The Wife of the Fallen One

This story is an homage to Many Waters by Madeline L’Engle.

“Did it hurt?”

And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

Genesis 6: 1-4 KJV

There was once a village between the sea and the desert, made entirely of tents and stone, so long ago that only El remembers it. No one could find that village now, nor the coast, nor even desert it was on. For this was a time before El sent his many waters to wash the earth clean of evil. But no one was yet to know that but El.

One night, a small figure stepped quietly out of one of the tents at the village edge. It was a girl, and she pulled a cloak tightly around her against the night’s chill. She looked both ways to see if anyone was around. Then she trotted out into the desert alone.

Her name was Shala. Like all her people she was small, a little under 4 feet tall, and had nut brown skin and wavy hair. She had not quite reached her first hundred years of life, and to her people, she was young. Shala could expect many centuries of life, if she was lucky. This was before men grew tall and their lives grew short.

But men back then still lusted after a beautiful girl, and to the men of the village and those beyond, Shala was one of those. And she knew it. She used her looks, her charm, and when necessary, her body to get what she wanted from them. For that, her reputation was spotted among the more righteous inhabitants. But she did not care very much for righteousness. A waste of time, and her way was much more fun.

But lately, she did not care very much for men either. At least, not human ones.

Shala’s world was one where great spirits, monsters, and even angels still walked alongside mortals. Shala was going to meet one of those angels now.

Under the bright moonlight, she saw a rocky outcropping rising up out of the scrub and the sand. She had been here many times, and knew how to find the crevice that led to the cave inside. But she stopped before she entered. Her heart was beating fast, and she trembled with excitement and nerves. She did indeed want to see the one inside, and right away. But also, she had incredible news she had to share. Enough to make her try to compose herself before entering. And after a moment and a deep breath, she did.

A moment later Shala stepped into a chamber with shimmering iridescent walls and sharp stalactites, lit up by a brazier in the center of the cave. There were sumptuous rugs, and cushions, and statuettes all around.

Almost as soon as she entered, she heard a sharp growl right behind her. She turned around and gasped. A huge, snarling desert wolf was baring its teeth at her. It was between her and the only exit. It advanced on her, eyes and fangs gleaming.

Shala took a frightened step back. But then she scowled and stood up straight.

“That’s not funny, Azael! Turn back to your real self!”

The wolf stopped, then seemed to grin. And then chuckle. And then, before Shala’s eyes, transform into a towering 7-foot-tall humanoid man with violet feathered wings sprouting from his back. He was naked. His eyes were pupil-less and glowing white. And his perfect mouth stretched into a smirk.

“Forgive my jest, my pretty little thing. Were you fooled?”

Shala pouted up at him, who was nearly twice her height. “Not for a minute! A wolf wouldn’t dare come in here. Not with you living here.”

“Quite right, Shala. No living thing may enter without my permission. This makes it very dull when no living things pay me a visit. Hence, I become bored. What has kept you away so long? Have your fellow humans managed to sway your interest away from I? A child of El?”

Shala crossed her arms. “Well maybe they have! Some very fine-looking boys have been asking my father for me. They’re handsome, loyal, and won’t play mean tricks like turning into wolves!”

“Aha...and yet you return to me. I must still be worth something to you. Come. Take off your cloak. Make yourself comfortable.”

Shala stepped away and pulled her cloak closer as Azael reached for her. “Ah ah! Not so fast. I had something to tell you. It’s kind of...the reason I’ve been gone for a while.”

She savored the puzzled look on Azael’s glowing angelic features.

“Well?” asked Azael. “What is it? What game are you playing?”

Shala giggled, still holding her cloak close. “Darling...look!” She threw it open wide. She was wearing nothing underneath it. And under her usually flat stomach, there was a small bump. She put her hands on it, tracing its shape with her fingers.

“See? It’s yours, Azael! Yours and mine! I’m going to have a baby!”

Azael’s face relaxed from puzzlement to a triumphant, satisfied smile.

“Wonderful. Most excellent. Let me have a look at you.”

He knelt down and put his hand on her stomach, and Shala took his big hand with both of hers. He kept smiling.

“Yes...well done. I am pleased. You...are a very lucky girl, Shala. Not every woman gets to carry one of the nephilim. This is most excellent news indeed.”

