It had been two days.

It felt like more.

"Ugh, what the hell?" I groaned as I opened my eyes to the dark light, feeling an intense weight on me. "Take it easy. You're not as small as you were a few days ago," I heard the voice of the demon physician and I watched him point to my stomach, seeing big and round.

"What the fuck!? Why is my stomach so huge?" I screeched in alarm and he tried to placate me by touching my arm. "You must remember you are carrying a product of Sir Alistair. He is very strong and his genes defy the rules that you are accustomed to. It takes nine months for humans, here, it could take as little as three weeks to two months," He shrugged and I stared at him as if he was stupid. Everything just seemed to be Maddox's fault.

The physician carried on, not concerned about the feelings of anger that I was currently displaying in the form of eye rolling.

"Because you are producing such a strong heir, you'll need to infuse more DNA so that he can finish growing. The child is growing at a faster rate than expected and if he isn't fully developed before you get any bigger and gain more weight," He fixed me with a stern glare, pushing his glasses up. "You will die."

I blinked at him continuously, trying to find the brain cells necessary to comprehend. "Are you telling me that I need to have sex with Maddox before this child grows any bigger?" The physician chuckled with a nod. "I wouldn't put it in that terminology, but yes, every two to three days."

My eyes bugged out of my head and I fought the urge to guffaw. "You're funny. What makes you think I want to have sex with him? I can barely stand to hear anything about that fool!" I spat coldly, folding my arms as much as I could. The physician pouted as if he could understand my pain. I didn't even want to hear him say anything about him, so I just changed the subject.

"Wait, so I'm having a boy?"

The doctor nodded with a small smile, putting my hand on my stomach for me. "He's almost fully grown, that little boy of yours. Soon, you'll have a mini-you running around," He grinned, handing a bunch of pictures to me and I furrowed my brows, wondering what this was. "These are pictures from your ultrasound," I blinked several times, remembering that I had seen something like this on television some point long ago. The only difference was this one was a lot more different and I could fully see the characteristics of my child, the way that he was laying, and parts of his features.

"Oh," I breathed, flipping through the black pictures, marveling at the sight. "As you can see, this giant munchkin is your son," He pointed to the giant white mass in the middle of the picture, two horns protruding from what seemed to be his head. "He's so big already," I whimpered with joy filling my heart as I took in the sight of the full-term fetus, his hair swimming around his scalp as he curled in on himself. I could see the little smile on his face as his eyes remained closed. I couldn't stop the bashful grin that morphed my face as I stared at the beautiful creation. He wasn't even here yet and I was already in love with him.

"Since you've gotten back, you have asleep for two days following that incident," He referenced to Tion's brutal murder and I internally grinned. "I'm not sure if you remember, but you had fallen asleep in the presence of Nya, the former first division commander, and she brought you here so that you could heal," He pushed his glasses up, those green eyes boring into my soul.

"It was good that she brought you when she did because you were running on fumes. You depleted all of your energy in the war, so you might be feeling a little sluggish and worn out right now," He touched my forehead, humming to himself. 

"I suggest that you stay in here for the rest of the day. My assistant will bring you a few meals with some medicine and vitamins to take so that you can heal quickly for your baby," I nodded, rubbing my swollen stomach. I still couldn't believe that this was even happening. "How long do I have?" I murmured and the man clicked his teeth. "About two weeks to a month. I am unsure," I narrowed my eyes, totally bewildered by the timing of this. 

"I'll let you have some time to process this because I know this may be a little difficult to wrap your head around," I nodded in thanks, closing my eyes. "I still have more news to tell you, so once you've become acclimated to this news, I shall let you know," The physician rubbed my shoulder before walking out the room, leaving me to ponder what else he had to tell me. 

Aw fuck. 

I sighed heavily, feeling the baby moving around. It was a funny feeling, that was for sure, and it was one that I could see myself getting used to. I never thought that I would be here, 19 years later, having a whole demon spawn. I wondered if my parents knew. I really hoped they did, or they were going to lose their shit when they saw me. I really had to think about everything else because this baby was an important factor and like it or not, he was a part of me that I could never get rid of.

"Hi, Taen," Jexan knocked on the door and walked in, looking as brand new as ever considering we all were fucked up in the war. "How are you doing?" I sighed heavily as I laid back down, pushing my head back into the pillow. "I'm living," I threw back and he snickered, taking a seat in the chair next to the bed. "How are you doing?" I pointed to him and he threw his hands up.

"I'm feeling better, that's for sure. It feels like a weight has been taken off our shoulders," He said and I nodded. "There's no more Tion, so thank fuck for that," I grumbled, listening to him chuckle before he stared at me intensely. "Now that you're awake, we can talk," I motioned for him to get on with it. "Since we've gotten back from Eden, Sir Alistair has been in and out of a coma because he fell unconscious due to using a surplus of his power. He had never had a reason to use so much energy like that but because he did, his body could not handle," He explained and I nodded, listening intently.

"None of us except myself and Nya have seen when he was awake briefly. Before he fell back, he asked us to have you come to his wing," I narrowed my eyes, knowing what this fool was gonna say. "Because he wants to see you when he awakes again," He sounded so hopeful and I was about to crush that hope with a wrecking ball.

"No."

Jexan stared at me with his mouth open, evidently astonished. He started sputtering, unable to believe the fact that I declined that offer when I used to bug him to let me go see Maddox. "W-what? Why?" He asked and I shook my head.

"One, he sent me back to my home when he really needed me. Even if it was just for protection and all that, he still could've let me help him. Two heads are better than one and I still don't know why he was hellbent on keeping you guys away when you all got involved in the end," I continued on. "This all could've gone much smoother. Second, I don't know how you guys deal with death down here or what yet, but I need a lot more time to come to terms with what happened. You guys had no casualties, thankfully, but I did," I took a deep breath to stop the waterworks from emerging, seeing Jexan look away in guilt.

