Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

~Beel~

“Are you really sure?”

“Yeah. You’re pregnant.”

“But are you sure you’re sure?” 

Beel blinked, thinking as hard as his brain would let him. “You’ve been asking me that a lot this week.” 

Sage pouted and bowed her head over the dinner table, her long aqua ponytail falling over her shoulder and her round glasses dropping down on her nose. 

They were alone in the House of Lamentation for the first time since their pregnancy took a few weeks prior—something that Beel realized at the moment of conception, but apparently Sage couldn’t tell on her own. 

“I don’t feel different though,” she muttered. “What’s so special about you that makes you know but not me?” 

“I can smell it,” he explained, rubbing the back of his neck to soothe his confusion. “You smell a thousand times sharper than usual, like the difference between mozzarella and Limburger.” 

“I don’t want to be Limburger cheese!” Her head snapped up to face him, her body fighting not to turn her pout into a laugh. “Does that mean I taste like cheese too?” 

He thought for another few seconds. To tell the truth, it had been a while since they were last intimate, even with kisses. Sure, they held hands everywhere they went if he didn’t already have one on her back—not usually on the waist due to her being a solid foot shorter than him, but as close as he could get to it anyway. 

“Hm. I haven’t noticed,” he mumbled, staring at the centerpiece plate of afternoon-snack cookies that Sage made for the family the night before. They were delicious. Beel already had a dozen that morning, and another dozen fresh from the oven, not to mention the dozen on the walk to the House of Lamentation itself. “Should I taste you now to check?” 

“I don’t know…” Sage turned to look at the open double-doors to the dining room as though thinking someone was peeking around the corner. “What if one of your brothers catches us? They could come this way any minute since they know I brought cookies for them.” 

Beel shrugged and pushed away from the table. “Does it matter?” he asked, heaving himself to his feet and strolling over to her with a grin. “You haven’t kissed me first in a few days. Why?” 

The closer Beel got to her, the more her body soothed and melted into her chair. It always surprised him how his presence relaxed her so much. He didn’t have to do a thing. All it took was him being nearby. 

It was nice feeling like a stable rock against her tidal excitement. 

She flushed as he leaned down to her, one hand on the dining table and the other on the back of the chair to support himself. 

His head cocked to the side, curious why she hadn’t answered his question. Obviously if something was wrong, she’d tell him about it, right? 

Then why was she avoiding kissing him? 

Taking the hint, Sage shook her head a tiny bit from side to side. “I don’t know,” she replied. “I think…Maybe I’m jealous…?”

Narrowing his eyes and furrowing his brow, Beel tried hard to understand what she meant. No matter how much he thought, he didn’t really get it. Why would Sage be jealous of him over anything? Sure, in the past, they had rivalries over exercise goals and recipe experiments, but never anything that stopped them from intimacy. 

She averted her eyes back to the plate of cookies. “You know I’m pregnant,” she said. “I still can’t tell at all. It’s super unfair.” 

“Ah.” 

Beel’s face relaxed. So that was all it was about. 

Well, if she couldn’t sense it, and she was the one carrying the baby, then was she really pregnant? That was probably why she worried so much. 

They had talked for decades about starting a family together before spending another century to conceive, and now that they had begun, maybe she worried that she wasn’t holding up her end of the deal. After all, it took both of them to have a baby, but actually carrying one was up to her.

He leaned forward and firmly kissed the top of her head. 

“Stop,” she whined, drawn-out and full of fake annoyance. “It’s not fair.” 

“What’s not fair?” he asked, nudging her head until she gave in and bent it over to reveal her neck to him. 

“You’re still treating me too nicely after what I’ve done to you,” she muttered. “You shouldn’t want to kiss me when I haven’t been kissing you.” 

“I want to though. If all I need to do to get a kiss is take one, then that’s what I’ll do.” 

“But why would you want to?” 

“Because.” He bent lower and nuzzled his nose behind her ear. Taking in a deep breath, he allowed his eyes to close and focus on what he smelled. “We’re married and blood bonded. You’re the one I want to kiss, so I’m gonna do that until you tell me to stop.” He paused, then smiled. “And you have to mean it if you say to stop.” 

At the reminder of their marriage, his scarred palms tingled and warmed. The wedding felt like so long ago, but he loved her like it was only yesterday. Though she’d been upset for the previous few days, she still snuggled up to him at night and climbed over him during the day like always. 

Nothing between them had changed. She just needed extra emotional support. 

Beel wasn’t a genius, but he recognized that much. 

He ran the tip of his nose down her neck, happy that she wasn’t ticklish for once, and took another deep breath. 

Yep. Nothing smelled stronger than that pheromone of breeding. 

It smelled like sex tasted—at least, to him. Something briny, fresh and hot, but different than the bedsheets after a night of lovemaking. 

How else could he describe it to her when it was just…sexy? The words didn’t really exist for what he sensed. 

It was peaceful to him—something he was glad he’d have the next nine months to enjoy anytime he wanted. 

Not to mention, it unlocked an unfamiliar urgency in his chest. The scent demanded that he protect her above all things, whatever that looked like. If she needed anything at all, then he would have the instinct to get it, come hell or high water. 

