I had just made it back to the bed staring out at where my friend had just been when Christopher walked back in the room. He didn't call out his usual greeting, and for that I was thankful. He sat my lunch tray down at the foot of the bed. The elder took a few steps back to lean against the wall with a look of expectation on his face. I lowered my eyes from his lean form to look at the food he brought me.

It was a light lunch that consisted of tomato soup and a salad, but it looked delicious. I sat down and ate in silence. The conversation we had this morning didn't put me in any mood to talk to the reaper currently in my room. Christopher must've picked up on that particular fact. I sat tensely as I ate, but I relished the silence while I could. Once I had cleaned my plate, the elder gathered up the tray, and left without a word.

I blinked at the out of character behavior. His actions made me on edge, and I couldn't relax no matter what I tried. I walked back over to the window to see if Ronald was just hiding or if he actually left to go inform whoever. To my disappointment, the young reaper was gone, and I was left alone with my twins to keep me company. I rubbed my belly as I walked around the room a bit.

A couple of different thumps came from my midsection that had me freeze. I ran my hand over where the sensations happened and was rewarded with two more distinct kicks. I stared down at my stomach in wonder. This was the first time the twins had made any moves that could be felt from the outside, and I sank down on the bed in humbled awe. I held one hand to the swell of my belly, and the other hand clutched the locket with Adrian's silver hair inside.

A fierce desire for my tiger to be here with me to share in the joys of impending parenthood. I knew it was a bit redundant to keep wishing, but with each new discovery, I couldn't help it. I wanted the mortician to experience this. I curled around my belly and held onto my new charm as I caressed the spots where the twins were moving. I held onto this little bright spot in my life with all my might.

I must've dozed off laying there because the next thing I knew, Christopher was walking back in with another tray in his hands. I sat up, taking a look out the window as I did to see the sky painted in the colors of twilight. I stretched my shoulders a bit as the elder came around to sit the tray on the nightstand. He cleared his throat before I could reach for the meal he brought up to me.

"I would like to apologize for my unseemly behavior this morning, flower. I let my temper get the better of me." Christopher had knelt at my feet as he gave me an overdue apology. His gray head was bowed so I couldn't see his face, but he sounded sincere enough with his words. I stared hard at the top of his head as I thought. While I would like nothing more then to tell him to stuff it, another side of me did not deem that course of action wise.

"I accept your apology, but I wouldn't forgive you if you lay another hand on my like that again," I said in a firm voice. The elder's shoulders sagged a bit in relief, but he stayed put while I ate my dinner. I watched him warily and ate quicker then I normally would. The reaper finally moved when I sat my plate back on the tray. He sat back on his heels to study me in that calculated manner he and his brother shared.

"You have a different necklace on. What happened to that pretty heart you always wore?" I fought the urge to touch the locket with great restraint. Of course he would notice something like that! I tried to appear a bit saddened as I thought up a quick lie.

"It fell out the window. The ribbon had frayed and the charm bounced off my leg when it finally gave way." He made a noise in the back of his throat that sounded sympathetic as he stretched out a had towards the plain locket, but I quickly covered it. "Please don't touch it. My father gave it to me before he died. He and I are the only people that have ever touched it, and I want to keep it that way."

The gray haired man blinked a bit when I covered the pendent, and he pinned me a hard look. I bit the inside of my cheek as I prayed to the stars that he believed my lie. It was tense for a few minutes with his hand suspended between us. Christopher sighed as he lowered his hand, and I relaxed my grip on my necklace. A wiry smile grew over his lips as he lifted an eyebrow at me with a chuckle.

"It's a shame about your little heart, but I can understand having something precious like that with your father. I'm sorry to hear that his soul was already collected, but I hope you are not still pained by his passing?" Not wanting to give myself away, I bit my lip as I shook my head a little. It's hard to grieve someone still alive…

"That's good. Watching the humans has offered me some insight to their views on death, but I still don't fully understand it myself." A chair materialized behind Christopher, and he rose up to sit on it. He crossed one leg over the other as he got comfortable. "Why do you mourn for those that have passed even if it has been years since they died?" He leaned forward as he waited for my answer.

Not expecting such a question, I was thrown off for a moment. How does one explain the pain of losing a loved one? I blinked several times at the death god sitting in front of me with a look of almost childlike curiosity. I guess an immoral being would have a different view on things as humans do.

"Um…well… I think everyone has a different reason to mourn, but I miss spending time with my father. Humans grow very attached to the people they see as family, and when that person is no longer there, they miss them. You can't talk to that person anymore or see them anymore. After having that person in your life for so long, of course you are going to still hurt over their passing." I scrunched up my nose as I thought it over.

"Fascinating." The tone he used made me look up. "Grim reapers don't have that view. Perhaps it is because we are essentially death. None of our race die unless we are killed. Even then we do not mourn for the loss for long. Perhaps that is because their records are stored within the library. I have gone to see several of my former comrades' records after they have gone into the void." His voice got softer as he talked, almost like he wasn't aware he was still speaking out loud.

"Anyway, it seems like you have learned to adjust to the absence of your father." He made the comment sound to easygoing that I bristled in offense. I narrowed my eyes at the elder as he leaned back in his chair, and I couldn't keep all of the ice out of my next words.

"Yes, I have. Humans are capable of adapting so they can survive. My race has dealt with a lot in our brief existence." Christopher didn't catch my ire within my words, but he did nod in agreement with me. I huffed and shifted on the bed to made myself more comfortable, something that was becoming harder to do as my pregnancy progressed. As the twins got larger, it felt like my skin was getting smaller. Just something else I have to put up with a realized with a small smile.

