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It was 10:00 on a Saturday night in LA. Lucifer Morningstar, police consultant, nightclub owner, and former King of Hell, was sitting on his girlfriend’s couch with her feet in his lap.
His Detective was feeling under the weather. She had assured him that it was just a cold and she’d be fine, but he had insisted that he come over to ‘take care’ of her. Chloe thought she had a good idea of what that would entail.
She had opened the door dressed in sweatpants and an old Nirvana t-shirt, holding a wad of tissues in her hand. Her nose was red, her eyes were watering, and when she spoke, her voice was painfully rough.
“Lucifer, sex is not a cure for the common cold.”
Lucifer raised his eyebrows, looked her up and down and replied, “Darling, even I have my limits. I’ve brought chicken soup, ginger tea and honey for you, and Chinese take out for me and the Little Urchin. I also have various syrups and pills that promise to have you feeling right as rain in a jiffy. Step aside please.”
The shock on her face morphed into a grateful smile as she backed into the apartment and let him take over.
Once everyone was fed, and the Detective medicated, the child was sent off to bed, and reluctantly complied. Lucifer had insisted that Chloe lie on the couch to rest. She pressed the button on the remote to resume the show she had been watching before he arrived..some nonsense about a time traveling British woman from the 1940s, and a large ginger Scot. He was in the middle of providing useful commentary about some historical inaccuracies he had spotted, when the picture on the TV froze. He turned mid-word to look at the Detective, and met her dangerously narrowed eyes. Her death glare was made slightly less effective by the redness of her nose and the quick sniffle, but he got the point. They watched in silence, marked only by the occasional cough or sneeze from the Detective, until the beginning of the next episode when the dialogue was obscured by a loud snore. Grinning fondly, he reached over to pry the remote from her hand and hit pause so that she wouldn’t miss anything. In the quiet that followed, he heard a soft sniffle from the direction of the child’s bedroom. Carefully sliding out from under Chloe’s feet, he went to investigate.
He pushed the door open wider, “Spawn, have you caught your mother’s cold? Do you need to be medicated?” he asked softly.
“No Lucifer. I’m fine.” She whispered, but Lucifer could hear that she was trying not to cry.
Alarmed, Lucifer stepped fully into the room, “Child, what’s wrong?”
“I had a bad dream,” She sniffled, “Mommy was calling for me to help her, but it was dark and I couldn’t find her. I was running and running trying to reach her, and then something was chasing me. It growled, and then I woke up.”
Lucifer nodded, unsure how to proceed. “Do you need anything? Want the light on perhaps?” he asked hesitantly.
“Can you…stay with me until I fall back asleep?” she whispered.
“Of course,” Relieved to have some sort of directive for dealing with the situation, Lucifer strode over to the side of her bed and seated himself on the floor in front of her end table. He stretched out his long legs in front of him crossing them at the ankles, and turned to find the Detective’s offspring staring at him. He raised his eyebrows at her, “It’s generally helpful to close one’s eyes when sleeping,” he whispered, smirking.
She sighed and closed her eyes. Less than 30 seconds later, they were open again.
“Lucifer, can I ask you a question?”
“It would appear so,” he replied.
“Huh?”
“Nevermind. What’s your question, Urchin?”
She took a deep breath, “Ismymomgoingtodie?” the words sped out of her mouth like a freight train.
“Well that escalated quickly,” Lucifer mumbled to himself, running his hand over his face.
He took a deep breath before answering, “All humans die, sooner or later. But I assume you’re asking if your mother will be taken from you too early as a result of her job?”
The child nodded, tears gathering in her eyes.
Lucifer sighed. “I don’t have an answer for that. I can tell you that your mother is very good at her job, and is as careful as she can be,“ He paused and looked into her eyes, “and I can promise you that I will always do everything in my power to ensure that she comes home to you.” He gave her a questioning look, and she nodded and closed her eyes again. Lucifer leaned his head back against the night stand and closed his eyes.
Two minutes later, “Lucifer, do you like me?”
“What?” he exclaimed, opening his eyes and jerking his head upright, “Would I be sitting on the floor in a room the color of unicorn vomit if I didn’t?”
“I guess not,” she answered closing her eyes again, but Lucifer noticed that the corners of her mouth were turned down.
“Why did you ask?” he inquired softly.