“Mm. Yep. You’re pregnant,” he stated, his lips pressing hard on the top of her shoulder. “I know you are. Trust me.” 

“Okay, but do I smell like cheese?” she asked, anxious and terrified. 

He huffed out a short laugh before leading his lips up her neck, slow, to savor every inch of skin she let him have. “No, but it’s hypnotizing,” he replied, shifting from foot to foot as his heart began to pound. “I doubt Belphie is in our old room. Can we go?” 

The calmness of Sage morphed into starstruck realization within a split second. “Now?” 

Humming, Beel heard his stomach rumble in interest, but not in hunger. “Yeah,” he breathed, eyes half-open as his hands reached for hers to lift her to her feet. “I want you.” 

“But what about the cookies? Your brothers might not share them if I don’t make sure everyone only takes a couple,” she said with a cute little frown. 

No more playtime.

Beel wasted no time taking her wrists and tugging her upwards. Despite her squeak of surprise, she fell against his chest and looked up at him with those bright green, saucer-wide eyes beneath her circular glasses. Then, she settled, cuddling into him with her hands released so that her arms could wrap around his waist. 

“Well, maybe they won’t see the cookies until we come back,” she said with a smile. “What if Belphie is there though? He might even be with Rosemary.” 

“We’ll go to the attic.” 

“What if someone is there too?” 

Beel shrugged and pulled back, taking her hand again to lead her out of the dining room. “I’ll think of somewhere.” 

“We got caught last time we did anything in the hallway and in the bathroom…” 

“So?” he asked, quickening his pace toward the twins’ bedroom. The sooner he crawled over Sage’s warm body, the better. 

Warm…and bred…

He had half a mind to take the first offshoot of a room in the House of Lamentation but decided that Sage’s comfort mattered more than a speedy hiding spot. She was pregnant. There was no telling how much discomfort she would experience once the baby grew, and especially as she got larger. 

Beel stood tall and hefty; though Sage was stout, Beel was positive that his own genes would take precedence over hers. Being a high level demon put him in a totally different category in comparison. 

Well, that was the risk they took when they decided to date all those years ago. 

“Oh, hey, Beel. You going somewhere?” 

The familiar voice piqued his ears, but he refused to acknowledge Belphie and his wife Rosemary with more than a grin and a sharp nod of greeting. 

Sage, meanwhile, tried to tug back on his grasp. “Belphie! Rosemary! Good to see you! It’s been…H-hey, Beel, wait…!” 

Beel gave her only two seconds before taking her down the hall to the bedroom. 

She called out toward the snickering couple behind her. “There are cookies! On the dining table! Only take two each!” 

The way she cared about all of his brothers getting some of her baking turned him on beyond belief. 

And her scent…

He thought he might die if he didn’t get her underneath him in the next minute. 

Once the door shut and locked behind them, Beel swept Sage into his arms. Her automatic motion of hugging her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist made his muscles burn with heat. 

It was so much easier to kiss her this way, and she really wasn’t that heavy—not to him, anyway. Sure, she wore a size that most stores didn’t carry on-site, and finding prettier styles in her size was hard, but she was beautiful. He could be rougher without feeling nervous that he could break her, though he still worried that she was too small and fragile despite her weightlifting numbers shocking him. She didn’t physically look like a lifter, but when she got going…

He turned and pinned her against the wall, shaking one of the metal decorations to the floor. He couldn’t tell which one with his eyes closed and his mouth busy tasting her tongue. 

Every moment was perfect. 

Every touch was perfect. 

Every inch of her was perfect, and it always would be, no matter what she looked like. 

Over the years, Sage had gotten better at keeping up with his pace even when he was starving. 

But this was different. 

He wasn’t just starving. He was staring down at a feast with a long-empty stomach and delicious smells wafting through the room. 

Leading the way, he brought her over to the bed and carefully placed her down; they’d broken the frame a few too many times for Lucifer’s taste. Against her chest, he leaned her down and ran a firm grasp up the sides of her yellow sundress to her cheeks and crooked glasses. 

“Beel…” 

Her voice whispered so gently that he had no choice but to pause. 

But she smiled, her eyes a little teary and her lower lip quivering. 

“I love you so much,” she said, tangling her fingers into his hair. 

He smiled in return and leaned his head into her soft touch. She knew she could be rougher, but the tender brush of her nails on his scalp was nice too. “I love you too, Sage,” he replied automatically, like it was the truest fact in the whole world. 

“No matter what?” she asked, seeming uncharacteristically nervous. 

With a swift, deep kiss, Beel stole her worried words and awful concerns—at least, he hoped he did. He was never really sure if making out helped her forget about tough things, but it always seemed to stop her ruminating out loud, so it was worth a shot. 

He pulled back just a hair’s breadth away. “Mhm. Always,” he promised in a whisper.

Chapter Text

~Sage~

“Of course you’re pregnant!” Rosemary gasped. “You can’t tell? How?” 

Sage pouted and placed a hand on her round stomach. It wasn’t from the baby, but rather her normal body size. “No…” 

The two best friends—practically twins themselves, with how long they’d been together—walked side by side from the House of Lamentation back to Sage and Beel’s house only ten minutes away. After a teasing wink from Rosemary, they left Belphie and Beel to meet with the other brothers while they caught up. 

