Chloe sat with Beatrice at a small diner close to the police station, where they were having lunch. The two of them had just finished doing some shopping. She'd offered to take Beatrice for the day. She figured the little girl could do with a girl's day, something she didn't really get without a mom. She had Maze, of course, but Maze was… unique. It also gave Lucifer a chance for some down time. Between running a nightclub, consulting with the police, and caring for a seven-year-old, Chloe figured he had to be pretty beat.
"Today was so much fun, Chloe. Thanks for taking me shopping. Daddy doesn't like to shop," Beatrice said.
"I'll bet he doesn't," Chloe said with a smile. Most guys didn't like to shop, and Lucifer didn't seem like an exception. He was a diva about what he would wear, but he was the type that would pick out what he wanted from catalogs and make someone else get it for him.
"He complains a lot anytime he takes me. I still like it, but shopping with you was much more fun," Beatrice said.
"I had a lot of fun too. Did you ever go shopping with your Mom? Oh, you don't have to answer that," Chloe said, adding her last sentence quickly. She didn't think it through before asking about the little girl's mother. Beatrice didn't have a good life before she met Lucifer. Chloe was probably bringing up bad memories by asking about that time.
"It's okay. I don't remember her a lot, but I remember her being sort of nice. She was nicer than my old daddy, but she could be mean sometimes too, especially when she took the special medicine," Beatrice explained. She didn't mind talking about her mother. As she said, she didn't really remember her that much, and she didn't really miss her. She didn't think her mommy was very good. She wasn't like Chloe, at least not that Beatrice remembered. Chloe was always nice to her. She talked to her all the time and took her places sometimes, like shopping today. Beatrice was sometimes afraid of her real mommy, especially when she took the medicine.
Chloe could only guess that the 'special medicine' was drugs. It would explain a change of demeanor while she was on them. Beatrice had really had terrible luck for the first several years of her life. Lucifer would probably protest if she said it out loud, but he seemed to almost be a godsend to this child. Who knew what would have happened to her if not for him. "Well, it's really sad that your first mommy and daddy were so mean to you, but you have your daddy now, and he'll never do that to you."
"I know. Daddy always takes care of me. I used to get scared he'd leave me, like my old daddy was going to do. My old daddy told me he was going to send me away because I was bad." Beatrice said sadly.
Chloe was sickened. As someone who had had her child taken from her, she found it disgusting that someone could be so unappreciative to the gift having a child was. This man had the most wonderful little girl in the world, and he treated her like dirt. He abused her physically and emotionally, and if that weren't enough, he abandoned her. Chloe supposed that last part was a blessing in disguise, as it saved Beatrice's life and gave her a loving home, but Chloe certainly wasn't going to give the bastard points for it. "You're not bad, honey. Don't let anyone ever tell you that again."
"Daddy said so too, and he promised to never leave me. I wasn't sure I could believe him at first, but now I know that Daddy doesn't ever break promises," Beatrice said.
"No, he doesn't," Lucifer drove Chloe crazy more often than not, but she also admired him because he didn't break promises and he was honest to a fault. Even the Devil stuff was honest because he wasn't really lying. He was just using metaphors. To him, it was true.
"Do you like my daddy? He likes you," Beatrice said.
"Of course, I like your daddy. We're really good friends," Chloe said.
"That's not what I meant. I meant do you like him the way boys and girls sometimes like each other. I think he likes you like that," Beatrice said.
"I think you're mistaken, sweetheart," Chloe said with a chuckle. Oh, she knew Lucifer wanted to get her into bed. He'd made more than enough comments about it since they met, but Lucifer wanted to get every woman into bed. She didn't think it was any different than that.
"I don't think so," Beatrice said. She knew her daddy liked Chloe that way, and she believed Chloe felt the same way about her daddy. She hoped so. It would be really cool if Chloe and her daddy got married one day. Then Chloe could be her mommy. She could finally have a nice mommy.
Chloe was saved from responding when her phone went off. She immediately took it out and answered it. "Decker. Now? Okay, I'll be there soon."
Beatrice's face fell as she listened to Chloe on the phone. "Do we have to leave?"
"I'm afraid so, honey. I have to go to work, but we'll have the waitress box up the rest of our lunch to go," Chloe said.
"But you said we could get ice cream afterwards," Beatrice said sadly.
