Author's note: Hey everyone! Thanks so much for still being here. Please have in mind that the characters may sound slightly AU on this fic.
Hope you like it!
Espatodea
Chapter 4
The whimpering was soft, like a very small kitten but Mazekeen was up, having just come home and she knew it was almost time for their nightly appointment. She strolled towards the nursery, her bare feet making no sound as it was her intention.
Maze had to admit Chloe had very good taste. The baby's room wasn't made in horrific pinks and purples, filled with golden crowns or fluffy ballet paraphernalia that would probably make Maze want to kill herself. Instead, the blonde had painted it nice, primary colors. One of the walls was a bright red. Blue, green and yellow shelves broke the sharp hue, small knickknacks carefully placed here and there, instead of a multitude of soft toys. Her mobile was an air balloon surrounded by clouds, a small, pink princess in the basket.
A rainbow was painted on the wall opposite to that, rising out of smiling, chubby clouds. There was a changing table against it and the colors always captured the baby's attention. A rocking chair sat on the corner. When Chloe had left the hospital, Lucifer had bought Zoe a stuffed devil toy. It was big - three times her size - all red with cute, little horns and an angelic expression. On his hands he had a halo that lightened up and worked as a night light. It was on now, sitting on the rocking chair, so Maze could easily navigate to the crib and peek inside.
A cute mass of chubby human flesh and drool was in the middle of the small mattress, legs and arms flailing around. Her ebony hair was up in all directions and alert brown eyes looked up at Maze when her face appeared on the edge of the crib.
Zoe grinned wetly at her, all gums. Unbeknownst to Chloe or Lucifer, this was their moment. Every night, right after Zoe's two AM feeding, 10 minutes after Chloe had gone back to her and Lucifer's room, Maze would enter the nursery to talk to her newest friend.
"Hey, little devil…"
Chubby legs kicked at the sound of Maze's voice. She couldn't help but smile as she picked the grinning baby up and walked with her to the rocking chair. She displaced the stuffed devil, setting it on the floor. Zoe was highly amused by Maze. When the other woman laid her down on her bent knees, she giggled and gave a high pitch squeal. It was a recent discovery of hers and she did it whenever she found something particularly amusing, which was pretty much all the time. Zoe was the happiest human Maze had ever laid eyes upon.
"So, how was your day today, Genie?"
Zoe babbled, dimples showing when she grinned up at Maze, drool running down her chin. It amazed the demon how humans were born with so little dignity but at the same time so cute it was almost impossible to hate them. She kept her voice soft as she talked to the baby and it wasn't long before light padding could be heard in the silence of the night. The door creaked when someone pushed it open and Trixie peeked in, face sunning up when she spotted Maze and Zoe.
The little girl sprinted towards the rocking chair and made her sister squeal again as soon as the sound caught her attention and her eyes focused on Trixie. "Hi, Zoe! Hey, Maze!"
"Hey, Trix. How was school today?"
Trixie went on and on about this boy who had been suspended for some stupid reason and Zoe's eyes were blinking slower and slower when suddenly a 'woosh' and a rush of air signaled the presence of Amenadiel.
"Well, it's a party now." He whispered and walked to the rocking chair, dropping a kiss on Maze's hair. The woman hissed at him, not being one for PDAs. Trixie let out a loud "uncle AMENADIEL" – which jump-startled and woke up the drowsy baby – (was promptly shushed) and jumped on his legs. He patted her head, a little uncomfortably. Like Lucifer, he felt very unsettled around small children.
The baby's face scrunched up a little but as soon as she spotted her uncle yet another squeal could be heard in the room.
"What the bloody hell is going on here?" Lucifer's voice boomed on the small room and like a movie 4 pairs of eyes focused on him. Maze cringed and opened her mouth to speak when a huge giggle-squeal interrupted her as Zoe went crazy at the sound of her father's voice.
Lucifer's attention turned back to the baby, all drowsiness gone from his face and voice.
"Hey there, pumpkin. What's up with these shenanigans happening in your room, huh? Are you a part of this?"
