The ride from Linda's house to Chateau Seurat was kind of awkward. Normally, Ella got along great with Linda and Amenadiel—but not tonight, apparently. The all sat stiffly in the Lyft car, Amenadiel in the front passenger seat and the two women in the back. The conversation was … nonexistent.
Which was strange, because they were all heading to Lucifer's party. If nothing else, they should have been able to discuss the big mystery behind the party.
When Ella had arrived, she'd commented on how beautiful Linda looked. And she had! Her hair had been done and some of the darkness under her eyes had faded. Nevertheless, Linda looked … tense. And so did Amenadiel, which was weird, because the big dude with the guns was normally so chill. Ella didn't understand it.
It didn't really matter, though, because Ella was tense with excitement herself. She had unlocked Chloe's and Lucifer's secret—and she couldn't wait to confront them with her new-found knowledge. She had her plan all figured out: she was going to casually mention Rae-Rae to Chloe, and then tell Chloe that she now understood why Chloe had asked if Rae-Rae had wings. Then she was going to tell Chloe that Rae-Rae was a ghost, not an extraterrestrial—but that Ella knew there were avian-like extraterrestrials on Earth, and that Lucifer was in contact with them. She'd watch Chloe closely to see how she'd react to the news, and then she'd get Chloe to admit the truth. It would be like interrogating a suspect.
She couldn't wait to spring the trap.
Ella's solving the mystery of The Impossible Feather wasn't only reason she was excited: she'd just wrapped-up a hurried, but wonderful, dinner with Jerry. They'd met at a restaurant in Pasadena. Since Jerry had to leave for his shift at Lux and Ella had to be at Linda's just before eight, they'd arrived separately. Ella thought Jerry had looked nice in a sport coat. She understood that fashion wasn't really an option for him right now, given the cost of law school and living in LA. Still, he was presentable.
Ella looked good too, if she said so herself. Nothing fancy—that would come later, when she changed into her bling at Linda's house. She had everything packed away in a large purse. Still, with her hair and her nails done, she looked good tonight, and she knew it.
They ordered drinks and food quickly. Jerry asked for a TNT and she had a tequila sunrise. They talked about something, but the night wasn't about conversation because their eyes kept meeting and time kept stopping, and then they'd laugh and blush and look away, only to have their eyes meet again a few seconds later. What is going on? Ella asked herself. She remembered that she'd told Chloe—only a few days ago—that Lucifer and Chloe were like magnets. That's what tonight felt like: she and Jerry were like magnets and they were stuck together no matter how hard they tried to pull away.
She learned that Jerry had spent four years in the Army after high school, and then gone to college under the G.I. Bill benefit package while also serving in the Reserves. After college, he'd quit the Reserves and taken a year off "to see what the world was like when people weren't trying to kill me." Then he'd enrolled in law school. He still had a year to go before he graduated and took the bar exam.
Ella did the math: that made him about 28 or 29 now. Less than five years younger than she was. That wasn't too bad.
Riding in the car on the way to Lucifer's party, she realized that she didn't remember what she had eaten for dinner. She only remembered Jerry's sea-green eyes, and his smile, and his laugh. Dang, girl! You have fallen—hard. How could this have happened? And on a first date?
Her brain didn't understand, but her heart did.
Too quickly, she'd looked at her phone and had seen it was time to leave for Linda's house. Drop me off? she'd asked—and he had agreed. His car was nothing fancy, as she'd expected. Law school was super-expensive. In the car, he'd too-casually asked her if they could see each other again. When she'd said yes, he'd then asked if she felt like dropping by Lux later that night.
"I'll be honest, Ella," he'd said. "I've got to get to bed right after my shift is over. I have to study all day tomorrow and Sunday as well. Big test coming up. But I'd like to see you later tonight at Lux, if you're up for it."
Since his request fit nicely into her plans for the evening, she'd had no problem saying Sure. Maybe around midnight or one? That would give them at least an hour more together, maybe two.
He had smiled at her response. "Sounds good," he said.
Linda's house was just a few minutes away from the restaurant. When they'd pulled up, he'd walked her to Linda's front door, then gave her a warm hug goodnight. The hug felt as if he'd read her mind and understood that a kiss would have promised more than either of them were ready for tonight.
She surprised herself by pulling his head down into a long and even lusty kiss. The kiss promised him that she was ready for more, and soon. Their kiss seemed to go on forever, and when they were done, he reluctantly pulled away and looked into her eyes, as if he couldn't understand what was happening. Well, neither could she.
