Chapter Eleven #2
Atlas jumped in surprise at the unknown voice before scrambling to his feet and placing his body in front of Bel. No one got to see his mate like this. He turned and scowled at their uninvited guests.
“Fuck!” Bel muttered.
In front of them, the demons grinned.
“I’m so sad we missed the show,” Asmos said with a wink and waggle of his eyebrows.
“We heard the roar and came to investigate,” Mammon told Atlas with a sincerely apologetic look. It was his voice that had surprised them. Atlas was still getting to know the demons, except Asmos, who called and texted him all day long.
“Oh! I knew just what that sound was.” Asmos elbowed the other demon. “Maybe it’s been too long if you couldn’t tell.”
Mammon rolled his eyes before pulling Asmos into a headlock. “Behave, brat.”
Like that was going to work. Atlas had been around Asmos enough to know that Asmos loved being a brat.
Bel huffed while coming to stand beside Atlas and throwing an arm around his shoulder. “You could have given us privacy. We were sharing a romantic moment.”
Asmos snorted as he continued to struggle in Mammon’s hold. “Romantic? Is that what they’re calling it these days?” His eyes widened, then his entire demeanor changed.
“Bel!” He shoved Mammon away from him before launching himself at them.
Bel stepped in front of Atlas, catching Asmos and protecting Atlas from most likely being trampled.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Asmos asked as he peppered kisses over Bel’s cheeks. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell your very best friend in all the realms.”
“Atlas is my very best friend in all the realms,” Bel grumbled.
Atlas had missed something significant and also did not like Asmos all over his mate. Although he kind of wanted to preen at being called Bel’s best friend. He loudly cleared his throat.
Asmos jumped out of Bel’s arms before attacking Atlas’s face with his kisses. “Asmos! What are you doing?” He had to dodge Asmos’s lips. The demon was determined.
“Stop!” Bel demanded. He grabbed Asmos’s shoulder and yanked him away from Atlas. “I don’t want my mate to smell like you.”
Asmos pouted. “I’m just so happy.”
Yeah, Atlas could tell from the bouncing.
“What is going on?” Mammon demanded.
That was what Atlas wanted to know.
Asmos gasped before turning to Mammon. “You can’t tell?”
“Tell?” Mammon repeated.
“Asmos…” Bel growled.
“Bel is pregnant!” Asmos announced as if it was his place to tell.
Bel smacked Asmos in the back of the head.
“What the fuck!” Mammon’s words were drowned out by Atlas’s groan.
Everyone would know now. Everyone.
Bel pointed a finger at Asmos. “It’s a secret.”
Was it? Atlas had just thought that they hadn’t gotten around to telling anyone. In his defense, they’d mostly spent the last two days in bed with Atlas worshipping every inch of his pregnant mate.
“But why?” Asmos whined. “This is exciting news!”
“You knew?” Bel demanded. “You knew we could get pregnant?”
“We can?” Mammon’s voice rose several octaves.
“Of course.” Asmos shrugged like he thought this was common knowledge.
“Of course?” Bel asked. “What do you mean of course?”
“We just talked about how Lucifer and his mates could get pregnant over Christmas. It was a whole thing. You were there!”
“That’s…that’s…” Bel spluttered. “That’s the king!”
“Wait! Wait!” Mammon was waving his hands around as he panicked.
Atlas shook his head. These demons. What was he going to do with them?
And now they were all speaking at once trying to talk over one another.
Mammon was obviously on the verge of a panic attack, Bel was forcibly questioning how long Asmos had known, and Asmos found it funny that Bel and Mammon hadn’t known.
It was a mess.
And yet, it was Atlas’s mess.
Knowing that someone needed to take control, Atlas lifted his fingers to his lips and let out a sharp whistle.
All three demons froze before turning to him as one unit.
Smirking, Atlas waved his fingers. “Remember me?”
“Of course, my mate.” Bel was admitted at his side.
My apologies.” Mammon dipped his head.
“Can I really not tell anyone?” Asmos complained.
Bending down, Atlas picked up the new hellstone that Bel had found earlier and slipped it in his pocket.
“How about we take this somewhere more private? This isn’t a conversation that needs to be out in the open for anyone to hear.
” And he wanted to know how Asmos knew when Bel hadn’t had a clue. That seemed suspicious.
“Yes, my mate.” Bel slipped an arm around his waist. “We’ll see the two of you in my office. Now.”
“Fine,” Asmos huffed.
“Sure,” Mammon agreed.
* * * * *
Atlas
‘A baby!’ Adam’s text message came through in the group chat less than an hour after Asmos and Mammon had finally left him and Bel alone.