“So it’s true? This is where nephilim come from?” asked Shala.

Another race that lived alongside humanity in ancient days: the nephilim. Giants. Heroes. Kings. They were rare, and Shala had never seen one, but everyone knew about them by their feats of strength and conquest. They were demigods, or so everyone said. And now--!

“That’s right. When a son of El takes a daughter of Adam for a wife. You will make a nephil of our very own.”

“Yes!” Shala cheered. “Oh, Azael!” She leaned in and kissed him ferociously. Azael embraced her, and lifted her high off the ground. Her feet kicked in the air happily. But then she pulled away.

“I don’t know what to do next,” said Shala. “I can’t hide it from my family much longer. My mom probably already knows. What do I tell everyone?

“You tell them that you are the wife of Azael, son of El, and you are to bear his child.”

“Wow! Bold! Though technically we’re not married? And I doubt my father would approve.”

“Approve? APPROVE?” Azael made the walls echo with harsh laughter, and Shala giggled along with him. “Approval, from a mortal old man? I may as well ask an ant for your hand! I am Azael! And you are my wife because I say so!” He gave her a big kiss. “Come. No more talk. It is time we celebrate.”

He planted another kiss on Shala’s mouth, and their tongues ran over each other. Azael cupped his hand under Shala’s buttocks to hold her up, his hand so large compared to her that both cheeks nearly fit in it. He squeezed them appreciatively. He held her close, her breasts pressing against his massive chest, and Shala wrapped her arms around his neck.

Azael levitated across the cave, then floated down on his back onto a pile of cushions. She lay on top of him, kissing him on the lips, then the cheek, then the neck. He sighed with pleasure. She got up on her knees and knelt on him with her legs apart still kissing him. Azael reached under her and began to rub between them. She sighed as well, and gently nibbled on Azael’s earlobe. He inhaled sharply, and rubbed her harder. Her crotch was starting to dampen.

He flipped her over so she lay on her back on top of him, and he massaged one of her breasts with one hand while rubbing the whole length of her vagina with one finger. Her thighs clamped together on his hand, and she reached back to run her fingers through his hair. She turned her head and kissed him some more, as her legs playfully swayed back and forth as he fingered her between her thighs. Below her, Azael’s penis slowly began to rise, silhouetted against the firelight of the brazier. It cast a lengthening shadow over them both.

Shala noticed. She relaxed her grip on Azael’s hand, and reached down with her foot to stroke that growing member with her big toe.

“He he...look at that. Look who’s come out to play,” Shala crooned. She felt her belly, and pointed at Azael’s erection accusingly. “This is your fault, you know--hah--You did this to me. What do you have to say for yourself?”

“Indeed...naughty boy,” Azael rumbled. “He doesn’t—hmmm--think things through. What can he do...to redeem himself? Surely there’s a way...he can make it up to you?”

“Yes…I think I have an idea. Let go. I want to try something.”

Azael obliged her, stealthily wiping her juices off on a cushion. She got back on her hands and knees on top of him, and scooted down his body until her bottom was against his cock and bent it down. She angled her ass up against it like a cat, until her moist lips were kissing the shaft. Then up and down she slid.

Azael put his hands behind his head and let her go to work. She bit her lip and continued to drag her labia and clit up and down, up and down. The penis was beginning to glisten with wetness in the firelight. She sighed harder, and at a higher pitch. It was so hot...so warm...so long...and getting really hard!

“Hahhh…you like that, you troublemaker?...This’ll be...all you get...until you learn the error of your ways!” she breathed as she pumped her ass up and down.

“Ha...oh yes...look at how sorry he looks. How...upright. A changed man if I ever saw one. But you be the judge—hm!--Pretty Thing. Does he deserve...some clemency?”

Her sliding slowed. “I don’t know what ‘clemency’ means…but I suppose...I’ll show him mercy.”

Shala stood up. Azael, as if reading her mind, spread his own legs out to the side like a frog’s to give her a place to put her feet. She took his tip of his privates in her hand and guided it to hers.

“Welcome home, troublemaker,” she sighed. And then she slooooowly sank down.

