Chapter 663: Welcome Home!
Abaddon intentionally snuck home so that he could surprise his family.
However, he was in for a small disappointment when he realized that it was the dead of night and his family was likely already in bed.
He quite had his sights on seeing them so that he could give them a good surprise at his early returned.
Especially his youngest.
Feeling a bit undeterred, Abaddon decided to visit the children's wing just so that he could poke his head in and admire his children as they slept.
But he forgot that not all of his children were actual children anymore and turned around immediately after sensing a particular 'activity' going on in Thea and Belloc's rooms.
If he didn't need to lay down before, he surely did now.
He travelled back to his own wing with silent footsteps and a heart full of anticipation.
No matter how many times they did this dance of separation and reunion, Abaddon still got feelings of lightness within his heart whenever he thought about seeing them again.
Their scents, smiles, and demeanors all served to act as terribly effective homing beacons that sucked him in without fail.
As he walked through the dark corridor, he noticed a faint light coming from within their kitchen.
A smile formed on his face as he recognized the presence instantly.
He erased his scent, footsteps, and all traces of his being in an instant.
This is how he was able to sneak up on the kitchen's frequented terror while she was distracted.
Bekka was standing in front of an open fridge dressed like Winnie the Pooh.
Her tail and large butt swayed side to side in unison as she scoured her refrigerator for more morsels.
Abaddon watched her take some leftover roast chicken, a tub of cookie dough, and some milk to make a bowl of cereal.
She was also eyeing a half of a sub sandwich that specifically had Valerie's name on it along with the words 'Do not touch, Bekka'.
"…Eh, she'll forgive me if I use a bit of cuddling and sexual magic."
Bekka took off the bite and saw new writing on the back that explicitly stated that she would not be bribed by her fur or any other attributes.
Now, Bekka just looked like she was weighing the potential consequences of filling her stomach.
Perhaps it was her canine aspect, but the second empress practically thrived on affection and attention.
She practically fell apart whenever any of her family showed even the slightest bit of disappointment towards her.
Her spirit couldn't take it!
She was a lover, not a fighter damn it!
…But she also really wanted that sandwich!
Amused beyond belief, Abaddon did nothing and simply unconcealed his presence.
Bekka suddenly stopped digging through the fridge and stood straight up.
She whirled around with the same kind of glimmer in her eyes that was present whenever she saw any kind of dish with cheese or bacon.
"BABYYY!!!!"
Abandoning her pursuit of food, Bekka jumped up into her husband's arms if she were a significantly smaller woman.
She plastered kisses across every exposed patch of skin on her husband's face.
Abaddon had to steady himself against the counter to stop her from taking him to the ground.
Bekka seemed positively feral as she nuzzled her cheek along Abaddon's skin fast enough to cause a fire.
"You're back, you're back, you're back!!! I thought you were going to be gone for at least another week or so!"
Abaddon smiled warmly as he wrapped his arms around Bekka's waist.
"I decided to cut the trip short because I missed my girls so much. Are you perhaps disappointed I didn't stay a little longer?"
"Are you crazy? Of course not! I wanted to sneak off and go get you but Lailah tied me up!"
Abaddon had not a single doubt in his mind that such a scenario had actually occurred.
And in all honesty, if even one of his wives had've contacted him and told him they missed him, he would have cut his trip even shorter.
Darius was just going to have to understand.
"Sorry to interrupt your little midnight snack, my dear." Abaddon chuckled as he glanced at the pile of soon-to-be decimated food.
Bekka climbed down from her perch on her husband's body and went back to fridge looting.
"It's no problem, now that you're here you can join me!"
"I'm not hungry though?"
Bekka turned around and pouted with the biggest sad eyes Abaddon had ever seen outside of an animated character.
"So you don't want to eat with me..?"
Abaddon felt the back of his neck begin to sweat. "I'll still sit with you, but I'm not really in the mood to eat, love."
"So you're just going to watch me be fat by myself?!" Bekka shed a tear.
"..."
This was how Abaddon ended up sitting in his kitchen at almost 2 AM, eating cabbage rolls and a frozen pizza while his wife happily decimated half of their refrigerator.
