over Papa. He was no longer in control of his actions. “Sorella. I’m sorry. I just need to keep going.” He lets out a groan. “You feel so good. So.. so…” He slams into her hard, hitting her secret spot within her. She moans out his name with each wave of bliss. His member kicks inside and cums into her once again. His wings rise straight up and flap as he growls so loudly the rafters shake.His body collapsed out of exhaustion onto her. She yelped under his weight. The Ghouls begin to approach them but stop when she rolls him off her. He was so spent he didn't stop himself from rolling right off the table and onto the floor with a thud.Sorella lowers her dress to shield her modesty and leans over the table. “Copia!”Thankfully, he didn’t roll onto his still erect penis when he fell. He was breathing rapidly, and his heart was pounding in his chest. He groans. “Ugh” Seeing her looking down at him, he grins a fanged smile. His tail happily moves across the floor. “Ready for round three?” He struggles to sit up, falling back onto his elbows.Terzo slowly approaches, walking towards Sorella. “Fratello. Let’s take a break.”Papa growled. “Don’t touch her! She’s mine!” All the candles in the room shot up foot-tall flames. He flashed his fangs at Terzo who had stopped dead in his tracks. Omega rushes to Terzo’s side but stands behind him lowering his head towards Papa.“Copia! Stop that!” Sorella scolds him as he pulls her onto the floor. She lands in his arms, and he holds onto her tightly. He glared menacingly at Terzo and Omega, his tail rattling.Terzo raises his hands at chest height. “I’m not touching her. She’s all yours, Papa.” He begins to back up, running into Omega.Sorella cups his face in her hands. “Shh. I’m not going anywhere.” She kisses his forehead between his horns, causing him to relax under her. “Here.” She pushes him down on his back. “Relax. Let me take control this round.” Standing, she lowers herself onto him inch by inch until he bottoms out. He groans from exhaustion and pleasure. “Thank you, Sorella. You’re the best.” He pats her thigh, closing his eyes then giving into the feeling of her wrapped around him.She rolls her hips into him. “You poor demon. How are you still this hard?"He lets out a breathy sigh. “Lucky, I guess.” He laughs, opening his red eye to see her reaction.With another roll of her hips. “C’mon. Let’s stop fucking around and make an Emeritus.” “What do you think I’ve been trying to do?” He growls aggressively as his voice lowered, then apologizes. He takes a deep breath and grabs onto her hips. He plants his socked feet on the ground and begins to thrust into her. Groaning again at the scent of her fertile arousal and her riding his length. She grabbed onto his horns crying out. “Oh Papa! I’m close.” Time slowed around him. The overpowering smell of brimstone filled the air. A sinister powerful voice called out to him. “Now!”  His red and white eyes opened suddenly and glowed brightly. Papa sunk his talons into her hips, thrusting into her and pulling her down onto him. She cries out. His cock offered his dark seed to her. He roared a loud demonic cry unlike anything anyone had ever heard. Large bat wings flexing and throwing chairs and tables across the room. Sorella noticed his eyes glowing, screaming out her battle cry while she rode out her ecstasy. His tail beat hard against the floor.Drenched in sweat and his face paint an absolute mess, he pulled her down and kissed her passionately. Papa felt sore and exhausted, but no longer felt like he was burning up. He stopped kissing and looked around the room at all the Ghouls watching him. His nostrils flared; the air no longer heavy with the sweet smell that drove him wild. His tired eyes look up at Sorella still sitting on his lap. “I think we did it. It’s over. Hell Satan!”She climbs off him slowly and with caution, cuddling into his side on the floor. He wraps his wings around himself to hide his now flaccid member. Her hair was a mess, and she was sweaty too. “Are you sure the heat is over? Does that mean I’m pregnant” Her eyes were hopeful but hesitant.“The wheels are in motion for his dark plan.” Papa was positive he heard the infernal command of Lucifer himself. He had only ever heard it once before the night he descended into a demon for the first time. Primo and Terzo had never experienced it. Secondo claimed it spoke to him several times, but their stories were wildly different, making Papa think he was full of shit.He lets out a huge sigh of relief as he struggles to sit up. “Ugh That was awful for me.”“You! You’re not the one getting fucked!” She laughs then winches. Papa looks down at her and immediately notices her blood-soaked dress around her hips. He suddenly looks at his talons and sees her blood on them.Papa sits up. “What have I done? No. No. No. No.” His clawed hands shook, touching her hips to examine how severely he hurt her. Terzo comes running and takes off his helmet. “What’s wrong?” He stops when he sees the blood.Trying to comfort Papa and not show any pain, Sorella wraps her arms around his neck. “I’m OK. You just got excited is all. No worries. I knew this might happen. However, I could use some of your blood to heal myself. It does hurt a bit more than I thought it would.”Papa rolls up his sleeve on his right arm and sinks his fangs into his wrist to draw blood. He thrusts his bloody wrist into her face. “Here! I’m so sorry.” His voice trembled. She grabs his wrist and sucks. Papa pulls her into his lap and begins to rock her in his arms. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. Please be OK. Satana, ascolta il mio grido!”Terzo’s eyes softened, and he put his hand on his shoulder. “Calm down. She’s going to be just fine Fratello. Right, Sorella?”She releases his wrist. “Darling. I’m fine, thanks to you. You worry too much.”Omega appears and hands something to Terzo. He thanks him and tosses it down to Copia. It lands next to him on the floor. “Figured you didn’t want to walk back to your suite in your ruined pants.” Terzo smirks and walks away. Papa picks up the clothes and sees a fresh pair of pants. Omega forgot to grab boxers, but that was the least of his concerns right now.Papa turns to check on Sorella, who was still drinking his blood. He pulls his wrist from her. She wipes her mouth and licks her lips.“My personal savior. Thank you.” She leans in and kisses him. He tastes his blood on her lips. “Anytime.” He smiles into her kiss and hugs her, knowing she was now safe. She stands up and smooths out her dress and tries to lay the fabric, so the slit was not so obvious. Papa grabs the pants and puts them on while still sitting on the floor. He lays down and pulls them up. Sorella helps him with the lace up front because his talons still were not cooperating. He slips on his shoes then tries to stand and almost falls over. He grabs onto the desk, his wings trying to steady himself. Omega swoops in and grabs him. He steadies Papa and helps him stand. “Thanks. Err. Sorry about earlier. We Okie Dokey?” Papa looks up, genuinely asking Omega. A bit ashamed of his actions towards him earlier.Omega pats his head between his horns. “First heat. All’s forgiven Boss.” He grunts. “Last heat! I’m not doing this ever again!” Papa exclaims, trying to take a step on his own toward Sorella.She smiles sweetly at him, swaying and taking his clawed hands. “Oh, I wouldn’t say that, Copia.” Papa’s eyebrows raise.Terzo ordered the Ghouls to clean up the library and when they were finished let the sisters know when they could go back in. Omega starts to move tables and chairs back into place. “You did great, Sorella!” Terzo gushes, trying not to sound pervy. Omega nods.“I did all the work!” Papa throws his hands in the air. Terzo rolls his eyes at him. “Yes. We’re all aware you were there. No one was concerned about your safety and making sure you survived the whole ordeal. It wasn’t for lack of trying that you’re not more hurt.”She wraps her arms around Copia’s middle and hugs him. “I was concerned for you.” She kisses his cheek, and his wings rise and open slightly. Papa sticks his tongue out at Terzo and kisses the top of her head. Smelling her hair and taking in her scent.Since the heat was over Terzo told all the Nameless Ghouls they could go back to their regular jobs. The Ghouls gestured in celebration with Sorella and gave Papa a sympathetic pat on the back for making it through his first heat. Papa’s two Personal Ghouls and Terzo walked him and Sorella back to his suite. The Guard Ghouls resumed their positions, guarding the door and Sorella dismissed Terzo. Sorella started the shower, and he joined her. The water washed away all the details of the morning. Copia helped clean Sorella and noticed that her hips were healed and there were no scars. He pulled her into his chest and hugged her and kissed her shoulder, careful not to bump her with his horn. She tried to reach down and get handsy with him. He dropped his hand to block her. “It’s not that I don’t want to, but physically everything hurts down there and I’m exhausted.” She gave a surprised expression and apologized and assured him that’s OK. She finishes up in the shower first and gets out. Papa takes a deep breath and flips the shower to cold. He stands directly under the shower and lets the cold water hit his warm skin with a slight hiss escaping him. Everything demonic about him retracts and within minutes he was fully human. He turns off the water and steps out of the shower, stretching. After towel drying, he digs a pair of boxers out of his dresser and collapses into his bed. Sorella lays down on the bed and grabs a magazine to read. He lays his head on her lap and wraps his arms around her legs. Without looking away from what she was reading, she pats his head and runs her fingers through his hair. He shudders and melts into her. He begins to say something, but she interrupts. “Shh. You need to rest. We can talk later.”He grabs her left hand and brings the yellow gold signet ring he gave her to his lips and kisses it. “Sei troppo buono con me.” He whispers, falling into a deep restful sleep.Copia's white eye opens suddenly, and he blinks a few times. He feels for Sorella, but she was no longer lying in bed with him. In fact, the bed felt cold, meaning she had been missing for awhile. Sitting up, he looks around for her and calls out her name. He notices he’s still human, which he hadn’t woken up human since before he was blessed with his unholy gift. Copia determined his lack of morning wood and still recovering had to be the cause. He sees a glass of water on the nightstand that she must have left for him. He leans over and takes a long sip. He didn’t bother to put on face paint or pants and shuffled into the living room in his boxers. Sitting on the couch was Sorella with Primo and Terzo talking. They stopped when they saw him. “About time you woke up. You slept through lunch and dinner. Do you want me to go and get you something to eat?” Terzo teases, yet asks with concern. He sits up and unfolds his legs. Copia tells him he’s starving.“You look terrible, Fratello.” Primo grins, winking at him. Papa wanders over to the couch and plops down next to Sorella. “I feel terrible. It’s like I got hit..” He stops talking and stares at Sorella, looking her up and down. She looks at him confused and asks what’s wrong. His nostrils flair and he takes a deep breath. “You smell different.” He tilts his head to the side. It was still her sweet smell, but there was an after note of something else. His eyes looking over every detail of her trying to figure out what was different, slightly fearful a second heat was about to hit him.Primo laughs. Papa and Sorella both turn to look at him. “What’s so funny?” Copia questions, raising an eyebrow.Primo gives Terzo a look and leans towards Papa with a gleam in his eye. “Oh nothing PA-PA.” His mouth curled into a toothy smile.Sorella’s breath was taken away with a gasp and she grabbed his hand, having figured it out. Copia was still confused and rubbing his temple and trying to decipher her reaction.“Avanti fratello. Non puoi essere così stupido.” Terzo stands and slaps him on the back and ruffles his hair. He hugs Sorella and kisses her on each cheek, congratulating her then disappearing out of the suite to fetch Papa some dinner. She blushes and side eyes Copia. She rolls her eyes at him, taking his hand and putting it on her stomach.The realization finally sinks in for him. His eyes widen and face lights up. “Oh! Baby! Oh! Sorella! It’s a baby!” He leans over, wrapping his arms around Sorella and kisses her face several times and celebrates. She laughs. “It’s obviously still very early, but I’m so excited. We’re having a baby!”Copia rubbing her hands in his and kissing her knuckles. “Seeing the smile on your face and getting to hear our Supreme Unholiness’s voice again has made the whole day worth it. He has blessed us today with a new life that will continue the Emeritus bloodline because of you Sorella.”Primo ear’s prick up and a serious look paints his face. “You heard the voice of Lucifer today? Are you sure?” His uneasiness was apparent from the joyful nature of the room.Terzo walked back into the suite carrying a covered plate of food. He immediately notices the mood in the room has shifted when everyone glances at him. “I managed to find you something to eat. What happened? I thought we were celebrating?” He sets the plate of food and utensil on the coffee table in front of Copia, folding his arms and looking down at him.Primo grasps his hands in his lap and eyes Papa. “Sembra che Satana abbia parlato al nostro Papa oggi mentre continuava la nostra linea di sangue.”Terzo takes off his helmet and cradles it under his arm. “I didn’t hear anything. You sure. What did He say?” He seemed a bit jealous but tried to play it off cool.Sorella seems uneasy at the way everyone is reacting. She puts her arms on Copia’s forearm. “I don’t understand. I just assumed the Papas spoke with Satan on a more regular basis.”Copia rests his ungloved hand on hers and speaks softly to her, trying his best to answer her question and the questions that she will ask next. “I can’t speak for mio fratelli, but I talk constantly to Satan about everything. Especially about you. The Clergy believe that Satan hears the Papa a little more clearly than others. Now rarely, if ever do the Papas get to hear him respond let alone his voice. It’s kind of a big deal. I thought I heard him a few times in my life. However, the first time I clearly heard Satan was the night I turned into a demon. The second time being when he told me when to… release into you.” Sorella trying to lighten the atmosphere in the room. “Well thank Satan! This can only be a good thing. Every time he’s spoken it’s always been a blessing in our lives.” She leans in and bumps shoulders with him.Most days being a demon and the Antichrist didn’t feel like a blessing in his life. He trusted Lucifer with his entire damned soul, but he was nervous about what lay ahead for him and his growing family’s future.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“Happy Yule, Darling.”
Sorella whispers into Copia’s ear, followed by her soft lips pressed against his forehead. He stretches and his two sets of wings open, then fall back down onto the floor. Slowly waking up, he notices that his legs are uncovered by the now too short blue velvet comforter.

Finally opening his red and white eyes, he sees his Sorella lovingly looking down at him. She was sitting up on her elbow, running her hand through his unkempt hair. His tail thumps loudly against the floor from wagging.

“Buongiorno, Sorella. Merry Yuletide.”
He lifts his large, clawed hand, resting it on her lower back. She felt so much smaller.

That was to be expected today. He knew it was coming based on his powers of telekinesis and telepathy appearing again. The same thing happened right before Samhain almost two months ago, right before he grew another set of wings and horns and towered over everyone at eight feet tall. Primo told him to expect this grand demonic shift on each Sabbat of the Wheel of the Year. At least it was only eight days a year he had to put up with this inconvenience.

Bringing his large, clawed hand forward along her waist, he runs his thumb over her abdomen. Sorella was six weeks along. He was starting to sense life stir within her. They had a long way to go, but he could hardly contain his excitement.

“Are you doing better this morning?”
Copia asks, knowing this last week she had struggled with morning sickness. Her distress of running to the bathroom woke him up every time.

Moving his hand over her stomach, she reassures him.
“Satan gave me a good morning today.”
She smirks, letting go of his hand and snuggling closer to him. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she presses her bare breasts against his chest. Copia noticed her bust size had recently increased significantly and feeling them against him made him
growl
.

“I was hoping you could give me a good morning too.”
She coos, kissing into him. He wraps his arm around her and carefully returns a slow sensual kiss. He
groans
at all the thoughts in her mind of what she wants him to do to her. His dick twitches, eagerly wanting to fulfill every request that pretty little head wanted.

“You kinky little sorella.”
He grins, glancing over at the clock on the wall. Pleased, he had plenty of time until they had to be up.
“I think someone likes big Papa.”
Her cheeks blush and she flutters her eyelashes.
“Maybe.”
She licks her lower lip.
“I didn’t get to enjoy his company last time with so much going on.”

Her arousal was filling his nostrils, making him harder. As much as he wanted to grind into her, he didn’t want to hurt her, so he controlled himself.
“Well, I'm here now.”
He
growls.

He rolls her onto her back, the bed under them grumbles from his weight. Getting on all fours, he carefully straddles her underneath him. His double wings open and tail flicks back and forth. Her eyes widened; a bit overwhelmed by his large torso hovering over her. He hesitates, gazing down at her. Their eyes lock. Mentally she tells him she’s OK, and to keep going as she reaches up to cup his face.

He leans down, tilting his head to the side and warily kisses her lips. Her mouth pressed into his, exploring his now unfamiliar lips. It took them a few minutes to figure out how to kiss with him so much bigger than her, but after a few awkward head bumps and laughs they got the hang of it.

His left arm wraps around her, and the back of his right hand trails along her body to her hips. Taking the talon of his index finger, he loops it under her underwear and pulls it down. She lifts her hips off the bed to assist him, sliding her underwear down.

Her legs fall open and with a sultry voice, she
begs
him to claim her. He
groans
from wanting to give him, but also from the fact he absolutely has no more room in his too small, skin-tight boxers. Quickly pulling down his boxers for relief, she squirms with excitement under him. His enormous length springs out, ready. Her eyes round up as she gawks at him.

“Sorella. I don’t want to hurt you, or the little one.”
He pants, then kisses down her body. He couldn’t see her pout but could hear all her angry thoughts. He ignored them because as far as he was concerned, she already knew how he felt about the subject.

“You won’t.”
She reassured him, running her hands up his hair
“Let's give it a try. We can stop if it’s too much. Please, Papa.”

She used his title. He loved when she used his title. As his head was swimming from that little thrill, her hands wrapped around the base of his new horns.

Uh, oh.

Her fingernails scratched where his horns and skin met, sending him into complete ecstasy. A chill ran up his spine and his wings stretched open and quivered. The windows rattled from the pleasurable
growl
he exhaled as his eyes rolled into the back of his head. Instinctively, his hips rolled into the bed.

His tail snapped up and suddenly wrapped around her right wrist. Raising his horned head, he glares at her. She smiles sweetly at him, causing his eyes to soften. They both knew she won and was going to get what she wanted. He sighs.

“Let me get on my back. Then you can give it a try, but it’s not going to work.”
He climbs off her and rests on his knees. She moves so he can lay down on his back.
“We’ll have fun either way.”
She kisses his cheek while he gets comfortable.

Trying to get situated on the bed that was not currently made for his size, he holds out his hand to help her climb on top of him. He pumps himself a few times and holds onto himself. Before taking his hand, she wraps her hands around him and licks up his shaft. Taken completely by surprise, he
moans
and bucks his hips and digs his heels into the bed.

Smugly, she takes his still outstretched hand. She drags herself along his thick cock. His eyes were feral, and it took everything in him not to fuck her into the bed. To calm himself, he wraps his clawed hands around each column on each side of the headboard of the four-poster canopy bed.

“Don’t tease me.”
Copia growls, already beginning to shake at the anticipation.

Theatrically, she responds.
“I would never.”
Winking, she attempts to lower herself onto him but doesn’t move. She grunts. Frustrated, she wiggles her hips, but he never enters her.

Watching her struggle, Copia grins, showing off his fangs.
“What’s wrong, Sorella? Am I too big? Like I said.”
He was reveling in the fact he was right.

Her head snaps at him and she frowns. With an evil gleam in her eyes, she hops off him. Straddling his legs, her hands without warning wrap around him. He hisses as she furiously pumps up and down, twisting her grip.
“What did you say, Darling?”
Lowering her lips down to kiss the leaking head of his dick.

He
groans
, sinking his claws deep into the wood of their bed.
“Slow down! Ahh! Fuck! Wait!”

Copia came quickly and hard. He
roared
as he pulsed in her hands, releasing his seed all over her chest. His arms involuntarily flexed and snapped the columns of his bed, causing the canopy to fall. With his lightning-fast demonic speed, he jumped up, wrapped his arms and wings around Sorella and protected her as it rained down the broken parts of the canopy wood with a loud crash.

Flapping his wings, he threw the destruction off of them. She was holding onto him tightly, a bit shaken. Her round eyes look up at him.
“Unholy shit! You broke the bed!”

“I broke the bed!”
Copia huffed. The fireplace whooshed and flames expanded out, licking up the hearth. The bedroom door flew up and two of his Ghouls came running in to see what was happening. This time they were prepared for his change and weren’t scared.

Standing up, Copia carries Sorella off the bed.
“We’re OK. I’m going to need another bed. You think you can handle that? Preferably something bigger than a King. Also, no canopy bed this time. It only gets in the way.”
His double wings open, then close tightly against his back.

The Ghouls snicker as they walked around, examining the bed. One of them takes out a notepad from his pocket and writes down the specifications Copia requested, then nodded. Failing to keep a professional face, they both leave the bedroom to return to guarding the suite. Laughter erupted from them both when they got to the living room.

“I’m sorry.”
Sorella says, still cradled in his arms. Copia shrugs.
“For what? You’re safe and we had fun. Plus, we needed a new bed anyway. Satan works in mysterious ways.”
He looks over at the clock on the wall again. Still time.
“Let’s get you cleaned up. I want a snack in the shower before breakfast”
Copia smacks his lips as he walks to the bathroom.

After their very intimate and vocal shower, they both got ready. He was almost a pro at putting on his papal paint with his talons. The Ghoulettes had a new, larger-sized wardrobe of black clerical shirts and dress pants to accommodate him. Most of his pants had been switched over from the lace up front to a zipper because he struggled with his claws. They even managed to find him a pair of his favorite shoes to fit his feet.

Adjusting the black cravat in the mirror, he admired the outfit. He ran his claws through his hair around his original horns that came out on each side of his forehead and his new horns that came out of his temples and twisted around towards his face. Sorella whistled behind him. Turning, he grinned a fanged smile at her. He already knew exactly how she felt about his outfit but had no idea how much she loved seeing his ass in his tight pants.

“My handsome Copia.”
She complimented him, her words paled in how much she truly loved him.

“Thanks. However, you’re the one with all the beauty in this relationship that everyone is going to notice.”
He admired her simple A-line blue dress that was straining against her fuller breasts. At his height, he couldn’t hide that he was looking down at her cleavage.

Trying to be encouraging, she purses her lips.
“They won’t be looking at me today. Are you ready for breakfast?”

Copia exhales a weak no.
“What choice do I have?”

The Clergy already knew he was the Antichrist. While he preferred to walk around in his human form, most had seen him in his demonic state. How were they going to react to him? Just last month, his beloved Sorella was scared to death and his Ghouls were terrified of him. Sorella reassured him that if they walk in together with the Ghouls, everyone will accept it. He hoped she was right.

The door to his suite opens and Terzo walks in wearing his Impera Ghoul helmet and uniform. He greets them both with a warm Italian greeting on this Yuletide morning. He leans forward and pulls the helmet off. His mischievous eyes twinkle up at Copia as his black hair falls forward. The left corner of his mouth raised.

“What’s this I hear about you destroying the antique papal suite furniture? Not even I managed to ever do that to that bed. Satan knows it wasn’t without trying.”
Terzo can’t stop himself from chuckling.

Annoyed, Copia rolled his eyes.
“Jealous, fratello?”

“Actually, to be honest a little bit.”
He turns to Sorella.
“Are you and the bambino alright? He needs to be more careful with you two.”

“It was her fault.”
Copia scoffs.

Terzo waves him off as he fusses over her. Sorella adds.
“He’s right.”
She blushes.
“But we’re fine. Just a bit of a surprise this morning.”

Copia walks to the door.
“Let’s go. I’d rather be embarrassed in the Great Hall than my own suite.”
His Ghoul on the outside opens the door and he awkwardly crouches through the entrance, clearing his frame and double sets of wings. In the hallway, he stands straight and opens his wings. Once his brother and his Prime Mover joined him, he started to walk. His two Ghouls walked ahead of them and Terzo behind. When they were almost there, her hand grabbed his ungloved hand, causing his tail to sway from side to side.

“Aww.”
Terzo teased through his Impera mask, his cape swaying as he walked.

Copia bared his fangs and
growled
over his shoulder down at his brother behind him.

“Stop it you two. Are you both fifty-three or five and three?”
She scolds them, stopping in front of the Great Hall doors.
“Ready?”

He could feel his legs shaking. His wings closed and lowered. He gulped and his tail stopped moving.

Terzo rubs his lower back.
“Hai questo fratello. Non aver paura. Sei la cosa più spaventosa del mondo intero. Ora vai e rendimi orgoglioso.”

The doors open and Copia quickly
whispers
thanks to Terzo before stepping into the Great Hall. He kept his eyes to the ground but could hear the gasp. Sorella’s hand squeezed his, encouraging him to keep walking. Without looking at the congregation, he continued up to the head table. His upper wings and lower wings hugged close to his body as he walked along the outer walls of the hall up to his spot.

Opening his wings, he makes his way up to the head table and looks out into the Clergy. The entire flock wide-eyed stared at him. At least they weren’t running away like last time. He sees Sorella’s roommate waving at him and giving him a thumbs up at the back of the room.

He raises his right hand and waves.
“Hello.”
He coughs.
“I mean, buongiorno on this lovely Yule morning. I…um… so this happened.”
He raises his palms up in the air.
“This is apparently going to be a thing on the Sabbots of the Wheel of the Year. Let’s try not to make a big deal out of it. Okie-Dokey?”

The congregation was silent.

“Okie-Dokey?”
Copia said with more force, and everyone nodded and responded with a vocal
‘Yes, Papa’
.

“Fantastico! Let’s give thanks and then eat.”
He claps his hands.

Besides all the Siblings of Sin staring at him, and the fact he was the main topic of every single table, breakfast was uneventful. He ate pancakes with bacon alongside his Sorella and occasionally spoke to the Cardinal on his right, who tried desperately to act as normal as possible sitting next to an eight-foot-tall demon.

Walking back to the suite with his two Ghouls and Terzo, Sorella leans into him, rubbing his arm.
“That went better than expected.”

“You couldn’t hear them talking about me like I could.”
His eyes looked defeated. They didn’t say anything awful about him. It was one extreme to the other. Either wondering how he managed to get through his day at that size or wanting to know what was going on in the bedroom.

She gives him a look of pity, but then quickly cheers up.
“I have an idea. Wait here.”
She takes Terzo’s hand, and they run together down the hall. Copia tells his Ghouls to follow them and that he’ll be alright. When she left, he wasn’t concentrating on reading her mind, but he caught something about grabbing something from the suite.

Copia leaned against the wall, waiting for her to come back. After five minutes, Terzo returns alone, stating
“She’s in the Ministry Courtyard.”

He looks down at his brother reading his mind. Giving Terzo a funny look, Copia smiles.
“She really thinks I’m going to walk into her trap and allow myself to get hit by a snowball?”

Terzo folds his arms.
“I told her you’d read my mind. She’s trying to cheer you up. Go out there and play in the snow with her. And try not to break anything this time.”

Copia’s eyes narrow then relax. A snowball fight does sound like fun.
“Are you going to be on my side or hers?”

“Us Emeritus fratelli always stick together when we go off to war.”
Terzo nods, and gestures for Copia to follow.

They walk down the hall together, and Terzo runs ahead to hold the door to the courtyard open. Copia squats down and angles the tops of his wings through the door. Once through, he opens his leathery wings and looks for Sorella.

His shoes crunch against the snow as he walks down in the gardens to find her. A light snowfall starts. While he wasn’t wearing a coat, he felt a small chill, but his demon blood seemed to be warming him.

“Sorella.”
Copia called out. His tail glides left to right across the snow.

Terzo walks beside him, looking all around. He points to an open area with some high hedges.
“I bet she’s over there.”

Copia raises his double horned head and sniffs the air. Terzo was right. He was picking up her scent. Looking down at his brother, he nods. Bringing his index finger to his mouth, he gestures for him to be quiet. Terzo’s Impera Ghoul helmet nods.

Copia goes on ahead and slowly sneaks up to the area. It was a risk to enter the open garden, but he figured with his demonic speed he could outrun any snowball thrown at him. Sensing her ducked behind one of the hedges, he grins and makes his way toward her.

“Sorella, I think I have an unfair advantage. You see...”
Copia was interrupted by a snowball hitting him squarely in the back of the head. His wings rose straight up, and he turned to see who got him.

Smiling like a Cheshire cat was Terzo.
“Surprise!”
 He tossed another snowball and got Copia in the shoulder.

Stunned, Copia’s red and white eyes widened at the betrayal.
“Et tu, Brute?”

“Now!”
Sorella stands and yells out. Copia swings around to see his two Ghouls, Omega and Sorella all lobbing snowballs at him. He raised his arms and used his wings to shield the onslaught of compacted snow being thrown at him. The attack kept coming as he was hit several times. They must have stockpiled while Terzo distracted him.

There was a pause, and he reached down to make his own ammo. As soon as his clawed hand touched the snow, it melted. He tried again and it did the same thing. Who would have thought that a demon’s body temperature was too hot to play this game?

“Timeout! I’m melting the snow. I can’t make any snowballs.”
Copia crouched, hiding behind the protection of his wings. Everyone stops throwing snowballs and stands up from their hiding spots. Terzo was now beside Sorella.

“Oh, Copia. I’m so sorry. I never stopped to consider that would be an issue for you.”
Sorella suddenly looks sad that her idea to cheer him up backfired.

Copia stands and opens his wings wide. He lowers his head and grins a devilish, fanged smile.
“But I can do this.”
He pulls both sets of wings back and pushes them forward, sending a large snow drift in her direction. She squeals with delight while covering her face as she is swallowed by the snow cloud.

Copia runs toward her, and Terzo yells
“Cazzo”
while running into Omega’s embrace, leaving Sorella to reap the consequences of her actions alone. Copia easily jumps the hedges and scoops Sorella in his arms. She
yelps
then
giggles
. He playfully kisses her; his chest vibrates as he
growls
.

Losing his footing on the snow-covered grass in his dress shoes, he falls backwards.
“Aww, shit.”
he yells, landing hard onto the ground. Sorella grabbed onto his neck and was unscathed in his protective arms.

“Are you OK?”
She asks, rubbing his chest.

“Never better.”
His tail wags and he places his large, clawed hand behind her head. She leans down and kisses him tenderly, but it turns into something more.

“Get a room!”
Terzo shouts, turning to see Sister Imperator’s Ghoul Phil walking toward them.

Distracted and in their own little world Sorella and Copia cuddle in the snow. He wraps his lower wings around her to keep her warm. Everything felt perfect. He ran his talons through her hair while she rested her head on his broad chest.

Sensing that Terzo was standing next to them and watching, he sighs. Opening his mismatched eyes, he sees an upside down small Impera Ghoul.

“When you’re done making giant fallen snow angels with our Prime Mover, you need to report to Sister Imperator’s office immediately.”
Terzo looks back up at Phil and nods.

Copia sits up, disturbing Sorella’s moment with him.
“Right now?”
He knew if she sent Phil that it was important. Looking over at Terzo, he reads his mind.

There’s an incident you need to handle that can’t wait.

Copia’s eyebrows furrow. He rubs her back.
“Sorella. Thank you so much for this bit of fun, but I need to address something.”

She looks up at him worried.
“Something wrong?”

He kissed the top of her head.
“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of whatever is going on.”
He looks up at Omega.
“Can you take her back to the suite?”
The large Ghoul nods.
“Make sure she doesn’t fall getting back up to the Ministry.”
He helps her stand and offers her hand to Omega. He waves goodbye to her as they head back.

Watching them, Copia growls at Phil.
“This better be important.”
The thin Ghoul gestures for Copia and Terzo to follow him, they walk toward an opposite door that was closer to Sister’s office. Inside the Ministry, Copia could hear singing and chants coming from the direction of the Chapel.

“What’s going on?”
Copia asks, worried.

“No idea. Phil just said it was of the utmost importance we report to Sister. Does that bitch ever take a day off of work?”
Terzo says through gritted teeth.

Copia, Terzo and his Ghouls follow Phil to Sister Imperator's office. He opens the door and Copia maneuvers himself through the door frame with Terzo following behind. Copia folds his wings tightly against his back. While sitting at her desk, Sister’s head turns toward him. She was unable to see them, because he gouged out her eyes when he learned she was responsible for his brother’s murders.

“Papa?”
She questions. He relaxed a bit when she referred to him by his title instead of the nickname he hated. Maybe there was hope for her yet to show him the respect he deserved.

“Yes. And Terzo is here too.”

She tells Phil to turn on the TV. Turning back towards Copia, she asks.
“How is our Prime Mover and future heir on this unholy Yule Day?”
Phil flips on the TV to the local news.

“They’re fine.”
Copia replies with no emotion, his eyes shift to the TV. The Ministry was on the news. There was a crowd picketing. The banner on the screen read ‘Local Christians protesting Satanic Christmas’. His wings rose as he watched the crowds he heard earlier singing and chanting.

“Have a seat. We need to decide on an action plan.”
Sister gestures towards the two floral chairs in front of her desk. Terzo takes a chair and Copia shifts where he stands.

“I can’t.”
Copia says coldly, eyes glued to the TV.
“That’s right.” Her lips thin into a straight line. “I forgot. I hear you showed the flock this morning at breakfast. I wish I was lucky enough to see you in all your damned glory right now, son.” 
“You’re lucky you only lost your eyes and not your life for what you…”
Terzo spits.

“Bite your tongue!”
Copia commands. Terzo’s red eye glows and he
cries
out in pain from his brother’s command taken literally and his teeth sink down onto his tongue.

Copia turns his double horned head away from the TV and apologizes to Terzo, who was clutching his mouth.

“Which church is it this time?”
Copia asks, his tail flicks sharply.

Sister Imperator gets serious.
“The fundamentalist church. They got a new pastor last week. An up in comer in the church that saw his opening and took on the leadership and won.  He’s very passionate about their cause. Very popular within his flock with his sermons.”

That was Sorella’s family’s church. He looked through the crowds, but didn’t see her mother or step-father Levi among the protestors. A tall, bearded man seemed to be leading the whole demonstration and encouraging the mob.

Sister Imperator turns towards the TV.
“His name is Jim. Father James DeFroque. His little antics are disrupting our work.”
She turns back to her desk and folds her hands.
“What do you want to do?”

Copia thinks.
“We need to make an official statement. Get someone to throw something together about us celebrating in peace.”

“How do you want this message delivered? Publicly or through the news sources?”
Sister questions.

“I can put on Papa IV’s paint and go out and deliver it personally.”
Terzo casually offers.

Copia smirks, rolling his head.
“I appreciate the offer, but don’t you think they’d notice it wasn’t me?”

Terzo looks up at Copia.
“Better I go out there pretending to be you with a deficit of a foot than an eight-foot demonic version of you.”

He was right. As the face of the Clergy, whoever was Papa Emeritus usually handled these types of things. Copia was out of the running and Sister Imperator would not be able to read a statement. Terzo was the next logical choice if they were going to make a public statement.

Copia sighs.
“Alright. Put the mitre on him so he looks taller. I have some green colored contacts in my room you can use. I’ll do your paint.”

Terzo jumps off the chair shocked.
“We’re really going to do this?”

“Sounds like we got a plan. I’ll put the statement together while you get him ready. Are we still having the Yule Mass tonight?”
Sister Imperator questions as she’s taking notes.

Copia looks surprised.
“Of course. I’m not canceling that over an overzealous pastor. Just increase security on the grounds. Our followers deserve to worship and celebrate like any other religion.”

Sister smiles and looks proud.
“Spoken like a true Papa who protects his people. The Clergy is lucky to have you.”

“I’m standing right here!”
Terzo throws his hands up in the air.

Sister Imperator’s face sours.
“Yes. We can’t forget our Grammy winning Papa who fucked his way through the entire Clergy.”

“You’re welcome!”
Terzo flips her off as Phil growls.

Copia was still watching the news. This Father DeFroque gave him a bad feeling and he growled at the TV. He huffed and his tail rattled.
“I don’t want what’s happening outside the Ministry walls to get back to Sorella. I want to make this pregnancy as stress free as possible. You got that?”

Sister Imperator sits back into her chair.
“I’ll do my best.”
She actually looks worried, which was a new look for her.

Copia and Terzo leave Sister’s office and briskly walk toward the Sacristy to get his robes for the press conference that was scheduled for around lunch time. He looks down at Terzo, who seemed to be hyperventilating and cracking his knuckles.

“Nervous?”

“Who? Me?”
Terzo laughs, then starts to freak out.
“There’s no way in Hell we’re going to pull this off.”

Copia leans over and rests his large, clawed hand on his brother’s shoulder.
“You got this, fratello.”
He grins a fanged smile.
“Terzo, from now on your voice sounds exactly like mine.”
Copia commands, using his Antichrist powers.

Terzo stops dead in his tracks and puts his hands on his hips.
“Fratello, you did not!”
His hands shot up and covered his mouth in horror. The same exact voice that came out of the little Ghoul’s mouth was that of Papa Emeritus IV.

Copia almost fell over laughing. His wings rose and tail swayed happily.
“Oh, we are one hundred percent pulling this off.”

Terzo huffs and walks on ahead without saying a word as Copia took a few steps and caught up with him. Copia wrapped his arm around his brother’s shoulder then Terzo jerked his shoulder angrily to get it off. Making Copia belly laugh even harder.