It was too long to go in all the way. But that didn’t matter. It filled her up hot and hard. She put her hands behind her head, and did a gyrating dance over him with his cock sticking out of her.

The angel Azael began to breathe raggedly. “To be cast out of heaven...was almost worth it...just for this--!”

“You’ll make it back one day, darling,” she declared, twisting and squeezing his cock with her insides. “You...and all the other NNNN-angels! And the nephilim! And everyone NUUU-who hates this hell of an earth! We’ll make it right, baby! Together! TOGETHER!”

“Yes! YES! Our child! An army of...MMMmy kin! And our children! And the Great One...HIMSELF! We will rise--MMM-rise up back to paradise! And rise—RISE--RIIIIIISE!”

His penis pounded and spurted inside her pelvis, and her muscles squeezed on it in time, eagerly milking it for more. Mingled liquids ran down her thighs. Shala’s body was just being greedy: that penis had already done its part.

She fell forward back onto his chest. His penis popped out of her bottom and twanged upright like a branch released from a snare. His cum leaked out of her onto his belly. They breathed hard for a minute. He petted her head like a kitten.

“You’ll have to...enjoy that while it lasts,” panted Shala. “Once I get bigger...I don’t think I’ll be able to do that…”

“That’s fine...little dear...there are so many other things to try.”

Shala saw that Azael’s penis was still semi-erect, and gave it a little tap with her foot.

“Look at him...the little liar,” she chuckled. “I don’t think he’s sorry at all.”

“Hah...alas. Sometimes...some people cannot be mended. Unrepentant to the end.”

“Yeah...just purely...totally...incorrigible.” She kissed his cheek, and snuggled contentedly on his chest.

Spreading the word

Shala broke the news to her family, and as she predicted, they weren’t happy. Her mother held her head in her hands and moaned, while her father shouted, threw things, smashed pots and furniture. 2 of her younger siblings were struck dumb and horrified, while Shala stood there defiantly taking her father’s withering abuse. She did not shrink, nor take his barbs without giving a few in return. If she had eloped with anyone else, he would have been beating her black and blue right there. But she knew that he feared the Fallen Ones too much to touch her. He feared her husband. And so she had none for the blathering old fool in front of her.

Instead, when he had shouted all he could, he pointed angrily at the tent flap and said:

“Get out! If you would go around my back to rut with this...angel!...then let him have you! You are not my daughter! You are a harlot, and no daughter of mine! Get out, and let me never see you again!”

Shala only sneered at him. “Fine! I’m gone! I’m a married woman now and I don’t need you! Goodbye! Have fun in your tent!”

She left that tent in a huff. How dare he. How dare any of them look down on her. Her husband was a son of El. The child in her belly was sired by a heavenly being. And what were they? A pathetic pack of backward desert scrabblers. She was better than all of them. She would show them.

Shala returned to the cave, where she waited and sulked all day until Azael returned. She told him what happened and implored him to cheer her up.

Some time later, Shala was lifted off of the end of Azael’s cock, semen leaking out of her, body hot and quivering. Azrael set her down on some nearby cushions, and gave her some instructions:

“Here’s what you are to do. Go back into the village and find a place to stay. Your own tent, if you must. Keep letting everyone know that you are married to me now.”

“But...why live there? Why can’t I stay here with you?”

“You may come back to visit whenever it pleases you. But stay in town, flaunt your new status. See how the people react. Find out who is on our side and who isn’t. And do so by any means necessary. Woo them. Flirt with them. Even bed them if you wish. I will not deny you that.”

“Even though we’re married?”

“Yes. You can even tell them that you are unhappy with me and want the company of your own kind. So long as you find out what you can, bend the people to our side, and never forget who is really best. Who is it, pretty thing?”

Shala put her little arm around Azael’s big torso. “You, darling. Always, always you.”

Shala did as she was told and found a place to live on the outskirts of town. She popped between there, her older siblings (she was the middle child of 6), and the cave of her lover.

Word had spread about Shala’s coupling with an angel. Approve or disapprove, it brought great notoriety. She sashayed through the village, wearing only a loincloth, and relished all the attention she got. Lots of other girls asked what it was like. Older men who might have made unwelcome advances kept their careful, respectful distance. Some older women would avert their eyes when she walked by, not daring even to scold. She loved every bit of it.

