Chapter Text
Bestest Big Sister in Heaven AKA What if Charlie was raised in Heaven?
Lucifer sighed heavily as he looked down at the tiny grave he had made for the child he would never know.
Many legends amongst the humans associated Lilith unflatteringly with miscarriages and infants dying soon after birth. While untrue, there was some relation in that Lilith had never successfully had a child.
But this had been the closest.
Others didn't make it past conception, the would-be fetus just... not forming. This one did, though. They had actually been...hopeful for once, dreaming even of what it'd be like to have a child of their own. This one made it all the way to term.
They should have known better than to get their hopes up.
Their baby girl died upon entering Creation and leaving Lilith's womb. Charlie, they would have named her. A full form babe that could have lived but... just didn't. She had been white like him, even his cheek spots. She probably would have had Lilith's hair.
If only she had taken even a single breath, maybe then things would have been different.
But they weren't different. So all they could do was move on, however they could.
He gripped his cane hard. He didn't even know if his child had a soul before she died. And now he never would.
Meanwhile in Heaven
Adam was an idiot. He knew that even if he denied it sometimes. He wasn't stupid, but he had to be an idiot to agree to them.
His mental self-reprimand was cut short as he felt a set of tiny fingers wrap around his index finger of his right hand. Said hand was currently holding a bottle to feed the tiny fingers.
A small babe curled in his arm, slurping eagerly at the milk while ruby red eyes studied the world around her. Especially Adam himself, watching the way his mask changed and moved with his expression. The little halo hung over her head while her tiny blue wings twitched against Adam's arm.
And the baby's name? Charlie. Charlie Morningstar, he supposed, but he kept thinking of her just as Charlie. It was better that way. Her resemblance to Lucifer was already uncanny, with her crimson eyes and unnaturally white skin. The big difference was that instead of red spots on her cheeks, her own were a soft yellow.
"Sir, I'm not sure this is a good idea," Lute remarked warily.
"What, raising my ex's crotchspawn she made with the snake she left me for?" Adam asked sarcastically. "Not shit, bitch. Unfortunately, there aren't a lot of options. Sera insisted so much, I think she was either going to make it a damn order or fucking beg me to do it."
"But why you, Sir?" Lute asked with a frown. "Not to cast doubts on you, but there are plenty of others who would be suitable for this instead."
"Well, you need some fucker than is a shit ton better than decent with kids. Then you need someone who knows how to handle a kid with a lot of power and abilities related to nephilims or demons, or angels. That narrows shit down a lot. Throw in Sera not wanting to have more angels interacting with Hell than absolutely needed, and your survey lands on my ass," Adam ranted to himself with a grumble.
Charlie giggled as she pushed the bottle away, squirming a bit in his hold.
Adam wordlessly brought her over to his shoulder and started patting and rubbing her gently.
Lute found herself struck by the simple beauty of the scene, the father of humanity caring for a young infant. A soft smile worked onto her face, and she refused to leave.
Adam took note of her watching him and raised an eyebrow. "Something to say, Danger-tits?"
"Just wondering if there is anything I can do to help you with, Sir," Lute answered softly as she glanced away with the same smile.
"Actually, there is," Adam answered with a smirk. "How'd you like a crash course in being a mom?"
"..." Lute froze, and her brain stalled for a moment, her stunned look turning up towards Adam again. "What?" she all but quacked.
Adam smirked. "You heard me, Bitch. I can get the rust off pretty easily, I'm not worried about that. But I'm only used to taking care of kids with a partner, some kind of backup. Someone watches the tyke while the other does errands."
"I-sir-that-!" Lute stuttered with a blush. "I have no idea how to take care of a baby, let alone one like her!"
Charlie burped a little holyfire ball over Adam's shoulder, as if to prove Lute's point.
"Nice one," Adam praised to the now-sleepy baby before answering Lute. "And that's why it's a crash course! Think of it as practice for having a brat of your own!"
Lute stopped as her mind wandered away very rapidly and returned with the speed of an ongoing trainwreck. She blushed, her wings fluttering a bit. "I...might find that useful, Sir. But you're not just doing this to get out of doing diapers, are you?"
"No, but we are taking turns with who is rolling the dice on getting vomited on the shoulder," Adam answered, eyeing the baby for a moment like it was an inconvenient yet nonlethal landmine. "Also, you can't keep bloodstains on your uniform anymore."
