Broken Angel

Chapter 9: Heart Eyes

AZRAEL

Landing on the back patio, I made my way into the kitchen heading towards the stairs.

“You’re really f*****g this up for me brother,” a voice I recognized came from the side stopping me in my tracks.

Turning around I saw my bratty brother sitting on the kitchen island, casually leaning back on locked arms. “What are you doing here? And what the Hell are you talking about now?” I asked him.

I hadn’t spoken to Coop in forever, and him showing up out of the blue was out of character for him. Just like I was, he was always busy with his charges, and rarely had time to d**k around like Raphael or Lucifer.

Sometimes he would think too highly of himself claiming that the world wouldn’t turn without love. That had Gabi and I rolling our eyes at him, but for some odd reason, he got along with everyone. We all loved him without him having to use his gifts on us.

Coop hopped off the counter and proceeded to give me his signature bro hug, with two pats on the back and a kiss on each cheek. Stepping back, he held me at arm’s length with a cocky smirk growing on his face. “Well, you and your soulmate were a match made in heaven. Quite literally, by me,” he answered pointing at himself.

“I thought our Father—” I began. Coop was in charge of matching the humans, I didn’t think that he would also be given the task of matching his siblings. He would have needed a lot more power than what he usually used.

He chuckled, shaking his head. “Nope. He gave me the task and Destiny was charged with flapping a butterfly’s wings or something. Which is more important is neither here nor there. But you wouldn’t have had Penelope if it weren’t for me. You’re welcome by the way. So why are you making me look bad? Everyone up there is saying how this wasn’t a good match.”

“I’m handling it,” I replied, brushing him off and walking towards the living room.

“Apparently not since I was summoned.”

“Summoned by who?” It sure as Hell wasn’t me, and I doubted that Gabi would summon Coop here without giving the rest of us a heads up. That left Achilles since Lex and Adonis had soulmates, but he rarely spent time here.

Coop looked up as I heard children’s laughter in the distance. A few seconds later, Rory and Alec came bounding down the steps in a fit of giggles with Poochie following at a steady pace. “Here they come. Don’t you just love the personification of love,” Coop said with hearts in his eyes.

It would have been nauseating had it not been my kids, I could only imagine that’s what I looked like every time I caught a glance of them.

“They summoned you?”

My brother simply nodded. “They have each other. You have no one. They wanted to give you your other half. I don’t think they knew what they were doing, but when a celestial calls, we answer.”

“Hi daddy!” Aurora greeted me, jumping into my arms.

Alec was much calmer and more reserved when it came to others, he could sense them, but he remained vigil. “Who is this?” Alec asked me, coming to stand in front of Coop.

“This is—”

Coop knelt down and held out his hand for Alec to shake. “I’m your Uncle Coop.”

Alec took his hand and shook it without giving me a single glance. Unlike Aurora who always looked to me to confirm that touching others was okay, Alec was more liberal with his touches. “Are you like Aunt Gabi?”

“I’m much cooler,” Coop replied with a lopsided grin.

“How?”

“Because of me, you were created.”

“What is wrong with you?” I berated him.

“They don’t know about the birds and the bees?”

“That’s not what I meant.” I hadn’t explained to the twins how they were created. They hadn’t asked much about it, and I didn’t want to tell them that they had a mother, only to lose her. Until I was able to bring Penelope home, I wasn’t sure how to proceed.

My moron of a brother didn’t seem to understand that, and had just let out a chunk of information. If they found out what his gift was, then they would have more than a few questions.

“Ooh. So, you’ve been keeping it mum about their mum,” he whispered to me behind his hand. All I could do was roll my eyes, I didn’t know why he even bothered whispering to me, if Rory and Alec would be able to hear anyways.

“We don’t have a mommy; do you have a mommy? I want one. Lilo doesn’t have a mommy either but she has Stitch and Uncle Luci gave me Poochie. Peppa Pig has a mommy she talks like Uncle Luci,” Aurora let out in a flurry.

Coop looked stunned for the first time since the beginning of this visit and switched from looking to Rory, to me, to Alec, and back. “Holy s**t. You really did a number on this one, there’s a pig now?”

“It’s a kid’s show on the tv you dumbass.”

“Language,” Rory chastised me.

I kissed Rory’s temple in hopes that she would forget this whole conversation. “Sorry Peach.”

Alec had been suspiciously inspecting Coop since he walked in, and had his tiny arms crossed over his chest. “You have a lot of feelings,” he said to Coop. It wasn’t a question, merely a statement. Alec had begun to process other’s emotions and was able to understand their sentiments.

Coop being Cupid was bursting with emotions, most of them good, with the occasional heartbreak. “Comes with the job kid.”

“You love us.” Alec told him with a c**k of his head and a smile that told us he already knew that was true.

“I love everyone,” Coop tried to argue.

“But you love us more. I can feel it.” My son held out his arms asking for Coop to pick him up, and my brother complied. A warm feeling spread across my chest knowing that Alec could love so strongly within moments of meeting someone.

Once Aurora saw that Alec was comfortably being held she too switched arms. Now my brother was holding the twins, one in each arm and held them as if they held all the world’s love. Just like Alec, Coop could feel immense amounts of love. “So, it’s true? He’s an empath, which means she’s the Reaper.”