"Is Raphael not coming?"
"He said he might be late depending on how well his conversation with Michael goes," you said, rubbing Ashley's head. "Raphael has taken a particular interest in a problem down on Earth."
"That would be?" Don asked, raising a brow.
"Creepy people," you said, shrugging as Ashely decided to barrel into Aleksei, scaring the poor thing. Zachariah chuckled as he walked up to Ashley and Aleksei, planning on translating their conversation to the other like every other week. Once Ashley was out of earshot, you explained what happened. "A creep grabbed me out of nowhere. I humiliated him and he tried to pull a gun on me. Raphael was pretty pissed off when it happened. It only got worse when I mentioned how I, as a woman alone, have to face crap like that almost daily."
"Is Raphael trying to change that?" Kate asked, sounding relieved. "Oh, I hope he's successful. I don't want Ashley to have to deal with any more sick bastards."
"Neither do I," Don said, nodding. "What exactly does he need to do?"
"Convince Michael to start handing out punishments before the afterlife," you sighed, rubbing the back of your neck. "Neither of us is confident that Michael will listen to anything that isn't Apocalypse related."
It was the Sunday after your failure of a Hunt against Lucifer. Now, nightmares weren't a new thing to you. Ever since you got to this world you've been having them. All of your nightmares up until this point have been about the day of your death or watching Lyra die over and over again. There were times, on really good days, when you didn't dream at all. Those were the most peaceful nights and kept appearing as you worked through your trauma from home. But those peaceful nights were quickly replaced by nightmares you could easily describe as worse than your previous ones. Sometimes Spencer would have piercing red eyes paired with a sadistic grin he usually wore in your memories. Other times it was Lucifer beating Lyra into a bloody pulp. Mostly, it was the same memory you always saw, you being completely helpless as Spencer slit Lyra's throat but Lucifer was holding you up close to the scene. He would prevent you from screaming and reaching toward Lyra before breaking your neck. Those were the nightmares that only Raphael could calm you down from. Though, the first time it happened, he couldn't come down...
Sam offered to drive the rest of the way to Bobby's on Friday after you guys finished eating. You and Castiel wouldn't allow Dean to drive until his concussion was healed and Sam didn't like the idea of you driving in your sleep-deprived condition. While Sam drove, Dean sat next to him in the front seat and you stayed in the back with Castiel. You fell asleep pretty quickly and actually started off with a nice dream of you and your family. Your older siblings, Michael and Gabriella, were playing your favourite game with you and Lyra while your parents were in the kitchen. You could practically smell the fresh bread before the warm atmosphere melted away into the parking garage Lyra was left for dead in. According to Sam and Dean when you finally woke up, you were screaming and thrashing so much that all three of them were concerned you were going to hurt yourself. Castiel needed to restrain you until one of the men could wake you up. It eventually took pouring ice cold water on you before you could wake up.
You didn't sleep for the rest of the car ride.
"At least he's trying to do something about it," Kate sighed, biting the inside of her cheek. "It's more than what our governments do, that's for sure." Kate paused as she took a breath before giving you a concerned look. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," you said, waving your hand. "Not my first douche nor will he be my last."
"That's not what I meant," Kate said your name. She almost sounded motherly with her tone of voice. "Don told me about the Hunt."
You sighed and huffed out a tired chuckle. "I'm pretty sure everyone knows about it now." You ran your hands through your hair and rested them on your shoulders. "Let's see, we lost some great people on that Hunt, I swear to their Father that Lucifer almost killed me, and I had to run for my life practically the whole time." You paused as you glanced at Kate and Don before smiling. "I'm actually doing a lot better than I thought I would considering the situation."
"As long as you're getting sleep at night," Kate said, eying you skeptically.
"Let's head to the kitchen area, shall we?" you asked, changing the conversation. "I think Diogenes is almost done with his Stifado." You quickly turned around to get to the kitchen before Aleksei shouted Don's name, asking for help with the child attached to his leg. Giving Ashley a thumbs up, you quickly disappeared into the kitchen to join Diogenes to see if he needed any help. Your question was answered when you saw Raguel already standing in the kitchen, using his Grace to manipulate most of the ingredients to chop themselves up and go into the pots Diogenes was using. Diogenes was the last person who needed any help.
Tonight was a tradition Diogenes and Alexander came up with centuries ago when they were the only inhabitants of the House of the Blessed. Since they interacted with different people on different continents, Diogenes and Alexander barely interacted with each other unless they actively searched the other out. Alexander eventually came up with the idea of having a weekly dinner with each other as a way to bond. They would tell each other how their week went and share their favourite foods. Alexander has admitted that he mainly thought of the idea because white American food was incredibly bland and he wanted a taste of what Diogenes' food tasted like. Ever since the first dinner, it's continued weekly on Sunday and the angels would join every other week. Luckily, weekends were days that angels got less work than usual by decree of their Father eons ago. Saturday was the main day where the work Angels needed to do was minimal. More commonly known as the Sabbath, the seventh day of the week was to be a day of rest for angels and humans alike. It was typically a Jewish tradition and law to rest on the Sabbath.