Rosemary, being the curious demon she was, had a million or more questions for Sage, most of which couldn’t quite be answered by either of them. Though they wouldn’t call themselves “dumb” by any stretch, they weren’t RAD-educated nor straight-A students. Due to Rosemary’s medical condition, she missed as many classes as she attended while she went to school, and Sage often skipped with her on the excuse of, “Someone has to take care of her, and that someone will be me.” 

Their knowledge was based more in experience, and since neither had experience with pregnancies, neither knew what exactly to expect. 

A sharp breeze tangled Rosemary’s pink choppy bob and made her squint her striking gray eyes. “Well, that’s no fun,” she muttered. “I wonder when you’ll be able to tell for yourself.” 

“What about you? Can you tell?” 

Rosemary laughed. “The second I saw you after you did the deed, I knew right away.” 

Whining, Sage flung her arms across her chest and pouted even harder than before. “Why does everyone else know, but I don’t?” she asked. “Shouldn’t the pregnant person be the one who has to reveal they’re pregnant? It’s so unfair.” 

“Either way,” Rosemary said, “you’ll be able to tell soon enough, I bet. You’re only a few weeks along.” 

“Yeah…” 

With a loud sigh, Sage bowed her head and kicked at the pavement. It just wasn’t right that she didn’t get to tell other people she was pregnant. It wasn’t right that she didn’t even know she was for sure! But somehow, everyone else knew already. 

“Aww, it’s okay, Sage. I’m here for you,” Rosemary offered, nudging her side gently. “You have me, and Beel, and Belphie when he’s up for it. Once you start feeling signs, you can tell us everything—and I mean tell me everything, every detail. I want to know what you’re going through!” 

Fighting back a small wave of tears, Sage took off her glasses and blew onto the fogging lenses. Despite having strolled down this ten minute path thousands of times, this walk was a little more difficult. She sweat in places she normally didn’t sweat, and her breath was a bit heavy. For someone who jogged as much as she did, this was definitely unusual. 

Rosemary noticed and hopped for a few steps. “See? You can tell something’s different!” she exclaimed. “Look at you! You’re so sweaty!” 

Rolling her eyes, Sage tried to stop herself from smiling and failed. “I guess so,” she said, “but I thought being pregnant would be more glamorous than sweating in the first few weeks.” 

“Yeah, me too,” Rosemary replied. “Hey, but next month, I heard you can get some kind of check-up that will show you the baby inside your belly. The doctors do it all the time to look for good development. Then, you’ll be able to see your little one and have proof!” 

“Really?” Surprised, Sage’s eyes widened and the drag of her feet morphed into a slight skip. “They can show me what the baby looks like?” 

“Not the whole baby, but kind of! I heard it’s like…mostly to listen to the heartbeat and to show that they’re actually in there.” 

“They’ll already have a heartbeat by next month?” 

“I don’t know, to be honest, but I feel like they wouldn’t do the exam if there wasn’t anything to see or hear, right?” Rosemary mulled over her thoughts for a moment before continuing. “Either way, next month for sure, you’ll know they’re in there. I can even go with you to the appointment, if you want.” 

“I think Beel will take off from his RAD work to go with me,” Sage hummed. “It’s scheduled out pretty far. As long as nothing happens before then, I don’t need to see them until late in the month.” 

Nodding, Rosemary turned her gaze toward the dark Devildom sky as she passed under a warm streetlight. “You’ll be okay,” she promised. “If you need anything, you’ll call me?” 

“What if you’re not feeling well? You need to make sure you’re getting enough rest, especially when you have a pain flare-up.” 

But Rosemary waved off Sage’s concerns with a flick of a wrist. “Painkillers are pretty useful,” she said, “and Belphie helped me learn a bunch of ways to stretch when I need to. You’re only pregnant for a year, and this is your first baby. I wouldn’t miss a second of it for the entire world.” 

Sage smiled, her eyes gathering with tears again. “You really mean it?” 

“Of course I mean it,” she replied. “Even if you don’t ask for me, I’m going to be banging down your door if I think I can help.” 

Laughing, Sage knew it wasn’t a joke but rather a promise. Rosemary was the type to bust down the door even if it was just to bring over a spare sheet of cookies. The good thing was that they lived so close to each other that visiting the other’s house was as easy as stepping out the door. 

Belphie and Rosemary lived in their own three-bedroom home, with Beel and Sage in a matching layout across the street. Funny enough, their rooms had similar layouts as well—the kitchen cabinets were laid out in the exact same way, as well as the living room furniture and much of the decor as well. 

Sage and Rosemary had almost as much in common with each other as Beel and Belphie did. 

It made for an interesting conversation, talking over each other just to say the same things in similar phrasing. 

But they all adored each other as family, and that was what mattered. 

Rosemary didn’t leave Sage when they got to the house. In fact, she stuck to her like glue until Beel and Belphie came through the door around five o’clock to a large spread for dinner cooked by the two wives—mostly by Sage since Rosemary wasn’t used to making huge meals for Beel. 

Beel grinned as he swung Sage into his arms and in a circle. “Mine.” 

Giggling, she burrowed her face into his chest and embraced him more tightly. “No, you’re mine.” 