The thing to understand, is that in those days the ones that were cast out of heaven were not yet considered wholly evil. Only rebellious. Against a god that few understood. In those days, to be chosen by an angel, even a fallen one, was an honor. She got congratulations, well-wishes, respect.

And even as time passed and her belly grew bigger, she got attention of a sexual nature. Shala came to understand why her husband bade her to bed anyone she wished. It was not merely to allow her an uncommon freedom. It was a surefire way to find out allegiances. If any man met her, knowing that she was married to a fallen one and was carrying his child, and was bold enough to show interest anyway, was one that was not likely to honor El.

Shala demonstrated this one night as she led a young man into her tent, in her 5th month, with her hand on her rounded belly.

At first the young man was nervous. She mocked him. “What? Does a pregnant girl bother you?”

“No...not at all…”

“Don’t you think I’m beautiful?”

“Yes...I think you’re gorgeous, it’s just that...won’t your, h-husband be angry if he finds out—”

Shala put her finger to his lips. With her other hand she took his, and guided it up to her breast. She smiled at him, and let him massage it in small, gentle circles.

“Don’t be afraid. He won’t mind. Because he’s different. We’re different. I’m going to show you a new way. One where you don’t have to be afraid or sorry for anything.”

She pulled him in close, pressing her breasts and belly against him. And then she kissed him. She kissed him, and let his hands run over her back and bottom, until she felt his cock press up against the bottom of her belly. She sank lower into a squat, rubbing her belly across the man’s penis on the way down, cupped it in her hand, and gave it a long lick down the shaft. Not nearly as long as Azael’s. But enough to have fun with him. She was going to swallow him like a grape. She was going to fuck his brains out.

And she did. She sucked him until his knees gave out. Where he trembled on the floor, she squatted again over his face and commanded him to lick her pregnant pussy and return the favor. She let him clumsily slobber over her privates while lazily pawing at the man’s weary cock to get it to spring back to life. She got bored, and had to pee all of a sudden (that happened a lot now), and so, giggling, she scooted her bottom over his body and let loose, pissing all over his chest. The man gave a surprised gasp, and his penis stood up again.

“Ah, you like that huh? What a good soldier. For that, you get the real thing.”

She stood up and turned around, and reached down to spread herself open with her fingers. Smiling, she lowered herself, slowly, just to tease him. Then when she was fully lined up, sat down heavily on his cock.

Shala performed the same gyrating dance that she gave for Azael, only this time she could fit this man into her girlhood easily. Her walls squeezed him, and her buttcheeks ground his pelvis into the floor.

She knew she couldn’t keep this up long. She was getting too heavy for this. But that didn’t matter. The man under her was moaning, whimpering even, writhing, covered in her piss, his penis hard and thumping inside her like a rabbit’s foot. He would blow very soon. She grinned wickedly at him, and let him put a hand on her belly.

“You feel that? That’s the feeling...of a new world coming! One without fear! Without sadness! Only fun! Only love! Can you feel it? Can you?”

“Yes! I fe—HE—HEEEEEEEEEE--!”

He exploded inside her, and she felt his hot cum flood against the back of her vagina. She sighed, and smiled down at the heaving, sweaty man under her.

“See? Doesn’t that feel better? This is what you can have. When you’re brave. When you can let it all go.” She stood up and let his spent penis flop tiredly out of her, spilling his own cum all over him.

“I...I never felt…oh, it was heaven…” the man moaned.

“That’s right. Heaven on earth. Tell everyone. The old ways are dead. The new ways are here.”

Week after week, month after month, she spread her legs, and the good news of the way of the Earthly Angels.

Month 6, her belly swelling, she bounced up and down on a man’s lap until he burst inside her, crying out to heaven as he did.

“Yes, let it go,” she said, squeezing every drop out of him, “your shame...your fear...your weakness…”

Month 7, and her belly was bigger and rounder, and a man sucked on her popped belly button while she jerked him off.

“Time to let it out,” she encouraged. “all your passions...all your feelings...all your love! That’s it! That’s it!” He groaned as he exploded like a volcano.

Month 8, and her belly hung low and large. It wobbled as one boy grunted and pounded her from behind, and the other got his penis fellated from the front. With expert timing, she sucked hard and clenched her bottom at the same time, and both boys screeched as they came in her at once.