"I know, I'm sorry, but we'll still get ice cream. Maybe we can go tonight after I finish what I have to do, as long as your daddy's okay with it. Maybe he'll come with us," Chloe said.
Beatrice perked up a bit. It would be better if her daddy got to come too. "Okay."
"Would you mind if I take you to work with me? I can call Daddy and have him meet us there," Chloe said. The police station was much closer than LUX. It would be easier than taking her back to the penthouse and then going to the station, but she wanted to make sure Beatrice was okay with it. She hadn't had the best experience the last time she'd come to the station.
"Will that man from last time be there?" Beatrice asked in an uneasy tone.
"Probably, but I promise I won't let him be mean to you," Chloe told her.
"Okay," Beatrice said. She believed Chloe would protect her. She never let anything bad happen.
"Great," Chloe said before picking up her phone again to call Lucifer.
Xxxxxxxxxxx
Chloe had Beatrice sit in front of her desk with some paper and crayons while they waited for Lucifer. Maze would also be coming to pick Beatrice up so that Lucifer could help her with the case she'd just been handed. The good thing was that they didn't have to process the crime scene. That had already been done. Chloe had been given the case from another detective who had an emergency.
Chloe was looking over the file of her new case when she heard footsteps approach her desk. She looked up to be unpleasantly surprised by Malcolm Graham. "Can I help you, Malcolm?"
"Caught a new one, huh, Decker?" Malcolm asked with a smarmy smile on his face.
"Yeah, if you'd let me get back to it," Chloe said as politely as possible.
Malcolm's eyes traveled to the young girl seated across from Chloe. "You're babysitting too, it seems. After all, she can't be yours. You don't have kids anymore."
Chloe bristled inside, but she would not give Malcolm the satisfaction. He wanted to get a rise out of her. It wouldn't be the first time he attempted to use Trixie to do that. She would not play his game. "Did you actually need something, Malcolm?"
Malcolm ignored her and focused on the kid. "Hey, kid. My name's Malcolm. What's yours?"
"I'm not allowed to talk to strangers," Beatrice said as she looked at him. She didn't like him. He was being mean to Chloe, but pretending to be nice. She'd learned that adults did that sometimes. They could act nice when they were really being mean.
"I'm a police officer," Malcolm said.
"But a stranger nonetheless," a new voice said.
Beatrice turned and smiled at her father as he came over. "Hi, Daddy."
"Hello, Urchin," Lucifer said before turning back to Malcolm Graham. "IS there a reason you're addressing my child, Detective Graham?"
"Just being friendly. I didn't know you had a kid. It seems strange that someone like you would have kids," Malcolm said.
"Yes, well, it seems equally strange that someone like you would be in law enforcement. Kindly refrain from approaching my daughter in the future. I've heard you don't have great history with other people's children," Lucifer said.
Malcolm froze for a minute, wondering if Morningstar knew anything about his involvement with what happened to Decker's kid, but he soon came to the conclusion that if he did know anything, Decker would know by now too, which she obviously didn't. Decker must have just told him that Malcolm was there that day. "Well, I don't know what you've heard, but I didn't…"
"Do anything to protect an innocent child? Yes, I'm aware," Lucifer interrupted
Malcolm glared at him before walking away.
"Is everything okay? That man wasn't very nice," Beatrice said.
"It's fine, sweetie. No, he wasn't very nice, but it's okay," Chloe told her.
"Did you have a good day?" Lucifer asked his daughter.
"Uh huh. It was so much fun. We spent two hours at the mall buying clothes," Beatrice said.
"That sounds like an agonizing torture session," Lucifer said.
Chloe, meanwhile, grabbed Lucifer's credit card from her pocket. "Here. We didn't go crazy."
Lucifer took the offered item. "Why not? I told you to spend as much as you wanted."
"We got everything we needed without putting a dent in your bank account," Chloe said.
"I assure you, Detective, that was never a possibility," Lucifer said.
"Daddy, Chloe said we could go out for ice cream later if it's okay with you. Can we go?"
"Certainly. For now, however, Maze will be arriving shortly to take you home," Lucifer said before motioning for her to stand up.
Beatrice stood up. "Bye, Chloe. See you later. Thanks for taking me shopping."
"You're welcome, sweetheart. I'll see you tonight. I'll bring all your new clothes to you when I come over. They're still in my car," Chloe said.
"Okay," Beatrice said before taking her father's hand and walking out with him.