He pulled back, leaned down, and cupped her cheeks in his slightly clumsy hands. With the heat of a fireplace, she gazed at him with crooked glasses and an open mouth. 

With a hum, he pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Yeah,” he said. “That too.” 

Chapter Text

~Beel~

Sage fell backward into Beel’s strong arms, tears streaking down her cheeks and hands over her stomach. “I hate this,” she whined, shaking her head violently. “I hate this so much!” 

Unsure what else to do, Beel took a fresh, damp washcloth and wiped her face, tossing it into the tub afterward. At this rate, they’d go through their entire stash of towels and napkins by the evening. 

“I don’t want to get sick again,” she cried between gasps for air. “I want it to be over.” 

How long had she been bent over the toilet now? At least an hour, not to mention the fact that she woke up at seven o’clock to vomit too, and now it was noon with no sign of the nausea stopping. 

At this point, he knew better than to bring up eating lunch having already seen how the slightest food seemed to have always come up half an hour later. The pain of watching her be unable to cook without the smells upsetting her stomach made Beel’s own belly ache and grumble with discontent. This time, he wasn’t hungry, but more scared than he had ever been in his life. What was going on with his wife? 

This wasn’t right. 

He needed help from someone who knew more about this stuff. 

“Sage, I’ll be right back. I need my phone.”

She opened her eyes with a fierce glare that soon softened into an exhausted, understanding nod. 

By the time he returned in a rush with Belphie already dialed, she’d been wiping her own face with yet another washcloth and chucking it into the stack of the other dirty ones. 

“Belphie,” Beel said, putting him on the speaker, “she’s really sick.” 

“Again?” Belphie asked, incredulous. “That’s the third time this week.” 

“Yeah. I’m worried.” 

Sage fell onto her butt on the cold tile and crossed her arms. “I don’t know what to do,” she mumbled. “Is it bad? Should I get help?” 

“Probably,” Belphie replied. “If you’re this sick, wouldn’t your first choice be seeing a doctor?” 

“Yeah, but what if it’s nothing?” 

“Obviously it’s not ‘nothing’ if it keeps happening,” he said. “Do I need to come over? I can help you rest, but that’s about it. Or I can ask Rosemary to keep you company, but she’s out getting groceries.” 

She groaned and rubbed her worn-down face. “I can’t walk all the way to the doctor’s office like this.” 

“Then call them to your house. Duh.” 

“That’s expensive.” 

Belphie sighed, loud and obnoxious. “Sage, don’t be stupid. It could mean…” 

A heavy pause filled the air. 

Beel swallowed, doing his best to stay strong but fearing for the worst. 

It could mean…

What if her body was rejecting being pregnant? 

What if their baby was…?

He threw the phone on the bathroom counter and scooped Sage’s half-limp body into his arms. “We’re going.” 

She squeaked and fought for a few seconds before grasping around his neck and getting more comfortable. By now, she knew there was no fighting when he made a decision. 

With a moment of thought, she snatched up Beel’s phone before he hauled her toward the front door. “He’s taking me now,” she said, leaning her whole weight against Beel’s chest and burrowing as much as she could into him. “You’re right, but…I don’t want to think about that.” 

“Yeah.” He paused, the only sound on the other end a silence then a long heave of a sigh. “Yeah, I’m worried too. We don’t know how normal this is.” 

Sage huddled even more against Beel’s chest as he kicked the door shut—leaving it unlocked in their rush—and started in a dead sprint toward their doctor. They’d gone once before to confirm the pregnancy, but not since then. There wasn’t any need to waste the time and energy taking Sage in for no reason except a vague sense of concern. 

But the sicker she’d gotten over the last week, the more they all worried—even Belphie and Rosemary. 

Belphie had had conversations alone with Beel, congratulating him on the incoming baby and letting him know how excited he was, though he wasn’t as outwardly excitable as the other siblings. 

That didn’t even take into account Rosemary, Belphie’s wife of a few years, who screamed so loud at the news that Sage was pregnant that it shattered a crystal centerpiece on her dining table. She hadn’t noticed; all she did was launch herself into Sage and swing her from foot to foot with such joy that Beel was almost jealous Belphie had only given him a firm pat on the shoulder. 

In the end, Beel knew for a fact that Belphie and Rosemary were the happiest for them, and he knew that Belphie was the right person to call for help. A level-headed person mattered during times of stress—not that Rosemary wasn’t stable, but she would have been banging down their door with a few doctors in tow within five minutes. 

Beel and Sage didn’t know what was best to do. Neither of them were particularly book-smart nor did they like to read and research much. Asking for advice from others was easier than skimming page after page of contradictory information. 

Go to the hospital? Or this sickness is normal? 

It wasn’t like either of them knew what was the right choice. 

But Belphie confirmed what they’d been thinking for days: 

Sage may have not been able to carry this baby. 

When they reached the emergency doctor’s office just after 12:30 in the afternoon, Sage moved to hang up the phone. 

Beel shook his head. “Let him stay on.” 

But Belphie interrupted. “This is something you need to do together, Beel,” he said. “I’m gonna hang up, but call me when you’re home. Later.” A beep sounded, and just like that, Sage and Beel were alone again. 