Sister Imperator had the statement finished before Terzo was ready. The Ghoulettes made some quick adjustments, but Terzo surprisingly looked like Papa IV in the paints wearing the black and blue chasuble and bejeweled mitre as he sat in Sister Imperator’s office.

Gathering his Guard Ghouls, Copia tells them the plan and to slouch when they walk out to the cameras. Even the Ghouls kept looking at Copia then down at Terzo, impressed.

Phil handed Terzo the statement and he snatched it. In Copia’s voice, Terzo snaps.
“You’d think I’ve never given a statement before.”

“Public speaking was always one of your strongest attributes.”
Sister Imperator states.

“I’m standing right here!”
Copia jokes, pretending to be offended.

“Exactly. It’s one thing to sound like Papa IV. Terzo, you need to act like him too.”
Sister explains.

Terzo gives Copia a mischievous eye roll.
“Okie-Dokey, Mother.”

Sister’s face looks confused at telling them apart. His magic was working perfectly.

Phil gestures for Terzo to follow. He gets up and Copia leans down and readjusts the mitre on Terzo’s head. Thanking him, Copia nods. Terzo walks towards the door and the Guard Ghouls follow behind him.

“Buona fortuna fratello!”
Copia calls out.

“Fratello attento. Se faccio un lavoro troppo buono mi faranno di nuovo Papa.”
Copia’s voice calls out from the hallway.

Copia turns to the TV, waiting for his brother to show up. Sister had scheduled a press statement so he knew the news would interrupt at any moment. The TV cuts to a ‘Special Announcement’.

Sister turns toward the TV.
“Satan watch over that boy!”

Copia folds his arms.
“He’ll do great. Have some faith in your Antichrist.”

The TV cuts to live footage of the doors to the Ministry. His Ghouls push open the doors and Terzo swaggers out.

“Terzo, walk more like me.”
Copia commands under his breath.

Immediately the Papa IV on the TV’s gait changed. Terzo’s eyes rounded, but relaxed having figured out what probably happened as he glanced into the camera.

There was a knock on the door and Primo walked in asking.
"What the Hell is happening outside?"
He walks into the office, looks at the TV then up at an eight-foot-tall Copia.
"Who the Hell is that?!?"
He points to the TV.

Sister and Copia both shush him, Primo takes a chair to watch.

The female TV news anchor on the scene states. "We are live at the Ministry where Papa Emeritus IV is about to deliver a message from the Clergy."

Shuffling his papers at the podium, Terzo glares at the crowds of Christians yelling at him. He turns and sees the news anchor and grins, his eyes checking her up and down. Looking into the camera he begins.

“Merry Yuletide. On behalf of the Clergy, I, Papa Emeritus IV wish to express that we wish to celebrate in peace.”
  Terzo raises his palm up, mimicking his little brother’s gesture.
“Our doors will still be open tonight, welcoming all those who are lost to join us in the Yule Mass.”

Going off script, Terzo’s eyes twinkle, asking the pretty news anchor.
“Would you care to join us tonight?”

A crack of thunder in the cloudless sky makes everyone jump. Terzo stares into the camera and narrows his eyes.

“Si, where was I? These protestors will not interfere with our Dark Father’s will or stop our work with..”

A bearded man interrupts and shouts. “Don’t listen to the false prophet! He’s the Antichrist! God has shown me the truth.”

Terzo laughs, but in Copia’s voice.
“Has he now? You know nothing pastor man.”

“I know God loves you and wants what’s best for you and his people.” Father Jim smiles and the crowds shout ‘Amen’.

Terzo puts his left hand on his hip and points his gloved finger at the Father in the crowd. With sass, he bites back while tilting his head.
“Fuck your God!”
The crowds audibly gasped.
“And one more thing, you piece of…”

Sister yells at the TV,
“Get him out of there!”
as the screen flips to two shocked anchors sitting at a news desk apologizing.

Copia’s wings open and he commands.
“Terzo. Shut up and walk slowly back into the Ministry.”

Unable to finish his clapback, Terzo’s eyes widen and shift up to the cameras. Without warning, he turns on his heel and starts walking back up the walkway to the Ministry. His robes swayed as he walked in Copia’s typical gait.

Copia pinches the bridge of his nose, then throws his head back and laughs and Primo joins in.

“What’s so funny? That could not have gone worse if we tried.”
Sister Imperator was fuming.

The office door opens and Terzo and the Ghouls walk in with Phil. Terzo looks like he’s about to be scolded.

Sister Imperator starts to
scream
at a mute Terzo when Copia holds up his hand and
tells
her enough. She looks taken aback but listens to him.

Copia grins at Terzo.
“You did great.”

Terzo and Sister Imperator both look shocked.

Primo adds.
“That was amazing.”
Wiping a tear from his eye.

“We’ll probably have to pay a fine from the FCC, but do you realize what you’ve done Terzo?”

Terzo looks around the room looking for the answer, then shakes his head no.

“We’re about to go viral. You probably single handedly increased our numbers just now.”
Copia looks over at Sister.
“I bet the Yule Mass will be packed tonight. Not just here, but at the other churches too.”

Sister thinks for a moment and cocks her head. She sighs.
“Satan certainly works in mysterious ways. Great job, Terzo.”

Terzo’s face lights up and he claps his hands.

“How do you feel about leading the Yule Mass tonight? The people have missed seeing me since before the tour.”
Copia asks, his tail swishing along the floor.

Terzo’s eyes widened and he enthusiastically nodded then pointed to his throat.

“I don’t know. I kind of like silent Terzo. What do you think, Primo?”
Copia teases.

“I could get used to this.”
Primo puts his arms behind his head.

Terzo stomps his foot and his eyebrows furrow.

“Fine. Terzo, you can speak using my voice going forward.”
Copia command.

Terzo smiles and hugs Copia.
“Thank you so much for the opportunity to preach again. I promise I’ll behave.”

“I’m counting on you not to behave.”
Copia laughs showing off his fangs.

The news replayed the footage of Terzo and Father Jim all day, except they bleeped him out. A few more joined Father Jim’s cause, but it was nothing compared to the numbers increase the Clergy saw that day. As Copia predicted, the Ministry's Chapel was packed. Terzo did a much better job pretending to be Papa IV during the sermon. Terzo was so convincing that he almost fooled Omega, especially with the voice change.

Back in the suite, Copia and Sorella skipped the mass and enjoyed a quiet evening in together. They had an even better night as their new Alaska King-sized mattress and frame were delivered in time for bed.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

After lunch, Sorella and Copia walked back to the suite. Hand in hand, things could not have been going better. The Clergy was doing well, especially after Terzo’s little outburst which ended up making Copia popular on TikTok and Facebook Reels. Thankfully, Sorella stayed off social media and didn’t see the viral hit. Today was also Sorella’s first appointment at the OBGYN and he had cleared his schedule to be with her.

His Ghoul got the door for them and Copia bowed, gesturing for her to enter first. In the living room, she walked into the bedroom, and he took a seat at his desk. He reviewed some notes and made a quick phone call. While on the phone, there was a quick double knock and Terzo entered wearing aviators.

Running his hand through his black hair, he saw Copia was busy and took a seat on the couch. Not wanting to draw attention when they were out, it was decided that Terzo should go unmasked along with them to the doctor’s office. Terzo was thrilled for the opportunity to go outside the Ministry. Wearing chinos, a brown leather belt, fitted white button up shirt and a navy sports jacket, he looked like he just walked off a men’s fashion runway.

“Fratello, why are you dressed like that? We’re supposed to fly under the radar when we go out.”
Copia questions, raising an eyebrow on his painted face.

Terzo pushes his sunglasses on top of his head, showing off the black paint around his red and white eyes.
“Che cosa? I went online shopping and Omega and Sorella’s roommate said this outfit suits my personality.”
He grins, crossing his legs and wiggles his foot showing off his brown leather shoes.

Sorella walks out of the bedroom wearing an oversized gray sweatshirt and black leggings. She sees Terzo.
“Wow! You look great!”
Carrying Ugg boots, she sits next to him and starts to put them on and Terzo thanks her for noticing.

“Don’t encourage him.”
Copia rolls his eyes.

“Are you going to get ready or not? I laid your clothes out on the bed.”
Sorella was growing impatient.

Copia stands and walks over to her and kisses the top of her head.
“We have plenty of time. I just need to wash my face, put on my casual paint and get dressed. We’ll get going once I’m done.”
He walks toward the bedroom and closes the door.

He strips down to his boxers and washes his face in the bathroom. Drying his face, he runs back into the bedroom to the pile of casual clothes on the bed. He had no idea how to dress like he wasn’t a member of the High Clergy. Sorella picked out a pair of dark wash jeans and a black knit sweater. He threw the clothes on, then went back into the bathroom to paint his eyes and upper lip.

“Are you almost ready?”
Sorella asks from the living room.

“Almost”
Copia calls back, sitting on the bed putting on black socks. He looked at the pair of white sneakers. Going against his Sorella, he slid his feet into his black dress shoes.

Grabbing his RayBan Wayfarers, he puts them on top of his head as he walks into the living room. He announced he was ready and Sorella bounced up and grabbed his gloved hands.

“I love this on you. What do you think, Terzo?”
She smiled sweetly at both men.

Terzo brings his thumb and index finger to his chin.
“It’s an improvement over that God awful maroon track suit you keep wearing.”

“I love my sweats and zip-up hoodie.”
Copia was offended as he walked toward the door.

Sorella stands up on her tiptoes and kisses his cheek.
“Not in public, Darling. Enough talk about fashion. I’m so excited for my first appointment.”

Copia runs his thumbs over her knuckles.
“Me too.”

The Ghouls and Terzo followed behind Copia as he walked to the garage. The black Cadillac Escalade was gassed up and waiting for them. His Ghoul walks over to get the keys and Copia walks up behind him and whispers.
“The protestors are still out in the front of the building. They don’t need to know I’m leaving the Ministry. Especially with Sorella, who is in the dark about this whole mess. Take the back way, please.”
The Ghoul turns to Copia and nods that he understands.

When he returns, Sorella
asks
if everything is alright, and he reassures her everything is ’hunky dory’. Terzo climbs in and takes the third-row bench seat in the back and Copia helps her into the second-row bucket seat. He even buckled the seat belt for her, wanting her to be safe. Lastly, he got himself into the other bucket seat.

The SUV slowly drives out the garage and onto the road, avoiding being seen by anyone at the front of the building. Terzo stretches his arms out along the back of the bench seat and looks out the window. Sorella also stared out the window. Copia quietly watched her, until a low
growl
rumbled in his chest. His eyes widened. Everyone in the vehicle looked at him. He was slightly embarrassed, until Sorella bit her bottom lip and smiled at him.

She leans over and whispers.
“I love you too.”

He relaxed. She never made him feel bad for any of his Antichrist outbursts. He didn’t deserve her for everything she put up with him. She was so kind and best of all, she was all his. This time he didn’t try to hide the loud
growl
that expressed how he felt about her.

At the Women’s Clinic, the Escalade pulls into a parking spot. Copia tells the Ghouls to stay in the SUV. The Ghoul in the passenger seat reaches into the glove box and hands him a black wallet. Terzo gets out first, then helps Sorella get out. Copia climbs out next and stretches, flipping down his sunglasses. Glancing over, he hisses at him.

“Terzo!”

Surprised, he looks up to Copia angrily pointing at his sunglasses. Giving him a funny look, it hits him, and he flips his shades down.
“Scusa.”

Copia shakes his head, joining Sorella and Terzo. He hated wearing the sunglasses in public, but they served two purposes. They hid the black paint they were required to wear around their eyes to non-clergy members. Also, the glasses hid the Emeritus heterochromatic eyes.

When they reached the building, Terzo opened the door for them. The small waiting room had several couples at various stages of pregnancy waiting for their turn. Sorella leads the men to the reception counter and checks in. She elbowed him when it was time for the insurance card. He opened the wallet and searched for it. It took him a few tries, but he finally found what they needed. The lady in scrubs smiled and told them to take a seat, handing Sorella a clipboard.

Terzo remained behind, and rested his elbows on the counter, flirting with the lady who was playing along. As Sorella and Copia got seated, Terzo sat next to Copia a few minutes later, holding a piece of paper he slipped in his front shirt pocket.

Copia side-eyes him and whispers.
“You can’t be serious.”

Terzo grins.
“Like a heart attack.”

Copia rolls his eyes at his older brother’s antics, annoyed he was just as popular as ever with the ladies. Death did nothing to calm his libido.

Sorella was holding the clipboard in her lap and filling out several pages of medical information. Copia glanced down at all the questions, then went back to people watching.

She looks up at him.
“Is there any family medical history I should know about you?”

“Like what?”

She shows him the page, and he squints to read it. He takes the pen from her and fills out what little he knew of his family’s medical issues. Placing the pen under the clip, he hands it back to her.

He grins, then cups his gloved hand over her ear.
“I didn’t see the option for it, so I ticked the Other checkbox and wrote ‘Antichrist’”
.

Her eyebrows raised and she quickly checked to see if he was lying. She rolls her eyes at him and lightly smacks his arm.
“That’s not funny.”
She still smiled at him, but in a disappointed kind of way.

He puts his hand on his chest.
“I’m just trying to provide accurate information in the interest of the little one.”

“Sit over there and behave. I never thought you’d be the one causing trouble.”

Copia crosses his leg and waits. If he had told them who they were, they probably would have been seen right away.

A young, heavily pregnant woman, sitting next to a guy playing on his cell phone, speaks up out of nowhere. “Ma’am.” She raises her hand toward Sorella, and her other hand rubs her stomach. Sorella’s eyebrows furrow and she points to herself.

“Yes, you. I just wanted to let you know how great I think it is you’re doing this.”

Sorella, Copia and Terzo all cock their heads. How were they recognized? Was she a member of the Clergy? He didn’t recognize the couple or see anything that suggested they were Satanic leaning.

Sorella nervously
thanks
the woman, her eyes shifting to Copia.

“It’s wonderful you could provide those two with a child of their own.” She smiles. “My brother and his partner are still looking for a surrogate.”

Copia’s eyebrows raised, and he turned his head to look at Terzo who was open mouthed horrified. Sorella fights a giggle. She begins to explain and Terzo interrupts her.

“With all due respect, I can do way better.”

Copia pinches the bridge of his nose and exhales.

Sorella explains to the clueless woman with ‘pregnancy brain’.
“I think you have the wrong idea.”
She grabs Copia’s gloved hand.
“My boyfriend and I are expecting our first. His brother is here to support us.”

The woman sitting across from them looks mortified. The man sitting next to her still has no idea what’s happening. She quickly blurts out. “Oh my god! I’m so sorry. I just thought. Never mind what I thought.”

Sorella smiles.
“It’s fine. I hope your brother and his partner find a surrogate.”

The woman relaxes and thanks her. A nurse opened a door and called out the woman’s name and she and her guy quickly got up and ran out of the waiting room.

Once they were gone, Sorella leans over to Copia.
“At least she didn’t think you were my father.”

“I kind of wish she had!”
Terzo interjects.
“Why would anyone think us two were a couple? He’s my brother for Satan’s sake! I’ve done some questionable things in my day, but that’s one line I’m never crossing.”

Copia laughs at how dramatic Terzo was being.
“Who knows. Maybe you’ve slept with a sibling and had no idea. Pops was a slut.”

Disgusted, Terzo answers.
“If you think I’m dumb enough to sleep with someone with a white left eye, then that says more about you than me.”

Sorella’s name was suddenly called out by a nurse waiting by an open door. Together, Sorella, Copia and Terzo stand and make their way to triage. The nurse weighs Sorella and gives her a specimen cup and points to the bathroom. Giving the two men a strange look, trying to guess their story, she leads them to the ultrasound room.

Copia walks in and Terzo hesitates. Looking over his shoulder, he asks Terzo.
“Are you coming in or not?”

Terzo looks uncomfortable.
“I think this is your moment, not mine. I’ll wait out here.”

Sorella finishes up then sees them in the doorway.
“What’s going on?”

“Nothing. I’ll be out here if you need anything.”
Terzo pats her shoulder.

Her eyes become concerned.
“You don’t want to see the baby?”

Terzo’s eyes lock on with Copia’s eyes. Gesturing for him to enter, Copia smiles.
“Entra, zio Terzo. Ti vogliamo qui. Eri lì per il concepimento, dovresti essere qui anche per questo. No?”

The corner of Terzo’s mouth rises and he wraps his arm around Sorella’s shoulder.
“Well, if you insist.”

Sorella pats his chest and they both enter the small, dark room. She hops up onto the examination table and Copia and Terzo both sit against an opposite wall in the empty chairs. The mousy ultrasound tech enters and introduces herself. She makes small talk with Sorella and even includes Copia in some friendly banter. Terzo excitedly watches everything the tech is doing. Copia gets a kick at seeing how excited Terzo is. He would have made a great father, Copia thinks.

The squirting sound of the jelly on Sorella’s stomach pulls Copia back to reality. Everyone watches the tech move the wand across her stomach. The pulsating sound fills the room and Copia recognizes it. He didn’t know what it was he heard every night he laid down to sleep, but it finally clicked

“That's the baby's heartbeat. One hundred and sixty-six. That’s in range for nine weeks along.” The tech cheerfully announces to the room.

Copia looks at Sorella and she smiles at him.

“There we go. If you look at the screen. There’s the baby.”

The large screen TV hanging on the wall across from the examination table displayed a gray and white mass against black. Four small lines moved, and the small thing danced across the screen.

Copia’s eyes widened, and his mouth opened. He had seen wonders beyond human imagination. He had cast spells and summoned ghouls to do his bidding. He was blessed twice in his unholy life to hear the voice of his Master call out to him. He was the prophesied Antichrist walking the earth. Everything up until that point paled in comparison to seeing his son inside his Prime Mover. Lifting his RayBans onto top of his head, he stared at the screen in awe.

“I don’t know what I’m looking at. It looks like a gnocchi.”
Terzo squints at the screen.

The ultrasound tech starts pointing out the head and legs. She glanced over at Copia, and noticed his painted, mismatched eyes. She gasps, then turns her attention back to Sorella. Copia dropped his glasses back over his eyes but spotted the silver cross charm on her necklace.

The entire room became tense. The now nervous tech prints off pictures and hands them to Sorella, who
thanked
her. They were all instructed to go into an examination room down the hall.

Finding the room, Copia looked back and saw the ultrasound tech pointing at them to the other nurses who began to whisper. He knew their cover had been blown over his slip up. Sorella sat on the table, and Copia in the chair next to her. Terzo walked around the room looking at all the diagrams on the wall, then picked up the uterus model on the counter and examined it in his hands.

Sorella looks down at a fretful Copia.
“Don’t worry. They would have run us out of here if they weren’t OK with who we are.”

“This is my fault. I got too caught up.”

She smiled.
“I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

The doctor came in and introduced herself. Terzo quietly took a seat in the rolling chair in the corner of the room. The doctor flips through her chart and sets it on the counter.

“Do you have any questions or concerns?”

Sorella shakes her head no.
“I think I’m good.”

“Well, I didn’t see any horns or wings on the scan, so I think the baby is going to take after mom.” The doctor grins. You could hear a pin drop from the reaction to her comment.

Sorella’s shocked eyes shift over to Copia, then back to the doctor.
“Excuse me?”

“Our next future Papa looks wonderful. You’re doing a great job, Prime Mover.”

Copia’s eyes narrow.
“You’re a member?”

“Born and raised. I’m thrilled our Dark Father has crossed our paths. I look forward to caring for your family. A bit of warning would have been nice. We’ll have you come through the back entrance from now on. You’ve spooked some of my nurses.” The doctor makes a note in the chart.

Copia apologies.
“Thank you. There hasn’t been an Emeritus baby since I was born.”
He rubs the back of his neck.
“We weren’t quite sure of the protocol for something like this.”

“Do we need to be concerned about safety and confidentiality here? We seem to have upset your ultrasound girl.”
Terzo lifts his sunglasses seeing no point in having to cover his eyes. Copia was taken aback by how serious he was taking his role to protect Sorella.

“Ignore her. She’s harmless and not from the church stirring up trouble right now.”

“What?”
Sorella straightens up.

Copia gives the doctor a look not to go into any further details about the Clergy’s issues with the fundamentalist church. The doctor picks up on his non-verbal cue and continues. “We take privacy very seriously here. You have nothing to worry about.”

Sorella looks between the two.
“See. I told you we had nothing to worry about.”
She gives Copia a reassuring smile, resting her hand across her stomach. Copia exhales and relaxes, returning a weak smile.

The doctor goes over what to expect with Sorella and gives her a bag with all the information and prenatal samples. Based on the conception date, that everyone recalled easily, the due date was set to August fifteenth.

Back in the Cadillac Escalade, his Ghouls were driving back to the Ministry. Sorella wanted to stop for ice cream, but both Terzo and Copia came with an excuse that seemed to satisfy her as to why they couldn’t stop. The Nameless Ghouls protested more than she did.

Looking out the window, Sorella asks.
“Why are we taking the back way? Is something going on? The doctor mentioned something about a church. Is that why we couldn’t get ice cream?”
She turns to look at Copia, then Terzo.

Flipping his shades back down, Terzo seems to be all of a sudden be interested in something outside the window.

Copia is annoyed that his brother left him to fend for himself. What should he tell her? He didn’t want to upset her or cause any future family drama with her family. At this point, when it came to keeping a secret from her, it always ended up exploding in his face. It was time to be honest.

“The Clergy is being targeted by a local church. We are just taking some extra precautions to keep you and the little one safe.”
Copia takes her hand in his.

“Oh.”
Her eyebrows furrow.
“Why didn’t you just say something?”
She was too smart for her own good. “I didn’t want to worry you. I'm handling it. And you got Terzo protecting you should anyone try anything.”
“I also have you. Remember, you saved me from my step-dad that night.”

Copia recalls when he almost killed him and saved him at the last minute. She was right. He was Sorella’s guardian and would destroy anything or anyone who tried to harm her.

He sighs, then grins. Turning to the Chauffeur Ghoul, he calls out.
“Change of plans. Sorella wants ice cream. We’re getting ice cream.”

Her face glowed and her feet kicked as she thanked him. The Ghouls in the front seat high-fived in celebration.

The SUV pulled into a local ice cream stand. Parking the vehicle, the Ghouls wrote down everyone’s orders. Flipping his sunglasses down, Copia got out and left Sorella, Terzo and his Ghouls in the safety of the Escalade.

Seeing that it was January, there wasn’t much of a line for ice cream. The teenager took the order of two Buckeye ice creams in a waffle cone and two banana split sundaes. Thankfully, he remembered he still had the wallet in his back pocket. When given the total, he opened the wallet and pulled out a one hundred dollar bill and told him the rest was a tip. The teenager excitedly thanked him and rushed to get his ice cream ready.

Standing around outside, he looked at the others in line who were wondering why he wasn’t wearing a coat and had sunglasses on. He pretended to warm his hands. Truth be told, he was actually hot in his sweater.

When his order was ready, the teenager handed him the splits in a large brown paper bag and his two waffle cones. He grabbed extra napkins, confirmed he was able to carry everything and walked back to the SUV. Terzo got out of his seat and opened the door for him, not wanting the Ghouls to jump out of the car that they had parked so they weren’t visible if someone was standing in the parking lot.

Sorella had her hands out, and he handed her the waffle cone that she immediately began to lick. Copia sat down and passed the bag up to the front seat. The Ghouls tore open the brown sack to get to their treats.

Copia looks back at Terzo waiting patiently.
“Sorry.”
He grins.
“They didn’t have any bags of blood on the menu.”

“Ha, ha. Rub it in.”
Terzo crosses his legs.

Taking his first lick of his ice cream that was Sorella’s favorite that he decided to try for the first time, he takes in the chocolate and peanut butter flavors mixing and lets out a hearty,
“Mmmmm.”

“Do you miss being able to eat, or do you prefer blood now.”
Sorella asks.

Terzo shrugs his shoulders.
“Sometimes I miss the taste of certain foods. I do however enjoy being able to play with my food from time to time.”
He gives her a devilish grin and winks.

Sorella giggles.
“So I’ve heard.”

Copia was slightly uncomfortable talking about Terzo having sex with Sorella’s roommate. He tried to push the intrusive thought out of his mind and enjoy his novelty.

Licking her ice cream, Sorella smiled at Copia. She was putting on a little show for him and he was enjoying it. Running her fingers over her lips she questions.
“Since I talked you into ice cream so easily, does this mean if I get a craving you’ll give in and get it for me?
”

Copia laughs.
“I’ll probably send a Ghoul, but whatever you or the little one wants is yours for the asking.”

Sorella dug out the ultrasound photos and showed them to the interested Ghouls. Their eyes squinted with joy and kept pointing at her stomach and nodded.

Terzo leans forward and rests his elbows on his knees.
“What are we thinking in terms of names?”

Copia had just finished his ice cream, wishing he had gotten an extra scoop.
“We haven’t discussed it.”

She was about halfway through eating and only had the waffle cone left.
“Obviously we know it’s going to be a boy. What names do you like?”

Copia thinks.
“I always liked Dante, Amos or Francesco.”
Everyone in the SUV had their own opinions on the last one. None were positive. Annoyed Copia asks Sorella.
“Well, what do you think?”

“I always liked my fathers name. It would be a nice tribute to him since he died when I was young.”

Copia considered her suggestion. He couldn’t remember his name and didn’t want to look like a bad boyfriend for forgetting.
“I think that’s a wonderful idea.”

She looks at him surprised.
“You do?”

“Of course. If that’s what you want, then so be it.”

She smirks at him.
“You don’t remember his name do you?”
She takes the last bite of her ice cream.

“Honestly, no.”

She giggles.
“Do you want me to share his name with everyone?”

“I think it would be fun to be surprised.”
Copia says with excitement in his voice.

“Well, I’d like to know. Can I know? I won’t tell him or anyone, Sorella.”
Terzo sits up in his seat.

Copia considers what Terzo is asking. Terzo is terrible about keeping secrets, but if he makes a promise he will keep it. He does seem to be down lately and this might cheer him up. Copia agrees.
“Why not. Go ahead.”

Sorella’s eyes realize why Copia was cool with this and she nods in agreement to his decision. She cups her hand to his ear and whispers. Terzo’s eyes widen and he grins, looking up at Copia.

“What a devilishly perfect name for a future Papa and son of the Antichrist. I adore it.”
Terzo, grabs her hand and pats it. He sits back into his bench seat.

Copia’s interest was now peaked. What could Terzo mean by that? He began to worry, but if Terzo felt it was perfect, then he took solace in his decision. Also it made Sorella happy and that held more weight over everything else.

When everyone was finished, Copia collected the trash and ran it to the closest bin. Hopping back into the Escalade, he told his Ghouls to take them home. They still took the back way.

Copia’s hand reached over and grabbed her hand. He rubbed his thumb over his gold signet rings she was wearing. The growls of his Ghouls made him look up.

Along the outside of the back gate was lined with protestors. Copia was mad his Ghouls didn’t run them off before they got back. Sorella squeezed his hand even tighter. She wasn’t distressed, but he could tell she was scared. His protective side was starting to awaken the sleeping demon inside him.

“You’re fine, Sorella. I won’t let them hurt you.”
He growled out in a deep voice. Copia turns to glare at Terzo.
“This is unacceptable. Why didn’t the Ghouls take care of this before we got back.”

When the SUV went through the back gate, the fundamentalists screamed at them. Somehow, they knew he was in the vehicle even though they could not see them. Copia recognized Father Jim leading the crowd. Had Sorella not been with him, he would have jumped out and torn him to shreds. He could feel his green eye shifting to bright red.

As the gate closed behind them, Copia barked out.
“Terzo. Please take Sorella back to the suite and stay with her.”

“Where are you going?”
Sorella nervously asks, concern plastered across her face.

Trying to flatten his expression and hide the rage boiling under him, he explains.
“I had a great day today.”
He takes a deep breath, fighting himself from allowing his demonic features to surface. “
I’m not going to let them ruin it further. Just listen to me. I will handle this.”

She nods and looks back to Terzo.

“Do you think it’s wise for you to go out there? If you didn’t realize, your eye is redder than mine right now. Let the Ghouls handle it.”
The Escalade stops in the garage, well past the view of the yelling protestors.

“They clearly can’t do their job, so I’ll just do it for them!”
Copia roars. He opens the SUV door too aggressively and rips it off the hinges.
“Aww, shit.”
He tosses it onto the ground with a metallic slam against the garage floor. He hurriedly walks away and his Guard Ghouls follow. He knows Terzo will watch after her and someone will take care of the broken door.

He passed Secondo and Primo on his way. Worried, Primo asked several times what was wrong, thinking it was Sorella. Copia growled out that it was that ‘Padre bastardo e seguaci idioti”.

When he reaches his office, he goes into the bathroom and starts applying his papal paint. Looking in the mirror, he confirmed his eye was red, but he didn’t care. He didn’t want to wear the green colored contact and figured he’d be far enough away that no one would notice. Changing into the extra clothes he kept in his office, he slipped the black robes with the gold embroidered IV on his chest over his head. Adjusting the decorative stole around his neck, he began to storm out his office.

Primo opens his door, stopping Copia in his tracks. He takes off his Opus era mask.

“Sit down, Fratello.”
Primo orders, pointing to the dual set of couches in front of the burning fireplace.

“I’m just going to talk to our unwanted guests.”
Copia growls as the lights flickered.

Primo’s eyes squint at him. He shoves a silver thermos into Copia’s chest.
“Drink this. We don’t need another viral sensation of you revealing your little secret to the world.”

Copia glares at him, then flips open the cover. Tilting his head back, he takes a deep drink of Primo’s tea that relaxes him and prevents him from transforming into a demon. After several gulps, he pushes the thermos into Primo’s hands.

“Happy?”
Copia snarls.

“What’s got you so upset? So what if there are a few passionate fools out there.”
Primo attempts to reason with an enraged Copia.

Secondo walks into the office.
“Are you seriously going to let that bullshit happen out there? Put on your big girl panties on and handle it like a man.”

“Secondo!”
Primo hisses.

Secondo looks down at Primo, disappointed and sees the thermos.
“You gave him your wimpy juice? I wanted to see him pull that bearded Father’s arms out of his socket.”

Primo turns Copia away from Secondo and asks.
“How is Sorella? And the bambino? Do you have photos?”
He sweetly asks, trying desperately to change the subject and distract him.

Copia takes a deep breath and smiles.
“Everything is great. I got to see the little one.”
His eyes relaxed and filled with wonder.
“Sorella has the ultrasound photos. Satan even saw to it that her OBGYN is a member.”

Primo clasped his hands.
“That’s wonderful! When should we expect our future Emeritus to appear?”

“August fifteen.”

“If you think those crowds out there are bad now, wait until they figure out you bred her.”
Secondo’s grating voice added.

Copia glares at Secondo. Secondo smirks at him until Copia raises his fist and takes a step towards him. Second raises his hands over his face and winces. Copia huffs, dropping his hand, satisfied he was the one now intimidating his stronzo, older brother.

“Maybe you’re right, Primo. Me going out there is not the solution. That’s exactly what this Father Jim DeFroque wants. I’ll post some Ghouls to stand guard at the back entrance.”

Primo sits down on the couch, smiles, and gives Secondo a look.
“I’m proud of you.”

Copia walks over to his desk and grunts. He picks up his phone and orders the Ghouls to follow his plans to deter the protestors. Hanging up, he starts to walk out the office.

“Where are you going?”
Primo questions from the couch.

“My suite. I want to check on Sorella. Do you want to come? I suppose you can come too, Secondo.”

Secondo turns around and shrugs his shoulders and stands.
“I got nothing else going on.”
Primo slips his mask back over his face. The three men walk down the hallways with Copia’s Ghouls trailing behind.

In the Papa Emeritus Suite, Terzo was sitting on the couch deep in thought, looking into the fireplace.

“Where’s Sorella?”
Copia asks.

The bedroom door opens and she runs up to him and wraps her arms around his neck and gives him a quick kiss on the lips.
“How did it go?”
She nervously inquires, taking a deep breath.

“Primo talked me down. It’s handled.”

She smiles at him, giving him a proud look. Bouncing over to Primo and Secondo, she sits down between the two men.
“Want to see photos of your nephew?”
She starts showing them all the ultrasound pictures. Terzo grins a closed mouth smile. He takes a deep breath then looks up at Copia who sits down beside him.

Primo matched Sorella’s excitement and Secondo genuinely seemed interested ‘by the bean’. Both men asked several questions as Copia and Terzo watched. Copia leans over to Terzo and whispers in his ear.
“Cosa c'è che non va, fratello? O me lo dici o te lo faccio fare. Inoltre, ricorda che Imbolc sta arrivando e posso leggere la tua mente la prossima settimana.”

Terzo gets up and turns to his brother.
“If it’s alright with you. I’d like to call it a day. I’m tired and hungry.”

Copia cocks his head.
“Sure. Thank you for coming with us.”

Terzo circles around to the back of the couch and also looks at the photos he’d already seen. Copia takes in the images of all his brothers back from the dead sitting in his living room and happily celebrating. Terzo rests his left hand on her shoulder telling her goodbye. She lays her left hand on his and looks up at him to tell him goodbye. Terzo sighs and leaves the suite.

Copia becomes concerned that Terzo wasn’t acting like his carefree self. Sorella’s
laughter
interrupts his thoughts as she
tells
the story about the lady in the waiting room thinking she was a surrogate for the ‘two old Italian gay men sitting next to her’. Secondo almost fell out of his chair
laughing
so hard and Primo wasn’t too far behind him. Even Copia joined in,
chucking
at his own expense.