"Ahhh... This feels a lot easier with you here, babe." Bekka smiled. "Eating for two is hard work."
Abaddon tilted his head. "You're not pregnant yet though?"
"I-I'm just practicing, don't judge!"
Abaddon laughed as he finally pushed away his plate.
He took her hand in his own and gave it a small kiss. "You will be a good mother, Bekka. You don't need to worry so much."
Bekka smiled bashfully as she lowered her head.
"I am just a bit worried, you know..? I sleep pretty roughly, so I'm nervous about their being a dent in his head, or what if I don't eat the right things and he comes out with low bone density, or-"
Abaddon finally placed his hand over Bekka's jaw to stop her from saying any more needless things.
"You will be fine, my love." He smiled. "I doubt any child born between us would be so weak that you could injure them in utero. And besides, you're forgetting the most important thing."
"And that is?"
"You have people who love you and are willing to tie you down for your own wellbeing. We'll make the process as easy for you as we can.It isn't as if we haven't all done this before."
Bekka smiled warmly and rested her head on her husband's shoulder.
"I just want to be a good mom..."
"Are you not already?"
Bekka shrugged.
"I wonder sometimes if I am doing everything that I can for them. I think I am doing an okay job sometimes, but then I witness Eris and Lisa with them and I begin to feel slightly inadequate."
Abaddon didn't like that Bekka felt like this, but he also could not say that he didn't understand.
He thought his kids liked him, but once either Eris or Lisa stepped into the room they quickly pushed him aside like he was last year's sneaker release.
They were maternal deities after all; making the allure they had with children second to none.
Even Abaddon found himself unconsciously calling them 'Mommy'.
Nevertheless, he still found her worry a bit unfounded.
"I don't know if you've ever properly looked at your own relationship with our children, my love. They show you quite the favoritism too if you haven't noticed."
Bekka fell silent as she thought about the occasions where her children had voluntarily come to seek her out and spent time with her for hours on end.
"...But our boys don't do that anymore?"
"They're older now, love. They're only interested in looking dignified for their women."
"Y-You just spent several days with your moms a few months ago!"
"I had been turned into a toddler..."
Bekka's ears perked up. "...So you're saying I should turn the boys into-"
"No, no, I am not saying that." Abaddon shook his head firmly.
Bekka deflated and absentmindedly shoveled Valerie's sandwich into her mouth.
Abaddon lifted a napkin and wiped away any stray dollops of mayonnaise that ran down her chin.
"Everything will work out for the best, my love. Just trust yourself."
Bekka felt her heart warm up a bit.
Truthfully, the reason why she was so nervous about carrying her future son was because of her acquaintance with Nyx.
Most of the other reborn children either did not have mothers or did not interact with them, but Tartarus was different.
Nyx knew her son quite well, and the two of them seemed to have a very solid relationship.
So solid that just from the stories alone, Bekka was worried their might not have been room for her in between them.
And Nyx was supposedly going to move in with them as well once the family had taken the underworlds, so what was she supposed to do if her new little bundle of joy preferred to spend time with the mother he already knew?
It wouldn't be her place to get in the middle of them like that.
Abaddon could tell that Bekka still seemed to be thinking about something rather hard, but he didn't push her to share it with him just yet.
Often times Bekka needed to work out how she felt about things on her own before she was capable of sharing them with anyone else.
Instead of prying, he distracted her with small talk and stories about his exploits in another world.
Just as he expected, she did find the pictures he took quite funny and her mood showed significant improvement.
Eventually, the two of them finished their 'snacking' and started to return back to the bedroom where everyone else was sleeping.
Well, that was the plan at least.
Half-way to the bedroom, the door opened on it's own and Valerie emerged in a large t-shirt ad a set of Abaddon's boxers.
While rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she smiled drunkenly at her husband and walked towards him with her arms outstretched.
"I thought that was you... I'm glad you're finally ho..."
Valerie noticed Bekka cowering behind their husband and her eyes fully narrowed.
Judging by the fact that the two were coming from the kitchen, her intuition told her loudly what her sister had done.
And she was not happy.
"Bitch, did you eat my sandwich?"