Chapter 1 | A Pleasant Surprise

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The streets of Soho, London are a very busy place

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The streets of Soho, London are a very busy place. If you asked me to be more specific, today there were fifty-seven business men and women on the streets, twelve groups of families and their crying children, around thirteen teenagers going off to cause a ruckus without their parents knowing, thirty two drunk people and six couples on dates. Of course, that doesn't include the multiple pigeons that flood the skies and parks.

And among all the hustle and bustle, you wouldn't have noticed the red-headed demon driving down the road at 70 mph in an old Bentley with a basket in hand. Not like anyone could, demons and angels looked nearly identical to humans, besides the occasional abnormal eye colour and their wings that they could call on demand. This demon might be going too fast for driving in a place like London, but he usually drives around 90 mph on a normal Thursday. I know. I've been watching him drive this car for centuries.

But as he stopped in front of a quaint bookshop and stepped out, bringing the basket with him, you had to wonder, what's in it?

One of your first thoughts might be that he must be transporting drugs to someone. You wouldn't be wrong about the 'transporting' part. But that'd be far from the truth. Now you may be thinking that he has wine with him and that's what he's transporting. I wouldn't be surprised, he does bring wine a lot. But as the basket is rocking back and forth in a way that any alcohol can't, I can't say that it is.

The jingle of the doorbell echoed through the small bookshop. A few visitors were already here in the early morning, reading books or using the place as a hangout hub. There were hundreds upon thousands of books in the shop, some in the shelves or in stacks. And some were gathering dust already. But the demon knew the shopkeeper would keep this place in tip-top shape. He's known this person for 6,000 years. Of course he would. Immediately, two small children came from behind a shelf of books. A strawberry blonde girl and a ginger boy.

"Daddy! Daddy!!" they both yelled, immediately running towards him to give him a hug. "Hello, darlings," he greeted the two, giving both of them a headpat with his free hand. "Tell me, where's Aziraphale gone off to?". "Oh, Papa's just received a new batch of books!" the young boy replied. "Should I go get him?". "Nah, your father can arrive on his own accord," the demon laughed. Just as he had said that, a man with white blonde hair in a beige suit came out from the back. "Sorry, my dears" he chuckled, as he gave the demon a kiss on the nose. "Some customers had gifted me some books we were talking about a few days ago, and I was just sorting them out. Crowley, I assume that you came to talk about the....."

"Yeah, technically it's about Armageddon, but technically not," the demon told him. "Look, Aziraphale. We need to talk privately about this so I don't sound crazy in front of the humans. We should also bring Phoebe and Reuben, just so they can understand the situation". The two children were immediately intrigued when they heard their names being said. "What's in the basket, Daddy?" Reuben asked him. "Oh, nothing important in particular," Crowley replied. "Just a surprise". "Is it cake!?" Phoebe gasped. "Tell me! Tell me!". "That'd ruin the surprise, wouldn't it?" he told the girl, as they all went into an area out of earshot of mortals.

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