Turned out angels were Jewish to a certain degree.
The more you know.
"Is there anything I can do?" you asked, stepping up to the kitchen island. The kitchen was huge. It was truly a gourmet chef's dream kitchen. A few feet away from the main counter was a dining room area with a table large enough to accommodate everyone who was going to show up tonight. While no one in the House of the Blessed was a gourmet chef by any stretch of the imagination, you all appreciated the size of the kitchen and the amount of room the space allowed. There were a few times when you all made bread together when it was close to Aleksei's birthday. He wanted nothing more than to learn how to make his favourite kind of bread with his extended family. Zadkiel even joined in on the festivities. The whole thing warmed your heart and burnt your bread. It was sourdough by the way which turned out to be a particularly embarrassing situation considering all of the sourdough videos that popped up on your Tik Tok For You Page back in 2020 while everybody was in lockdown.
"Needed to get away from a conversation about your health?" Diogenes said, not bothering to look up from his cooking. As always, he read you like a book.
"Yeah..." you sighed.
"Mental health talk?"
"From Kate and, possibly, Don."
"You can't keep running away from it," Raguel said, pointing to some vegetables that needed chopping. "Perhaps you should speak to Kate about it privately?"
"When she's finished her residency, maybe," you said, picking up a knife. Ever since Kate and Don got married twelve years ago, Kate has been working hard to become a psychiatrist. She's always been fascinated about why people do what they do and how they think, it was a good position for her since she told you she wanted to be a doctor since she was little. Kate was in her last year of psychiatric residency and pulling through. She already has a position secured at the hospital she was taking her residency. You've both joked a few times about having her as your psychiatrist when she finished schooling but now it was slowly becoming a reality. "I don't want to put too much weight on her shoulders while she's finishing her last year."
"The second Kate is done her residency, you're asking her to be your therapist," Raphael said, walking into the kitchen. "You're losing too much sleep to be healthy for any human."
"I'll have you know that I'm running off of a little more sleep than I did in high school," you said, teasing Raphael as you continued your chopping. "I think I'm doing pretty well for myself."
"Castiel had to physically restrain you because you were a danger to yourself and others," Raphael said, raising a brow. "I have to restrain you when you're having a particular night of terror. You are not even remotely fine and I never should have let you go on that Hunt."
"You couldn't have foreseen this happening, Raphael," you said after a moment. "I agreed to it as well. Besides, Lucifer isn't the main source of fear that's keeping me awake. He just opened old scars." You took a deep breath while stopping your cutting and gave Raphael a tired smile. "I promise that I'll talk to Kate about it when she's done her residency. I'll even make a Blood Oath if that's what will make you comfortable. Regardless, I know that I need help and I will seek it out when I can."
Raphael sighed as he flicked his wrist, making the cutlery, plates, and glasses fly out of their cupboards and onto the table. "A Blood Oath isn't necessary... My apologies, I'm simply frustrated from my conversation with Michael."
"Let me guess," you said, starting to chop up the green onions Diogenes placed in front of you, "he denied your request."
"That's the kind way to put it," Raphael huffed, shaking his head. "I gave him every answer he could ever need to start punishments before the afterlife but Michael just wouldn't listen. He said that the Apocalypse will take care of it."
"How?" you asked, raising a brow. "I get that the explosion from Michael and Lucifer's fight will wipe out half the population but this shit doesn't just happen in one part of the world. It's everywhere."
"Michael believes that humanity will start to work together when a tragedy of that magnitude ransacks the Earth."
You and Diogenes both snorted at that statement and shook your heads. Diogenes has always been a cynic and believed that everyone should have equality and equity towards each other and the planet we live on. It was no surprise that he found that reasoning ridiculous. You, on the other hand, have experienced how wrong that statement was. From the Covid-19 pandemic to the post-apocalyptic world you used to live in, no one helped each other out unless it was in their best interest. Covid-19 got as big as it did because people didn't care about others' safety, choosing to go on vacations instead and spreading the virus. Then there was Palestine being taken over and the war on Ukrain that literally started the Third World War. No one helped them out save for the funds that were sent to them. All because Ukrain and Palestine weren't part of NATO. Thanks a lot, Putin. Either way, Michael wasn't thinking logically.
"While I hold a lot of respect for Michael, that's one of the dumbest reasons I have ever heard," you said, rolling your eyes. "We're too selfish to help each other out like that."
"I concur," Diogenes said, taking a clean spoon to taste his Stifado. "Michael has put too much faith in our kind. It would take another thousand years without a global crisis to evolve into selfless creatures."
"Even then, there would still be so much corruption," you added. "Hell, I think you have the best case scenario in mind, Diogenes." You finished chopping the green onions and passed them to Diogenes who threw half of them into another dish. "Give it a decade or so and reproductive rights will be stripped away."
