Chapter 11
Jessica
Sophie’s eyes fluttered open, unfocused and glassy from the anesthesia. I was at her bedside immediately, gripping her hand.
“Mom?” Her voice was hoarse, and she sounded confused.
“I’m here, baby. I'm right here.” I brushed her hair back from her face, relief flooding through me so intensely it made my knees weak. “Your surgery went well. The doctor said you’re going to be fine.”
“Hurts,” she mumbled.
“I know. The nurses will give you more pain medication soon. Do you want me to call them?”
Sophie shook her head. “No.”
I kissed her forehead. “Rest, okay? I’m not going anywhere.”
Her eyes drifted past me to the door, where Anubis stood watching.
Even in the harsh hospital light, trying to look unobtrusive, he was impossible to ignore.
He was six-foot-plus of ancient divine power in human form, with golden eyes that caught the light wrong, and an aura of otherworldliness that no glamour could completely hide.
Sophie’s brow furrowed. “Who’s that?”
I froze. In my panic over her surgery, and my joy at Anubis appearing when I called, I hadn’t thought about this moment. How exactly was I supposed to introduce my college-age daughter, who questioned everything, to the Egyptian god of death I’d fallen in love with on vacation?
“That’s…” I glanced at Anubis, who looked equally uncertain. “That’s Anubis. I met him in Egypt.”
It wasn’t an outright lie. In fact, it was the truth.
“Hi,” Sophie said, her words slurring. “You’re really tall.”
“Thank you?” Anubis said, and I almost laughed at the confusion in his voice.
“Are you Mom's boyfriend?”
My face grew hot. “Sophie.”
“Are you?” she persisted, her filter completely dissolved by pain medication.
“Because she’s been really sad since she got back from Egypt.
Like, crying-in-the-bathroom at night, sad.
She thinks I can’t hear her, but I do. And she never cries.
” She looked at me, her eyes glassy. “Mom is the strongest person I know, and she’s been crying. ”
“Sophie,” I said, taking on a warning tone. I’ll blame it on the medication making her talk about my private life. Anubis doesn’t have to know about my tears over him. He’s going to think I’m pathetic.
Anubis stepped forward, moving to the other side of Sophie’s bed. “I would very much like to be, if your mother will allow it.”
My heart thudded. Did he admit he wants to be my boyfriend? Holy shit.
Sophie looked between us, processing his words. “Okay. Cool. Mom deserves someone who makes her happy. I think you make her happy. Dad’s an ass for leaving Mom. And I think his new wife is a bitch.” She frowned. “Don’t tell him I said that.”
“Your secret is safe with me,” Anubis assured her.
“Good.” Her eyes drifted closed again. “I’m tired.”
“Sleep, honey. I’ll be right here.”
Sophie was out within seconds, her breathing evening out into the steady rhythm of drug-induced sleep. I stood there staring at her, my hand still holding hers, trying to understand what had happened.
“Well,” I said. “That went better than expected.”
“She loves you very much.”
“I hope so. Sophie is my world.”
“Even in her current condition, she seems like a good person, and a good judge of character.”
“She is. Even when she’s being a pain in the ass, which is often.” I looked up at him. “You really want to be my boyfriend? That’s a very, um, high school term.”
“I am unfamiliar with modern relationship terminology. What would be more appropriate?”
“I don’t know. I’ve been out of the dating scene for a long time. Partner? Significant other?” I felt my cheeks flush. “The god I’m sleeping with?”
His lips twitched. “Perhaps we start with something simple and adjust terms as necessary.”
A nurse came in to check Sophie’s vitals, and Anubis and I stepped out into the hallway.
The hospital was quieter now, the evening shift settling into its rhythm.
We found a small waiting alcove at the end of the corridor, empty except for outdated magazines on a Formica table and a vending machine that hummed ominously.
I sank into one of the plastic chairs, exhaustion finally catching up with me. Anubis sat beside me, and for the first time I noticed what he was wearing.
He wore dark jeans that fit him perfectly and paired them with a leather jacket over a black t-shirt. His boots looked both expensive and well-worn. He looked as if he’d stepped out of a magazine spread, all casual elegance and dangerous beauty.
“You’re staring,” he said.
“You’re wearing jeans.”
“Is that incorrect?” He looked down at himself with concern. “The internet said this was appropriate casual attire for America.”
“The internet… Wait, what?” I sat up straighter. “You’ve been researching modern fashion on the internet?”
