Desire becomes Her

Chapter 28

28

Days passed, those turned into weeks and she still had barely left her room.  She hadn't seen David, and refused to see Lucian.  Lucifer came and went as he pleased; there was nothing she could do about that.  But when he was there, all the others in the house could hear was shouting and arguments.  David was getting impatient, he wanted to see his mother and he didn't like spending time with Lucifer but still she pushed the little boy away. Lucian had had enough of her attitude, enough of her avoidance of him and he walked into the room they had shared without knocking.

She was standing on the balcony, outside a set of double doors.  It was a rare day where some sun had peeked through a sky that was gray and burned.  She leaned on her elbows, a cigarette hanging from her fingers she ignored him as he entered and ignored him as he came to stand beside her on the balcony, leaning his body against the corner of the railing and crossing his arms.  "What did I tell you about that...?"  His voice wasn't stern, it wasn't even angry he had simply, for once just asked a question.

She smirked a little, took a drag and gave him a look she had not given him in a long time.  One very much like she used to throw at him when she was younger and still very much in hate with him. "You told me not to."   She let the smoke roll past her lips slowly and tapped the ash off the end.  Her voice was calm, simple and quiet as she spoke.  "That you didn't want to be seen in public some with leather faced old hag..." She had looked away from him again, staring at the beach in the distance, watching the wilting palm trees try to stand up in the breeze.

The corner of Lucian's lips tugged into a little smile and he adjusted himself a little, crossing his ankles and putting the palms of his hands over the railing. "I told you to take better care of yourself."

"He let me die, Lucian.  He actually let me die."

"I know.”

"It scared me."  She took a final drag off the cigarette and flicked it off the edge of the balcony.  "And...He was here, and He didn't take it away..."  She looked down at the holes in her arms and looked like she might cry.

"Addison, you need to go see David.” She ran her hands over her face and groaned.

"...What's he doing?"

"Whining, crying, and throwing himself on the floor every time he has to go see Lucifer."

"Oh, I bet Lucifer loves that."  she let out a slow breath, reached into her pocket and pulled out another cigarette from the pack.  As she went to light it, Lucian's hand covered hers and broke it in half.

"Don’t."   Rolling her eyes, she threw it off the edge and pocketed the lighter.  "Where did you get those anyway? You've not left this room in a week."

"I send Caldaire out for them.  She's useful for a few things still."  She leaned over the railing, looking down at the burned grass below.

"Are you going to stop secluding yourself? Because I think if you don't come out of here soon, Lucifer is going to do something stupid.  He's angry right now."

"He's always angry, where is David now?"

"With Lucifer. I bribed him and he went quietly. “She frowned a little at him, but her frown turned into a bit of a sideways grin and she bit her lip a little.

"Been a while, Lucian."

"It has." His hands shoved in his pockets he watched her quietly.  Her hand scooted across the railing to take hold of the belt, fingers slowly undoing the soft leather.  Head tilted to one side, grin still on her face he smiled back at her as she pulled him back into the room and shut the doors behind them.

........

"I'm bored."  David sat at a desk with his chin in his hand, a large black leather bound book in front of him.  The script was not written in Roman Letters, but closer to Hebrew and written from right to left.  David had already learned to read and write it but he was getting bored with his lessons, with the history and he was bored with Lucifer.

"I don't care you little brat, keep reading."  All he got was a huff from the boy and he continued to read out loud, stumbling over words and waiting for Lucifer to correct him.

"Why do I have to read this? It's boring, can I go and play?"

"No you cannot go and play.  Children like you do not go out and play.  They learn, and they read."  Lucifer had always thought this would have been easier if David had actually been his, and not simply claimed by a blood bond.  He had the defiance of his mother but whined like Lucian could.  The two combined were more than he could bear sometimes.  The boy sighed again and rolled his eyes and continued reading the history of...everything.  The moon, the Earth, Heaven and Hell.  What everything's purpose was.  This was not really necessary, David would do what he had to do no matter how educated he was. It was his destiny; but Lucifer refused to take legacy to an illiterate spoiled child who knew nothing of where anything came from.

