Dan was running, crashing through the early morning shoppers, limbs flailing as he chased their suspect down. The arrest had gone horribly wrong, not expecting the Alsatian in the run-down apartment above the bakery and the distraction allowed their suspect to escape the melee of the dog trying, but thankfully failing, to take a chunk out the leg of the nearest available police officer.
Two uniform officers were maybe ten seconds ahead of him and Chloe just on his shoulder as they raced through the streets. A screech of wheels caught his attention and seeing the blue lights of the police vehicle cut into the path of their suspect, he slowed his pace, Chloe very nearly smacking into his back until she saw the lights too.
He was breathing heavily. Chloe beside him hadn't run like that in a long time, and with her hands on her knees she could barely speak. "You okay, Chlo?" Dan asked eventually, laughing good heartedly at the state of the pair of them.
She felt nauseous in that way of too much exercise. If she had eaten that morning it might have come back up. "Yeah" she replied, straightening up, her mouth dry and her heart battering her ribs. "I am so unfit..." she concluded with a strained laugh.
"Me and all" Dan responded taking her elbow. "Come on, the unis can take him back and we can go find an oxygen tank..."
Chloe laughed genuinely for the first time in what felt to be a long time, even though she was utterly exhausted. They had been waiting on this arrest for far too long too; an almost cold case that between Dan, Ella and a little bit of fortuitous timing they had finally cracked. Chloe pushed him towards the now apprehended felon so he could take his well-earned arrest.
It had been two weeks and two days since Lucifer left and to avoid having to think, Chloe had worked every hour she could think of, kicked a soccer ball around on the beach with Trix until it was dark and actually thanked his Dad that Raphie stayed behind. Two Tribe Nights had gone down and to her surprise she had come out of them relatively unscathed. Maybe it was because Raphie came with her and tolerated the noise, music, lights and a drunk Detective who had spent most of the evenings hugging the unthreatening angel. It had been such a comfort to have him there, to just have his presence, until last night when he said he had to return.
"My utmost apologies, Miss Decker" he had said as they sat watching one of Trixie's films. Raphie had become quite accustomed to the Detective and her child even in just a few days. He was starting to see why Lucifer liked humans. Well, just a little bit. "I need to see my Father for a short while and, well do you wish me to take a message to Samael?"
"Just tell him we love him and we really miss him", Chloe had replied. It had soothed her that she could let him know and she hoped Raphie might have a message in return. The angel had just smiled and nodded and next morning, this morning, he was gone.
"So have you decided what you are going to do for Christmas Day, Chlo?" Dan asked as they walked back to the suspect's apartment, breaking her out of her thoughts. Dan had been so, so good to her too recently, and Maze. She hadn't even had any preteen attitude from Trixie either but to be frank she was waiting for the other shoe to drop. It had to happen soon; it was almost inevitable.
"Yeah", she replied. "Me and Mom, Maze, Linda and the kids. You are still okay to have Trix Christmas Eve or do you want to, well, do you want to spend it together? You, me and Trix?" Chloe asked tentatively, clasping her hands in front of her as they walked. Dan would admit he was slightly stunned at her request. "With you working on Christmas Day..."
He laughed. "Drew the short straw on that one didn't I?" It was only fair. Chloe had the pleasure of the Christmas Day shift last year.
"But I thought it might be nice or maybe New Year?" she asked as they continued to walk along, not that they ever made a fuss about one day rolling into the next but nevertheless. She felt a touch uncomfortable, but they had had a decade together and most of it she didn't want to erase. There was no harm in building bridges was there?
Dan nodded carefully. "I'm erm...going up over to Detroit with Ella for New Year but yeah...Christmas Eve it is. Need a hand getting a tree?" he smiled.
"Please" Chloe replied, realising she had not actually had a proper chat to Ella, in fact had barely seen her, since Lucifer went. Surprisingly his visit to Ella's parents did not faze her one scrap. "Trix has been going on at me for days to go but works just been..." She ended with a shrug of her shoulders. She could hardly ask Raphie to help them go and pick up a Christmas tree, could she?! She might have dragged Lucifer reluctantly along but that wasn't an option was it.
A busy morning turned into a quiet early afternoon and Chloe had a chance to catch up on some paperwork; sitting at her desk, that mild throb behind her eyes threatening turning into a full blown headache. Yawning as she fished in her drawer, Chloe pulled out some painkillers to catch it before it started and swallowed them down with the remains of a warm glass of water on her desk.
