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THIRTY-THREE

"The second least annoying person has left," Satan informed us, "so I will, too Reht

"I hope she was talking to you," I said to Laura

Marc stared, then shook his head Nick actually rubbed his eyes like it hurt to see soet used to that," he said, still rubbing "Satan in our kitchen And religious debates"

"I hope not, because what does it say about us if this is just an ordinary day?"

"An ordinary day sounds good, babe" Nick bent and kissed Jess on the lips twice: Sotta crash" He yawned "Gotta go interview a bunch oing on once in a while" He left the kitchen, half talking to himself

"You know, the old Nick would have shotto help Marc," I commented

"That was the old Nick," Jessica said "It&039;s like Old You saidthe tis are Suck it up"

"Do not take her side"

"I&039;ood advice when I hear it"

"Do not! Maybe Look, I can&039;t deal with that nowLaura? Why were you and the devil even hanging out, anyway? Why&039;d you both show up here?"

"She was showing me more of hell And then Iwanted to see you"

I nearly sed"Sorry That sounds like the opposite of a fun evening"

"It&039;s actually quite fascinating"

"Touring hell"

"Yes"

"Fascinating"

"Yes"

"Have you-" Lost your damned mind? Gone rabid? OD&039;d on Green Tea Frappes at Starbucks? My brain got too crowded, soup for a moment Which hen Sinclair came up behind me and rubbedit! I don&039;t have tio to hell for Mohter in my head, followed by more, That is the opposite of softly, softly

Well At least he wasn&039;t hiding fro

I had a rare moment of maturity and let that one pass "Why&039;d you want to see me?"

"I talked to my folks, my adopted folks, and they&039;re fine if I bow out of Meals on Wheels early to have Thanksgiving here And then I ran into your e to slap my own forehead "My mom walked in on the h"

"Laura, you&039;re an angel-"

"Half angel," she corrected, s

"-but you can&039;t make me feel better about that"

"It could have been worse"

"How, Jess?"

"Could&039;ve been your dad"

"Oooh" Good point My dad, when he&039;d been alive, had not handled confrontations, the paranores to the tax code at all well I&039;d explained to him that I had co I&039;d toldfroe truck accident "Really good point" It was stupid, but I could feel ht ti"

"Suck-up" Sinclair loved his ht he was pretty neat-o, too God helphim; my mom wouldn&039;t stand for it

"Indeed Which is why you will explain I will be elsewhere With all respect to your mother, I am certain it hasn&039;t escaped your notice that she is, on occasion, capable of Olympian levels of stubbornness"

"Yeah"

"And temper"

"Yeah"

"Suffice it to say, those qualities did not skip a generation"

"What&039;s that-"

"So it&039;s best you two sort this out yourselves Meanwhile" Turning courteously to Laura "Hoas hell?"

"Besides all burning lakes of fire and stuff," Jess added, then yawned "And give us the CliffsNotes versionI&039;m overdue for my nap"

"Yeah, she&039;s only had three today," Marc teased He got to his feet and alea in the dish drainer, and the blender was set up and ready to go "You guys"

"Yeah," several of us said Taking it as a s of frozen berries out of the freezer Would he fix one for himself? He didn&039;t have to eat or drink anymore I didn&039;t need to drink smoothies, but I still liked how they tasted I&039;d have to get him alone later, find out as up with zoht of this earlier, but you weren&039;t around" I turned to ware-"

"Morningstar," Laura corrected, and the corner of her ht, sorry-I flunked Sunday school"

"You never went to Sunday school"

"Did, too! I&039;m pretty surecan we please stay on point? So as I was saying before the Antichrist butted in for the zillionth time-"

"Oh, boy," the Antichrist said