Chloe thought it was a beautiful day for a walk along Zuma Beach with her daughter. She had arrived about 10 AM; they'd hugged Penelope goodbye and then headed to the sand. Chloe didn't know how far they'd walk; she only knew she wanted to spend some alone time with Trixie.

They hadn't had any alone time in far too long.

Holding hands, they walked barefoot on the hard sand, on the part where the waves periodically surprised them by sneaking up and washing over their feet and ankles. After a few vain attempts to run away from the waves, they just accepted that they were going to get wet, and started dancing in the water when it came to them. They laughed and pranced in the water, and sometimes kicked splashes at each other. After a while, most of their clothes were wet.

They didn't mind.

After a while, Trixie said, "What will it be like, when we live with Lucifer?"

Chloe considered the question. "I'm not sure, exactly, Monkey. I think some things will stay the same. You'll go to school. It might be a different school, but we'll make sure it's a good one. You'll still have your own room, and we'll still have game night as often as we can."

"But some things will change, right? I mean, you and Lucifer will have your room. And maybe Nana will come live with us. That will be different."

"Right. Lucifer and I will share a room, and Nana needs to tell us whether she wants to live with us or not. If she wants to, then she'll have her own room." Chloe thought about it. "Or maybe her own guest house. If Nana wants to live with us, we'll look for a house with a guest house, so she can have her own space."

Trixie nodded. "Will we have a pool?"

"Oh, Monkey. I don't know. It depends. Do you want a pool?"

"For sure! And my own place where Maze and I can train!"

"Well, that's quite a lot, don't you think? You know I can't promise that."

"But Lucifer is rich, right? He can afford it."

Chloe nodded. "Yes, I suppose he is rich. But that's not why we're getting married. I would marry him even if he didn't have any money. You understand that, right?"

"I know. You two love each other."

Chloe nodded. "Yes, we do. Very much."

Trixie looked up at her mother out of the side of her eye. "When you and Lucifer have your own room, you can have sex without trying to hide it from me."

"Uh … yes. When we are married we will have sex. That's what adults do when they're in love."

Trixie smiled. "It's okay that you're having sex now, Mom. Honestly, it is. I'm happy for you." She paused. "Just … don't try to pretend you're not. Just be honest with me about it."

Chloe sighed. "All right, Monkey. Yes. We are having sex now. And we have been trying to hide it from you. I keep treating you like you're still a little girl, when you're really a teenager now. Sorry about that."

"It's okay. I understand. Just … when we're all one family, let's not have secrets from each other, okay?"

Chloe smiled. "Definitely okay."

"Good."

Chloe looked down at her daughter. "Speaking of secrets, how come I'm the last to hear about Eddie?"

Trixie blushed. "Mom, he's just a friend."

"Yeah, right now. But why do I get the feeling that he's not going to stay just 'a friend' for much longer?"

"Mom!"

"Hey, I thought that we just agreed no more secrets from each other!"

'Okay. Okay. Yes, I'm pretty sure he likes me, and I know I like him. So … yes. More than friends. Maybe!"

Chloe nodded. "Everything is hard at your age, especially dealing with boys. I get it. If you ever want to talk about Eddie, or boys, or … anything else … you know I'm here for you."

Trixie nodded back. "Yes. And I do have a question. How did you know that you loved Lucifer, and that he loved you? I mean, I know that you and he didn't always get along, and sometimes he made you cry. But you still loved him, right? And now you're engaged! So, how did you know?"

Chloe sighed deeply. This was complicated. Like most every relationship, she realized. Every relationship is complicated. "You're right. We had our ups and downs. At first, I didn't really like him at all. You know how he is—all focused on himself. Everything is about Lucifer! It really bothered me. But then we started working together and I realized that he made a good partner for me. He had some really good qualities that I didn't notice at first."

"Like what?"

"Like he was always honest, even if I didn't like what he said or how he said it. I learned that he always told the truth, and that was something that was very important to me. As you get older, you'll find out that a lot of people lie to you. Some lie because they're afraid to tell the truth, and others lie because they want something from you. So when I realized that Lucifer was somebody who was honest, that made him somebody I wanted to work with. And somebody I wanted to talk to."