This was not how he imagined his life would be a year ago. It was almost worth becoming the Antichrist to have this moment with his family that he had either brought back or created. Happy and peaceful felt good in his world.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Once again, Copia was sitting in the black Cadillac Escalade with Sorella, but they were on their way to her mother’s birthday party that was going to be held at her sister’s house. He was admittedly nervous because this was going to be the first time he met her entire family but also, he was nervous for her because she hadn’t seen her half siblings since she ran away from home when she was sixteen.Both of them were wearing non-clergy clothing again, figuring it was better to dress down for her fundamentalist family. However, she had found out that her sister and her spouse that were hosting the party had recently left the church. Turning to look at her, she was lovely in her black leggings, long cream-colored sweater and Uggs. Sorella said the leggings were the most comfortable with her swelling waistline. Copia would never say anything to her, but he noticed the change. To him she looked more bloated at fourteen weeks than pregnant. Not that Copia had any room to talk. Since the tour ended, he had put on a few pounds. OK, maybe twenty pounds. Especially around his waist. Sorella would never call him out, but all his brothers took great joy in asking which one of them was expecting. She reassured him he looked handsome in his navy, button up long sleeve striped shirt that he tucked into his dark wash, boot cut jeans. Unlike last time, she made him wear the white tennis shoes he had hid in the back of the closet.“Did you drink Primo’s tea?” Sorella casually asks, still looking out the window. Her leg was bouncing.“I did not.”She whips her head to him, and glares at him in silence. The Ghoul driving stares at Copia in the rear-view mirror.“I know we talked about it, but you also didn’t want my Ghouls or Terzo going to the party with us. I didn’t want to not be able to protect you if something happens.”“What do you think is going to happen? It’s my mom’s birthday party.” She hisses, raising her voice.Not a fan of being told what to do, especially when he was just trying to keep her safe, he shifts his fiery eyes to look out the window and a deep, guttural growl fills the vehicle.“Copia Emeritus! Don’t you dare growl at me, or you can sleep on the couch tonight.”He huffs. Closing his eyes, he takes a deep breath. “I’m sorry.” Copia says with more bite than he intended. Only she was crazy enough to put the Antichrist in his place without an ounce of fear in her threats.Her eyes soften. She pats his leg. “I know you can’t help it.” Her hands fidget in her lap. “It's been so long since I’ve seen my family. I just didn’t want to have to worry about this.” She sighs. “I trust you, Copia. I’m just a wreck right now.” She starts to cry heavy tears that fall down her face.He put his hand on hers that was still on his leg. “Don’t cry, Sorella. I messed up, not you.” The Ghoul in the passenger seat hands her his handkerchief. “It’ll be fine. Remember how excited your mom said your sister was that you were coming? Wait until you tell everyone we’re expecting. That’s going to be really cool, si?”She had stopped crying and nodded her head. “You’re right. Everything will be OK.”He unbuckles his seatbelt and gives her a quick kiss on top of her head, quickly returning to his seat. “That’s my girl.” The left corner of his mouth curls into a smile.The SUV pulls up to a modest, ranch style, starter home in the suburbs that sat far from the road. After dropping them off, the Ghouls were going to park a few houses down the street. This would prevent her family from being alarmed by seeing two ‘masked men’ waiting in the vehicle. Copia hops out first, then helps Sorella. She hands him the glittery, blue gift bag first, then he takes her hand as she steps out of the Escalade. “Last chance for me to wear sunglasses.” He looks down at her with his black outlined eyes and upper black lip.“No.” She grabs his gloved hand. “I don’t want to hide who you are.”He side-eyes her. “Except the Antichrist part.”She reassuringly kisses his cheek. “Let’s not open with that. OK? I want them to meet Copia first.”He narrows his mismatched eyes and tilts his head. “They know I’m Papa Emeritus IV, right?”The birthday girl called out from the open door. “You made it! C’mon in. It’s too cold to be standing out in the yard.”Looking over his shoulder, he turns to Sorella who waves back. “We’re coming.” Taking him by the hand she leads him up the driveway. His anxiety was starting to hit. His chest tightened and he felt like his heart was going to burst through his chest. He gulps and puts on his professional face. When they reached the door, her mother wrapped her arms around Sorella. Copia stood there, uncomfortably waiting for his turn. Without warning, as soon as she let go of her, she bear-hugged him. Sorella laughed as he patted her mom’s back.“Happy Birthday.” Copia grunts out. “Thank you.” Letting him go, she beams at her daughter. “He needs to work on those hugs. C’mon in.” She opens the door and leads them into the home. Inside waiting was a young lady who was very similar to his Sorella, except she wore no makeup and had long hair that was half-up. She wore a floor length jean skirt and white button up blouse. Next to her was a man of the same age. He looked overdressed in dress slacks and light blue shirt. “Welcome to our home. I’m Nicole and this is my husband, Seth. We’re so happy to see you made it.” Her sister warmly remarks, reaching out to hug Sorella and Seth extends out his arm. Copia shakes his hand and Sorella and her sister both cry and quickly catch up. Copia makes some small talk with Seth until the women are done.“This is my boyfriend, Copia Emeritus.” Sorella introduces him to Nicole. She hugs him too. What is with this family and hugging? Nicole steps back and looks at Copia, furrowing her eyebrows she asks. “Is the eye makeup a Satanic thing?”Copia’s eyes shift to Sorella. Usually, people ask about his white eye first. “Yes, it’s a Satanic thing.” He laughed lightheartedly. “It’s to signify my position in the Clergy.” He left it at that.Both Nicole and Seth smiled and seemed satisfied with the answer. “I believe you’ve already met my father, Levi.” She points in the dining room.Copia’s eyes widen, and he starts to growl, which was interrupted by Sorella jamming her elbow sharply into his stomach that resulted in a cough.Nicole turned to look at him. “Do you need a drink of water? Let me get that for you.” She runs off and Seth leads them to the table. When they enter Levi looks up with a horrified expression. He gasps and almost falls out of his chair. Nicole returns, handing Copia the glass of water and asks if Levi is OK.Sorella turns to her mother and loudly questions. “What’s he doing here?”“Be nice. We may not be living together, but we’re family. Aren’t we, Dear?” Her mother smiles at Levi.Not taking his eyes off Copia, Levi laughs. “Does Mary and her husband know he’s going to be here?”The front door opens and Sorella’s mom and sister run to see who entered, taking Sorella with them.Copia sits down to join Levi and smirks at Levi. He sets the gift bag on the table. “How have you been? Staying out of trouble, I hope. I haven’t seen you outside my Ministry with your other friends.”The women greet Sorella’s youngest brother and Levi looks out into the living room. “I’ve already pissed you off once. I’m not stupid enough to do it a second time. Especially since you're the..”Sorella interrupts to introduce her brother Levi Jr. to him. Copia stands and shakes his hand. Based on the interactions so far, Copia rightly assumes that her family knows he’s high up in the Clergy, but not Papa Emeritus or more importantly the Antichrist. Her mother and stepdad being the only ones who know the truth.Sorella takes the gift bag off the table and hands it to her mom. “Mom. We got you something special for your birthday.” She hands her mom the bag, and then smiles at Copia with a gleam in her eyes. He noticed her heartbeat increasing with anticipation.Her mom sits down. “You did not have to get me anything. I’m just glad to have you back in my life after all this time. Can I open it now?” She asks, waiting for permission.Copia nods as Sorella walks over to him and puts her hand on his shoulder.Pulling out the tissue paper, she reaches in and pulls out a gray onesie with cursive text on it that read ‘For This Child We Have Prayed.’ Her eyes widen then she stands, wraps her arms around Sorella and sobs out, “Really? You’re pregnant! Bless you!” Sorella begins to cry and tells everyone she’s fourteen weeks along in her pregnancy. She reaches in the bag and pulls out copies of the twelve-week ultrasound photos.The front door opens. The sound of three children running down into the basement could be heard. Shortly after, Sorelle’s youngest sister enters carrying a baby on her hip and dressed similarly to Nicole, perplexed by all the celebrating.Nicole takes it upon herself to introduce Mary to Copia. When Mary heard the news, she hugged Sorella and looked at the ultrasound photo. The front door opened again and slammed shut. “Hello? Where is everyone?” A man calls out.“We’re in here. Come meet my sister and her boyfriend. She just announced she’s expecting.” Mary responds.“Expecting? What a blessing!” Entering the room, Copia looks over his shoulder and has a full body reaction. 
BOOM.
The entire dining room jumped at the sudden crack of thunder in the clear sky. Children’s screams could be heard from the basement with them running up the stairs. Five children aged from three to seven pour into the already crowded ranch dining room. Copia’s green and white eyes stared in disbelief as Nicole started the introductions. “This is Mary’s husband, Jim. He just became Father of our old church.”Copia stood as Jim noticed the High Clergy paint and tilted his head. Nicole continued. “Jim, this is our sister and Copia Emeritus.”Noticing the white eye, his jaw clenches and eyes narrow. “Well, well. Doesn’t God have a sense of humor.” Jim chuckles. The room had stopped celebrating and picked up on the tension between the two men.“Father DeFroque” Copia plainly states.Smiling, with a scrunched-up nose, Jim spits out. “Papa Emeritus.”Her moms face lit up. “Oh good! You know each other!”Jim’s eyes land on Levi. “You never mentioned the connection.”Levi gives a terrified glance at Copia then back to Jim. “Well…”Copia leans down to Sorella. “We should probably go.” Sorella, understands and agrees, with tears starting to fall down her face. Nicole speaks up. “No one is going anywhere. I'm not sure what’s happening, but this is mom’s day, and we can all put aside our differences. First off, men out of my kitchen and dining rooms. We need to get the food ready. We’ll call you back when we’re done and hopefully everyone has cooled.”Copia asks Sorella if that’s what she wants and she tells him yes. Copia kisses her forehead, wiping away her tears and leaves her in the care of her mom and sisters. The men had already gone into the garage. Copia was hesitant to join. Hopefully, Levi can persuade Jim to not provoke him. Not wanting to sit alone in the living room, he wanders down to the basement with the children. All five kids were playing with various toys. Mary’s oldest child, who was seven, asks “Are you our new uncle?”Thinking, he smiles and tells him, “Sort of. You will be cousins to my son.”“What’s wrong with your eye?” Nicole’s oldest girl, looking to be around six, and wearing a pink dress-up ball gown, inquired.Copia walks over to her and sits down on the ground in front of the kid’s size table where she was having a tea party with her stuffed animals and with a four-year-old girl, who was also wearing a teal dress up gown. “Nothing is wrong with my eye. It’s just white and my other is green. I was born that way.”“God made you that way?” She questioned, staring closely into his eye.“Errrr, that I’m not sure.”“Your name is weird.” Mary’s five-year-old child interjects as he plays with the three-year-old girl.Slightly hurt, he responds. “Well, I’m Italian and I didn’t pick it.”“Italian?!?” The kids all giggle.Copia’s eyes scan the room, unsure what was so funny about that but went along with it. The six-year-old girl puts a crown on his head and hands him a teacup and saucer.“You’re a guest at my Princess tea party. OK? How are you doing this evening?”“Good?”“Say it like a Princess!”Copia smirks, thankfully no one was about to see him get into character. He takes a deep breath and in a high-pitched voice plays along. “Your Highness. Thank you for inviting me to this royal tea. It is quite lovely.”The girls squealed with delight.All the children and Copia played in the basement until they were interrupted by Nicole telling them dinner was ready. The children bolted upstairs, while it took him a bit longer to get off the floor. Nicole smiled at him. “You’re really good with my two girls.”“Thanks. I’m sorry if I made things difficult. We’re never sure how to tell people about my title and what I do.”Nicole holds up her hand. “You are a guest in our home and at this party. Jim can just kick rocks. He’s the reason we left the church.”He rubs the back of his neck with his gloved hand. “Truth be told, I’m not his biggest fan either. He’s been harassing my church.”Nicole grins. “Yeah, I saw the news clip.”Copia nervously giggles. “Did you? Not my proudest moment.” He follows her up the stairs. The living room had been set up with tables for the children. Sorella glances over at him and smiles, appearing to be more relaxed. Jim and Copia sat at opposite ends of the dining room table with everyone filling the space between. Jim offers to do the prayer, and Copia and Sorella side eye each other. When he was done, her mom asked if Copia would like to pray in his faith. Curling his lips, Copia said it would be his honor. Lifting his palms face up, the light flickered. Levi jumped. Controlling the deepness of his voice, he gave thanks to ‘the Dark One’ and asked for protection over Sorella then recognized her mother on her birthday. When he lowered his hands, the lights returned to normal. He was grateful he wasn’t near any open flames, or he would have created more of a spectacle. Her mother thanked him for the lovely blessing.The birthday dinner consisted of burgers that the men had grilled while he was in the basement, mac and cheese, corn on the cob, cut up fruit, potato salad and several pies. On top of a homemade chocolate cake with chocolate frosting baked in a casserole dish. The meal was filled with laughter and catching up. He knew this is what Sorella wanted, and in a way so did Copia. A big family meal surrounded by family. He joined in when asked a question, but didn’t want to lead the conversations. Merely happy to just exist in an unfamiliar world outside the Ministry.Every now and again, Jim would glare at Copia, and he’d stare him down right back. He could feel his claws itching to spring out and tear out his throat, but he didn’t want to be rude. Mary did her best to rein him in, but both Sorella and him got the feeling she had very little say in the home. Nicole brought the cake out with lit numbered candles. Copia felt uncomfortable after seeing the numbers on the cake and realized he was older. Sorella noticed his math skills and winked at him. Her mom blew out the candles with a huff and Nicole whisked the cake off to be served alongside a scoop of vanilla ice cream.Once all the children were served, the adults joined in and later had coffee. The women all got up and started to clear up the tables. The children were told to go back downstairs. Sorella decided to join the women just so she could spend time with her sisters and mom.When the final dish was removed, Jim remarked. “Thank you. This pleases the Lord to see woman taking care of man. Do your women serve men in your church?”Copia takes a sip of his coffee and sets down the mug. “No. We’re kind of big on free will.”“Ah, yes. That thing.” Jim laughs. All the other men look uncomfortable and get up to leave them sitting at the dining room table alone.Father Jim’s eyes darkened. His entire demeanor changed, and his mask slipped. “If you think you can come into this family and charm them, you have another thing coming. Satan already corrupted the idiotic mother, and the too smart for her own good sister and weak spouse. I’ve worked hard to get to my position, and I don’t need the congregation finding out I got a Satanic sister-in-law carrying your bastard child.”Copia glares at him, fighting a growl ready to burst from his chest. “I advise you to back down and keep the news of my son out of your plans for my church.”Jim rolls his eyes. “Or what?”Copia sits back in his chair, taking another sip of coffee. “I could tell your wife you’ve been cheating.”The Father looks shocked. “I don’t know what you're talking about.”“I think you do.” Copia leans forward and takes a deep breath. “You’ve been with at least two women recently, besides Mary.” Raising his head up to sniff, he grins with a raised eyebrow. “And a lot of men. You nasty bitch” He leers at him.Jim’s face falls. “Fuck off. She won’t believe you.”“Probably.” Copia shrugs. “But I bet you’d lose that cushy job you just got.”The two men glare at each other. Jim stands and smooths out the creases of his pants. “I may not be the most pious man, but Jesus knows me and loves me regardless. His message is still the truth no matter who it comes from. You are not going to win this Holy war.” Copia could feel his right eye shifting to red. “We’ll see. I hold more cards in this battle than you think.”Jim walks around the table and behind Copia. He leans down and whispers in his ear. “But if I take your Queen, that house of cards of yours will fall and the people will be celebrating me. You can’t protect her all the time.”In an instant, Copia had whipped around and had the bearded man’s neck in his right hand up against the wall. Father Jim was so surprised he had no time to react or scream. Turning his red eye away from him, he leans in to whisper in his ear. Jim had his left hand wrapped around Copia’s wrist and the other was bracing himself against the wall.“If any harm comes to my Sorella or my unborn son, I won’t just destroy you. I’ll destroy your whole Goddamn church and religion in an apocalyptic Armageddon Hellfire.” Copia’s talon began to tear through his gloves and press into Jim’s neck. As they were about to pinprick into his flesh, a torrent of water hit Copia. His gloved hand let go of Jim and grabbed his face. Copia hissed out in pain, a searing burn radiated everywhere the liquid splashed. Opening his eyes, he sees a faint hint of smoke in the air and Jim running like a mad man out of the dining room. On the ground, Copia sees an empty glass bottle with a gold cross etched on it. 
Did he get me with Holy water? Fuck my face hurts. I need to get to the bathroom to see what damage it just did.
Keeping his face covered, he runs to the bathroom down the hallway. His fingers could feel his horns starting to push through the sides of his forehead, causing him to run faster. Once inside, he slams the door shut. Feeling his shirt tighten, the sound of cloth ripping and the talons of his wings rising out of his body. Fuck! Lowering his wings, he faces the mirror. His horns had fully emerged, but his skin was unharmed. Checking all angles of his face, whatever the Holy Water did to his body had already healed himself. That didn’t change the fact he was now in his infernal state. His pants felt uncomfortably tight with his tail snaked around his right leg.
This is bad.
The room did not have a window he could escape out of, not that his wings would have allowed him to anyway. This was one of the few times he wished he had a cell phone so he could text Sorella to help. He didn’t want to hop into their tub for a cold shower. Taking a few breaths, he attempted to calm himself. He could probably make a run for it through the garage and race out to his Ghouls in the SUV. The women were in the kitchen, the men were sitting in the sunroom behind the house and the children were still loudly playing downstairs. Trying to psych himself up, he folds his wings against his body and slowly opens the bathroom door. Peering into the hallway it was empty, and he stepped out. Toe to heel, he inched his way as quietly as possible down the hall. The basement door opened suddenly, and his wings rose and opened slightly. The six and four-year-old girls wearing their princess gowns emerged and faced him with big, rounded eyes.Throwing his clawed hands behind his back, he closed mouthed smiled at them. “Hello.”The awestruck four-year-old points at him. “I like your wings.”Surprised, Copia cocks his head. His wings flexed, as if they were blushing from the compliment. “Thanks. I’m still getting used to them.”“Can you fly?” The six-year-old innocently asks.A little proud of himself, Copia admits. “I can. Tell you what. You help me get into the garage without anyone seeing me, you come visit Uncle Copia at the Ministry and I’ll show you. Maybe even take you up in the air. Would you like that?”Both girls nod and toddle off down the hall. Copia lets out a deep exhale as he watches them, waiting for his cue. The little girls look both ways and then gesture to him that the coast is clear. His wings fold against his body and he makes his way toward them. Putting his hand on the garage doorknob with his right hand, he raises his left hand and gives them a thumbs up. They wave goodbye to him and go back down the hallway, probably to get something from their rooms. Swiftly opening the door, he enters the garage. The cars were parked outside, thankful he didn’t have to try and squeeze himself between their vehicles. Looking up he sees Father Jim bent over against the wooden work bench. Leaning down, he does a line of coke, throwing his head back and shouting “Oh yeah.”“What the fuck!” Copia growls out, raising his wings.Jim drops his head, eyes horrified. “What the fuck!”Both men scream. Jim runs into the house, white powder around his nose and Copia runs out the garage’s man doorOutside, Copia hauls ass as fast as he can to where he told his Ghouls to park. It was daylight and he prayed to Satan no one saw him on this cold February evening. Feet slamming against the grass with his demonic speed, he was glad he listened to Sorella and wore the white tennis shoes, instead of his dress shoes.The Cadillac Escalade was in view. His lungs and side burned from sprinting, but he couldn’t stop. The two Ghouls casually sitting in the front seat spot him and point. The Ghoul in the passenger seat jumps out of the SUV and opens the back door. Copia launches himself into the backseat. The door behind him slams shut as the Ghoul quickly gets back into the car. Trying to catch his breath, Copia glances up to his Ghouls gesturing and wanting to know what happened. He attempts to sit up, finally getting into the back bench seat and resting his wings behind the seat. “Father DeFroque is Sorella’s brother-in-law. He was there. He threatened her. There was Holy water. It hurt. I couldn’t stop this from happening.” He puts his horned head into his hands. “I should have listened to Sorella. He probably told her entire family. She’s going to be so mad. I just wanted to protect her.” His Ghouls did their best to reassure him, waiting for his command on what they should do next. Copia was in no condition to walk back into that home. She was not in distress, but if she was, he would not hesitate to tear down that door and save her from Father Jim.Tires squealing caused all of them to look towards the driveway. A luxury SUV spins out onto the road, revealing a scared Jim and Mary yelling at him. Peeling out, they take off down the road. Copia laughs and his Ghouls join in too. Sighing, Copia orders his Ghouls. “Call Sorella’s sister through the SUV, please.”The Ghoul opens the glove box and pulls out the cell and dials her number. The ring blares through the speakers. Nicole picks up and says hello.“Nicole?”“Yes?”“It’s Copia…. Can you put your sister on?”There was a moment of silence then Sorella’s voice asked. “Where are you? Jim just left in a hurry. What did you do?”Copia’s eyebrows furrowed, and he pursed his lips. “I’m in the Escalade with the Ghouls.”“What are you doing there?!?”“I’m sorry, Sorella.” He choked out. She sighs. “Let me grab my things and say goodbye. I’ll be out in a minute.” He could hear the disappointment in her voice. He let her down in a big way.“No. Stay as long as you want. I’ll just wait for you.”Hearing her smile through the phone, she tells him. “No, wait. I’m coming out.”Copia tried to get her to stop, but the phone line went dead. Three minutes later Sorella and her mother approached. She opens the door and looks at Copia. Nervously, he gives her a very Copia, fanged smile.She smiled at him and her mother also looked into the car and said hello to him. Both women crawl into the SUV and sit in the second-row seating.Confused, Copia questions. “What’s going on?”Sorella talks to the Ghouls. “Pull into the driveway, please.” The Ghoul driving nods and does as they are asked. Her mom buckles her seatbelt, even though they were only going a short distance. “Sorella?” Copia calls out.She turns to him and grabs his clawed hand. “No one is mad at you, Darling. Now come inside. The party isn’t over.”Copia’s eyes shift from her to her mom. “But, I’m… like this.”Her mom unbuckles her seat belt and turns to Copia. “Father Jim is the monster, not you. I want to get back to my party. Are you coming or not?”Copia was touched that she truly wanted him there. He let them get out first, then followed behind. Sorella shouts at the Ghouls to join and they scrambled out of the vehicle. Her mother held the door open for Copia. He ducks so his wings can clear the frame. His Ghouls walked behind him and nodded in appreciation.Once everyone was standing in the living room, Copia looked over at a wide-eyed Nicole, Seth and Levi Jr. sitting on the couch in the living room. His wings lowered. Levi glances over and goes. “So, everyone gets to know, now?” The three all looked at him shocked.Sorella grabs his hand and squeezes it. “Everyone. We wanted to wait to make a second announcement, but let’s just rip the band off. Yes, Copia is Papa Emeritus IV and leader of the Satanic Church. He’s also the Antichrist. I am proud to be with him and tired of hiding. If this is too much for you, then we’ll leave.”The door to the downstairs opens. Two girls run into the living room and to their mother’s side. The youngest points at Copia. “Did you see his wings, mommy?” The other girl excitedly screams out. “Uncle Copia is going to take us flying. He promised.”Sorella’s eyebrows raised, looking over at Copia who had a twinkle in his eye.Nicole stands and walks over and hugs Sorella. Letting her go she looks at Copia and his wings rose. “Obviously, we’ll support you in whoever you choose. We’ve never turned our backs on Mary. We love you, and now we love Copia.” She hesitantly hugs Copia, relaxing with her arms around him. Seth and Levi Jr. join and hug Sorella and shake Copia’s clawed hand.
Was this really happening? They are taking this way better than my congregation did.
Nicole stares at his horns, then notices his red eye and fangs. “Is there anything else we should know about you?”Copia clears his throat. “I have a few powers, but we can discuss that later.”Levi shouts from the couch. “You’re not going to tell them about when you were nine feet tall and almost killed me.”“Levi!” Her mother shouts. “Not in front of the grandkids.”Through clenched teeth, Copia growls. Pinching his nose between his talons, he sighs. “I was eight feet tall, not nine. Maybe ten feet tall from ground to wing talons.”Nicole gulps and pats his shoulder. “Oh. Well, my ceilings aren’t that tall. So, try not to do that here, please.”“Okie-dokey. These are my Ghouls. They are my personal assistants/guards.” Copia points at them. “They usually follow me around everywhere. If it’s not too much to ask. I think they’d like some birthday cake.” The Ghouls clapped and nodded.Nicole walks towards the kitchen. “We can do that.” The Ghouls fist bump each other and follow her. Sorella wraps her arms around Copia’s neck. “See, they like you.”He kisses her forehead. “Maybe you should trust me, but good call on the shoes today. I’ll admit I was wrong about that.”Noticing the girls staring at him, Sorella kneels down to them. “You’re not scared?” They both shook their heads 'no' as he watched, holding his breath. “Me either.” She smiles up at Copia. “He took me flying once.”“Was it magical?” The six-year-old bounced up and down.Sorella giggles. “It was something alright.” She winks at Copia, biting her bottom lip. Sorella stands. “Now who wants to see Uncle Copia’s tail?” The girls jumped up and down.Copia quiets down the hyper children. He holds his hands up. “It’s wrapped around my leg. Let me scoot over to the bathroom. I’ll be back in a minute.”He folds his wings in and walks to the bathroom. Lowering his pants, he uncoils his tail from his leg. Pulling his jeans up to his lower hips, he tucks in his shirt with his tail out. The demonic space of his tail flicks from side to side behind him. Taking a quick look in the vanity mirror, he couldn’t stop grinning if he tried. Her family was better than he could have ever imagined. Jury was still out on Mary and Jim better watch his back next time he sees him.When he entered the living room, the girls saw him and squealed loudly. They ran up to him and hugged him. One child wrapped around his middle and the other around his leg. His wings opened and tail swayed back and forth. Nicole walked into the living room to see what all the commotion was and smiled. Her mother chimes in from the couch. “Be nice to Mr. Emeritus. He’s not a jungle gym.”Copia waves her off. “They’re fine. We’re having fun. Right, girls?” He scoops both giggling kids up in his arms as if they weighed nothing and spun them around the room.Sorella looked over at Nicole as her sister remarked. “He’s really good with kids. He’ll make a great father.”Sorella rubs her stomach. “I know.”“Now who wants to go flying?” Copia shouts, carrying the girls out into the backyard with all the women chasing after him shouting.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Copia stared out the glass entrance way of the Chapel foyer. The protestors from the fundamentalist church had returned. They had taken a break since Copia’s encounter with Father Jim at Sorella’s mother’s birthday party. However, since the March weather was getting better, they were back at it again and interrupting the Clergy’s work. Their numbers were building each day. The men in the crowd yelled at his silhouette from the metal and stone fence line.

Feeling someone grab his gloved hand and intertwine their fingers with his, he knew without looking it was Sorella. Her scent as she approached was also a dead giveaway. Closing his eyes, he inhaled deeply and savored it. Glancing down at her, she had begun to rub his forearm while gazing out the window with a wrinkle on her forehead.

She was halfway through her pregnancy this week and her tummy had popped into a noticeable small bump. Her form-fitting, ruched dress proudly announced she was with child. The blue of her dress in a sea of black and red clothing marked her as his Prime Mover.

He let go of her hand and turned her away from the crowds and kissed her forehead
. “I told you that I didn’t want you walking in front of the windows. Especially alone.”

“They already know that we’re expecting.”
She rested her hand on the side of her stomach. It didn’t take long after her mother’s birthday for the story to leak to the media about their wonderful news. Sister Imperator had insisted on a public statement. In full regalia, Copia made the announcement with Sorella live from the Ministry. There was much celebration within the Satanic community of the approaching birth. Many Christians assumed this birth would be the coming of the Antichrist. The inside joke of the Clergy was that the Antichrist had already come, and that’s why Sorella was with child.

Copia started to walk to his office. His black robes swayed as he walked.
“Why are you walking the halls without Terzo?”

Sorella shrugs.
“He never showed up to escort me.”

Sighing, Copia couldn’t be too mad at him today. 
He knew today was going to be hard on all his brothers. On this day, six years ago they were murdered. Every year on the anniversary, the Clergy displays the glass caskets in the Chapel for the Siblings of Sin to pay their respects. Fortunately and unfortunately, there were no bodies to display this year because he had somehow managed to use his Antichrist powers to raise them all back from the dead.

Copia had made arrangements weeks ago to display the props they used on the tour. They never displayed the actual bodies, because that would be weird and disrespectful. The prop bodies were fairly convincing and was curious to see his brother’s reaction to them.

The bodies were already set up in the Chapel for viewing and the special Black Mass he was to lead tonight. Copia was looking forward to it because it was agreed upon that he would announce he resurrected his brothers. They would no longer need to hide their identities within the Clergy.

Terzo seemed the most excited about being out but promised to still remain Sorella’s personal Ghoul. Primo was completely over having to wear a mask in public. Secondo was Secondo. He never hid his identity from the Clergy or attempted to hide his face. Copia only let him get away with it because no one recognized him, nor was he around the Ministry much anyway.

Copia stops walking and turns to his Ghouls following behind.
“I have an idea where Terzo could be. Would you watch after my Sorella?”
Both Ghouls nod and loop their hands through Sorella’s arms. She
giggles
. Copia was getting better at allowing his Ghouls to touch her, so he didn’t growl at them like he used to do. He still couldn’t help but glare at them with his mismatched eyes.

“Be safe.”
Copia takes a step towards her. Leaning down he kisses her softly on her lips and runs his hand down her side and over her stomach.

“Go easy on him.”
She requests.
“All of this has been tough for him.”

Copia tilts his head, unsure of the conversations she’s been having with him. They do hang out a lot, so maybe he’s opened up more to her lately then him. Copia hadn’t been able to get him to talk about what’s been going on. He was respectful and didn’t read his mind during Ostara.

Smiling, he
tells
her he knows and heads towards the Ghoul Den. With each step, Copia notices Terzo’s scent growing fainter. Confused, he rotates in place until he picks up his location. Of all the places Terzo would be today, the Ministry crypts was the last place he would have expected.

Walking down the uneven, stone steps, Copia hears Terzo and the ghost of Papa Nihil speaking. Not wanting to interrupt, he slowly tiptoes into one of the alcoves to listen. Hoping to get some more insight on what’s going on with Terzo.

“Get up off the floor and stop boohooing. You’re pathetic, but not this pathetic.”

Terzo groans.
“Leave me alone. Just go back to ignoring me like you did when I was alive.”

“You’re alive now! It could be worse.”
Nihil shouts.

“Am I? Alive people don’t have to drink blood to survive, Pops.”

“I’d drink blood if that meant I could get an erection again.”

“You can’t get it up?”
Terzo laughs.
“You’re right. It could be worse.”

Copia laughs silently into his gloved hands and continues to listen.

Nihil sighs.
“You being dramatic because your younger fratello is going to be a daddy? Let me tell you that I did that four times and it’s not as great as you think.”

“I’m not dramatic!”
Terzo shrieks, Copia could hear his hands wildly moving. Taking a deep breath, Terzo continues.
“I’m ecstatic for my fratello. I always pictured myself with bambinos of my own, but I thought I had more time. We all did. You lived to be like, what, a hundred? It’s not that I’m jealous.”
 Terzo chokes out a cry. “
I’m just sad that’s no longer an option for me because of what happened.”
He sobs.
“Being a zombie vampire that has to do the Antichrist’s bidding was not what I had planned for my retirement.”

The silence of the crypt was shattered by Terzo’s struggle to rein in his breakdown. Finally, Nihil speaks.
“Fate has dealt us all a shitty hand. I’m dead. Rat boy is the Antichrist. You, the bald one and Primary are whatever you just said. Do you hear me complaining? That demon son of mine could be out there ending the world and he wants to play house with Sorella. You’re too busy worrying about what you had and could have done, than being thankful you can still do what you can do.”

Copia slow-claps and enters the alcove with them. Mouth open, Terzo stares up at him as he lies on the floor where his glass casket used to sit. Papa Nihil was sitting on the stone bench, and barely acknowledged him.

“That was actually some damn good parenting for once in your miserable afterlife.”
Copia joins Papa Nihil on the bench.
“Terzo, why didn’t you just talk to me?”

“And say what?”
Terzo snaps, covering his face with his hands.
“I don’t understand it myself. I’m happy and sad at the same time. I want my old life back, but I also love this supernatural dumpster fire I find myself in with you.”

Copia sighs.
“I think I understand what you’re going through more than you think.”

Terzo’s fingers spread on his face, and he looks up at his brother.

Copia looks down at the ground, then at Terzo.
“I’m sorry I did this to you.”

Terzo sits up on his elbows.
“I’m not mad at you.”
Rolling his eyes, he crashes onto his back.
“I’m mad at your puttana di madre.”

Nihil
laughs
then stops when Copia snaps his head at him. Copia sent Sister Imperator to another branch this month. He felt it was best that his brothers process whatever they are going through without her there. Plus, since the incident of her losing her eyes, she had not left the Ministry and Copia wanted her to get some ‘fresh air’.

Copia stands.
“Get up. I want to show you something.”
He grabs Terzo’s Impera helmet in his left hand.

“I’m not in the mood. I want to be left alone today.”
He rolls onto his stomach and rests his forehead on the cold stone of the Crypts, tossing his cape over his head.

Reaching down with his right hand, Copia grabs the fabric of the back of Terzo’s jacket and easily lifts him off the ground about two feet. His arms and legs reacted in alarm.

“Put me down!”

Nihil stands and cheerfully waves.
“Happy Death Day!”
Copia throws Terzo up into the air, and onto his shoulder. Terzo faced behind Copia as he continued to walk toward the Crypt exit. Reaching up, he hands Terzo his helmet. “Put this on, before I reach the top of the stairs.” Grumbling, he snatches it from him and slides it over his head and buckles the bottom strap.
Terzo sighs as Copia ascends the uneven stone steps. Resting his chin in his hands, he asks.
“Well, where are you taking me?”

“You’ll see.”
Copia says, ducking under the entrance to the Crypt into the hallway. He walked back to the Chapel entrance, but there was a long line of Sisters of Sin waiting to pay their respects. Copia sets Terzo down and readjusts his cape that had flipped over his chest. Terzo’s helmet looks at the long line of sobbing Clergy.

“What is going on?”
He asks, gazing up at his brother.

Copia pulls rank and bypasses the line, entering the large wooden doors with Terzo. The crowds of siblings went up to the altar, but he climbed up the steps to the second level balcony. Sitting down at the edge that overlooked the sanctuary, Terzo joined by taking a seat next to him.

Terzo’s helmet stared at the three glass caskets at the front of the Chapel. Sisters and Brothers of Sin paying their respects to each of the fallen Papas. Flowers and tokens created a shrine around the bodies.

Terzo leaned forward and sat in silence. Copia reached over and rubbed his shoulder. Nobody ever plans to attend their own memorial, and he wanted him to know he was not alone.

Terzo casually points down at his casket and chokes out.
“Look how many flowers I got. Way more than Secondo. He’s going to be so pissed.”

Copia chuckles, knowing he was trying to use humor to manage the trauma.
“Fratello, you were well loved among our people. Many are sad they missed the opportunity to see you alive.”

Terzo turned his head to Copia.
“Really? The way Sister spoke, she made it seem like I was the worst thing to ever happen to the Clergy. When I was removed, I just assumed that was the reason.”

Not wanting to bring up Sister, Copia changes the subject.
“So, what do you think of the decoys? These are the ones we took out on the road.”

“On the road?!? You paraded our bodies on tour?!?”
Terzo whisper screamed.

Copia gives him a closed mouthed smile, his eyes softening.
“Well yeah. Everyone wanted to pay their respects. It was easier to take you to them, then bring them to us.”

Terzo sits back in his chair, clearly overwhelmed.
“Omega doesn’t talk much about when I was gone. I know it was hard for him. I feel guilty because for me I was playing Uno then the next moment I woke up trapped in the glass casket and I lost five years.”
He covers his mouth, speechless. His hand slides down onto his chest and he turns to Copia.
“These people didn’t even know me like you or Omega did. You’re telling me after six years… they still care?”

Copia stands.
“More than you’ll ever know. Let’s pay our respects. Shall we?”

Terzo sighs and Copia thinks for a second he won’t follow, but Terzo surprises him and stands. The two men make their way down the steps and up to the altar. Everyone watches Papa. This year was obviously different, but the same gut punch hits him seeing the bodies. He looks over at Terzo, even though he could not see his face through the mask he knew this had to be difficult. Copia walks behind the glass caskets and stands on the altar steps. He encourages Terzo to take a closer look.

The small Ghoul circles Primo and Secondo’s caskets. When he reached his own, his body went rigid, and he fell to his knees and wept.

Feeling like someone was watching him, Copia turns to look behind him and sees Primo and Secondo at the back of the altar entrance. He takes a step back and walks over to them.

Secondo uncharacteristically speaks first as he watches Terzo with his piercing red and white eyes, his Gucci sunglasses sitting on his bald head.
“He alright?”

“He’s standing at the foot of his own glass casket. What do you think?”
Copia hisses. He was not in the mood for his brute of a brother being an ass.

“Copia!”
Primo scolds behind his Opus mask.

Secondo looks down and whispers.
“My body is over there too. Would it be OK if I paid my respects as well?”

Copia raises an eyebrow. Was this why he was back at the Ministry? Gesturing towards the front of the altar, Secondo walks past him to the glass caskets. Copia and Primo watched as Secondo lowered his sunglasses, he looked down at Primo’s body and stopped at Terzo’s casket beside the upset Ghoul. He leans down and whispers something to him and pats his back before walking over to his own casket. Secondo stared at his body and sighed.

Primo chuckles, telling Copia.
“I guess Secondo does have a heart after all. It only took him dying before he felt anything for us. Welp. I better make peace myself so these people can get on with their day.”
He creeps down to the caskets and touches each one of them before stopping at his own. His mischievous eyes suddenly became flat, lost in his thoughts.

Slowly, Copia returned to the front of the altar to watch his brothers. It took everything in him to remain emotionless as he watched them grieve their past lives. The only thing he held onto was the fact that he would get to tell his flock they were no longer dead but have been alive since October. Their lives would not return to normal, but they would get some resemblance of it back.

Finally, Terzo stands. Secondo and Primo join his side. All three of them looked up at Copia proudly, which took him by surprise, causing him to tilt his head. The Emeritus brothers walked down the aisle and left Copia alone. He kept his vigil for a few hours, watching wave after wave of Clergy pay their respects.

Terzo’s words ‘these people didn’t even know me’ played over and over in Copia’s head watching all the siblings pass through. At times he felt alone in this whole mess, and it was as if he just realized how much people cared. Even if he didn’t know them personally, he too was well loved. Sorella always made sure he knew how loved he was in the Clergy.

Back in his office, he was catching up on some work. Once again, he caught his Sorella’s sweet scent in the air and a few minutes later, she entered his office. His mismatched eyes shift up through his glasses and she gives him a warm smile.

“Did you find Terzo?”
She asks, sitting down on the couch. Kicking off her pumps that he didn’t understand why she still wore while pregnant. She swung her swollen feet out and propped them up on the coffee table.

“I did. He was down in the crypts.”

“Is he OK?”

Copia stops what he’s doing and exhales.
“Honestly? He’s taking today harder than I thought he would.”

Sorella’s eyes become saddened.
“Oh. How are you doing?”

Standing, he stretches and tosses his glasses onto the desk. Circling the desk, he sits down beside her and wraps his arm around her.
“This year is different for me. In a weird way it’s still painful.”

