To A New Life

My father always taught me the Southern ways of living. Yes ma'am, no ma'am, yes sir, and no sir. Please and thank you. You didn't get much better than the way I was raised. We had a small farm consisting of a couple of cows, about twenty chickens, and a horse. It was just me and Dad for a while. Then Dad went to town and came back with a baby in his arms. That was my little brother, Joshua. I remember being the happiest I'd been in a long time. I'd been wanting a sibling for a while and I got it. Dad did all he could to make us happy.

I was homeschooled, mostly because of Dad's paranoia. He didn't want his baby boy to suffer in the big bad world. He kept me and Josh secluded and away from everyone he knew before I was born. Mostly for our safety, he'd explained.

Now I'm close to meeting my mother. I'm almost of age, and I had previously asked my father to show me my mother. He talked with me for a long time about it, and I decided I wanted to go to the city and live with my mother for a while. Nearly eighteen years of not knowing where I came from did a number on me. And I had vaguely considered that my mother was male, which was a common occurrence since the magical tea formula the archangels drank had been stolen. The tea had altered the genetic makeup of every species known to angel kind, bestowing the gift of pregnancy to dainty males, which they became known as Ukes, and the unaltered males as Semes.

Dad had bestowed upon me the knowledge of a student in college, as well as his handsome looks. I had long legs and a skinny frame as well as thick black hair and bright blue eyes. Dad and I had one subtle difference. His eyes were red, and mine were that blue shade I referred to. Of course, no angel has the same wings, but his and mine were close in shade and size. They were both a raven feather shade and coincided with our hair. Joshua favored my appearance, but he had more muscle than I did.

So there I was, standing in a park beside my brother and father, waiting for some stranger to show up. Dad looked anxious, and my brother, Joshua, was playing on his phone.

In that moment, a black SUV entered the parking lot. I felt something was off. Dad got extremely nervous right then. I couldn't imagine how he felt. He was loosing his eldest son. I didn't want to go. I'd known of this for a long time, and I didn't want to leave but I had to. It was in my parents' custody agreement. I didn't want to upset them, but I still put up a fight.

"Dad, don't do this. We could run away and not show our faces again," I called to him.

"Lucifer," the stranger stated, as if he was warning Dad not to react to my pleas.

"Michael," Dad said the name like a prayer.

The stranger glanced at me, "I'm assuming this is your son? He looks like you. Of course, I would know."

"What do you mean?" Dad readied himself.

"I've bedded one of my underlings. Following in your footsteps, Lucifer," the stranger said with such malice it dropped like blood from a neck wound.

"He's a smart kid, so he's got some of you in him," Dad laughed falsely, then his voice cracked as he told me, "good bye, Cesario. We love you, kiddo. Be safe and please call me."

"Dad," I began.

"Cesario, damn it, just freaking go!" Dad punch the side of his car, "it's hard enough as it is without you protesting. You'll have a better life with him."

"Come on, kid," the stranger snatched me up by my collar in one hand and grabbed my bags.

The stranger introduced himself to me as my uncle Michael, as in Michael the archangel of war. He walked me to the SUV and helped me inside. We rode to the big city in silence. Upon arrival to the apartment complex, Michael helped me out of the SUV and inside the lavish building. He took me upstairs to a very fancy penthouse with white everywhere.

"This is where you will be staying for the duration of your time in Lindenguard," he said, adding that it was Gabriel's apartment.

"Sir, who is Gabriel?" I asked him, curious as to who this roommate was.

Michael sighed as he knocked on the door to master bedroom, "he's your mother."

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" a voice grumbled on the other side of the door.

The door opened, and I was surprised to see the archangel, Gabriel, standing before me. His long blonde hair highlighted his handsome face, and I honestly doubted that I looked like my father as much as I had previously thought. I had to share more than just eye color with this pint-sized wrecking ball known as the archangel of messages and communication.

"Cessy?" he murmured softly, like I was God standing before him.

"Mom, is that you?" I stepped forward.

"Michael, you are dismissed," Gabriel waved my uncle away, and the beast of an angel left without another word.

Gabriel turned to me the moment the front door closed. He burst into tears and hugged me tightly. He sobbed into my shoulder, considering I was a good bit taller than him. He calmed down just until he could speak. I was just in a haze of confusion. He met my worried eyes.

