Christmas Eve came in a rush, but thanks to Lucifer it was saved, he was making a savory turkey, the smell was everywhere in the house – an open concept disadvantage – or advantage if you wanted to know what's for dinner. Everybody was getting his or her best gift, ever. Trixie texted her friends and told them that Satan had bought them presents. They probably thought it were 'autocorrect typos' and didn't comment on it. They seemed rather excited but some of them were already away from L.A. or were leaving on Christmas Day after lunch and weren't able to drop by. Madison was visiting an aunt in San Diego and would be back for 'Boxing Day' as Lucifer called it, but by then they were travelling to meet her grandma on that vineyard – it sounded dreadful and she sooooo wanted to talk with Madi and Brianna about their TikTok they wanted to make - maybe about roller skating. They could film it at The Grove around the fountain and there was this American Girl Café. Of course they were too old for dolls now, but the place was fresh and fun. She could be as weird as she wanted, and Madison wouldn't shun her for that and most of her classmates neither. She would never be a VSCO girl or a cheerleader, but that didn't matter at all to her new friends, she found out. There were many groups of interests for girls and boys at her Middle School, quite different from the elementary she had been before. Her mom still wanted her to stay in touch with her school and neighborhood, but to tell the truth she only had two good friends there. Now she had five. That was nice!
She hadn't talked to anybody about her trip to Hell. Yet. Her mom would be angry at her and at Lucifer, that was not something she wanted to risk. She wanted to drop down again. Eventually. The life there was so different, but at the same time also similar. At least the demons were. The young ones seemed to be fifteen or sixteen years old and the older one looked somewhat like Maze. But if she needed to fight, she needed to be prepared. She decided to enter a sports team in January, to get faster and better reflexes, and more stamina! Triathlon? Possibly. She had to check which sports class she could enter and if it was compatible with her theater class. But in the meantime? Maybe running with her mom? But that would be so uncool.
Her dad wanted to come by yesterday, but he didn't. Work apparently. Maybe he would come today, he'd said. Why did he never ever keep his promises? Sometimes she wasn't sure if he even cared for her. She wrinkled her nose and her forehead.
"What is it, urchin?"
There, Lucifer Morningstar was standing in the shadow of the door and she hadn't even noticed him.
"Thinking. Decisions I have to take."
Trixie looked up to him. Sitting cross legged on the circular rug, Lucifer seemed humongous, all dressed in black, filling up the doorframe, his face barely visible as the light of the hallway outlined his slender figure. He had always had a sense for the dramatic. In the old school many kids had been scared of him, especially after he crashed the history class of Mr. White one afternoon presenting medieval torturing devices and explaining their use by applying pilliwinks on some rather nasty students as well as throwing a flail across the room.
"You want to tell me?"
"Not yet."
"That serious?" He raised an eyebrow.
"I guess." There he was, lending her an ear, being there. "Thanks for asking."
"Want to come down? I've made a Japanese Christmas Cake with a little chocolate twist. Sometimes one needs to indulge and feel better before taking a rash decision. Well, the first part of the sentence is what I would do, the second is what your mum would say."
And suddenly decisions were easy.
"Did you ever meet one of the Japanese gods?" she inquired, following him downstairs.
Daniel Espinoza finally showed up on Christmas Day.
Chloe was disappointed and angry but while she tried to understand and keep appearances, Trixie was furious. They were at the table on the deck, mother and daughter in the Christmas pajamas with white snowflakes the pre-teenager had insisted they should be wearing, while Lucifer was sitting at the top of the table in his black silk gown and long pants, a tumbler and a GQ in hand. Trixie hadn't had the chance to persuade him to wear one. 'The Devil doesn't do snowflakes nor microfleece' had been the end of the discussion.
When Dan stepped on the deck the temperature rose by at least ten degrees. Lucifer didn't dignify him with a nod, less with a greeting, and continued to flick through the magazine. Chloe stepped out after Dan and took a spot behind Lucifer. Dan tried awkwardly to address his daughter and give her the present, but Trixie reproached him, telling him she didn't want to see him anymore if he didn't come when she asked him or needed him. Then she ran up to her room.
"This is all you again." Dan started staring at Lucifer.
"Chloe has made it abundantly clear that I am not to engage in the education of her daughter, but if I were you, I would follow her suit, immediately." Lucifer said without looking up. "Beatrice had been waiting for you for days."
"Dan, come with me, we'll talk to her. She is really upset because you didn't show up." They went upstairs, crossing the enormous living area and Dan felt insignificant among the extravagant display of wealth, even if the décor was minimalistic. It was all Lucifer, next to nothing belonged to Chloe.
"Where's your stuff?"
"Mostly in my home office over there." She pointed to the end of the hallway. "Why?"
"It looks like you're living at his place not at yours, that's why." He shrugged.
When they stopped in front of Trixie's room, Chloe tried to mediate but Trixie was deeply hurt, she refused to speak to both parents and kept her door locked. After fifteen minutes of fruitless knocking they returned to the main floor.
"Chloe, he is a bad influence. He is drinking before noon in his pajamas for heaven's sake! As if he lived in the playboy mansion! And in front of her! So classy! And he indulges her with anything she wants. How will she learn discipline?"
"I remember very well when you turned up with a chocolate cake every time you dropped by." Chloe crossed her arms. "Lucifer has nothing to do with your relationship with Trixie! It's all on you."
"Hasn't he? He buys her stuff I can't afford! He bribes her into liking him!"
"When have you done Taco Tuesday with us the last time? Half a year ago? Trixie barely sees you since we've returned from Italy. That's over a year now! She is looking for a male role model and it's not you anymore."
"So it's him?! Him?!" Daniel Espinoza was getting worked up and signaled to the deck where the dark, tall and far too handsome ass was still sitting, reading but obviously listening. "The arrogant, self-centered dick you chose for a husband?"
