God sat with Samael at the table as they had breakfast. It had been a couple of months since Samael had been the target of Gabriel's bitterness. Unfortunately, Gabriel had been unable to accept his younger brother and had to be told to leave. It hurt God to have to do that, but he couldn't allow Samael to be abused by his brother. "Did you have a good time with your brothers yesterday?"

"Uh huh. Manuel and Raziel took me flying. Manuel showed me how to do flips while flying," Samael said with a smile.

"Oh, really. Son, I believe that is something your brothers would've preferred you not tell me," God said. Both his older sons knew that he would not be happy about that. Samael hadn't been flying long enough to safely be able to do that.

"Oh. Am I in trouble?" Samael asked with some worry in his voice. He probably should've realized that he wasn't supposed to do that. His dad said he wasn't supposed to be doing tricks while he was flying.

"No, but I will be having a word with your brothers about what they are and aren't allowed to teach you," God said.

Samael scowled. "Why is everything that's fun not allowed?"

God chuckled a little at his son. "Because most of the time, what you consider fun, I consider dangerous. Now, no more flying tricks, alright? You'll have plenty of time for that later."

"Yes, Dad," Samael said with a sigh.

Just then, they heard the door open and close. "That should be Michael coming to take you for your lessons. Go get dressed."

Samael nodded and ran off to his bedroom.

God got up and headed for the living room. Surprisingly, he found that it was not Michael there, but Amenadiel. "Hello, my son. It's good to see you. I didn't think you'd be back until your child was born."

"Yeah, I just wanted to stop by. Where's Samael?" Amenadiel asked. His tone was quiet and sad.

God knew something was wrong. His son didn't seem to happy. "He's getting ready for his lessons with Michael. What's wrong, Amenadiel?" God asked. '

"Um, I've been thinking about coming home after my son is born. I think he should be raised here," Amenadiel said. He didn't feel that Earth was the place for his son anymore, not since a boy he'd been trying to help had been murdered.

Just then, Samael came out after changing his clothes. He immediately ran to his big brother. "Amenadiel!"

"Hey, little brother," Amenadiel said as he bent down to hug his brother.

"I missed you," Samael said before pulling away.

"I missed you too. How are you?" Amenadiel asked.

"Okay," Samael said.

Just then, the door opened and Michael walked in. "Hey, Amenadiel. I didn't know you'd be stopping by."

"Hi, Michael. It was a last minute decision," Amenadiel said.

God turned to his youngest son. "Alright, you behave for Michael."

Samael turned to his father and pouted. "But I don't want to go. I want to stay with Amenadiel."

"Samael, you need to have your lessons. You had the last two days off. It's time to get back to it. Plus, I need to talk with Amenadiel alone. I'll make you a deal though. You spend half a day with Michael and then you can come back to spend time with Amenadiel," God said. He certainly didn't want to deprive Samael of time with his older brother. If he couldn't tell that Amenadiel was out of sorts, he'd even let Samael have the day off.

That sounded a little better to Samael, but he still didn't want to go. He wanted to spend the whole day with Amenadiel. "But, it's not fair. I want to…"

"Son, this is not up for discussion. You're going with Michael. It's either for a half a day or a whole day if you keep arguing," God said in a hard tone.

"Come on, Samael, it's not a bad deal. We can get it done quick," Michael said

"Yeah, go ahead, little brother. I'll be here when you get back," Amenadiel promised.

Samael nodded reluctantly and followed Michael out.

"Come sit," God said before taking his son by the shoulder and leading him to the couch. They both sat down. "I would of course love for you to come home with my grandson, but I'd like to know why you've suddenly changed your mind about where your son should grow up. Did something happen between you and Doctor Martin?"

Amenadiel shook his head. "There was a kid who had gotten involved with the wrong people. I was trying to help him. I thought I had, but they murdered him. My son can't grow up in that kind of world."

God squeezed his son's shoulders comfortingly. "I'm sorry you had to witness such a poor part of humanity. It isn't perfect, Amenadiel. It was never meant to be. You have good and bad, but you shouldn't just focus on the bad. You've seen a lot of good on Earth."

Amenadiel shook his head. "My son can't grow up around such horrors."