She smiled and pushed him towards his car, then she turned to ring Linda's doorbell.
#
The car arrived at the restaurant a bit before nine. At the front, they mentioned Auguste and Morningstar, which was apparently some kind of magic talisman like Open Sesame, because they were immediately whisked away toward the back of the restaurant and into the banquet room.
When they got there, a DJ was setting up. They saw was a microphone for karaoke, in case somebody wanted to sing later. There was a dance floor and a bar in the back. Lucifer was apparently going all out tonight. But why? And why here, instead of Lux? Nobody seemed to know.
Amenadiel got up to get Linda and himself a couple of glasses of wine. He looked at Ella, who said, "Just club soda and lime right now. I gotta pace myself." The three of them sat at a table and sipped their drinks. The silence between them grew awkward.
Finally, Linda said, "I had a visit from one of your Detectives today, Ella."
"Oh, really! Who was it?"
"Dutton. Joe Dutton, I think it was." She fumbled the card out of her purse, where she'd put it in hope that she'd have a chance to discuss the case with Chloe. But since Ella was here and nobody had any other topic for conversation …
Linda looked at the card to make sure, and continued. "Yes, Dutton was his name. Came to see me about the death of a young girl."
"Really? Why did he want to talk with you?"
"Apparently one of my ex-clients is a suspect. Pearson. Chuck Pearson."
Ella's eyes got big. "Charles Pearson?"
"Yes. Do you know the case?"
"Oh, do I! And you say Pearson is an 'ex-client'?"
"Yes. I stopped seeing him earlier this week. I referred him to another therapist."
"Oh, wow! What a small world, I guess. Right?"
"Right," Linda agreed. "So, Ella. What can you tell me?"
"Well, not much. The case is a puzzler. And Dutton is no Decker, if you know what I mean."
"Ah, I think I do know what you mean. Kind of a plodder, or so he seemed to me. By the book; not much imagination."
Ella nodded. "Yeah, he's a plodder all right. Which is fine, usually. Sometimes the turtle wins the race, you know? But in a homicide investigation, normally you want to move as quickly as possible, before the perp can hide evidence or make a getaway."
Linda nodded. "Makes sense. But anyway, what can you tell me about the case?"
Ella hesitated. Linda was a friend but there were limits on what she could say about an active investigation. "A girl was murdered. We have some circumstantial evidence that ties Pearson to the girl, but not enough for a warrant. We need—or Detective Joe needs—more to go on. I guess he was hoping you'd have something for him."
Linda shook her head no. "Well, he's going to need a warrant if he's going to get anything more from me. And, apparently, it's going to be a challenge to get that warrant. So I guess I'm not going to be of much help to him."
Amenadiel had been following the conversation closely. "If I understand you both, you're saying that you need more evidence to get a warrant, which will allow you to obtain more evidence. Is that right?"
Ella nodded. "Yes. That's right. It's like a Catch-22. You need evidence to get evidence."
Amenadiel was puzzled. "A Catch-22? What's that?"
Linda smiled. "Here's my phone. You can Google it." While Amenadiel looked at her phone, she turned her attention back to Ella, and said, "Amenadiel was just accepted to the LAPD Academy. He starts in two weeks."
"Oh, wow!" Ella said. "That's wonderful news, A-Diel!"
Amenadiel, who had been looking at Linda's phone and scrolling through an article on Joseph Heller, cocked his head and raised an eyebrow. "A-Diel?"
"Yeah, that's your new nickname. You know: like A-Rod for Alex Rodriguez. What do you think of it, A-Diel?"
"I think my father named me for a reason and he would be displeased to see my name adulterated."
"Oh." Ella was disappointed. "Sorry. I'll try to think of—"
Maze and Eve walked into the banquet room, interrupting whatever Ella was going to say. They were both dressed in black, but Maze was in leather pants with a flame-red lame top and Eve was in a beautiful, understated, black dress. Maze wore a silver necklace and Eve wore a necklace made of differently colored glass beads.
Maze scanned the room and headed straight for the bar. Eve walked over to greet the threesome siting at the table. "Hi there," she said. "You look lovely tonight!"
"As do you and Maze," Linda said.
Ella nodded. "We're all looking good tonight. Anybody know why?"
Eve shook her head. "No idea. Maze just received a text from Lucifer, telling us to be here at nine for a party." She smiled. "You know Maze: she never needs to know what the party's about, just so long as there's a party."