"....Fuck."
Years Later
Charlie.
Just Charlie.
Sometimes 'Adam's Charlie' or 'Charlie Kadmon' or any of the other various names and titles associated with First Man. One angel insisted on calling her Charlotte. But most people just called her Charlie, and she preferred it like that.
And Just Charlie skipped down the streets of Heaven. Sometimes in quick, tapping steps and others in long ones as she glided with her wings. A dance switching between fast and slow on her whim.
"Good evening, Charlie!"
"Good day, Melchy!" Charlie greeted the angel, a giggle on her lips. There were few people in Heaven as happy and cheerful as Charlie.
"Sunspot!"
The already happy girl perked up in delight at the voice. "Daddy!" she cheered even before she looked, rushing to his voice and jumping into his arms.
Adam grinned and laughed as he held the giggling ten-year-old as if she were still a waddling toddler. "There's my sunny girl!" Adam said, his wing tips tickling at her sides.
"Haha, Daddy! Stop it! Haha! That's not fair, your wings are too big!" Charlie exclaimed in between bursts of laughter. Eventually, Adam stopped and let her catch her breath. "What are you doing here, Dad?"
"What am "I" doing here? What are you doing here, little lady?" Adam countered teasingly. "Aren't you supposed to be in school? Gasp, has my Sunspot hit her rebellious stage and decided to play hooky?"
It was very obvious that Adam was either joking or excited by the prospect.
"Hehehe, no, Daddy, I still have perfect attendance," Charlie assured with a giggle.
"Ahh, phooey," Adam said in playful disappointment. "So, why are you out here? School out early?"
"Yep!" Charlie answered in confirmation, smiling widely.
"...Okay, you going to say why?" Adam prompted with interest.
"The baby is coming," Charlie explained casually.
"Ahh," Adam said before blinking. "Wait, what baby?"
"I don't know. The teacher just got a message, yelled out that the baby is coming, and ran off. Then came back for a moment to tell us we have the rest of the day off," Charlie explained with a shrug.
"Okay, you know what, valid," Adam accepted. "And look at that, it's Friday! This kid was born right on time to give you a longer weekend!"
"I know, right!" Charlie agreed. "I was going home. Think we can surprise Mama? Or is she still beating up the other Exorcists?"
"Sunspot, that's training. But, also, yeah, she beats the shit out of them," Adam agreed proudly. "But she should be back by now."
The father-daughter pair made their way home to a beach house in another part of Heaven. They didn't even bother to knock as they entered the living room.
"Sir~! Charlie isn't home for another- oh, shit! Charlie?!" Lute said in surprise.
"Hi, Mama!" Charlie greeted, waving with one hand while covering her eyes with the other. "Don't worry, I always know not to look when you use that voice on Daddy!"
Adam snorted. "You can look, Kiddo. Thankfully, Mama Lute here had it all still in a bag."
Charlie removed her hands to see a slightly flustered Lute with a brown bag full of things not meant for innocent eyes. "Schools out early?" Lute asked stiffly.
Charlie nodded. "Someone is having a baby."
"Ahh. I see," Lute accepted.
Adam rolled his eyes and pointed a finger gun at the bag of kinky unspeakables, blasting it with holy light, teleporting it elsewhere. "We'll deal with that later. Right now, family time! Girls, find a movie while I whip something up."
Lute stiffened at the word whip. Adam noticed but didn't say anything while Charlie was already moving to the remote.
After an afternoon of wings and watching the sixth Land Before Time Movie, Charlie grew strangely quiet as she cleaned off her hands on a napkin, muted the TV, and stood in front of the couch with the coffee table between her and her parents.
Adam raised an eyebrow.
"Is something wrong, Charlie?" Lute asked with a furrowed brow. While Charlie could be dramatic at times, she usually wasn't this silent or serious.
"Mom, Dad, there's something I want to talk with you about, "Charlie answered firmly. "And I think it's important."
Lute looked surprised for an instant before rallying her stoicism, glancing at Adam.
Adam raised an eyebrow at her. "I think I know where this is going," he mused to himself. "What's on your mind, Charlie?"
Their adopted daughter took a breath. "It's about the Exterminations."
There was a brief silence, the two sharing a look. Yes, Charlie knew about the yearly duty they led the other exorcists to perform in Hell. It was impossible to keep that a secret from a child like Charlie, who had followed them on more than one occasion to the exorcist base.
