"How's Christopher?" Sybil called Lucifer to ask a few days after he'd been sent away. "Is he behaving himself? Has he caused any trouble?"

"No, he's mostly keeping to himself," Lucifer assured her. "Eleanor and I are trying to get him to come down to eat with us sometime, but so far, it hasn't worked."

"Well, don't try and push him to do something he doesn't want to do," Sybil advised. "It only makes him more determined to fight against you."

Lucifer sighed. "Yes, it seems like that's the case. But other than that, he's fine. Nothing to worry about. We're taking good care of him."

"Well, I hope so," Sybil said. "Because this is my son we're talking about and I wouldn't accept anything less."

"Good," Lucifer told her. "Good. Any other concerns?"

"No," Sybil replied. "I just wanted to make sure Christopher was doing all right since he's been with you a few days now."

"You're a good mother," Lucifer told her. "And I promise, I'm taking good care of your son."

"You better be," Sybil snapped and hung up without so much as a 'Goodbye'.

"Well, that was a bit harsh, considering that I was being so friendly," Lucifer muttered as he stared at the phone and then put it back in the cradle. Then he let out a sigh and went to join Ellie in the twins' room.

"That was some crazy business that happened, wasn't it?" She asked with a smile as he approached her and put his arms around her.

"Yeah, it was," he nodded. "It wouldn't have turned out as well as it did if not for you."

Ellie blushed. "Well, thank you. But I was just...I was just doing what needed to be done."

"Well, it was good you did," he replied and kissed her hair. Then he let her go and went to look in the twins' cribs. "They've been quiet since the fire."

"And I think we can all be grateful for that," Ellie replied, looking at her children, who were clutching their stuffed animals, fast asleep. "You and I might as well go to bed too. We should get what sleep we can. Who knows when catastrophe will befall us next?" She got into bed and waited for him as he hesitated. "What's the matter?" She asked and patted the mattress. "Won't you come to bed with me?"

"I'm trying to think," Lucifer replied. He was silent for a few seconds and then took a running start and leaped on the mattress, landing on his belly, and grabbing Ellie just in time before she fell off.

"That's a relief," she said as he clutched her wrist. "Otherwise, I would really have been hurt!"

"Sorry," Lucifer apologized and pulled her to himself. "Sometimes, I'm just too exuberant for my own good."

"That's okay, since you caught me," Ellie told him and snuggled against him. "I have to ask since I'm never gonna figure it out for myself, but...what would you like for a wedding present? What do you get the devil who has everything?"

"You know, I haven't really thought about it, but I'll come up with something," he assured her. "Although, just your being here is good enough, if I'm being entirely honest. Now you tell me...what do you think about hunting? I know you drink from blood bags like a good, obedient little vampire cause you've never really had experience with anything else, but would you want...would you want live prey and a genuine hunting experience?"

"You mean, do I want to hunt people?" Ellie asked, her eyes widening. "Real live people and rip out their throats and suck out the blood inside?"

"Yes, I knew this was a bad idea," Lucifer sighed and shook his head. "I knew I shouldn't have brought it up."

"No, no, keep talking!" Ellie said. "I don't want to make a decision before I know all the facts. Would I be hunting innocent people? Just random innocent people you bring from off the street?"

"Well, of course not, Eleanor!" Lucifer assured her. "Why would I ruin the lives of innocents when I have perfectly lovely evil people who have crimes they need to pay for right in my grasp?"

"I can't take blood from dead people," Ellie reminded him. "I don't think I can. It doesn't work that way."

"Well, that's easy enough," Lucifer shrugged. "I pick...ten people or so, tell them that I want to amend their deals to include eternal life, and then...voila! Fresh prey forever!"

"And these are bad people, right?" Ellie clarified. "You'd be lying to bad people?"

"Yes," Lucifer nodded. "Exactly. I keep my hands off the good ones." He paused and chuckled before kissing her neck. "Except for you, of course. Keeping my hands off you is very difficult. It might seem easy now, but it's taking every ounce of self-control I have."

"I accept your offer," Ellie told him with a wicked grin. "Bring on the blood and bad guys!"

"Good," Lucifer smiled. "I'm so glad you're on board. I was really worried that you wouldn't be, considering how your parents and grandparents don't believe in that sort of thing."