Sorella snuggles into him and rubs her stomach.
“I stopped by the Chapel earlier. The memorial is beautiful. Everyone is going to be so excited to learn they are back.”

Copia takes off his glove and rests his hand on her stomach alongside hers. He notices she’s crying and distressed. Alarmed, he questions.
“What’s wrong? What are you thinking about?”

Sorella wipes a tear from her face and closed-mouth smiles at him, patting his hand on her stomach.
“I can’t get anything past you, can I?”
She takes a deep breath, calming herself.
“Seeing the Papa’s lying in their glass caskets just made me think how I’ll handle the possible future of seeing you like that someday.”

Copia’s face dropped, and he avoided eye contact with Sorella. This was not how he wanted to have this conversation. Her eyes become concerned at his reaction. Lifting his hand, he puts his glove back on and takes a deep breath. He kisses her temple.
“Sorella.”
He took a longer pause than he intended.
“You will never have to see me up there like that.”

Confused, her eyes search for an explanation. He hoped he could have delayed this topic, but it was now or never.
“You know that book I got from Sister Imperator? Well, according to the book... that’s not an option for me.”
Why couldn’t he just come right out and say it? He was starting to become angry at himself.

She cocks her head at him.
“Are you immortal?”

All the air left his lungs. His eyes widened at how easily she said it. She was waiting for his response. He panicked and stood up, clenching his fists to his chest. Ashamed, he admitted.
“I just found out myself. I suspected when I didn’t die when Sister stabbed me, but only recently figured it out myself. I’m so sorry. I didn’t know how to tell you.”

Sorella stood up as fast as her pregnant body would allow and cupped his face and kissed his lips until he relaxed. Smiling, she brushed some hair that had fallen onto his face back into place.
“I thought you might be too.”
He started to speak, but she put her finger over his lips.
“This is not an issue for me. I love you, Copia.”

He stared at her in disbelief. Had she not stopped to consider what this exactly meant for their relationship dynamic? He didn’t even know what that meant for him in the Clergy. Would he go on being Papa for the rest of eternity or until he decided to retire?

He hugs her tightly and questioned.
“This really doesn’t bug you?”

She lets go and looks up at him, her eyes bright.
“Does it bug you?”

Copia laughs.
“A little, but not anything to do with you. It’s with me. I have to look like this forever now.”

She furrowed her eyebrows and giggled at what she just heard, placing her hand on her hip.
“What’s wrong with that? I don’t see anything wrong with the way you look.”

He rubs the back of his neck and feels embarrassed for admitting what he was about to say.
“I know you don’t, but if I had known this Antichrist thing was a possibility I would have preferred being a much younger man, than forever fifty-three.”

“Was I even born when you were a younger man?”
Sorella teases, and Copia sticks out his tongue at her then pulls her in for a hug.

“I’ve been here at the Ministry since I was sixteen. It’s your own fault you took forever to find me.”
She playfully pats his chest.
“Such a vain, demon, Antichrist, old man.”
She starts walking toward the door.
“Baby is hungry. Let's go to lunch.”
She was halfway out the door when he caught up with her. Snaking his arm around her side, grabbing her other hand he brought it to his lips and kissed the back of her hand.
“What’s that for?”
She smirks, looking at the siblings catching him kissing on her.

“For never making a big deal out of my little quirks and keeping me humble.”

She leans into him and pats his back.
“Someone has to do it and apparently Satan thought I was up to the task.”

Copia
laughed
a huge belly laugh that echoed in the halls as they walked to the Great Hall for lunch.

Later in the evening, Copia was getting dressed by his Nameless Ghouls in the Sacristy for the memorial Black Mass. His blue and black robes were modified to accommodate his large demonic wings. Rituals always brought out his infernal side, so he stopped fighting it and accepted this is how he will present himself during services. This meant the cape got in the way, and he was going to go without it tonight.

The Emeritus brothers were with him and also in their full regalia and papal paints, complete with their chasubles and mitres. They were all each in different degrees of emotion. Secondo was quiet and not his intimidating self. Terzo had cried so much today he had nothing left to give and was exhausted. Primo, who usually was the lighthearted one, seemed distant.

Copia adjusts his mitre over his horns in the mirror and looks at his siblings in the mirror.
“Don’t everyone get all excited at once.”

A collective sigh is exhaled from the past Papas.

Primo weakly smiles.
“We’re just nervous. That’s all.”
Terzo’s red and white eyes never leave the ground. Copia looked over at Secondo, who was spinning his Grucifix staff in his hand.

A Ghoul opens the door and gestures for Copia to line up for the procession. Before heading over to the door, Copia explained.
“When they start singing, I’ll come in here to check on you before I ascend the pulpit steps. That way you’ll be ready for your cue when I make the announcement during my sermon. Got it?”

An unenthusiastic “Got it.” came from the three men. Copia rolls his eyes, wondering why they weren’t more excited about this. He had spoken to them individually to make sure this was what they wanted several weeks ago. They had worked out all the details out of reintegrating them back into the Clergy. A new, united front working towards Satan’s ultimate goal. Even Sister Imperator was on board. Copia wasn’t sure if she truly loved the plan, or if it was best not to argue with the Antichrist.

Taking the back way around the Ministry, Copia took his place in the unholy procession. A Ghoul handed him his thurible that was already filling the hallway with the smell of incense. Waiting to start his wings flex opened and then closed. Copia fights a grin at the thought of the congregation's reaction to the upcoming good news he was about to share.

When the Gothic organ plays, everyone stands. The unholy procession files down the center aisle. The processional Grucifix is carried first by a Nameless Ghoul, followed by several Ghouls. Papa ducks through the door frame and opens his wings and stretches them high with a collection of ‘Ooos’ and ‘Ahhs’ from the siblings. Sorella told him that everyone liked it when he did that, and he didn’t want to disappoint. Even he had to admit it was more theatrical when he did it. Swinging the thurible, the mist of smoke trailed behind him and out into the sanctuary as he strolled up to the altar with the entire High Clergy bringing up the rear.

He always made a point to wink at Sorella when he walked by her. She would blow him a kiss, and this time it earned her a fanged smile that everyone saw. He didn’t care if it was known he was a lovesick fool. Having waited his entire life for her, he was loud and proud about how he felt.

When he reached the front of the glass caskets, he folded his leathery wings against his back and waited for everyone to take their seats. A Ghoul came over and took his thurible and he walked up the stairs as he circled the bodies lying in state.

At the top of the stairs, he kneeled before the altar. He raised his arms up to offer the opening prayer and on cue foot tall flames shot out of the candelabras. When he was finished, a Ghoul was waiting with the opened large Satanic Bible. Papa read aloud the passage in a deepened voice that sounded like something otherworldly. Afterwards, the Clergy sang the first hymn “Spirit”. Papa disappeared from the altar and went to the Sacristy to check in with the past Papas.

“Ready?”
Copia calls out, entering the room.

The Emeritus brothers stood in the center of the room, and all looked up and don’t answer. Terzo steps forward, clasping his hands.
“Papa.”

Copia squints his eyes, unsure why he was being addressed in such a way.

Terzo turns and gestures toward the other two.
“We had a discussion, and we prefer to stay hidden.”

“What!?!”
Copia roars, throwing his clawed hands in the air and a roll of thunder echoes through the Chapel.
“You had all day to say something, and you waited until now! Are you telling me I have to come up with a new sermon on the fly?”

Secondo grunted.
“We were not aware of our impact on the Clergy.”

“Your impact?”
Copia turned toward him and raised his eyebrow.

Primo rests his gloved hand on Secondo’s shoulder, walking in front of him.
“There were so many siblings who came to our memorial to grieve. It’s been six years. Some of them were not even in the Clergy when we died.”
He turns and gestures at Terzo.
“Then you told him you took the decoys out on the road. Thousands have viewed our bodies and mourned us. We had no idea.”

“Then we saw our bodies.”
Terzo starts, choking back tears.
“I don’t want that life back. None of us do.”
Secondo and Primo nod. Terzo’s eyes fall to the ground, and he looks up and locks his mismatched red and white eyes together with Copia’s eyes.
“As much as they love us out there and want us back. Can you live with yourself when they have to say goodbye to us a second time? We don’t want to hurt them like that again. They had us and lost us. They can have our memories forever and that needs to be enough.”

Copia goes to argue but stops. He was right. The dead are not meant to be brought back. His desire to bring his brothers back was so powerful that he didn’t care what laws of nature he broke. Copia regretted nothing, but he also selfishly never asked his brothers if this was what they wanted. His heart ached to ask, but he was afraid of the answer. Afraid of being alone. Bravely, he takes a deep breath and prepares himself for the worst, admitting his greatest fear.

“Please don’t abandon me again.”
Copia’s bottom lip quivered for a second.

Terzo approaches Copia and puts his golden fingernailed gloves on his shoulders. Copia wings open and his body relaxes.
“Papa, you’re not getting rid of us that easily. Just keep us memories in the Clergy.”
Shifting to his side, Terzo wraps his arm around Copia’s back.
“Plus, someone needs to keep protecting Sorella and nothing would make me miss the birth of mio nipote.”

“I’m not going anywhere either. I have all the time in the world for my gardening. Especially since someone let my gardens go to Hell. It’s honestly going to take my entire afterlife to get them back to how I left them.”
Primo angrily barks, but the corner of his mouth cracks and eyes sparkle.

Everyone turns to Secondo, waiting for him to reassure Copia he was not abandoning him. Taking a deep breath, he shifts his eyes away from them.
“What these fools said.”
He tilts the head of his Grucifix at them.

That was enough for Copia. They all wanted to stay hidden and that was their decision. He had to respect their right to privacy in their retirement. The end of the song was nearing, and he needed to be up at the pulpit.
“Cazzo! Got to go. We’ll talk later.”

Folding his wings against his back, Copia ducks through the doorway into the Chapel and bolts inhumanly fast up the stairs to the pulpit. Thankfully, making it just in time as the song wrapped up.

Straightening his bejeweled mitre, he looks down at his sermon and then at the congregation seated below. Finding Sorella sitting next to her old roommate, she gazes up at him lovingly while rubbing her stomach. His tail flicked under his robe and his wings opened up at seeing her. She covered her mouth and chuckled.

Clearing his throat, he takes a sip of water that was already waiting for him. What was he going to say? It had been a long time since he had to bullshit his way through a sermon. He was slightly annoyed that all his hard work was just flushed down the drain, but he reminded himself this was not about what he wanted.

Closing his red and white eyes, he trusted Satan would supply him with the words he was about to speak.

“Death. We are all going to die.”
Copia looks down at Sorella, giving her a knowing look.
“Everyone we know, and love will die. That is God’s punishment to Adam and Eve. Seems kind of harsh to me for eating some fruit from a tree, but that’s beside the point. We are born and we die. What’s the point? I’ll tell you what the point is to this life we are living.”
He pauses for dramatic effect and glares down at the now silent crowds.
“It’s the journey.  It’s the experience. It’s the way you feel. Good and bad.”
Pointing down at the bodies of his brothers in their caskets, surrounded by mementos left earlier today, Copia barely got the next part out.
“Mio fratelli each lived a life so full, that even if the Devil himself offered them the opportunity to come back they would decline. That’s a complete life. While we want them here with us, they have not left us. Death can take them from us, but Death can never take the memories we have of them. And that needs to be enough.”

His eyes filled with tears. Sorella looked confused, having heard the other sermon. He always practiced his sermons with her in the Chapel in the early mornings. She whispered to her roommate, having figured out what had happened.

He couldn’t remember the rest of his sermon, but he spoke from the heart, and he knows he touched all their souls. There wasn’t a dry eye in the Chapel when he was finished. When he was done, he growled out a broken
nemA
then descended the stairs and finished out the rest of the Black Mass.

Sorella waited for Copia after the Black Mass to walk back to the Papa Emeritus Suite. She held his clawed hand and said nothing but provided him companionship while his Ghouls followed behind them. One of his Ghouls got the door for him, and he let her enter first before he knelt through the doorway.

The fireplace in the living room was already lit. Sorella looked at him like she wanted to say something, but just watched him take off his shoes by the door. Feeling her eyes on him, his tail snapped behind him and he glanced over at her.

Taking a breath, he simply stated.
“They changed their minds.”

She walked over and hugged him around his middle and rested her head on his chest.
“I figured. Are you OK?”

Running his talons through her hair, he admits.
“I feel like a monster.”

Abruptly, she lets him go and cups his face.
“We’ve been over this a million times. You’re not a monster. You’re Copia.”

“Not like that, but thanks for the reassurance.”
He lowers her hands and holds them in his.
“I did this to them.”

“You didn’t kill them. Sister did.”

“I gave them a second chance, but I also gave them a first-row seat to their old life they will never get back. I’ve hurt them in ways I’ve never considered until today because I was selfish.”

Sorella leads him to the couch and makes him sit down then she joins him. Cuddling into him she pats his chest. He takes off his gloves over his talons and rests his clawed hand on her stomach as his tail wraps around her ankle.
“You also showed them how much the Clergy cares about them. I don’t understand why your brothers and you don’t realize how much you’re loved.”

Copia sighs, taking some solace that he did give that small gift to his brothers today. Had he never brought them back they would have never known. Everything Sorella said was right. Why was it so hard for them to see how loved they were in their lifetimes? He had never felt truly loved until he found Sorella, but he was only recently learning how much people cared.

“It would have been nice if they returned to the Clergy”
Sorella laments with a sad look.

Kissing the top of her head, he admits looking into the fire.
“It would have, wouldn’t it?”

The smallest nudge against his hand makes him pull his hand back, wings stretch up and he
growls
out of surprise. Wide–eyed, Copia exclaimed.
“I felt that!”

“Me too.”
She went to cup his face for a kiss, but he unraveled his tail and turned toward her, placing both his hands on her stomach.

“Do it again.”

Laughing, she rolls her eyes.
“It doesn’t work that way, Darling.”

Excited, he looks down at her and presses an enthusiastic kiss on her lips. His tail wagged from side to side. In two different ways, he had given life where there had been none before and created the family he always wanted and deserved. Unlike his father, or father’s father, or father’s father’s father, he was going to love with his whole heart and without limitations.

Jumping up, Copia runs toward the door.

“Where are you going?”
Sorella calls out, watching Copia find his shoes.

“I have to tell Terzo. He’s going to be so excited!”

“He’s with my old roommate tonight. Leave them alone.”
She gives him a ‘you’ve got to be kidding me’ look.

Copia slips on his shoes, ignoring her reasonable request.
“She’ll be excited too. I’ll be right back.”
He bolts down the hallway, smiling and waving at everyone. He barged into the Sisters of Sin dormitory without a care in the world. When he reached Sorella’s old room, he threw open the door and ignored all his senses telling him to stop.

“Whoa!”
Copia’s wings wrap faster around himself than his arm raised to shield his eyes from the tangle of bodies he saw on the bed. Feeling his son move for the first time distracted him at the idea that Terzo would be lying with Sorella’s old roommate. He sniffs the air and raises an eyebrow, realizing Omega was with them too.

“Che cazzo! Perché non bussare quando sai che sto soffrendo?”
Terzo yelled.

“Shut the door!” The roommate screamed. Copia used his tail to slam it shut.

“Let me know when you’re decent and I can look.”
Copia asks, his hands still covering his eyes.

“It took us a while to get into this position and we’re not moving until we’re done. What do you need?”
Terzo hisses.

Mortified, Copia spills his good news.
“The little one kicked!”
He hears the bed squeaking and Terzo jumping onto the floor.

“The one day I take off and mio nipote has the nerve to finally kick. Let me put on pants and we can go.”
Copia hears him quickly get dressed. When he was done, he pushes Copia into the hallway and tells Omega and the roommate to have fun without him.

In the hallway, Terzo jumps up and down with Copia. The brothers race back down the halls to the Papa Emeritus Suite. When they enter, Terzo takes off his helmet and rushes over to Sorella, scolding her stomach for kicking for Papa first and not him. Sorella laughed and asked how he was doing.

Terzo gets quiet, and looks over at Copia about to say something.

“Ahh! I felt the bambino!”
Terzo hugs Sorella, then Copia. Running his hand through his hair, Terzo confesses.
“Today was hard, but mio nipote made my day! We should go get the others. They deserve to have a happy memory today too.”

Copia tells his Ghouls to go fetch Primo and Secondo. Sorella and Terzo sit on the couch together and talk. Copia sits on the other side of Sorella and joins their conversation waiting for the other to join shortly. A sad day was now something he would never forget. Maybe the family was starting to heal thanks to the next generation.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Copia was about to lose his mind. Sitting in First Class on an airplane, Sorella was sitting next to his luxury cube with the lay flat chair and rubbing his arm. At this point, he wanted to kill Sister Imperator for not booking him a private jet. The Italian branch of the Ministry wanted to see Papa Emeritus IV in all his demonic states. With Beltane coming up in two days, the Clergy felt it was best to send him on a last-minute business trip now rather than later because he did not want to be too far away from Sorella as her pregnancy progressed.

Raising his hand to his temples, he rubbed them and leaned forward. Sorella rubs his shoulder and whispers.
“Is Primo’s tea not helping?”

Winching as he kneaded his gloved fingertips into his skin, he groaned.
“Primo’s tea keeps me looking human. It doesn’t stop me from mind-reading every single person’s thoughts sitting on this jumbo jet.”
The din of all the voices was overwhelming him, causing a headache.

With a questioning look, Sorella inquires.
“What’s it like? With the mind reading. Can you hear everyone at once or individually?”

Very rarely does she ask for specifics. It was hard for him to explain, and she typically just accepted his powers for what they were. Thinking for a moment, he attempts to describe what he’s going through.
“It’s like being in a room with a TV on in the background. The sound is always there. Most times I can ignore it and go about my day. But imagine a room full of TVs all blaring different channels at once. It’s like that.”

Sorella gives him a weak smile.
“That sounds awful. At least you only have to deal with it eight times a year.”

“Eight too many times.”
He grunts, digging his palm into his forehead.

The stewardess appears out of nowhere and asks. “Can I help you with anything Mr. Emeritus? Would you like a glass of water?”

“That would be great.”
Sorella says but is interrupted by Copia.
“Actually. Something stronger. Vodka on the rocks, por favore.”
Sorella’s eyes widened, and the stewardess smiled. “Right away.” As she walked away, Sorella hissed.
“Vodka?”
Copia gave her an exhausted look.
“I need something to take the edge off. I won’t get drunk.”
She glared at him.
“Next time, we’ll just tranquilize you and put you in the cargo hold.”
The corner of her mouth rises. Looking at her out of the side of his mismatched eyes, he sighs.
“I’ll fly myself the next time before I do this again.”
He looks behind him to talk to his Ghouls.
“Call Sister as soon as we land. We are flying private on the way home.”

The stewardess returns with a glass of vodka on the rocks. Copia grabs it and downs it in one gulp.
“Another, por favore. Make it a double.”
The stewardess takes his glass, nods, and walks away.

Sorella stares at him but changes the subject.
“I know the timing of this trip isn’t ideal for you, but I’m really excited you brought me with you to see Italy. I’ve never left the country before.”

Copia grins.
“You said you wanted a babymoon, so I figured I’d kill two birds with one stone. You’re going to love it. The city, the countryside, the coast and best of all, the food!”
He closes his eyes and leans back into his seat. The stewardess returns with his drink, setting down a napkin then his liquor. Thanking her, this time he slowly drinks. He was starting to relax as the voices were now fuzzy, along with everything else.

Sorella smirks.
“Feeling better?”

Taking another sip, he smiles.
“Much.”

“So, what’s the plan when we get there? Are you going to be whisked away and paraded in front of the Italian High Clergy? Leaving me all alone?”

Copia shrugs.
“I’ve made plenty of time for us. We’ll get situated in our suite and visit the city’s landmarks. Then on Beltane I’ll be stuck indoors and ‘paraded’. Next day, we’ll see the countryside and stay at the beach home. Sound good?”

He takes another drink, finishing it and chewing on the ice. Gazing over at her, she looked more beautiful than ever. She was glowing. His heartbeat increases and his breathing becomes shallow. Raising an eyebrow, he reaches over to her and runs his gloved finger down her forearm.

Side eyeing him, she watches his gloved hand.
“What do you think you’re doing.?”

“Appreciating the view.”

“Your window is over there.”
She points to the other side of him.

His green and white eyes linger and crawl down her body.
“How about you come visit me over here and we shut the divider and join the mile high club?”
He hiccups louder than he anticipated.

Narrowing her eyes, she chuckles, and her tummy moves ever so slightly.
“We’re already members. Remember that night you took me flying around the Ministry?

Holding her hand, he runs his thumb over her knuckles. Lovingly gazing into her eyes, he exhales a low growl. “
What about a blow job?”

“Copia!”
Shocked, Sorella looks around her to make sure no one else heard. The Ghouls were snickering in their seats. Her eyes drop down to his lap, widening at seeing his erection pushing against his pants that he was not trying to hide.
“You and your dick need to control yourselves”
She whispers.

“You love it. Now be a good girl for your Papa and get over here.”

She leans over and kisses his cheek. "
Just close your eyes and get some sleep.”
When she sits back in her seat, she closes the divider. Cockblocked, he closes his eyes and
grumbles
.

I’m definitely flying my demonic self next time. I could probably do it, right? How far is it from the Ministry to Italy?

He pondered these thoughts until the alcohol truly hit him and he fell into a deep restful sleep.

Copia was hung over by the time the plane landed. It was a beautiful Italian morning with clear skies. A Ghoul on each side of him, they helped get him off the plane. After getting through TSA, a black limo was waiting for them. A Ghoul wearing a Preqelle Era mask gets the door for Copia and Sorella and they get comfortable in the leather seats. His two Ghouls climb into the black SUV parked behind them, while their luggage is loaded into the vehicle as well.

When the door closes, Copia presses a button on the side panel and the plastic divider slides up and blocks the Chauffeur Ghouls from what he’s about to do. Taking off his jacket, he loosens the cravat around his neck with a few tugs and starts to undo the buttons of his clerical shirt.

“Here?”
Sorella asks with a naughty grin, already knowing the answer.

“Yes.”
He growls, grabbing her chin and aggressively pressing his lips onto hers.
“We have plenty of time until we reach the Ministry.”
Discarding the shirt onto the limo floor, he loops his finger through the laces of his pants and unties them.

She turns her back to him, and he unzips the back of her dress. He kisses down her spine and unhooks her bra with his teeth.
“Why are you taking your shirt off? Is the tea wearing off?”
She pants, pulling her dress over her head and removing her bra. She lounges into the seat and opens her legs.

“Better safe than sorry.”
He slides his pants and boxers down his legs, kicking them off with his shoes. He drops to his knees between her legs and helps her get her panties off. Kissing and nipping her inner thighs, she combs her hands through his salt and peppered hair. He
snarls
, pulling her closer to him while he feasts.

“You’re going to ruin your paint.”
Moaning, she rolls her hips into his face.

A muffled,
“I don’t care.”
calls back between her thighs.

He didn’t have his forked tongue, but he lapped through her folds and kissed on her clit. Using his mind-reading ability, he listened to what she needed and gave her everything she wanted. Looking up at her, he watched her eyes light up at seeing the city through the limo windows and experiencing Italian daily life for the first time.

Pulling his mouth off her, he licks his lips.
“Sorella.”
Her gaze looks down at him.
“I’ll show you the city later. Right now, I'm going to show you what it means to be worshiped. Keep those belissima eyes on me.”

They lock eyes in a heated exchange. He takes slow and gentle taste across her petals, before taking her gem into his mouth and lightly sucking. His cock hardened. Wanting to stroke himself for relief, he instead slid several fingers into her entrance. A breathy,
“Fuck!”
fell from her lips. Curling his digits, he worked her until she threw back her head and
cried
out his name in her triumphant battle cry.

Climbing up her body, he was mindful of her stomach, pushing her onto her back. His hands palmed her full breasts. His fingertips rolled her nipples, causing her to
hiss
.
“I know they are sore, but you did ask for it.”
He purred, leaning down to kiss upon each nipple. She smiles.
“I love mind-reading sex.”
He kisses her chest and along her neck.
“Believe me. I know you do.”
He bites a bit too hard on her neck. If he had fangs, he would have drawn blood.

He pressed his erection into her entrance. Listening, she tells him she’s mentally ready. Sinking into her, she
moans
.

“That’s it.”
He thrusts, adding more inches until she surrounds him. He waits, watching for her eyes to relax. Raising her legs she wraps them around him, and he hooks his arms under them to hold them up. Gently he pulls back and slides into her with a groan. Repeating the uncharacteristically slow motion several times.

Raising her eyebrow, she
mentally tells
him he’s not going to hurt her or the baby and to really give it to her.

Nervously he speeds up, still holding back. She sighs.
“Let’s change positions!”

Feeling like he was failing, he removes himself and waits for further instruction. She directs him to sit. Rolling off the seat, she stands and swings her leg to straddle him but reverse. Lowering herself, he throws his head back and moans. He leans forward, wrapping his arms around her front and guides her up and down on his length. His lips place sloppy kisses on her neck and shoulder. Enthusiastically, she bounced up and down on him. His right hand moves to cup one of her breasts.

Grunting into her back, he is hit with a wave of intense heat, radiating through his body.
“Sorella!”
He starts to panic. That sensation could only mean one thing.
“Sorella.”
He squints his eyes and tries with all his might to prevent what is about to happen.
“I’m... I'm going to…”

“Hold on, I’m almost…”

Like a lightning bolt through his body, his talons grew out from his hands, his horns pushed through his head and over his hair and his wings sprung out of his back and opened around them.

She
cried
out of surprise, having never had him inside her during a transformation.

He groaned at how tight she felt around him now.

After making sure she was OK, he nuzzled into her neck and laughed.
“I tried to warn you.”
He shifts in his seat so his trapped tail could be freed. It flicked, then wrapped around her left ankle.

Leaning back into him, her hand comes up and caresses his face.
“Unholy Hell. That was intense. Give me a minute.”
She wiggles her hips.
“I forget about the difference.”
Helping her, she rises and sits back down with a
grunt
.

Running his fangs along her shoulder, he
growls
. Copia did not like biting her while she was pregnant. It had been so long since he gave into his desires. Each beat of her heartbeat through her veins was screaming for him to give in.

Riding him again at the same speed as before they were interrupted, her hand still on his head raises up to scratch the base of his horn.
“Go on.”
She coos.
“I trust you.”

Between the greenlight, the euphoric bliss of head scratches and losing all control, his pupils expand and roll into the back of his head. His
roar
was silenced by his fangs piercing her skin and his mouth wrapped around her shoulder. She
screamed
out his name, her pussy tightening and pulsing around his dick. His wings beat against the air and his head shook her between his jaws.

Frantically thrusting, he released her and growled out an
otherworldly howl
that caused the traffic around them to honk in confusion as to what was happening. Kicking inside her, he coated her insides with his demonic seed.

The blood began to drop down her body and he snarled lapping and sucking it off like it was precious. His right hand wrapped around the top of her thigh and left held onto her just below her breasts. Copia continued to rock into her as he came and licked the blood off her body with his forked tongue. His tail had released and was happily thumping against the floor of the limo beside their clothes.

She hummed in pleasure and his chest rumbled in the afterglow of their mutual satisfaction. Suddenly, the limo came to a complete stop. Surprised, Copia looked out the window.

“Cazzo! We’re here, Sorella!”

“What?!? You said it would take a while!”

She jumps off him and grabs her clothes. His wings were wide open, making movement in the vehicle a bit difficult.

“I thought it would. I guess it was closer than I remembered.”

Sorella throws his boxers and dress pants to him, and he quickly puts them on. After she was dressed, she leans over and ties the laces of his pants. Footsteps outside the limo could be heard. The Ghouls had to know they just had sex. High Clergy members were walking outside the Ministry to greet them.

She hands him his shirt, then shrugs her shoulders.
“At least you didn’t ruin it. Too bad you can’t put it on.”

Copia rakes his claws lightly down his paint smeared face. Terzo would have loved what was about to happen.

The limo door opens and Copia and Sorella wide-eyed stare out to the crowd of Italian High Clergy. Copia, being the gentleman that he is, takes it upon himself to utterly embarrass himself first. Folding his wings against his body, he steps out of the limo. Shirtless, he looks down at the ground not ready to make eye contact. His tail nervously flicks from side to side. Opening his wings, he sighs and raises his head so that everyone could see that the bottom half of his face was a gray blur.

Sorella steps out of the limo next. She looked perfectly put together, all things considered, except for the black, white and gray over her chest and face. Copia had missed some blood that had dried around the large fang marks he left. She raised her hand and nodded with a smile.

Raising his wings straight up, Copia exclaims
“Ta-da!”
The High Clergy flinched and whispered in Italian to each other. Lowering his wings, he folds them against his back and looks down at Sorella. She gives him a sympathetic look, then looks down at the ground.

A red Cardinal steps forward.
“Buongiorno, your unholiness.”
He bows, holding onto his biretta. Turning toward Sorella, he greets her by taking her hand in his and kisses it. Copia’s red and white eyes stare daggers and he
growls
. His wings rise and tail flicks sharply and wraps around Sorella’s hips and pulls her toward him. She almost loses her footing and turns to scold him under her breath. Grabbing the spade of his tail, she unwraps it from around her and hands it back to Copia. It gets away from her and swishes wildly behind him.

“I’m Cardinal Taylor. Welcome to our Ministry. I see you had a fun trip.”
He winks at Sorella. Copia sighs, annoyed by the flirtatious Italian man.
“The High Clergy is honored to be in the presence of our prophesied Antichrist. Especially during Beltane to allow us the opportunity to witness the true power of Satan.”

Raising an eyebrow, Copia glances up at everyone, clasping his hands.
“I look pretty much like this. Just eight feet tall.”
Sorella speaks up.
“He’s being humble. He’s magnificent on the Sabbats.”
Her eyes look proudly up at him as she loops her arm around his, giving a reassuring pat with her other hand. The corner of his mouth curls and he tilts his horned head. She didn’t have to talk him up to these men, but the fact she felt the need to warmed his heart.

So far, he had experienced four of these grand transformations and this would be his fifth. For lack of a better term, he still had some growing pains getting used to it. By the time he thought he figured it out, the twenty-four hours were up, and he was back to normal. Sorella went out of the way to make sure he was comfortable, supported and most importantly, loved.

The Cardinal smiles warmly.
“We were going to start off with a tour of the grounds, but your unholiness would probably like to see the suite first.”
He directs his Ghouls to get their luggage with a flick of his wrist.

“Fantastico! Lead the way.”
Copia goes to wrap his arm around Sorella, but she pulls away. Surprised, he watches her reach into the limo and grab his jacket and shirt. She folds it under her arm and whispers to him.
“Don’t want to forget anything.”
He grins and helps her across the stone driveway into the Ministry.

Their stay at the Italian Ministry was quite enjoyable after their mortifying start. The Sisters of Sin took to Sorella and fawned over her and her bump. This allowed Copia to go off and play the part of Papa. Many European Clergy came into town just for his visit, which meant endless meetings.

He was able to escape for an afternoon and take Sorella sightseeing in the city along with a few of the local Nameless Ghouls who glamoured themselves into human disguises. Him and Sorella each dressed down in street clothing and he donned his RayBan Wayfarers. Having spent his early twenties at this Ministry, he knew the city well and was an excellent tour guide. He tried not to physically push Sorella too hard, but she was so excited, he couldn’t have stopped her if he tried.

The only troubling thing that occurred was he could not physically enter any Christian churches. It was as if an invisible wall blocked his path. The first time it occurred it knocked the wind out of him and took him by surprise. He waited outside, while Sorella toured the old Gothic buildings with the Ghouls.

Copia sat on a bench, legs crossed, and people watched. He took note of something he was not able to do now. It made sense that a demon would not be able to enter hallowed grounds, but he was something more than that. It was still weird to him that the Ghouls could enter with no problem. He wasn’t too upset about it. Afterall, Satan protected his people, why shouldn’t God be able to protect his own. When the tour wrapped up, Sorella returned to his side and happily told him all about it. He had seen it before but took joy in her excitement and hung on every word.

When they returned from their walking tour, Sorella took a nap and Copia enjoyed a glass of vino on the balcony. The view was secluded and allowed him privacy, but not the magnificent view he had promised Sorella of the city. He always gets anxious before the high holidays now. Leaning over to peer into the suite, he checked out the full-sized bed with Sorella snoozing in it, missing his Alaskan king-sized bed. It was tight the last few nights, especially with his wings. He would be too big for the couch, and he would never ask his pregnant Sorella to sleep there. The floor would be his bed tonight, he decided as he rubbed his temples and took another sip from his glass.

He slipped out of the suite to walk the grounds with his Ghouls, leaving the Italian Ghouls to guard the suite. The Italian Ghoulettes seemed to be waiting for them, or at least waiting for his Ghouls. Come to think of it, they seemed to be following them. Copia turns to his distracted guards.
“Go have some fun. I’ll be fine.”
They hesitated, their eyes shifting from him to the Ghoulettes curling their fingers begging for them to follow. Their tails straightened out and wagged. Copia nods and they take off running after them, causing him to
laugh
.

Cardinal Taylor enters the garden and walks up to him.
“Buon pomeriggio, Papa. How are you enjoying your stay?”

“It’s great to be back. I’m glad to see this Ministry is flourishing and the spirit of Satan is alive and well in this city. Everyone has been wonderful to my Sorella and me.”

The red Cardinal smiles.
“Glad to hear. You probably don’t remember me, but we used to work together before you left for America.”

Surprised, Copia tries to recall.
“Did we? I apologize. I do not recall. I meet so many people as Papa, and I have been a bit distracted the past year.”
He laughs.

Raising his hand, Cardinal Taylor continues.
“No need to apologize. Fourteen years is a long time, and I was but a brother back then.”

“A Brother of Sin to red Cardinal in fourteen years? Wow! Congratulations!”
Copia smiles, slightly distracted by his Ghouls chasing the Ghoulettes through the grounds.

“Grazie. Our Clergy is very proud of our Copia Emeritus who went on to become Papa Emeritus IV. We all knew you would go on to do great things. Then to go on and get our Dark Father’s ultimate blessing. You are a lucky man.”
The Cardinal gestures for Papa to walk with him.

Copia narrows his eyes and runs his gloved fingers through his hair. He hated when the High Clergy sucked up to him.
“I don’t know if lucky is the right term, but I’m honored to be chosen either by my birthright or hard work that got me where I am today. I do feel incredibly blessed to have found my Prime Mover and the upcoming birth of my son.”
He beamed and his heart swelled now talking about his favorite two subjects.

“Yes. The anticipated birth of our future Papa is a blessing to us all. We pray weekly for a safe delivery and for Satan to watch over your Prime Mover.”
Cardinal Taylor clasps his gloved hands and glances over at Copia.

He stops. As much as this was exciting for him, he forgot the birth was also a big thing within the Clergy. Touched, he puts his hand on the Cardinal’s shoulder.
“I appreciate it. I really do.”
Patting a few times, he lets go and they continue to talk about the state of the Clergy worldwide and other matters.

The next morning, Copia woke up on the floor, under a blanket that was now too small for him. Sorella was already up and dressed sitting out on the balcony. She wore a flowy, blue, A-line dress. She smiled at him when she felt him watching.

“Good morning, Darling. Happy Beltane. How did you sleep?”
Her eyes softened, already knowing it was miserable for him. Never to make her feel bad, he lies.
“Best night sleep of my life.”
He rises from the ground slowly, making sure the room could handle his eight-foot frame and double set of wings. Even though he had already made sure it would.

She rolls her eyes at him.
“I told you I would have slept on the couch. I wouldn‘t have minded.”
Having read her mind, he knew she was speaking the truth.

Nude, he grabbed the pair of boxers he had set out the night before across the bench at the foot of the bed.
“You deserved a bed to yourself last night. I was fine. Really.”
Honestly, he wasn’t. His back was killing him as he tried to conceal the pain in his face. He attempted to rub his back without her noticing. Last night when he was falling asleep, all he could hear was her mentally calling for him to join her and how much she missed him. He did join her for a roll in the sheets before midnight.

Copia walked out on the balcony, moving the French cafe style chair to the side and opting to sit on the ground. It took him a minute to figure out how to arrange his upper and lower wings, but he did and took over much of the balcony space behind and around him. Sorella scooted the New York Times newspaper over to him to read and poured him a cup of coffee. Thanking her, he takes the small mug and drinks. He asks her to read the copy of the American newspaper, since his glasses don’t fit his face anymore. She smiles, grabbing the newspaper back and begins to read as he finishes the pot of coffee. His tail happily tapped against the ground at the beautiful and relaxing morning he was having with his Sorella.