Amenadiel smiled back at her. "True. And so here we all are. It's nine o'clock and everybody is here. Everybody except for …"
At that moment they heard faint sounds of applause, coming from the restaurant. They looked at each other, puzzled. What could be going on?
Maze came over with three shots of tequila and handed one to Eve and another to Ella. "Drink up, girls!" she said. "Party time is getting started!" They clinked their shot glasses together and downed their shots. Somehow, Ella kind of forgot about her promise to pace herself. Must be Maze's bad influence, she thought.
The doors to the banquet hall flew open. In walked Lucifer and Chloe, holding hands. Behind them came Chloe's mother and little Trixie. Well, not so little anymore, Ella thought. Trixie was wearing a killer dress; her hair was up, and she had on bold red lipstick. Is that a glass of champagne in her hand?
Amenadiel stood up. "Hi Lucy," Amenadiel said. "Well, we're here, just as you requested. Mind telling us what we're celebrating?"
Lucifer just held up Chloe's left hand. They all looked and got it immediately. They're engaged! Ella and Linda both saw that Chloe had been crying. What a night she must have had!
Ella looked at Chloe's beautiful engagement ring and felt as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. I hope Rae-Rae is happy now, she thought.
Linda and Amenadiel each let out sighs of relief. Maybe this was going to work, after all. Maybe the engagement would be enough to keep the other angels from doing anything to Chloe. Maybe ...
Lucifer sat Penelope, Trixie, and Chloe at the table in the front of the banquet hall. He looked at everybody and said in a very loud voice, "We're having an engagement party!"
Then he yelled, "Where are the drinks? Where's the music? C'mon you lot, we have a party to start!"
#
The DJ had the music rocking. Ella didn't really know what kind of music she'd expected, but she definitely hadn't expected alternative rock from the '90's, that was for sure. Then she got what was going on: Lucifer was playing Chloe's favorite music.
Everybody had crowded around Chloe to see the ring, but then she'd excused herself. "I must look a mess," she'd said. "I need some repairs made, ASAP."
Ella offered to go with her, and Chloe smiled. They linked arms and headed-off to the restroom.
Inside, Chloe looked at her ruined makeup and sighed. "All that work, all that money, down the drain." She reached into her bag and pulled out some makeup to do what she could to make repairs.
While she was working at the mirror, Ella stood next to her and tried to think about how to bring up the subject on her mind: the extraterrestrials. Finally, she thought she had a good opening.
"Hey, I guess my little push kinda helped, right?" she said.
Chloe smiled. "You mean Rae-Rae's push?"
"Yeah. I mean, it did help, right?"
"Yes, I think so. Rae-Rae pushed you, you pushed me, and I kind of pushed Lucifer. But truthfully, we had been stuck in our relationship limbo for too long. It was time to move forward." She her reflection looked at Ella. "But you helped everything along, Ella. Thanks for that."
"Happy to be of service, Detective Decker. Or should I say: the future Mrs. Morningstar?"
Chloe laughed. "Don't push too hard! I'm not sure whether I'll take his name or not. I've kind of gotten used to Decker. I've always gone by Decker, even when I was married to Dan. And Morningstar sounds a little bit too much, if I'm being honest." She paused. "You don't have to tell Lucifer I said that, okay?"
Ella nodded. "Your secret's safe with me." She took a deep breath. "And speaking of secrets—"
At that moment the restroom door opened and Eve came in. She threw her arms around Chloe, who tried not to drop her makeup. "Oh my God, Chloe!" Eve said. "I'm so happy for you and Luce!"
Ella tried not to show her disappointment. She'd been about to drop the bomb on Chloe, and Eve had just interrupted her moment. Oh well, she thought. I'll try again later.
Chloe removed herself from Eve and looked at Ella. "Hey Ella, could you please give us a moment?"
"Of course!" Ella said. "See you in a few." She left them alone in the restroom and went back to the party.
#
Ella saw Lucifer look over at her as she exited the restroom, obviously disappointed not to see Chloe. She shrugged. Still working on repairs, she tried to tell him telepathically. He must have received her signal, because he turned back towards Amenadiel and continued the conversation they'd been having. It seemed kind of serious, which was weird because it was supposed to be a party.
