Chapter Text
Things with Papa had been calm for a while now, perhaps for the longest consecutive time ever. He turned up for meetings on time and all his paperwork was immaculate. You should have known that it was too good to be true.
A Sister of Sin had come to you late last night with a problem. She was pregnant and Papa was the father. In all honesty, you were a little surprised that something like this hadn’t happened before. Now you had to broach the topic with him, and you weren’t looking forward to it at all. Would he be happy? Would he be angry? What kind of father would he be? Millions of questions swirl around in your mind. But the most concerning was how you would tell him.
You let out an exhausted sigh, there was no way other than to just tell him outright. Hints never worked well with Papa, he was oblivious to anything that wasn’t flirting.
You walk into his office, determined to speak to him first thing. If you didn’t you feared that you would lose your nerve. Speaking with Papa about serious things was never fun, and this was about as serious as they come. You knock on the door that separates his office from yours and wait. It’s loud and echoes throughout the office. On the other side of the door you can hear Papa talking to someone. Listening further, you can just make out the voice of Omega. Papa was ignoring your knocking, still joking around with the ghoul. You knock again, this time more forcefully. There was no way that he could claim to not have heard you this time.
On the other side of the door, you hear Papa sigh, “I”m not taking visitors at the moment, leave a message with Sister Redemptio when she arrives.”
“It’s me Papa, and it’s important,” you call out.
“How important?” he calls back.
You sigh, why does he always have to be like this? “Very important Papa,” you reply. “As in I’m not going to stop knocking until you let me in.”
Through the door you hear Papa swear and laughter from Omega.
“Fine, fine, come in Sister.”
You open the door and stride in, faking confidence and standing tall. You hid your shaking hands behind your back. “Papa, I need to speak with you, in private,” you say as self-assuredly as possible.
“Oh dear, Sister has a serious look on her face doesn’t she?” he asks his ghouls. He is draped lazily over his large, comfortable office chair. A smirk plays across his lips, taking nothing seriously as usual.
“Very serious,” Omega agrees.
“Well, I suppose that is the end of our fun. Sister doesn’t like to be kept waiting.”
Omega pats you on the head as he brushes past you, “try not to scold him too severely Sister. Papa always pouts for a very long time when you are mad at him.”
You smile up at the large ghoul, “don’t worry about Papa. I will make sure that the punishment fits the crime, no more and no less.”
Omega chuckles, shutting the door behind him. You listen to the footsteps as he walks further away, you didn’t want him to hear anything that he wasn’t supposed to. You didn’t know how Papa was going to react to the news and having less people around would make things easier for everyone involved.
Papa sits up in his chair, and leans forward, as if he is going to give you his undivided attention. “What is the problem Sister?”
“One of the girls, Sister Divisus, came to me last night. She is pregnant Papa.”
“Congratulations to her,” Papa smiles. “But what does this have to do with Papa?”
“It has everything to do with you.”
“How so?” He rests his chin lazily on his hand.
“She told me that the baby is yours.”
“It’s not,” he waves his hand dismissively. As if he couldn't care less.
“It is Papa, Sister Divisus was very certain,” you reply.
The look on his face darkens, “the baby isn’t mine,” his voice is low and stern. “Divisus is lying.”
His reaction makes your blood boil with anger. Of all the outcomes, this is the last thing that you had expected to happen. You thought that he was better than that. You thought that you knew him better than that. “If that is the attitude that you wish to have, then fine. But the baby will still need to be provided for at the very least. And so will the mother of course,” you snap. Just because he didn’t want anything to do with the baby didn’t mean that you would allow him to completely neglect the poor thing.
“It’s not mine!” Papa slams a fist down onto the desk. His anger frightens you a little more than you would ever admit.
“I can’t believe you Papa,” you say shaking your head. “I know that you enjoy your freedom, but this is going too far. I expected better from you.”
You’ve never been more upset with Papa before, but you’ve also never seen him this angry before either.