The rest of the day was anything but relaxing for Copia. As planned, he was

paraded

through the Italian Ministry. He met with all the High Clergy, and not just the Italian branch. It felt like the entire European Council was there. Even the media knew something big was happening and the paparazzi had set up outside the metal gates. Copia had to make sure he didn’t walk too close to any windows and going outside was completely off limits. He thought he even heard a helicopter go back.

Sorella was by his side the entire time and was starting to fall into line being the perfect Prime Mover. She greeted everyone and had the natural confidence he wished he was born with, instead of his anxious nature. They received several baby gifts that they will have to ship back home because there was no way they could fit everything in their luggage.

A large banquet was held in his honor in the evening. They served pasta carbonara. He was thrilled because it was his favorite dish when he lived at the Ministry. He must have eaten five plates, and not all that had to do with his size. Sorella giggled, mentally telling him it was really good but if he didn’t slow down, he wouldn’t be able to fool around later tonight.

At the end of the meal, Papa spoke to everyone and thanked them for their generosity and their support. Once all the wine was gone, the party was over, and everyone said their goodbyes. Copia wanted to take a nighttime stroll with Sorella but couldn’t. Not just because of the paparazzi still positioned outside, but because she was right. He was uncomfortably full, and breathing was difficult. They walked hand in clawed hand back to their suite.

His Ghouls got the door for him, and he squatted to get into the room. Letting go of her hand, he groaned as he walked into the bedroom. Pulling his cravat off, he tossed it on the dresser. He falls backwards across the bed. Both sets of wings open behind him. He kicks off his shoes and loosens the belt he wore tonight with his zip up pants.

Sorella walks in, stops and smirks at him. He could hear her telling herself

I told you not to eat too much.

“I regret nothing, Sorella. Except not eating more.”
Chucking, he unzips his pants and fights a food coma coming on. His talons on his hand rest on his rising and lowering stomach.

She goes over to the window and shuts the curtains. Walking past the bed, she leans over him and kisses his forehead.

“I’ll have the Ghouls go get you some TUMS. How many are you supposed to give an eight-foot-tall demon who can’t control himself?”
She teases, sitting on the bed. Leaning over, she undoes the buttons of his clerical shirt until his bare, hairy chest is exposed. Taking each arm, she removed them from the sleeves. He sits up enough for her to remove the shirt from underneath him. Folding the shirt, she walks around his legs and pulls his pants off.

He wanted to crack a joke about her undressing him, but he was fighting for his life. Who would have thought that the Antichrist’s weakness was Holy water and endless pasta.

When she returned, she had some make-up remover wipes. Sitting on the bed, his double horned head shared her lap with her swollen belly. Bringing the wipe to his face, she delicately cleaned his face using several of them. Moving from his chin, up his cheek and across his forehead until his face was bare.

Listening to her thoughts, she wasn’t mad at him. She was doing this out of love. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the pampering. Well, enjoyed it as much as he could feeling awful. His tail began to lightly tap against the floor. Sorella seemed pleased at his body’s response, and she ran her hands through his hair, careful not to scratch around the base of his horns.

He loved listening to the way she thought about him. She thought about how proud she was, and their future. She thought about the baby and the babies she was planning to have after, which was news to him.

“Lay with me.”
Copia opens his red and white eyes, patting the space next to him. She smiles.
“I can if you want, but since this is our last night here would it be OK if I join the Sisters of Sin? Some of us are really hitting it off.”

Copia reaches over to hold the hand that was scratching his head.
“Of course. I’m not much fun at the moment. Tell them I said 'Hi'
 for me.”
He runs his thumb over her knuckles and over the gold signet ring she was still wearing.
“Let me know if any of them want to join us in America. I know a guy who can make that happen.”
He winks up at her.

She thanks him, standing then leaning down to kiss him upside down. Her soft lips press onto his. He lifts his head and moves his hand to touch her face. Even though he was still battling a stomachache, his cock stood to attention in his boxers from that heated kiss.
 “Take my Ghouls with you.”
He shouts as the suite door clicks shut. Rotating his body on the bed, he decides to take a quick nap that ends up with him waking up back to his old demonic self in the morning hours.

He felt the bed around him, and only cold sheets were there. Jumping out of the bed, the oversized boxers fell off him.
“Sorella?”
He called out, running into the living room.
“Mmm.”
Her voice responded from the couch. His shoulders slumped and wings lowered, realizing she slept on the couch because of him.

“Why didn’t you wake me?”
He kneels beside her.

Opening her eyes, she yawns into a stretch.
“I got in late. They threw me a baby shower. Look!”
She points over to the kitchen table covered in gifts.
“I’m fine.”
She sits up, cupping his face in her hands and kisses him.

He could no longer read her thoughts to tell if she was lying or not. He furrowed his eyebrows then relaxed his forehead saying.
“Since we’re both up. Let's get ready to head over to the beach house. I have something planned for tonight.”
She puts her hands out and he stands then helps her off the couch. Looking down, she notices he’s naked and her eyes widen then glance up at him.
“Do we have time for shower sex? We were so busy we didn’t get to do anything yesterday”
She grins, fondling his package.

Hissing, he breathes out.
“For me ruining last night and making you sleep on the couch you can have whatever you want.”

“Whatever I want!”
Her eyes light up. She brings her index finger to her chin and grins.
“In that case, maybe I want a foot rub.
”

“Too late.”
Copia scoops her up in his arms with ease.
“Shower sex first, then whatever you want. Okie-Dokie?”

“Okie-Dokie.”
She giggles as he carries her into the shower.

Getting a late start, they said their goodbyes. Sorella hugged all the Sisters of Sin and Copia made a point to shake hands with Cardinal Taylor. The Italian Ghouls drove everyone in a blacked-out Land Rover. Copia and Sorella in the back and his Ghouls in the second-row bucket seats. The paparazzi took several pictures as the SUV whirled by into traffic.

When they left the city, Copia cracked a window because his senses were overloaded with everyone smelling like sex. His Ghouls apologize but rolled their eyes even though they pointed out that now he knows what they deal with all the time. He huffed at them but wrapped his arm around Sorella who was leaning against him.

The trip took a few hours, but they pulled into the private beach house. Copia felt like this was truly the start of their babymoon he promised her. Sorella grabbed his gloved hand.

“Can we go see the beach?”

“Whatever you want. It’s our beach for the week. No one will disturb us out here.”
He smiles, leading her around the house on to the beach. She stopped to take off her shoes, but he continued on in his expensive black dress shoes. She ran ahead of him and into the rising tide on the shore. Copia watched her chase after a sandpiper as it flew away, circling back and continuing to search for clams.

She turned and beckoned for him to come into the water. Sighing, he took off his gloves, socks and shoes. Taking the time to roll up his pant legs, he finally joins her in the cold water. She runs up, wraps her arms around his neck and kisses his lips. Her tongue parting his lips and him leaning into her kiss. His hands rested on the small of her back.

Once the Ghouls took all the luggage into the house, they walked down to the beach, bringing some beach chairs, an umbrella and a mesh bag full of sand toys. Sorella and Copia sat down in the chairs and enjoyed each other’s company.

The Ghouls got the toys out and started to build a sandcastle closer to the water. Their plan was to build the best castle they could until the tide took it back to the ocean. It was impressive how fast they worked. They even used beach debris to decorate their creation. Sorella would help them from time to time and he dozed off a few times in his chair.

After watching the tide take the mighty castle the Ghouls built, everyone walked back up to the house. Sorella called home to check in with her mom. Copia did some work on a laptop until it was time for dinner.

“Is it almost time to eat? The baby is hungry.”
Sorella had changed into a blue maxi dress and her hair was down. Copia’s mismatched eyes stared at her.
“Wow. When did you get this dress?”

Sitting next to him on the couch, she rubs her stomach with one hand, and grasps his hand with her other.
“I got it for the trip. Do you like it?”

He squeezes her hand, then places it on his groin so she can feel his growing erection.
“I love it.”

She bites her lip and massages him before moving her hand to his thigh.
“Later. Dinner first.”

Copia cranes his neck to look out the window onto the beach.
“The Ghouls should be about ready. Let’s go.”

Sorella also follows his line of vision, rotating her body.
“We’re eating on the beach?”
She turns her head to glance up at him.
“How romantic.”

Standing, he extends his hand to help her up.
“Don’t be so surprised. I can be romantic. I just haven’t gotten a chance to be the last year. This demon thing kind of gets in the way and makes me look like a bad boyfriend.”

Accepting his help, Copia helps her off the couch which was becoming more difficult for her with each day.
“You’re not a bad boyfriend. But if I have to say I’m hungry one more time, I’m going to eat you.”

Copia pretends to be scared, raising his hands over his face with a horrified expression.
“The one thing scarier than the actual Antichrist. A hungry pregnant woman!”

She frowns. Ugh-oh. Maybe he went too far. She doesn’t seem distressed.
“I’m… just teasing, Sorella.”
He reaches out to her.

She grabs his hand and smirks.
“Me too. But seriously. I may not be able to destroy the world, but I will make your life a living Hell if I have to wait any longer.”

Nervously laughing, he tilts his head.
“Noted. After you.”
He holds the door open for and hand and hand they walk down to the beach. Waiting for them was a white cloth draped over the table and two chairs. A candle in a hurricane glass sitting in the middle. He got the chair for her, and he took the other. The Ghouls set down a plate of spaghetti and meatballs with a basket of breadsticks.

Sorella looked at the food, then him, waiting for him to give thanks. He raised his palms and the candle’s flame shot straight up. Saying the quickest prayer of his life with his deepened voice, he gestured for her to dig in. She grabbed her fork and spun the noodles.

“I know it’s not the fanciest menu, but it was our first meal together.”
He casually says.

Swallowing a mouthful, she dabs her napkin to her mouth.
“I remember. You were so nervous.”
She smiles, spinning her fork again.

“I was nervous! Someone forgot to give thanks before eating!”

She
laughed
and he lost the battle of keeping a straight face and
laughed
with her.

When they finished dinner, they talked and watched the ocean under the moonlight. He behaved himself and only had one plate of spaghetti. As the hour grew later, the night was not over for his final surprise.

Sorella exhales a content sigh.
“You ready to head back up to the beach house?”

Standing, Copia grins. 
“One more thing.”
Offering his hand to her.
“Can I have this dance?”

She gives him a surprised look, and her lips form into a thin line, her eyes searching the beach.
“There’s no music.”

Copia lovingly gazes down at her.

She blinks.

He sighs, turns to his Ghouls and hisses.
“That’s your cue!”

The Ghoul jumps and presses a button down on a boom box that appears suddenly. Slow music begins to play.

Sorella flutters her eyelashes and blushes.
“I’d be honored.”
She takes his hand and he leads her out onto the beach. They were both barefoot, having taken off their shoes during the meal. When Copia felt they were far enough away from the Ghouls for privacy. He takes her right hand in his left and rests his right hand on her back. She does the same with her left hand. Guiding her, he sways to the music. Twisting her stomach off to the side, she rests her head on his chest. He sets his cheek on her hair and inhales her scent.

His mind was quiet after a week of hearing everyone’s thoughts. Just the rolling waves of the ocean filled his ears. He felt tiny kicks against his stomach, reminding him they weren’t alone. Copia’s heart was full. Just a little over a year ago, he felt so alone in this world. Now his entire world was wrapped in his arms, swaying with him to the music on this moonlit beach in Italy.

A happy, low
growl
rumbled in his chest. She raised her face, keeping her chin on his chest.
“I love you, too.”
She whispers, pressing into him. Kissing the top of her head, he whispers into her hair, afraid if he said it too loud, he’d jinx himself.
”Tutto è perfetto nella mia vita per una volta. Satana non mi tolga questo. Morirei se la perdessi.”
.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Copia looked down at his gold wristwatch. The meeting was going over. He had the power to just end it and walk out, but the work was important to the Clergy. He had told Sorella he would be done by now and he hated disappointing her. She didn’t seem distressed by his lateness so he tried to remain patient until they were done.

She had just finished the nursery and was excited for him to see it. Her and her mother helped design it and all the Ghouls and Ghoulettes chipped in to decorate. He would have loved to help, but he had been so busy the last month and it wasn’t letting up. Father Jim was launching a full attack on his church, and he was on the defense. Being that he was family, he had to unfortunately be diplomatic to keep the peace.

When he was done, he didn’t stay behind and ran down the hallway. His Ghouls jogged along with him. They were also excited to see the nursery. An empty suite with multiple rooms was converted to accommodate their growing family. This way Sorella had her own room or guest room for her mom along with another room that would be the baby’s room.

The nursery suite door was open, and Copia walked in.
“I’m sorry I’m late. Meeting went over. We’re dealing with some things that needed my attention.”

Sorella, Terzo and her mother were sitting in the living room. They all looked up at him. Sorella attempts to get off the couch, and Terzo stands to help her.
“You’re fine, Darling. Thank you, Terzo.”
She takes Copia’s hand and leads him to a door.

“Close your eyes.”
Sorella squeezes his hand. He could feel the excitement in her voice. Smiling, he does as he’s told, and she leads the way. Letting go of his hand; he senses she walks in front of him.
“Open.”

His green and white eyes stare at the space, and he spins on his heel. A sudden wave of ‘

this is really happening

’ hits him. The baby was no longer a bump, but had his own room waiting for him.

The room was blue and gold with accents of black. He grinned at her, pleased with her color choice. A large black wooden crib was against a wall with his Grucifix hanging above it. There was a matching long dresser with a changing pad on it against the other wall. Behind him he sees a floor to the ceiling bookshelf filled with books, toys and some framed pictures of him and Sorella. He laughs and walks over to grab the ornate framed photo of Terzo with Omega.

“That was my contribution.”
Terzo enters the room, grinning.
“That and building the crib.”
Copia looks over at him surprised.
“Well, Omega built it and I supervised.”

Taking a step back, his eyes bounce around the room.
“Sorella. Everything looks fantastico! Everyone did a great job.”

She wraps her arm around Copia’s back and leans into him.
“We still have some more to work on, and to put away all the items we’ll get from the shower but this is it. Speaking of the shower, are you ready to go and register with me?”

Copia’s eyes widened. He had completely forgotten. She glares at him. He didn’t have to read her mind to know she was pissed.
“I remembered the birth class tonight.”
He smiles a toothy grin and pats her back.

Attempting to cut the tension in the room, Terzo speaks up.
“I can take her. I don’t mind. The people at the babino store that we got the furniture from already think I’m the daddy.”
He leans against the doorframe and looks at his nails.

Copia frowns, then looks down at Sorella.
“Let me make a phone call and we’ll get going after lunch.”

“Can we go out for lunch instead?”
Her eyes light up and she sways back and forth.

Kissing the top of her forehead, his arms wrap around her sides. His thumbs graze her stomach.
“Is that what the little one wants?”

Biting her lip, she looks up at him.
“Well, if you’re asking what the baby wants. He wants salsa and chips.”

“Mexican it is!”
Copia looks over to Terzo.
“You want to come with us and her mom? You can bring Omega.”

Before Terzo can answer, Sorella adds.
“And my roommate. I think she’d like to come too.”
She looks over at Terzo and winks and the corner of his mouth curls. Copia knew Terzo was almost as crazy for her roommate as he was for Omega.
“Why not.”
Copia exclaims.
“The more the merrier on this shopping trip.”

“I’ll go round everyone up.”
Terzo mouths

thank you

to Sorella.

Her mom peers into the room.
“If we’re going out to eat, do you want me to call Nicole and Mary…”

At the mention of Mary’s name. he
growls
. Her mom flinched, staring at him. Sorella jumped in.
“That’s a lot of people, Mom. We can have lunch with them another day. OK?”
Her mom nods, looking sad, then goes back into the living room.

Sorella turns to Copia.
“What was that? Your issue is with her husband, not Mary. She already thinks you hate her.”

He didn’t like being scolded and it’s not like he could help it. Gritting his teeth, he took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a second.
“I don’t hate Mary. I feel bad for her for being married to that man.”
His voice growled out the last part.
“Right now, I’m just nervous to have you so close in contact with Father Jim. I’m not saying she’d do anything, but I don’t trust him.”

She pats his chest.
“I know. She still has no idea about you being the Antichrist. Nicole said she had to cover for you when her girls told Mary’s kids about Uncle Copia’s giant wings that were going to take them flying this summer.”

Copia loved hearing his favorite nieces bragging about him.
“We need to invite them over at some point.”
He pauses and grins.
“Maybe the family can catch a ride over with Father DeFroque and his followers that show up everyday to annoy me.”

Sorella struggles to keep a straight face, walking toward the living room.
“Father Jim doesn’t take that old school bus like the others. He drives himself in his new flashy SUV. That would not be a good look if everyone got out and walked into the Ministry.”
They both laugh, joining up with everyone planning to go out to eat.

The Ghouls organized the transportation and Copia made a phone call to clear his schedule. Copia, Sorella, her roommate and Terzo changed into street clothing and met the Ghouls in the garage with the black Cadelaic Escalade ready to go.

Copia raises his RayBan Wayfarers on top of his head, his painted eyes squinting. He raises his hand and does a quick count.
“We have too many.”

Terzo, who was also wearing glasses, opens the door.
“Nonsense. I’ll just sit on the ground.”
He turns to Sorella’s old roommate, hiding his mouth behind his hand and whispers.
“Or on Omega’s lap.”

“That’s not very safe.”
Copia’s eyebrows furrow.

“Worst case scenario, I die.”
Terzo shrugs, helping her roommates into the SUV, then Sorella’s mother.

Copia side-eyes Sorella and exhales through his nose.

Omega climbs in, followed by Terzo who did in fact sit on the floor between Omega’s legs. Copia helps Sorella into the second row bucket seat and buckles her in, sneaking a quick kiss upon her soft lips that lingered.

“Aww.”
Terzo sing-songs.

Copia’s eyes lift and glare at Terzo, growling.
“Geloso?”

“Chi sono io?”
Terzo smiles like the devil himself leaning back into Omega and throwing his head back. The large Ghoul leans down, moving the mask up and exposing his lips and deeply kisses Terzo.

Copia’s eyes widen and he whispers a quick hiss.
“Sua madre è proprio lì, stronzo!”
Thankfully her mother was sitting, waiting patiently and looking out the window. She hadn’t noticed Terzo’s being, well Terzo. The roommate was covering her mouth, trying not to laugh.

Copia glares at her and Omega.
“Don’t encourage him. I have no idea what either of you two see in him.”
He rolls his eyes, slamming the door and not waiting for their answers. Circling the vehicle, he opens the door and hops into his seat. After the click of his seatbelt, he nods at the Chauffeur Ghoul watching him in the rearview mirror.

The SUV pulls out of the garage and makes its way to the gatehouse behind the Ministry to a group of screaming fanatical fundamentalist Christians. Her mother perks up and starts naming everyone she knows. When she sees Father DeFroque, she bangs on the glass and shouts
“Jim!”

“Mom”
Sorella gently calls out in her sweet tone.
“He can’t hear you.”

Her mom sits back into her seat and folds her hands across her lap.
“Well we should stop and say hello when we come back.”

Her roommate, trying to make conversation, casually asks.
“How do you know Father Defroque?”

Sorella’s mother beams.
“He’s my son-in-law.”

Silence echoed in the SUV. Copia and Sorella had made a point not to tell anyone. Not even Sister Imperator knew. Terzo
cackled
, breaking the tension.

Copia twists in his chair.
“Terzo, go to sleep.”
His brother’s red eye glows and he immediately passes out in a deep sleep, hitting the floor of the vehicle hard. Sorella put her shaking head in her hands. Omega shook Terzo’s shoulder and
growled
at Copia. Her mom looks confused over at her old roommate who was too stunned to speak.

“What just happened?”
Her mom timidly asks.
“Is Mr Terzo going to be OK?

“He’s fine.”
Copia barks out with a bite he regrets. He shifts in his seat to look at her mother.
“We just had not shared that bit of knowledge with everyone. It’s complicated, seeing that he’s attacking my church. He had not made the announcement public of our situation. Out of fear of retaliation, we were also keeping our little family secret hidden from within the Clergy.”

She looks down at the ground and squirms.
“I’m sorry.”

“You didn’t know, Mom.”
Sorella adds.
“No one is mad at you.”

Copia gives her a closed mouth smile.
“It was probably time everyone found out anyway. We’re at a standstill with him. Maybe we need to take the offense for once. Satan works in mysterious ways, and this is his next step.”

“I don’t like the idea of Satan using me Mr Emeritus, but if you’re not mad at me then I’ll take it.”
Her mom relaxes and looks over at Omega and her roommate.
“Can you fix Mr Terzo?”

Shifting back to face the front, Copia smirks.
“He’s safer on the floor. Plus he can’t eat anyway. We’ll just crack a window and leave him in the Escalade.”

Sorella lightly smacks Copia’s arm and commands.
“Wake up, Terzo.”

Terzo stirred on the ground and immediately began to resume his laughter. Setting his head in his hand, his eyes filled with mischief.
“Brother-in-law. Are you serious!”
He rolls into his back and continues to belly laugh until they reach the local Mexican chain.

The Ghouls had called ahead and reserved the back room at the Mexican restaurant, so when they walked through the doors they were whisked away to their table. Getting the chair for Sorella, Copia sat next to her. The group ordered and ate several baskets of tortilla chips. Terzo seemed to be having a good time, sitting across from him between the roommate and Omega. Her mother was sitting on the other side of Sorella. The salsa was too spicy for her, and proceeded to nibble on a single chip. The Ghouls even joined them, each eating an entire basket of chips.

Everyone enjoyed their meals and Copia settled the bill, leaving a generous tip. Back in the Escalade, the SUV drove to the chain baby store. The Ghouls stayed behind to wait in the vehicle, figuring Copia and Terzo were enough protection out in public.

This was Copia’s first time, and immediately felt intimidated. Sorella sensed his anxiety and grabbed his hand with a reassuring squeeze.
“We’re right here.”
She whispered into his ear. His eyes dropped to her stomach, and he smiled. Kissing her temple, he
thanked
her for the encouragement.

Inside, the woman talked to the employee at the gift registry kiosk. Terzo and Copia awkwardly wandered down an aisle, wearing their sunglasses inside to hide their High Clergy paint and mismatched eyes. Terzo would occasionally pluck something up from the shelf and rotate it in his hands, then place it back.

“Do babies really need all this stuff?”
Terzo inquired.

Copia shrugs.
“I’m still not quite sure I understand this shower, but Sorella seems really excited about it. Apparently, women get together, play silly games, eat cake and she opens gifts that we get to keep.”

“The mother and her sisters are throwing her one and her roommate is throwing the other. Sorella felt it best not to mix the two crowds.”
Terzo checks on the ladies who were still at the counter.
“I’m excited for the parties either way.”

Copia stops to smirk at his brother.
“You would be.”

Terzo throws his hands in the air, then rests them on his hips.
“What’s that supposed to mean? You realize you have to make an appearance at both, right?”

Taking a deep breath, Copia explains.
“I know. Her mom wasn’t happy we can’t have her party at the family church. Especially since I just learned I wouldn’t be able to enter the building.”

“I wonder if I can go inside a Christian church.”
Terzo’s eyes look off to the side, pondering if this inconvenience extended to him.
“In our line of profession, it honestly doesn’t come up a lot.”
He chuckles.

Sorella, her mom and roommate join them. She hands the scanner to Copia. Without thinking, he pretends it’s a toy gun and aims it at Terzo, playingfully making ‘

pew pew pew

’ noises. Reaching her hand up, Sorella points it to the floor and explains to Copia what they need to do. When he understood the assignment, they took off.

Walking down every aisle, Sorella would point out the item and Copia would scan it. He felt like they were asking for a lot of things, but the woman assured him that between two showers, she needed to have several items for her guests to choose from as a gift. Her mother helped her pick out some items that her sisters had that she should get too.

After several hours in the store, they were finally done. Terzo and the roommate returned the scanner, while the rest waited at the front of the store. Loading back into the SUV, Sorella looked through the gift bag of stuff they gave her for registering. Omega rubbed Terzo’s shoulders that were between his legs.

When they almost reached the Ministry, Copia leaned forward to talk to the Chauffeur Ghoul.
“Sorella’s mother wants to stop and say ‘Hello.”. We’re going to stop in front of the gate. Pull up at the gatehouse, and I’ll get her out. OK?”
The Ghouls in the front seats nod, but side eye each other.

Sitting back into his seat, he turns to Sorella who looks nervous. He pats her leg.
“Trust me. Say your goodbyes in the vehicle and stay in the car.”
Raising his voice to his Ghouls, he instructs them.
“If there is any trouble you get her to safety. Got it?”
Once again they nod.

The tension in the Escalade was taut as they approached the crowds outside the gate. When they saw the SUV, they began to yell and wave their signs. Saying a silent prayer, the vehicle stops and the mob watches, cautiously continuing their verbal attack.

Obviously, her mom says her goodbyes with hugs and kisses to everyone. Sorella gives Copia a worried look. He opens the door with an evil grin, helping her mother out of the Cadillac. He turns to watch the crowd, and flips his sunglasses on top of his head. Scanning, he stops when he locks eyes with Father Jim. Shutting the door, Sorella’s mom waves at the shocked people she recognizes.

Copia follows closely behind the mother until she reaches the horrified pastor. A mix of terror on his bearded face and anger in his eyes. It was a risk for him to put himself in such a dangerous position, but he was banking on them being too stupid to recognize him without his papal paint.

“Jim!”
Her mom cheerfully exclaims, wrapping her arms around his rigid body for one of her famous hugs.
“We got lunch and went registering for the baby. Do you think you can give me a ride home so Mr. Emeritus doesn’t have to send one of his SUVs?”

Stunned, Father Jim’s eyes shift nervously from her to the crowd, back to a smug Copia.
“Uhh.”
Was all he could manage to say. The protestors were getting quiet, watching the interaction and some wondered aloud why his mother-in-law just got out of a Clergy vehicle.

DeFroque’s eyes narrow at Copia.
“Sure, Mom. It would be my pleasure.”
He replies, followed by a closed mouth smile.

“Great! Goodbye Mr. Emeritus. Take care of my daughter and have fun tonight.”
Father Jim flinched when she said ‘Mr. Emeritus’ and ‘daughter’.

Copia opened his arms wide and hugged her tightly.
“It was wonderful having you here. Don’t be a stranger…”
He glares at Jim.
“...Mom.”
He lets go and turns his body to the pastor.
“Thank you so much for giving her a lift.”
His lips curl into a toothy smile.
“Tell Mary and the kids I said ‘Hello’. My Sorella is very excited to see them at the shower.”

Father DeFroque’s face finally cracked and he scowled for the briefest of moments.

“See you around.”
Copia added, taking a step forward and whispered.
“Your move.”
He winks his white eye and walks confidently back to the SUV. Father DeFroque puffed his chest, standing his ground and sizing up Copia. The church goers behind him began to ask the Father several questions, causing him to back down. Jumping into the Escalade, Copia watches Jim quickly escort Sorella’s mother to his oversized SUV.

“I hope you know what you’re doing.”
Sorella says flatly, rubbing her stomach. Copia can sense her distress he just caused her, the metallic bitter taste flooding his senses along with his own guilt. She doesn’t trust him, or maybe she’s scared of the consequences of the little stunt he just pulled. Either way, the secret is now out and there is no going back.

Still deep in his own thoughts to respond, Terzo who was now sitting between Omega and the roommate, chimes in with a low comforting voice.
“Sorella. Have faith in our Papa. Once the dust settles, everything will go back to normal. We’re all here for you.”
Terzo leaned forward, extending his arm out to gently rub her shoulder for comfort. Terzo glares at Copia, daring him to growl at him and directing his comment at his brother.
“Sei il benvenuto a dormire sul divano nella tana dei ghoul stanotte finché non si calma.”

Copia sighs. He didn’t want to have this discussion in front of everyone as the vehicle became uncomfortably quiet. When they pulled into the garage, Sorella opened her own door and stormed back to the suite. Terzo, Copia and his Ghouls chased after her, leaving Omega and the roommate behind.

Catching up to her, he tried to hold her hand and she jerked her arm away.

Boom.

A crack of thunder shook the Ministry, but Sorella didn’t take a single misstep through the hallways. Panic was rearing its ugly head in Copia’s soul. She had never been this mad at him. As much as he detested the high holidays he wished more than anything he could read her mind.

Two Ghouls were already waiting outside the Suite. They opened the doors and their tails proudly flicked until they realized not all was right in paradise. Sorella entered first, and Copia stopped outside the entryway. Holding his hand up, Terzo and his Ghouls come to a halt in front of his palm.
“Give us a minute. We need to talk.”

Terzo straightens up and grins.
“Talk? She’s pissed at you, Fratello. I’d give her some space, but since you prefer to do your own thing.”
He puts his hands up to his chest.
“Be my guest.”
His two Ghouls tails nervously flick from side to side and pat his shoulder for encouragement.

Closing the door behind him, he hears her crying. His heart dropped through the floorboards. A high- pitched
whine
escaped his throat that took him by surprise. He brought his hand to his chest. That was a new sound he’d never made before. Then again, he had never hurt her like this before either.

If he was in his infernal state, his tail would have been tucked between his legs when walked into the bedroom. She was laying on the bed, facing against the wall and sobbing. He didn’t dare climb into the bed with her, so he stood on the other side and stared at the consequences of his actions.

“Sorella.”
He paused, wringing his gloved hands that caused them to squeak.
“Don’t be sad.”

She huffs and sits up to face him.
“Is that all  you can say? Do you realize what you’ve just done?”
He blinks and shrinks where he stands.
“You used my mom for whatever Holy War you’re in the middle of with Jim. I just got my family back…”
She chokes out a strangled sob.
”…and you had to go and do this?”

Copia looks down at the ground. Of course she was right. He might have just destroyed her relationship with her family. He whispers.
“I told you being with a Papa was not going to be an easy life.”
Green and white eyes lock on with hers.

Sorella scowls at him and her lip trembles.
“Then why didn’t you do everything within your power to protect me?”

Boom.

A flashing of lightning lit up the bedroom, followed by the second call of thunder. that was almost as loud as his heart breaking. Her words were a punch to his gut and his knees buckled. The panic finally reached his brain and took over. He let her down and could see it within her eyes. For once he put protecting his church at her expense and he might lose both.

“Sorella. I’m sorry. You’re right. I didn’t protect you or your heart. I made a mistake. I’m human.”
Her eyebrow raised as he continued.
“Well, mostly.”
He grinned, but dropped his smile when she didn’t find the humor in the situation. He coughs into his fist and his eyes shift to the side.
“I should probably go talk to Sister Imperator. We probably need to release another statement to set the record straight.”
Mismatched eyes moving to hers for approval.
“Is that Okie-Dokey?”

Sorella rubs her stomach and wipes the tears off her face with a sniff. “
You’re going to call my mom and apologize then warn her about the media storm that’s about to happen. You got that?”

Only Sorella could wrap the Antichrist around her delicate fingers and make him do her bidding. She had no idea what power she held and she was wielding it by making him be a better man. He nodded his head and agreed to everything she wanted. He took a step forward and hesitated.  For the first time she noticed he was crumbling and needed her reassurance she wasn’t going anywhere, but she was too emotional to respond and honestly, he didn’t deserve it. If he was going to make this right, he had to do it while broken if he wanted to heal the rift between them.

He stopped and told her he’d be back later. She laid back down, but she wasn’t crying this time. Soulfully, he walked through his living room and through his door. Terzo and his Ghouls looked up at him.

“I fucked up and I’m going to go talk to Sister. Terzo, can you stay behind and watch Sorella?”

“Of course.”
Copia tried to leave, but Terzo grabbed his arm.
“For what it’s worth, I meant every word in the Escalade. I trust you, and deep down she trusts her Papa. She’s just scared.”

Copia’s eyes softened,
thanking
him that he wasn’t the monster he was making himself out to be in his mind. Gesturing to his Ghouls, they accompanied him to Sister’s office.

When he reaches her door, he knocks and waits. When Phil opens the door, he barges in using his papal privilege to do what he wants.

“Hello?”
Sister Imperator calls out from her desk.

Copia sits down in her floral chair, crossing his legs.
“Sister.”
She relaxes, recognizes his voice.
“Is everything OK? We didn’t have anything scheduled today and you canceled all your meetings today.”

“The Clergy needs to make an official statement.”
Copia states, and Sister perks up in her chair
. “What kind of statement? What’s going on?”
A worried look crosses her face.

“Turns out the women in Sorella’s family have an affinity for men of the faith.”

Sister looks confused. He
spills
all the details of her mother’s birthday party. Slamming her fists on her desk, he was rightly
scolded
for keeping that information from her for so long. Instead of retreating into himself like he once did, he stood his ground because he and Sorella made that decision together. Copia then went on to explain the alteration that just happened by the gate, which Sister listened to proudly.

“Well, well.”
Sister rests her hands on her desk.
“Seems like Satan picked Sorella for you based on more than just what goes on in the bedroom.”
She smirks.
“Yes, we can definitely use this to our advantage.”

“No.”
Copia roars, causing Sister to jump.
“We’re not going to use Sorella's family. They are innocent. Just release the statement to the media that it was recently revealed that Papa Emeritus’s Prime Mover is the estranged sister-in-law to Father James DeFroque. No other details need to be provided from our camp. If the Father wishes to release her mother’s name, then that’s on him.”

Sister frowns.
“Very well. Anything else?”
Copia stands.
“No. Thank you for handling this.”

“You do realize that Father Jim kept this out of the media for a reason.”
She turns toward his voice.
“He will retaliate. This is personal now and he’s going to hurt you.”

A low growl rumbled in his chest, making Phil cower close to Sister.
“If he hurts me, I’ll destroy him.”

Sister Imperator smiled darkly.
“Excellent.”

Copia furrowed his brow, then left her office, making his way down to his for one more thing he had to do. When he reached his office, he plopped down into his chair. Lifting the phone to his ear, he flipped through his phone directory until he found Sorella’s sister Nicole’s phone number. Dialing it, he waited for someone to pick up on the other line.

“Hello?”

“Nicole?”

“Yes.”

“It’s me. Copia. Sorella’s boyfriend.”
He rubbed the back of his neck as he always did when he was nervous.

“I know who you are.”
She laughed, sounding like his Sorella.
“Is everything alright?”

He exhales loudly through the phone.
“Did Jim drop off your mom?”

“He just left. Why?”

“Did he say anything?”
Copia held his breath.

“He seemed agitated, but what’s new? Did something happen?”

“I may have revealed our family connection in public. No. I did. I did reveal that to his congregation.”
Nicole is quiet on the other line, so he continued.
“The Clergy is about to release an official press release to set the record straight. I wanted you to know. I also wanted to apologize to you and her mother about the drama I’m about to bring to your lives.”

There was a long pause before Nicole spoke.
“Unlike Judas, we would never deny you or hide you’re part of our family.”

“I did it to hurt him”
He whispers into the phone.
“I hurt my Sorella.”

“You told the truth. That’s more than Jim did. Did you want to talk to mom?”

“Yes, please.”
Copia was taken aback by her words.

“Hello? Mr Emeritus? Is something wrong?”
Her mother asks.

“I just wanted you to know I messed up and I’m sorry. We are putting out a statement that will be on the news tonight about how Jim and I are connected.”

“The news? Over something that silly?”

Copia chuckled.
“It’s bigger than you imagine. I wanted you to know that some media may try to talk to you.”

“Oh I won’t tell them about your horns.”

“I appreciate that, but not where I was going. If you or Nicole’s family need a place to find sanctuary, everyone is welcome here at the Ministry. Do not hesitate to call.”

“Oh, OK. That’s sounds great! Do you have a moment? The girls want to talk.”

“Of course!”
He chuckles.
“Put them on.”

“Uncle Copia!” Both the six and four year old chime in together.

“Girls! When are you coming to visit me?”
He says through a smile. He can hear them asking their mother.

“Mommy says she doesn’t know.” The youngest’s voice replies.

“Ah. Well. Your mommy and my Sorella need to figure that out. Okie-Dokey?”

Both girls giggled, handing the phone back to Nicole.

“Copia?”

“Yes. I’m still here.”

She pauses.
“We’ll be in touch. Talk to you later”

“Later.”
He hangs up the phone, then stares at his desk. Copia was not ready to go back to his suite, deciding it was best to take Terzo’s advice and give Sorella her space. He sighed. Calling her family went way better than he imagined. Copia was counting himself lucky that they possessed the same nature as she did and an unquestioning level of understanding when it came to dealing with him.

For the next few hours, Copia got caught up on some work he neglected throughout the day. He took his dinner in his office, knowing she would not have joined him in the Great Hall. While he could no longer sense her distress, he had a feeling she was still mad.

