Lucifer walked out of his room wearing a tuxedo. He was doing a favor for someone by attending a banquet with her. It wasn't the sort of favor he typically did, but the woman was well connected. He could do well to have her owe him one down the line. Still, he wasn't looking forward to it. This wasn't exactly his kind of party, and this sort of favor was very below his standards.
When Lucifer walked into the living room, he found Beatrice sprawled out on the couch playing with a doll. "Beatrice, you're supposed to be in the kitchen doing your schoolwork."
"Can't I do it right before bed?" Beatrice asked.
"No, because you'll be too tired then. It's six now. You can do it now and still have a little time to watch TV or play a game," Lucifer told her. He didn't like being the bad guy, but he'd learned over the years that sometimes he had to be. For the first several months, he didn't really parent her. He took care of her, but he didn't admonish or discipline her. That had ended in disaster until he'd laid down some rules and followed through. It had been very difficult to do that, but necessary. Thankfully, the child rarely gave him reason to punish her since then.
Soon, the elevator dinged. Chloe came off seconds later. "Hey, guys."
Beatrice perked up a bit. "Hi, Chloe."
"Hey, sweetheart," Chloe said with a smile.
Lucifer walked over to her. "Hello, Detective. Thank you for doing this. Maze is otherwise engaged tonight."
"Yeah, no problem," Chloe said.
"She's already had dinner. There's chocolate cake in the fridge that she may have a piece of. Provided that she finishes her homework without further complaint," Lucifer said. He said the last part loudly for his daughter's benefit. "You can feel free to have some as well, Detective, as well as anything else you desire."
"Thanks. We'll be okay," Chloe said.
"One other thing. Beatrice has nightmares at times, especially when I'm not there to put her to put her to bed. If it happens and you can't calm her, call me. I will come back immediately," Lucifer said.
Chloe smiled at him. It was sweet seeing him in protective parent mode, and kind of funny because she was sure he'd laugh at anyone else he saw like this. "It'll be fine. Now go."
"Okay, but do not hesitate to call me away if need be. I promise, you won't be ruining anything if you do. Father knows I don't even want to go to this bloody thing," Lucifer said.
Chloe laughed in response.
Lucifer turned to his daughter. "Beatrice, you behave for the detective."
"I will, Daddy," Beatrice promised.
"You will go finish your homework once I leave," Lucifer said sternly.
"Okay," Beatrice said with a groan. She then got up and hugged her father briefly.
"Alright, I'll see you in the morning," Lucifer said before heading for the elevator.
Once Lucifer was gone, Chloe smiled at Beatrice. "How about I see if I can help you with your homework? Then you can get into your pajamas and we can watch a movie and dig into that chocolate cake."
"Okay," Beatrice said before leading the way into the kitchen.
Xxxxxxxxxxx
After helping her with her homework and watching a movie, Chloe went with Beatrice to her room to get her ready for bed.
Beatrice jumped up on her bed bad and grabbed her teddy bear. "This is my favorite stuffed animal. His name's Max. Daddy gave him to me right after I came to live here."
"Really? That's really cool. Does he help you sleep?" Chloe said as she sat on the edge of the bed.
"Uh huh. I don't go to sleep without him. I also have Miss Alien," Beatrice said as she picked up the next toy. She's my third favorite. I'm going to be the president of Mars one day and she's gonna be my assistant.
"Wow. The president of Mars. That's a big job. I bet you'll do great though," Chloe said as she smiled at the little girl. "What's your second favorite? You said she was your third favorite toy."
"I'll show you, but you have to keep him a secret. Do you promise?" Beatrice asked.
"Of course," Chloe said. A secret toy didn't seem like much cause for concern in her eyes. She imagined kids liked to think they had secrets. It made them feel grown up. She doubted this secret was really a secret.
Beatrice went over to her toybox. She dug around until she found what she was looking for. She came back with a black dog. "This is Sam."
Chloe smiled. "Hi, Sam. That's a cool name."
"My grandpa named him. He said he was strong like my daddy and would help protect me. That's why he has to be a secret. Daddy would be upset if he knew he came to visit," Beatrice said. Her grandpa hadn't actually told her to keep it a secret, but Beatrice knew to. She knew her daddy would be mad.
"Your grandpa comes to see you without your dad knowing," Chloe said alarmed. Now she wished she hadn't promised. She couldn't keep that a secret. Some guy was coming to see this kid while her father knew nothing about it. For all Chloe knew, this wasn't really Lucifer's father, and even if he was, who knew what his intentions were. Lucifer did not speak well of his father.
"Yeah. He's only come a couple of times. He's really busy. He flies into my room when I'm in bed," Beatrice told her.
"He flies?" Chloe asked. She relaxed quite a bit. This seemed more like an imaginary friend type of thing, though she'd never heard of a kid imagining a grandparent. Beatrice was probably just curious and made up a loving grandparent. Obviously no one was flying into her bedroom.
"Yeah. He's got a lot of powers. One of them is flying. He has to come in secret though because he and Daddy had a big fight. You'll keep it a secret, right?" Beatrice asked.
Chloe nodded. She was positive now that this guy was a figment of Beatrice's imagination. She was merely curious about her grandfather and made him up. A part of her thought maybe Lucifer should be aware, but she had promised, and it wasn't hurting anyone for Beatrice to have an imaginary friend. "Okay, I we need to get you settled into bed."
"I'm gonna put Sam away first," Beatrice said before running over and putting the stuffed animal back in the toybox. She then went back over and got into bed. "I wish Daddy was here. He makes sure the monsters stay away. He's the Devil, so he gets rid of them. He made my other dad go away when he was hurting me."
The little girl's words broke Chloe's heart. She knew the child had been abandoned by her biological parents, but not abused. No child should feel unsafe with their own parents. "Well, maybe I can keep them away too. You know what my job is, right?"
"Uh huh. You punish the bad guys, like my daddy," Beatrice said.
"That's right. The bad guys wouldn't dare hurt you with me around. In fact, look at this," Chloe said before taking her badge off. She'd come right from the station, so she still had it on. "Bad guys are scared of this."
"Really?" Beatrice asked.
"Yeah. A lot of them run as soon as they see it," Chloe said. It was the truth. Criminals who knew they did something wrong often ran when they saw a badge. "How about I leave it with you until your daddy comes home? The monsters will know they can't just mess with you because your daddy's not home."
"Okay. Thank you," Beatrice said with relief in her voice. She then picked up a book from the table next to her. "Will you read me a story now?"
"Of course," Chloe said before putting her badge on the table and taking the book. She cuddled up next to Beatrice and started reading.