Ella sat down next to Penelope and Trixie. Penelope was glowing tonight. She was clearly happy with the news of the engagement. She put her lips next to Ella's ear and said, "Such a wonderful dinner. So romantic! He got down on one knee, but before he did he asked for my blessing. And Trixie's as well! He's such a romantic!"
Ella smiled. It did sound wonderful. She looked at Trixie to see how the young lady was doing, and saw Trixie take a sip of champagne. "Hey, Trix!" she said. "Your mom know you're drinking bubbly tonight?"
Trixie smiled. "Yeah, she knows. Just a half a glass is all I can have, so I'm making it last."
"You like it?" Ella asked.
"Oh, for sure!" Trixie smiled. She replied in a rush. "This is supposed to be some kind of special champagne. Lucifer says I have a gift for tasting, and he wants me to go to some kind of school to develop it, but he also said drinking this is going to ruin other champagnes for me, so I don't know. But I'm enjoying this glass—a lot! Also, did you know that Lucifer asked me if it was okay if he asked my mom to marry him? Of course I said yes, because they love each other and they should be together. But he asked me if he could be my step-father, which was a really nice thing of him to do, don't you think?"
Ella nodded and glanced at Penelope, who was smiling. They both had the same thought: the champagne must have gone to Trixie's head. Poor little thing: she wasn't used to alcohol. Ella hoped she'd be okay tomorrow morning.
Trixie kept talking. "The dinner was so nice. We had soup and salad, only my salad was discontructed, which means not tossed like a salad should be. So I mixed mine up and then it was fine! And then they served me a grilled cheese sandwich in a big silver serving tray, like I was a princess! Then I had a chocolate souffle! That was amazing; the whole thing was amazing! And then Lucifer asked Mom to marry him, and he put a ring on her finger! And then we looked at places where we might live together, as one family! And then we came here … for a party, I guess."
Trixie paused and took another sip of her champagne. "This is really good, Ella. Want to try some?"
"No, thanks." Ella replied. "I've got my drink here, somewhere. You enjoy your champagne, young lady."
Ella saw Chloe and Eve come out of the restroom. Chloe's makeup had been repaired, but Ella thought that maybe Eve had been crying. Wonder what they'd talked about? Ella thought. Then she remembered that Eve and Lucifer had been a thing. She'd thought that was all in the past, and that Eve was with Maze now. But maybe Eve still had feelings for Lucifer? They hadn't been together very long—only a couple of months—but maybe she'd developed strong feelings for him during that time? Ella knew that strong feelings could develop quickly, more quickly than they had any right to develop …
Maze pulled Eve onto the dance floor and Chloe made her way over to where Lucifer and Amenadiel had been talking. She hugged Amenadiel and then threw her arms around Lucifer, who took that opportunity to kiss her—thoroughly. Ella looked at them kissing and remembered her kiss with Jerry earlier that night. Her body started to get warm and the little hairs on her arms stood up. She felt tingles in her lower belly and … lower. She pulled her eyes away from the couple and looked at Trixie, who was also looking at them and smiling.
Trixie leaned over to Ella and whispered in her ear. "They're having sex, you know. They don't want me to know, but I do. I'm okay with it, because Mom is so happy these days. He makes her so happy!"
Ella smiled back at Trixie. "That's a really nice thing to say, Trix. Isn't it nice when the people we care about are happy?"
Trixie nodded. "Oh, yes. But you know, I'm going to have to have a talk with them soon. They keep pretending that they're not having sex. I guess they think I'm too young to deal with it, but I'm not! All this pretending is not healthy. We just need to be honest with each other, don't you think?"
Ella nodded. That was going to be an interesting conversation!
Trixie took another sip from her glass. Watching Trixie sip champagne reminded Ella that she needed to find her glass. She needed to cool off from watching Chloe and Lucifer in their PDA. She smiled at Penelope and Trixie, and got up to visit Linda, who was sitting all alone, moving to the music.
"Hey there, Linda," Ella said to her friend. "You doing okay?"
"Oh, yes. I'm fine, Ella," came the reply. "It's a wonderful night!"
"That it is!"
"And how was your dinner with Jerry?" Linda asked with a smile, as if she already knew how the dinner had gone.
Ella smiled back. "Um, wonderful!" She dropped her voice and said, "You know, I think it's serious. But we've only had one date. How can Jerry and I be serious already?"
Linda said, "Well, speaking professionally, I have to tell you that connections between people are real and that they can happen in an instant."
Ella frowned. "Yeah, like me and Pete."