"Well, I don't have to do things exactly how they do, do I?" Ellie questioned, taking his face in her hands. "I mean, I've already moved in with you and it's not something they want. So who's to say I wouldn't want to have a different feeding philosophy than they do?"

"You know, that's a very good point," Lucifer agreed. "I never thought of it that way."

"As for keeping your hands off me," Ellie continued, "I think we need to talk about that. Can I assume that when you say you want to hold off on sex til the wedding, you mean actual sex? You, me, 'beast with two backs' sex?"

"Yes, that's what I mean," Lucifer nodded. "Exactly."

"So...it wouldn't be breaking the rules if we, say, touched each other?" Ellie questioned. "That would just be bending them a little."

"You know you're right," Lucifer realized. "And thank goodness, too. I was going to go mad if I had to wait much longer."

"Good for you for being honest about it," Ellie grinned and then kissed him, then paused for breath, then kissed him again and again, and again. Soon, they had pulled the covers over themselves, their hands roaming under pants and t-shirts, slow rubbing giving relief that was sorely needed, while elsewhere, his tongue swirled around her belly and lips touched the hot skin just above the waistband of her panties. "Can you stop right there?" She whispered. "Do you trust yourself?"

"I'm really trying," he told her. "I...I think I can." He then paused and got up to head to the bathroom to throw cold water on his face in an attempt to stop the throbbing of his erection. No, he told himself. Not now!

When he'd calmed down, he left the bathroom and found Ellie working on feeding the twins. "It's amazing they stayed asleep," she remarked. "We tried our best to be quiet, but...didn't exactly work, did it?"

"No," Lucifer shook his head and left the room to get a bottle for Vincent so he wouldn't have to wait while his sister was being fed. "No, we're just very lucky, I guess."

It was true that Christopher was mostly keeping to himself. He didn't find Lucifer or Ellie all that interesting. There was really only one person he cared about at all: Hannah. He wondered, after she'd left last time, if she was ever going to come back. He had to know. Not knowing was driving him crazy.

That was why he consented to have breakfast with Lucifer, Ellie, and the twins, much to their surprise.

"How did you sleep?" Lucifer asked as eggs were set in front of Christopher and he began wolfing them down in a very animal-like way.

"Good," Christopher got out, some egg hanging out of his mouth. "Good." He swallowed. "But enough of the small talk. I didn't come down for that. What's Hannah said about me? Is she gonna come back at any point, or...?"

"Why are you asking about my sister?" Ellie asked. "She said she ran into you. Actually, her words were 'I know why you didn't want me to go into that room. There's a crazy guy in there'. Did you hurt her?"

"No!" Christopher shook his head. "I think I scared her, but I didn't hurt her!"

"If you did, it's not entirely your fault," Lucifer told him. "I know you don't have a lot of control over yourself yet."

"Is she coming again or not?" Christopher demanded.

"Maybe," Ellie shrugged. "I don't know. But you're gonna stay away from her, at least until you're more under control."

"No, I'm not," Christopher shook his head and stood up. "I'll do whatever I want." He then pushed his eggs away. "I'll be going now," he said in an icy voice. "Thanks for breakfast."

He strode away and Lucifer and Ellie looked at one another in silence.

"Well, that went better than I expected," Lucifer remarked at last. "I was honestly thinking we would get much worse."

"But what about my sister?" Ellie asked. "What if he's going to hurt her? We can't just let him roam around free if he's gonna hurt Hannah! Dad's already iffy about her coming here to begin with. Knowing we have someone in our house who could hurt her or who has lusty feelings for her could push him over the edge!"

"Maybe, but what your father doesn't seem to realize is that Hannah can handle herself in situations like that," Lucifer pointed out. "She's far from helpless. I think she's even bolder than you when it comes to acting in situations where she is in danger."

"True," Ellie nodded as she took Vincent out of his high chair and into her lap. "But I don't want her to get hurt if it can be avoided."

"Oh, I don't either," Lucifer agreed. "But the only way to avoid it completely is to never invite Hannah over again and we don't want to do that, do we?"

"No," Ellie shook her head. "No, we don't. I like having her around. It makes me happy."

"Then I think the best we can do is warn her of Christopher's intentions," Lucifer decided. "That would be kindest, so she can prepare herself. Don't you think, Eleanor?"