She squealed again, legs kicking against Maze's abdomen, arms stretched towards Daddy the Devil. Lucifer's hands cupped under her arms to bring her up, leveled to his head. Her eyes danced a little before focusing on his face and her grin was so huge drool dribbled out of her mouth on a thin line. Lucifer smiled and for a moment they were exact copies of one another: black hair tousled and in all directions from sleep, matching grins and dimples, love-filled mocha eyes.
Zoe babbled, blew raspberries and giggled away, looking into her daddy's eyes, her diaper-clad bottom secured on Lucifer's open palm as his other hand supported her body under her armpit.
"I see. Well, angel, I know it's fun, staying up all night and having visitors but your mum will kill us if you get cranky and tired tomorrow."
She had both eyes owlishly focused on him, paying close attention to his voice, as she always did when he spoke.
"Annnnd, your sister, who I believe has a very difficult math exam tomorrow, should also be asleep instead of having a slumber party in your room. Yes, that's true. And she shouldn't be up at all godly hours getting herself in trouble, should she?"
Trixie giggled and attached herself to Lucifer legs.
"But Lucifer, you told me I should ALWAYS get myself in trouble."
The tall man rolled his eyes then looked down while bouncing the cooing baby up and down.
"I really said that, didn't I? Well, it's bed time for you. Mazekeen, I believe you and my brother can put this little devil to bed?"
He turned the baby towards the couple, marveling on the practical way Maze picked the child up and held her close to her chest. Zoe rubbed her face against Maze's neck, curling her legs up in the clear "I'm crashing down now" position.
After making sure his daughter was well-taken care of he looked down at Trixie again and placed a hand on her head.
"Let's go, big devil."
"Bye Zoe. Bye Maze. Bye Uncle Diel."
Lucifer cringed. How very domestic of them. How could a trio of women have managed to make the devil, a demon and an angel so suddenly … homey? 3 years ago he was raising hell and getting himself into all sorts of trouble and very interesting shenanigans indeed. Now he shared a house with three women of various ages, had a wife, kids and maybe that dog that Beatrice wanted for Christmas. He managed his night club with Maze, fought crime with his wife and the only corrupting thing he did nowadays was with Chloe in the bedroom.
His father had been strangely quiet ever since Zoe's birth and it was irking him to no end.
His musings were broken when they arrived at Trixie's bedroom. She dashed towards her bed and hopped on it, bouncing softly. Lucifer stood next to it, all proper like in his robe and slippers and once the little girl was under the covers he sat slowly on the purple duvet and stared at her.
"Math test tomorrow. No more waking up in ungodly hours to have slumber parties with Maze and that brainless brother of mine. Our sofa is too small for me and I can't sleep properly on it if your mom kicks me out of our bed."
Trixie giggled but then her whole face went very serious and she stared at him with those eyes that seemed to be dissecting him like a frog on a biology class. Since she had turned 10 that seemed to be happening a lot.
"Lucifer, can I ask you something?"
He squirmed.
"Do you really have to?"
Trixie raised her eyebrow and nodded. Lucifer sighed. "Go ahead then."
"Why don't you like when I hug you?"
Her eyes were a bit sad and it tugged at Lucifer heartstrings. Damnit all to hell those emotions!
"Well, Beatrice. Hell has very few human children. But the ones that are there are worse than any adults I know. It's a mix of innocence and downright evilness that, to tell you the truth has always made me a little scared. To have the opportunity to meet normal human spawns like yourself is a little disconcerting and I know next to nothing about how to deal with the sorts of you. Adults are easy. They always want something that is simple for me to provide. I'll probably always treat you peculiarly – Trixie laughed at that – But it doesn't mean I don't have very deep feelings towards you. Or that I wouldn't protect you with my life. Emotions are very complicated for me … Loving is very hard."
Trixie smiled at him and it was so much like her mom's that in a very rare display of affection, Lucifer reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. She had lost one of her pre-molars and it reminded him of the first time they'd met, when she had a huge front gap in her smile.
"I love you too, Lucifer."
She threw herself at him and after just a breath, at almost 4 am in the morning; he curled his long arms around her and let himself feel all that chocking love he fought against so hard. She smelt of Johnson's baby shampoo and innocence and he forgot all about all the evil in the world, about baby demons in hell and suffocating love and just felt it, encompassing and scary but oh, so satisfying.