The Devil as a Father, Chapter 44
Javier Martinez was used to dealing with trauma. It was what he had studied for and what he lived for; to help those in need. He worked with abused children, victims of gang violence and the drug trade. He even had a patient who had been sold by her parents as a sex slave. All of them he treated with compassion and felt that he had heard it all.
Until he met the handsome and rich Lucifer Morningstar, who claimed to be the devil. What really was interesting was that he really was the actual Devil and was suffering from PTSD, but even more, he had built a family that he loved and was living in LA, and was an interesting man and a kind one to boot. Javier owed him a lot, both business wise and personally.
He sat at his comfortable desk, and looked at the message he had been given. He had been requested to set up a group meeting for the entire family. The younger man smiled. It was going to be interesting, that was for sure. Then he frowned, had the children been traumatized?
He arranged to use the biggest room there, and made sure it was stocked with comfortable chairs, snacks, a variety of sodas and juices and toys.
Lucifer and the entire family now used a van, since they didn't fit in the Bentley without magic and some people had noticed and yelled at Lucifer for packing all those poor children in a small vehicle. The kids loved the van and had decorated it with Chloe, so he was pleased with it for their sake. He smiled for a moment watching them all take their seats and belting. Daffodil had nightmares last night, so when she asked to sit next to him, Chloe smiled and switched seats.
"So we're all going to meet Dr. Javier together?" asked Harry.
Chloe reached over and tousled Harry's hair, "Yup, we were traumatized as a group, so we should get help as a group at first."
They arrived and quickly parked. The kids piled out in a rather orderly fashion that worried the King of Hell a bit. It proved they had been traumatized. Most of the time, they were like a living wave of curiosity and enthusiasm that took over any structure it entered. Today they all acted like baby ducks.
They entered the offices and Lucifer noticed the area looked much friendlier then it had at the beginning, even though Javier had done what he could to make it attractive and warm. This was better.
Angie, Javier's secretary smiled brightly at all of them and led them to the conference room.
XXXX
Javier entered his biggest room and found it crammed full with Morningstars. Lucifer sat with the two adorable little girls, Daffodil and Rose, on his lap. He had met almost everyone before except Mazikeen who was eying him with an angry violent look, and several older boys and a girl with fuzzy hair.
"Mr. Morningstar, I want to start with the reason why you all felt you should come to see me today," he said looking around at the group for signs of trauma.
A red-haired boy raised his hand; one of the older children he didn't know.
"Yes?" he asked.
"Dad died," he said, "We got to him but they had cut off his head and we saw it. We're all freaked. We don't want to leave him alone." The anxiety in his voice was real.
"Your Father died?" asked Javier. This was going to be like dealing with the cat.
The boy gave him a teenaged "grownups are idiots" look and pointed at Lucifer. "No. he died. We got him back, thank Merlin, but we had to see him all dead and alone on Mars. It was awful.
Javier's head started to hurt. This was worse than the cat. "Mars?" he said
Lucifer nodded. "I killed my brother years ago to save Chloe's life – he was going to kill her. The angelic choir, without Dad's input I might add, decided to judge me and had Uriel cut off my head. The children used a portal and came to Mars and found me right afterwards, and it was very upsetting for all of them."
Harry suddenly stood up and looked upset. "He didn't die. We went back in time before the sword hit him and saved him invisibly. He only bled a little." Tears filled the green eyes and Chloe put him on her lap and held him.
Normally Javier would be prescribing a lot of drugs here, but he knew Lucifer really was the devil. And that Harry had powerful magic. Suddenly he wanted to buy something stronger than beer and wine for himself.
"Do they take you to Mars a lot?" he asked weakly, still trying to deal with the thought of them all traveling to Mars.
"Never," said Lucifer, "I thought they were making a statement about being at war with me, since Mars is the God of War in some of the old Pantheons."
"How did the children breathe?" asked Javier.
"Good question," said Trixie, who he had met before. "We have no clue. We were very upset, so we breathed very hard as well, but I don't remember having any troubles breathing, just crying forever."
Suddenly she stood up, walked over the Lucifer, stood behind him and kissed his head and hugged him fiercely.
Javier smiled, "Looks like you are all dealing with this in a healthy way at this point. You are spending time with him to reassure yourself that he is okay. The problem with that is that you may make it a habit and it could make him feel trapped."
"Not so far," said Lucifer, "I feel rattled and the hugs and kisses are making me calmer so far."