From her perch in his arms, Sage signed the paperwork on a clipboard and offered a shy smile to the receptionist. “This is normal behavior for him, don’t worry,” she said, trying to make light of the situation to the staff. “He’s just nervous, you know?” 

Silent, Beel watched the receptionist file away the papers. He wished they’d move faster before Sage got sick again. She’d have been humiliated throwing up in a public bathroom.

Taking a seat in the waiting area, Beel relaxed his arms slightly and allowed Sage to rest in his lap. Still, most of her weight leaned against his chest. 

His heart pounded beneath his sternum and into his ears. He burrowed his chin into the crook of her neck and held her close as though it would protect both her and the baby. 

But there was nothing else he could do. 

“Do you want something from the vending machine?” he asked, noticing it in the corner of the room. 

“No, thank you.” 

“Water?” 

“I’m fine,” she replied, her eyes bleary and her body heavy. “You should get something for yourself though.” 

“I’m not hungry.” 

“That’s a lie,” she huffed with a laugh. “Get something to eat.”

He shook his head. “After this.” 

“You’ll feel nauseous too.” 

“I don’t care,” he said firmly, narrowing his eyes at the clock on the wall. Why was it taking so long to get help? “We can go to the buffet after. I need to know you’re okay first.” 

Above everything, Sage herself needed to be in good health. 

Finally, after a whole ten minutes, a nurse called them into a clinic room where they waited for another ten minutes for the doctor. Despite his concerns, he placed her on the examination table, the protective paper beneath her crinkling loudly. 

The doctor looked nice enough, her long auburn hair pulled back in a ponytail like Sage’s and her calm gaze drawing over them with kind professionalism. Beel didn’t catch her name, and it seemed neither did Sage. 

Once again, Sage explained her symptoms—violent nausea and vomiting, constant trips to the bathroom, extremely sore breasts (something even Beel didn’t know about), among several other things. 

Listening intently, the doctor nodded along before pulling out a device to check Sage’s heart and lungs. “Everything so far checks out fine,” she said, making notes on a clipboard. “These symptoms began early this week?” 

With a fierce nod, Sage leaned forward to pay closer attention. “About five days ago. I haven’t kept food or water down since. Am I going to waste away?” 

“We’ll get you fixed up for the nausea,” she promised with a smile. “Perhaps some fluids here first to make sure you’re hydrated before sending you home. But first…” She motioned Sage to lie down on the examination table. “I want to check on the baby and make sure they’re nice and happy in there, okay?” 

Again, Sage nodded and instantly fell onto her back. Her hand reached for Beel’s, which he offered with a flail, and squeezed so tightly that he thought it might get pulled off. 

Using the same device for Sage’s heart, the doctor placed it on her bare stomach. She winced at the cold metal, then looked toward Beel for reassurance. All he could manage was a firm nod in return, his concern too high to speak. 

The minute lasted forever. 

Finally, the doctor pulled her hand away. “I’m going to do a scan with a medical potion to see what’s going on in there.” 

“Is something wrong?” Sage asked, her voice a squeak. “Is the baby okay? Can you hear them?” 

“Oh, yes. I hear healthy little heartbeats.” 

Sage and Beel sighed in unison, relieved. 

Then, Sage sat up slightly in curiosity as the doctor pulled several different tubes of concoctions from the cabinet. “What are you going to do to see inside?” 

“It’s similar to what the human world calls an ultrasound, but a tiny bit less involved,” she explained. “We apply the essence of…Well, I won’t go into specifics, but the potion mix along with a bit of spell work will raise a picture of the inside of your womb. We’ll be able to observe how well the baby is developing. Routine procedure around this time of a pregnancy, actually.” 

“Oh.” Sage thought for a moment and slowly lifted her blouse to reveal her bare abdomen to the doctor again. “So, it’ll be like a TV screen?” 

“Exactly.” 

Once again, Sage cringed at the freezing feelings on her stomach and squeezed Beel’s hand even harder. He watched the doctor closely, monitoring whether she caused any pain outside of the discomfort. If there was an inkling of it, Beel swore he’d stop the procedure. 

“Ready?” the doctor asked. “You’ll feel a warmth deep in your organs. That’s normal.” 

Both Beel and Sage nodded. 

Then, with glimmering palms, the doctor hovered her hands over Sage and cast a strange spell in demonic tongue. In moments, a fuzzy image about the length and width of a buffet plate lifted into the air above her body, high enough for them both to see without craning their necks. 

Honestly, to Beel, it looked like nothing more than the slop of organs in greyscale with a rhythmic heartbeat shaking the screen. He really didn’t see anything in the squiggles. 

But the doctor seemed to notice something different. 

Despite all her discomfort, Sage leaned up and pushed up her glasses. “What do you see?” she asked, looking toward the doctor for an explanation. 

She lifted a hand and pointed at the image. “There’s your baby,” she said, pointing to what looked like a lump to Beel. 

Then, she moved her finger a few inches to the left. “There’s baby number two.” 

With that, Beel’s heart stopped, and his jaw dropped, and his hands began to sweat. 

“Twins?” he asked, stunned just slightly less than Sage, who remained speechless. 

The doctor shifted her finger downward and right. “There’s baby number three,” she said. 

