Alexander trudged home. The repercussions of what he had just done echoed through his mind, but he couldn't make himself pay attention to that compared to the warm yellow feeling in his chest at the thought of seeing Philip again.
He pictured Eliza's face when she saw their beautiful son restored to them. How would he explain this to her? His mind raced.
But he needn't have feared. By the time he got home, it was clear the demon had done more than he had expected. The book had led him to believe Philip would basically rise from the grave and have to dig himself out and find his way to them in their new home. Instead Philip was, inexplicably, waiting for Alexander by the front door.
"Pa!" he called. "Mom was looking for you, says you're late for dinner again!"
Alexander blinked. It couldn't be. But Philip was still there.
"Tell- tell your mother I'll be right there," he said, dazed. Philip went into the house to find Eliza. When he was gone, Alexander whispered, "Thank you."
Alexander entered and house and was greeted by the most welcome sight in his entire life: his wife's smile.
"Alex, come in, have a seat. The children are waiting for you. Where have you been?"
He stammered something incoherently. There was no room for speech in his brain, not when he was seeing his Eliza again, the woman he'd married 22 years ago. He had courted her for only 3 weeks before asking for her hand. And they'd lasted for so long… Until his stupid mistake with Maria.
But the demon had really helped him out. This was the best deal he could possibly have gotten. Eliza appeared to have forgiven the affair, Philip was with them, and Alexander would have ten whole years with his happy, whole family.
At the table, Eliza cleared her throat and looked up from her plate. "Everyone, I have an announcement to make. Children, your mother is going to have another baby!"
She beamed at them all. Alexander felt like he'd been punched, and he had been in enough fights to know. He was stunned. But when he met eyes with his amazing, perfect, pregnant wife, his smile was uncontainable.
Yes, he thought. This was worth it.