Trixie nodded. "He is honest, I get that. I mean, he does say some crazy things. But he never lies about the important things. Even if it hurts to hear it." She got a faraway look in her eyes; Chloe realized she was thinking about the time when she had learned her father had died, and how Lucifer had refused to lie to her about it.

"Yes, that's a very rare trait, especially in a man—as you will find out. Plus, he had a really strong drive to catch guilty people and to find justice for those who had been victimized. Just like me. Those are really important traits for police work, you know. So we had that in common." She paused. "When I realized how much we had in common, underneath his clothes and his money, and his self-absorption, that's when I realized he was a really great partner. He made me a better detective, you know?"

Trixie nodded. "And then-?"

"And then we became friends. We were both lonely. I didn't have many friends. Or any friends, really. Just you and Nana. You father and I had separated at that point. We still talked, of course. And we saw each other at work. But we weren't really friends."

"How could Lucifer be lonely? He had parties every night. He was always drinking and dancing and singing. How could he be lonely?"

"Well, Monkey, it's complicated. With him, he had lots of people in his life, but not really any friends."

"Hmm. What about Maze?"

"Maze is … Maze. You know? She had been with him forever, but I don't think they were friends for most of that time. Now? Yes, definitely. But a few years ago? I don't really think so."

"So Lucifer had all these parties but no friends? That sounds sad."

Chloe nodded. "It is sad. I had very few people in my life, and he had lots and lots of people. But we were both lonely because neither of us had any friends. Do you understand?"

"I think I do. So you became each other's friend?"

"Yes, we did. And sometimes we thought maybe more than friends. But like you and Eddie, that's a hard step to take. It's hard to go from friends to … more than friends. Because having friends is so important, and you don't want to lose any."

"I guess that's true. I know that Eddie and I … well, we're friends now. And I don't want to lose that. So if we ever became more than friends—and I'm not saying we will—then if we break-up, does that mean we won't be friends anymore? I never really thought of it like that."

"Yes, that's the problem. Lucifer and I went to the edge, and pulled back. We would kiss and I would think we would be more, then he would do something or I would say something, and we would end up back as friends." She paused. "Sometimes we would move all the way back to partners."

"Being an adult is hard."

Chloe nodded. "Yes, it can be. But in the end, we got past everything. We decided to take a chance on being more than friends, and now we're at the next step, which is being engaged to get married." She showed her ring to Trixie yet again, letting the diamond catch the sun's rays. She thought her ring was just perfect.

"And here's a very interesting thing. Remember when I said Lucifer was all focused on himself?"

Trixie nodded.

"Well, he's changed. Or maybe I see more than I did at first. I'm not really sure. But now I see that he cares about other people very deeply. It's not all about him! But he has trouble expressing those feelings. They're there but, in order to see them, you have to kind of look past what he's saying and focus on what he does. When I do that, I realize just how much he cares for other people—including you and me."

"He does say some crazy things."

Chloe decided right then that she needed to have The Talk with Trixie. She took a deep breath. "Trix, do you remember a few minutes ago when we said 'no more secrets'? No more secrets from each other. Do you remember that?"

Trixie picked up on Chloe's mood. This had suddenly become a Serious Talk. She nodded. "I remember. No more secrets."

"Well, there's a big secret that Lucifer and I have been keeping from you. And from Nana too. And if I tell you, then you can't tell anybody—especially Nana. Not your friends, not Eddie. Nobody. Well, Amenadiel and Linda and Maze are okay to tell, because they already know. But nobody else. You have to swear. You can't tell anybody else, no matter how much you want to."

Trixie nodded. "Okay."

"No. I need you to say it. Say 'I swear to keep this secret, no matter what'."

"I swear to keep this secret, no matter what."

"Okay." She took another deep breath. They stopped and she turned to face her daughter. She took Trixie's hands in hers, and looked into her daughter's eyes. Here we go! "So here's the secret. You know how Lucifer never lies?"

Trixie nodded.

"And how he says he's the Devil?"

She nodded again.

"So … if he doesn't lie then what does that mean?"

Trixie's eyes got big. Her voice got very quiet. "Does it mean that he really is the Devil?"

Chloe nodded. "It does mean that. That's really who he is."