“Among other things.” He shifted, and I realized with shock that he looked nervous. “I have been preparing.”
“Preparing for what?”
He took a breath. He told me once it was unnecessary for him, but the gesture was so human it made my chest ache. “After you left, I was miserable. Thoth called me tedious. Osiris found me brooding in my garden. Even the souls noticed my distraction during their judgment.”
“I’ve been miserable too.”
“I know. I could feel it through the ankh.” He touched his chest, where I knew he sensed our connection. “Every day, I felt your sadness, your loneliness. It matched my own. And I realized something that should have been obvious from the beginning.”
“What?”
“I was being an idiot.”
I blinked. “I’m sorry, what?” I shook my head. “Wow. I sound like I don’t understand anything.”
“An idiot,” he repeated. “For millennia, I have been bound to Egypt, to the physical tombs and temples, because that is how it has always been. But the world has changed. Modern gods have adapted. They understand that belief and worship are no longer tied to physical locations.”
“I’m not following.”
He leaned forward, earnest now. “The internet connects the entire world, right?”
I nodded. “Yes.”
“I’ve done some research. People worship digitally now, through screens and data. They learn about Egyptian mythology through websites, videos, and television shows. Books are available as well. I had an idea.”
“Oh?”
“The tombs I guard can be monitored remotely with cameras, sensors, and alarms. As for moving between locations…” He gestured around us. “You saw in Egypt. I can transport myself across vast distances. Why did I not think to do that before? Why did I assume I was trapped?”
“Divine transportation…” I figured out the direction of his thoughts. “Because you’d been doing it the same way for thousands of years, you never thought it could happen any other way?”
“Exactly.” He took my hand, his thumb brushing across my knuckles.
“I spoke with Osiris and Thoth. They have agreed to cover my duties in Egypt for a trial period of six months, to start. Osiris and Thoth will watch the tombs, judge the souls, and maintain the balance while I watch from afar. I will not be there to do it.”
My heart hammered. “Where will you be?”
“Here. If you will have me.” He watched me with an intensity that made it hard to breathe.
“I want to try living in your world, Jessica. I want to understand what it means to exist as mortals do. I want to have a home that is not a temple, to spend time without the weight of divine duty, to simply be with you.”
“You want to move to New Jersey of all places?”
“I want to be wherever you are.”
I stared at him. “Are you crazy? You’re a god. You can’t just move to New Jersey and get a library card and argue with the neighbors about lawn maintenance.”
“Why not?”
“Because…because….” I struggled to find the words. “Because this is my boring, normal life. You’re ancient and powerful, and you belong in palaces and temples, not suburban tract housing.”
“I belong where I choose to belong. And I choose you.” He cupped my face in his hands, forcing me to meet his eyes.
“I have spent far too many years in palaces and temples. I have had power and duty and an eternal purpose. And in all that time, I have never been truly happy. Not until I met a woman who argued with me about miniature pyramids and made me remember what it felt like to be alive.”
“Anubis.”
“I will not lie to you. I am terrified,” he admitted. “I have never done this before. I do not know if I can adapt to your world, if I can function without the structure of divine duty, or if I can be what you need. But I want to try. For you, I want to try.”
“What if it doesn’t work?” I said, voicing my own fear. “What if you hate it here? What if living like a mortal drives you crazy?”
“Then we will adjust. We will find a balance that works for both of us. But we will not know unless we try.”
“I have a daughter in college who’s going to ask a million questions. I live in a three-bedroom ranch that needs a new roof. I don’t have a job right now, so money’s tight. I’m not exciting or glamorous, or anything special.”
“You are everything special to me.”
“I’m going to get older and get more gray hair, wrinkles, all of it. You’re going to stay exactly as you are, and eventually…” I trailed off. I didn’t want to say the words that weighed in the back of my mind.
“Eventually you will age and die, and I will still love you.” He said it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
“I know what I am choosing, Jessica. I know the pain that waits at the end. But I also know that loving you, having you in my life for whatever time we have, that is worth any amount of future grief.”
Tears were sliding down my face. “You really mean that?”
“I have never been more certain of anything.”
I kissed him then, tears rolling down my face. We were there in the hospital waiting room that smelled of antiseptic and fear, and tasted salt and hope and the beginning of something impossible.
“Okay,” I said when we finally broke apart. “Okay, yes. Stay. Try this. We’ll figure it out together.”
The smile that broke across his face was radiant enough to light the entire hallway. “Truly?”
