~Glory~

We managed to rent an apartment with what we had left. It wasn't much and the apartment was small, but it was better than nothing. The kids were all asleep and I woke up to see that Deathbringer wasn't beside me. It was still in the middle of the night, but I still pushed myself off the bed and walked out of the room.

Deathbringer was sitting at the small dining table shirtless, a bunch of papers scattered everywhere and it seemed as though he was making a lot of phone calls.

"Deathbringer?" I whispered. He looked up and saw me.

"Sorry," he apologized. "I didn't mean to wake you."

"What are you doing up so early?" I asked, walking forward and sitting down beside him. I glanced down at the papers and realized he was trying to get his job back.

"Go back to bed," Deathbringer gently said. "You'll need all the sleep you can get."

"So will you," I replied, resting a hand on his shoulder. I looked down at the bandage wrapping around his stomach where the wound was. "You need it more than I do if you want to heal quicker."

"I appreciate that you worry for me," Deathbringer said, "but we need a job more." He sighed. "And I need to get Lilly's medicine tomorrow morning. Did I mention that I'm also searching for Winter and Lynx?"

"You know, you could do all of that way better with rest," I said. "And we can go out with the babies tomorrow together while the kids are at school."

Deathbringer cast me a weary glance. "You want to send the kids back to school?"

"Well, yeah," I said. "The teachers will not stop emailing me. Also, they'll be somewhat protected by the school, right? Besides, pop quizzes and homework might distract them from everything that's been going on."

Deathbringer seemed doubtful. "It's just... what if they talk?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, they've seen a lot of things," he explained. "Especially Python. And he's so young, he could open up to anyone if they asked. Do you know how chaotic information like that would be? That could spread worldwide confusion, curiosity, and panic. Do you realize how panicked people would be if they found out there were people out there who have actually magic that could do whatever they desired? People would start thinking the worst, and try to imprison animus people, which could end in more people dead, which could start a war between The Animus and the rest of the world. If that wasn't enough, if people find out about all the trauma they've been through, the is no way they'd let us keep our kids."

I stared at him, realizing how right he was. "Alright," I said quietly. "So, what do you suggest we do?"

"*"

"We're sorry to wake you up so early," I said gently as we all sat circled in the small living room. "But we have something very important to talk about."

I could see the exhaustion in their eyes as Jade pulled her legs close to her chest. We didn't wake up Clover and Lilly mostly because they'd throw a fit, but also because neither of them would remember anything at all in a few days, at most.

Python had his head resting on the couch, and even Ember was too tired to make a sarcastic remark about how she didn't at all realize that they had something important to talk about.

"You guys are going to school in a few hours, but we need to make a few ground rules if you guys don't want to be... taken away," I continued in a quiet whisper.

That caught Python's attention. "Taken away?" he squeaked. "Like... again?"

I winced.

"But this time," Deathbringer said, "for good."

"What's the point of going to school?" Ember bitterly asked. "Nobody will ever look at us the same again, and we're all probably now single." This made Nightfall shrink.

"Because then CPS will be called, and you will be gone," Deathbringer explained clearly. "I know that you've guys been through a lot and–"

"So, what are the ground rules?" Nightfall interrupted, his gaze pinned to the floor.

Deathbringer and I exchanged a glance before I sighed.

"You guys can't say anything at all about what happened to you. Nothing at all."

"So, what do we say if someone asks where we've been?" Jade asked, resting her cheek on her knee. "What'll make them less suspicious?"

"Just say..." Deathbringer started, thinking. "Just tell them you had a family emergency. That's all. Nothing more, nothing less."

Nobody spoke in response.

Python finally sighed. "I don't want to."

A pause.

"What?" I gently asked.

"I don't want to be here anymore."

Everyone cast a weary glance at each other. I scooted closer to him, taking him in my arms.

"Like... be in the apartment?" I pressed, hoping it wasn't what I thought it was.

"No." Python pulled away. "In this world. It's so horrible. I'm really tired."

I stared at him, the thoughts in my head coming to a halt. Already? He was already having thoughts like that?

"Can I go to bed?" he asked.

I didn't even have the strength to reply to him, but he didn't wait for me to respond to him anyway. He stood up and circled me toward the small bedroom.