“You expected more from me?” he snarls. “You know nothing about me Sister, you only see what I allow you to see. The baby is not mine, end of discussion.”
“Fine!” before you can stop yourself more words tumble from your lips. “Then this is where we part ways. I won’t work for a man who denies such a serious responsibility. I’ll go to Papa Nihil and Sister Imperator, they can decide how the baby is cared for. I’ve done a lot of things for you Papa, suffered because of it too, but I won’t do this. Expect my letter of resignation tomorrow morning.” Tears prickle in the corner of your eyes as you turn on your heel and make your way to the door. You never expected things to end like this, but some lines you just couldn't stand to be crossed.
“Stop,” Papa commands.
For some inexplicable reason, your hands freezes on the door handle, unable to move. Reluctantly you turn around to face Papa.
“Come closer Sister,” he beckons with his finger.
You can’t stop your feet from moving towards him. His stare bores right into you, deeper and deeper the closer you get. You don’t stop until you’re standing directly in front of him.
“I am going to tell you a secret Sister, because I trust that you understand what will happen to you should it ever be repeated.” The way he looks at you strikes fear into your very soul. He is Papa, he can make anything he pleases happen without as much as a second thought.
“Of course Papa,” you reply, your previous anger leaving you feeling drained. You do your best to keep the shaking out of your voice.
“On your knees Sister,” he commands.
You do as you’re told, kneeling before him. You bow your head low; anything to keep his intense gaze at bay.
His gloved fingers slip under your chin and force you to look up. You feel so vulnerable, like he can read your every thought. He leans forward in his seat.
“The baby is not mine. It’s physically impossible. There was an accident when I was a child. The doctors all say the same thing, I cannot have children. It is just another way in which I disappoint Nihil.”
You stare wide-eyed at Papa, not knowing what to say to him. “I’m so sorry Papa,” you whisper. You want to pull him into your arms, but he still has a hard look in his eyes.
“There is nothing for you to apologise for. My brothers and I are all failures in Nihil’s eyes. The First is more interested in mysticism than procreation and I had my little accident. When the Second figured out the bloodline relied upon him, he had a vasectomy. He didn’t want to be controlled, couldn’t handle the pressure of it. After that, Nihil he stopped caring about us altogether. He tried to have other sons, but it never worked. The bloodline ends with us.”
His fingers are still under your chin, not allowing you to move. He wasn’t finished speaking and he wants to make sure that you hear every single word.
“My inability to have children has cost me a lot,” Papa mumbles. “She would have stayed if I could have given her a baby. She wanted the only thing that I could never give her. And so, she left.”
“Who?” you whisper.
“Cirice,” the hard look on Papa’s face softens. “No matter how long it’s been, you never forget your first love. Wouldn’t you agree Sister?”
“I wouldn’t know Papa, no one has ever loved me.” It was true, and to speak it aloud stung. But it was clear that Papa’s wounds ran deeper than yours. He had mentioned that name a couple of times before. Each time he had been blind drunk and you had been left to take care of him. He never said much about her, but it was obvious that she had left a deep wound upon his heart. Papa could come across as a heartless womaniser, but moments like these hinted that he was so much more complex than any one label.
“Then count yourself lucky,” his voice is soft. “Love is a curse.”
“I don't think you truly believe that Papa.”
“Perhaps not, but on days like these it feels true,” he pauses. “ I did always want children, maybe I should just claim the child as mine and marry the Sister. Which one did you say it was again?”
“Sister Divisus,” you almost roll your eyes at him. Papa’s facade had come slamming back down again.
Papa’s lip curls in disgust, “tall? With dyed bright red hair and blue eyes?” Finally he lets go of your chin, freeing you from his forceful gaze.
“Yes Papa, that’s her,” you lean back slightly, not getting up. Your knees are beginning to hurt, but he hasn’t given you permission to move yet.
“She moans like a pornstar, too loud and fake. I know I am good in bed, I don’t need it screamed in my ear every few moments. No, she is completely wrong for me.”
“You could always just shove a ball-gag in her mouth,” you suggest. “She might enjoy it?”