Trixie thought about it. "Does he have horns and a big tail and a pitchfork?"

Chloe laughed. "No. None of that stuff. He looks just like you or I do." She paused. "Only, you know how in the Bible the Devil is a fallen angel?"

"I think I do. We don't really go to church very much."

"Right. You may have some reading to do. Just listen for a second. If Lucifer is the Devil and the Devil is an angel, then Lucifer is …?"

"Lucifer is an angel?"

"Exactly! So when he wants to, he can have wings. I'm only telling you this because he may forget one day when we're all living together, and I don't want you to be frightened if you ever see them. Okay?"

"Does this mean that Amenadiel is an angel too?"

Chloe nodded. "Yes, he is."

"Cool! My step-father and my uncle are both angels!"

"But you can never tell anybody, okay? Remember, you swore an oath."

Trixie nodded. "This is the coolest day ever!"

Chloe was relieved at how well Trixie had taken the news. She wondered if Ella was going to react as well as Trixie had, when she finally learned the story.

"All right. Now let's walk back to Nana's. If you want to ask me any questions, now is the time. Because once we're back at Nana's, this topic does not exist. No hints, no jokes, no winks, and no questions."

Trixie turned with her and they headed back, still holding hands. Chloe noticed that her daughter looked thoughtful, as if she were thinking back on her interactions with Lucifer, and now seeing them in a new light. Chloe remembered how she'd done the same thing, once she had realized the truth. So many offhand comments—comments she'd dismissed as being metaphors or even worse—suddenly made complete sense when one simply accepted them as being truth.

Chloe gave her a few minutes to process, then changed to subject to something that had been on her mind since last night's party.

"Now, young lady, I'd like to discuss last night's shenanigans with the champagne. Just how did you and Lucifer manage to pull that one off?"

#

On the way back to Penelope's, Chloe's cell phone rang again. It had rung several times during her walk with Trixie, but she'd ignored them. Another benefit of not being the Detective on duty was the luxury of not answering the phone. With Trixie still lost in thought over the news that her step-dad-to-be was actually an angel, Chloe decided to pick up.

She saw it was Linda calling. Again. It looked like Linda had called several times. She pushed the button.

"Good … afternoon, Linda," she said. "At least, I think it's afternoon now. Trix and I have been walking for a couple of hours."

"Chloe, I wanted you to know that Detective Dutton came to visit me this morning, with a warrant for my patient files on Chuck, his suspect."

"Oh, really? That's interesting!"

"Yes, apparently they had received another anonymous tip. This one said that Chuck and that poor girl, Kathryn, were having an affair, and that Kathryn was going to tell Chuck's wife about it."

"Well, there's your motive. Kill the girl to make sure the wife doesn't learn about the affair." She glanced over at Trixie, who was pretending not to be listening. Chloe knew that she was focused on her word, though. Trixie had only rarely experienced her mother being a detective.

"Right. That seems to be the theory."

"Hmm. So we have a motive. Do we have opportunity, I wonder? Can we place Pearson at the scene?"

"Well, that's something you can ask Ella, if you want to. In fact, Ella asked me to call you to let you know about the warrant and the tip."

"Okay. Maybe I'll give her a call."

"Well, maybe not until after dinner. Ella … had a late night last night."

Chloe smiled. "With Jerry?"

"Yes, they went home together. They … didn't get any sleep, according to Ella."

Chloe's smile grew even bigger. "Wow. Good for her. Good for them!"

"Anyway, if you call, call later in the day, okay?"

"Got it."

"Oh, one more thing. Ella commented on how they've received two important tips, both anonymous. Both critical to the investigation. The first was the initial report of a body at the house, and the second was the report of the affair between Chuck and the girl. Somebody is really trying to push this one along, according to Ella."

Chloe nodded. "Yes, it does seem that way. Thanks very much, Linda."

"You too. And before I forget, congratulations again. Last night was amazing!"

"Thanks. I thought so too!"

Chloe hung up and turned to her daughter. "Ready to go face Nana, Monkey?"

"Yes, I think so. Thanks for the talk, Mom. And thanks for being honest with me about … Lucifer. I'll keep the secret, I promise."

"I know you will, sweetie."