Against All Odds

Chapter 8- Understanding

She wasn't hungry.

She was worried-sick about Xibalba, fearful he might be angry at her something that was partly her fault, but she hadn't known this would happen. She should have seen the signs that Veneno was romantically interested in her, but sometimes she simply was too innocent, more than she'd like to admit. Sure, Xibalba would never reject their child, it was against his nature, but what she wanted to know is if he would believe her. Now she partly understood what he had gone through when her sister made it look he cheated on her.

La Muerte stared sadly at the empty chair next to her, her hands resting on her pregnant belly. He didn't go to sleep last night; she wondered where he had gone last night. The early-morning air usually had a soothing air that calmed her down, but this time it gave her a nostalgic air. Since last night, her baby had not moved a single time, but she knew he was fine, she could feel his little heartbeat. She guessed he only missed his papi, and wanted to hear his voice. She wanted to hear his voice too. The little squirrel from a few days ago climbed down from the tree and climbed unto her lap, making small squeal sounds, as if asking her what was wrong.

"Hi there, pequeño." She greeted with a sad smile, patting the squirrel's head softly. "You're lonely too?"

The squirrel sniffed her tummy, like it was greeting her unborn child; surprisingly, the baby squirmed for a few seconds before becoming still again. La Muerte was partly relieved that her child was all right, but she was still worried about her husband.

Xibalba had been watching at his wife for a few minutes hidden in the shadows of the garden, watching as she caressed her bump in the tummy tenderly; he wondered if his son of daughter was okay after what happened last night. He had tried to step forward a few times already, but something kept him in place. Great part of him didn't like seeing her lovely face sad, but the memory of what he had seen last night would come back to haunt him.

He felt another presence teleporting into the garden, but the energy was so dim he nearly overlooked it; whoever had arrived didn't want to be seen. Xibalba glanced around the garden to see who had sneaked in, and his blood started to boil when he spotted familiar red skin. But he contained the urge to attack and tear him to pieces; this was a good chance to see if Zipacna was right and La Muerte had received that kiss against her will.

The squirrel felt a dark presence and immediately scrambled back up the tree; La Muerte wondered what had frightened it, until she heard a voice that made her freeze.

"La Muerte!"

Immediately, the goddess stood from her seat and stepped back, her eyes firing up. "Stay away!"

Veneno came out of hiding and walked closer to her, but she only stepped away from him with spite. "Preciosa, it's okay, it's me."

"Don't you dare call me like that!"

"What's wrong? Did you enjoy our little kiss last night?"

"I did not! And you better leave before I scream and then everyone will come. They all know what you did."

"Your so-called beloved husband does too. And judging by how he's left you all alone, I can see he didn't love you as much as he says he does."

Xibalba grit his teeth and tightened his fist around his staff, so hard he nearly broke it (yet he was always careful not to go over the edge.) How dare he question the love he felt for La Muerte?!

La Muerte was getting angry too. "He doesn't know how things happened! If he did, he would be here with me! I would never doubt of his love!"

Veneno narrowed his eyes. "Not even that if I told you that he spent the night with my sister?"

The look of shock on both Xibalba and La Muerte's faces was astounding. Xibalba wanted to skin that man alive so badly. Immediately, La Muerte snapped back. "That's a lie!"

"It is not. He was so jilted that he went to look for La Noche and asked her to sleep with him." Veneno said coldly.

"I don't believe a word you're saying, my Balby would never do that to me! Besides, Zipacna told me he spent the night with him!"

"And you believe him? He's his brother, he could be covering him up!"

La Muerte crossed her arms. "I know Zipacna. He's a terrible liar."

Desperate, Veneno took another step towards La Muerte, taking her by the shoulders, tightening his grip when she tried to wiggle off his hold, yelling and digging her nails into his arm. "Why can't you not see all I'm doing is because I-?!"

That was the last straw. Xibalba flew like a bullet towards Veneno and tore him away from his wife, before knocking him over with a punch. La Muerte was both relieved, surprised and confused to what had just happened, but it turned to horror when Xibalba grabbed Veneno by the throat with one hand and lifted him off the ground.

"Touch my wife like that ever again and I'll skin you alive." The dark god hissed dangerously, his pupils rotated forward.

"Xibalba!" La Muerte immediately ran to his side and gripped unto his arm. "Stop! Don't hurt him!" This petition was not out of affection for Veneno, but rather because she didn't want her husband to taint his hands with blood.

Her ambrosial voice had always calmed him down, it was like fresh water that extinguished the flames of his ire, this case was no exception; as soon as she touched his arm, his grip on the choking Veneno's throat loosened, until he let him fall to the ground. As soon as he had both arms free La Muerte ran into his them, wrapping her arms around his necks, her head resting against his chest. Xibalba picked her up bridal style and glided out of the garden without saying another word to Veneno; the serpentine god glared at Xibalba with acid hatred as he wiped the blood running down his nose. Soon… Very soon.

Xibalba glided towards their bedroom, holding his wife close without saying a word, though he was relieved to feel La Muerte's warmth against his body. La Muerte rested her head against Xibalba's chest and listened to his heartbeat; it would have usually soothed her, but she was still worried about what to tell him now. Once they were inside, Xibalba closed the door behind them and carefully lay La Muerte un top of the bed.

"Are you okay?" he finally spoke, which felt awkward after minutes of silence between the two, though she could tell there was genuine concern for her in his voice. This was confirmed as he placed his hand on her bump. "Is the baby okay?"