"I need time because I don't think I can look at Maddox and not be reminded. Part of me knows it's not his fault but I don't give a damn," I clenched my fists, willing myself to stay calm. "I just need time to heal. When I get to that point, I might just go see him," I reluctantly allowed myself to say and Jexan nodded in understanding. The rational part of me knew that I shouldn't grieve alone, but the irrational part of me told me that it was all his fault.

This war was something I had meticulously planned so that there would be no casualties on our side, but then he threw a hitch in the plans and I could only do so much with what I was given. At least, the plan worked out in the end. 

"...does he know?" I questioned softly and Jexan hesitated before nodding. "He noticed the tears that were on your face while you were sleeping. He asked Nya what had happened to make you so sad and she told him," I clicked my tongue, refusing to cry right now. "At least he knows why," If he knew, then that meant that he would give me my space and my time so I didn't see him the way that I saw him now.  

"I'll come back later to check on you," The advisor stood as he reached over to hug me, leaving behind a trail of agony as he left the room. I sat in silence for a moment, getting my thoughts collected and feelings untangled when all of a sudden, the door busted open.

"Troy!" I heard a series of cries with a loud bark and I jolted towards the door, seeing Vee, Zavi, and Amona running towards me, tears streaming down their faces and slobber all over their cheeks as they buried themselves in my chest. "There, there," I muttered apathetically, rubbing their back. "What are you crying for?" I questioned and Amona picked her head up, sobbing as she spoke. 

Oh my god, these really were children.

"We, we thought," She hiccupped, her halo glowing. "We thought you were hurt!" She wailed and I admitted that the action tugged at the heartstrings of my dead heart. "No, I'm not," I smiled gently, rubbing their head as they clutched me tightly to their chests. "I'm okay guys, really," I chuckled as Zavi refused to let his claws leave my shirt. 

"Wait," Vee hummed, removing her head from me as she mumbled. "What is this?" She pointed to my stomach, eyes widened as she poked it softly. "This is where babies grow and as you can see, I'm going to have a baby. He will be here shortly," I explained as best as I could, not wanting to give too little or too much of information. 

"Really?!" Zavi grinned, a little too happy for me to handle. "Is he gonna be my little brother?" I looked at him as he told me that he tried a drug for the first time, oddly confused about where he got that idea from. "Um, yea, sure," I muttered, not wanting to break the poor boy's little heart. "What are you going to name him?" Amona asked and I shrugged, not even have thought about that. "I don't know, but I'll let you know once I come up with it," Finally noticing Maddox Jr. for the first time, I reached over to ruffle his cute fur, missing him. 

"Yay!" They all cheered simultaneously and I rolled my eyes, hearing a knock on the door. "Okay, guys. There seem to be more people who want to talk to me, so do you want to come back later on tonight and we can watch a movie?" I asked and they nodded in unison, fleeing the room like skittish rats.

"Come in!" I called out to the person as they came in and shut the door, sitting myself up. "Hey man!" I winced automatically as soon as I registered who that voice belonged to. God, why him? Why now?

"I hope you're feeling better. I came by a few times to check on you but you were still sleeping," I looked everywhere but at Avery as he came to sit down next to me in my bed. "Oh yeah?" I replied, not knowing what to say. Here I was, making the situation awkward because I knew that I would have to tell him at some point. He would ask and I would have no choice but to tell him.

He stared at me, eyes furrowed in confusion as he tilted his head, giving me the floor. That was one thing I liked about him. He knew when I was in a bind and needed to say something without feeling pressured but right now, that feeling was giving me anxiety.

I took a deep breath, ready to relay the inevitable, a tightness around my heart preventing me from speaking without a crack in my voice. "Before we got in the heat of the war, there was an issue in which an angel was trying to attack me," I pointed at my stomach, my voice hollow as he got the message with shock. "I was unable to move..." I couldn't get out my next words, tears already rolling down my cheeks as my body shook with the force of the sobs.

"Jade died protecting me!" I lamented, unable to stop the weight on my chest from crushing me even further. I felt so guilty. If I would've just moved, she would still be alive. If it wasn't because of me, if it wasn't because of Maddox, the outcome would be entirely different. 

"I know."

I heard sniffling and I snapped my head to look at him, seeing those grey eyes downcasted with tears. "Zero told me," He whispered quietly and I reached for him with shaking hands, unable to cope. He wasted no time in wrapping his arms around me, his tears staining my shoulder as we cried in the embrace of one another. 

I didn't know how long he held me, but it was refreshing because this was the first time I had ever had cried so hard since my parents' departure four almost five years ago, I should say. It hurt so bad and I just wanted to shut down, hating how useless I felt. Avery rubbed my back before pulling me away from him by my shoulders, wiping the tears from under my eyes. 

"I know, Troy," Avery sniffled, unable to hide how he felt. "But hear me out and hear me clear," He forced me to look at him in the eye and I did, wondering what he was going to say. "She didn't give up her life just so you could sit here and be moping," Avery sighed. "That's not the Jade that we know and you know it," He fixed me with a stern glare despite the teary-eyed look his eyes were giving off. 

"I know you're sad, I know you're mad, but listen to me, Troy," I gulped, not wanting to hear what he said. "Despite everything up to that point, you cannot blame yourself or Sir Alistair. Jade was the one who chose to protect you and she gave her life up in doing so," He gritted his teeth as if he was trying to convince himself and not me. "So do me a favor. Instead of getting deep and down and feeling guilty because she gave her life for you, do what she would want you to do," He pointed to my stomach and the mark on my neck.

"Focus on what you have left."