They helped her to her feet, and she arched her back to hold up her big belly. She swallowed, and smiled at them.

“See how beautiful it is? What we accomplished together? Never hold back. Go tell everyone what love can do when they’re free.”

Shala walked proudly through the village every day, and her belly grew bigger, rounder, and more triumphant every week. She continued to be a beautiful girl. And she continued to know it. To be the wife of an angel filled her with confidence and vanity that could not be tamed.

Yes, she was still the wife of Azael. And no matter how many men she screwed into a religious experience, no matter how much fun she had playing with them, no one could satisfy her like her husband. Her disciples gave her a donkey, and she rode it to her angel’s domain nearly every night. It didn’t matter how big she got; in his arms, she was weightless. It didn’t matter how many cocks she accepted; none could fill her like his. It didn’t matter how many hands caressed her body; only an angel’s could set it alight.

But back on earth, her daily walks through the village were beginning to grow difficult. Her belly was growing huge and heavy. She lumbered down the street, in shorter and shorter stretches as she swelled bigger and bigger. Her glamorous demeanor was hard to keep up when she had to take breaks and sit down so often. People were beginning to look at her with pity. She hated it. Especially from--

“Shala?” a creaky voice called out to her.

She turned. And then she scowled. Her mother, Beltis. Of all times.

“Oh. It’s you. Been a while.” She put one hand on her swollen belly, and one hand on her hip.

“Shala...I’m sorry I haven’t seen you...your father, he...he made it—”

“Pretty hard, yeah. I figured. But that’s OK, really. Life’s been better than ever. And I was right. I didn’t need any of you. Least of all you.”

“Shala, please listen to me. I’m, I’m worried about you—”

“Yeah? Well a little late for that, mom. I’ve been thriving. As you can see.”

“Yes, I do see. Shala, you shouldn’t be walking around like this, not this late. When’s the last time you’ve seen a midwife?”

“Never. My pregnancy has been just perfect. It’s a nephil, didn’t you know? I’m going to have a hero, mom. A demigod.” She grabbed her huge middle with both hands. “A new kind of baby for a new kind of world. He’s going to be so awesome.”

“But dear...what about you?” asked Beltis. “I heard stories about other mothers with nephil babies, and they tend to be...well...very large.”

Shala hesitated for a moment. “So? Tell me something I don’t know! Of course it’s going to be big. Have you seen my husband? Ha! Yep, I’m going to have a great big hero baby. That’s the idea. You going to keep telling me the obvious, or can I go home now?”

Tears began to run down the old woman’s face. “I...know that I’ve...not been there for you…” she sobbed. “And I know...you probably hate me...so much…”

Shala rolled her eyes.

“But at least...if listen to nothing else I say...you need to have someone there to help you. A midwife. Your family. I talked with your big sister Anatu, and she will be there on the day, and I will too. If you will have us. Please.”

“Hmph. That’s a great idea, mom. Anatu and I have been getting along great all this time, not that you’d know. Love to have her with me. And a midwife? Of course, sounds great, love to have a professional. Not you though.”

The crushed look on her mother’s face gave her immense pleasure. Shala looked at her with mock pity and shook her head.

“No, not you, sorry. I just don’t think it would work out. You can go back to the tent with dad. And stay there. Then I don’t have to see either of you anymore, just like you didn’t want to see me. And when I have my baby? You’ll never get to see him either.”

Shala swayed her huge middle away. “Now if you’ll excuse me. I need to make an appointment with the midwife.”

“And what did this midwife say?” inquired Azael, stroking Shala’s belly.

“He’s going to be big boy,” Shala said lazily, “Big and strong and healthy. Couldn’t have made a baby this good with any human, baby.” She turned her head and kissed him.

“And all will be well?”

“Sure...I’m not the first or anything. It’s happened a bunch of times, right? I can handle it.”

“Yes...and more every day. My kin have been...busy as well.”

“Oh, yay! We’ll be like one big family! So many cousins! So many other moms!”

The big baby stirred. Her belly bulged out in many directions as the infant inside her stretched. Shala touched her belly, full of wonder.

