Harlee POV
I stared at the contents of the plastic tote in front of me. What do I do with this crap? Do I throw it out? My heart squeezed at the idea. There were things from my childhood here-things that proved I had existed, that I had once been human, a humanity that was swiftly slipping away. The Nephilim rolled and kicked and I patted my stomach absently. I pulled out the glass bottle I had made in fourth grade, with glued bits of colored tissue paper on the outside. Yes, technically it was junk, but I had been so freakin proud of it, I never let it go. So proud in fact, I had made two, one for my mother and one for myself. Hers sat in the kitchen window catching the sun for a time, until it was lost in a move. I still had mine. I stood and walked to the kitchen, placing the bottle on the little ledge over the sink. The sunlight made the tissue paper look like stained glass.
"Pretty." Ash said, walking up behind me to hug me around the ribs. "Why are you so sad?"
"I.." The Nephilim rolled and kicked again and my body seized around my stomach. Ash's eyes flew wide as they held me and I fell.
"Harlee, Harlee, hold on baby! Zeev! The Nephilim's going through its first shift! I need your help!" Ash screamed. My stomach roiled and the baby kicked and tossed. I gritted my teeth as my body cramped and contracted around the movement. Zeev gripped my head and placed a hand on my stomach.
"Ah fuck, I think it was responding to her mood. There was so much trauma early on, and my instincts to protect her are so damn strong.." Zeev forced through gritted teeth.
"Can you calm it?" Ash asked urgently.
"I hope so." Zeev replied. I bucked on the kitchen floor as the Nephilim stretched, a foot clearly visible against the side of my abdomen.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" I panted. "Calm own baby, it's alright, but you're gonna hurt momma!" I groaned as another movement tilted my abdomen crazily to the right.
Zeev POV
As the Nephilim grew and its soul developed, it was less me and more.. somebody else. We would always share a connection, it literally had a spark of my essence, my very being, inside it, but now it was more its own creature. I searched for that little spark of 'me' until I could latch into it and used the only thing I knew that could calm the Nephilim immediately.
'You're going to hurt Harlee!' I told it angrily. The Nephilim stopped moving. I could sense that it didn't want to do that.
'You need to return to your original Form and stop thrashing about so much. She's still partially human! She can't take the abuse!' A wave of panicky fear from the Nephilim. It had never meant to harm her. I could feel it checking her body for damage and the distress as it found bruising and pain. It began to heal the damage immediately. I sighed and sat back. A whispered apology floated my way. Harlee looked at me with tears in her eyes from the pain.
"Did you hear that? He apologized!" She cried out and dissolved into tears again. Ash looked between the two of us, bewildered. I shook my head.
"Hormones." I offered. Harlee swatted at me.
Harlee POV
Most of my belongings went into a storage unit that Zeev insisted on paying for, despite my objections. He rented it for a year so I couldn't object or move my stuff out.
"There, you have a year to decide what to do with it-if anything." Zeev smugly reported, dusting off his hands as he closed and locked the sliding garage-style door. He gripped me around the waist and nuzzled my neck as Ash dusted off their clothing with a dramatic sigh. "Not to dredge up bad feelings, but what had you so upset?" Zeev asked softly. Tears sprang to my eyes and I breathed deeply, laying a hand on my stomach as if to reassure the Nephilim that we were ok.
"I'm not sure you'd understand.. exactly, or if I could explain it accurately in words. But..-" I turned to face Zeev. "This is my-our-first child. Normally, couples would be sharing this moment with their families. Instead I find myself.." I drew in a deep breath "..losing my humanity..and you know that my mother has..dementia..and my dad left when she got ill..so we haven't talked since and.." I was openly sobbing now and I felt Ash's arms encircle me as Zeev crushed my body to his chest, cradling my head gently.
"All of this time, all of the power at your disposal, you've never asked me, or any of us, to help you with any of these problems." Zeev murmured harshly.
"No, because it all has a cost, and it's not right.. to meddle." I inhaled deeply. "This isn't.. something you just wave your hand and fix.. I .. don't want that."
"But your mother's memory at least-" Ash murmured.
"At what cost? Her life? She gets six months and dies? Or she comes back different? Her personality altered?" I shook my head. "Too many things can go wrong with Demon Contracts, and you know it. I trust you guys, and know you wouldn't attempt to harm me, but let's face it, even if you did everything right-we can't cover all our bases. So what if she gets her memories back, but she's paralyzed? Or has a stroke the next day? Or on the way out of the hospital is hit by a car? Nuh uh, no thank you. Everything has a price." Zeev held me tighter.