She opened her eyes. “No reason.” Lucifer stared down his nose at her, raising his eyebrows expectantly. She sighed and didn’t meet his eyes as she spoke quietly. “It’s just….I don’t have a special name.”
Lucifer frowned, confused. “Isn’t that something you should be taking up with your parents?”
“No Lucifer, I mean…you give everyone you like a special name; Mom is ‘Detective’, Dr. Linda is ‘Doctor’, Miss Ella is ‘Miss Lopez’…but I don’t have one. You always call me something different; Child, Offspring, Spawn, Little Urchin….”
Lucifer’s felt a little flutter in his chest, and a lump in his throat. “Well,” he said, clearing his throat and giving her a soft smile, “That is obviously an unforgivable oversight on my part, forgive me. Easily remedied though. Any preferences?”
The child’s eyes darted up to meet his, and a wide grin spread across her face, “Really? I get to pick my own?”
“Well I think it’s only fair, since you’ve had to wait the longest. What’ll it be?”
She screwed up her face, thinking. “I think I like Little Urchin best.”
“Mmm, a little cumbersome though, any thoughts on shortening it?”
Her ‘thinking face’ reappeared.
“What about,” Lucifer offered, “just using the first letter of each word? L and U, Lu”
“Lu,” she tested it out quietly, thinking. Suddenly her whole face lit up and she exclaimed, “Lucifer, L and U are the first two letters of your name! I could call you Lu too! It can be our special name for each other!”
Lucifer’s face mirrored hers, “Oh well done, child….er Lu, that’s brilliant!” he held out his fist for a congratulatory fist bump. “Now, I think it is absolutely time for you to be sleeping…before your mother wakes and we both get in trouble.” He winked at her.
“Okaaay,” she whined as only a child fighting sleep can.
Ninety seconds passed. “Lucif…I mean Lu?”
He rolled his eyes and smirked, “Yes Lu?”
She grinned, “Will you sing to me?”
“Sing?”
“It’ll help me fall asleep faster…pleeeeease?” she wheedled.
“What song do you want?” he sighed, exasperated.
“I don’t know…don’t you know any lullabyes?”
He tilted his head to the side and smiled softly, “I think I know just what to sing.” He held her gaze and began…
Goodnight, my angel
Time to close your eyes
And save these questions for another day
She giggled quietly.
I think I know what you've been asking me
I think you know what I've been trying to say
He raised his eyebrows, she nodded in understanding and closed her eyes, still smiling.
I promised I would never leave you
And you should always know
Wherever you may go
No matter where you are
I never will be far away
Goodnight, my angel
Now it's time to sleep
And still so many things I want to say
Remember all the songs you sang for me
When we went sailing on an emerald bay
Her body relaxed and her breathing began to even out. Lucifer closed his eyes and lost himself in the music.
And like a boat out on the ocean
I'm rocking you to sleep
The water's dark
And deep inside this ancient heart
You'll always be a part of me
Goodnight, my angel
Now it's time to dream
And dream how wonderful your life will be
Someday your child may cry
And if you sing this lullabye
Then in your heart
There will always be a part of me
Someday we'll all be gone
But lullabyes go on and on...
They never die
That's how you
And I
Will be
Finishing the last note, he opened his eyes. She was asleep. He quietly got to his feet and stood next to her bed, gazing down at her with a puzzled look on his face. There was that flutter again deep in his chest making him realize just how significant the song he had sung for her really was.
Seeming to come to a decision, he leaned down and puled the covers up over her shoulders, and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead.
He crept out of the room to find his girlfriend hovering just outside the door.
“Detective?”
She looked up at him and he could see that there were tears in her eyes. “Detective, I’m sorry if I overstepped…the child had a nightmare, and I didn’t want to wake you so I…”
She cut him off, shaking her head and smiling, “Lucifer, shut up.” She pulled him into her arms, laughing as she wet the front of his shirt with tears.
Still confused, he wrapped his arms around her and asked, “Happy tears? So…what I did was…alright?”
“It was much better than alright, Lucifer, it was perfect,“ she smiled up at him.
Lucifer felt all the tension drain from his body as he rested his cheek on the top of her head and smiled. “I think it’s time for you to be in bed too, Detective,” he whispered.
Chloe lifted her head and grinned up at him. “Will you sing me to sleep?”
Lucifer scooped his beloved Detective up in his arms and sighed as he headed for the stairs, “The Devil’s work is never done.”