"I realize there are many differences between our races, and that's one of the reasons why I'm so surprised that Theodore was matched to someone that is part human. My brother was one firm believer that neither of us should mix with humans, yet here you are." The gray headed elder had tipped his chair back so only the back legs were still on the floor, and the back of the chair was propped up against the wall. He had his arms crossed behind his head as he looked me over again.

"Theodore didn't mind humans, but he thought we were too different to ever really bond with them. After all, we reap their souls. It would be counterproductive to become friends with our assignments. The chaos that sparing one life that was meant to die could be catastrophic." There was wisdom in that line of thinking, I'll admit, and I agreed with it. After all, just think what would happen to the world if someone like Hitler wasn't reaped when his time came.

"Still, my brother had an unusual…fondness for humans. When he was working in dispatch he would go to the human realm even if he didn't have souls to collect. I never understood his attraction to a mortal race, but I let him do as he pleased even if it was his downfall." By now the reaper had my full attention, and while he didn't show it, I knew he was aware of my unblinking gaze. He rested his head back along the wall and stared up at the ceiling as he reminisced.

"All reapers go through a phase, lily. They sympathize with humans, and don't want to take the souls of individuals they're fond of when it is their time. For the most part, there has been no significant damage to the balance of things. We are very strict about collecting souls, you see, but Theodore never grew out of his fascination. He was a great worker, and didn't allow his personal feelings interfere with his job. I can now admit that I was jealous of his ability to coax any soul to come him." Here Christopher let out a sigh as his eyes took a far off look.

I waited patiently for him to continue. It occurred to me that I should stop the elder from telling me more, but this was a side of Adrian that I didn't know. I had always said that his past doesn't matter, and it doesn't, but there was a part of me that was longing to know. I'm sure that was largely do to human curiosity, so I stayed quiet even though a small sliver of guilt was beginning to creep into my mind.

"Theodore was in the human realm when it happened. I'm not sure how long ago it was, but it's been many years. Time doesn't really hold much meaning when you don't age or die, flower. In all honesty I don't think reapers hold time to any importance after their first three hundred years or so unless it involves soul collection." He let out a chuckle that nearly had me fighting to demand that he stop stalling and get on with it.

"My brother liked to travel the world while he was off the clock, and explore the different cultures of the humans. A boring hobby if you ask me. I think he was in…Rome?...no Greece or was it France?...ah, it was around the Mediterranean area, when he found a nice family. They had a small plot of land and were fairly well off for the era in which they lived in. The father was a farmer with his wife raising their young son and two daughters." I furrowed my brow, wondering where this was going.

"He never told me what charmed him about this family, but he would often go and watch over them whenever he had any free time. Seeing as those people weren't on the list, I saw no issues with allowing him to observe. However, the youngest daughter discovered him one day, and she went over to talk to him." The elder lifted his head to look at me directly in the eye. "That he allowed the girl to keep her memory of their meeting was a violation of the rules, but still going to see her was punishable by suspension or exile from the realm.

"He had visited the girl and her family for years before I noticed it started to affect his work. He had bonded with all five of those humans, and spent much time learning about them. Theodore never spoke about what he was, so I assume those simple folk thought he was some sort of guardian spirit. My brother would take the children out and play games with them, and he earned the love of that family." I felt a chill as I was starting to see where this story was going.

"I am ashamed to admit that it took quite longer then it should for me to find out what was distracting my brother from doing the job he was so good at, but I followed him one day. I wanted to know why he had become so happy. Theodore had almost completely changed from the reaper I had grown with. I watched my brother walk up to the modest house and knocked on the door. The girl had grown to be an attractive young woman, and she hugged Theodore as soon as she saw him.

"Her name was Tisha, and…she resembled you to be frank. She had long red hair with big blue eyes like you, but her face shape was a bit different and she appeared to be more naïve then you are, my darling. There was a strange purity in her soul that would capture any being and draw them closer. I was quite taken with her myself, but I could see Tisha only had eyes for my brother.

"The parents were older now, but still not on the death list for any time soon. The son was married and had built another house close to the farmer, and the daughters were helping their parents with the land. I followed Theodore many times trying to understand the reason he was breaking the rules, but in the end, I found my answer. Only…I wished that I never learned the truth." Christopher lowered his chair to rest on the floor with all four legs.

"Stop it. I told you I didn't need to know about his past. Why are you telling me this?" I glared at the elder as I spoke with a firm tone. My voice didn't reveal the anxiety that I was feeling. I twisted on the bed to look at the reaper more directly. He was looking at me in surprise, and that made me unexpectedly angry. I felt my face contort into a snarl as words just poured out of my mouth.

"I don't want learn about MY soulmate unless it is from him! You have no right to interfere with our relationship! If you claim any blood with Adrian, then you will not speak unless it is wanted! You claim to not be envious of him, but everything you've been doing has proved otherwise! I don't want to hear anymore from you! If you refuse to release me, then get out! Get out now!" My words cracked at the end from the amount of force I was shouting with, and the spot on my cheek was flaring in pain.

Once I had ran out of things to say, my anger suddenly fled. It dawned on me that yelling at an unpredictable reaper was not the wisest course of action. Christopher had yet to move from his spot, and I braced myself for verbal or physical retaliation as fear crawled up my spine. I flinched when the gray haired man let out a tisking sound. Heavy footsteps broke the silence as he walked up to me.

"I shouldn't be surprised. It's obvious that too much information will just anger you, especially after this morning." A hand ruffled my hair as he muttered. The shock at the gentle touch kept me silent, and Christopher collected his things as he continued. "I'll leave you be for tonight, my dear. We will continue this discussion tomorrow after you've had time to process this."

Just before he vanished for the day, he turned his head to look at me over his shoulder. "I'm only telling you this to protect you, lily. Your soulmate is not what he seems, and you need to know before it comes back to haunt you."