"Yes," Ellie nodded. "I do."

"Thank you for warning me about Christopher," Hannah said next time she came over. "But honestly, I'm not worried. I can handle anything he dishes out."

"Okay, good," Ellie nodded. "We just don't want you to get hurt is all."

"Thanks," Hannah said. "He surprised me a little the first time, but I think I've got it all under control now."

"All right, but if he oversteps..." Ellie began.

"I'll kick his butt," Hannah promised her sister. "Don't worry. I'll be okay."

Later in the day, after she showered to get the pool chlorine out of her hair, she came into her room clad in a towel and was just about to change when there was a knock on her door. "Just a minute!" She called. "I'm wearing a towel!"

But that was not a deterrent as Christopher opened the door and grinned. "Thank you for telling me so I would know to come in," he said.

"Usually when people tell other people they're in their room with a closed door and dressed in a towel, it means they don't want anyone to come in," Hannah explained, trying to keep her voice steady. "I know you're new to socializing with people so I'm going to give you a break this time and not push you out on your face into the hallway, but let you leave on your own. And make sure you lock the door behind you."

"I would leave," he assured her, coming further into the room. "But I came in for a reason, you see. Your bridesmaid dress came and your sister wanted you to try it on and see if it fits properly."

"Well, thanks for bringing it to me," Hannah told him. "I'll do just that and let Ellie know. Goodbye!"

"I think I need to be here when you put it on," he insisted, looking at her intently. "If I leave, who will zip it for you?"

"I have magic," Hannah told him. "I can zip it myself."

"No, let me help you," Christopher told her. "I insist."

"You're not gonna leave until you get me in that dress, are you?" Hannah questioned.

"No," he said, getting close and showing he had no regard for her personal space as he moved a flyaway strand of dark hair out of her eyes. "There's really no point in arguing with me, so you might as well change now."

"Fine, but you better not peek when I'm naked!" Hannah said. "You keep your eyes closed!" She knew that it was a pointless thing to say; if he wanted to look, which she knew he did, he would look, regardless of what she asked. But she decided to appeal to the bit of decency he'd shown before and hope it worked.

To her surprise, he didn't watch her take off the towel and get into the underwear that would go underneath the dress. He didn't even look at her again until she was pulling the dress on. "You look really good," he remarked and came up behind her to zip her up. Then he whispered in her ear, his lip against her earlobe, "Really, really good!"

Naturally, he didn't zip her up right away. That would be too good to be true. Instead, his hands lightly caressed her back and played with her hair, and then after he finally did zip her up, he pulled her close against himself backward and began kissing her neck and shoulders, which was very easy to do because the neckline of the bridesmaid dress was sweetheart cut just like Ellie's, with the dress itself having a much narrower floor-length skirt without any fancy designs on it.

"You smell nice," he told her as he sniffed her. "How do you smell nice?"

"I just got out of the shower," she said. "Is showering a foreign concept to you?"

"Of course not," Christopher replied and shook her just a little. "How could you say that?"

"Well, I just assumed that because I heard you don't like to bathe very much or shower that you didn't know how!" Hannah replied. "Don't bite my head off!"

"Well, I do know how to shower for your information!" He fumed. Then an idea came into his head and he relaxed, a grin curving his lips. "But if...if you think I need some lessons when it comes to my personal hygiene, I'd be more than happy to let you join me whenever I take a bath or a shower. And trust me, I look really good wet and covered in bubbles."

"Why would I need to know that?" Hannah asked, wiggling uncomfortably as warmth pervaded her body. "Why the hell would I even care?" She shoved her elbow into his gut and got free of his grip, turning to face him angrily. "Thanks for your help with the dress, but I really think you need to go now."

"Fine, I will!" Christopher spat, standing in the doorway, a very solid presence who could not be moved, no matter how much Hannah pushed. "But you'll want me to come back. I guarantee it."

"In your dreams!" Hannah cried.

"Oh, for sure!" Christopher nodded. "In the last one, I learned you look very good in tiny black panties!"

"Get out!" Hannah yelled. "Just get the hell out!"

"Fine," Christopher smirked. "But it's your loss!" She watched him go and slammed the door closed, leaning against it until she got a breath, and then stepping away when she heard someone knock.

