Light In Darkness

Family Traditions (Chapter 2) [18+]

The front door opened to reveal a chubby small woman of long black hair and big almond-shaped caramel eyes. Her piercing gaze fixed over the baby on the floor, then on the platinum haired man before falling over her niece. Goosebumps covered her as she looked at the trio. The smell of magic drifted from them; dark magic.

That wasn't good.

Her disdain for the dark arts turned into anger and she couldn't stop her repressed opinions to spill out of her mouth. "I see I have another niece. When did you planned in telling us? When the girl turned fifteen?"

"Sofía. Español, por favor," the old matriarch ordered in a firm voice.

"Perdón, ma', pero Mina ha hecho muchos cambios en su vida y no nos ha incluido," the woman said, eyeing her niece. "Que mi hermana esté muerta no te da derecho a olvidarte de tu familia puertorriqueña y excluirnos como si no importáramos."

Vergil's blue eyes darkened when he saw his consort lowering her gaze and biting her lip in regret. "Espere un momento. ¿No cree que está siendo demasiado dura...?"

But his words were interrupted by the woman's pain-filled cry. Milaisys had grabbed a porcelain figurine from a lower shelf of the entertainment center and thrown it at the stranger that hurt her mom. The figurine had hit the woman's shinbone. Hearing the stranger's cry, the little girl giggled again as she hit the floor with her tiny palms in clear happiness.

"Milaisys!" her mother exclaimed and rushed to take the baby in her arms. "Perdón, tití. Mili es un poco traviesa."

"Yo iba a mandar a callar a todo el mundo, pero creo que la niña me ganó," Erik said between laughs before looking at his granddaughter with a smile. "¿Por qué no le enseñas a tu marido la finca mientras nosotros hablamos con tu tía? Además puedes aprovechar para buscar la hierba de los reyes de Milaisys.

"Claro, abuelo." She nodded and pulled her demon out of the house before he got truly angry. "Come help Mili gather the grass for the Three Wise Men's camels, my love."

Once outside, she took them to the large garden that ran from the porch to the white iron fence; garden that was divided in the middle by a concrete walkway.

Vergil eyed her consort as she put their baby down over the grass before kneeling beside the girl. Milaisys began patting and swapping her little hands over the gramma, squealing in delight. Apparently his angel liked the short green plants.

"Okay, so what is this strange tradition you want to teach our daughter? Who are these Three Wise Men you speak of?"

Mina kept trying to teach the seven month old baby how to pull the grass out but the girl was more interested in playing than in imitating her mother. The brunette sighed and glanced at her blue-eyed devil. "Tomorrow is January 6; the official Three Wise Men Day here in Puerto Rico. I bet you won't like it since it's a celebration related to God and the birth of His son but it's something I want my daughter to experience. It's my mother's tradition and I have always celebrated it... even after mami died."

Her husband kneeled beside her and whispered, "You wish for a hellish prince to participate in a celebration that honors the One God?" He leaned closer to her. "Are you out of your mind?"

"I haven't even explained the tradition and you're already losing your mind!" she exclaimed grumpily while she pulled out big chunks of grass.

"I'm a demon... No. WE are demons, Mina. God is our enemy."

"May I have to remind you we celebrated Christmas?"

"Mother threw a party for her human business partners. That's all," he answered through gritted teeth.