Jade stared after him before slowly turning to face me, tears threatening to leave her eyes. "Are we going to lose him now, too? God, do we ever get a break?"

"Hey, we're not losing anyone," Deathbringer quickly said as I began crying, burying my head in my hands. "Alright, you can all go to bed. Just, please... don't let anyone find out."

Ember scoffed but stood up along with Jade and Nightfall. Deathbringer grabbed ahold of Ember's wrist, stopping her in her tracks as Jade and Nightfall brushed past us.

"Ember," he gently said, sincere. "Thank you."

Ember snatched her arm away. "Listen, just because I don't want you to die, that doesn't mean I for once trust you, let alone love you again." She glanced at me. "Goodnight, Mom." She walked away, leaving Deathbringer there in disbelief.

He sighed before scooting over to sit beside me, wrapping me in his arms.

"Eight," I cried. "He's fucking eight years old, Deathbringer. We need to get him some antidepressants or something before he completely loses it!"

Deathbringer didn't say anything. For once he didn't know what to do, and I could tell. I wiped my tears away, slightly sniffling.

"We have to watch him," I said. "We have to watch all of them. We have to... we have to be better for them, Deathbringer. If we're doing so bad that there's a chance that we might lose our kids, then what the hell are we doing?"

"Fuck," Deathbringer murmured, running a hand through his hair as he sighed. "Alright, you know what? We want to be better? Then let's be better."

"*"

"Good morning!" I said brightly, the table set up. Ember eyed me suspiciously while Nightfall and Jade seemed to be delighted. "So, I made eggs and pancakes, and if you're really that picky, waffles."

"Where's Dad?" Jade asked as she slowly sat down, progressively getting suspicious as well.

"He's trying to get a job," I said, a little painfully. "Keyword: trying. Anyway, hurry up. I have to take you guys to school in thirty minutes."

"Why are you so cheery today?" Ember asked, frowning. "What's there to be cheery about?"

I blinked. "Well, it's a new day, isn't it? Come on, eat up. I know you're hungry." I turned around. "I'll just... go get the babies." I turned and walked toward the small room where Clover and Lilly were both awake. Clover was walking around, quizzically eyeing everything in the room as she got used to the unfamiliarities.

"Mommy!" Clover cried, running over to me. "I think she took me again." I looked down at her a little sadly.

"No," I said. "We just moved for a little while, okay?"

I walked over to the mattress, reaching down and lifting Lilly into my arms, gently patting her back. "We're going to drop off your siblings at school and take you to daycare. Come on."

"*"

"So?" I asked as Deathbringer walked into the apartment, settling down on the couch. "Any good news."

"My boss said he'd think about it." He sighed, rubbing his head tiredly. Lilly was tucked closely to my chest as I gently rocked her to get her to go to sleep.

"I reached out to my boss, too," I said grimly. "He told me the same thing... except... uh."

"What?" Deathbringer asked, looking up at me. I cleared my throat quietly, looking around the room in awkwardness.

"Well, um, he gave me an offer," I said.

"Really?" Deathbringer asked, leaning back with curiosity. "And what was the offer?"

I nervously glanced down at him. "He said that I could either wait it out and take my chances... or sleep with him."

That caught his attention in an instant. He sat up.

"I didn't," I quickly said as he opened his mouth. "I didn't sleep with my boss–I'd never. I just... thought you should know about it, that's all."

Deathbringer slowly leaned back. "Alright," he slowly said. "Thank you for telling me." I sat beside him, Lilly quietly shifting in my arms. Deathbringer reached forward and gently brushed her hand, making her reach forward and trapping Deathbringer's index finger in her grip.

"I think we should talk to Py," I suddenly said. "I'm worried for him and I–"

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, and then someone slid an envelope under it before the descending footsteps of them were heard.

"What is it?" Deathbringer asked, standing up as I made my way over to it and crouched down, picking it up with my free hand.

"Here," I said as Deathbringer walked up to me and I carefully passed Lilly to him, who quietly murmured. I flipped it over, trying to see who it was from, but it had no information on it whatsoever. I finally tore it open and pulled out what was inside.

I gasped, staring down at it.

"Deathbringer–" I choked out in disbelief.

"What? What is it?" He seemed eager but also nervous given our luck.

"You will not believe it," I breathed. "I can't believe it."

<3