Zeev POV
I rearranged the new nursery for probably the fiftieth time.
"Seventy-eighth, I counted." Smirked Ash, popping a peppermint into their mouth. I rolled my eyes.
"Yeah, I like the crib by the window much better like that-but is it too much sun for the baby?" Harlee suddenly frowned, rubbing her stomach as she leaned against the door frame. Ash hugged her as my jaw clenched.
"Why don't we let Zeev handle this? He's got a really good sense of style, and you could really use something to eat. I promise you'll be happy." Ash kissed the side of her hair, and she nodded slowly, as if unsure. Ash tugged her towards the kitchen, prattling about sandwiches and warm chocolate brownies. I shook my head and started rearranging the furniture.
Harlee POV
With the house settling into a semi-state of almost domestic tranquility, I had almost forgotten our many problem and pursuers. If only they had forgotten us as well. There was a persistent banging on our front door. I struggled up from the couch, clutching my aching lower back. Ash and Zeev protested, offering to answer the door themselves, but I waved them off.
"I need exercise." I griped, and groaned my way on swollen ankles and feet to the door. I was already missing Zeev's foot massage and I heard him chuckle behind me as I thought it. "As shut it." I sniped. I opened the door a crack to see who it was, only to have a badly beaten Josh shoved through the opening. I tried t catch him, but my stomach got in the way of me bending well enough.
"So, Ed was right." A voice commented. Josh groaned from the floor. The door was pushed open to reveal a small group of people standing in the doorway. They ranged in ages and appearance, but they all had one thing in common. 'Mages', Zeev would call them.
"Harlee, I'm sorry." Josh croaked from the floor.
"What did you do, young Mage?" Zeev growled as he and Ash appeared beside me. A babble arose among the group.
"The boy and his father didn't say there were two-"
"Which is the father?"
"The one on the left-can't you tell it is more powerful.."
"But the other is an Incubus, surely that makes more sense.."
"Is that really a Fallen?" A gasp ran through the crowd.
"I backed up until I was between Ash and Zeev. The leader of the group was tall, rivaling Zeev in height, but he was thin, with black hair and stubble. He was holding the door open, the open buttons of his dark black shirt exposing a lightly muscled chest
"When is it due?" He asked, eyeing my stomach.
"When he's ready." I crossed my arms over my chest, belligerently. The man's eyes snapped to mine. A small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.
"Oh I see-you still think you're getting away from us." He remarked coldly. A shiver went down my spine. I could feel the power this man had. I touched the silver bracelet on my left wrist.
"I don't think, I know we're getting out of this." I glared and ran my fingers along the golden band around my upper arm as well. The man watched my movements carefully.
"I don't think you know either. You see, we've taken the time to put wards up around your house. Call all the little friends you need. They're not coming to help you." The man sneered.
"On the contrary." I heard Sands' cool voice from outside. "All you've managed to do is trap one of us outside with you. I can come and go as I please, but I find it more useful to be here." The group exploded with fear this time.
"An Angel! An Arch Angel!"
"How does she have Demons and Angels at her beck and call?!"
"She must be destroyed!"
"She's too powerful!"
There was an angry roar outside, that I recognized as Sam's.
"Harlee is our Mistress, and you dare to come here and threaten her?! In her place of dwelling?! Do you know who you have angered?!" Sam's angry voice resonated in the small space.
"Harlee." Ash's gentle voice distracted me and I saw Zeev picking up Josh ad moving him to the couch. "You don't want to see this honey." Ash kissed me gently and turned me to follow Zeev.
"Where do you think you're going?" Demanded the tall man from the doorway. An invisible wall went up between Ash and I, slicing cleanly through Ash's arm, which had been wrapped around my waist. I heard Ash roar and gripped my own arm in pain.
"You hurt them!" I cried, looking down at the severed limb. The beautiful pale skin twitched for a moment or two as Ash beat on the invisible barrier between us. Zeev was quickly there beside Ash, orange eyes alight.
"You truly.." I began, feeling the growl building in my chest "..have no idea.." The growl was getting louder, more uncontrollable and I heard Ash and Zeev yelling my name. "..who you're dealing with!" I snarled and felt my bones begin stretch my skin painfully as my body hair increased and thickened. Claws erupted from my hands and feet, my Demon eyes glowing as the feathers sprouted from my head and back and tail. My ears pulled back as my tail swished back and forth angrily. Scales ran across my cheeks, chest and belly. A little gift from Ash. I scratched the ground, eyeing my prey. The mans' eyes widened.