She didn't notice Ella walking up armed with a post mortem that the Detective had been waiting for, but the forensic scientist's squeak when she saw the ring on Chloe's finger did cause her to raise her head. She had taken it off her necklace before she got into the shower this morning. The rational side of her argued it was safer with the bullet and it avoided all kinds of unnecessary questions too. Not thinking she got dressed and ready to go to work and the ring went onto her left hand instead. Dan had noticed but decided not to rock that particular boat, particularly as they were looking forward to a rather amicable Christmas it seemed. It was not worth the argument that it would inevitably end in if he asked.
It was almost the noise and Ella's wide eyes that caused Chloe to look down and register what she had seen. "Is that?!" she squealed, albeit as quietly as she could muster. "Is he back?!"
Chloe looked up and sighed. "No" she responded. She was so tired of people asking questions like she was his keeper and Ella's one was the straw that broke the camel's back. "He's not here".
"Soooooo" Ella continued, smiling in her usual good hearted way. "Did he propose before he went then?!"
"It's not an engagement ring", Chloe replied flatly, going back to her half done report on this morning's arrest.
"So what is it?" Ella asked, sitting on the corner of the desk but deliberately keeping her voice even lower. She knew how much Chloe hated the gossip mill that ran around the station, but there was something in her tone, in her face that this was far more than just being worried about precinct stories."It looks like one to me..." she offered quietly, tentatively pushing what was clearly sore subject. She just wanted them to be happy that was all.
Chloe looked down again. It did look right there – where he had left in the cabin. "It is from Lucifer but it's just a present".
"That you are wearing on your left hand", Ella observed.
Chloe sighed barely able to hide her irritation even though she did not mean it. She pulled the ring off her left and put in on her right. "There. It's a present". Immediately she saw Ella's face drop and reached out her hand, placing it gently on the other woman's knee. "Ella...I'm sorry. That was uncalled for". She felt awful now.
The other woman just shook her head. "It's okay, girl. Apology accepted" the forensic scientist replied. "Want to talk?" She could see Chloe's eyes start to water. They needed another tribe night as quick as humanly possible. "Come on" Ella started. "The lab is open for business".
Chloe walked ahead of her into the other room, brushing tears away from her face. "I'm sorry" she whispered again as she sat down, leaning on the table, head bowed. "I...I thought I was okay". She hadn't cried over him for three days; her longest record so far.
Ella put an arm around her shoulders. "It's fine, Chloe. Like I said before, his family are nuts. All this running around after them...Amenediel too. I can't imagine what it's like for Linda too with Charlie to care for as well". Chloe nodded. At least it was only her and Trix she needed to worry about, not a half angel-baby too.
"Well" Chloe replied, moving the ring around her finger. "Hopefully this time it will be it, one way or another".
"Do you think?" Ella offered, seeing Chloe shrug her shoulders. She didn't actually know. She could hope, but that was as far as she could go and to be honest, she was running out of words without telling Ella the whole truth, and well, it was not her place to. "Can I see it?" Ella asked gesturing towards the Detective's hand and Chloe took the ring off and passed it over, grateful for the slight change in subject.
That second, the door to the lab crashed open and Chloe felt her daughter's arms go around her waist. "Hey, baby. How was your morning?"
"Boring" Trixie replied, Chloe seeing Dan walking back to his own desk having picked their child up. "We had math and geography". Chloe smiled and nodded. Her offspring was on a half day for teacher training and so she would spend the afternoon in the precinct. Chloe was not sure how 'educational' that might be but needs must with no sitters around.
Ella was still admiring the black diamond ring under the lab lights, about to give it back until she looked at Trixie, unsure what the child knew. "It's okay" Trixie offered calmly. "It's Mom's eternity ring from Lucifer". She had told her daughter about it days ago, in her efforts to remain completely honest about Lucifer's whereabouts with her child. Trixie had promised to keep the h-e-a-v-e-n issue out of it and so far there was not a word slipped in error. "It's like my necklace!" the child smiled, pulling the chain out of her jumper to show Ella.
"Beatrice Rose!" Chloe exclaimed, horrified and just a touch annoyed. It was a rare event she used her daughter's full title. "What did I tell you about wearing that to school?!" She had no idea how much it might have cost him, but this was Lucifer getting jewellery specially made for both of them, so yeah, it wouldn't have been cheap.
Despite the frantic question, Ella leant down and rested the lightning bolt on the palm of her hand. "It's beautiful Trix but you really should listen to your Mom, lady. It looks very precious and you don't want to get it damaged do you?"
