Chapter Text
-Do you like to make the readings at the church?
The car remains silent for a while, until the girl sitting in the passenger seat tries to answer in a low tone.
-I can't believe you still ask me that...
-Answer, Eden.
-Well, if that's what you want, then i'll do It. NO. Of course not. It sucks having to always arrive an hour early because of that. It sucks having to go to the oratory after mass and not being able to go home right away. It sucks having to sit in the front seat every mass and read words that I don't even believe in! I hate it, and you KNOW it, and YOU KEEP TAKING ME TO MASS, IT'S TORTURE FOR ME.
-But i like having you! With me! I don't want to be alone at mass, that's why I take you!
-But i don't even stay with you! You sit in other pews on the other side of the church! And you don't even talk to me! You have all your friends from Church, you wouldn't even be alone!
Aziraphale shrinks back into his seat and answers, lowering his voice, almost in a whisper:
-Yeah, I know...
-You tell everyone I'm available and you don't even ask me first! Do you think I have nothing to do? I didn't even know we could do this without being part of that Church thing, if i wanted to be part of all this, i'd be an altar boy! Why don't you offer to go in my place? You just stand there watching while I have to do everything i don't like during the entire mass!
-We can't have everything we want, Eden! -Aziraphale replied with a firm tone in his voice, the kind of tone he uses when he wants to end an argument with his daughter once and for all. He continued
-When you're an adult and live in your own house, you'll be able to do whatever you want! But while you live under my roof, you'll be part of my church!
-So i have to be forced to be part of something I don't believe in and that I'm not happy with because I was adopted by an angel? And you say that, but it's a lie! You'd keep pressuring me even after i lived on my own.
-You have no choice, Eden! -Aziraphale shouts at her daughter, losing some control of the steering wheel. The car swerves dangerously to the left, leaving the lane and almost entering the sidewalk.
-DAD!
-Sorry, sweetie. -He says in a controlled tone. Eden sighs and turns her face to the window.
When they get home, Eden goes straight to her room and Aziraphale goes to the kitchen with tears in his eyes. Crowley is not exactly an entity that feels things, but he can sense the tension in the house, so he goes to the kitchen sink and hugs his husband from behind, resting his chin on the shorter man's shoulder, asking in a subtle tone:
-What happened?
-She looks just like you! - The angel replied with a hint of humor, but Crowley sees the tears still remaining on his face and insists, offering an arched eyebrow to his husband. He starts doing random activities in the sink.
-Eden said she doesn't like going to church and doing the readings. She freaked out in the car today! -He says stressed, turning to Crowley and slapping both hands on the sides of his thighs.
-Yeah... It seems like she really looks like me. - Crowley says with a mischievous smile on his face. Aziraphale snorts.
-I just wish I had someone to go to church with. You're obviously never going to go, and I'm not going to try to get back in touch with any of those arrogant angels. - Aziraphale looked away. - I just wish our daughter could enjoy the things I believe in a little and be part of it... - His gaze became more distant and sad. -...With me.
Crowley pulled away from Aziraphale and walked towards the living room connected to the kitchen, making the blond follow him. Then he turned and sat in one of the armchairs, breathing and letting it out calmly. - You know, you were never an angel who went to church. Thinking about it that way, you've always been a very ironic angel. - Crowley rolled his eyes, thinking about the funny dilemma that had always followed his angel. An angel who drinks, eats and breaks several heavenly rules simply because he's innocent. Innocent like an angel, a true angel, should be. He just loved those two sizes of his husband, and he couldn't quite figure out why Aziraphale had started to frequent churches after they adopted Eden.
-I don't understand why this has to be so important to her now when it wasn't something important to you even back when you were still trying to convince yourself that heaven was totally good.
Aziraphale opened his mouth and closed it a few times. The problem was that Crowley was a son of a bitch very good with words when he wanted to. Maybe a demon thing? And at the same time that he was assertive, he was also calm and gentle when talking to his angel, without making it seem like he was making accusations, that he was judging him. After a moment without a response from the shorter one, Crowley began to continue, seeing that maybe Azira needed that. -It seems like you're trying to put this on her to convince yourself that she can really be yours. That she can really be ours, but you're trying to impose a pressure on the two of you that doesn't make sense anymore, dear. You and her, especially her, can't take it anymore. Crowley motioned for Aziraphale to come closer and took his hands in his, leading him to sit on the couch in front of his seat. He gave Aziraphale's hands an understanding but firm squeeze and held it.
-She don't need to take on everything you do to be yours, to be someone like you. She's already ours, she's our daughter, our little girl, and nothing will change that. Maybe her way of being like you is not frequenting church, but trust me, Aziraphale, if she has to be like one of us, i would very much appreciate her to be like you. And that's what i'm trying to do, and i'm seeing the results. If she turns out to be like you, that doesn't have to come exactly from church. All the good things that she could learn there, she is already learning with you, my love. She's growing to be someone calm, respectful, gentle, sweet, and very bright. She's going to make the people's days best, she's going to be the one who helps others just for the meaning of it. And all of this because she will grow up with you.
Crowley noticed the attention he had captured from Aziraphale during his speech, he nodded at times, and his eyes began to get wet again.
Crowley placed his hand on the angel's cheek, caressing his face.
-Why don't you go talk to her? -The demon whisper, looking into his lover's eyes and then pointing with his head to the teenage room. Aziraphale wipes his tears and agrees, saying a quiet "okay" to his husband before standing up.
Aziraphale strands in front of the door, still unsure if he should knock. Finally, he makes the decision to leave the formalities aside and open up the girl room, just to feel immediately the feeling of anger filling the whole room. That's when he comes in and starts:
-Eden, we need to talk...
-NO! -The girl interrupts. Her father feels something bizarre, he feels his daughter's feelings directly as if they hit him right in the chest and spread throughout her entire silhouette before he can even read the girl's face. The room seems to be full of tension, but it's different from all the other times he's found himself in delicate situations with humans. All of his daughter's feelings are palpable to him, it's as if a force is building a real barrier between the two of them. -I don't want you to say again that I'll be able to be free when I grow up. I don't want you to say anything else! -The girl's silhouette, along with her head, begin to shine in a golden tone, still too bright to be seen clearly.
-I don't believe, and I will never believe, in a God who left my two parents helpless!
That's when it happens. A gust of wind pushes Aziraphale's body back, not strong enough to make his human form lose balance, but strong enough to continue crossing the house after hitting the angel, because Aziraphale hears a very revealing "WooOOooU" coming from the living room. Aziraphale was going to speak, but he realized that the objects inside Eden's room had just returned to their place after what seemed to have been a levitation. Crowley comes staggering from the living room, a little anxious, then stops and looks at the two, impressed. -What happened? -he asks, half angry and half curious, then the angel looks back and answers him with wide eyes.
-She has powers!