What should have been a short conversation before they returned to date night had ended up being hours and dinner with their new friends.
Not that Atlas minded but he could now see the point that Bel was trying to make that they needed to make time for each other.
Once everyone found out about the baby, that subject kind of just took over.
Atlas got it. This was a big deal. A male pregnancy. But this was also his life. His life with Bel. Atlas sighed, but before he could respond, another message came through.
‘I am totally tracking this! How exciting!’ Seb wrote. ‘I need to know EVERYTHING!’
‘These are truly exciting times,’ Ari’s text said.
One hour. That was all it had taken for Asmos to break his promise. Although Bel had called that right. And Asmos’s ability to see pregnancy was tied to the sin he carried, which was lust. A freaking lust demon.
Every time Atlas thought he was getting a handle on all this hell stuff, something came out of nowhere to surprise him.
‘Guys! I told you it was a secret!’ Asmos’s text popped up.
Of course Asmos was in the group text too.
‘I can’t believe my Daddy didn’t tell me,’ Cary added to the message chain.
‘Cary was so mad that he wouldn’t kiss Luci for like five whole minutes,’ Gage told them.
‘And I do mean everything,’ Seb’s text read. ‘This is very important information that we need!’
Seb sure had a one-track mind.
‘What about a baby shower?’ Adam asked. ‘I’ve never thrown a baby shower! Hold on. Let me add my minions to the chat.’
‘No,’ Atlas typed frantically. ‘No one else knows until we get to tell them.’ He lost the bet to Bel. Bel had said that there was no way that Asmos would make it through the night before he told everyone that he could. Atlas really thought Asmos would do them a solid and let them tell people.
‘This isn’t my fault!’ Asmos responded.
It totally was. Instead of responding with words, Atlas added several angry emojis to the chat.
‘I’m sorry!’ Asmos wrote. ‘I was just excited!’
‘I would have known if Daddy had told me and I would have kept it a secret,’ Cary responded.
‘Don’t believe him,’ Gage said. ‘Cary can’t keep a secret either.’
‘So how far along is Bel exactly?’ Seb questioned.
‘My minions informed me that a male pregnancy is only three months. Three! We need to get planning this baby shower,’ Adam texted.
‘I can’t believe he didn’t know,’ Asmos wrote. ‘Or Mamm! Did you see how Mamm was freaking out? It’s like they didn’t pay any attention to our lore.’
‘It does seem suspicious that these demons forget to tell us about something so important,’ Gage replied.
‘It’s not all demons though,’ Seb pointed out. ‘Only the first ones. Those that are from the royalty line. The princes and dukes.’
This group chat was going in so many different directions. At least it was distracting Atlas as Bel showered.
‘Dukes??????????’ Adam’s ten question marks had Atlas grinning.
‘I think,’ Seb wrote. ‘I’ve just begun my research!’
‘But not a duke that was recently made a duke,’ Adam typed. ‘Right? Right???’
Oh! Atlas sat up in bed. This was interesting.
‘Unknown,’ Ari texted. ‘Like Seb said, we just started to research this. This isn’t something that we thought would come up. Even I forgot it could happen.’
‘But I need to know!’ Adam argued.
‘Do you top Mal often?’ Asmos asked. ‘And if you do, can I have the details?’
‘Oh! Wow! That is a relief. No, I’m a total bottom boy.’ Adam typed that like he was very proud of his position.
‘How come me and Gage can get pregnant then?’ Cary questioned.
‘That is Lucifer’s angel side,’ Ari responded. ‘Angels can get their mates pregnant no matter the sex. Royal demons can get pregnant but not their mates.’
Atlas placed a hand on his bare stomach.
He’d not considered what he’d feel like if he was in Bel’s shoes.
Mpreg in this realm was crazy enough. Atlas was excited for a baby.
Not something that he had ever considered, seeing he was a gay man.
Now though, he had the same responsibilities as any other couple.
‘And from what I’ve read, male pregnancy can only happen with a mate,’ Seb added. ‘So Mammon is safe for now.’
‘We don’t have to tell him that,’ Asmos suggested.
Atlas shook his head. Asmos was too much sometimes. Although Mamm’s reactions had been pretty damn funny. He’d had a lot of questions. A lot. Like mostly about how he could stop from ever getting pregnant.
‘I’m not sure it will come up,’ Adam agreed.
The bathroom door opened and Bel stepped out with a towel around his waist and another in his hand, wiping the water off his horns.
Atlas dropped the phone onto the mattress as he stared.