“And I can’t wait to meet you. You’re going to be the biggest, best baby in the world.”

Shala’s time

“Again, Shala. Push down again. Hard.” commanded the midwife.

“Come on Shala, you can do it! Push! Push!” encouraged Anatu.

Shala screamed at the top of her lungs. She clutched her sister’s hand, and her body shook.

Her scream trailed off into a wailing grunt, then she fell back on the cushions, panting and moaning.

Three women sweated in the tent. One was the midwife, Gula. One was Shala’s older sister, Anatu. And the one who sweated the most was Shala. Her belly was huge and full as a tick’s.

“Is it coming yet? Please let it come soon!” moaned Shala.

“Soon, Shala. It will come soon.” soothed Gula.

Anatu did not know how the midwife could say that with a straight face. It had already gone on so long...

“That’s enough resting. Time to get up again, Shala.”

“No...not again! I’m too tired--”

“Anatu, help her up.”

The two women hauled her up onto her feet, and Shala weakly flailed in protest.

“Don’t struggle! You’ve got to squat.”

“No! No! I can’t do it anymore! Please! It hurts!”

“You’ve got to, Shala!” Anatu asserted. “On the count of 3, ready? 1, 2, 3, push!”

“Now, Shala! Push. Push! Harder.”

Anatu had given birth before. She had 2 young children of her own at home. She had helped other women give birth before too. But none of them had been like this. She excused herself for a minute between contractions to get some air, and saw that the sun was setting on the first day. A whole day of pushing.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! HA! HA! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH--!”

“Stop screaming and push! Focus! You can’t just lie down and scream all night. You have to force that baby down and out. Get up!” barked Gula. They heaved her up into another squat. “Now push. Hard!”

“NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNAAAAAAAAAA--!”

The moon rose. And then set again. Shala’s hair was soaked through with sweat. The pillows under her were drenched. Veins stood out on her forehead, as she was forced into another squat. And she pushed. Pushed. Pushed. And screamed.

“You can do it, Shala,” assured Anatu. “Bear that baby down again, push push push. Real hard now. You can do it! It’s coming!”

“I—CAAAAAAAAAN’T!” she wailed.

“Yes you can, sister, yes you can! It’s not easy, but you’re doing it!”

“Yes you are, Shala, don’t stop,” agreed Gula. “Take that breath. And again. Push. Now.”

The second day came.

“Keep going, Shala, keep going. Hold that push there. Your baby is coming, you just need to push harder. And again, Shala, again.”

Shala wailed, and fell back again.

“No!” shouted the midwife. “Can’t lie down yet! One push from a squat, get up!”

“No...no more...no more…”

“Get up I said! Anatu, help me. There now, bear down. Bear down! Come on! Push! Again!”

The moon sailed through the sky again.

“Push!” Gula commanded as she held Shala’s shoulders. “Why aren’t you pushing?”

“I can’t...I can’t do it…”

“We can’t have this baby for you. You’ve got to work. Now push...yes, like that! Harder! Harder!”

The sun rose for the third time. Shala lay on the cushions, unconscious. Anatu looked down at her poor sister, rubbing her bleary eyes to try and stay awake herself. She looked so small. That is, the part of her that was...her. That massive globe attached to her was something else, threatening to crush and kill her. Anatu wearily burned with anger. How could someone do this to her little sister? To any normal human? An angel ought to know better. Ought to know better than to put a girl through this. Human babies were hard enough.

A contraction pried Shala out of her rest, and she moaned.

“Shala, can you hear me?” said Anatu. “It won’t be long now. Give your baby another push. He needs you.”

Shala’s moan rose into a hellish shriek, as she put both hands on top of her belly and force its contents down. She pushed, long and hard. Straining. Shrieking. Crying.

“Again Shala. You have to push again.”

Another pitiful grunting wail, and Shala fainted again. Until another contraction came. And she shrieked again.

The fourth day. Shala’s eyes were glassy. There were no more tears to shed. Anatu had no more encouragement to give. Only Gula still numbly commanded Shala to push. Shala made her huge belly flex, weakly.

Anatu waited, prayed, for her sister to die. She could stand the moans, the screams, and the wails no longer. Please, oh El Shaddai, let it end. Let her rest.

Shala’s lips moved.