Shaken, Sage flipped her head toward Beel, who could only stare at the image a little more. Try as he might, he only saw blobs of nothingness. How did the doctor know for sure that there were three—three babies? Three whole babies? Inside his wife? 

“Let me show you,” the doctor said, moving her palm in a circle over Sage’s stomach to shift the focus of the image and make it slightly larger to look more closely at the first baby. “Right there, in the center, is the heart. Do you see it beating?” 

With a more careful eye, Beel did indeed see a tiny pulsing. 

The doctor did the same with the other two babies, pointing out little details that Beel didn’t quite understand. His only focus was on the heartbeats. Three souls. Three entire demons. Three children entering the world through himself and his precious Sage. 

“Triplets…” Sage dropped her head heavily on the thin pillow beneath her neck. “Triplets…in our first pregnancy…” 

“Often, with pregnancies involving multiple fetuses, uncomfortable symptoms are heightened,” the doctor explained calmly, showing no particular signs of either happiness or sadness at the revelation. “Morning sickness, aching, and general nausea can be worse throughout their development. You’re at higher risk for an early birth as well.” 

Sage nodded blankly at the ceiling. 

Noticing her spaciness, Beel turned his attention to the doctor. “Then what do we do about the nausea?” he asked. “She needs to eat for the babies to grow, right?” 

“Yes, and more than for a typical pregnancy,” the doctor replied. “I’ll send you home with a daily anti-nausea medication. Take it in the morning with or without food, and the symptoms should subside within half an hour. If not, give us a call, and we’ll try a different treatment. Do you have a primary doctor to whom we can transfer your medical records?” 

“Yeah.” He took out his phone and relayed the information from his own notes. More than anything, he knew how important it was that he kept these records straight, so he made a list of serious information that he could access easily. It wasn’t something he did well, but the very least he could do was know her main doctors and medications with treatments when this was something serious. 

Not fifteen minutes later, they were sent on their way with a bag of nausea potions and released into what would normally be a boring avenue of shops and facilities. 

But their entire world had turned upside down. 

Triplets. 

They wouldn’t only have one baby. Not even two, like Beel and Belphie themselves. 

But three. 

“I feel sick,” Sage mumbled, leaning against Beel’s arm and hugging it to her chest. 

“The first dose of the nausea stuff should work soon,” he replied, reaching around her to gently rub her back. It had taken years of practice to get good at comforting her without being too rough or awkward. “Do you wanna sit here until you feel better?” 

“No, it’s not that kind of sick,” she said, shaking her head. “I’m…shocked-sick.” 

Beel understood. 

But he had already compartmentalized the information into the back of his mind to run over when they got home. 

All he knew was that he needed to eat away the gnawing excitement in his stomach. 

“You need food. I see it in your eyes. It’s so late for lunch.” 

“You need food too,” he responded. “Let’s go to Hell’s Burger. They have those fruity teas you really like.” 

Face turned toward the ground, Sage sighed, and off they walked, slowly, with her hand over her stomach. 

Beel’s mind spun more and more the closer they got to the restaurant. Triplets. So, three names. Maybe they would be a mixture of boys and girls, or maybe there would be three of one or the other. 

The plans to get a single crib went out the window. Did they need more than one nursery? Their house wasn’t small, but three bedrooms weren’t enough for five people once the babies got older. For owning a starter home, they’d expected to have at least two children out of the toddler years before having to move to something larger. 

Plus, where would Belphie and Rosemary sleep overnight if they didn’t have a guest bedroom too? Right now, the guest room only had a single twin-sized mattress, with the rest of the room full of gym equipment. The other room was emptied out for the nursery that hadn’t been thought about yet. 

And what about feeding the babies? Since they were Beel’s children, Sage wouldn’t carry enough milk to satisfy three babies at the same time, and she only had two boobs. Were there different formulas and things like that for feeding, or did they need to find someone else who made a lot more milk to fill that role? Which was better for the kids anyway? 

The more he thought, the more hungry he felt. He needed to distract himself with a buffet before his mind really did explode. 

Though he’d pushed the idea into the back of his mind in the doctor’s office, now he began to think of details. 

At the door to Hell’s Burger, he stopped and turned toward Sage, who gazed up at him with watery eyes. 

He bent down to her level. “What’s wrong?” 

She swallowed heavily and wiped under her eyes. After not eating for so long, she was unstable and emotional, more than usual. He wasn’t sure whether she was happy or sad at the news.

But Beel couldn’t bring her into the restaurant like this. 

He pulled her against him into a tight embrace and rested his chin on top of her head. “Yeah,” he mumbled, tucking her body into his chest as though protecting her from an onslaught of arrows at his back. And maybe to her, the revelation felt like that. 

“It’s just…” She sniffled and rubbed her baggy eyes again. “It’s a lot to take in right now.” 

“You need to eat. Food will make it better.” 

“Yeah, I know,” she muttered. “I just…I’m overwhelmed.” 

“Should we go home?” 

“No…No, I want my iced tea.” 

He couldn’t hold back a grin and squeezed her tighter. “Tea first then,” he declared, “and I’ll get three challenge meals.”

“Yeah. Three.” 

He paused, then rubbed her back and let his grin turn into a calm smile. “Let’s call Belphie and Rosemary tonight,” he said. “Telling them will help you feel better too.” 