"We're both fine, Xibalba…" La Muerte replied softly, her voice shaking with sorrow as she grabbed unto his arm to prevent him from leaving. "Don't worry, mi vida…"

Xibalba sat down next to her and caressed her hair tenderly. "Are you sure you don't need anything? Some tea, perhaps?"

His tenderness was moving her, even after what happened he was still tender with her. "I'm okay, Balby… Just, don't go… Don't leave me alone…"

"I won't, hermosa, don't worry…" Xibalba smiled lightly at her as he wiped a tear rolling down her cheek. "I'm not going anywhere."

The tar-made god lay down next to his wife and embraced her, wrapping his wings around her in a protective way. La Muerte relaxed in Xibalba's warm, tender hug and allowed him to continue fussing over her. Once more, they remained silent for a good while, until they talked simultaneously.

"La Muerte, I-"

"Xibalba, I-"

They blushed a bit; it felt just like when they were kids.

"Sorry, you go first."

"Are you sure? I wouldn't mind if you-"

"No, no, I insist, my dear."

La Muerte chose her words carefully for what she was about to say. "Xibalba, what you saw last night… I didn't want it to happen, Veneno kissed me by surprise. He told me he just wanted to chat, but then he confessed he had feelings for me-" she was silenced when Xibalba placed a finger on her lips.

"Let's forget about it, mi amor. You don't have to explain me anything, I know you would never do that to me. I was just angry, hurt, I didn't see things clearly." Xibalba whispered gently. "But I want you to know that I believe in you." He caressed her abdomen with all the love in the world. "Besides, I can't leave our bebito without his papi, can I?"

Despite the formed mood of sadness, La Muerte laughed softly and snuggled deeply into her husband's embrace. Xibalba kissed her forehead and looked down at his unborn baby. "Did you miss me, pequeño?"

As if replying, the yet-to-be-born infant kicked right where he had placed his hand. It was clear it was very happy to hear its father after a whole night without feeling his touch. After a while, La Muerte felt rhythmic movements inside, and Xibalba felt slight, almost unseen jerks in her bump.

"Balby…" the goddess laughed softly. "I think our baby is hiccupping."

"Awww, baby-boo always finds the way to cheer his mami and papi up, do you? Do you?" Xibalba chimed at La Muerte's abdomen, caressing it with his thumb and feeling the movements inside. Suddenly he felt a presence-no, various presences- just outside the door. Grumbling under his breath, Xibalba stood from bed and approached the door.

"Xibalba?" La Muerte inquired, but Xibalba motioned her to be quiet as he carefully grabbed the knob on the door, waiting for a few seconds before turning it abruptly and opening the door.

Zipacna, the Candlemaker, Xochiquétzal and Ehécatl fell on top of each other.

"Ayayay…" the Candlemaker whined.

"Get your fifty ton feathery butt off me!" Xochiquétzal shrieked.

"Are you talking to me or Ehécatl?" Zipacna inquired. "We both have feathers, so…"

"Considering I only weight seventy pounds, I guess she's talking about you." Ehécatl stated, offended.

Xibalba narrowed his eyes at the group and coughed slyly to call their attention. The four gods looked up nervously.

"Huh…. Hi, hermanito." Zipacna laughed nervously.

"You do realize what you were doing is called spying?" Xibalba crossed his arms.

"Zipacna called reconnaissance." The Candlemaker stated.

"Me?! It was Ehécatl's idea!"

"No it wasn't!"

"Everyone." La Muerte called their attention. "Could you tell us what were you doing, spying on us like that?"

Zipacna sighed in dismay. "I wanted to make sure my hermanito would fulfill his end of the deal."

"I was hoping to mash his head if he didn't." Xochiquetzál sighed.

Xibalba ignored that last comment and went back to his wife's side to hold her hand. "Are you sure you don't need anything? Did you have breakfast?"

"Now that you mention it…" La Muerte felt her stomach growling, and when it growled her baby kicked in discomfort. She sighed. "Looks like I'm not the only one who's hungry."

Xibalba rolled his eyes with a grin.

"So, what's next in your so-called master plan?"

"Would you stop being so exaggerate?" Aimé rolled her eyes, her arms crossed.

"Exaggerate?! I can't show my face around Aztlan or the other gods will have my head, and that tar face punched me!" Víbora retorted with a dangerous hiss. "How is that exaggerating?!"

"If you hadn't provoked him in the first place, you wouldn't have received that broken nose."

"Me?! Now it turns out everytime Xibalba does something wrong it's my fault?!"

"You perfectly know he'll be very protective with my sister as long as she is pregnant!" Aimé growled, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Then what? We wait until the brat is born?"

"No! If that happens, there will be no way to tear them apart! We have to take the next step of my plan as soon as possible."

"And how, if I may know? I won't be able to help you on this one, I'm a 'wanted' man."

"What I need you to do is pretty simple, really." Aimé motioned Víbora to come closer so that she could whisper into her ear; as Víbora heard the next part of her plan (plan B, he dubbed it), he narrowed his eyes. "Are you certain it will work?"

"I know my sister. She may be forgiving, but she won't forgive him a second time if he ever cheats on her again."

"And how will you get him on your bed? I doubt he will go on his own accord."

"That's where you come in, Viborita." Aimé patted the snake's scaly cheek. "You'll have to figure it out."

Víbora growled from within his throat; he was getting sick of this woman treating him like he were her pawn or something, but if things went according to his plan, he wouldn't have to worry about it anymore when he was done with her.