Trixie smiled. She was liking Ella more and more. Dad smiled more now. "I know but I like it and it makes me think of him". Chloe was silently pleased that Ella - or to be more precise, her ex-husband's girlfriend – had backed her up and she gave the other woman a smile in thanks.
"Trix" Chloe offered, "go in my purse and get some money out and get something full of sugar for us all from the machine". The child shot off with a smile, hiding the necklace back under her navy blue jumper.
"Relaxing the no sugar rule, girl?!" Ella teased as Chloe reluctantly nodded. "Guess you only live once!"
Away in some distant place, the noise around him was incredible. He had heard it the second he and Gabriel had landed at the gates, however many earth days ago it was. A frantic, low buzz of voices from every angle, but Lucifer was unable to pick out a clear word amongst it. In time they had dissipated but today they were back with a vengeance, clear now and whispering that Samael was present, Samael had arrived, Samael was here, Samael was home.
Lucifer prowled around the quarters he had been given trying to block them out. He was free to move as he wished although so far he had not but the voices were there again, constant and...it was like when he Fell and he could not shake it from his back. It was a curious feeling yet it set off a paranoia about what his Father actually wanted in having him here.
Breathing carefully, Lucifer regarded his surroundings again. It was so familiar, yet so strange that he found himself here, that nagging on his shoulder still present though as he ran a finger along a shelf. The quarters were very much like something he might put together on earth and it unnerved him even more that there was whiskey in the cabinets, a comfortable couch and clothing similar to his suits. It was almost as though he had never shifted from Earth to Heaven and... He flopped down onto the leather couch, singing mindlessly to himself as he tried to cut out the whispers that seemed to wind themselves underneath the heavy door that guarded this place.
Lucifer longed for his piano; the cool of the keys and each note drifting around the space of his penthouse. The penthouse; the beach house, these places he belongs now. He longed for the feel of the Detective just sitting by his side, her head on his shoulder, just listening to him play in those rare, quiet moments they had. Lucifer coughed and shook his head, pressing the heels of his hands into his eyes with such force it might have hurt someone else. He was changing, had changed. He just needed his bloody Father to be satisfied, see it and let him be.
One thing he did wish to do was to see Amenediel. Despite their argument, despite the threat he had been to Chloe and the urchin, his child was important; did not deserve this. He had seen the hurt in the good Doctor's eyes as they stood on the balcony and he wanted to do the right thing by her at least. His dispute with Amenediel over Malcolm could wait for now. Something unbidden inside him knew that he had to do what he had to do when it came to that particular sibling. It started with forgiveness. The rest, well...
Speaking of himself, his Father had not deigned to call for him yet and Lucifer was half minded to just charge up there and have it out with him if this went on very much longer. In fact, why was he waiting? Just so he could show Daddy Dearest he had learned some patience on his time on earth? No, that devil deep inside was still there; the Samael that knew he was beautiful, knew he was powerful, knew he could strike down any person that crossed his path.
Interrupted from his thoughts, his head snapped up at a brisk knock on the door. "Enter!" he bellowed and rose from the couch he was now half lying on. Another being, another brother dressed head to foot in green walked through and stood before him.
"Orifiel..." Lucifer breathed, shoulders tensing at the sight of a brother he had not seen since the Fall. The angel of the wilderness had come to him it seemed. How appropriate for a lost son that that the angel of the wilderness had sought him out.
"Brother" Orifiel began taking a step forward but Lucifer was still welded to the spot standing his ground. He had no idea who to trust, eyeing his sibling suspiciously and Orifiel hesitated at the sight before him. He had almost forgotten the presence his brother could have in a room. "I erm...I have a human here who wishes to speak with you", he offered, still somewhat befuddled by the request that he had been given barely minutes before.
"A human?" Lucifer asked, frowning. His stomach clenched, his immediate thought it was Chloe, but that would mean she was... no, no, not that, please not that. Eve? But really? Would his Father let her roam free or was this another bloody test of his patience and rumbling levels of anger?
"Hmmm", Orifiel replied, nodding his head and still perplexed. "He wishes to talk to you about his daughter and Gabriel has given his permission that he speaks with you".
Lucifer's heart hit his well polished shoes as his brother stood aside to let the man through, not quite sure what he ought to be feeling. He recognised John Decker from photographs that Trixie had insisted showing him quite a long while ago without her mother knowing. He had seen his photograph at the station too; on the board of all of the fallen officers and now the man was standing in front of him. "Thank you Orifiel. You can go away now. Close the door too" Lucifer ordered as his brother slipped gladly away and the other man stepped into the quarters.