"And I thought I was the cynical one," Diogenes chuckled, putting his cooking utensils down. "I'm finished here. How are you doing, Raguel?"
"I've finished as well," Raguel said, taking the remainder of your chopped green onions and using them as a garnish.
"I will tell everyone that dinner is ready," Raphael said, turning to leave.
"Thank you, Raphael," you said, already starting to clean up your area.
By the time everyone poured into the dining room, you, Diogenes, and Raguel had all the food set down. It all smelled so good that you had to keep yourself from immediately consuming everything you could. There were breakfast items for Diogenes and Aleksei since they were used to different time zones than the rest of you. You tried everything you could get your hands on and the angels even tried some of the food. Raphael has never tried to eat something before that night and made a face when he tried it.
"I can't see how you humans enjoy food," Raphael said, swallowing the bite of Stifado he tried. "I understand it's needed for your survival but how is it enjoyable for you?"
"I think it helps that we can't taste things at a molecular level," you laughed, grabbing another serving of the mac n' cheese Justaya and Matt brought with them. "Try tasting it with your vessel's taste buds instead of your Archangelic ones?" You paused and thought for a moment, making Raphael snicker a little. "Is that how it works?"
"No, but I understand what you mean," Raphael said, trying the Stifado again. You watched him from the corner of your eyes as he actually tasted the food and swallowed. A small smile crossed Raphael's face as he sighed. "I now see why humans enjoy food."
"And you haven't even tried the sugary stuff yet," you chuckled.
"You should try mommy's red cake," Ashley said, jumping into your conversation. "It's my favourite."
"Should I?" Raphael asked, raising a brow. "How good is it?"
"Super good," Ashley said excitedly while you tried to hold in a chuckle. Raphael doesn't exactly like the colour red as it's associated with Lucifer in his mind. Ashley said your name before cocking her head. "You haven't had it either..."
"I don't really like red velvet," you said. Yeah, the main reason for that was because two certain Archangels wouldn't be happy with you eating anything red that wasn't natural. Red fruits and vegetables were fine along with red meat should you so want it, but anything that used red food colouring was a no.
"Could you try it once?" Ashley asked, practically begging. "We could bring it next time!"
You glanced at Raphael who, to your surprise, smiled and nodded. "I'm sure that can be arranged," he said, shocking you and the other angels in the room.
"Guess I'm eating red velvet soon," you said, still surprised. I thought you were going to refuse... you prayed.
"Now, how could I refuse such a kind request?" Raphael communicated through your Blessing, keeping his mouth shut so Ashley wouldn't hear. "Besides, I'll just take a small bite of yours."
Over my dead body, you joked. I haven't eaten red velvet in years because of the colour coordination situation you have.
"You couldn't stop me if you tried," Raphael joked back.
"Watch me," you mumbled under your breath. "Never get between a girl and food."
Raphael just smiled as he watched the room. He paused when he noticed the odd behaviour of the Jones family. Raphael quietly observed as they ate quickly, seemingly having something to say. Even Ezekiel was acting off. Raphael relaxed when he saw the small smiles and loving glances Justaya and Matt were giving each other. They clearly had some good news they were metaphorically dying to share with the room. After the week Raphael had, some good news would be nice. Ezekiel noticed Raphael watching them and nudged Matt to get his attention. You noticed the nudge and saw Matt nod and clear his throat.
"Justaya and I have something we'd like to share with everyone if possible," Matt said, getting everyone's attention. He looked in your direction, making you think that he was asking Raphael for permission to speak. You were wrong. Raphael nudged you to answer, startling you in the process.
"Oh, wait, I'm in charge here," you laughed, slightly embarrassed. It got a good laugh out of most of the group before you answered. "Yes, of course, Matt."
"Well," Matt said excitedly. You have never heard this man so damn excited before, it was starting to make you a little giddy. "Justaya and I are going to have a child!" The room erupted into congratulations and cheers. Matt had mentioned to you that he and Justaya have been discussing having a child before. Now, Justaya physically couldn't have a child. She had ovarian cancer when she was little and had to get a hysterectomy when it advanced so quickly. You learned that they were going to adopt a child and wanted to give everyone a heads up before they randomly asked for a potential babysitter.
"It's going to be hard raising a child while in the military," Alexander commented.
"I've already had my transfer request approved," Matt said.
"We're going to move to one of the joint bases so Matt can be a Drill Sergeant and stay with our child when I'm being deployed," Justaya explained. "I still have so much I want to do in the Air Force and I'm just not ready to leave yet."
"While I want to raise the kids," Matt said. "I still like being in the military and don't want to leave just yet but our child's going to need someone to be home every night."
"It's the best solution for us," Justaya said, holding Matt's hand. "The adoption agency has approved us for a child and we're going to meet them on Monday."
"That's great, you two," you said, smiling. "I just know you'll be great parents."
"Thanks," Justaya said your name, grinning from ear to ear. "We're really excited."
"I believe the child will be as well," Raphael chimed in "They're about to go into a very loving home."