'JUST THINK OF IT AS LEAVING EARLY TO AVOID THE RUSH.'
In which an angel, a demon, and their adoptive daughter decide to stop Armageddon. Except it's days away, they've lost the antichrist, Heaven and Hell are both breathing down their necks, and th...
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How To Name A Baby, by Anthony J. Crowley. Step One: know your favorite band.
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They didn't plan on getting attached. Really, they didn't. The plan was to go door to door and find someone to take the child in, and to begin the search for her new home the day after they found her. But when they awoke the morning after finding her, it was raining, and Aziraphale simply hated going out in the rain and getting his nice tartan wet, so they postponed the search and looked after the child by themselves for yet another day. (They still hadn't figured out the idea of taking her to a hospital and seeking help there, but they weren't human, nor particularly rich in common sense so that wasn't a surprise.) From there, it was a myriad of excuses, until three weeks had passed and the girl was still in their lives, and they were finally forced to confront the fact that they both wanted her to stay there.
They had spent all the past days in the back of the bookshop, and it showed. Miracled bottles and blankets and baby clothes littered the area. Aziraphale had been all too pleased to have an excuse to keep the shop closed, and Crowley had been all too pleased to spend more time with the Angel as they struggled to figure out what the child in their care needed. Then, at night, Crowley would take her home, because he was objectively more knowledgeable about babies than Aziraphale was. He had already had miracled a car-seat into his car and a bassinet into his apartment.
Thanks to Aziraphale's heavenly blessings, the baby was in excellent health, and the Angel and Demon had both quickly gotten in the rhythm of providing her with the essentials - food, clean living conditions, sleep, and lots of affection. They were still figuring out how to differentiate between her cries, and how to calm her when she was upset, but thankfully, she didn't seem overly fussy. She cried, of course, as all babies did, but it seemed to be an average amount, which both the Angel and the Demon took as a sign that they were not ruining her infancy.
Much harder to handle than the baby's needs, were the feelings. Specifically, the overwhelming warmth, fondness, and well, love, that both the Angel and the Demon felt when they looked at the baby. Crowley already tended to feel that way around most children, and after caring for this one for three weeks, it had become stronger than anything he ever had felt before. This, of course, was not something that would ever be accepted of a Demon, but he couldn't deny it; he was deeply attached to the child. He liked looking after her, and he found himself slipping easily into the parental mindset. Worst of all, he couldn't get himself to stop, and he didn't think he wanted to. Which was, of course, a real mess considering just what he was.
At least he had some experience to prepare him for the feelings children, and this child in particular, inspired in him. Aziraphale had never expected any of the emotions he was now feeling. He had never disliked children but he had also never been particularly good with or strongly fond of them, until this little girl, that was. (His demeanor was rather like when any other person was apathetic to children, until they did have their own child and suddenly were hit with an overwhelming wave of parental love.) For some reason, she was different; she had forced her way into his heart and now that feeling wouldn't go away, no matter how much Aziraphale reminded himself that Heaven hated it when Angels got involved with human lives for more than a moment.
