Lucifer bounced Charlie gently in his arms and sang softly to him as the boy began to drift off to sleep. As his eyes closed, Lucifer brought him to the crib and carefully placed him inside.
"Lucifer!" a voice said in a loud singsong voice.
Lucifer stiffened and held his breath as he looked down at Charlie, who moved around a little, but didn't otherwise stir.
Lucifer sighed in relief before grabbing the baby monitor and leaving the room. He found Eve in the living room when he made it there. "Eve, I've asked you many times not to screech when you enter the penthouse. More often than not, you end up waking Charlie up, and it takes me hours to get him back to sleep at times."
Eve sighed. She always seemed to have to worry about the baby whenever she came home, or when she was there. Lucifer was always insisting that she be quiet, so she didn't wake the baby. It wasn't fair. Lucifer never spent time with her anymore. He was always with the baby. "Sorry, I was just excited to see you. I never get to see you anymore."
"That is your choice, Eve. I'm here all day and night. You choose not to be here," Lucifer said. Eve was out pretty much from the time she woke up, which was usually late in the afternoon, until early in the morning. And he didn't fault her for that. If she preferred to be out than in the penthouse, it was her choice, but he would not let her guilt him over it.
"I've been doing what we always used to do. I've been having fun. I always ask you to come to, but you never do," Eve said.
"Because my life isn't just about having fun anymore Eve. I have a child now," Lucifer said.
"You never wanna have fun with me anymore. You're always with the baby or the detective, sometimes both," Eve whined.
Lucifer sighed. He was realizing that the detective was right. Actually, he was already realizing that. He couldn't let the situation continue as it was. "We should sit down. We need to talk."
Eve walked to the couch and sat down.
Lucifer sat down beside her and placed the baby monitor on the table. "Things have changed quite a bit, and I don't think they can continue as they are."
"Yeah, I don't think so either," Eve said. She hoped that Lucifer was finally going to fix things, so they could go back to the way things were.
"I owe you an apology. I should've spoken to you when I chose to raise Charlie," Lucifer said. He couldn't blame Eve completely. He was responsible too. He should have spoken to her. It wouldn't have changed his decision to raise Charlie, but it could have at least avoided the situation they were in now. "I should have spoken to you about how you felt so that you could've adequately made a decision yourself about what you wanted. I can only say that I was overwhelmed by Linda's death and the prospect of raising a child."
Eve smiled. It seemed Lucifer was finally starting to realize he made a mistake and was going to listen to her feelings. She knew she could convince him that life as a parent wasn't what he wanted. "I'm so glad you said that. I knew you'd come around. I know Linda's death was very hard for you. You felt obligated to take her baby, but I don't think it's right for us."
"Eve," Lucifer started calmly.
"I mean, I've seen how awful it's been for you, and it'll only get worse, trust me. I'm just really glad you've realized what a mistake it was to do this," Eve said with relief in her voice. She just knew he'd come around. She knew he didn't really want any of this. She just had to wait for him to see that.
"That is not what I said. I never said taking Charlie was a mistake. I said that I should've discussed it with you more. I didn't mean that my choice would've changed, just that I should've given you the chance to discuss how you felt about it, so that you could decide what you wanted. That certainly doesn't mean that my choice would've changed. It would not have," Lucifer explained.
"I don't understand," she said.
Lucifer sighed. "I mean that I should've given you a chance to decide if you still wanted to stay knowing that I would be a father and that Charlie would take priority. I should've made certain you understood that my taking Charlie was not some whim that I would get over one day. The more I care for Charlie, the more I love him. I will never give him up."
"But you can't mean that. I've seen what it takes for you to take care of him. He cries all the time. You never sleep. You never get to go out," Eve said.
Lucifer sighed. "Yes, there have been many days when I barely sleep, and there have been moments when I've longed for the days when I didn't have so many responsibilities, but all I have to do is look at my son, and that completely vanishes. My life is how I want it."
"But he's not your son. Amenadiel is his father," Eve said.
Lucifer glared fiercely at her. "Do not say that to me again. Amenadiel is nothing to that child! He has never so much as laid eyes on Charlie!"
"What if he comes back?" Eve asked.