Terzo joined him in his office for dinner. His brother didn’t like drinking blood in front of most people, but made an exception, telling Copia he figured he could use the company. Terzo assured him that she was calming down and will be alright. Copia got him up to date on everything he did after he left.

Nodding, Terzo finished his bag of blood and set it on the coffee table.
“That should make her happy. You did what she asked of you.”

“I guess.”
Sighed Copia, pushing his finished plate of lasagna away from him.
“I just got caught up in this thing with Jim.”

“You’re on a first name basis with him, now?”
Laughed Terzo.

“Hardly.”
Copia scoffed, glaring at Terzo. He was deep in his own thoughts, worried about his future.

“Fratello. Don’t worry. I’m sure at the end of the day, nobody cares.”
Terzo got serious, trying his hardest to comfort his worrying brother.

But people did care. In fact, it was the top new story of the night after the Clergy released the official statement to the media. The Ministry had several newstrucks parked outside. Many news anchors were trying to cover the bombshell revelation that Father Jim DeFroque and Papa Emeritus IV were in-laws.

Thankfully, Sorella had cooled down enough when it was time to leave for the birth class in the evening. The SUV leaving the Ministry caused a frenzy, but once they were out on the road, everything was back to normal. Inside the vehicle was uncomfortably quiet. Even Terzo didn’t dare speak a word as he sat in the back.

When they almost reached the hospital, Sorella turned to Copia.
“I talked with my mom and sister. Thank you for calling and offering them a place to stay if they need it.”

Looking timid, he slowly smiled.
“I wanted to protect them. Especially since this is all my fault.”

Sorella exhaled, then grabbed his gloved hand.
“If we’re admitting things.”
She leans closer to him then whispers.
“I might have overreacted.”
She looks down then back up at him.
“I’m sorry I didn’t trust you.”

Copia was taken aback.
“Sorella, you give me too much credit. I messed up.”

The Escalade pulled into a parking spot and the Ghoul put the SUV into park.

“I hate to break up your reconciliation, but do you want the extra protection tonight?”
Terzo gestures up to the Ghouls sitting up in the front seats, turning around to see Copia’s answer.

“Let's not draw any more attention to ourselves tonight. Terzo and I should be enough protection for Sorella.”
Copia decides, but makes sure based on Sorella’s reaction she was on board. When she nodded, he smiled and relaxed.

Walking up to the hospital entrance, Copia cautiously wrapped his arm around Sorella’s back. Leaning into him, she too wrapped her arm around his back. With the simplest of acts, the war was over between them. Terzo walked on the other side of Sorella, scoping out that the coast was clear, obliviously that there was peace once again.

The doors slid open, and the trio walked through. Terzo took it upon himself to ask where the class was located. It probably had more to do with talking to the pretty candy striper working the desk. After a few minutes, he returned with directions and yet another number he was tucking into his front shirt pocket. Terzo couldn’t see Copia rolling his eyes behind his RayBan Wayfarers or the look of smugness in Terzo’s mismatched eyes behind his Aviators.

Inside the class, they took a seat at a long table along with other expecting mothers. A few others brought an additional birthing partner, so Terzo’s presence didn’t stick out too much. Having gotten there early, they had about fifteen minutes before the class started.

Sorella smirked at Terzo.
“Are you ready to be my birthing partner?”

Terzo’s eyebrows shot up over his sunglasses.
“Oh, you’re serious? I just assumed you’d have me wait outside during the whole ordeal.”

Sorella’s mischievous eyes give her away.
“I need a backup in case someone...”
She points at Copia. “...
passes out.”

“I heard that.”
Copia laughed.
“I’m not going to pass out. You know a little blood doesn’t bother me anymore. He’s the one you have to worry about.”
He points to Terzo.

“One time I made a fool of myself!”
Terzo hissed out a whisper.

“One time?”
Copia belly laughed, causing everyone around them to look. Lowering his voice he continues, seeing he might have hurt Terzo’s feelings as he sat with his arms now crossed over his chest.
“Fratello. I’d be honored to have you by my side for one of my biggest moments, and even more thankfully you’ll be there in case I can’t be.”

Rolling his head toward him, his shoulders relax, and he grins.
“I won’t let either of you down.”

A few moments later, the class instructor walked in. She opened up with everyone going around the room and introducing themselves and who they brought with them as their support team. When it came time, Sorella stood and announced her name.

“I am twenty-eight weeks and expecting my first. A little boy. My support team is…”
She pauses.
“...my boyfriend and his brother.”
Copia turned, giving a brief wave. Terzo enthusiastically stood next to Sorella and waved to everyone.

After the icebreaker, handbooks were handed out to everyone to take home to read as homework. The instructor rolled a TV cart with a DVD player in front of the lecture hall. Pressing play, everyone watched in graphic detail the miracle of a natural birth.

Both Copia and Terzo watched with rounded eyes and mouths agape during the delivery. Terzo whispered behind Sorella’s back to Copia.
“What the Hell did I just sign up for? I didn’t even know it could do that!”

Unable to tear his eyes away from the screen, Copia hisses.
“Where did you think babies came from? Satan below!”
The woman on the video screamed bloody murder as the head pushed between her legs.

Sorella’s mouth rises in one corner at both men.
“Haven’t you both summoned Ghouls and seen unimaginable things? A baby being brought into this world is too much for you?”

Copia gripped the table and Terzo put his hand on Sorella's shoulder, both watching the conclusion of the delivery in the video. When the cries of the baby blasted through the TV, all the men watching let out a long exhale.

Squeezing her shoulder, Terzo reassures her.
“That doesn’t seem so bad.

Unholy fuck! What is that

?!?”

Copia leaned forward, feeling lightheaded watching the mom pass the placenta. Sorella struggled to contain her giggles, rubbing Copia’s thigh.
“My protectors.”

Terzo snapped his head at Copia and spit.
“You better not leave me alone to deal with that. I’m going to keep my promise because I’m a gentleman, but I was grossly uninformed about the whole process.”

Copia took a deep breath, his eyes shifting to Sorella who was still amused at his reaction.
“That was something, innuit?”
He expressed, sitting up in his seat and holding her hand.

Her other hand comes up and pats his.
“We have six more classes, so you both have plenty of time to become the support system I need.”

“Fantastico! More videos.”
Copia’s eyes widened, trying his hardest not to look terrified. Sorella really needed him and after today he was not going to ever let her down again. He kept telling himself he could do this, even though he just had to be supportive and Sorella actually had to put in the hard work.

The instructor gave a five-minute break, mostly for the men to get up and get something to drink. When everyone returned to their seats, questions were answered about the video and what to expect at the upcoming classes. Terzo raised his hand to ask a question, but Copia commanded him to put his arm down, telling him to ask Sorella later in private. The hour-long class concluded and everyone walked toward the exit.

When they exited the hospital, the news trucks had found them. A few news anchors with camera man rushed them, causing Copia to
growl
deeply and almost shift on the spot. Terzo told Copia and Sorella to head back into the hospital and he’ll bring the vehicle around. Nodding, he put his arm around Sorella and briskly walked her back into the building as questions were hurled at their backs. The other couples watched the chaos unfold when the hospital's police were starting to get involved.

Copia wrapped his arms around the front of Sorella, with her head buried in his shoulder. She wasn’t crying, but he could tell she was tired and just wanted to go home without any drama. He explained to security what was happening, which made them nervous. The Escalade pulled up and Copia and Sorella got a hospital escort out to the vehicle. Terzo opened the door and helped Sorella in on the side facing away from the cameramen. Copia refused to look into the cameras as the news anchors called out various questions. Hopping into the SUV, he slammed the door and off the Ghoul drove. Easily shaking the annoying media.

When they reached the Ministry, another set of news trucks were waiting for them. Along with the protestors who were loving the additional news coverage. Father Jim was not in the crowds tonight, or least Copia didn’t see them when the Escalade drove through the gates. Back in the room, Sorella called her family from the living room couch to make sure they were OK. Thankfully they were not being harassed.

Copia worked at his desk in his living room while listening to Sorella talk on the phone. He wasn’t eavesdropping, but he couldn’t help but overhear the conversation. They kept assuring her they were fine, and no one was mad at her or her boyfriend. Mary was a bit overwhelmed, dealing with the media and Jim’s temper tantrum. He hadn’t been home since the Clergy released their statement.

Hanging up the phone, Sorella sighed and laid down on the couch. She wasn’t distressed. If anything, she was quiet. She grabbed the handbook she got earlier and started to read.

Copia looked at her over his glasses, unsure what to do. Should he ignore her? Say something? Go over there? Sorella stopped reading and looked over at him with concern. His green and white eyes locked on with hers and he felt trapped, unable to look away. The anxiety bubbled in his chest. Softening her expression, she outstretched her comforting arms out to him.

He stared, his body unmoving. Her fingers curled, beckoning him to come. Standing, he circled his desk and walked weak-kneed toward her. His arms cautiously wrapped around her body, right hand on the back of her head and left snaked down her back as he sat beside her right side. Her hands withdrew to cup his face, her lips found his and tenderly kissed away his inner turmoil. Copia started to speak, but her kisses swallowed his words.

Catching their breaths, he rested his forehead against hers.

“Sorella.”

“Hmm.”

“I love you.”

She leans back, and grins.
“I love you too.”
Her hand takes his, resting it on her stomach.
“We’ll be fine. I do trust you.”

A bad feeling washes over him, causing the room to spin. Feeling his talons start to push through, he lifts his hand to hover over her bump. He growls.
“But I don’t trust Father DeFroque.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

“Copia. Wake up.” Sorella coos, rubbing the top of his clawed hand that was wrapped around her.Blinking, he stretches and cuddles into her with kisses on her shoulder. “Mmm.” He hums.“Look at your tail.” She whispers through a smile.Popping open his red right eye, he follows the length of his tail and finds it laid across Sorella’s bump. The spaded tip was lightly tapping, causing small kicks of retaliation.Sorella laces his fingers between his. “I’ve been watching you play with our son since I woke up. You switched from wrapping your tail around my ankle every morning to this within the last week.” “If it bugs you or wakes you up, I can stop. You know it has a mind of its own.” “I would never interrupt your bonding time. Plus, I think it’s adorable. Deep down you love us.”He chuckles. “Like there was any doubt.” Copia rests his chin on her shoulder. “Only you would find any of my demonic features adorable.” They watch his tail and her bump interact in a comfortable silence. His wings open and wrap around both of them.Putting her hand up to stop the leathery wingspan from resting on her, she reminds him they need to get up soon. His wings pull back suddenly against his body and he raises an eyebrow. “So we have time for a quickie?” Before she could contest, he was pulling down his boxers and planting slow and deliberate kisses along her neck. Careful not to bump his horns against her. Her hands pushed down her panties, and he looped his talon through the leg hole to help her. His tail drug down her body and wrapped around her ankle, raising her leg up. His breath shuddered against her skin, fighting the urge to bite. Growling in anticipation, he rolled himself between her legs to coat himself in her wetness he created from his touch. When his clawed hand groped her breast, she let out a breathy sigh while she dragged herself back and forth along his shaft. She wanted this as much as he did based on the way her hips were moving. She pants out. “My family is down the hall. So, try to be quiet.” Twisting her face behind, she kisses his unpainted, unshaven jawline. Deeply kissing and pushing his forked tongue between her lips, he scissors her tongue. He groaned from how badly he wanted to enter her. “Got it. No roaring. Does that mean I can’t sink my fangs into you?” He started to line himself up to enter, pushing his head into her. “Ready?”“Ready.” She confirms with a low voice full of want. Rocking into her, she moans into her pillow with each inch. When he was surrounded by her tight warmth, he waited until she was comfortable. Regaining her composure, she finally answers his question. “As long as you’re quiet. Only good boys get to bite.” His cock twitched in her, and his mouth watered. He wanted nothing more than to drink her. It was his favorite ritual they shared. It helped that she loved it too.Growling as softly as possible, he pulled his hips back and slammed into her with more force than she expected that resulted in a loud cry of pleasure. “Sorella, if I have to be quiet, so do you.” He threw his head back, lost in chasing his pleasure as his wings flexed.Her hand slid down between her legs, playing with her clit. His chest pressed up against hers, he could feel her breathing pattern change and blood pump faster through her veins. He was starting to lose control, staring at her neck his fangs drew closer and closer. Her other hand shot up to cover her neck, blocking him.“Not yet.” She teased, wagging her index finger while the others stayed on her neck. “I said that only good boys get to bite.”He huffed. She wants a ‘good boy’, that’s what she’s going to get and she’s going to regret it. A wicked smile spreads across his face. Slowing down his pace, he pulled out and at a snail’s pace pushed back in, making sure to hit her sweet spot which wasn’t too difficult at this angle. Her pussy clenched snuggly around him, so close to the edge.  After several rounds of being gentle, he paused then went at a furious pace. “Whoa!” She called out in surprise. His hands gripped her hips, pin-pricking her with his talons. “Shhh! You don’t want them to hear how I’m claiming you.” Copia said through a fanged smile.Her body was shaking, and he was trying to keep from spilling. With a full body jerk, a throaty inhale, she pressed her face into her pillow and screamed her battle cry of victory. His movements were becoming sloppy, and he whimpered out. “Please, Sorella. Please.”Her face twisted to kiss on his face, eventually finding his lips. “Yes. Go on. You’ve been so good for me.”As soon as she moved her hand, his fangs sunk deeply into the muscle of her shoulder. She grunted, then hissed and her body stiffened. When her blood washed down his throat, his stomach tightened. Eyes rolling into the back of his head, he felt a release and his cock pulsed while gifting her his dark seed. His wings opened, beating several times against the air, making the curtains sway. Copia held his breath to prevent any kind of sound escaping him. He couldn’t hold it in anymore, needing air. Releasing her, he gasped loudly. Bringing his forked tongue to her neck, he feverishly licked up every ounce of blood she bled. Somehow, he still managed to make the Ministry shake from the low frequency growl that rattled in his chest. Experiencing a small earthquake had to be better than hearing him roar throughout the hallways.  When he was done, he pulled himself out and she turned to face him. Having to tilt her stomach off to the side so she could get closer, and she intertwined their legs. His large wing stretched over them, and this time she allowed it. Her arms were around his neck, and her hands were rubbing the back of his head. “Sorella, I love you.” He said, while trying to catch his breath. She smiled sweetly into his red and white eyes. Running her hand through his salt and peppered hair, then back up along his horn. “I love you, too.”He nipped his wrist and offered his blood to her so that she could heal his fang marks. She was hesitant to drink his blood while pregnant, but her doctor assured her if anything it would help her and the little one. Her mouth sucked his cut. His tail flicked in the air a few times before slamming down on the bed. Pulling his wrist away from her, she licked her lips and thanked him. She laid her head down on the pillow and he laid his head against her chest. They had a few more minutes before they had to start getting ready and being this close to her was his favorite part of the day.Finishing up in the bathroom first, Copia walked into his living room. Terzo was already waiting for him., looking out the huge window that overlooked the courtyard. “It’s not like you to report for duty so early. You feeling alright, Fratello.”Terzo, holding his helmet, turns to him with the biggest smile and his eyes sparkled. “I’ve never been better. Better than better! This might be the best day of my entire life.”Copia grinned. “Spit it out. What happened?”“I’m going to be a daddy!”Copia’s eyebrows rose. That was the last thing he expected him to say, and he was floored. “Congratulations!” He ran up and hugged his brothers in a tight embrace. “I’m so happy for you. I just assumed this wasn’t an option for you due to your age and, well, the back from the dead thing.”“Oh. I’m not the father. Omega took care of that part for me.”Sorella walks into the room. “What are we celebrating?”Copia looks down at Terzo. While the Ghouls went through several heat cycles a year, it was rare for them to result in a pregnancy. It was even rarer when a half Ghoul half human was born. Sodo was the last one he could recall. He grinned. If any of the Sorella's of Sin were to carry that honor, of course it was Sorella’s old roommate.Throwing his arms in the air, Terzo shouts. “Your roommate is pregnant!”Sorella screams, running over to wrap her arms around Terzo’s neck. “You’re going to be a wonderful dad. How is she handling the news?”“We just found out this morning. She’s nervous about how big she’s going to get considering how big Omega was when he was born.” She does a double-take, then suddenly understands. “She’s always wanted a Ghoul baby! I guess Satan finally heard her prayers. I’m so happy for you, Terzo. And how is Omega handling this?”Terzo laughs. “Big guy passed out when we told him, but yes, he’s very excited. I’m going to have my own little family too.”“Our babies can grow up together and we can have baby playdates.” Sorella squealed with Terzo. “I need to talk to her. Darling, I’ll just meet you for breakfast. OK?”Copia nods his head. Giving her forehead a quick kiss before Sorella and Terzo run back to her old dorm. He sits at his desk and laughs. Who would have thought that Terzo, Omega and he would all be on this adventure together. Hearing a soft knock on the door, he already knows it’s her mother. The media finally tracked her down and Sorella’s mother, Nicole and her two nieces were staying in the guest suite. He calls out for her to enter. Cautiously, she enters looking around the room. “My daughter said she’d stop by this morning, and she hasn’t shown up.”Copia stands. Her mother’s eyes widened seeing him in his full papal paint, black robes, stole and leather cornette. “You just missed her. We had some excitement, and she took off. I can let her know you stopped by.”“Oh, ok. Are you going to join us in the courtyard this afternoon? Those girls won’t stop talking about flying.”He sighs. “Going to have to take a raincheck on the flying. Can’t risk the protestors or the media seeing me. Please tell them I’m sorry, but I look forward to joining them regardless.”She agrees to pass on the message, slowly backing out of the room. Copia walks over to his bookshelf and grabs Sister Imperator’s Antichrist leather book to read while he waits until it’s time for breakfast.Word spread quickly through the halls of the Ministry that Sorella’s roommate was expecting, whether she was ready to share that news or not. The Nameless Ghouls could not contain their excitement, which only made Terzo more insufferable and helped ease Omega’s anxiety of their joint fatherhood. Her roommate sat at the Ghoul’s table for breakfast and lunch. Sorella suggested Copia should just let her move into the Ghoul den at this point. After a few afternoon meetings, Copia stopped by his office first, before heading out to the courtyards. Changing out of his robes, he wore just his clerical shirt with the black cravat. He considered washing his face and applying his casual paint but decided against it knowing he’d have to apply it again later. Sorella’s nieces seem to be more scared of the papal paint, then his horns and wings, but they were getting used to it.Sorella’s family had been staying with them for the last week. The Sisters of Sin were very respectful of them and their privacy. Nicole and her mother seemed to enjoy the gardens of the courtyards the most and were starting to bond with Primo. He even gave them a small patch for them to plant some flowers to help fill their days. The girls were dying to explore the Ministry, but Nicole was hesitant to give a six- and four-year-old free run of a Satanic church. The Ghouls enjoyed sneaking them treats from the kitchen and helping them get into mischief. Like the time they played hide and seek and Copia had to get pulled from a meeting to help find them. Then they got a stern talking to that the crypts were off limits, especially for hide and seek. Sorella and Copia thanked the Dark Lord that they didn’t wake up Papa Nihil from his nap.Trekking out to the gardens, Copia with his Ghouls could see her family sitting on a blanket. Terzo, wearing his Impera helmet, was chasing after the girls, and struggling to keep up with whatever game they were playing. When they saw him, the six- and four-year-old ran up to him and hugged him. Talking a mile a minute, he raised his hand.“Good afternoon, girls.” He looks up. “Don’t tire the old man out too much. He’s had a very eventful day.” Wheezing, Terzo finally catches up. Leaning down, he rests his hands on his knees. “You’re older than me, remember?” He loved reminding him that Copia had lived longer than him and therefore he was no longer the little fratello. Copia rolled his mismatched eyes.Before Copia can quip back, Sorella waves and he joins her. Not wanting her to try and stand, he sits down beside her. At thirty-two weeks, he loved the way she glowed with pregnancy. She fanned herself and smiled at him. The June heat was not ideal for a pregnant woman, but she would never complain. He asked if he could get her or anyone else anything and she waved him off. “It’s a beautiful day.” Nicole says, watching the girls play. Everyone nods in agreement.“Too bad Mary can’t join us.” Sorella’s mother adds. It becomes awkward among the women. They had gone out earlier this week to have lunch with her and her kids. Sorella said that the meal could not have gone better. They had a great time talking and catching up. Copia knew that Mary was innocent in all of this mess and would love to be more involved with Sorella’s pregnancy. The media had not been too kind to her or her family the last month, forcing her to remain behind closed doors. Father Jim was away more than he was home, according to Mary. Somehow, Father Jim managed to turn the whole being the brother-in-law of Papa’s Emeritus’s Prime Mover to his favor. His church followers were even more committed, and they saw a slight increase in the numbers of protestors outside their gates. “I just wish Jim would come up with another cause and leave us alone. We are not going anywhere.” Copia exhales, worried about Sorella, her family and his church.Nicole laughs. “Jim has always been a pain in our sides. This is nothing new. He’s just never had this much power or people behind him. It’s gone a bit to his head.”“I just feel bad for Mary.” Sorella comments sincerely. She rubs her stomach then glances over at Copia. “Don’t forget. We have the birth class tonight.”Copia nods, saying proudly. “I remembered. I even read the homework in the handbook.”“I finished the handbook weeks ago.” Terzo tries to steal his thunder. “Good thing too since I’ll be doing this again at the end of this year.” His smile was the biggest Copia had ever seen. “Have you started to pack your hospital bag? The book says we need to start to get things ready.”“We?” Copia does a double take with a grin.Terzo turns his helmet to Copia. “Yes, we . We are Team Sorella.” He lifts his jacket cuff to show his watch. “I’ve even been practicing keeping track of the contractions, so I’ll know when it’s time to go to the hospital.” The women all give each other a look and smile. Copia was so preoccupied with everything he was not as well read on the subject as Terzo. He just assumed they went to the hospital when her waters broke. Sitting up, he asks. “I appreciate your dedication, Terzo. Do we have a bag packed, Sorella?”She pats his leg. “ We do.”“Fantastico! Then we’re all set, Terzo can track your contractions and I’ll…” Copia was suddenly unsure what his role would be. Seeing his hesitation, Sorella helps. “You’ll be by my side holding my hand. That’s all I need.” Exhaling, the anxiety builds and lessens at the same time. “I can do that! Hand holding is one of my specialties.” He grabs her hand and gives it a squeeze.The girls yelled from across the gardens for ‘Uncle Copia’ to come play. He excuses himself, and grunts when he stands.“And you called me the old man.” Terzo grins.Copia pushes Terzo’s shoulder. “I can still outrun you. Want to race?”“Between your super-fast demon run or you commanding me to run slower, I don’t have a snowball's chance in your hands.” He plops down next to Sorella, takes off his helmet and sets it on the blanket. He gives her mother a wink and she blushes. Running out to the kids, he chases after them with squeals of laughter. Copia looked forward to playing like this in the future with his son and now his future niece or nephew. Heck, by the time they are old enough, he may have even more children. Sorella seems to want a big family, and he was warming up to the idea, knowing he could never tell her no. His fun was interrupted by the sound of Phil running up to him. He knew that whatever news he had from Sister Imperator was bad and about to ruin his day. Annoyed, he growled deeply and scared the two girls. He felt awful seeing the fearful look on the six year old’s face and the four year old running back to her mother crying. Sorella managed to get to her feet faster than she should have and joined his side before Phil. Terzo slipped his helmet back on and became concerned, calming her mother and Nicole’s fears. When Phil appeared, he handed an envelope to Copia with Sister Imperator’s seal. Tearing it open, he read it quickly with Sorella peeking over his shoulder.
Papa Emeritus IV,

Father DeFroque wants to sit down this evening. He’s ready to end this feud and come up with a peace treaty. Report to my office, immediately.

Sister Imperator
Copia hands the note to Terzo. “A peace treaty?”“Tonight is the class.” She looks disappointed, but tries to hide her emotion with a plain face. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. You need to end this with him.” Sorella pats his shoulders.Terzo hands him back the paper. “I’ll take her tonight with your Ghouls. But I do agree. Something feels off about this. Why now?”He felt awful. Awful that he had to miss the birth class and awful that everything about this meeting felt wrong. Copia’s concerned eyes, look at Sorella. “I’m sorry. Duty calls. I love you and be safe.” His gloved hand runs down her stomach.“Of course” She gives him a quick kiss on the cheek as he heads back into the Ministry with Phil. He turns to wave at everyone. The girls had apparently forgotten his outburst and waved with the intensity only a child does.  After an emergency meeting with Sister Imperator, they put together a game plan and what key points they planned to bring to the table. Sister made him drink Primo’s tea, not wanting him to get too worked up. Copia was compliant, wanting peace between the two churches and Sorella’s family. Back in his black robes and leather cornette he made a quick stop by his suite to say goodbye to Sorella before she left.Putting on his business face, he waited for Father Jim to show up with his entourage. On time, he made his way up to the Ministry entrance, along with five other men. The crowds were cheering him on, and of course the news crews were there to capture their historic meeting. Rolling his eyes, Copia went outside to greet him. Father Jim waved at everyone, then turned around to Copia with a cold glare. The crowd's cheering was so loud it covered the sound of a low growl under Copia's breath. His secret of being the Antichrist was not officially revealed to Jim, besides the garage incident that no one spoke about, but Father DeFroque never missed an opportunity to accuse him to whoever would listen. Stopping in front of him, Jim squints his eyes. “Papa Emeritus.”“Father DeFroque. Welcome to my church. I was surprised you called this meeting. Especially after we have offered to meet several other times prior. Please.” He gestures toward the doors. “Follow me.” He looks over his shoulder at the media and winks his white eye. The crowds gasp, earning him a small thrill.Copia leads everyone to the conference room that was close to the chapel. He takes the gold throne with the velvety blue pillow at the head of the long mahogany table. Father Jim and his people sit on the opposite end. The Nameless Ghouls offered them glasses of water, of which they refused. Sister Imperator was led to the chair to the right of him. A few High Clergy and lawyers joined them. Father Jim asked if he could open the meeting with a prayer. Copia pursed his lips, telling him to do as he pleases. When Jim was finished, he glanced across the table. “Before we begin, I just want to go on record and say that this meeting involves our churches only. So keep my family’s name out of your mouth, Copia.” Father DeFroque sneers.Sister Imperator slams her hand on the desk as his team begins to yell. “How dare you! During this meeting you will refer to him as Papa Emeritus IV!”Copia puts his hand on hers and gives it a squeeze. His eyes move up and down the table. “Father, I prefer to keep things professional and would prefer my birth name not be used. Okie-dokey? However, I agree to keep our family turmoil out of our future discussion.” If he thought that was going to rattle him, he was in for a rude awakening. It would take a lot more than that to get to him.Father Jim’s team handed out a massive binder of their demands. Their lawyers started reading the huge list. Copia flipped through the papers and asked. “Do you have an abridged version? You can’t possibly have these many issues. We’ll be here all night!”Father Jim leans back into the executive chair with a metallic squeak. “Those are our demands. We are willing to discuss the importance of each one of them and negotiate if need be.”Negotiate? He had to be kidding. He sighs, puts on his glasses and begins to read. His lawyers gave their team their laughably small compared to theirs list of demands. Everyone spent the next hour reading and discussing among themselves. The hour after that was spent going back and forth on minor details of no real importance, but things no one wanted to budge on.Copia and Jim spent their time glaring at each other while the lawyers did most of the work. Every now and again, Jim’s eyes would drop and check his gold watch that Copia noticed was new. Checking his expensive watch too, he hadn’t realized how late the evening was. He wanted to greet Sorella when she got back, but with the birth class just about to wrap up and them nowhere close to being done, he would be lucky to be out of this meeting before midnight.Some progress was starting to be made, and oddly in their favor. Sighing, he finds it odd that Father Jim was not fighting harder for his cause. If anything, he was smirking at him. Copia cocks his head at him, giving him an odd look. Part of him was wishing for an excuse to jump across the table and wipe that smirk off his smug face. Whatever mental game he was playing, he was over it. He reaches across the table to pour himself a glass of water. Setting the silver pitcher down, he brings the crystal glass to lips. Crying out in agony, he drops the glass and it shatters on the table with everyone standing. He clutched his head with both hands and was overwhelmed, all his senses firing at once. The metallic bitter taste was like nothing he ever tasted and his nose filled with the most violent smell. He struggled to breath as his Ghouls rushed to his side. Unsure of what was happening, Sister Imperator kept asking what was wrong. The men across the table watched and began to become nervous, each looking to Father Jim for answers. He looked down at his wrist watch again, then leaned forward and asked what’s happening.Breathing rapidly, Copia finally gets out. “Something is wrong.” His heart was about to pound through his chest as he stood. “Sorella is in trouble. It’s never been this bad. I need to go.” He runs towards the door. She was in distress. The fact that she was across town and he was hit this hard could not be good.“Where are you going? You can’t leave!” Jim yells, with an evil gleam in his eyes.Copia whips around and everyone gasps. Rightly, he assumed his green eye was now bright red. “The lawyers can handle the rest. Any other questions, Sister Imperator can assist and act on my behalf.” He reaches down to open the door, but it opens on its own with a slam. Copia takes a step back, not expecting to see the pale and shocked face of an out of breath Secondo. Before Copia can say anything, Secondo barks. “You need to come with me, there is an SUV waiting.”Blinking, the room begins to spin and his knees buckle. “Is she OK?” Copia is unable to move. His next actions hang on the answer to that question. Primo’s tea be damned, if something happened to her and his son, he would rage and nothing will be able to stop him. His red and white eyes stared desperately at Secondo to answer. He nervously shifts, clearly his throat and bracing himself. “I don’t know.”Copia screamed out so loudly, the entire Ministry shook and every open flame whooshed to double its size, including the large marble fireplace in the conference room. Secondo began to reach down to touch his shoulder and Copia stood up and stormed over to Father Jim, pointing at the terrified men around him. They all gathered and put themselves on the other side of the long table in an attempt to create a barrier between them. “I could have protected her!” He roared with a crash of thunder. Using one hand, he easily flips the heavy, solid wood table across the room. It slams against the floor, now upside-down. The wide-eyed Christian men cowered and Copia grabs Father Jim by the collar and lifts him up. His feet dangling above the ground. “What the fuck!” Jim clawed at Copia’s hands and kicked.“You better pray to your God that she and my son are OK. If I find out you’re behind this,” his voice drops and rattles from his chest, “you better run.” He threw him across the room and onto the discarded table. Copia snarls at the frightened men Jim brought and runs out of the room with Secondo towards the SUV waiting.Jumping into the vehicle, it takes off. “Where are we going?” Copia asks with tears in his eyes. The SUV is speeding through traffic and passing cars left and right.“The hospital. It’s all over the news. There was a shooting.” Secondo braces himself again.“A shooting!” A series of thunder tears apart the sky.Secondo takes a deep breath. “There’s a lot of blood on the ground.”Copia cries out a painful scream. It was a miracle that he had not descended into his infernal state. He probably would have destroyed everything in his path trying to get to her. His mind was racing at all the possibilities. He knew Father Jim’s church had to be behind this attempt. The only thing he held onto was that he still sensed her distress. That meant she was alive and hopefully their child. Tormented red and white eyes looked out the window. He struggled to pull himself together as the Cadilac Escalade turned into the hospital parking lot. Their vehicle was surrounded by news anchors and their cameramen. Before he got out, Secondo handed him his RayBans while he flipped his Gucci glasses down. Copia threw them on and stepped outside. He barreled through the crowds towards the hospital entrance. The security parted and let him through. Inside the hospital, a police officer asked him to follow, leading him to a door at the end of a hall. Opening it, he enters and sees Sorella. Her blue dress was stained crimson and her eyes were puffy and red from crying. His eyes soften and he grabs her harder than he should have and sobs into her neck.  She holds onto him tightly, feeling his child kicking into him letting him know he was alright too. Even with him there, her distress had not left his senses. He releases her and cups her face. “What’s wrong, Sorella? I’m here now. Everything is going to be alright. I won’t let anyone hurt you or the little one.” His eyes search hers for some kind of an answer before she speaks, breaking away from hers for a second to see his upset Ghouls holding onto each for comfort. Sorella tries to say something, but breaks down and starts to hyperventilate. Copia sits her down and just holds her quivering body against his own. A detective enters and introduces himself, extending his hand. “Mr Emeritus, I’m Detective Moore. Would it be OK if your bodyguards left the room so we could talk? They can stand outside the door.”He nods. “You heard the man, go stand out in the hallway. One of you go find Terzo and tell him Secondo and I are here, please.” The Ghouls bodies go rigid and then they start to cry as they leave the room.The Detective sighs. He pulls out a cloth handkerchief and hands it to a confused Copia, who hears Secondo cursing loudly on the other side of the door. Sorella cups his face this time and takes a deep breath. “Terzo didn’t make it.”Copia’s eyebrow raises. “Make what?” He turns to look at the uncomfortable Detective looking at the ground. He lifts his shades, and stares at the front of Sorella’s blood soaked dress. He inhales and his face falls, realizing by the scent that was Terzo’s blood all over his Prime Mover. “Where’s Terzo?”The Detective decides to explain the situation because Sorella was still in shock. “When your Prime Mover and her bodyguard were leaving, someone opened fire. He used himself as a human shield and probably saved their lives at the expense of his own. Even with the incident occurring here, his injuries were too substantial and he died on the operating table.”Stunned, Copia yells. “Terzo is dead!” The loudest crack of thunder of the night shakes the hospital, making the lights flicker so fast that a generator turns on. “Where is the stronzo who did this?” His shock turned into white hot rage.“We’re currently investigating that right now. We’ve already taken her statement. You’re free to go home.”“Can I see him?” Copia’s voice cracked. What if he couldn’t raise him back from the dead? He wasn’t quite sure how he did it the first time. He did unfortunately manage to bring Secondo back a second time. Surely he could do it again for someone he actually deeply cared about.“I’m sorry. Not until after the autopsy. We will let you know when you can pick up the body for a funeral.”Sorella sniffs. “He’s going to be alright? Right?”There’s too many eyes on them and now the media is watching them. It would be risky for him to attempt to bring him back. “We’ll figure this out later. Let’s get you home.” He stands. “Thank you Detective. Please keep up informed and if there is anything I can do or resources you need, let us know.”“We’re leaving him! Here?” Sorella cries out.Copia whispers. “I don’t have a choice.”The Detective gives them an odd look and assures them he will stay in touch. When Copia opened the door, Secondo turned toward him. “Those assholes killed Terzo. Do you want to wake him before we go?”“Stai zitto, fratello! Non adesso.” Copia hisses, his arms around Sorella’s shoulders. “Non posso riportarlo indietro in questo momento. Parlerò con Omega e il coinquilino quando torneremo al Ministero.”Secondo sighs, reaching out to Sorella. “The diva actually protected you and did his job. I’m glad you’re safe, Sorella.”She hugs Secondo and cries into his chest. He pats her back. “Don’t cry for him. That’s what he would want.” She lets out a small giggle, before returning to Copia, who was glaring at him. “Don’t make me, make you be nice.” Secondo’s eyes look scared and he apologizes.When they got back to the Ministry, Primo and Omega were waiting for them. The news channels had released the news that “a nameless Satanic bodyguard had been killed protecting Papa Emeritus IV’s Prime Mover”.Immediately, Copia hugged Omega and explained the situation. The large Ghoul hugged Sorella telling her he’s happy she and the baby are OK. This got Sorella crying again. Omega offered to watch over her until Terzo was back. Copia nodded, saying he thought Terzo would like that. Omega offered his arm and she looped hers through his as he escorted her back to the Papa Emeritus suite.Primo took Copia aside and began to speak a mile a minute.“Thank Satan that boy put someone besides himself first. Sister handled your little outburst in front of Father DeFroque. As soon as you left, they all understandably freaked out. No more progress was made. They wrapped up quickly and he sped away shortly after in that new fancy automobile of his.”“The peace treaty was bullshit.” Copia growled. “It was just a distraction to assassinate Sorella.”“Most certainly. I checked in with Nicole and the mother and they are shaken, but glad Sorella is safe. Last they heard from Mary, Jim had not come home. They were trying to convince her to leave him and bring the kids here tonight.” Copia leans against the wall out of exhaustion and runs his hand through his hair. His bottom lips shakes and mismatched eyes filled with tears. “I almost lost everything tonight.” Primo pats his shoulder. “Satan saw to it she was protected. And you didn’t destroy the world. We all have a lot to be thankful for right now.” He smiles a toothy grin at him.He huffs. “Terzo is still dead.”“For now.”“We’re going to have one Hell of a public funeral for him for what he did for me.”Primo claps his hands. “How exciting. We better take lots of pictures for him.”The corner of Copia’s mouth rises. “Goodnight Primo. I’ll see you in the morning.”Primo gives him a tight hug before telling him goodnight. Walking back to his suite, Copia feels alone. Not just because he gave his Ghouls the night off, but he missed Terzo. The place was already too quiet. He stopped by Sorella’s old dorm. The roommate already heard the news and sobbed into his shoulder. Quietly, he assured her Terzo would be back as soon as he was able to raise him from the dead. Copia told her to lean on Omega the next few days and that she was welcome to move into the Ghoul den whenever she was ready, which seemed to cheer her up. She thanked him for everything. When he got to his room, he got a quick shower and climbed into bed. Sorella was already tucked in. With his back to her, he started to cry. He suddenly felt Sorella roll over and wrap her arms around him. She never got to hold him like this because his wings always got in the way. She nuzzled into the back of his neck and spoke words of encouragement into his skin. Copia never got to feel safe like this in someone else’s arms. He melted along with the uncertainty of the future. “Sorella?”“Yes?”“If Jim did this, do I have permission to unleash my wrath on him?”She was quiet, then whispered into his ear. “I trust you to know what to do when the time comes.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

The following days after Terzo’s second death were tough on everyone. Even though Copia knew he would bring him back as soon as he was able, his absence was still felt throughout the Ministry. Even Sister Imperator admitted she missed him at one of the numerous meetings. Life had to go on within the Clergy, and Copia had to be Papa to his congregation.