Chloe Morningstar spoke up from where she was holding Harry on her lap, "Also the children are having nightmares. Especially Daffodil, who is a seer. I'm even having nightmares." She stressed this like she wanted to shoot the nightmare right between the eyes. Personally, Javier would put money on the detective instead of the nightmare. The woman could be scary.
"Okay… You should first realize that having experienced something so horrible is bound to give you nightmares. And it is perfectly normal to have them after such an experience. It's also normal to want to spend time with Lucifer and for Lucifer to want to spend time with all of you."
He went on to talk about how it would be good for them to write or draw about how they felt what happened, and that if the results seemed ugly, it was normal, because this was a horrible ugly thing that happened. The children suddenly smiled at him.
"You don't think Daddy deserved this, do you?" asked Daffodil.
"My dear Daffodil, it is not my job to judge, but I think they had already made up their mind, and that apparently it was okay for this angel to kill your mom, but not for your Dad to protect her. That seems really unfair to me."
The children smiled more, and Chloe smiled too. Mazikeen, who had scowled through all of this suddenly smiled as well.
"Dear Doctor, you never fail to amaze me," murmured Lucifer.
"Thank you, Mr. Morningstar. Now to start, I think we should all take turns to discuss our feelings about this, and to ask questions about those feelings as well," said Javier. It was one of his most memorable sessions, whereupon he learned more about Lucifer, the children and Chloe Morningstar.
Lucifer Harry Lucifer Harry Lucifer Harry
It would take months to get over the nightmares. The house was filled with art work expressing their trauma but also their love and appreciation of Lucifer. Everyone, even Trixie, studied wards, and Trixie used arithromacy to make invisible wards that would whisk Lucifer away if endangered, sick, or wounded.
Ron stared at her, "But all wards are invisible."
Trixie was still making notations on her computer, and she muttered, "But not to magic. You can see regular wards with magic, these are invisible to everything."
"Wicked!" said Ron, "Do you think celestials will not be able to see them."
"I'm hoping no one can see them, but those that love our Dad in a pure way,"
"Yuck," said Ron, "You mean us and not those ladies that drool at him, and act like ninnies."
"Yup," said Trixie.
Meanwhile, Harry had flown on angel wings to the very top of the roof and was feeding pigeons and thinking about how much he loved his father and his family.
The thing that hurt him the most was knowing if he went to heaven, he would never see his Dad and heaven wouldn't be like heaven without him.
Tears dripped down his nose and a nearby dove cooed at him sympathetically. He couldn't be bad so he went to Dad's realm; that would be stupid. He wanted a place where his whole family would be safe and happy always.
His Dad was a celestial, but Harry wasn't and he wouldn't be there for him in the big forever to keep him from being lonely. Harry tried to think of ways he could be with his Dad always, but he didn't know. "I wish God would be nice to my Dad," he whispered. Finally he rubbed his eyes and flew back down to see his father and maybe do some baking.
Lucifer harry Lucifer Harry Lucifer Harry
He walked inside the main household, heading to the kitchen and noticed house elves busily preparing packages to send by owl or portal. The business with the magical phones was raking in the gallons for the children. Maze taught them all quite a lot about keeping books, tax planning and investments. Trixie seemed rather good with ideas for investments, and they started a fund for investing in things that were sustainable and that helped the planet. The house elves loved everyone and enjoyed the business and making things.
Ron and Trixie were good at coming up with games, and they sold quickly. They based some on wizarding stories and legends. They even made a baking game and named it after Harry restaurant, (although they wisely asked Harry, Dad and Mum as well). Harry didn't tell anyone, but he played the games too.
Xxx
Ron was sitting at the desk in his own private bedroom and thinking more and more about Lucifer and what he and everyone else here meant to him, from Lucifer Lord of Hell to Goldie the tiny dragon. He wanted them all safe and happy.
Ron hoped his parents didn't find out he was calling Lucifer and Chloe Mum and Dad, but they were. He knew his parents loved him, but he also knew he was considered a disgrace by his mother, and that his Dad, while loving, didn't seem to be very proud of him like he was Percy, or fond of him, like he was his baby sister. Here Ron was loved for real, and it shook him to his depths that he was considered smart and brave and special. Sometimes he wondered if it were all a dream, but then someone would hug him or ask his opinion and he would feel like he could do anything.
He got on his bed and started to meditate. Soon a picture formed, perhaps a vision. It was Mars.