God nodded. He could see where his son was coming from. He didn't want his child to suffer the cruelty of the world. "You want him to be in a good environment, a perfect one. I understand. I wanted the same for you and all your siblings. Even now, I continue to try to get as close as I can for Samael. But it isn't possible, Amenadiel. I've learned the hard way that perfection isn't obtainable, even here. He will suffer hardships no matter where he grows up."

"But I should be able to protect him from that. Isn't that what I'm supposed to do?" Amenadiel asked.

"It is your job to protect your child as well as you can, but you cannot do so from everything. He will experience hardships, and unfortunately, you can't prevent that. Your child is going to see parts of the world and humanity that are bad, he will also see much of the good. The good can outweigh the bad," God explained.

"What if it doesn't though? What if I can't protect him from the bad?" Amenadiel asked. That was his greatest fear. That he wouldn't be able to stop the bad parts of humanity from engulfing his son.

"Every father fears that. You need to have faith in yourself, Amenadiel. Plus, you won't be alone. The child's mother will be by your side, and everyone here will help you as well. You have to believe that that will be enough," God said.

"So, you think I should raise him on Earth?" he asked.

"I think you'd regret it if you took your son away from his mother for this reason. Taking a child from his mother isn't something that should be done lightly," God said. He knew this better than anyone. He had done so, and for good reason, but it still hurt him to have to do it, especially with Samael when he saw how much he missed his mother. He stood by his decision, but it didn't mean it was easy.

Amenadiel nodded. That was true. He already had unmeasurable guilt for even considering taking the baby from Linda. She loved him so much. It would hurt her badly, and Amenadiel didn't want to do that to her. "You're right, Father.

"It will be alright, son," God said before pulling his son into his arms.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Just a few weeks later, Amenadiel was showing off his son to father and younger brother. He would later take Charlie around the Silver City for his other siblings to see, but he wanted his father and Samael to be the first.

"He's wonderful, Amenadiel," God said as he gently stroked the child's head.

"He's small, and he doesn't have wings," Samael commented.

"He'll get them later in life. He was born different than you because he's part human. He'll grow faster too," God explained to his son.

"Do you want to hold him, Samael?" Amenadiel asked.

"I…I don't want to hurt him," Samael said as he took a step back. He held Azrael when she was born, but she wasn't as small and didn't look as breakable.

"You won't, as long as you follow your brother's instructions. Come sit," God said before guiding his son to the couch and sitting him down. "Hold your arms out."

Amenadiel walked over and gently put Charlie in his younger brother's arms. He moved his brother's arms, so that he was holding Charlie securely. "Keep your hands just like that."

Samael was nervous for a few moments, but he calmed down and smiled at the baby.

"You're doing well. He likes you. You're his uncle," Amenadiel said. He smiled almost bittersweetly. He loved Samael so much, and he was glad to introduce him to his son, but it wasn't the way he expected for his son to meet his brother when he first found out he was going to be a father.

God went to his oldest and gently pulled him to the other side of the room. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah. I was just thinking about how Lucifer was supposed to be here when my son was born. I mean, I love Samael, but…"

"I understand, son. You don't have to explain," God told him.

"He's not coming back, is he?" Amenadiel asked. The more time that passed, the more likely it seemed that Lucifer was just gone.

"I don't know. This is something that not even I can predict. He could wake up one day and be Lucifer or Samael may just have to grow up all over again. There's no way to know, not even for me," God said.

"I hope you won't take this the wrong way, but do you hope he doesn't come back?" Amenadiel asked.

God thought for a moment before answering. "In a way, I suppose so. It's not because I don't want Lucifer back. He would find it hard to believe, but I love him just as much as I love that boy over there. But Lucifer suffered, a great deal so because of me. I just don't want him in anymore pain."

Amenadiel nodded. He understood where his father was coming from. "I don't know what to hope for. I feel like whatever happens, I've lost one of them. If Lucifer stays gone, we've lost him. If he doesn't, we lose Samael."

"I know it seems that way, son, but try to remember that they are the same person. Even if Lucifer doesn't come back, and Samael grows up much different, he will still have a piece of the man we live in him. The same can be said if Lucifer does return. That little boy will always be a part of him. That being said, I hope you won't wait for Lucifer to return. It wouldn't be fair to either form of your brother or to yourself. We must live with what has happened," God told him.

"Yeah, I know. Either way, life isn't the same. We all have to deal with that," Amenadiel said.

"Come on," God said as he led him back to Samael and the baby.