Linda put her hand on Ella's. "No, not like Pete, Ella. Pete was a sociopath. A manipulator. I don't think Jerry is anything like Pete."
"Well, maybe. But I'm so confused! How can I feel this way after basically just meeting him? I mean, I haven't seen his place. I don't know if he has a dog or a cat. I basically don't know anything about him except he was in the Army and now he works at Lux to put himself through law school."
"Well, we also know he has a nice butt," Linda said, smiling.
Ella smiled. "That's true. Deep green eyes and a nice butt. Think that's enough to build a relationship on?"
"I've heard of worse things," Linda said.
Lucifer wandered over to their table. "Hello, lovely ladies. How is everyone? More drinks?"
Linda said no, but Ella nodded. "Let me go get mine, please, Lucifer. This is your night. Yours and Chloe's." He nodded and she got up. As she walked to the bar at the back of the room, she overheard Lucifer say to Linda, "I heard you had a visitor tonight…" but the rest of the conversation was lost in "You Get What You Give," which was the song the DJ was playing at the moment.
She got a tequila sunrise and a shot of Patron, because she really needed to talk to Chloe about how she had figured out the big secret. Where is Chloe? She looked around and saw Chloe dancing with Maze and Eve, while Linda, Lucifer, and Amenadiel were deep in a serious conversation.
Ella walked back to Penelope and Trixie. She didn't want them to feel left out!
"Hey, Trix!" she said. "Wanna dance?"
Trixie smiled and said "Sure!"
Ella looked at Penelope, "Sorry to leave you here all alone—"
"Oh, you kids go have fun. I have a glass of wonderful wine here, and I'll be fine." Penelope hesitated. "In fact, I need some time to think about an offer Lucifer made tonight. I need to decide—"
"Lucifer invited Nana to come live with us!" Trixie interrupted. "Oh please, Nana. Say that you will!"
Penelope smiled. "You go dance with Ella, honey. I need to think about it, okay?"
"Okay," Trixie replied. "But don't let anybody take my glass away. Please?"
Penelope nodded. The half-full glass of champagne would remain safe with her. Trixie took a quick sip from her champagne glass and went to join Ella on the dance floor. "Everybody Dance Now" was playing, and Trixie was rocking-out along with Ella, Maze, Eve, and Chloe. Ella glanced over and Linda's and Amenadiel's table, and noticed that the others were still talking, and now things looked a bit heated. Lucifer was not happy about something. She could almost, but not quite, hear Lucifer say I will not be manipulated anymore! but maybe she'd misheard him. She mentally shrugged, and returned her attention to jumping around on the floor with the others. The dancing was just too much fun to worry about an argument on the other side of the room.
Trixie looked to be having the time of her life. Ella thought how special tonight must have been for the young teen. Madonna's "Vogue" started, and Chloe got to show the others her poses. Maze looked puzzled but Eve jumped right in, as did Ella and Trixie. They were having so much fun!
The DJ segued into "Friday I'm in Love" and then into "Crash Into Me." Lucifer looked up when that last song started and yelled at the DJ, What are you doing? No Dave Mathews Band! and then he stormed over and turned off the music. The DJ started to apologize, but Lucifer wouldn't hear it.
"Everybody sit down," he said. "I have something to say."
Ella whispered to Trixie, "This is probably the toast part. Better go get your glass for the toasts." Trixie ran over to Penelope's table and grabbed her glass, still half-full of Krug.
But there were no toasts. The DJ turned on the karaoke machine, and The Goo Goo Dolls' "Iris" started to play. Lucifer walked over to Chloe, who was still breathing hard from all the dancing she'd been doing, and began to sing to her.
And I'd give up forever to touch you
'Cause I know that you feel me somehow
You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be
And I don't want to go home right now
Chloe just looked at him and started to cry. When the song was finished, she patted her eyes with a napkin, took the microphone from Lucifer, and walked over to the DJ. After a quick whisper, The Pretenders' "I'll Stand by You" started to play. Chloe didn't have Lucifer's vocal talent, but she sang with feeling, looking directly at him.
Let me see you through
'Cause I've seen the dark side too
When the night falls on you
You don't know what to do
Nothing you confess
Could make me love you less
I'll stand by you
I'll stand by you
Won't let nobody hurt you
I'll stand by you
Ella watched as Lucifer tried to keep the tears from showing. He did a good job, but she was pretty sure Chloe's song hit home. He hugged Chloe and cleared his throat. Lucifer kept his arm around her as he spoke to his friends and loved ones.