"You are not to insult me in my home!" Lucifer rose and crossed the living area within seconds, entered Dan's personal space, staring down on him, his eyes as hard and black as the stone on his omnipresent ring, his features harsh and merciless and the long aquiline nose giving him a diabolical aura. "You should leave." Heat was brimming around Daniel and his hoodie and leather jacket became uncomfortably hot. Dan could have sworn his rival's eyes briefly flashed red.
"This is not over, Chloe!" Daniel shouted, stepping back, but pointing accusatorily at her. He tried to ignore the goosebumps he was experiencing all over his body.
"Oh, it certainly is!" Lucifer interceded, positioning himself at his consort's side and putting an arm around her waist, pulling her to his muscular chest with his long fingers which morphed into claws in Daniel's mind. "Leave!"
For the first time in his life Daniel Espinoza believed Lucifer Morningstar's claim of being the Devil and fled the house, terrified.
xxxxx
After Dan left, Chloe deflated.
"I am so sorry! You always seem to end up in the middle of our disputes."
"Nothing new here. I always get to take the blame." He looked into her winter lake eyes.
"But it's not fair. You had nothing to do with Trixie's behavior." She caressed his stubble and he leaned into her hand.
"You should go upstairs and talk to her. I'll get a shower and dressed and after that she can help me in the kitchen if she chooses to get her mind off. Anyway we'll have to have dinner ready by seven." He put his forehead on hers. "And you could focus on the testaments of the deceased. They should be public domain. Deal?"
"Deal!"
"By the way, you look adorable wearing pajamas when angry!" he shouted after her when she was already upstairs.
xxxxx
An hour and a half later Lucifer turned up in Chloe's home office with a large mug of hot coffee and some homemade cookies. He embraced her from behind, leaning over the office chair and kissed her on her temple.
"Have you found any clue or connection?"
"Actually I have." The Detective sat upright and pointed with a pencil to the screen. "The beneficiaries are always the second sons and the eldest is mostly forgone save the obligatory part. And there's a certain NGO that gets a substantial donation."
"That sounds not boring at all." He started to play with her hair. "What does this NGO do or whom does it belong to?"
"That is the interesting part. They apparently care for the wildlife of California but there has never been prove of any involvement in the past seven years. Not during the wildfires or the draughts."
"But they do exist?"
"There is an office in Santa Monica and another in Palo Alto."
"Maybe we should have a look at both places? Palo Alto is on the way to Napa."
Linda and Amenadiel joined them shortly after six and Trixie was in a much better mood and playing with Charly. She had set the table, helped with the snacks, the starters and mashed the potatoes.
"So you guys are leaving tomorrow?" Linda asked.
"Yeah. My mom is expecting us in the afternoon." Chloe took a sip of her glass with red wine and reached for the cheese cubes her daughter had cut and smiled at the little radish mice sitting on the cheese board. "But Trixie is not so fond of the idea of going anymore. She thinks she'll get bored."
"She probably will." Lucifer chimed from the kitchen island. "Rolling wine barrels and squishing grapes is not really a teenager's dream." He was fixing another cosmopolitan for his brother.
"She could stay with us." Linda offered. "Would you like to, Trixie?"
"Actually she wants to stay with Madison's family, but I don't believe it's a good idea." Chloe replied.
"Why not? It might be good for her and for you. She's not a small child anymore. She needs to have some space… and you do, too. Or she could visit Madison during the day and sleep at our place." Linda smiled. "An infant is quite stressful, and I could use her help." Trixie nodded vigorously.
"Tell me about it! And now I am going to do it all over again." Chloe padded her still tiny belly.
"Linda, could you please come over?" Lucifer asked. When the petite blonde came to the kitchen, she could tell her 'brother-in-law' had been agonizing over something. "I need an advice. Care to join me by the pool? Please!"
They walked over until they were out of sight of the rest of the family.
"Chloe is still afraid of me; she flinches every time she doesn't hear me approach. As if she needs to steel or prepare herself before she interacts with me. I try not to show her my other side, and I have mostly dropped to Hell in her sleeping hours. My wings are usually tucked away to make her feel at ease and give her the illusion she has the normal husband she deserves." He almost whispered, something completely out of his usual behavior. "I have tried almost everything to show I can be a good husband and take care of her and Beatrice. The girl and I have bonded so much that she wants to carry my name instead of her father's and while I try to prove that I am a responsible father to be, Chloe is in denial of her physical state." He really wanted a cigarette! "Look, she's drinking wine. I have cut down on my alcoholic beverages and switched for fruit juices and water or smoothies, so she wouldn't feel obligated to accompany me, and I don't smoke in the house since we moved over. She knows she's pregnant for about a week and for sure she knows that the first trimester is essential for the formation of the fetus. I had more luck getting her not to drink while she ignored the fact of her pregnancy. It's like she wants to hurt it on purpose. Could you talk to her? Not as a therapist but as family and friend?"
Although he had his hands in his pockets, Linda could sense the stress he was under, moving his feet back and forth, and glancing frequently toward the living area with the cracking fireplace.
"Have you spoken with her about it?" Linda adjusted her glasses.
"Of course not." He sighed "What if she decides not to have the Devil's child? I couldn't blame her with all these bad movies. And there is still the prophesy. What if the evil that shall be released is the child?" He looked hurt. "I can't take her choice away, but what do I do if she wants to terminate the pregnancy?"
"I'll speak with her. But not tonight. You take the trip to bond some more with her. Let her take the lead, you know she likes that. Just be there at her side." She squeezed his arms. "Let's get back and open the gifts." Linda went to the living room while Lucifer returned to the kitchen to fetch the cocktails.