"Mr Morningstar" Chloe's dad started, holding out a hand for the Devil to take. "You must call me John".
Lucifer nodded carefully and stretched out his own hand. Another test? Surely not. This was Chloe's Dad. Maybe it was test of a different kind. He could imagine the Detective's face, her mischievous smile at him meeting her Dad. "Lucifer...Morningstar. It's a pleasure to meet you, I must say". He gestured at the couch for the other man to sit down and after a hesitant start, the fact that, within twenty minutes the Devil and Chloe's Dad were now sitting opposite each other, whiskey in hand and laughing, would have freaked the Detective out no end. He would have to tell her when he got back.
"All I want", John started, taking another sip, "is my apple blossom to be happy and if it is with you it is with you".
Lucifer frowned at his words. "How can you..." he started, wondering how to phrase his question. "How can you say that? Surely you object that she was, well, created for me, manufactured for me, the Devil?"
John hesitated. He had to find the right answer to this as it was something he had thought long and hard about. "I have to admit, son, it was something that I had to think carefully about, but one thing I have learned is that she was created for you, for Samael". Lucifer flinched at the use of his real name, but here, that is what he was known as. How much did his man actually know though? "She was made for me and Pen too and I had nineteen years with her and being here, well, it is this freedom – of your body and your mind" he explained. "I never understood people who were judgmental even when I was alive and here, well, you see how you lived your life, you reflect on it, you learn the impact of the decisions you made, see what is real, you know? I was always so proud of her".
"Even when she was dancing around with her boobs o...when she...?" Bugger. You actually mentioned Chloe's erm...assets in front of her own father. You bloody fool. Lucifer paused. How insightful of himself he was being. If he could feel embarrassment then would be mortified right now.
John let out a short laugh. "I was proud of whatever she did", he smiled. He had been shot handing over tickets to see his precious daughter on the big screen. "My girl is happy when she is with you. She trusts you and I don't ask for much more than that. Above it all Lucifer, I know you will protect her."
"She's seen me", Lucifer offered. She had seen the 'me' Lucifer had lost however millennia ago it was and the one he was slowing clawing himself back to be.
"Chloe was always special and Beatrice. My grandbaby..." He put his hand on his heart. "That's what we never understood. Penny and I...we both were tested and well, it was impossible we could ever have a child. We were told zero percent chance...zero".
"How long have you known?" Lucifer asked, taking a sip from his glass.
"A long time but it all made sense, reflecting. A child who was an impossibility and yet we were blessed with her. It made no sense. I'm not religious, neither was Pen, but everyone around us, when she was born". John hesitated. "She came early, almost six weeks...she was tiny and she didn't breathe..." He swallowed, pushing a palm over his face. She was being taken from them after all. "They had to resuscitate her and every single day I thanked the Heavens she made it. Every single person told us she was a gift from God and I just nodded at the comments, tolerated them but yes...she was a gift to both of us I feel" he added self consciously. "Samael, me and Pen". Lucifer nodded carefully and gestured with the bottle; both of their glasses the wrong side of almost empty.
Chloe's dad smiled. "Fill her up son. I'd suggest you and I are going to get on well..."
The only person who knew about the existence of the envelope that Lucifer had given her was sitting at her dining table. Linda. Chloe had confessed it to her just yesterday when Raphie had returned with a simple message from the heavens for them both. If she left that envelope unopened any more, Chloe felt she might burst with anticipation.
The envelope itself had gone on top of the highest kitchen cupboard the day after Lucifer left and Chloe, so far, had dare not open it. Part of her was curious yet part of her was terrified. It was now sitting in front of Linda who was toying with the seal; young Charlie sitting giggling in Trixie's old high chair. "Do you know" Linda started, watching Chloe as she pottered about the kitchen, "I am so glad Raphael was able to bring back a message". It had only been brief, certainly not what either Linda or Chloe might have wanted but it was at least a reassurance if nothing else.
Chloe smiled. "Me too" she replied, putting a bottle of wine and three glasses on the table. Maze would be here soon too; the women having fallen into visits to each others houses, and Lux, at least twice a week.
"So", Linda started, watching Chloe fill their glasses. "Are we going to do the deed then?!" She was actually itching to find out what was in it in a curious way. Chloe sat and took a large fortifying mouthful of wine pulling the seal on the envelope, bringing a pile of paperwork out with it.