Anatu leaned down to listen.

“...mommy…mommy…”

“You want...momma, sister? Alright...I’ll go get her.”

A few minutes later, Beltis turned to see who came in the tent, and gasped to see a baggy-eyed ghoul standing before her. It took her a moment to recognize it as her eldest daughter.

“She wants you...please...I can’t do it anymore.”

“She wants…oh no. Oh Adonai, no…” Beltis sobbed, then left the tent.

She wailed again when she saw her younger daughter. Huge, round, and still. She turned despairingly to the midwife. “Is she?…”

Gula grunted. “No. Still with us, somehow. Never seen anything like it.”

Beltis knelt to down to cradle her daughter. Shala’s eyes fluttered open. Then focused with recognition.

“Momma?”

“Yes dear, Momma’s here, I’m here.”

“W...why?” Shala mumbled. “I told you...to fuck off…”

“A mother can’t stay away when her baby calls, dear. You will always be my baby. El willing, you will understand that before long.”

“W...whatever…”

“Come now, momma’s here to help you now. We can do this together. Let me help you up. This is the best position to have babies in.”

“I know...I know! God! I can do it!” Shala grouchily struggled against her mother’s help.

“Shala! Why do you have to fight me all the time! Let me support you!”

“Because you suck!”

“O El, let this baby be a girl,” Mother prayed, “and let her someday do to you what you now do to me!”

“It’s gonna be a boy...you’ll see...OOOF—”

“Yes, we will! Can you push, my dear? Push, Shala!”

“I! CANNNNNGGGGRRRRRRRRRRRR----GAH!”

“You’ve got to push longer than that, or the baby won’t come, dear.”

“I KNOW! I--NNNNNGGGMMMMMMM------------------GAH!”

Gula the midwife shook herself awake. Could they be back in business? How long could she keep this up?

The sun sank down on the fourth day, and Mother kept soothing her child. Or trying to.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARR!”

“Oh I know dear, I know—”

“NO YOU DON’T! NNGYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA--!

The sun sank lower, and at long last, the baby sank lower too. As the moon rose, and Shala bore down, so did a huge bulge rise between her legs.

“UUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH—”

Her screams gave way to long grunting groans.

“Here it comes, Shala!” Gula remarked, truthfully this time. “I can see the head. Push. Push!”

“UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH—”

Gula’s watched Shala’s girlhood spread, so far that it made her jaw drop. The taught circle of her vagina streched wider...and wider...and then stopped, quivering, about to break--

“Now Shala.” gasped the midwife. Gula held out her hands under her, “Push now. All your might. Now!”

“I love you, Shala! Do it girl! Push! Push! PUSH!”

“UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHH--!”

The perineum gave. They could hear the flesh rip as it tore--

“—AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA--!”

The giant head eased out into Gula’s hands--

“—(GASP), AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA--!”

--and after sticking for a moment, the shoulders and body flooded out too. A scarlet torrent flooded the floor. Old Gula quickly put the big baby on Shala’s body, then knelt down to do what she could to stop the bleeding.

Shala lifted trembling hands to the massive infant on top of her. It was so warm. And slimy. And heavy. And with a big jerk of its body, it took in its first breath and started to cry.

“You did it, Shala, you did it! Look at him!”

“I did it...I did it...ohhhh…” She fainted.

Some time later, Azael knelt next to his wife and baby. Him and his spreading violet wings took up most of the tent. Beltis, Anatu, and Gula stood warily off in a corner.

Azael felt the baby’s pudgy arms. Let the baby grab one of his fingers and squeeze it tightly. Shala wearily smiled at him.

“Isn’t he beautiful? Look at how big he is. He’s gonna be so strong, baby.”

Azael smiled down at the baby, not looking at her.

“He’s perfect, little Shala. You’ve made me very happy. What a fine baby.”

“I should hope you are!” blurted out Anatu. “That thing almost killed my sister.”

Azael ignored her. He lifted his baby off of Shala and cradled him. “You will be one of a legion, my son. All over the world, more are being born like you. And more will be. One day, you will all do great things.”

“More, darling?”

Azael looked at his wife for the first time and smiled at her.

“Do not worry, pretty thing. I am sure the next one will be much easier.”

THE END