“Yeah.” 

He led her into Hell’s Burger and ordered food to-go, stacking the bags high up his arms and following Sage back to the house with his mind still revving. 

They made three babies together. 

None of them would be lonely growing up. 

Each child had the most loving family. 

They were blessed. 

The moment Sage and Beel entered the house, he wasted no time dropping the to-go containers on the floor and yanking her into his arms. Automatically, he lifted her into the air and swung her in a circle. Her drink nearly spilled on his back as she squirmed then laughed heartily along with him. 

Now that they were home and comfortable, he could celebrate. 

He didn’t bother setting her down, instead shifting her mostly into one arm with her feet barely touching the ground to support herself, and sweeping the food bags into his free hand. 

“Beel, what’s this all about?” she asked, wrestling playfully to be placed back on solid ground. “You’re a totally different person than you were five minutes ago!” 

He hauled her into the kitchen, set the bags on the counter, then lifted her onto it as well. His arms caged her in on either side of her body as he leaned forward and took her lips in starving kisses. 

She was carrying their precious little babies all by herself. His heart felt fuller than ever, and he wasn’t sure how else to express it. 

Through giggles, Sage cupped his cheeks and tried to hold him in place. All it did was keep him away from her lips long enough to run kisses down her face and against her throat. 

“Beel!” she laughed. “You’re so touchy!” 

“Can’t help it,” he replied with a shrug. 

“You’re excited?” 

“Mm…” He tugged at her blouse’s collar with his teeth, wondering whether he wanted to have her before his late lunch or after. He wished he could think up a way to combine the two. “Yeah. I am.” 

“Because of the triplets?” she asked, her voice a little low and nervous. 

“Yeah.” He spoke as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. “I’m excited about the babies.” 

“We didn’t expect three of them at the same time though…and that’s a lot of work for first time parents, isn’t it?” 

“I like that there’s more than one,” he replied, nuzzling into her breasts to feel how soft they were against his cheeks. Then, remembering that she mentioned they hurt, he pressed firm kisses to the tops of them as an apology for making her wince. “They won’t be lonely growing up because they’ll always have each other to play with.” 

Sage placed a hand on the back of his head and absentmindedly fiddled with his hair. “It’ll be a lot of diapers and bottles,” she said with a slight laugh, “and probably no sleep.”

“Belphie will help with sleep, I’ll do the diapers, and Rosemary will heat up the bottles,” he said, nipping at her collar again. “You focus on making food for them and growing them in your belly.” 

Giggling, she drew his face back upward to look him in the eye. Her expression was one of softness and love, as always, but more open than usual. 

“This is a huge deal,” she said. “Are you sure you really want to go through all of this with me?”

Confused, his eyes widened and a frown popped over his features. “Why wouldn’t I be sure?” he asked. “This is what we wanted.” 

“Well, not triplets.” 

“I’m happier that there’s more than one,” he reassured her. 

“Even though it’ll be that much harder?” she asked. 

He blinked, his mind trying to piece together what she meant. “Wouldn’t it be harder if we didn’t do this together?”

“Yeah, but…if you didn’t want to have triplets and deal with all the work once they’re born, then—“

He’d heard enough. His lips enveloped hers mid-sentence and stole whatever terrible words she was about to say straight from her throat. 

He kissed her again and again, leaning her backwards on the kitchen counter until he needed to hike his leg on the edge to reach her. 

The moment her body relaxed beneath him and her arms found their way around his neck, he pulled her into a tight embrace. “Sage,” he said. “You’re my wife, so we’re raising the children together. That’s what I want.” 

A little dazed, she nodded and pulled away to smile at his lips; it was weird that she did that all the time, but he did the same thing when she ate something really delicious. 

“I want them to have parents who love them,” he continued. “No one else will love them like we do. We can’t raise them without each other.” 

“You’re right,” she responded with a cute, lopsided smile. 

“You’re strong,” Beel said. “I don’t get how you’re awake when you haven’t eaten a meal in days.” 

“I’m a little hungry,” she admitted, glancing at the to-go boxes next to them. “You need to eat before that gets too cold. Let me up so I can heat up leftovers.” 

Stunned, he cocked his head to the side. “Leftovers? But we just got Hell’s Burger.” 

“I only asked for iced tea. The rest is yours.” 

Leaning off of her, he carefully led her into a sit and helped her hop down from the countertop. “I’ll share with you.” 

“You don’t have to. I know you’re starving.”

“So are you,” he argued, tearing open one of the bags and pulling out utensils and a styrofoam container. “Here. This one is sticky rice and chicken. That’s supposed to be easier on a sick stomach.” 

She pushed it back toward him. “That’s yours.” 

He pushed it toward her again with a grin. “It’s fine. You won’t eat much anyway since you’re nauseous,” he said. 

Laughing, she took the box and flipped open the lid. The second the scent wafted up to her, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Wow…This is the first time food has smelled good for a week.” 

“Do you want it all?” he asked, calculating the rest of the food to make sure he could at least take half. “You can have it.” 

“Is that okay?” Frowning, she stuck a fork into the rice and debated whether or not to eat at all. 