“I think we need—” Bel lowered the towel and frowned. “What’s wrong?”
How fucking long had Bel been in the shower? “Uh, mate…”
Bel shook his head. “I think we might need to switch up positions this next time. My back is aching.”
His back. Bel’s back hurt? Atlas rose to his knees before shuffling naked across the mattress. They’d gone to bed to salvage the rest of their date night and after Bel had insisted he needed to shower. And now…now…it wasn’t Bel’s back that Atlas was concerned about.
“Maybe I’ll just ride you,” Bel told him.
Atlas shook his head. “Come here,” he ordered.
Bel smirked before tossing the towel over his shoulder where it disappeared with what had to be the help of magic. “Did you miss me?”
Watching his mate’s hips roll as he sauntered forward, Atlas forced himself to focus on what he was seeing. Not that he didn’t appreciate Bel’s cock.
“Bel,” Atlas whispered.
“Why do I get the feeling that you’re not appreciating my dick?” Bel asked. “And what is going on with your phone?”
Reaching behind him without looking Atlas grabbed his phone. He turned the little device off before tossing it on the floor. “You were right. Asmos told everyone.”
“Of course he did.” Bel chuckled as he stepped in front of Atlas.
“Do you mind?” Atlas asked, concerned. It had been Bel that hadn’t wanted anyone to know.
Bel shook his head. “Not really.”
“But you didn’t want anyone to know.” Atlas said the words that had been bothering him all day.
“That’s not exactly right.” Bel cupped his face, forcing Atlas’s gaze up. “I just didn’t want a bunch of nosy demons to invade our space or privacy. This is going to be a big deal in our realm. I need you to be comfortable first.”
Gently, he extracted his face from Bel’s hands to lean forward and kiss Bel above his belly button. “It wasn’t going to be long before someone figured it out with this little baby bump.”
Bel laughed loudly but when Atlas just looked up at him, Bel glanced down. “What!”
“You, my mate, have a bump.” And it was beautiful.
“No.” Bel shook his head. “I…I just took a shower!”
“I know.” Atlas kissed his belly again. “Was it a magical shower? Did it last longer than normal? Because that was not there when I was fucking you.”
“I…” Bel seemed stuck at staring at his own stomach.
“My mate,” Atlas said. “So gorgeous. Carrying our baby.” He took Bel’s hand so both their palms were right over where Bel’s stomach pooched out.
“How?” Bel whispered.
“We could probably ask Seb or Ari,” Atlas offered. “Except I don’t think they know right now. Why don’t you come lie in bed with me so we can cuddle and admire the change.”
Bel stepped back as he bit his lip.
That was not a look that Atlas ever wanted to see on his mate’s face. “What is it?”
“Do you think I’ll get very big?” Bel asked.
“I don’t know.” No one knew as far as Atlas was aware.
“What if I get fat?”
He started to laugh before realizing that Bel was completely serious. Oh shit! This was a real worry that his mate had. “I don’t care how big you get,” Atlas assured him. “You’re giving us something so special.”
“But—”
Atlas grabbed Bel’s hands to pull him back to bed.
Urging his mate to lie down, Atlas waited until Bel was on his back before cuddling to his side.
“I mean it, Bel. Everyone finding out, if you gain weight, all of that is background noise. Unimportant. What is important is that you and I are going to have a baby. Our baby. And you are giving me such a special gift.”
“I’m sorry that I didn’t know,” Bel said quietly. “I feel even worse now that Asmos reminded me that we were taught this. Or so he says we were. I still don’t remember learning that about us. You’d think something like that would stick out.”
“Don’t feel bad.” Atlas gently started to rub Bel’s tiny little bump. “Mammon didn’t remember either.”
“It was centuries ago,” Bel said. “And mates just weren’t a thing that we thought about back then.”
“I know. And I’m not mad.” Not mad at all. “I never really thought about having children. I knew I was gay back in junior high.”
“You like kids though?” Bel questioned.
That was a harder question. “I’ll love our child.”
Bel snorted. “That’s not a real answer.”
“Like I said, I never thought about it,” Atlas responded honestly. “I was an only child. I don’t have much experience.”
“More than me,” Bel pointed out. “I was never even around demon children.”
“That just means that we’ll learn,” Atlas vowed. Did he think things would be easy? No. With the excitement from their friends, it was already a look at how people would react. Their child would be the first of his kind. That was fine. They would love and protect their baby.
Yes. Atlas kissed the baby bump again. All the love and protection this baby needed would be provided. And they had a whole circle of badass friends that would look after them.