Now Ron had hated Mars because Lucifer had appeared to be dead and he had mourned the celestial with a fervor and pain that would be with him always. He didn't want to think of Mars, he wanted a place where he could hide his family. A place safe and out-of-the-way. He sat up and his heart began to pound with excitement. He remembered Mars had changed from their tears and Lucifer's blood. Maybe he could build a Morningstar family sanctuary there. Then he frowned to himself, the magic they used, unknowing, was blood magic. He would have to give blood. He thought about it and decided it would have to be his own blood to be white magic, instead of dark. He had learned that from Lucifer himself.
So late that night, Ron snuck into the portal they had left and went to Mars. He stared in horror at the spot where the golem lay and found himself crying again. He had to protect his new family. He had written a last will and testament on his computer, leaving his toys to his brothers and sisters and his money to his Dad at home to parcel out.
Now he began to speak to Mars.
"Mars I never realized how beautiful you were until just now. I was so upset at losing my Dad, Dad Lucifer. I love them all so much. Mars beautiful red planet, let all the other colors dance for you, make my love and my freely given blood go to make a sanctuary for my family to protect them for evil will and negative thoughts against them.
He then took out one of Lucifer's knives and sliced his hands and lay on the soft grass that now inhabited where they thought they had lost Lucifer. "I love you Dad," he whispered to the singing grass, then, "I love you Mars for making beauty. Make a beautiful sanctuary for my dad for all of us."
Tears dripped down his nose into the softness and he felt the earth under him (or was it the Mars? He wondered) and smiled. Then he slept.
Lucifer woke up and sat up in bed. He looked and Chloe had done the same.
They heard a voice yell from the next room, "RON!"
Everyone woke up, including Dan downstairs in his apartment, Narcissa and Draco in their apartment and Mrs. Edwards was on the phone calling anxiously. Meanwhile Maze was there, gathering supplies and swearing horribly in several languages that would have gotten her in trouble, except only she and Lucifer could speak them.
Daffodil's eyes filled with tears, "Mars," she yelled, "He went to Mars for us,"
Lucifer didn't understand this completely, but all the instincts of his heart had him running top speed and not touching precious members of his household and then plummeting into the portal.
There he found Ron face down in the grass. He dropped to his knees and turned the boy over, his mouth dry. Ron's face had tears on it, but also a very sweet smile that Lucifer instantly distrusted and hated. This was what Daffodil had meant, Ron was trying to perform high blood magic for his family.
"The little shit!" yelled Maze in perfect high goblin.
Lucifer unfurled his wings and quickly plucked two feathers, then placed them on Ron's little hands which were still bleeding. The flow stopped immediately.
Chloe, her eyes filled with tears knelt on the other side of Ron and kissed the boy's face, "You're on dishwashing duty for life, young man," she said, sobbing.
Lucifer saw the cheeks turn pink under those prominent freckles and he nodded, "At least for one life time."
"Why?" asked Draco in worried tones. "Is he suicidal?" Lady Black put her arms around Draco's shoulders and hugged him.
"No," said Harry in a firm voice that made Lucifer look up and stare at his beloved child.
"Ron wanted to protect us from anything happening again like that." He shrugged a shoulder angrily at the golem that still lay on the ground, obviously not wanting to look at it. "We all have been studying things to protect the family. Trixie came up with wards that are invisible to magic in hopes that they are invisible to celestials. Rose has been making disaster plans for evacuating the Lux, Hercules has been studying fighting, Draco has been assembling allies, Maze has been teaching more classes, Mom has been keeping track of us more than before, I've been trying to think of a magical place where we could all hide away. Hermione is trying to develop spells to protect from Celestials. Neville made a giant blossom that can hide people in it. Octy is trying to stretch his ability with shadows to hide family. My Godfather and Mooney are teaching everyone how to turn into an animal. I think Ron has done the same thing, but thought of Mars as a safe house for us."
Ron coughed and opened his eyes. "Merlin do I feel wonky," he muttered, then he saw Lucifer and Chloe, "Mum, Dad," he said softly and it was obvious he wasn't talking about his birth parents
Maze flopped on her knees, looking angry, and gently put a thermos of cold water to the boy's lips.\
Ron drank and then drank more deeply, "boy that's good."
Chloe ran her hand through the red hair and Ron looked around. "I'm in trouble, aren't I?" he asked plaintively, "Please don't send me away, please."
Chloe bent down and kissed his forehead, "Never," she said calmly, "But you are probably on kitchen duty for life."
And Ron laughed.
Lucifer looked at Ron and picked him up, "I don't want to have safety at the price of your life," he said rather sternly. Ron smiled at him, "I wasn't going to die. I didn't cut deeply. I wanted to give Mars enough to let my love bind to make the magic."
The Daffodil pointed across the way, "Look, a door!"