Into the Wild Dark

CHAPTER 40 - JACK

Ch. 40: Jack's Reflection

September 20 | Night

The house on Ashivant Lane was no longer the way it had been. Stately, it remained. Seemingly frozen in time, certainly. Yet, gone was the darkness that had permeated the structure for generations, and as we returned home after seeing off the twins, it seemed to have lost a smidge of light, too.

Mal stepped into the foyer and kicked away her heels. She looked glum, although she made an attempt at looking hopeful. "It's just the three of us, I guess."

"Give or take scores of staff." Sunny's yellow-green eyes twinkled. To prove his point, the groundskeeper clomped through the hall toward the French doors to the night garden. He held a handful of plastic bags and a trowel, paying us no mind. "See what I mean?" the angel chuckled.

Mal dropped her sullenness to giggle as he clutched her waist just above the flared hips for a deeper exploration of her rosy mouth."You have to understand, there's a strong urge to nurture within me," she sighed pleasantly. "I'm trying to get used to being without the girls, is all."

"Young women, darling. They were beyond ready to let go of the apron strings, and I bet you'll discover that you like taking off the apron now and again, too."

"So, what do you beautiful people think we should do with all this free time and space?" I asked, smiling. Sunny unfastened his belt with a matching grin. His expression seemed to ask if we were on the same wavelength. I gestured with my eyes up the stairs.

We had endured way more ups and downs in the courtship phase than most. Learning to juggle the wants and desires of multiple lovers was a sight more complicated than being a couple. Additionally, we were Supernaturals living between disparate worlds. Yet, somehow we were making it work.

"It's getting serious between us, isn't it?" Mal tucked her tongue behind her teeth as she pinched my t-shirt to drag me to the balustrade. I nodded in response, Sunny on my heels. "Well, I guess there's no time like the present to tell you guys that I'm not the marrying kind."

"Neither am I," Sunny grinned. As a high rank archangel, having the freedom to move around was his calling card.

"I'm not the mothering kind, either."

"You just said you're a nurturer," I pointed out.

She peered over her shoulder at me somewhat introspectively. "I can't have children, Jack."

I paused on the second landing, and the angel stepped up beside me. Was that the reason for Mal's somberness the closer the three of us got? I smiled and shook my head. "World's full of kids, Malice. You want some? We'll adopt. Or foster. We can even get a surrogate. We've got options, sweetheart."

She stared at me a beat as she rubbed her elbow. Tossing her hair, she found a glimmer of a half-smile. "You mean, you're willing to share this big, empty, sad old house with me and a gaggle of kids?"

"No, not the 'big, empty, sad' one," said Sunny. "We'll make it the happiness-filled manor house it was intended to be, and you'll make a wonderful parent, Mal, when you're ready. Either way, you're wholly amazing with or without the gaggle."

"Couldn't have said it better myself," I agreed. "Now, what do you say we go play house while we can, before we start filling up these spare rooms?"

I took them to the bedroom, undressed, kneeled on the floor by the bed with my feet beneath the frame and arched my neck to stare up at Mal in all her glory. Naked and wondrous, her hair spilled over bare shoulders. Golden skin caught the light and fired it back. Eyes paprika with flames, met mine, and the eye contact spiced the heated air between us with desire.