Crowley found himself feeling happy for the first time in a very long while.
His mother's lap had quickly been becoming one of his favorite places to be. Laying there while listening to her heartbeat soothed him like nothing else. It was strange to feel the attachment growing between them. It was so odd to think that there had been a time not so long ago that the two of them had hated and tried to kill one another. Now he couldn't imagine life without her. He opened his eyes blearily to see his Mummy smiling down at him. He smiled back and nestled further into her embrace. He was pleased when his mother's grin widened. For a long time, they stayed that way, happy and content. His eyes closed again.
It wasn't until he heard his name that his eyes opened again.
"Fergus?" Her voice gently prodded him to wake up. When his eyes pried themselves open, he saw his mother's gentle smile. "There's my wee boy."
He squirmed a little in her arms, trying to wake himself up. Then, after a minute or two, he blinked several times and mirrored her expression. She laughed a little, and he wondered what was so funny.
"Mummy." It was a sigh, barely audible.
"You look tired. Are you alright, Dearie?"
He nodded. He didn't feel like talking.
Rowena sighed and held him close, just enjoying their proximity to one another. "How about I tell you a story?" She asked.
He nodded. That sounded nice.
Rowena began rocking the chair they were settled in, and then she began to speak.
"Once upon a time a long time ago, there was a young girl who grew up on a farm. When the girl was five years old, her mother died. Her father, who used to be loving and kind to the girl, became angry, abusive, and absent. Every night he would leave and the girl would wait until he came home. He would be drunk by the time he got back, and would treat the girl very badly. He remarried shortly after, but the stepmother never stopped him from hurting her. She stayed there until she was eighteen years old, and her father hired a farm hand to help with the labor. The boy was charming and sweet, and made the girl feel beautiful. She believed that he would take care of her all of her days. One day the two of them finally had enough money to leave, and they moved to another house in the village. But once they were alone together, the man's personality was revealed. He was a cold, cruel man who treated the girl the same way her father had. The girl wanted to escape, but she knew she had nowhere to go. It was either stay with him or go home to her father. And she refused to let him know that she had failed. Over the next few weeks she got very sick, and thought that perhaps she was dying. But as time went on, she realized that it wasn't a sickness. She realized that she was pregnant. She could picture that baby inside of her, and wanted to give it a better life. She had the talents of a natural witch, and knew that the only way to save her baby was to use it. So one day while her boyfriend was away, she learned a spell that would make him stop hitting her. And it worked. She had hoped that now that he wasn't hurting her that they could be a family, but when the time came, he decided to leave her. It broke her heart. And she was afraid that that baby boy would hurt her just like every other man in her life had. She learned to hate him instead of loving him like she should have. But somewhere deep inside, she knew that she still loved him. One day, she decided to give herself and him a second chance and try and be the mother he deserved. By some miracle, he forgave her, and the two of them lived happily ever after. The end."
Crowley stared up at his mother in wonder. Much as he had tried in the past, he had never been able to get Mummy to tell him much about her past. The quote he remembered her saying the most from his childhood was "The past doesn't matter. The future is what's important." He had had so many questions growing up, ones that she had never answered herself. Now she was finally filling in some of the blanks. He had heard stories from people like Olivette and a few others, but he had never gotten the privilege of hearing one from Mummy herself. This was the most personal thing she had ever told him, and it shocked him to say the least. He reached up to her and patted her cheek in a small gesture of thanks. How could he explain to her how much this meant? To finally know about his family and where he had came from. He snuggled up to her and felt her cool hands stroking his hair as she hummed to him soothingly. The sound was like a relaxant to him, and he felt like jello in his mother's arms.
The moment was completely warm and perfect.
Unfortunately, it was about to come to a swift and bitter end.
Lucifer had been able to commandeer another vessel after Angus had accepted him. Unfortunately for Angus Lucifer never followed through on his promise to change him back. Lucifer had spent the past few days gathering up his followers for one imperative strike to take hell back under his control and to bring both Crowley and Rowena down for good.
They waited several hours in the hall until The two finally came out of the nursery together.
There, at the end of the hallway and flanked by twenty demons, stood Lucifer. He grinned.
"Hello, Rowena. Hello Crowley." He said, smiling wickedly at them. "Do you want to play?"