Chloe didn't know how long she sat there unable to speak. She was in complete shock. Her mind was racing so much she could barely pick out any coherent thoughts. Beatrice was her child. She'd always felt a connection to that little girl. She loved her like her own from pretty much the moment she laid eyes on her, but she didn't consider that she might be hers.
Actually, that last part wasn't completely true. Chloe did think about for a moment, only because Beatrice reminded her so much of Trixie, like her name and appearance. However, Chloe had quickly forced that thought away because she didn't even think it was remotely possible. Her daughter could not have just happened back into her life after five years. Things like that didn't just happen. Except that it apparently had.
Lucifer sat across from the detective in trepidation, just waiting for her reaction. A part of him wanted to say something, just to end the silence, but he decided that it was best to allow her to process what he'd told her and wait for her to respond. Of course, he was going out of his mind thinking of how she'd respond. She'd most likely demand her child back immediately, and that was one thing Lucifer would not give her. Beatrice was his child too. No was going to tell him she wasn't his after he looked after her for nearly three years. He would fight with everything he had to keep her.
"A…Are you sure?" Chloe asked. She had to stop herself from believing this completely because it would break her if she put her hope in this and it turned out not to be true.
"Yes. I wouldn't have said anything otherwise," Lucifer said. He wished this wasn't true. He wished the detective's child was someone else, and he could simply keep searching until he found another child that belonged to her.
"Malcolm told you? He could be lying," Chloe said.
Lucifer shook his head. "Malcolm didn't tell me where to find her. He merely gave me the name of the person he was working with to sell your child. Maze interrogated him until he gave her the file of the same man that I took Beatrice from.
Chloe put her hand over her mouth to suppress her cry of joy. She prayed for this moment for five years. For a while now, she'd all but given up hope that that prayer would come true. She certainly never thought that if it did, she would end up knowing the child that was her daughter. How had she not have known? She should've known it was Trixie the moment she laid eyes on that child. She should've recognized her own child. True, she did think about it for a moment, and she did feel a connection to that little girl, but she should've known.
"Detective?" Lucifer called. She'd gone quiet again, and he just couldn't handle that anymore. He had to know what she was thinking, what she was going to do.
"Malcolm admitted what he did," Chloe said.
"Yes. I don't have proof yet, but it wouldn't be very hard to get it at this point," Lucifer said. That bastard would pay for this. It wasn't just the detective's child that he messed around with anymore. It was Lucifer's child too. Everything that Beatrice had been through was because of Malcolm Graham.
"What about Dan?" Chloe asked. She had to know how much her ex-husband was involved. Was he just negligent, as she'd believed for so many years, or had she helped Malcolm do this?
"Detective Douche wasn't involved. Graham said that he merely encouraged him to keep drinking and waited for him to pass out before he took Beatrice," Lucifer explained. That by no means made Detective Douche innocent. Graham had not forced him to get drunk and ignore his child. He was responsible for his parental incompetence. Lucifer didn't know what would happen with the detective right now, but Detective Douche would never get near. Beatrice again.
Chloe nodded almost dumbly, her mind still very clouded.
"Detective, I didn't know about any of this until last night," Lucifer told her. He had to make sure she understood that he had no part in this.
"I need to see her. Please," Chloe said. She barely heard his last words. She couldn't think of the circumstance of how they got here right now. She needed to see her baby. She knew she'd seen her many times since she met Lucifer, but things were different now. This would be the first time she'd see Beatrice as hers.
"She's asleep," Lucifer immediately said. He felt the walls close in a little. He was very reluctant to allow the detective around his child right now, terrified of losing the person that meant the most to him in the universe.
"I won't wake her up, I swear. Please, Lucifer," Chloe begged. He had the right to tell her know. Right now, he was her legal parent.
As tempted as he was, Lucifer knew he couldn't say no. It wouldn't be right. The detective deserved to see her child. He couldn't deny her that because he was afraid. "You may not take her."
"I won't," Chloe promised. Her brain was still processing, but she knew that she could not just rip her child away from the only real father she knew in the middle of the night. First of all, she had no legal right to do that, and second, she couldn't hurt her child that way.
"Very well," Lucifer said before standing up.
Chloe got up and followed him to the elevator. They stepped inside, and he hit the button for the penthouse. That elevator ride felt like the longest couple of minutes of her life.
When they arrived at the penthouse, Maze was there waiting. As soon as she saw Chloe, she got right in her way. "What the hell is she doing here?"
"Step aside, Mazikeen," Lucifer ordered.
"No way in hell! She's not going any further," Maze all but snarled.
"Maze, I don't care how strong you are. If you don't get out of my way, I will kick your ass," Chloe said. No one was keeping her from her daughter again. She didn't care who she had to fight.
"Bring it on, Decker," Maze said with a smirk.
"That won't be necessary. I said step aside, Maze," Lucifer said. He flashed his red eyes at her to let her know he was serious. The detective's eyes hadn't left Maze's, so she didn't notice.
Maze glared at Lucifer, but she did as her king instructed.
Chloe wasted no time in rushing to her child's bedroom.
Maze looked at Lucifer furiously. "What the hell are you doing? You're just gonna bend over and let that human take the kid away?!"
"Watch your mouth, Mazikeen! No one is taking my child away, but I will not keep her mother from her either," Lucifer said sharply before following the detective to Beatrice's room.
Chloe stood in the doorway for several seconds, watching her little girl. She was fast asleep, clutching her favorite teddy bear to her side. She looked so peaceful. For the first time in years, Chloe could let go of the fear of wondering if her child was okay. She was. At least she was now. She was safe and happy. Chloe had seen both those things with her own eyes.
"My baby," Chloe whispered after a minute. She wanted to rush forward and pull her daughter into her arms forever, but she knew she couldn't, at least not right now. Instead, she just kept looking at her, settling for at least being able to be close to her. She didn't know what would happen next, but she at least knew her child was okay.
After several moments of just staring at her daughter, Chloe turned back to Lucifer. "Thank you."
"Of course. You had every right to see her. But I meant what I said earlier. I won't let you take her away," Lucifer said firmly.
Chloe turned and closed the door to Beatrice's room before facing Lucifer again. "I…I'm still so shocked by everything that's happened. I don't know what happens next. I know I need to try to wrap my head around it all. And I need to tell Dan. He wasn't involved in the kidnapping, so he deserves to know."
"I disagree that Detective Douche deserves anything, but I understand that you need to tell him. However, let me make it clear that he is not welcome here. I will not allow him near Beatrice," Lucifer said firmly. As far as he was concerned Detective Douche abandoned Beatrice when he got drunk and allowed this to happen.
Chloe could only nod. She wasn't even going to try to fight him tonight. She wasn't sure yet that she would fight him at all. She wasn't sure of anything. Too much was going through her head to even contemplate that. "I need to go home. I don't want to, but I have to be alone to think through all of this. Will you let me come by tomorrow and see Beatrice? I won't say anything to her about all of this, but I need to see her when she's awake. Then we can talk.
Lucifer nodded. "Of course."
"Thank you. I'll see you tomorrow," Chloe said before walking away.