"Oh, jeez" Chloe exclaimed putting her hand to her mouth. One the top of the pile was a letter from his lawyers setting out what was inside. She read down the list. "A Trust fund for Trix, he's left the lodge in Vail to me, shares in Lux for me and Maze". She flipped over the letter to the second page. "A trust for Charlie. Linda - he's left millions..." She scrabbled through the papers for the Deed for Charlie, pushing it over the table to the therapist before she slumped back in her chair; just needing him not money or shares. Chloe pressed a hand to her mouth, half of her panicking but the other half resisting taking a cent of it. "It's all been signed over to us" Chloe noted, running her eyes over the letter again. "It says I just have to call the lawyer's office to countersign before Christmas Eve, you and Maze too...Shit..." Chloe put her hand over her mouth realising she had sworn in front of Charlie.
"Shit what?" Linda asked eyes scanning with some haste over the fund for Charlie in her hands, trying to take it in too and her error passing her by. Even for her own rational, logical mind, Linda was shocked at what he had left for her son. In reality though she should have seen this of Lucifer long ago. This was the kind of thing he would just do. She looked up to see Chloe with her lips pressed together, her hand automatically going to her abdomen. Linda knew what that was. "How late are you?"
Chloe breathed pointedly, calculating in her head. "Ten days... Eleven days" she corrected.
"Symptoms?" Linda asked, well and truly distracted now from the document in front of her. Her own memories of her particular realisation were still too fresh.
The woman across the table swallowed, her eyes tracking to Charlie who was grinning at her as he tapped his palms on the arms of the chair. The half-angel baby. "I'm tired, but what's new about that? I feel sick day in day out but I know that's because I don't eat properly. But he can't have children...he's told me he can't".
"Amenediel thought that too", Linda offered, taking a glance at Charlie in the high chair opposite them too. "Chloe, if you keep an eye on Charlie I will run down to CVS...If you want me to". It was only a couple of minutes drive away if that.
"I've got to know, haven't I?" Chloe asked, grimacing.
Linda nodded. "Speaking as a professional and your therapist, yes you need to know as we...well if it is, you are, you know. We need to know so we can put in place strategies, yes?"
So, the two women sat on Chloe's bathroom floor, the white stick on the shelf above their heads as Charlie chattered nonsense at them as he sat between Chloe's knees. "I don't want another child" Chloe confessed after far too long an adult silence. "Trixie used to nag for a sibling all the time, but even she stopped when she got the hint about it not happening". Until a few weeks ago, that was. "I don't even want Lucifer's child".
"We don't know whether you are having one yet, Chloe" Linda replied trying to keep a cool head. "With all the stress you have been under recently I am not surprised if you're system is all over the place".
"Yeah", Chloe replied trying to convince herself. "I mean, it's done it before. When Dad died, when he left the first time..." She knew then it was impossible she could be pregnant then but this time, well it was possible wasn't it? Even likely? Chloe breathed in and put her hands on her abdomen again, guilt washing over her. "I think I might have pickled and starved the poor little soul already". No more alcohol; eat properly. Pregnant or not, do it for your own sake. It was going to be the kick up the ass she needed either way. "How long's it been?"
Linda looked at her watch. "About now". She saw Chloe's face fall. "Do you want me to look?" The detective nodded and Linda stood up taking test off the shelf. She tried to keep her face as neutral as possible as she read the stick. She passed it down and a wave of something or other washed over Chloe.
"It could still be a false negative, couldn't it?" She didn't have that with Trixie though. She knew so early then.
"Well, perhaps if Aunt Flo doesn't visit in the next few days we do the next one?" the doctor offered as she sat back down again.
Chloe considered her words, throwing her arms around her friend. "Come on" she started, her voice tired. "Let's go and take a proper look at those papers. Maze should be here soon". It was an unwritten promise between the two that they would not mention the possibility she was carrying the devil's child. That might just throw the demon off the proverbial edge.
The second they made it down stairs, Maze was already sitting at the dining table, glass of wine in one hand and Trix's trust deed in the other. Chloe and Linda shot each other a look, the former thinking they had got over the 'breaking in' business long ago. Clearly she was wrong.
Maze, herself, was not sure how to react to the news of the trust funds, the shares, even though she was a recipient. It was a material thing that she did not need for a start but what was he doing?! "So he's gone then? Like gone for good then?" She was not afraid, as ever, to keep the contempt out of her voice for him as she launched the share certificate across the table. Swearing, she thought, was out of bounds with their being another small human in hearing distance. Normally she would not have been bothered but she didn't want Decker on her back.
