Chapter Text
“Shit,” Angel mumbled for what must have been the fiftieth time. He gulped down the rest of his drink, then started to pace back and forth. “Why did I let that smiling creep talk me into that?”
“Alastor won't hurt her,” Husk said. Not physically, at least. If Husk had been in Angel's position, Husk would have never let Alastor take his kid out, soul contract or not (he'd sooner be a “guest” on Alastor's show) but he was not going to judge when Angel was already beating himself up.
“And Short King ain't even here, today!” Angel went on. He wondered if Alastor had known, if he had planned it on purpose. Angel wasn't sure if Lucifer's magic could protect Bella if Bella or Lucifer was out of the hotel; Angel really should have asked the king how that worked.
“Still got another hour,” Husk pointed out, referring to the strict time limit Angel had put on Alastor.
Angel felt like crying. “I just hope my baby's okay. I'll shoot that bastard with everything I've got if he does anything to her!”
Husk was actually aware of how Alastor had died on Earth. He would have laughed at the irony if Angel had not looked so worried.
Bella was okay, but not exactly happy. She quietly drew pictures as the Overlords talked. Her purple noise-cancelling headphones mostly drowned them out.
The only reason Bella agreed to go with Uncle Alastor was because he told her about the nice park in Cannibal Town, where there were other little girls and boys to play with. And he said Auntie Rosie wanted to meet her and give her a present. But instead of going to the park right away, Uncle Alastor took her to this boring meeting.
Bella missed Mama. The Overlords were scary, and not just Papi. Aunt Velvette was not scary in the same way as Papi or Uncle Vox, but she was still mean and Bella could tell Aunt Velvette didn't like her. At least Uncle Vox was not here, because he and Uncle Alastor didn't like each other.
Even the ones who were nice to her were scary, like Zeezi and Zestial. Zeezi had given Bella a stuffed dinosaur Bella liked to play with sometimes, but she was very big and that made Bella feel smaller. Zestial had praised her good manners when she thanked him for the tea set he gave her, but Bella still had feelings around him that were about the same as she felt with Uncle Alastor.
Carmilla Carmine had told Uncle Alastor that Bella should not be here, even though Uncle Alastor assured her that Bella was well-behaved. Also, Bella knew that Carmilla knew her nonno. Not Grandpa Luci, but Mama's papi, whom Bella was not allowed to see, ever. Mama said Bella had to call his papi Nonno, because it meant “no-no.” Carmilla had shaken Bella's hand like Bella was a grown-up, but she'd still frowned at Bella the whole time.
As she drew, Bella also ate a pear and some bread that Mama had packed for her. Mama had warned her not to eat anything in Cannibal Town, especially if it was made of meat.
A shadow loomed over Bella, and she knew who it was. She reluctantly took off her headphones and looked up at Papi.
“Bellita,” Papi said, “what are you drawing, carino?”
“A pear,” Bella replied, holding up the picture. She had been trying to draw things she could see in this room, but not a lot of the stuff in here was fun to draw, so she drew her pear.
“Can I have it?” Papi asked.
Bella handed over the drawing, hoping he would go away, now. But he didn't.
“Tio Val and Tia Velvette are going for ice cream. Do you want to join us?”
“No thank you, Tio Val,” Bella said, which was what she had to call him in public for some reason. She held up what was left of her real pear, and he backed up. Bella didn't want him to eat the pear; she just wanted to show him she had eaten.
Bella had never been so relieved for Uncle Alastor, who came over to the little table where she had been drawing.
“I'm afraid darling Bella and I have another engagement, Valentino,” Uncle Alastor said.
“And we're not even going for bloody ice cream!” Aunt Velvette yelled from the other side of the room. Bella winced at the raised voice as she packed up all of her stuff.
Uncle Alastor took one of Bella's free hands, and Auntie Rosie took Bella's other free hand. Bella was really glad that she had four arms, because then she had hands that were not touching them. Even though Rosie was nice and said Bella could call her Auntie, Bella was not sure what to think of her. It didn't help that Auntie Rosie pinched her cheeks when they first met. At least Auntie Rosie did not touch Bella's wings or antennae.
Bella let Uncle Alastor and Auntie Rosie lead her out. Hopefully the park they were going to would be nice, and she would get to meet other kids. At almost four years old, Bella had never actually met other kids. Auntie Niffty was small and acted like a kid, but she wasn't a kid. Maybe Bella would make a friend her age.