"Truly." I laughed, the beginning of hysteria bubbling up inside me. “I have no idea how this is going to work. You’ll need documentation, a social security number, some kind of explanation for who you are and where you came from. Oh, no.”
“What’s wrong?”
“My neighbors are going to have so many questions. They are the textbook definition of nosy.”
“I can create documentation. Divine manipulation of bureaucratic systems is surprisingly simple.” He put his hand inside his jacket pocket and produced a driver’s license. “See?”
I took the small plastic card. How does he even manage to look hot in an ID photo? “Of course it is.” I wiped my eyes. “What about your duties? You said six months, but what happens after that?”
“We evaluate and reassess if necessary. Perhaps I will continue to delegate. Perhaps I return to Egypt periodically to handle things personally. We may even find a way to split our time between both worlds.” He pulled me closer.
“I do not have all the answers, Jessica. But I know I cannot bear to exist without you. Everything else, we will solve as it comes.”
A doctor walked past, giving us a curious look, and I realized we were probably making a minor scene. I didn’t care. They’ve seen worse. Maybe the doctors are checking on us to make sure we’re okay.
“When did you become such an optimist?” I asked.
“When I met a woman who touched a forbidden stone and then proceeded to lecture me about being judgmental.” He kissed my forehead. “You gave me hope, Jessica. Let me return the favor.”
We sat there for a while, just holding each other, and I felt something I hadn’t felt in months. Peace settled over my body. It wasn’t the absence of problems, because we had a much longer road ahead of us. But I was certain that whatever came, we would face it together, head-on.
“I should get back to Sophie,” I said eventually. “She’ll probably wake up soon and have more drug-induced observations about my love life.”
“I look forward to it.” Anubis smiled, standing up. He walked to my chair and held it steady while I stood. “Shall we go back?”
We walked back to Sophie’s room hand in hand. She was still sleeping; the monitors beeping a steady rhythm, and I settled back into the chair beside her bed. Anubis stood behind me, his hand on my shoulder, the warmth of his hand solid and comforting.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
“For what?” He leaned over.
“For coming when I called, even though I didn’t think you would. For choosing me. And for being willing to try something new with me.”
“Jessica, there is no need to thank me. You are worthy of my choice.”
Sophie stirred, mumbling something incoherent, and I smoothed her hair back as I’d done hundreds of times before when she was little.
For once, I didn’t care that an ancient Egyptian god wanted to be part of my complicated, messy, very human life.
If he wanted to be with me, I’d let him see everything about me.
“We’re really doing this?” I asked.
“We are.”
“It’s going to be weird at times. Maybe all the time.”
“Weird is relative.”
“My friends are going to think I’ve lost my mind.”
“Does it matter what they think?”
“No. I don’t care.” I looked up at him and smiled, kissing him on the lips. “You know, I really don’t care about anybody’s opinion except yours and Sophie’s.”
He smiled back, and in that moment, surrounded by beeping machines and antiseptic smells and my sleeping daughter, I felt something I thought I’d lost forever: joy.
“Welcome to New Jersey and my crazy life,” I said. “Try not to judge the miniature pyramids too harshly.” I winked. “So you know, we don’t have any real ones in this state.”
“I make no promises on the judgement.”
I laughed, and Sophie cracked one eye open. “You guys are loud.”
“Sorry, honey. Go back to sleep.”
“Can’t. You’re being cute. It’s gross.” She smiled as she spoke. “Does this mean you're staying, tall guy?”
Anubis looked at me, then at Sophie. “If your mother will have me, yes. I am staying.”
“Cool.” Sophie closed her eyes again. “You better not break her heart. She’s been through enough.”
“I will guard her heart as fiercely as I have guarded the tombs of pharaohs. You have my word.”
“Dramatic. But okay.” She was already drifting off. “Love you, Mom.”
“Love you too, baby.”
I watched her fall back asleep, feeling Anubis’s presence behind me like an anchor, and thought about the future. About introducing a god to my neighbors, explaining his presence to Megan, and figuring out how to integrate divine power into suburban normalcy.
It was going to be complicated.
It was going to be strange.
"Hey, Anubis,” I whispered.
“Yes?”
“I love you.”
“I love you too, Jessica Thomas from New Jersey who markets laundry detergent.”
“Marketed. Past tense. I need to find a new job.”
“We will solve that, too.”
And somehow, with his hand in mine and my daughter safe beside me, I believed him.