"I want to see my Mama."

"Your mother doesn't want to see you.  You're too old to be calling her 'Mama'“ David slammed the book shut and looked at Lucifer with a glare.  He looked very much like Addison when he did that.

"She does too want to see me!"

"No, she doesn't.  If she had, she would have seen you by now. Now, please open the book, keep reading.  We'll work on your hand writing next."  David stood with a stiff jaw but then sat down and opened the book again.

For five years old, David was extremely intelligent, having learned to read and write at the age of three, and learning the language of Heaven and Hell in only the first month of his lessons with Lucifer.  However this intelligence, as in any child leads to behavioral problems and tantrums.  He had always been a quiet child; he observed everything from the time he could remember, storing every memory, every moment in his little mind.   Though being the only child left on earth, he was very attached to his mother.  This long bout of not seeing her was starting to frustrate him and he was having trouble concentrating.  Lucifer was an ominous figure, but he wasn't afraid of him like he should be.  It was only when the temper flared when he would cower in his seat and tremble.

After another two hours, David was allowed to go.  His attention was getting short and Lucifer knew when to stop and let him leave. No sense of cramming information into a mind that was already too tired to pay attention.

................

David had not dared enter his mother's room without knocking since the last time he had walked in on them.  Hesitantly, he reached up and knocked on the wooden door of her room and waited, hands behind his back.  He could hear them in there and was incredibly jealous.  Why didn't he get attention like that?  Why was he always second next to Lucian?  His lip trembled a little as he waited for the door to open or for permission to enter.  The door swung open, and Lucian stood there, fully clothed to the boy's surprise. "I want to see my mother...please."  Dark eyes fixed on Lucian as he looked behind him and called to Addison.

"It's David."

"He can come in.  It's okay."  The door swung open further and Lucian stepped back to let David enter.  His mother sat in a chair, an open book on her lap, Hair up in a messy bun at the back of her head, old loose fitting jeans and a t-shirt.  He loved his mother so much; she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.  And even in his child mind he knew the jealously he held toward Lucian was not right, that he shouldn't feel that way toward his own blood.  

"Come here my darling.  I've missed you."  She welcomed him into her arms, pulling him into her lap and squeezing him in a hug.  He returned the squeeze and turned to sit, putting his weight against her.  She wrapped her arms around him and kissed his messy dark hair. "How was your lesson today?"  He just huffed at her and she let the subject drop.  He was playing with her ring, something he often did when they spent time together.  He had done it since he was just a baby still, fascinated with the stones in the setting.  He twisted it around her slender finger and then moved his head to look up at her.

"What are these stones?"  The ring had a diamond surrounded by three other small stones, a garnet, an aquamarine and a sapphire.

"The white one is a diamond.  The light blue one is my birthstone, the dark blue one is yours, and the red one represents Lucian."

"Where did you get it?"  He was still running his fingers over the stones, around the platinum band.

"Lucian gave it to me."  She kissed his hair again and looked at the ring herself.  She wore it on her left hand, that is where it had always sat, since the day Lucian had put it on her hand to prove relation and take her from the hospital. He had added the other stones after David had been born at her request.

"Is that why he's on there? Because he gave it to you?"

She laughed a little bit and shook her head. "No, he's not on there for selfish reasons like that.  He gave it to me a long time ago, and when you were born, we had your stone added, and then we added mine, and his."

"Why isn't Lucifer on your ring?"

"Because he's not part of this family, David.  It's only the three of us."  The little boy furrowed his brow, thinking.

"Then why isn't Lucifer on the ring? Isn’t he part of this too?"

"Because Lucifer isn't your father baby, Lucian is."  Watching him in her lap, shifting herself under his weight she looked up slowly to see Lucifer standing in the doorway.

"That was a big mistake my Dear, a big mistake."