“No, no, she is wrong in other ways too,” he gestures above his head.
This time you do roll your eyes at him, but he just gives you a wicked grin in reply. “What will you do about her? I thought that she was genuine when she came to me, but maybe she wasn’t.”
“You bring her here, then we take her to my brother, the First,” Papa taps his finger on his chin as he thinks. “We get him to hypnotise her and she tells us the truth. End of story.”
“Now?”
“No in 9 months,” Papa teases, “of course now Sister. Off you go.” He makes a shooing motion with his hands.
You take that as permission to finally get up off the floor. You rub your aching knees and make your way to the door. Sister Divisus should be in the kitchens around about now, she usually had the morning shift so finding her would be easy. You can’t wait for this whole episode to be over and for things to go back to normal. Just as your hand clasps around the door handle, a white gloved hand above your head slams it shut.
Papa has you pinned between himself and the door. His chest is pressed up against your back so tightly that you swear you can feel his heart beating. Or maybe you were just feeling your own heartbeat pounding in your chest. Either way, Papa was too close.
“Turn around Sister,” Papa commands. His moods change so quickly that you’re having trouble keeping up.
You do as commanded.
The hand on the door trails down, through your hair, softly caressing the side of your face. Suddenly he grabs you by the throat, not applying any pressure, but not giving you any room to move either. He is staring at you again with his hauntingly beautiful mismatched eyes.
“W-What’s wrong Papa?” with every word you can feel his grip on your throat.
“You agreed that you would never leave your Papa,” he said. The hard look has returned to his face. “Did you forget that Sister?”
“No Papa, I didn’t forget.”
“Then you must understand that you can’t resign,” Papa’s eyes never leave yours. It’s too much, he is always too much. “You made a promise to your Papa and I expect you to keep it. It is your job to stay by my side.”
You frown at Papa, “if you do something that I disagree with Papa, then I won’t stand for it. I won’t compromise myself for you, Papa or not.”
Papa’s face softens, but his grip on your throat remains. “That is fair Sister, I would expect nothing less from you. Always so stubborn, but good type of stubborn. How about we make a deal?”
“What kind of deal?” instantly you feel suspicious. Papa could sell sin to saints, and you were about to get further tangled in his complicated web.
“I promise to never do anything that would make you leave, and you promise you will never leave me.”
You close to eyes to avoid his burning gaze. There was nothing crazy about what Papa was asking of you. It seems reasonable enough.
“Fine.”
“You promise to stay by my side?”
“Yes Papa, as long as you keep your promise as well.”
“You have my word,” he finally takes his hand off your throat but he keeps you pinned against the door. “Shall we seal the deal with a kiss?”
Your throat goes dry and all of your words disappear before you can speak them. You want him to kiss you, you know it deep down in the bottom of your heart. You want him to do more than kiss you just on the lips, you want his tongue sliding against yours and his hand back around your throat. But you can’t. You wouldn’t be just another notch on Papa’s belt, a Sister whom he forgets as soon as they leave.
“Yes,” the words tumble from your lips before your brain can stop them.
Papa’s eyes widen at you, like he wasn’t expecting that to be your answer. He hesitates for only a moment before he slams his lips into yours. His lips press urgently against yours in quick, chaste kisses. You return them with equal fervor. Your hand slips up to tangle in his pitch-black hair and you slide your tongue against his bottom lip in an attempt to gain some dominance over the situation. Papa’s lips part for you and as soon as they do, you slip your tongue into his mouth. He tastes sweeter than you ever imagined and it only makes you more ravenous. Your tongues slide together slowly, tasting every inch of each other.
When you feel his hand roam down to squeeze your ass, it’s enough to break you out of the spell. Reluctantly, you pull away from each other, both of you breathing heavily.
Papa leans his forehead against yours, and smiles down at you, “we should make promises more often.”
You don’t know what to say, there is too much going on in your mind right now.
“Now, run along and fetch Sister Divisus, we have a lot of work to do.”