"Tonight has been a special night," he said. "Tonight, Chloe and I committed publicly to each other. Not that we weren't committed before, but tonight we made our relationship official in the human way. We committed, and we demonstrated that commitment with a ring." He paused. "But some people feel as if that public commitment is … insufficient. They want more."
Chloe was looking at him, puzzled. So were the others, all except for Linda and Amenadiel, who were looking on calmly. What had they said to Lucifer? Ella wondered.
Looking directly at Linda and Amenadiel, Lucifer continued. "Some people want us to set a wedding date tonight." He was trying to control himself, but Ella could tell he was still angry. "Instead of enjoying tonight for what it is, they are pushing for more."
He looked down at Chloe, standing next to him. "Chloe, I love you and we will be married. Soon. But I think you'll agree with me that we need some time to think about the wedding, before we set a date."
Chloe nodded. "Agreed. It's too soon. We have to talk about things first."
"Thank you, m'dear." He looked back at Amenadiel and Linda. "So we'll have no more talk of wedding dates tonight." He glanced at the DJ. "You may resume. But no more Dave Mathews Band if you wish to receive a gratuity."
Ella didn't know how to feel about Lucifer's little speech. Rae-Rae, it seemed, was going to have to be happy with an engagement but no wedding date.
Chloe and Lucifer left the stage and went over to sit with Penelope and Trixie. Trixie was still holding her glass of champagne. Ella heard her say, "What happened to the toasts?"
They all raised their glasses and clinked them together. Ella saw Trixie take a deep pull from her champagne flute, and then Trixie licked her lips. That champagne must really be good!
Ella saw Penelope stand up and heard her say, "Time for me to go, I'm afraid. Tonight was wonderful! What a memory! But old ladies need their sleep and you youngsters can keep partying without me." Penelope looked at Trixie, who also tried to stand up—but was having trouble doing so. Chloe had to help her to her feet. Was Trixie drunk? How could she be drunk on a half-glass of champagne, sipped over several hours? It didn't make sense.
Ella watched Chloe's eyes squint and a furrow appeared between her brows. She knew that look: Decker was suspicious of something. This was going to be interesting! Ella walked a bit closer to the table so that she could hear everything.
Chloe said, "We agreed on only a half-glass. This looks like she's had far more than a half a glass." She lifted Trixie's glass up to show the others, and it was indeed half-full.
Ella gasped softly. How could that be? Trixie had been taking sips out of her glass for hours. It should have been emptied long ago.
"Lucifer, what have you done?"
"Whatever do you mean, my love? We agreed on a half-glass of champagne, and that's exactly what we see before us. I kept my word, as always."
Chloe dropped her voice, but Ella could still hear her. "Lucifer, how did you do this trick?" Lucifer tried to look innocent, but Chloe wasn't buying it. "Fine. Here's another question: did you, or did you not, keep her glass exactly half-full all night?"
Lucifer was indignant at the accusation. "I most certainly did not! Her glass was often less than half-full tonight. I just … saw to it … that it was returned to our agreed-upon level. When necessary. That's all."
"Great. And now she's drunk. My eighth-grader is drunk on Krug champagne." She paused. "Lucifer, when you are her step-father, you've got to think of these things. You said you'd take care of her, right?" Lucifer nodded. "And now tomorrow she's going to wake up with her first hangover. How is that taking care of her?"
Lucifer nodded thoughtfully. "Well, let's solve that problem right now." Ella watched as he took something small out of his pocket and place it on Trixie's check. There was a flash of light. Then Trixie's eyes cleared and she straightened up.
Trixie looked at Penelope and said, "Time to go? But the party's just getting started."
Penelope said, "Sorry, young lady. It's been a wonderful night but it's time to go home. Maybe you can see your mom tomorrow."
"Absolutely, Monkey." Chloe kissed her daughter on her forehead. "We'll take a walk on the beach tomorrow and talk about … whatever you want to talk about."
Penelope and Trixie said their goodbyes to everybody and walked to the front of the restaurant, where their limo was waiting to take them home.
Ella had seen it all, and she knew exactly what had happened: another bit of alien technology. Lucifer had pulled something out of his pocket and had used it to help Trixie sober up in mere seconds. Just like he'd used some kind of technology to keep Trixie's glass from ever becoming empty.
Ella knew it was time to confront them.