"Christopher, I told you that I wanted you to leave!" Hannah cried and grabbed the doorknob, pulling it open. "I-" She paused when she saw it was her sister instead.

"Are you all right?" Ellie questioned as she made her way in. "I can tell from what you're yelling that Christopher has been bothering you. I came to tell you that your bridesmaid dress has arrived and I need you to try it on, but it seems you've already done that. Does it feel right to you? Too tight or big anywhere?"

"No, it feels fine," Hannah replied and spun around. "No adjustment necessary. Christopher was the one who brought it in to me, by the way. His clever ploy to get into my room."

"I'm so sorry," Ellie apologized and helped her out of it. "Lucifer and I really need to teach him a thing or two about boundaries."

"Or I could," Hannah suggested, thinking a kick or two to his crotch would be sufficient. "It might be more effective coming from me."

"All right," Ellie conceded. "Just be careful, though."

"I will," Hannah assured her. "You can stop sounding like Dad. I have this all under control."

"Whatever you say," Ellie agreed, even though she seriously doubted Hannah had anything under control at all when it came to Christopher. If his own parents struggled with him, how could she not? But there was no point in arguing when her sister seemed so certain. No point at all.

"Okay, let me have it," Josh said as he sat down on Katherine and Rodan's living room sofa after receiving a phone call from his father demanding that he come over for a chat. "Tell me how badly I reacted to Lucifer saying that he and Ellie were getting married and how ashamed you are of me for it, Dad."

"Well, you have the right to be upset," Rodan told him. "You've never quite been okay with this whole situation between Lucifer and Eleanor and I would be lying if I said I didn't understand why...but verbalizing it might not be a good thing. It's not like you saying that you're against it is going to make them decide not to get married. If you can't accept it for Ellie's sake, as something that will make her happy, it's just gonna drive you crazy."

"That's true," Katherine nodded. "When I married my husband before your father, Selina wasn't really for it either because my husband was her son and she and I have a very antagonistic history. But she was able to put her feelings aside and let him do what he wanted because his happiness was more important than her being right, and I think she realized that it was the right thing to do."

"Oh, but you don't understand!" Josh cried. "I'm not against the marriage because I'm petty! I'm against it because I'm genuinely concerned that something bad will happen to her if she goes through with it!"

"Has anything bad happened to her so far?" Katherine questioned.

"Well, no," Josh admitted. "I've even let Hannah visit and she's been okay, too. But..."'

"Get rid of the 'but'," Katherine advised. "The 'but' will drive you crazy. Let it go. Realize things aren't as bad as you think, and you'll feel better."

"Well, this is unexpected," Rodan remarked. "I didn't expect to hear such sage advice from you."

"With how you're acting about this, it's not going to come from you," Katherine replied. "So I'm the only one left!"

"I'm perfectly capable of giving good advice about this situation!" Rodan cried, looking affronted.

"Are you really?" Katherine asked. "Cause as calm as you seem now, you're as much in a fighting mood about this wedding as Josh is!"

"Well, better that than become a kiss ass like Dorian!" Rodan scoffed. "He's so desperately afraid that Lucifer will fire him that he's not questioning a single damn thing that happens!"

"And how will you question it?" Katherine asked. "You know that no matter what you say, things won't change, and if you fuss at Ellie about this now when she's clearly made her choice, you'll just alienate her."

"We'll do the only thing we can do," Rodan told her. "We'll object! Right when they ask if anyone has any objections, we'll object!"

"But that's not gonna change anything!" Katherine said. "She's still gonna marry him! She'll just do it away from you and never talk to you again. I told you that already!" She shook her head. "I swear! It's like you don't even listen to a word I say!"

"I do, when you say something useful," Rodan assured her. "It's just that this is not one of those times."

"Yes it is!" Katherine cried irritably. Her head was beginning to throb, which was something that usually happened when Rodan said anything. "But you know what? Whatever. You do what you want. For the sake of my sanity, I'm staying out of this."

"Good," Rodan told her. "That'd probably be best."

"But when it all blows up in your face, I will be saying 'I told you so'!" Katherine called. "Don't think I won't!"

Then, when the sound of her voice finally died down, Rodan and Josh began to plan how they were going to make their objections heard at Ellie and Lucifer's wedding.