"No Maze" Chloe replied, trying to convince herself now as she took a little more time over reading the correspondence from the lawyer. "He said it's not a Will. He told me so".
Maze made a huffing noise and pulled something out of her pocket. "He left something else for you, Decker". She produced the gold object Lucifer had passed to her surreptitiously on the balcony and slid it across the table. She knew what it was the second she pulled it out of her trousers after they had tucked the detective up in bed and who she had to give it to. Whilst she had not been a party to its theft, she knew where Lucifer had hidden it and knew what it did.
"That's the disc that Eve stole" Chloe responded, taking the small object into her hand, spinning it between her fingers. How she got the demons out of Hell.
"That Lucifer stole", Maze corrected her, glad the thing was out of her possession at last and feeling a stab of something in her chest; still defending the other woman. It was Lucifer that stole the disc from his father before he fell, Eve just happened to find it.
"What does it do?" Linda asked, unsure herself what it was. Chloe just knew what it had done already and as with everything celestial that had come here way recently she was anxious.
"It does anything you like" the demon offered casually hunting through the paperwork spread out on the dining table. Immediately Chloe's trouble radar ramped up to unprecedented levels and her face must have told Maze the whole story. The demon sighed like she was bored with this already. "It allows the user of it to do anything they like, within reason" Maze parroted rocking her head from side to side. They were Lucifer's words not hers. Chloe was wary too now, Maze was impassive (why he thought it was a good idea to let her be the messenger of this she would never know) and Linda was intrigued.
"Let me try!" Linda offered, taking the disc off Chloe before she had chance to object or lean to grab it back. Linda closed her eyes, rolling the disc between her fingers and immediately the front door of the house popped open. "You can open doors!" she offered incredulously, looking around for something else she could do.
"Don't go too mad with it Doc" Maze laughed sarcastically, flipping over another page but stealing the disc back to give to the Detective. "From what the jerk to told me, its problematic so seriously, don't screw with it" she continued, still marginally disinterested, as she moved onto the next bit of documentation.
"Did Lucifer ever use it?" the Detective asked, Maze passing it back over to her. You could be up to all kinds with this and part of Chloe suspected that he might have just done in one day past.
"Not to my knowledge" the demon replied. "I think even he realised how dangerous it could be in the incorrect hands".
"Like Eve" Chloe pointed out. Even now, if she could get her hands on that woman.
"Shut up Decker. Just be grateful I gave it to you" Maze responded venomously. This was a bad, bad idea to pass that thing to the human, but she had to do what he clearly wanted.
"Yes, thanks Maze" Chloe replied equally as sarcastically, "but why did he give to me?" At best it confused her as to why he had given her something so potentially powerful. Maybe she should tell Raphie. He might now how to use it properly or control it?
"Dunno" Maze responded with a shrug. "Because you are about the only person he can trust with it; cos Little Miss Missionary Position won't abuse it, will she?"
Chloe frowned and the expression stayed there for the rest of the evening until she found herself in bed, sitting up cross legged with the disc resting on her palm. "Luce?" she said, "I know you probably can't hear me". Does the Devil accept prayers? "But what do I do with this? I mean it will be so useful at work, you know" she offered with a giggle, "but..." She passed the disc from one hand to the other. "Thank you for trusting me with it and thank you for thinking of me and Trix. You didn't have to do what you did and I still don't know how I'll accept the money, but at least I know she'll never struggle when she gets older. So, thank you". Chloe shook her head. "I've said 'thank you' so many times...but yeah..."
She swallowed carefully and rubbed the surface of the disc with her thumb. "I'll keep it safe for you". Should she tell him about her suspicions? She decided not to. What if he could hear her after all? She wanted to speak to him and that disc did do whatever you wanted didn't? Would you want that kind of news from such a distance away? She kept her counsel. "Well, goodnight Luce", Chloe offered, blowing a kiss to the sky. "I miss you".
That night Chloe had her answer about her maybe-baby at four that morning. She woke with that familiar dull pain behind her pubic bone that was always her body's signal without fail. "Oh you took your time!" she muttered getting out of bed to the bathroom, blinding herself with the light as she flicked it on.
She had been so adamant about how she felt about another child, but as she caught sight of herself in the bathroom mirror, she could not help but wonder. She sighed.
It was too late now anyway.