Chapter 2

A/N: Takes place a few minutes before chapter 1: Lucifer and Ella decorating the tree at the precinct.

Thanks a lot for the nice reviews, Kasjata, SPCLjmm and Guest! They made my day!

And also big thanks for the reviews on my other Lucifer story, AUfan62, Guest, JayeMaru and Readaholic187! I hope you are also reading and enjoying this one.

X – X – X – X – X

Her favorite season of the year was underway. Similar to when she had been a child and would decorate the house and especially the tree with her brothers, she now assisting one of her favorite people to hang another shining red bauble onto the gigantic tree next to the stairs to the bullpen - only with less bickering about the colors and tears about the popcorn-garland and candy canes being eaten right off the branches before even having finished to put up the star at the top.

"Splendid idea, Miss Lopez!" Lucifer's expressive dark eyes twinkled down at the forensic scientist. "The Detective was planning to bake cookies with the spawn this weekend. I'm sure the Urchin would be delighted by the idea to pull ribbons through them and hang them with candy canes onto the tree." He surely was delighted by the prospect and maybe some of his share would survive the drive home to the penthouse and might even find a spot on his own gigantic Christmas Tree, but he doubt for long.

The childlike joy of her friend made her heart swell. "Did your family never hung eatable decoration onto the tree?"

Lucifer eyed the gleaming and glittering glass icicle with artificial snow sparkling in his hand as he stretched a little to reach the top most branches with the help of the little stepstool, the janitor had happily provided. "When I had been younger, then I was the one hanging up the stars in the sky." His smile widened at the fond memory and the praises of his siblings and the loving nicknames his mother had given him for his accomplishments. "Christmas and all this-" He gestured with the hand towards the tree and beyond to the decorated room. "weren't even in my Father's construction plan, when my siblings and I had been younglings. I'm rather sure of this."

He saw her puzzled stare and elaborated while handing her another box of baubles. "Back then, my parents had been happy, we all had been happy. But then, well you know already a version, they began to argue, I did this little rebellion for free will for everybody, which Dad wasn't too thrilled about. After he had kicked me out, Mum and Dad kept up their fighting, she sabotaged his little pet-project called humanity and then he also kicked her out. Dad only knows why, he thought it a great idea to create a half-celestial hybrid in the first place. Surely to spite Mum."

He threw his hands up towards the Christmas tree half exasperated. "But well, here we are, celebrating my little bastard of a half-brother's birth."

"Wow, dude, I'm always amazed how you can stay in role." Flabbergasted Ella was almost gapping at the story, ignoring Lucifer's puzzled frown about her words and his long suffering sigh that she took it all for an act again. "Okay, for the sake of the holidays, I'll humor you, buddy." One of her wide and brilliant smiles lit up her features. "Is Jesus your favorite little brother? Or why all this?"

"Eww, far from, Miss Lopez!" The Devil stared repulsed at his friend. "Well, there had been a time when the little weasel was in his mid-teens that I would visit him. Hanging out with him from time to time wasn't too bad, actually. He seemed rather proud that his older brother was keeping as the King of Hell the demons at bay and punished guilty souls. " His dark eyes twinkled with emotions for a moment, something blossoming in the light of fond memories, before this light extinguished again. "But it came how it was supposed to be, and one of our other siblings, I bet that snake Michael or chatty Gabriel, paid him a visit and the next time I dropped by, he accused me to have deceived him by leaving out that I fell in disgrace to our father."

"Oh, buddy. I'm so sorry to hear that." Before she had finished the sentence her arms had already encircled the large man in front of her in a tight embrace. In which he stiffened like a board, his face almost terrified about the affection and the sympathy. He still couldn't fathom why humans would feel sorry for him.

"Eh, why-" When the spawn would lock him in one of these obtrusive displays of emotions, then he would pat her head, but his colleague wasn't as small as the child was. Helplessly he held his arms up, hovering them above her, until he figured that she wouldn't let go so quickly. "It's fine, Miss Lopez." With a small sigh he lowered his arms and patted tentatively her back. This brought him eventually his desired release – after another hellish 10 seconds.

"It's not fine. Your siblings pulled your little brother on their side! That's pretty mean." Rage was building inside her. "My brothers are also complete idiots and I'm totally not fine with what some of them do, but still we are family and I'm looking forward to see my tontos over the holidays!" Her dark eyes locked with his. "Do you try to be nice to him with celebrating Christmas?"

"You are mistaken, Miss Lopez." A predatory smile spread over his lips. "I celebrate my little brother's not-birthday and the misappropriation of his entire exaggerated birth for commercial use and Christianizing of heathens through the backdoor for centuries." A content sigh escaped the Devil. "He really hates these holidays and the vilification of his existence."

"Oh wow." 'Big Guy, I'm glad Lucifer is just a really convincing method actor, otherwise, I know I would have a reaaaaally bad conscience now.' Ella stared wide eyed at her friend, who freed a wonderful angel figure from one of the boxes. "And what's up with this angel figure with the ridicules large wings?"

His smirk widened, his dark orbs twinkling with mischief. "One of the few things, that little runt always complemented me about at my visits were my magnificent wings, which he wished he would also have." Ella could practically see two little horns grow, like his namesake should wear, at his gleeful expression. "But the wings Dad had obviously forgotten to give his little bastard."

"That's so mean!" She playfully slapped him onto the chest – causing him to wipe of any invisible dirt and straighten out non-existent wrinkles. "Do you think he is watching from his cloud?"

"Cloud? Hardly. I wonder where that human misconception with the souls sitting on clouds playing harp in Heaven comes from." Shaking his head about this bogus, he stepped onto the small step stool reaching up tiptoeing and placed with a little effort the miniature angel on the top of the tree. "Even if he tries to ignore the festivities in his name and spends his entire time watching sports-TV with Adam -" He pointedly ignored the imitation of a guppy of the forensic scientist. "I'm pretty sure the airhead Gabriel will blabber about it. Her mouth is unfortunately so much faster than her brain."

"Woah. Jesus and Adam, the one from the Garden, watching sports-TV in Heaven! I just try to picture this!" Giggles bubbled up. "How are you coming up with all this? Sports-TV in Heaven?!"

"I assure you, that I had nothing to do with the introduction of TV reception up there, yet I guess, if you ask the one half of Silver City's residences, the one not thinking bumming around that device is Heaven, I'm sure the words 'Hell' and 'torture' would fall."

"How are you making all this up?! You really have to accompany Dan to improv!"

"Surely not ever again!"

X - X – X – X – X – X

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this little chapter. Next is Trixie.