"Hey, are you alright?" I asked timidly.

"I'm fine, baby. I better get you something to eat. You're bigger than I thought you'd be," he patted my stomach.

I sat down on a posh love seat as Gabriel scrambled to fix me up something to eat. I tried to tell him that I'd eaten but he insisted. I watched him run around the kitchen like a servant in a castle. I considered that maybe he was just naturally hyperactive.

"So, dear, how are you?" he asked from the kitchen, standing atop a step stool.

"I'm well, and you seem to need some help," I stood up and grabbed the box of tea bags he was struggling to reach.

"Thank you, sweetie," he chirped and hopped down to continue his work, "how fairs your father?"

"Dad is fine," I leaned against the island, "as stubborn as a wild Pegasus. He's gonna get hurt one of these days, the way he tries to do everything himself."

"How's stuff at your place?" Gabriel put a kettle on the stove.

I shrugged, "Dad insisted I have a 'country lifestyle' as he calls it. We have chickens, a pair of dairy cows, and a standard horse. Nothing too flashy."

"What high school did you attend?" he continued.

"Didn't go to one," I answered casually.

He paused mid-reach for a plate, "can you tell me how you learned?"

"I took the SATs, and I scored a 2399," I informed him, "Dad taught me everything I know."

"That's brilliant, Cesario! I knew you were my son!" Gabriel hugged me tightly, his head at my shoulder.

"Well, what'd you expect? I'm sure you can understand," I stated.

He stepped back and put his hands on my shoulders, "you still need the social experience of high school. I'll enroll you into the best one in the city!"

"Well, I don't know if I want to stay yet," I said softly, "but I'll give it a try."

"I'll enter you into a trial session. I'll go out later and get you some school supplies. Do you want me to help you unpack after you eat?" he handed me a plate of cheesy eggs and bacon strips.

"I think I'm gonna do that myself," I said, smiling.

"Call me if you need me!" he grabbed his keys from the dish on the island.

"Where are you going?" I called after him.

"Like I said, getting your school supplies," he yelled over his shoulder.

Reviews

[Eogin]

"Now I'm close to meeting my mother. I'm almost of age, and I had previously asked my father to show me my mother. "

The "my mother" sounds repetitive.

"He talked with me for a long time about it, and I decided I wanted to go to the city and live with my mother for a while."

I'm now starting to think you might want the "my mother" to be a thing for this character. If that's not true, you should switch up words.

"I had long legs and a skinny frame as well as thick black hair and bright blue eyes."

Do you no longer have those features? It only bothers me because you seem to be switching between present tense and past. This should be in present imo.

""Come on, kid," the stranger snatched me up by my collar in one hand and grabbed my bags. "

I'd rather you use a dot after "kid".


"He walked me to the SUV and helped me inside. We rode to the big city in silence. Upon arrival to the apartment complex, Michael helped me out of the SUV and inside the lavish building"

The "SUV" feels repetitive.



So, at this point i stopped looking for things to correct :) because the story got rather confusing. It might just be me, but the fluid sex thing feels kind of awkward (I haven't really read anything like this, so that might be the problem) So, it's just fathers?

It also seemed that the confusion and fear of what happened to the character just went away, for no good reason, in the end. It felt off.

And, the chapter needs a better hook at the end. Getting school supplies isn't really enough to get the reader to choose chapter 2 over checking his/her phone.

These are my opinions, as i mentioned, I'm a negative person, so use what you consider worthy.

Alright, best of luck.

[Lonely Shadow]

Thank you for attempting to read this.

[Sami Khalil]

I enjoyed the details in this story unfolding little by little with surprises to the reader. Very imaginative but down to Earth. Thank you for sharing...:::)))

[Lonely Shadow]

Oh, thanks so much! I feel really insecure about this story because it's kinda odd.

[Sami Khalil]

No problem. You are welcome. ...:: :))))

[.]

A nice start to your story.

I was quite surprised as i was reading what appeared to be a formulaic family tale, to find that this family are angels. An interesting idea that you sprung upon the reader in sudden, sly fashion.

A good first chapter.

[Lonely Shadow]

No biggie that it's same sex parenting?

[who_am_i]

this is really well written; I love the choice of words you used.

[Lonely Shadow]

Thanks a bunch!