The thought that she questioned his offer upset him beyond normal. After days of her being unable to hold anything down, her one chance at eating anything at all was passing by, and she had to ask for permission to take his food? Sure, sometimes he was stingier with it, but in this case, he could never deny her even his heartiest meals. 

Whatever she wanted, she would get, even if it hurt his soul to get it. 

But sharing his food with her never hurt him—not really, anyway. It felt like a way to share a piece of himself. 

Besides, this was for their babies too. They needed to grow up strong and healthy inside her. To do that, she needed to eat plenty. 

He took the fork and lifted a huge pile of rice to her mouth with a smile. “Here,” he said, only slightly sad that he didn’t get the first, best bite. “Start with this and see how you feel.” 

A flush skittered over her cheeks, but she took the bite regardless of her embarrassment. 

He gave her another, and another, until she shook her head and pushed his hand away, giggling that she couldn’t eat any more. 

“That’s it?” he asked, worried. “That’s not enough.” 

“If there’s any left after you’re finished with the rest of it, I’ll have a little more.” 

Though he frowned, he set down the to-go box and moved to his own food—the bags and bags of meat, vegetables, and sweets. In silence, he ate, trying his hardest to make as little mess as possible so that Sage didn’t feel the need to clean afterward. 

She managed a few more bites before saying she couldn’t eat more. Beel decided, even though he could have eaten another dozen plates of food easily, to put away the container and keep track of her food intake from then on. 

After a few minutes of settling on the living room couch, they dialed Belphie from Beel’s phone. It rang only once before he answered. 

“How is everything?” he asked, a feigned mood of nonchalance in his voice. Beel knew for a fact that the hint of fear was only a fraction of Belphie’s true concerns. 

Sage looked at Beel, giving him permission to relay the good news. 

He took a deep breath and shifted in his seat. “There’s three babies,” he said, the words somehow both light and heavy in the air around him. 

There was a clatter of Belphie’s phone falling onto a hard floor before his voice returned. “There’s…three? Three actual babies?” he asked, fully awake. 

Sage spoke before Beel could continue. “We’re having triplets,” she said. “The doctor showed us all the heartbeats.”

Belphie paused, then with a slightly nervous tone, added, “How do you two feel about that?” 

She looked toward Beel again, who couldn’t hold back a grin. 

“I love it,” he said. “It’s like us, Belphie.”

“We’re twins, not triplets,” Belphie chuckled, sounding relieved that they weren’t upset. “I thought you’d be scared, but you’re really into this, aren’t you, Beel? I had a feeling you’d be.” 

“But when Lilith was alive, we were three too…” Beel hesitated to continue. Even after all these years, it was a sore spot. To compare his children—Belphie’s incoming nieces and nephews—to themselves with their long-gone sister…

Belphie seemed to smile on the other end of the call. “You’re right,” he said. “It’s like the three of us.” 

Sage leaned her head on Beel’s shoulder and hugged an arm around his waist to offer comfort, but Beel wasn’t sad. Not at all actually. He couldn’t have been happier. 

“Do you know if they’re boys or girls yet?” 

“Not yet,” Sage replied. “I think that’s a month or two from now. Then, it’s the species of them.” 

“You’re going to be starving with three of Beel’s kids sucking the life out of you,” he laughed. “Is there a plan?” 

“What kind of plan?” she asked. “The only plan I have is to have healthy babies this year. What other plan do we need?” 

“I don’t know. I’m guessing triplets are way different than just one kid,” Belphie responded. “I know neither of you are big readers, but maybe you should go to the library or talk to Satan about what to expect.” 

“The doctor said the symptoms will be harder, and I’ll get bigger faster,” she said calmly. “Plus, I need more check-ups, and I might deliver early.” 

“There you go then. Sounds more complicated.” 

Beel felt a weight drop in his chest. Complicated. Did that mean the risks of Sage…not making it through pregnancy…were higher too? Or, hell forbid, the babies as well? 

“You’ll be fine. Just hang in there and give one of us a call when you need anything,” Belphie continued. “Don’t worry about it, Beel. We have your guys’ back.” 

“Thanks, Belphie.” Sage adjusted her fogging glasses; how had Beel not noticed her eyes tearing up? “For now, can you tell the others for us?” 

“Yeah, sure.”

“Can you do it in-person?” she clarified, knowing that Belphie would likely text in the group chat that she’s pregnant with triplets then fall asleep while his phone blew up. 

He sighed, faking frustration with a smile. “You got me,” he admitted. “I’ll tell them at RAD tomorrow. You aren’t coming over to see Rosemary tonight, right?” 

“Not tonight. I still don’t feel very good.” 

“That’s fine. We’ll be here if you need us.” 

Beel nodded, the weight in his chest growing a bit heavier with each passing second as the idea of a rough pregnancy started to fall on him. 

“I’ll talk to you later.”

“Bye, Belphie,” Beel managed before hanging up the phone. The moment the house drifted into silence, he embraced Sage close to his side and closed his eyes to take in the emotions rolling through his head. 

“We’ll be okay,” she reassured him. 

He repeated her verbatim. “We’ll be okay.” 

Not thirty minutes later, Sage’s phone blew up with texts from her longtime friend Rosemary asking if it was true. 

She smiled as she confirmed. 

The most beautiful smile in all of Devildom. 

And it was all his.