Free Lucifer (Book 3, The Redemption Series) by S.J. West Page A

in Heaven before I was born. Perhaps Utha Mae or one of the others had already met my children.
    I don’t like the look that comes over Utha Mae’s face. She looks troubled by my inquiry.
    “ No, baby girl, I haven’t met them.”
    No one else says anything. Therefore, I have to assume none of them has met my future children either.
    “ Is that odd?” I ask, not knowing what the protocol for new souls is in Heaven. Maybe not everyone is able to spend time here before they’re born.
    Utha Mae hesitates before saying, “The good Lord has always allowed me to spend some time with all the descendants before they’re sent to Earth, but maybe the souls of your children just haven’t been made yet, baby.”
    I suspect she’s deflecting my question with her suggestion, but I decide not to demand a more thorough answer. For one, I don’t think she knows anything more than she's saying and there would be no point in asking questions she obviously can’t answer.
    Utha Mae fills a plate for me with a little bit of all the food present. Some of it I recognize and some of it I don’t. I must have a perplexed look on my face as she hands me the plate because she tells me what’s on it and points to each item as she does.
    “ I remembered all of your favorites from when you were here with me,” she says. “There’s cornbread, collard greens, yams, deep fried pork chop with white gravy, and chicken and dumplings.”
    “ It looks delicious,” I tell her. “Thank you.”
    “ You’re more than welcome, child.”
    After we’ve all taken a seat around the small table in the kitchen, the ladies begin to ask me questions about my life and everything that’s happened so far. I don’t tell them about going to Hell or learning about what the seals might to do me. I don’t want to dampen their spirits with talk about the worst possible outcome of my mission. From Jered’s brief history lesson about my family, I learned what each of them did to accomplish their own missions from God. I know they've faced the same sort of dangers I’m facing now and made it through in one piece. Coming from such a strong lineage of women, I feel confident I can add my name to the list of descendants who were victorious.
    “ So,” Tara says to me after she’s finished her meal and leans back in her chair. “Tonight’s the night, right?”
    “ Yes,” I tell her, putting my fork down on my plate. “We're finally having the wedding tonight.”
    “ Yeah, not really what I was talking about,” Tara says with a lifted eyebrow. “Girl, you ever been with a man?”
    “ Aunt Tara,” Caylin says admonishingly, “don’t you think that’s kind of personal?”
    “ We're all family here,” Tara says in justification of her question. “I just want to make sure she’s prepared for what’s gonna happen after the wedding.” Tara looks from Caylin back over at me. “If it’s something you haven’t done with a man before, I just want to make sure you know what to expect. Malcolm’s…well…to put it bluntly…a lot bigger downstairs than most men. I just don't want you to get scared by that thing.”
    “ Aunt Tara!” Caylin says. “How on earth would you even know something like that?”
    Tara just waves a dismissive hand at Caylin. “Never you mind about that. I just know.”
    I have to admit that I’m a bit curious how Tara knows such a thing as well.
    “I’m fully aware of Malcolm’s…endowments,” I say, earning the stares of everyone at the table.
    “ Oh,” Tara says, caught off guard by my answer. “So have the two of you already…”
    She seems reluctant to say the rest of her question. So, I finish it for her.
    “ Made love?” I say. “No, we haven’t. Malcolm wanted to wait until after we’d made our vows to one another in front of God before we consummated our relationship in that way.”
    “ He did?” Jess asks, sounding truly astonished. “Well, I’ll be damned. I didn’t realize Malcolm had that sort