Chapter 22

"Give me that." She looked impatient when he didn't make a move. She hated having to repeat her words and he knew it, which was why he took a deep breath and placed the gun in her hand.

Angel didn't understand why his mother wanted to take the toy away from his father but he knew that she only took his toys away when it was time for him to sleep. Confused as to why he wanted them to sleep when it was not yet time for his nap, he walked forward preparing to submit his gun to her.

Before he could reach her, she glared at Damon and fired off a series of bullets at him. "How dare you play such an interesting game without me?"

It took a while for Damon to register the roller coaster that had just transpired. Angel was the first to snap out of it, he fell on his back laughing at his father who had been shot.

Damon removed the bullet and sprinted towards Angel.

"Your gun!" Avery yelled but it was too late. Damon grabbed Angel's gun before she could, so she grabbed the boy and hid behind the hedge.

"That was close. Too bad the angel's got backup." Damon huffed and stood still, looking like he had given up. When Angel poked his head out of the hedge, he took the chance to shoot. Unfortunately for him, the two had formed a team and ended up attacking him from different sides as soon as they took out the bullet.

Avery grabbed Angel's hand and they ran away from him, only to be cornered near the fountain. Damon pointed the toy gun at Avery but shot Angel at the last moment.

The boy fell on the ground and pretended to have died.

"You took a bullet for me?" She chuckled. How cute.

"I will avenge you. I will make sure to destroy the devil." She set out in vengeance, pointing her gun at the devil.

"Think you can destroy me with that little gun you got there?" Damon laughed. "Let's be fair. You keep your gun, but I will attack you without one." He changed the terms.

"Stop looking down on me." She rolled her eyes.

For the next half hour, he chased her all around the compound but she would slip right out of his reach when he was about to catch her. By the time he wore her out and caught her, they were all heaving, out of breath. Angel caught his breath even though he had barely run and had spent the whole time cheering for his father to catch his mother. The little traitor had ditched his fellow angel and joined the devil's team.

…

The trio had grass all over their hair and clothes so Avery took Angel to his room for a shower before taking one too. He let Damon use the guest bathroom to clean up before bringing snacks for Angel to munch on as she prepared to make lunch.

"I guess it's time for me to leave." He glanced at his watch. She had only agreed to let him stay for forty-five minutes but it had been three hours. He knew that she would not kick him out because Angel was present but didn't what to take advantage of that. Heaven knew it might ruin the chances of her letting him in next time.

He stood and walked over to the kitchen where she had tied an apron around her body and was washing an assortment of vegetables. "I won't lie and say it was enough time. You could give me twenty four hours each day for a week and it still will not be enough." He spoke and she looked up at him.

"But I want to thank you. Thank you for letting me play with him. It meant a lot."

He waited for her to say something. When he was certain that she was not going to say a word and was probably inwardly screaming for him to run along, he rapped the granite kitchen counter for a few awkward seconds and turned to leave.

"You can stay for lunch and go after." She spoke before he could get to the door. He turned in surprise and she got back to washing the vegetables. "I don't want my son to think that I'm too mean to offer food to a starving man."

"Thank you." He smiled. The reason didn't matter. He would be able to have a meal with her and their son. He had not hoped for that much and his heart melted.

Lunch was ready soon and they all sat at the table. He realized that Angel's plate mostly consisted of vegetables and there was a bowl of assorted cookies beside it. Avery explained that she always cooked for him according to Dr. Chris' diet plan. He hated vegetables so Dr. Chris gave the green light for her to let him have cookies alongside his meals when they were mostly vegetarian.

He watched his son and realized that he only picked up the raspberry cookies. He leaned over slightly to ask, "Do you like raspberries? It's my favorite flavour too." He said. Angel looked up in pleasant surprise and he nodded in confirmation. "It wasn't in the past, but it became quite delicious ever since I met a beautiful girl who loved raspberry cookies. Don't tell anyone but I once stole a cookie from her when she wasn't looking."

Avery rolled her eyes. "Are you teaching my son theft?"

"I guess her hearing isn't bad." He chuckled under his breath and shovelled a spoonful of fried rice into his mouth. Her gaze lingered on him the whole time as he chewed his food so when he swallowed, he held his hand up in surrender. "I was just making fun."

"Then make constructive fun." She narrowed her eyes. She was probably just irritated by whatever it did and found fault in everything including the way he breathed. She huffed. "My favourite flavour is blueberry."

"I see." He didn't know it had changed but it was interesting too.

His phone rang and he was about to send it to voicemail but they had both seen the name on the screen. He shouldn't have put his phone on the table. His mother was calling and he had a bad feeling.

He met her gaze and she pursed her lips. "Answer it."

"I will give her a call later."

She would have bought it if the caller was anyone else. His mother never called him unless it was extremely important and from his reaction, it had to be about Angel. She insisted. "Are you scared that I will find something out? Your dirty plot?"

He knew that it would be worse if he hid things from her so he slid his thumb across the screen and put it on speaker.

"Mother."

He hoped she wouldn't say anything wrong. He was relieved when she talked about some banquet and women he had no damn interest in. He had always found it annoying when she talked about them but for the first time he was happy about it. Not about the women, of course.

Apparently, he had let out the relieved sigh way too soon.

His mother changed the topic after filling his ear with nonsense. "I received the good news! Your grandmother told me that you would bring your son home to play. What does he like? I will bake pastries for him and get him toys. I will also subscribe to a kiddies channel so he has many shows to watch. Right. When will you come?"

Shit.

The words hit him like one brick after another. He didn't dare to look at Avery. He knew she would misunderstand him.

"Grandmother is delusional. I didn't make any such promises." He attempted to salvage the situation but quickly realized that it sounded like an excuse.

His mother was displeased. "You better decide soon. Don't let that woman shit on your head. You have every right to spend time with your son and let your family get to know him."

"Is there something else?" He asked, his frustration building up.

"Don't bring that woman along. I only need my grandson." His mother's annoyed voice filled the air. He was really dead this time.