The assassination attempt on Sorella made the worldwide news, and threw the small fundamentalist church into the spotlight that did not paint them in the glorious light they had hoped. Father DeFroque had been missing since that night. Mary had not heard from him and refused to speak to anyone in the church. She took her sisters and mother’s advice, moving herself and the children into the Ministry.

Copia was more than happy to offer them refuge from the invasive news teams trying to get the latest scoop. However, he had made sure they captured the images of her walking into his Ministry with the children. The family understood this was done to provoke Jim out of hiding. It was just a waiting game, like waiting for the time when he could raise Terzo from the dead.

Mary was a broken woman and struggled with her husband attempting to kill her sister. She did not blame Sorella for coming back into her life, and was trying her best to get to know Copia. He felt that at the moment it was in her interest to protect her from their Satanic world of dark magic and demons. Thankfully, he got a break this month and didn’t have to worry about hiding an eight-foot demon for another two weeks.

It took several days for the medical examiner to release Terzo’s body after the autopsy. His body was then taken to a funeral home to be prepared. The casket arrived the day before the funeral, about a week after he died. Seeing he wasn’t getting a Papa’s burial, Copia went with a sleek black model instead of his original glass one. It was unanimously decided to keep the lid closed during the service.

The funeral itself was very Terzo, beautiful and way over the top. Copia drank Primo’s tea to keep him human during the service, as not to transform in front of the masses. Especially, since this was a public event with cameras and the press. Sorella, her roommate and Omega were given places of honor at the front of the Chapel. Even Sorella’s family attended, including Mary. Copia spoke from the heart about the heroic act of the little Ghoul who protected his Prime Mover and the future of the Clergy.

Ghoul Terzo was well loved among the Sisters of Sin. His charisma and magnetism were somehow even more powerful when his face was covered with his Impera mask. Copia told some funny stories that had the congregation in stitches and then bared his soul and had them weeping for someone they hardly knew. The news channels played several clips from the service on the evening news.

When Terzo’s body was placed in the crypts, Copia struggled. He went down and visited him every day, not wanting him to be alone. Sorella and her roommate made him a lovely floral spray that was placed on top of his casket. Papa Nihil stopped by and admired the flowers and the women who stopped by the crypts.

Sorella enjoyed having her entire family down the hall. They were in full ‘planning for the showers’ mode. There were concerns about her mom’s shower and if any of her church friends would attend. Many still wanted to support her daughter and some just wanted to go to see ‘the bride of Satan’ herself. Copia agreed to let the party happen as long as the place was swarming with Ghouls to protect her and she agreed. Her roommate and her old floormates were busy taking care of the Clergy baby shower.

Both showers were planned for the same day. The Clergy would be a weekend brunch and her mother’s would be a late afternoon ordeal. Sorella thought it would be a long day for her at thirty-six weeks, but with Copia’s busy schedule, it made the most sense.

Before they knew it, it was the day of the showers. Sorella was heavily pregnant, with another four weeks to go. Copia didn’t understand how she was going to make it. He never lost his attraction to her, if anything it was worse than ever, but he respected that she may not be up for his advances.

She waddled into the living room and he was reviewing some last minute things at his desk before breakfast. Looking over his glasses, he sees her grinning. She must be excited about her parties today. He was too. It made the birth of the little one that much closer.

She leans down and presses a kiss to his forehead then whispers into his ear.
“Don’t be mad at me.”

He raises an eyebrow and cocks his head.
“What could you ever do that would make me mad?”
He pulls her onto his lap, and places both hands on her stomach.

“I got to thinking about how it’s a shame that Terzo is going to miss the showers.”
Copia sighs. It was still too soon with the police still investigating and he was about to explain it to her once again, but she continued.
“Remember, when you told your brothers they had to listen to every word I said and that meant your Antichrist powers would make them do what I said.”

His eyes narrow, not understanding where she was going with this until it was too late.
“Terzo, come back from the dead to us.”
His eyes widened and he stood up suddenly.
“What have you done?!?”
He shouts, causing his Ghouls to run into the room in alarm.

She waddles over to the couch, but slyly looks over her shoulder.
“What are you waiting for? Go get him. He needs to get ready before the parties.”

Copia open-mouthed stared at her in disbelief for pulling such a stunt. He wanted to be furious with her, but he was too excited. His brain knew it was too soon to wake him and would arise suspicion, but his heart didn’t care. Overwhelmed and knowing deep down it worked, he choked out.
“Thank you.”
Turning, he orders his Ghouls to get some bags of blood from the Infirmary then bolts faster than humanly possible out of his suite and down to the crypts.

When he reached the bottom of the stone steps of the dark crypt, he heard pounding and cries of help.

“Terzo!”
Copia yells, running towards the casket. He smoothes his gloved hands over it, searching for a way to open the lid.

A panicked muffled voice responds.
“Copia! Where am I? Is Sorella and mio nipote safe?”

Becoming frantic and wanting his brother back now, he grips the top, ripping it off. It crashes against the ground and Terzo sits up, wrapping his arms around Copia’s neck. They both held onto each other tightly.

“Thank you, Terzo. Thank you for sacrificing yourself for my family. I owe you everything!”
He sobs, pouring out his heart.

“I died?”
Terzo questions. “
Again?”
He looks down and sees he’s dressed differently.
“But she’s OK?”

“Everyone is safe. Yes, you died. You’ve been gone for about a month.”

“A month!”
Terzo pushes against Copia’s shoulders.
“Che cazzo! What took you so long?”
He stands inside the casket and jumps out onto the crypt floor.
“Unbelievable!”

Copia hugs him again, thankful to have him back. Papa Nihil floats by and stops when he sees Terzo.
“Who went and did this?”

Raising his hands, Copia laughs.
“I’m innocent this time. Sorella raised him behind my back.”

Nihil smiles.
“In that case, welcome back Terzo. Tell her I said ‘Hello.’”

Terzo glares at Copia.
“Sorella raised me? You were going to leave me down here to rot? Were you going to wake me for the birth?”

Copia shrugs, then smiles.
“Probably.”

Terzo grunts, then heads toward the steps. Copia went to stop him from going into the hallways without a Ghoul helmet, but let it go. Walking back to the suite, Terzo casually asks.
“Did I miss anything while I was gone?”

“There is an open investigation with the police. We had a funeral. Father DeFroque is missing. Mary and her kids moved into the other guest suite. The protestors are as crazy as ever since the shooting. Oh, and today is the showers.”

Terzo stops walking and looks at his watch. He rolls his eyes, then continues walking at a faster pace.
“You didn’t leave me much time to get ready.”

When they entered the Papa Emeritus Suite, Sorella ran past Copia, almost knocking Terzo over with hug. She
thanked
him through tears and he wiped them away,
telling
her it was his honor to lay his life down. Letting go of her, he takes a good look at her.
“Sorella! You look like you could pop at any moment.”

Copia frowned. Only Terzo could get away with mentioning how big she got the last month. She chuckles, running her hands across her large belly.
“If you think I’m big, you should see my roommate. The OBGYN says she looks like she’s carrying triplets.”
Terzo does a double take, then grins. The Ghouls entered the suite, but when they saw Terzo, they ran up to him and hugged him tightly. Fussing over him, Terzo enjoyed every moment of attention. They offered him the bags of blood that Copia requested. Biting into the plastic bag, Terzo sucked it dry and devoured the others.

Smirking, Copia asks.
“Thirsty?”

Handing the empty bags to the Ghouls, Terzo snaps back.
“Wouldn’t you be after a month?”
He puts his arm around Sorella.
“Thank Satan we got each other’s backs.”

She pats his chest.
“Yes, you’re welcome. Go get ready. I’ll let Omega and my roommate know you’re back. Don’t be late. The shower starts at ten in the Great Hall.”

A wicked gleam sparkles in his eyes.
“Tell them I’ll be in the shower. Waiting.”

Sorella looks slightly uncomfortable.
“I’d rather not. Ten o’clock, Terzo.
” Copia laughs at the subtle way she just scolded Terzo.

Terzo straightens up.
“Fine. Ten o’clock. See you then. Thanks, again.”
He waves, then exits into the hallway.

Sorella glances over at Copia, biting her lower lip. He extends his arms out and cups her face in his gloved hands. He leans in to slowly press his lips into hers for a thankful kiss.
“I can’t believe that worked.”
Sorella chuckles with Copia.
“I’m glad it did.”
He drops his hands and hugs her against his chest.

Sorella’s Clergy baby shower was a blur. The Great Hall was flipped and decorated with a blue and gold theme. Terzo managed to show up on time, wearing his Impera Ghoul mask. Omega would not stop holding his hand the entire time.

Sorella’s roommate threw the shower along with the old floormates. Like Sorella had mentioned earlier, she was already showing a small bump at just two months. Everyone played some games and then it was time to open gifts.

They sat two chairs in front of everyone. Sorella took one and he took the other. One by one, she opened all the gifts. It was mostly clothes and a few things off her registry. Sister Imperator specifically asked for Copia to open one of her smaller gifts. It was a newborn pair of pajamas with a cute cartoon rat sewn on the butt. He grinned and held it up for Terzo to see, who was now missing along with Omega and the roommate.

Sister Imperator then surprised everyone with a gorgeous pram that she had custom built. Sorella hugged her and told her she looked forward to walking the gardens in the fall with it. Copia pushed it back and forth and couldn’t wait to try it out either.

Right before they finished up, the roommate returned looking a bit paler and gave out the last of the door prizes. The Sisters of Sin and Ghoulettes each came up to congratulate Sorella and wish her luck. Copia stood next to her, occasionally being introduced to her friends.

Omega and Terzo began to clean up, and some other Ghouls showed up to carry all the gifts back to the nursery. Sorella thanked everyone and hugged her roommate. Tired, Sorella asked if she could take a nap before they had to leave for the next party. Nodding, he escorted her back to the suite.

A few hours later and a restful nap, the Cadillac Escalade pulls into a local restaurant parking lot. His Ghouls were already guarding the doors, along with a few police officers. The few protesters that were there had to do it across the street and not on the restaurant’s property. Dressed in his black clerical shirt, cravat, lace up pants and casual paints.. He didn’t bother with his sunglasses, figuring everybody was already well aware of his heterochromatic eyes. Sorella wore a flowy, white, floor length dress. He circled the vehicle to help her out. Wrapping his arm around her, flanked by his Ghouls and Terzo they walked into the restaurant. The hostess showed them to the private room.

When Sorella walked in, her sisters greeted her with hugs while the mom obsessed over last minute details. Copia noticed the party had the same vibe as the other, but with white tablecloths and centerpieces. All Sorella’s nieces and nephews were running around the room being disruptive, having not noticed he had arrived.

Copia refused to leave Sorella's side the entire time. Following closely behind her and on her heels like her shadow. She leaned against him, and smiled, knowing that there was no use arguing with his protective side. He appreciated that she didn’t argue with him about drinking Primo’s tea, not that he would have drank it today. His gloved hand rested on her hip while she talked to her mother and guests were starting to arrive.

There was a surprisingly good turnout, all things considered. Sorella got to see a lot of her distant relatives, including some of her father’s side. Many of the fundamentalist church members attended, probably more out of curiosity than genuine support. Everyone was kind to Sorella, and there didn’t seem to be an apparent threat in the air.

Same as the other party, games were played and a light meal with refreshments was served. Sorella opened each gift, and the women seemed to be living for this part. They got a lot more handmade blankets than the last shower. Her sisters all got together and got her a highchair and her mother gifted her a wooden rocking chair that she thought would look good in the nursery.

Wrapping up, Sorella talked to most of the guests, and he was still glued to her side. Glancing around the room, he saw some of his Ghouls taking gifts out to the SUVs and cars pulling into the parking lots of husbands here to pick up their wives. His anxiety was starting to rise. There was too much movement and it was agitating him and he felt he was losing control.

Take a deep breath, he closes his eyes and tries to relax. Sorella without missing a beat, grasps his hand with a reassuring squeeze. The din of everyone was flattening out, until he noticed it. Opening his eyes, he scanned the room and began to panic. Checking out the windows, Terzo and Omega see the change in his demeanor and check on him.

“What’s wrong?”
Terzo asks quietly.

Turning his head away from Sorella, he questions.
“Where are the children?”

Omega raises his helmet and sniffs the air and grunts, and Terzo runs out of the room. Sorella watches them out of the corner of her eye. She turns and without asking knows something is wrong. Terzo runs back into the room and shakes his head back and forth, letting Copia know he couldn’t find them.

Boom.

Sorella’s eyes widen at the crack of thunder, pushing Copia into a corner. With concerned eyes and a small wrinkle between her brows, she questions.
“What’s wrong? I’m fine. Everything is fine. Shh.”
Her hand caresses his face. His hand holds hers against his skin. His mismatched eyes shift to her sisters.
“The children are gone.”

Horror fills her eyes and she runs across the room,
shouting
and asking where the kids are. Immediately, her siblings become frantic and start calling out to them with no reply. Chaos erupts with everyone searching. Copia tells Sorella they need to leave now, and escorts her to the SUV without any pushback.

Once they were buckled, the SUV takes off. Copia growls loudly, mad at himself for letting this happen. He was so focused on protecting her, he wasn’t fully aware of his surroundings. When he got her safely home, he was going to tear apart the city if that’s what it takes to find his girls. Sorella held onto his gloved hands. He could sense her distress, and that only angered him more that someone would ruin her day.

Parking the SUV in the garage, he whisks her back to his suite. Fifteen minutes later, her family arrives and joins them. Both sisters were understandably upset, crying on his couches. Terzo told him that the Ghouls remembered seeing them run outside during the party, but don’t recall them coming back into the building. The police had already issued missing persons alerts and were scouring the city.

Sorella holds her sister Mary, and her mother is rubbing Nicole's back. Copia uneasily shifts by his desk, before leaning against it. Through the desperate sobs of mothers not knowing the future, Sorella turns to Copia.
“Do something. Are we honestly just going to sit here and wait?”

He does a double-take, folding his arms across his chest.
“I am doing everything I can.”

“Not everything.”

Copia locks eyes with Sorella, then looks at Mary. Nicole lifts her head and pleads.
“Please. They must be so scared. God knows what he’ll do to them.”
Her words only fan the flames of his anger, but he was holding back. Already fighting the urge to go back to the restaurant and sniff them down like a bloodhound.

Sorella’s mother leans toward Copia and whispers, not nearly as quietly as she intended.
“What about your powers?”

Copia sighs, dragging his gloved hand down his face.
“How powerful do you think I am? I can do a lot of things, but for once I’m on the same level as everyone in this room.”
His eyes soften, seeing her reaching out to any possibility of him being able to help.

The suite door crashes open against the wall and Omega walks in first, followed by a worried Seth who sprints across the room to his wife, Nicole. Holding her tightly, he attempts to catch his breath. “Jim has the kids! The elders helped him kidnap them. They’re at the church. We can’t go to the police. He threatened to hurt them.”

An earth-shaking
growl
interrupts them, and everyone turns to see Copia with his head hung low and his right eye a bright shade of red. His talons were sunk into the wood of his desk that he was gripping.

Nervously, Seth continues. “He wants Mary to meet him. Alone.”

“That’s never going to happen. Mary is staying here where she’s safe.”
Copia snarls.
“Everyone is staying here.”
He walks over to Mary, and kneels. She gasps, finally seeing his red eye and horns growing from the sides of his forehead.
“I promise you that I will bring your kids back safe and sound. Just sit tight. I’ll be right back.”
He pats her hand, then grabs Sorella’s hand and kisses her knuckles.

She blushes, pulling her hand back onto her lap.
“Thank you.”
She whispers, giving a terrified Mary an ‘everything will be OK’ look.

He winks, then rises. His horns had fully come in and he threw his shoulders back. The talons of his wings tore through his shirt and rose above him. Leathery wings opened out then folded against his back while turning to walk toward the door.

Copia
orders
his Ghouls to take the Escalade and meet him at the church. Terzo starts to follow the Ghouls until Copia grabs his arm.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Terzo tilts his helmet.
“Do you want me to stay here? You can’t enter the church. Remember?”
Copia grins.
“I remember and yes, you’re coming along. But my bedroom window is this way.”

Terzo's body stiffens, then attempts to jerk his arm away and reaches for Omega.
“No. No. No. No.”

“Stop whining. We’re wasting time. I can fly there faster than if we drove.”
Copia loops his arm under Terzo’s legs, then places his other hand behind his back and picks him up and walks into his bedroom.
“I’m not going to drop you.”
Copia struggles to hold Terzo and open his bedroom window at the same time.
“Stop squirming or I will drop you and you’ll get to rise from the dead a second time today.”

Copia puts his foot on the windowsill and jumps through. Terzo grabs his neck and
screams
bloody murder. Falling until his wings opened and they glided. Beating hard against the winds, trying to stay low and build speed.

“I have to get above the clouds so we don’t draw too much attention from anyone seeing us. It’s about to get intense. Hold on.”
He takes a deep breath, and tightens his grip on Terzo. His wings spread out and furiously flap at a blindingly fast speed, shooting them straight up into the sky and above the clouds. Attempting to slow down, he spins out and flips through the sky with both brothers
screa
ming.
Extending his wings out, he catches a current and begins to glide.

They both stopped screaming and began to celebrate. Terzo stops and slaps Copia across the face.
“Don’t ever do that again!”
Stunned Copia stares open mouthed at him and
growls
with barred fangs, but Terzo continues, pointing in the direction of the church.
“Now let's go save those kids.”

Copia nods, understanding he probably deserved that, and he steers his wings in the direction of the church. Beating against the wind, they soared through the sky. Calmed down, Terzo
admitted
that once you got over the fear of dying, it was almost worth the time they were saving.

When the church came into view, they both noticed Father Jim’s big expensive SUV sitting in the parking lot along with other cars. Copia makes sure that Terzo is ready to land before quickly barreling toward the ground. Terzo clung to his neck and tucked his face against his body and tensed up. Throwing his wings open at the last minute, he slowed himself then gently landed on the ground.

Terzo jumped out of his arm, falling to his feet and kissing the ground and
vowed
to never leave it again. Rolling his eyes, Copia folded his wings against his body. Walking toward the church, he
ordered
Terzo to go in there and rescue the children. Terzo’s red eye glowed and he attempted to open the locked door, he punched his hand through the glass and opened it.

Copia paced back and forth outside. He took a moment to pull his tail out of his pants. It swished from side to side. His wings opened and flexed each time he heard men yelling. Finally, his Ghouls showed up, and parked the Escalade directly in front of the entrance with a screeching halt. They jumped out of the vehicle and Copia
yelled
at them to go and help Terzo. Giving a thumbs up, they ran through the door. Even more screams could be heard from inside the church. Copia's heart was in his throat, waiting for any sign from the children that they were OK. He prayed to Satan they would be alright while he paced.

Hearing heavy footsteps approaching, his wings opened up. Three older gentlemen in suits were running for their lives, but when they saw a pissed off demon waiting for them outside, they went into shock. Flashing his fangs, he
growled
at them. One of them passed out, and the other two ran off in a different direction in the church, leaving their fellow brother in Christ behind.

The sounds of children crying slowly became louder.
“Terzo!”
Copia shouts into the church. He forgot himself for a moment and tried to enter. An invisible wall blocked him, knocking him backwards. The Ghouls carrying the four smaller children rounded the corner, and Copia pulled his wings into his body. Considering Jim’s children had never seen him like this, he didn’t want to scar them anymore than this whole experience of getting kidnapped would. Terzo was running behind with Nicole and Mary’s oldest children.

Everyone exited the church, and Copia fell to his knees and hugged Nicole’s oldest girl who was crying.
“Thank Satan you’re all OK.”
Trying to control the deepness of his voice, he questions.
“Where is he?”

“When he saw us, he bolted for the sanctuary on the other side of the building. He barricaded himself in there. Do you want me to go get him?”
Terzo opens the SUV door. The Ghouls help the upset kids into the vehicle.

“How many besides Father DeFroque are in the building?”

Terzo shrugs. The Ghouls hold up their hands indicating that including Jim there are six men.

Copia’s eyes darkened.
“Ghouls. Take the children home. Terzo. Drag that man by the door out and go flush out the others. I’ll take care of the Father.”
He snarled with a deep voice through gritted fangs. The Ghouls nodded, hoping into the vehicle.

“How do you plan to do that?”
Terzo grins having drug the man out, watching Copia slash the tires of all the cars in the parking lot with his talons.

Dragging his claws along the side of Father Jim’s luxury SUV and leaving deep scratches, Copia growls.
“You’ll see.”
He flicks his wrists with palms up and the interior of the vehicle ignites and starts to burn as the smoke darkens the windows.

Terzo giggles manically and runs back into the church.

Copia runs towards the church as well, but jumps off the ground and opens his wings. With several strong beats of his leathery wings, he’s airborne. Flapping to gain altitude, he flies and then hovers in front of the large stained-glass window of the sanctuary. Imagining his demonic silhouette casting his shadow upon the hiding Father.

“Father Jim!”
Copia screams, knowing he was loud enough to be heard from inside the church.
“You’ve been a very bad boy and the hour of judgment is upon you and your whole Goddamn church!”
He flies several times around the outside of the building. Glancing over, he sees several men scattering into the parking lot toward their cars, followed by Terzo. If he can’t personally go into the church and drag Jim out, he was going to do the next best thing.

Gliding over to the parking lot, he dives towards Jim’s SUV and picks it up. The burning metal didn’t harm his hands. The raging flames were beginning to singe his clothing, but his skin was unharmed. Beating his wings harder to compensate for the additional weight, he carried the car towards the sanctuary.

“Last chance to come out and talk.”
Copia roared so loudly the ground shook. Spinning midair until he was dizzy, he hurled Jim’s vehicle into the stained glass in a colorful and deadly shower of destruction. The metal inferno landed and exploded into the pews of the sanctuary with shards of glass thrown out. Now able to see what was happening, Copia watched the blaze spread and a frantic bearded man crawl out from under several pews. A terrified Jim looked up at Copia.

Crossing his arms, Copia smirked while he maintained his position in the sky with flapping wings. Jim looked around his church and was paralyzed with fear. Sirens were blaring in the distance, meaning he didn’t have much time until police and fire showed up.

“Father DeFroque. You have two choices. Either fall with your church, or come out here and have a nice talk with me.”
The smoke was starting to make it hard to see inside the church as the destruction was spreading to other parts. Copia knew Jim was too selfish to die for his religion. On cue, he watched Jim use the fire exit door and run out into the parking lot.

Swooping down, he pushes him to the ground. Jim’s body falls face first into the concrete with Copia landing on top of him. Jim
screamed
under him and fought to buck the demon off. Flipping Jim onto his back, Copia pulls his fist back.
“First you tried to kill my Sorella and unborn son.”
His fist slams into the Father’s cheek and he
cries
out in pain.
“Then you killed my brother.”
His fist came down even harder with a meaty slam and the sound of his jaw breaking.
“If that wasn’t enough, you ruined my Sorella’s baby shower by kidnapping the kids."
He switched hands, his fist coming down and snapping the bearded man’s head to the other side. Jim spits blood across the parking lot and
groans
.

Terzo runs over to them.
“Fratello! Whatever you plan to do with him, you better hurry up. We’re about to have company.”

“Please.”
Coughs Jim.
“You can’t kill me.”
He grins a bloody smile.
“Think of my kids. They need their father. My congregation needs their Father. Can you live with yourself if you give into your deepest desires?”

Copia glares down at him with narrowing mismatched eyes as the fear rises on Jim’s face.

“Absolutely.”
Growling, he wraps his clawed hands around his neck. Jim’s eyes widen, arms grasping Copia’s wrists. He wildly thrashes under the demon, realizing he just called Copia’s bluff and was about to die. Tail rattling, he watched the life drain from Jim’s body in his hands and felt his pulse slow. Copia’s humanity disappeared for the briefest of moments, letting something dark take over for once.

The entire building behind him was engulfed with black smoke belching into the sky. The heat from the flames could be felt in the parking lot. More sirens were screaming in the distance.

When Jim’s heart gave out from lack of oxygen and the gurgling noises stopped, Copia released him and stood. A dark sense of accomplishment fed the raging beast within him. Terzo glanced down at him, then pulled his foot back and kicked Father Jim in the side as hard as he could.

Copia smirked.
“Feel better?”

Terzo spits on Jim’s lifeless body.
“Now I do. You?”

Flashing lights pull into the parking lot. Both brothers turn and Copia picks up Terzo and starts running toward the fire for cover. Terzo tightens his hold around Copia’s neck and squeezes his eyes closed. Running full speed, he jumps into the air and beats his wings as hard as he could and takes flight, using the blanket of black smoke as camouflage. His eyes were burning from the thick smog, but he continued. Terzo had tucked his nose and mouth into his Ghoul coat.

When they burst into the top of the clouds, they both gasped. Soaring toward the Ministry, Terzo kicks his feet and seems to be enjoying the trip back. After some time, Copia spoke.
“I don’t think the first responders saw us.”

“I’m sure this will be the top story. Fundamentalist church that has been harassing the Satanic church mysteriously burns down and Father Jim is found dead in the parking lot.”

Copia slows down, seeing the towers of the Ministry in the distance. His wings stretch out and he glides, lowering to just above the clouds. The corner of his mouth rising and Terzo noticing.

“What does that look mean?”

“See all the additional news trucks?”
Copia points and Terzo leans over.
“We’re going to have to come in hot. I’m fairly confident I can thread the needle and put us back into my bedroom without stopping.”

“Fairly confident?”
Terzo screams, tightening his grip.

“Trust me. I can do it.”
Copia nods confidently.
“Now stopping is another story, but small details at this point.”
He dives down, wings against his back, launching himself towards the ground. They rocketed toward the Ministry while Copia tried to steer himself toward his open window. If his adrenaline wasn’t so high, he would have been petrified. Terzo was petrified. You’d think he’d be used to dying at this point.

Almost to his bedroom, he kicks his body and swings his legs forward and stretches his wings straight above his head. Feet first, Copia holding onto Terzo, travels through the window. Trying to right himself, Terzo’s body jerked bracing for impact. When his wings passed through, his wingspan opened out and he landed with a thud against the floor into a graceful walk. Pulling his wings into his body, he sat down Terzo.

Shaken, Terzo takes off his helmet and throws his arms around Copia’s neck and kisses his cheek.
“Unholy shit! You did it! I never doubted you.”
He jumped up and ruffled his hair between his horns. Trying to catch his breath, Copia rolls his eyes.

They run into the living room to find it empty. Raising his horned head, he tries to figure out where everyone went.
“We just missed them.”
Copia states, looking down at Terzo and his tail flicks from side to side. Putting his helmet back on, Terzo opens the door, and they take off down the hallway.

The sound of happy children echoed through the halls. They were back at the ministry and safe. Copia sprinted through the Ministry and left Terzo behind to join everyone in the Great Hall. Sorella turned and began to stand. Rushing her, he wrapped his arms around her sides. Her arms rested on his shoulders and she cried. His wings wrapped around them and he kissed her deeply, hidden away from everyone. She leaned into him, and felt kicks against his stomach. His hand trailed down her side onto her stomach, also saying hello to his little one.

Sorella leaned her head against his chest.
“You did good. Thank you.”

With a closed mouth smile, Copia’s eyes fall.
“I did what I had to do to keep everyone safe. Don’t be mad at me.”
Her eyebrows furrow and head tilts. His wings stretch up, then rest behind him. He watches all the children running around and their mothers' hearts full once again. They thanked him profusely, and he told them it was not a big deal.

Terzo finally caught up and Sorella hugged him. Dramatically he told the story of his adventure in the sky with all the children stopping to listen. Omega came up behind him and hugged him, resting his helmet on top of his head.

The happy moment was ruined by the sound of sirens outside the Ministry. Copia growled and his tail cracked to the side. Sorella grabbed Copia’s gloved hand. Terzo turns to Copia.
“They can’t see you like this. I’ll buy you some time so you can get changed.”

He was right. Copia needed to be human and quick. Kissing Sorella’s forehead, he
excuses
himself and runs to his office with his Ghouls trying to keep up with him. Taking the fastest, icy-cold shower of his life he gets himself cleaned up and back to his old self. He paints his face in his full papal paint in record time. Grabbing the spare clothes he kept in his office, he dresses in his black robes, stole and leather cornette. This outfit always seemed to intimidate non-clergy members and he hoped that today wouldn’t be any different.

Walking toward the entrance in front of the Chapel, Terzo and Omega were speaking with two police officers and Detective Moore.

“Evening gentlemen. Can I help you?”
Copia asks, extending his gloved hand out to shake the detective’s hand. Copia prays the detective doesn’t pick up on the talon holes on the tips of each finger.

“Papa Emeritus.  I’m glad to hear the children were found with a family friend and it was all a misunderstanding. We need to speak to Mary DeFroque. Would you happen to know where she is located?”
The Detective questions, eyes looking around the halls.

“Of course. Would you like to use my office for more privacy?”

The taken aback Detective says he’d appreciate it. Copia turns to Terzo and Omega.
“Please, go fetch her and take her to my office. Follow me, officers.”
Terzo and Omega go towards the Great Hall and Copia leads everyone to his office. The officers were slightly intimidated by his friendly Ghouls.

Copia and Detective Moore make small talk, until one of the Ghouls opens the office door for everyone.

“Would you prefer I stay outside?”
Copia asks, clasping his hands.

“Please. Don’t go far. I need to speak to you next.”

“Okie-dokey.”
He looks around the Detective and sees Terzo and Omega escorting a nervous Mary. Detective Moore introduces himself and leads her into the office, closing the door behind them.

Terzo looks both ways and whispers.
“There is no way the police will figure out it was us. Right?”

A feminine cry followed by a sob comes from inside the office. Copia winches, leaning against the wall then takes a deep breath.
“Don’t worry. I took care of everything.”
He smiles, but stands straight up and puts on a serious face when the office door opens.

The Detective walks out and glares at the four Ghouls. Pointing at them, he questions.
“Is it OK if we talk with them here?”

Copia nods.
“My Ghouls are my most trusted allies. Is everything OK in there?”

Shifting his eyes from the Ghouls to Copia, he sighs.
“She’ll be fine. Most women react this way. I’m giving her a moment. However, good news. Father Jim admitted to everything and we have him in custody.”

Terzo’s head cocked and snapped at Copia.

“We all knew he was behind the assassination attempt. I’m just glad you caught him.”
Copia fights the smirk on his face.

“You’ll have nothing to worry about. He’s going to be locked away for a long time. He added arson to the list of crimes when he has to face the judge.”

“Arson?”
Copia dramatically questions, putting his index finger and thumb on his chin.

“Burned down his church. Thank God the building was empty.”
He gives Copia a weird look. “
Even though he admitted to everything, we have five men claiming you showed up and set the building on fire. Except you were possessed with horns and giant wings. You wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”

His eyebrows rose. Shit! He forgot about the clergymen. Attempting to hide panic in his eyes, Copia laughs.
“I assure you I’ve been here the entire time. All those protestors and news crews know when I’m coming and going.”

After a tense moment, the Detective laughs.
“We know you’re been here the entire time. I just want you to know what those nut jobs are saying. They seem to really have it in for you.”
Detective Moore looks at his watch and opens the office door.

“Yeah. Can’t a man worship the Devil in peace?”
Copia chuckles with his office door shutting and him looking down the hallway, running over to Terzo.

“You brought that stronzo back to life!”
Terzo hisses.

Pleased with himself, Copia puffs his chest out.
“I got the satisfaction of killing him, then getting to watch him admit to everything and go to jail.”
He does a small happy dance.
“That’s not even the best part. I am now the puppet master for the leader of that fundamentalist church, because you know his followers aren’t going to abandon him now.”

Terzo looks impressed and his Ghouls applaud. Omega pats Copia on the back as he grins ear to ear. Hearing the door open, he returns to where he was originally standing and tries to look like he didn’t just score the biggest victory of his life.

The Detective escorts Mary out of the office along with the other officers. Copia rests his hand on her shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze. She says she just wants to go to her room and Terzo gestures that he’ll take her. Copia thanks him and walks with the men to the exit, sending them on their ways.

Copia stared out into the crowds of screaming protestors. Turning on his heel, he walked back to his office. When he opened the door, Sorella was waiting for him on the couch. She had the TV on and was watching the news. It showed images of the smoldering ashes of the church foundation with the banner. “Father DeFroque arrested. Confesses to attempted murder plot and arson.” Copia slinks into the room, taking off his cornette and setting it on his desk.

The TV shows images of him being taken into the police station. His eyes deep red and screaming for the police officers to let him go, fighting against them. Sorella sighs, then looks up at Copia who sits down beside her. He watches her, waiting for a reaction.

“Why did you have to bring him back?”
She smiles, turning off the TV.

Thank Satan she wasn’t mad. He pulls his gloves off. Wrapping one arm around her and placing his other hand on her stomach.
“Trust me. Everyone today got the ending they deserved today.”

She curls up into his chest, putting her hand on top of his.
“After you left I explained everything to Mary. Her children didn’t seem to be too upset by you. You have to take the oldest boy flying now, especially after the girls went on and on about Uncle Copia and his wings and how amazing it was.”

Copia laughed.
“I don’t think Terzo would recommend it after today.”
He kicked off his shoes, and put his black socks on the coffee table. Kissing the top of her head, he admits.
“I'm really excited about the little one, but I’m also really scared about the birth.”

Sorella lifts her head and caresses his face.
“Trust Satan, Darling. Everything will work out according to his plan. I only need you there to hold my hand. Terzo has the rest covered. ”
She giggles.
“Or at least he did a month ago. I’ll have to catch him up on the two classes he missed.”

He interlocks his fingers with her.
“All things considered, Sorella. Did you have a good day?”

She rests her head back on his chest.
“The best. I love watching you take charge and be the hero.”

“Hero?”
He belly laughs. Deep down he loved the sound of that and the way it stroked his ego. The Antichrist is not the hero of any story across all the religions. He knew his destiny, but today he wrote his own narrative. He saved the day, got the bad guy and had the girl of his dreams in his arms. A happy
growl
rumbled in his chest, knowing that those same arms will be holding his son next month.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Copia’s mouth goes dry, staring in wide eye disbelief and questions.
“What do you mean your water just broke? You’re not due for another two weeks!”
He could feel her distress rising as the bitter taste fills his mouth and the foul smells enters his nostrils. Circling his desk, he wraps his arms around her and rubs her back. She was scared and he realized he should have been gentler in his reaction.

“I’m so sorry. I just thought the pains I felt earlier were practice contractions and not the real deal.”
She cried into his shoulder. Her mind spiraling that he was not going to be present at the birth and wondering if she could do it without him.

He cups her face.
“I’m not going to miss the birth.”
She looks into his eyes, blinking away her tears. He laughs through his nerves.
“It’s just a bit more complicated now, but we’ll figure it out.”
Checking his gold wristwatch, it was an hour until midnight. He had been up late working because he was not going to be able to work tomorrow. The timing was not great, but Sorella needed him to take charge.