"If my brother so much as shows his face to me again, it will be his funeral. He will certainly not be taking mychild," Lucifer said strongly. It was far too late for Amenadiel to show an interest in Charlie now, not that Lucifer expected him to. He didn't expect his brother's cowardice to change anytime soon. And that was fine with Lucifer at this point. Charlie was his now. He didn't need Amenadiel. "Eve, you need to understand that Charlie is not going anywhere. I love him more than anything. When I was in Hell, he is what I thought of every day."
"You thought of me too though, didn't you?" Eve asked.
"No," Lucifer said softly. He didn't want to hurt him, but she asked him a question, and he wouldn't lie. The only things he thought of were Charlie and the detective.
"Not once. But you love me. How could you not think of me?" Eve asked with hurt laced in her voice.
"Eve, I care about you, but I never told you I loved you," Lucifer said. Again, he did not want to hurt her, but letting her believe he loved her would be a lie. He couldn't do that.
"But you do. You have to. We found each other after so long. We've had so much fun together," she said.
"Some of it was fun, but not all of it, not for me. Truthfully, Eve, you remind me of someone I wish to forget. What happened with Tiernan, that nearly destroyed me," Lucifer said. He'd been thinking of telling Eve exactly that when Linda went into labor. After that, the entire thing got pushed aside for more important things.
"But he deserved it, and you were happy afterwards," Eve reminded him.
"Perhaps for a bit," Lucifer granted her. It did satisfy him for a little while, but that quickly changed. "I was angry when Tiernan got away. I wanted revenge for him killing that police officer, and yes, it did feel good at first, but it didn't last."
"Because the detective made you feel guilty," Eve said.
"No!" Lucifer said sharply before standing up. "I felt guilty myself. I felt guilty because I knew it wasn't right! I felt so guilty that it affected my wings."
"But it's your job. You punish people," she pointed out.
Lucifer shook his head. "Not like that. In Hell, I insure souls are punished for their sins in life, but the majority of them decide their own punishment. They are punished with the things they've done. Here, I help bring the appropriate punishment to humans. That means making sure they are put in prison. What I did to Tiernan went too far."
"Fine. I don't see anything wrong with it, but it's over anyway. All I was trying to say is that we're great together," Eve said.
"And I'm trying to tell you that you're wrong," Lucifer said before walking to the bar and pouring himself a drink.
Eve got up and followed him.
"Look, Eve, I'm not saying what happened was your fault. It wasn't. I made my choice, but that incident with Tiernan proved something. That is who you want. You want the man who was okay with taking vengeance on people. I'm not him anymore."
"Of course, you are? You're who I've wanted to be with since the Garden," she said.
"No, I'm not!" Lucifer said in a slightly raised tone. "I have changed in many ways since then. Yes, I still have some of the same qualities, but the things I want out of life have changed. For goodness sake, they have changed just in the last several weeks. Now, they include taking care of a baby. You don't share that desire, and there's nothing wrong with that. You don't want to be a parent again. I can understand that, but it is a problem with you staying here."
"It doesn't have to be," Eve quickly said. She could tell that Lucifer was on the verge of breaking up with her, and she'd do anything to stop that, even if you had to accept the baby. "I won't ask you to give the baby up again, and I'll stay with you every day if you want."
Lucifer sighed. "Eve, you're not understanding me. It's not wrong for you to feel the way you do. The only thing that truly bothers me about it is your attempt to undermine my relationship to Charlie."
"I won't do that again," she promised.
"It doesn't matter. No one is happy right now, and we certainly won't be happy if we continue on this way. I don't want you to be around my son when you don't want to be. That won't be good for him," Lucifer said. The detective was right. If he was going to be with someone, they didn't just have to agree to be around Charlie. They had to want to be.
"Luceā¦"
"Eve, I'm sorry, but I don't think we should be together. I think you should leave tomorrow. I will put you up in a hotel until you can find another place, but I don't think you should stay any longer," Lucifer said as gently as he could.
"Why are you doing this? Why are you choosing that baby over me? He's not really your kid!" Eve cried loudly.
Just then, Charlie's cries could be heard through the baby monitor.
Lucifer glared at her. He had tried to do it nicely, but he was not going to take anymore from her regarding Charlie. "You need to leave by morning," he said firmly before walking away to go see to his child.
