#foreverstrongandneverbackdown

“Hmm, that’s a tough one,” Gabriel says, frowning.  “First of all--kuddos to you for trying to make the best of a hard situation!  Not everyone would take in a toddler before they turned twenty!!

“I’d be super careful with the ‘secretly don’t want him’ aspect.  Kids are very perceptive, even before they learn to talk.  They can sense when adults aren’t being honest, or pretending to like them.  Make sure you are getting outside support from friends, therapists, or even other family.  Don’t let this little guy become an object of resentment in your life.  It won’t be good for either of you!

“I know there’s a million-and-one books out there on raising kids, and even more advice givers on the internet.  But I can share a couple tidbits of experience with you.

“I’ve always found that treating kids like actual people goes a long way.  Be honest--they’ll know if you’re not.  Don’t talk down to them, and don’t just pretend to listen when they talk to you. 

“Using ‘because I told you so’ as a reason for them to do something does NOT go far, and teaches them nothing.  If you want them to obey, tell them why.  ‘Don’t touch that--because it is dangerous and will cause you pain.’  Or ‘pick up your toys--because if they stay on the floor, they can be stepped on and broken and then you can’t play with them.’  Kids need to understand consequences beyond punishment. 

“And it’s okay to be honest about yourself with them!  If you’re exhausted and not up for playing an intense game with them, it’s okay to say ‘dude, my feet/back hurt really bad right now.  How about we watch a movie instead?’  Kids are very empathetic when you share your struggles!”

Gabriel smiles, soft and warm.  He looks at his own flock, and remembers his own children from a previous lifetime. 

Lucifer: Who said you can’t?

Michael: Lucif–!!

Lucifer, covering Michael’s mouth: No, it’s okay brother, I got it.

Lucifer, imitating Michael: Lucifer! No! Killing people is wrong! blah-blah-blah! How could you say such a thing?! I’m so disappointed in you!

Lucifer, no longer imitating Michael or covering his mouth: I know! take a joke, sheesh!

Michael: … I don’t–

Michael: That’s an interesting question… I don’t really know.

Raphael: Technically, the only distinction between murder and assassination is motive. Someone is assassinated if they are murdered for religious or political reasons. Usually it’s an important person, but that just comes with the territory. If you don’t represent a Political or Religious platform, you’re murdered, not assassinated.

Gabriel: Y’know, it kind of defeats the point if you’re just going to google it for them.

Raphael, offended: I didn’t google it. Have a little faith, brother.

Lucifer: Okay, then why do you know the intricacies of the definition of ‘assassinated’, Raphael?

Raphael: That’s a good question, brother. Though, the answer is probably better left a mystery.

Gabriel: Cop-out. You totally googled it.

Raphael: I’ve been right here with you this whole time, Gabriel. You can see that I didn’t.

Lucifer: Maybe you stopped time? who knows?

Raphael: You’re both impossible. Fine, I read the dictionary. For fun. happy?

Lucifer: Nope. Haven’t crashed a funeral, either. Brothers?

Michael: I’m clean too.

Raphael: Ditto.

Gabriel: Well, I got married once because I heard weddings always have the best desserts and the wildest after-parties. They were so right. 

Michael: Wait, you’re married?

Gabriel: Nah. Turns out the person marrying us didn’t actually have the power to. And we were just party people, honestly, not really relationship material.

Raphael: Let me get this straight, Gabriel. You agreed to marry someone, just for the party?

Gabriel: What part of that doesn’t sound like me?

Michael: Take it away, Raphael.

Raphael: Ah, the stories I could tell… I can certainly answer this one for them. As the semi-official expert on any medical attention, I’m the one these three have gone to whenever they needed medical assistance. 

Now, Gabriel has swallowed many things–

Gabriel: Yup, that’s me. I’m a swallower.

Raphael: –Thank you, that’s enough… Ahem. But, of all the things he swallowed, none of them ever stuck within him, that I know of. At least, he’s never gone to me for medical assistance about anything related to that. He did, however, get a Wing piercing, and didn’t treat it properly, and I needed to treat the infection. Or at least, that’s the closest thing Humans can relate to. Grace modifications are very different.

As for Lucifer, he got a little too close to the Leviathan once, before Dad decided we had to lock them away, and I had to pull black ooze out of him.

Lucifer, shuddering at the memory: It was horrible. It took days to get rid of it all. I don’t recommend ingesting Leviathan. Nasty… nasty stuff.

Raphael: Yes… and equally unpleasant to extract. You had to be sedated for most of that time, or you became… irritable.

Lucifer: I remember. Not fun.

Raphael: Yes. Very. And as for Michael, training-aholic that was and probably still is, He’s been stabbed, and stabbed himself by accident enough times that I can safely say he’s my most frequent patient. He’s had plenty of ‘foreign objects’ stuck inside his body, for one reason or another.

Michael: Yes… that’s, er, very true. And yourself, Raphael?

Raphael: No, I don’t think I’ve ever needed a healer for this reason. I’m much more careful than you three.

Lucifer: There’s always an ‘unless’ with you, isn’t there, donkey-human? In any case, Yes, I’ve done that. On… several occasions. I had a habit of flying for long periods of time, and sleeping in strange places–because I like sleep, not because I need it, Gabriel–and when I woke up, I’d have very little idea of where I was or how I got there. Michael?

Michael: I neither like nor need sleep, so, no… Not counting the times I slept to pass time in the cage and woke up hoping it was all just a nightmare.

Gabriel: I mean, it takes an awful lot to get me drunk, but it’s happened once or twice. Asgardian ale is hard stuff. So, yeah. I’ve woken up with no idea how I got there before.

Raphael: Gabriel, you should take a note from this human’s book; the less details you give, the better.

Gabriel: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever, Raph. I’ve been in handcuffs before, but it wasn’t a kinky thing. That’s never really been a turn-on for me. I prefer to be on the handcuff-er’s end, if you catch my drift.

Michael: Gabriel, what did Raphael just– you know what, nevermind. Moving on. Raphael?

Raphael: I’ve been handcuffed. Some idiot American thought I was a runaway slave. Needless to say… the handcuffs weren’t archangel-proof.

Lucifer: Ouch. I almost feel sorry for the man. I haven’t been handcuffed, but I’ve been arrested, and it stands to reason that if I’ve been arrested, I’ve had my limbs restrained by something like handcuffs. It was mainly meant to bind my wings.