He
calls
out to his Nameless Ghouls. They rushed into the suite, understanding the urgency in his voice.
“Fetch Terzo.”
One of his Nameless Ghouls nods, then runs out the door into the hallway. Copia kisses Sorella’s head,
reassuring
her everything will be fine and offers her his black handkerchief.

She dabbed her eyes while her bottom lip shook.
“Of all the days to go into labor, why did it have to be tonight.”

“A Sabbat is the perfect day for the birth of a future Papa.” He grins. “Our son will be born sooner than expected and the future of the Clergy will be secured. I couldn’t be more excited to do this with you.”

Copia runs his hand over her stomach and a strong kick hits his palm. He had noticed this week that not only was he hearing everyone’s thoughts but could hear his son’s and that freaked him out a bit. The little one recognized voices and seemed content. Unless you pushed on Sorella’s stomach. He didn’t care for the poking and prodding.

The suite door flies open and Terzo runs up to Sorella with a cell phone to his ear.
“I’m on the phone with the OBGYN. Are you experiencing contractions?”

Sorella shakes her head and
tells
him when her water broke, and he passes that info through the phone.
“OK. She says to come in when you’re experiencing contractions every three to four minutes for at least two hours.”

Copia interrupts.
“That’s not going to work for me. We need to get her into a room now so I can be there for the birth. Preferably before midnight.”

Terzo gives him a confused look, then his eyes go wide. He covers the phone, lowering it from his mouth and whispers.
“Cazzo. Does the OBGYN know? About?”
He raises his other hand above his head, palm facing towards the ground.

Copia reaches his gloved hand out.
“Give me the phone.”
Taking it, he continues.
“It’s Papa. We have a situation. I can explain more when we get there, but I’m going to need you to take us as soon as we get to the hospital.”

The doctor on the other line gets serious.
“Yes, your unholiness. But she’s not in active labor, so you’re going to be sitting around for a while. I’ll get you in the private suite like we discussed earlier. How does that sound?”

“Fantastico! We’ll be leaving shortly. Quick question, how tall are the ceilings?”

The line was silent. She clears her throat.
“I’m not sure. Is… that going to be an issue for you? I can find out if you need that information.”

Copia
orders
his Ghouls to pack him his larger clothes and to get their things to the vehicle. They give him a thumbs up and do as they are told. He checks his watch again.
“Um, well. Never mind, I can just kneel. We’re running out of time. We’ll be there shortly. Okie-Dokey?”
Him and the OBGYN say their quick goodbyes and he hands the phone back to Terzo.

“Are we leaving?”
Sorella asks hopefully as Terzo helps her off the couch. The Ghouls came out of the bedroom, holding two suitcases and a half-circle breastfeeding pillow wrapped around one of their necks.

“Yes. Right now. Terzo, please take her down to the Escalade. I just need to let Sister Imperator know what’s happening. I promise I’ll join you in the garage and we’ll head to the hospital.”

She nods.
“OK. Please hurry. I’m scared.”

Her words pierced his heart. He already knew she was afraid, but to hear her say it when she had been so strong for so long hurt. His face drops, with Terzo seeing the concern.

“Fratello, I can go talk to Sister. You should stay with her.”
He offers but doesn’t leave her side.

Hesitating, Copia weighs the options before speaking. His weight shifting.
“Grazie Terzo for the offer but I would like to share this news with her. I hope you both understand.”

Sorella puts on a brave face, taking Terzo’s arm and nods.
“Of course. I’ll see you in a bit.”

Running down the hallway, Copia knocks hard on Sister’s suite door. He knew she was up, because he could hear her thoughts. Phil opened the door, and he stormed past and
announced
it was him. Sister was sitting at her desk and turned her head towards his voice.

“Sister, I am informing you that Sorella’s water has broken, and we are leaving for the hospital.”
He grins.
“The little one is coming!”

There was silence. Taking a deep breath, she stiffens.
“As Head of the Clergy, I forbid you from leaving with her tonight.”

His green and white eyes narrowed, and he
growled
loudly while the lights flickered.

With fear in her tone, she commanded.
“You heard me. End of discussion.”

“You are not in charge.”
He snarls.

“Oh yes, I am. Tomorrow is Lughnasadh and we both know what happens on that day. You need to park yourself here at the Ministry. We’ve had enough drama this year. Do we really need to have your… big secret getting out.”

The flames of her fireplace shoot up and radiate heat throughout the room.
“I’m not missing the birth of my son or being by my Sorella side!”
Copia roars through gritted teeth.

Sister Imperator slams her fists onto her desk.
“So, this is how we reveal your arrival? Your presentation to the world should be a glorious one, not some poor soul seeing you in your unholy presence and alerting the National Enquirer.”

He looks down at his watch. They needed to leave. Copia had not planned for Sister Imperator to get in his way. Part of what she was saying was correct, and deep down he knew that, but he didn’t care. Taking a deep breath, he glares at Phil as he cowers behind Sister.

“Mark my word, Sister.”
His voice was lower octave becoming more growl than human.
“I am leaving with Sorella tonight to go to the hospital. If you stop me, I will not go quietly into the night. Stop being a bitch and give me your blessing.”

Her jaw clenches and she sits back into her chair.
“No.”

Copia could feel his green eye shift to red. He takes a step forward but stops. Throwing his hands up, he turns on his heel and walks towards the exit.
“Fuck it. I quit.”

Sister stands.
“Excuse me. You can’t quit. It doesn’t work that way.”

Grabbing the doorknob and yanking it off the hinges, he catches the door. 
“Aww, shit!”
Shocked, he turns and leans it against a wall, with Phil running over to help. Regaining his composure, he stares her down and growls.
“You heard me. If I have to pick this job or my family, then I've made my choice. I’ll call you when my replacement is born.”
He exits her suite, flipping her off. Copia knew she couldn’t see, but with Phil’s gasp, he made his point. Sister didn’t even try to stop him. His future was unknown, but he was calling her bluff for the first time in his life, and it felt empowering.

Running full force through the Ministry, he finds Terzo and Sorella waiting for him in the Cadillac Escalade, ready to go. Shutting the door, the Nameless Ghoul driving peels out of the garage. Thankfully, no protestors were out this late.

Copia glances at the time on the dashboard. Traffic was light, so they should get to the hospital with about fifteen minutes to spare. He was still nervous, which was evident by his right leg shaking. Not just because of getting to the room before he transforms into his Sabbat state but he was concerned for Sorella. What if she needs a c-section? Would he be able to be by her side?

Sorella’s hand reaches over and grasps his, giving a tight squeeze. He turns his green and white eyes to her, and she smiles.
“Everything is going to be OK. Trust him and his infernal plan.”

The corner of his mouth raises, and he chuckles.
“Thanks. Sometimes even Papa needs to be reminded to put his faith in Satan.”
He leans forward in his seat.
“However, I’d appreciate it if you’d drive a little bit faster.”
The Chauffeur Ghoul nods. The engine roars, going about ten miles over the speed limit.

Pulling up to the maternity entrance, Copia helps Sorella out of the vehicle. Terzo says he’ll bring up the luggage after they park. The Passenger Ghouls opens the glove box and passes Copia the leather wallet with the insurance cards. Walking through the sliding doors, they are stopped at the front desk. Stressed, Copia goes to say something but sees Sorella’s OBGYN, gesturing for them to follow them to the private suite.

Walking briskly down the hall, they are greeted with some nurses who immediately help Sorella get into a gown. Copia watches until the OBGYN asks.

“Is there something happening, or something that’s about to happen that I should be aware of for this birth?”

Looking down at his watch with ten minutes to spare, he turns his back to the nurses. Whispering, his eyes narrow.
“I trust you with what I’m about to tell you, but what about your nurses?”

The Doctor’s eyes shift to them, then back at him.
“I personally picked them, and they are aware of your gift.”

Copia relaxes, his mismatched eyes looking up at the ceiling.  Her eyes look up as well, then down at him. Shifting, his gloved hands squeak from anxiety. He gives himself a pep talk, because the secret was about to be out anyway in eight minutes.

“Not only do I turn into a demon on the high holidays. I get.. really big.”
She gives him a strange look.
“Like eight feet tall.”
Her eyes widened.
“I didn’t want to miss the birth. I need to be here for her. I’m sorry I made this more complicated for you and your team. What if something happens? Will I be in the way? What if she needs surgery? I..”

She interrupts him.
“Your unholiness. You’re fine.”
She chuckles.
“This is a new one for me, but let’s take everything as it happens. With you looking at your watch, I assume this happens at midnight. Would you like us to give you some privacy?”

“Please.”

She nods, rounding up her nurses to the hallway. Terzo enters with the pillow around his neck dragging two large luggage suitcases. He smiles at all the nurses as they walk by. When the door clicked shut, he moved them to the corner of the room.

Sorella was wearing a gown and laying on the upright bed. Copia takes her hand and kisses her knuckles.
“I need to step away for a minute, but I’ll be right back. The Doctor knows what is about to happen and is talking to the nurses.”

Terzo closes the blinds, then starts to dig through the luggage for clothes for Copia to wear.

“I knew we’d make it in time.”
She opens her arms for a hug. He leans down and wraps his arms around her. He leans his head against hers, smelling her hair. He wondered if he would be holding his son in the next twenty-four hours. Pulling back, he brings her face to his with his finger under her chin and presses a loving kiss that he wished could have turned into more but is interrupted by Terzo clearing his throat and extending out his change of clothes.

Copia huffs.
“I hate this part.”
He stands, walking over to Terzo. Grabbing the clothes, he looks around trying to figure out the best place to undress. Terzo, having already figured it out, closes a curtain around him.

“Watch your wings and you should be good in here. Now hurry up and get undressed.”
Terzo says flatly, walking over to Sorella to fuss over her.

He undresses, leaving the clothes on the floor. Removing his watch, he takes one last look at it with a minute left. Nude, he takes a knee and waits. His eyes dance around the room, biding the time. He can hear Sorella and Terzo talking. He sighs. This felt like the longest minute of his life.

Suddenly, his body is overcome with an intense heat wave from toes to the top of his head. Closing his eyes, when he reopened them, he could see over the privacy curtains through the mesh part at the top along the track. Opening his double set of wings, he stretches them, then folds them back against him. Leaning down, he puts on his boxers then dress slacks. Pulling back the curtains, Sorella’s face lights up seeing him which makes his tail wag from side to side.

Terzo glances over his shoulder.
“Let me know when I can let the nurses back into the room.”

Putting on his button up shirt, one arm at a time, Terzo gets up on his chair to assist him with the buttons. Slipping on a pair of black socks and his favorite brand of black shoes, he stands in the middle of the room. His eyes look down at the ground. his horned head hung low.
“OK. Go get them. I’m ready.”

Sorella sees him struggling with his nerves flaring and she swings her legs off the bed and goes to him. Wrapping her arms around him she hugs him tightly.
“Not until you’re ready. OK? What do you need right now?”

He laughs.
“To be human again, but let's just send in the OBGYN first.”

Terzo jumps off the chair, then fetches the Doctor. Sorella doesn’t leave his side, and her fingers lace between his. Her other hand reassuringly pats the top of his hand. Mentally she does everything within her power to calm him and give him the confidence he lacked in the moment. His double set of wings lower and his tail stops moving hearing the door open.

The OBGYN walks in talking with Terzo then stops immediately seeing Copia. Her eyes round, then drop to the ground. She makes the unholy sign of the inverted cross. Reading her mind, he knew she was freaking out but trying her best to remain professional for the sake of the most important birth of her career.

Copia looks around nervously.
“Welp. This is me for the next twenty-four hours.”
His wings raise and tail flicks, some of his confidence returning.

Raising her gaze up to him, the Doctor nods and laughs.
“I have no idea how I’m going to explain this to my nurses. What do you suggest?”

Copia shrugs.
“You know them better than me. You’re in charge here. I trust you.”

The Doctor was touched that he put so much faith in her. She walks out of the room to speak with her team. Sorella squeezes his hand telling him that wasn’t so bad. When the door opened again, the Doctor walked in with all the nurses. Each had a different reaction to him, from curious to scared. They all assured him they were here for Sorella, which relaxed his mind. He knew they were telling the truth and released Sorella’s hand.

The nurses guided her to the bed and got her hooked up to the monitors. Someone left and returned with a stool Copia could sit on next to the bed, since the chair was not going to work for him, but Terzo took advantage of it. With everyone comfortable, Copia, Terzo and Sorella were left alone.

“How are we doing, Sorella?”
Terzo asks.

“I’m actually kind of tired. Would it be alright if I tried to get some sleep?”

“Of course.”
Terzo gives her a warm smile.
“I’ll go talk to the Ghouls guarding the door.”

Copia grins.
“Are you going to stop by the nurse’s station? That’s not very father-like behavior.”

Terzo pretends to be offended.
“That’s exactly how our father acted. Also, there is no harm in a little flirting to pass the time.”

Copia rolls his eyes. Sorella lowers the bed so that she’s lying flat. He watches, then stares at the monitors.

“You should probably try and get some sleep too.”
Sorella yawns, her back to him.

He shakes his head.
“I need to protect you. I'll be fine.”
He pats her hips. Crossing his arms, he leans forward and rests against the bed. Lowering his head, he closes his eyes.

The door opens, but he can tell by the scent it’s Terzo making his way over to the couch. He decides to try and sleep too. Terzo exhales a content sigh.

Copia’s face is full of disgust as he turns to glare at Terzo.
“Are you serious? I can read your thoughts, and I don’t need to know that about you or Omega.”

“Then mind your own business.”
Terzo huffs, flipping over to his other side.

Copia’s thoughts are filled with those of Terzo probably going out of his way to think of the most graphic images possible. Sighing, Copia commands.
“Terzo, go to sleep.”
Immediately the thoughts stopped, and he heard snoring.
“That’s better.”
Copia says to himself.

Copia continues to watch over Sorella while she sleeps. Occasionally a nurse would pop in to check on things. A few of the nurses attempted small talk with him, trying desperately not to make the situation more awkward than it already was in his current state. He appreciated that everyone was trying.

Out of nowhere, he feels Sorella distress as her eyes pop open from sleep. His wings raise and his tail rattles.
“What’s wrong?”
He questions with urgency in his voice. A nurse enters the room and looks at a paper feed that came out of a machine. Sorella’s face twists, pressing on the button to get her bed to rise.

“Congrats. You’re now in active labor.”

“Yay!”
Sorella says sarcastically.

Copia looks at her concern, reading her thoughts.
“If you’re hungry. Why don’t I get you something to eat?”

She smiles.
“I can’t eat, Darling. Remember? I have to wait until after the baby is born.”
Copia had completely forgotten. He was glad Terzo was still sleeping soundly and wouldn’t mock him for his slip up.
“Did anyone call my mom or siblings? Where’s Terzo?”

“He’s asleep. I can wake him if you want.”

She gives him a confused look.
“Did you make him sleep?”

Copia stands and stretches, making sure to keep his wings lower so as not to hit the ceiling. The nurse in the room with them stares, but quickly looks away when Copia catches her.
“He was being Terzo more than usual, plus one of us needed to get some sleep.”

Sorella listens, not wanting details.
“Terzo. Wake up.”

Immediately the pornographic images reappear in his head as Terzo chuckles. Noticing it was daytime, Terzo gripes.
“Are you serious? How am I supposed to be her birth coach if you do shit like that.”
He jumps up and sits in the chair next to Sorella’s bed. Terzo starts asking the nurse several questions about her progress.

Another wave of distress hits Copia while the monitor records the contraction. Terzo talks her through it. Sorella thanks him, telling him it wasn’t that bad and to save his coaching for later. She smiles up at Copia.

“Is everything Okie-Dokey?”
He asks in a nervous expecting father kind of way.

Terzo laughs.
“Did you not read the handbook? This is just the beginning. We have a few hours of this. Did anyone call your family, Sorella?”

Copia read the handbook, but he was panicking. He sits down on the stool next to Sorella. His concerned eyes watch her.

“If you could call them Terzo, that would be wonderful. I think Copia and I got the next contraction covered.”

Terzo nods, going into a corner of the room to make a phone call.

Copia’s wings lower. His eyes lock with hers.
“I’m sorry. I’m not very good at this.”

“Thankfully, I’m doing all the hard work.”
She laughs until a smaller contraction starts. This time she held onto his hand and squeezed. His tail flicked from side to side watching the monitor light up and make beeping noises.

She lets out a long exhale and relaxes. Terzo rejoins them, patting Copia on the back and telling Sorella she’s doing great.

“Your mom and sisters are on the way.”

“Even Mary?”
Sorella’s eyes widened.
“She doesn’t know about Copia’s big secret.”

Terzo pats her hand.
“She’s family. Everyone so far has been handling it well. Don’t worry. Right, Fratello?”

Copia’s mouth forms a thin line.
“Right.”
He gives a closed mouth smile.
“They’ve been cool with everything about me so far. What’s a giant demon in the birthing suite going to change anything?”
He cracks and begins to laugh from stress.

The Doctor entered the room to check on Sorella’s progress, of which she seemed happy so far. Sorella decided to get the epidural. Not just for her sake, but for poor Copia’s sake having to handle his anxiety and her distress of the labor pains. Copia hid in the cramped bathroom while the epidural was placed. His wings pulled tight against him and tail wrapped around himself. Terzo stayed with her and supported her when he couldn’t. He was eternally grateful for his brother being here, even if it caused him to have to admit he was the better birthing partner.

A sharp double knock on the door followed by Terzo telling Copia he could come out. Crouching through the doorway, he sat next to Sorella. She looked much calmer. The monitors were still doing their thing, but Sorella was numb to Eve’s curse.

“Better?”
Copia questions, raising his eyebrows.

“Much.”
She closes her eyes. Her hand holds his while she enjoys her small reprieve. His thumb rubs across her fingers. He could hear how content she was to have him there, which made his tail move along the floor. They sat together in silence while she rested.

After some time passed a nurse entered, alerting them that her mother and sisters were in the waiting room. Terzo stepped out to go and grab them for a quick visit. Sorella sat up in her bed. Copia stood, rubbing the back of his neck. Her sisters had only seen him a few times as a demon, but neither of her sisters had seen him like this. He backs himself into a corner and begins to close the privacy curtain.

Sorella watched.
“What are you doing? Are you hiding?”

Looking over the top of the curtain down at her, he admits.
“I want you to have this time with them. I’ll be fine. I’m already a big enough of a distraction. This is your moment.”
His wings flexed hearing the door open. He crouched so that his double horns were not visible above the curtain.

Her mother runs into the room and to her bedside. The sisters casually walk in with Terzo behind them, closing the door. Her family visits, asking her how she’s doing and being genuinely excited for the arrival of the new baby. Finally, her mother looks around the room.

“Where’s Mr. Emeritus?”

His wings rose at the mention of his name.
“I’m… over here. On the other side of the curtain.”
He pauses.
“It’s a high holiday for our church, so I’m dealing with some stuff over here.”

Her sisters give Sorella a questioning look. Terzo was sitting on the other side of the room, looking at his fingernails. He looks up.
“Just tell them, Fratello. You know if the roles were reversed, I’d be so proud. The entire world would know because I wouldn’t be able to contain myself.”

Nicole and Mary’s interest was now peaked on what was happening on the other side of the curtain.

Copia sighs.
“Fine.”
Why was he so embarrassed?
“Please, don’t make this weird. Okie-Dokey?”
Closing his eyes, he throws the curtain back with a metallic slide of the bearings on the track. All the guests gasped. Even her mother, who had seen him before. Opening his red and white eyes, they were in a state of shock but not scared. He raises his hand and waves, his tail flicking timidly behind him. Sorella explained why he looks the way he does as he crossed the room to sit on the stool beside him. After everyone relaxed, he had a great time with her family. Sorella was enjoying the visit so much that she barely noticed the nurses coming and going to check on her.

Later in the afternoon, the Doctor entered a room filled with laughter and excitement. After reviewing the monitors and checking how far along she was, she announced.
“OK. You’re ready.”

Her family gave her one last hug and even hugged him on their way out into the waiting room. Terzo took one side and Copia took the other. His hands began to shake, but Terzo’s brow was tense, and his jaw clenched. Both of them were ready in their own ways.

The pain management medication was stopped and immediately Sorella became distressed with each overpowering contraction. Her distress was causing alarm in him. Copia stayed by her head so that he was out of the way. Terzo and a nurse held onto her legs while the doctor was at the foot of the bed.

She pushed for over thirty minutes. Terzo counted and told her to breathe while Copia held her hand and encouraged her. After her
screaming
out into the room after a painful contraction, Copia whispered.

“You’re doing great. We’re almost there.”

Her small hand pulled away from his and grabbed onto his collar. Yanking him down to her face she growled.
“You did this to me!”
She
screamed
, the nurse tried to remove his shirt from her clutches.

A nurse cooed. “Ma’am. We need to let Daddy go.”

Copia was too stunned to speak, his eyes shifting wildly around the room as his wings flexed open. The nurse finally frees Copia, and he hesitates before sitting back down onto the stool.

“Are you done?”
Terzo questions.
“We need to get back to work, Prime Mover.”

A long
rant
of expletives fell from her lips. No one was safe from her rage. Copia leans down and holds her hand.
“Sorella. I’m here. You’re so close.”
She stops, sweat dripping down her face.
“The Clergy is waiting. We’re all praying for you. The entire world and underworld are rooting for you. Show them why Satan himself chose you as my Prime Mover.”

With determination and a fire was lit in her eyes, she nods, telling the doctor she’s ready. Turning to Copia she apologizes
. “Thank you. I don’t deserve this life that has been handed to me, but I will serve my Master in Hell. I’m not scared anymore.”

Terzo starts counting and Sorella pushes. Again, and again.

Copia’s upper wings rose up and his lower wings expanded out as he stood to kneel by her bedside. She took a deep breath and bore down with all her might as Terzo yelled.
“Push!”

“You’re doing it, Sorella. Keep going! He’s almost here.”
His tail began to thump against the floor.
“I see him. I see him!”

“One more!”
Shouts the OBGYN.

The smell of sulfur and brimstone filled his nostrils. He notices that Sorella was reacting to the smell as well. Time slowed around them. Glancing down, Sorella looked into his red and white eyes. The powerful voice of their dark Savior calls out, “Puer est! liberis meis gratulor. Bene fecistis ambo.” Her eyes widened at being given the gift of hearing. Copia grinned a fanged smile, his red eye glowing while holding tightly onto her hand. His tail swished excitedly behind him. This was their last moments as a family of two and his entire world was about to be changed for the better, for once.

“Push!” Everyone shouted, pulling Copia and Sorella’s eyes off each other and back at the task at hand.

With a maternal roar, Sorella birthed the heir to the Clergy papacy. The Doctor and nurses got to work, checking and cleaning up his child. Terzo was jumping up and down and covering his mouth, crying into his hands.

Copia leaned over to kiss the top of Sorella’s head as she tried to catch her breath. A nurse pulled down Sorella’s gown and the Doctor gently laid the crying infant on her chest. Copia’s tail was wagging so hard it knocked over the stool. Sorella looked at peace holding onto her son. The same nurse put a blanket on the infant and a blue hat on his head.

Looking at his son for the first time, his clawed hand hovers over him. Sorella takes it and lowers it onto him, mentally telling him he’s not going to hurt him. Tears of joy were filling his eyes, until he noticed it.

“He’s got my eyes.”
Copia points out the dark green and white eyes of the blinking baby looking toward him.

Sorella laughs.
“Well, he is an Emeritus. I would have been surprised if he didn’t have your eyes.”

Grinning, Terzo takes a closer look. He quickly kisses the side of Sorella’s head telling her how great she did, and Sorella thanks him for being a great coach.
“I think it’s time Papa gets to hear his name. I was good and didn’t tell anyone. Except Omega. And your roommate. And Primo.”

That was right. He was so caught up with everything the past few months the name of his son had slipped his mind. Copia could not go on forever calling the child ‘little one’.
“I’m ready. What shall the Clergy call their future Papa?”

Sorella starts to cry. She was about to give the gift of her father’s name and continue his legacy. Her eyes light up.
“Christian Quinto Emeritus.”

Copia’s horned head tilted, and he laughed. His eyes shifted over to Terzo. It was a great name for the son of the Antichrist.
“I love it. It’s perfect.”
He kisses the top of her head, again.

“We can call him Chris, like my dad. Then when he gets older, he can go by his middle name.”

“Whatever you want.”
He kept saying his son’s name over and over in his head.

The OBGYN interrupts asking if Copia wants to cut the cord. Looking down at the scissors, he questions if he can use his claws instead. She smiles and says as long as he washes his hands that should be fine. Thrilled, he washed up and sliced through the cord. He rejoined Sorella and basked in the golden hour with her.

Terzo speaks up.
“I’m dying to hold Chris, but Papa first.”

Copia sits up.
“Oh, no. I can wait.”
His wings pulled back, with a gush of wind flowing behind him.
“I’ll hurt him like this.”

“Nonsense. All first-time fathers are nervous.” A nurse takes the infant and swaddles him. Copia was visibly anxious, making Sorella smile. Returning, the nurse hands the bundle into Copia’s large arms. Holding him like a small football, he looks down at the wide-eyed child.

“Hello, little one.. I mean Chris. I’m your Papa. Actually, I’m everyone’s Papa, but I’m your real Papa.”
Growing more comfortable, he cradles the child better and rocks him slightly as the baby’s eyes close. His heart was so full. He too closed his eyes, not wanting to ever forget this moment. He loved Sorella, but what he was feeling was more intense and protective. A soft growl rumbled in his chest.

“My turn!”
Terzo announces, his hands grabbing towards his nephew.

Copia stands, turning away from him.
“Not yet. Did you wash your hands?”

Terzo huffs while mimicking Copia, stomping over to the sink and washing quickly.

“You need to sit down in the chair over there. Be gentle. He’s sleeping and you better not wake him with your loudmouth, Fratello.”

Sorella
chuckles
, laying on her side to watch the brothers.
“Be nice to Uncle Terzo, Papa.”

The nurse takes Chris from Copia and places him in Terzo’s arms. He stares down at the child and
whispers
to him about all of the future adventures they will have and the upcoming birth of his cousin in a few months. Copia glares at Terzo, ever watchful should he need to swoop in if needed. Sorella tries to distract him, but he is laser focused.

“You need to call Sister.”
Sorella states.

Finally pulling his eyes off Terzo, he sighs.
“You’re right. Do we have a cell phone I can use?”

“One of the Ghouls has it on them. I’d grab it for you, but I'm busy. Oh nurse.”
He smolders.
“Could you do us a small favor?”
The nurse under his spell, goes into the hallway and gets the cell from Copia’s Ghouls who have been guarding the private suite door. Both of his Ghouls snuck a peek into the room at the child and gave Copia a thumbs up. Cell phone in hand, Copia calls Sister.

The phone rings and she picks up.
“Hello? Sister Imperator speaking.”
Her voice sounded excited. Apparently, she had cooled since his last encounter.

“It’s Papa Emeritus IV.”
He was trying to remain professional, and not scream his news from the rooftops.
“The heir has been safely delivered and Sorella is recovering well.”

“Thank Satan! What’s my grandson’s name?”

Copia grinned. All his ill will left him.
“Christian Quinto Emeritus. He doesn’t really look like either of us. He kind of looks like a little potato, but he’s got my eyes.”

He could hear Sister
crying
on the other line.

“We’re going to call him Chris. Can you tell Pops he’s a grandpapa now?”

“Of course! I’ll put together a press release. I assume you’ll be leaving the hospital tomorrow?”

“As far as I know.”
He takes a deep breath. Terzo got up and walked over to Sorella and handed Chris off to her.
“I need to get going.”

“Wait! I’m sorry. I.. got carried away.”

“Oh. I was really looking forward to my retirement, but if you insist, I’ll stay on for a few more years.”
He says through a smile, knowing deep down she was bluffing.

“Excellent. Please keep me posted with any additional news.”

“Can do.”

“Congratulations! Tell Sorella the entire Clergy is grateful and pleased. Also… I'm proud of her.”

He was touched.
“I will. Thank you. Bye-bye.”

“Goodbye…son.”

Hanging up. Copia hands the phone back to Terzo. Sorella was working with a nurse to get the baby to breastfeed. He opens his wings to block Terzo from watching.

Terzo rolls his eyes and pats Copia’s forearm.
“Oh, you think I care about watching her do something belissima and naturale? Plus, I already saw everything. Remember? I was holding her leg.”
He winks, narrowly escaping Copia swiping his claws to grab him.
“You have to be starving. Do you want to order food, or would you prefer I go and get you something?”

“I already ordered something for us.”
Sorella calls out.

“Fantastico! Are we ready to tell your family?”

Sorella looks up from watching the hungry infant taking to feeding like a duck to water.  She looks at the nurses in the room.
“If it’s OK. Can I get some alone time with Copia? Afterwards, we can get them.”

“Sure.”
Terzo bows. The nurses congratulate them and walk out the room.

Copia sets up the stool that he had knocked over during the birth and sits. He looks at the baby then Sorella, who was watching the baby.

His tail swayed behind him happily.
“You did it.”

Slowly she looks up with a blissful look.
“You helped.”

He clears his throat.
“So, I assume you heard it too. During the birth. Are you OK?”

“I was blessed with a healthy baby and heard the voice of Satan. I’d say I’m doing better than OK.”

He relaxes, until the baby begins to fuss. Sorella tries to comfort him to no avail.

“He needs to be burped.”
Copia states, pointing his claw at him. Sorella’s eyebrow raises. Setting him on her shoulder, she pats his back and sure enough. That was it.

“I’m going to miss that mind reading ability of yours tomorrow.”
She smiles.
“What else is he thinking?”

Copia’s corner of his mouth raises. Running the back of his hand against his child.
“It’s bright. He’s full. And he’s happy.”

“I’m happy.”
Sorella sighs, leaning toward Copia.

“Me too.”
He ghosts his lips across hers and kisses into the mouth of the mother of his firstborn son. His double set of leathery wings opening. Her hand reaches up and caresses the side of his face. A bit rough on her fingers because he had yet to shave today.

His arms reach around her, and he holds onto her while she holds onto their child. He rests his double horned head on hers, his world peaceful. Most people think having a child is the end of the story, but for Sorella and Copia it was only just the beginning.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Six years later.
Copia sat at his desk, tucked away in his office working hard on an upcoming project. The once tidy desk now was lined with several framed family photos that he would stop and occasionally stare at when his eyes needed a rest. Right now, he wanted to finish his task before he took a needed break.His nostrils flare, making his head turn towards the door. The sweet smell of Sorella fills his nose, causing him to smile. She never disturbed him during the day, so this was a welcomed distraction. Sitting back into his large executive chair, he waits for his office door to open.Sorella walks in, exhausted with one hand on her back and the other resting atop her swollen belly. Her dress was taut across her abdomen, and honestly too small for her body. She was due any day and Copia could not understand how her frame supported her largest bump yet.“C’mon. We’re having these babies sooner, than later.” She gestures from him to come to her.Copia stands abruptly. “You’re in labor!” Circling the desk, he rushes to stand in front of her. Resting his hands on her side. His eyes were blown wide.“Not yet, but you’re going to jump start it. You put these kids in me, you’re going to help get them out. I can’t do this anymore.”Copia cocks his head. Sorella undoes his belt and unzips his pants. His eyebrows shot to the sky.  Oh. Oh!  He growls deeply within his chest. “I can do that.” He walks her backwards until his desk stops her. Softly, he kisses her lips, nipping down her jawline, then nuzzling into her neck and landing sensual kisses along her collarbone. His hands cup her full breasts, and soft moans escape her.Suddenly, he lifts her onto the desk and presses himself against her belly. He stops, and stares into her eyes. “Oops. Almost forgot.” Raising his hand, he snaps his fingers and his office door locks from the inside. “Where was I?” His fingerless gloved hands reached down to her dress’s hemline.Sorella grabs his cravat around his neck and pulls his face closer, smirking while ghosting her lips across his. Leaning forward, he aggressively kisses into her and slides his tongue past her lips. Sorella sighs, the scent of her arousal makes him shudder against her, causing his talon and horns to slowly emerge. Her hands slide down his body, resting on his hips to lower his pants. The talons of his wings rise out of his back and open while his tail no longer confined by his pants wraps around her ankle.Pulling her off the desk, he spins her around and hikes up her dress. Looping his claws through the top of her panties through the leg hole, he drags his fangs along her exposed neck. He smiled and growled softly against her, holding back from biting. His body grinds into her and he starts to pull them down.
Knock. Knock.
“Dad!” A child’s voice calls out.Knock. Knock. “Where’s mom?”Another smaller voice calls out. “Mom! Are you in there?”Both Copia and Sorella’s bodies go rigid and his wings raise straight up with her hands holding onto the front of the desk.His eyes shift, whispering as his wings flap then close behind him. “Shh. If we ignore them, they’ll go away.”“They are in there. I can smell them.” A young female voice adds, followed by a quick Terzo-like double knock against the door.Sorella giggles, in a hushed tone whispers. “They found us.”Raising his horned head, Copia sighs. Taking a step back, he realizes this is not going to happen. “Give us a minute.” Sorella shouts at the door.Quickly Copia zips up his pants and fastens his belt while Sorella leans up from the desk and readjusts herself. He takes a deep breath, closing his eyes and rolls his shoulders back. All his demonic features disappear into him. Opening his mismatched eyes, he snaps his fingers.The office door unlocks with a loud click and a six and five year old pair of boys with blonde hair and mismatched eyes along with a tall six year old gray skinned girl with amber eyes enters.“Mommy needed a minute with daddy. I told you to stay with Uncle Terzo. Where is he?” Sorella questions, the children standing in front of her.“Right here! Sorry about that.” Terzo enters, carrying a two-year-old boy in his arms that was clearly a sibling to the older boys. “Christian, Aleister, Terza!”  Terzo hissed as he readjusts the toddler on his hip. “I told you to leave them alone.”Copia walks over to Terzo. He reaches out to the child in his arms, and the child reaches out to him. Terzo hands the kid off to him, then walks over to the mini Ghoulette that comes to his shoulders and wraps his arm around her. She flings her arms around his middle. Clearly, she was a daddy’s girl and enjoyed the attention, looking up at a proud Terzo.“It’s fine. I needed to take a break anyway. I love when the kids stop by.” Copia bounces the giggling boy in his arms. “You love to see your Papa. Right, Zoe?”Terzo’s face sours. “He prefers to go by Terzo. You gave him a strong name, don’t desecrate it by shortening it into a simple nickname.” The child squeals with joy and Terzo throws up his right hand into the air. “Si! He agrees.” Copia rolls his eyes. “I can’t believe you talked us into using that name.” He grins. “What were we thinking? Poor child.” He gently pats his back.“I like it.” Sorella waddles over to Copia, taking the child’s hand into hers. “I can already tell he’s going to be a charmer with the ladies. Just like his uncle.”The oldest boy steps forward. “Can we go play in the crypts?” Christian, asks, hoping with all his might.“Will you leave your mother and me alone?” Copia asks, trying to play the serious father, but his silly nature pours through his tone.“Yes!” Copia’s green and white eyes look at Sorella for approval. Seeing no pushback, he nods. “Take Al and Terza. Be sure to annoy Grand-Papa and you got it.”The three kids jump up and down, thanking and promising Copia then rush out the door. “Have fun!” He shouts at them, turning towards Sorella.Terzo glances up at Sorella with a worried look, asking how she’s doing. Rubbing her enormous stomach, she takes a deep breath while leaning into Copia. “I’m so ready for the twins to arrive. This pregnancy has been rough on me physically.”Taking his namesake back into his arms from Copia, Terzo sympathizes. “I bet, but you make it look easy Prime Mover. Five boys in six years has exceeded everyone’s expectations. Our Clergy is in safe hands now thanks to you.” Terzo elbows Copia’s side. “Go on. Tell her how wonderful she is.”Copia’s eyebrows furrow, but soften looking at Sorella. “No sacrifice will ever be worthy of what Satan orchestrated in placing your love in my life.” He kisses the top of her head, taking a moment to personally thank Satan under his breath for her and to keep her safe.Sorella’s hand quickly clutches her side and her eyes round. “I think my water just broke.”Terzo walks towards the door. “I’ll tell the Ghouls to get the Escalade ready and call her doctor. I’ll hold down the fort with the kids while you’re gone. I assume you can handle this birth without me.”Copia starts to escort Sorella out of the office. “I’m basically a pro. We got this.” He smiles, full of confidence for once in his life. Copia realizes not only was he destined to be Papa to his congregation, but papa to the next generation of green and white eyed boys in the line of papal succession. Having mastered all his demonic powers and become the prophesied Antichrist, raising five boys each destined for their own futures should be a cake walk as long as he has his Sorella by his side for all eternity.