"That's nothing for you to concern yourself with, Charlie," Lute said firmly, somewhere between an instruction and a reprimand.
Charlie almost winced. Her parents weren't harsh on her; they were very loving and doting, but there were certain matters they were strict about. This was one of them.
"Let her talk, she's obviously been working up the guts to say something," Adam said as he leaned in. "What about the Exterminations, Charlie?"
Charlie smiled , but only briefly, trying to mimic Lute's stoic expression. "I know you've told me why they have to happen. But I still always thought it was so sad, those souls lost forever. So, I tried to think of another way, and I think I have an idea."
Their patient silence was her only prompt to continue.
"Dad, you always said anyone can redeem themselves on Earth, no matter what they've done," Charlie reminded.
"In theory. In practice, there is some shit that digs too deep a hole," Adam answered.
"Yeah, because humans only live like a century," Charlie answered. "But after they're dead, they have all the time in the afterlives to try and be better. So what if there was a place in Hell trying to help and teach sinners to be better? To help them redeem themselves one day?"
"Redemption. For Sinners. From Hell itself. That's your idea," Lute said evenly.
Charlie swallowed and nodded, practically a jerk of the head. "I-I know it sounds stupid and crazy because no one has done it. But a lot of people sounded like their ideas were crazy before they made it work, right? So, maybe this is one of those things?"
There was a silence in the room, Adam leaning back on the couch, arms crossed as he studied Charlie intently. "Charlie."
"Yes, Dad?" Charlie answered instantly.
"Are you sure you're not just saying this shit so you have a chance to meet....them?" Adam asked, almost sounded...resigned? Disappointed yet understanding? Charlie couldn't read Adam when his age was showing, like now.
Charlie frowned at that. The Morningstars, the King and Queen of Hell, Lucifer and Lilith. The Ls, as her father called them, and that was the least insulting title he had for them.
Adam had sat down and told her her true origins years ago. Not because he had to. If anything, others thought it might be better to keep it a secret, but he had told her anyway. It had been....shocked, mind-numbing. Charlie still barely remembered everything that happened after that talk. Just crying, her father hugging her, and a lot of assuring words she couldn't quite remember.
"It has nothing to do with that," Charlie said softly, looking down at her feet. "I might have to one day. The idea of meeting them is...strange. I'm curious, but kind of afraid. I feel...sad for them, because they lost a daughter, and I want to believe they meant something to them. And just...I don't know. I don't know what that would be like. I just know what you told me, what you always told me: You're both my Dad and Mom."
Lute's shoulders slouched, a bit of tension easing off her, while Adam just smiled a bit.
"Alright, Kiddo, I believe you," Adam accepted. "So, if not wanting to meet those two fucks, where did this come from?"
"I just thought it'd be better if there was another way. And you can't just let sinners stay in Heaven, just like you can't just let living humans stay in Heaven. So, yeah, it's further, but maybe they can still redeem themselves," Charlie explained.
"Sunspot, I don't have a shit small enough that I would be willing to bet on any of this sinful shitstains down below," Adam answered honestly.
"I agreed," Lute said with her arms crossed and eyes closed. "You were a technicality, Charlie. A living human dying in Hell still goes to Heaven if they earned it. You were just the oddest case of how one could end up down there."
"But just think about it, Papa!" Charlie insisted brightly. "If Hell can redeem sinners, you don't have to do E-day!"
Adam raised an eyebrow. "And that's a good thing? Chars, do you even know me?"
Charlie gained a gleam in her eyes as she smiled widely. "Yes, but this way you can finally retire and have all the babies you want with Momma Lute!"
Lute jerked with a startled noise, her face flushing gold as she suddenly looked more open to Charlie's idea.
Adam's eyebrow twitched.
Charlie continued with a wide grin. "And I will get to be the bestest big sister in all of Heaven!"
"I KNEW IT!" Adam declared, triumphant and accusing as he pointed at Charlie's face, the finger tip at her nose. "I had that feeling when you started talking! This is all so you can get us to make you some baby sisters and brothers!"
Charlie smiled a too-innocent smile. "Don't you wanna make babies with Momma Lute, Papa Adam?"
Adam was acutely aware of Lute eyeing him with poorly disguised hope and interest.
"...Well played, Sunspot, well played," Adam grumbled, lowering his finger as Charlie giggled, possibly in victory.