"Oh my god!" Chloe's yelp echoes around the bungalow.
Lucifer and Trixie come running into the den, shouting over each other.
"Mom? What happened?"
"Detective? My Father isn't back, is he?"
Chloe shakes her head at them. "No, nothing. Um, well not nothing?" She points down at the playmat on the floor and the baby currently cooing away.
Alex, just shy of six months old, has a pair of soft-looking wings unfurled under his back. He looks unbothered, shoving his foot in his mouth and drooling happily.
"Oh," Trixie's eyes go wide.
"Well," Lucifer says, unusually speechless.
"Yeah," Chloe blinks dazedly.
The baby that they'd all assumed was mortal, like Charlie, despite his half-celestial genetics, was decidedly not mortal, if the wings were any indication. The wings that had definitely not been sprouting from the baby's back an hour ago. Chloe's wide-eyed and very, very glad their son wasn't born with wings because Lucifer's Dad, those would've been very hard to explain in the delivery room.
The three of them kneel on the ground, getting closer to Alex. He gurgles happily, reaching a chubby hand at Trixie's face. She puffs up her cheeks and makes a fish face in response, delighting in Alex's happiness.
"Those are wings," Chloe says a bit stupidly, her hand hovering just over the white feathers.
Lucifer nods, apparently surprised as well. "They're attached to our son," he states the obvious.
"And they're really soft," Trixie chirps, her hands gently stroking the edges of the fluffy feathers. The wings shiver, as if they're ticklish, and Alex kicks his feet happily.
"Oh, Trix! Be careful, don't -" Chloe cuts herself off from saying hurt him, because from the delighted squealing the baby is making, stroking the feathers is doing the complete opposite.
Hesitantly, Chloe brushes the very tips of her fingers against the downy fluff.
Oh.
They are really soft.
Softer than Lucifer's wings, but also clearly newer. They're the soft downy feathers of a fledgling. They tickle her fingers and Chloe laughs - slightly hysterically - because her baby has wings.
Lucifer watches his wife and step-daughter. He can't seem to bring himself to touch the baby's wings. Millennia of hatred for his own wings has him apprehensive. His own back itches uncomfortably, as if his wings are ready to burst forth. He scratches at the back of his neck.
"Oh, come on, Lucifer," Trixie grins, stroking the baby's feathers and blowing raspberries at him. "The wings are so cool."
Lucifer's responding smile is strangled and Chloe notices. She nudges Trixie with her free hand and says, "Why don't you grab my phone, monkey, so we can take a couple of pictures? It's upstairs on my night table."
Trixie nods and slips up the stairs, leaving Lucifer to exhale shakily.
"You okay?" Chloe asks, letting Alex grab onto one of her fingers.
"I will be," he replies tightly. "Just," he waves his hand in the air, "wings."
"Yeah," Chloe sighs, "wings."
"They are rather cute," Lucifer admits grudgingly. The wings flutter a little as Alex turns a gummy smile on his dad. Lucifer huffs in amusement, "Yes, spawn, you're rather cute too."
"I can't believe he's got wings," Chloe murmurs. "I guess he's not mortal then."
There's something unidentifiable in her tone and Lucifer squints at her. "Maybe. With Father anything is possible," he scowls.
Chloe looks between the baby and her husband. "I'm glad his wings look like yours," she says softly. "I love your wings."
"That makes one of us," Lucifer says wryly. Before Chloe can reply, Trixie returns with the phone.
"So, does he know how to like, pull them back in?" she asks, snapping a couple of shots of her brother. She tilts her head, "because that's going to be so weird to explain in any month other than October."
Chloe's eyebrows draw together in concern. "Um, I'm not sure? Lucifer?"
He shrugs. "Angels appear fully grown, we never had to learn how to contract our wings. And angel babies simply aren't a thing in the Silver City," he says, looking down at Alex.
"Oh," Chloe sighs. "So we're totally charting a new path here. Good, great, my baby has wings and we don't know if he knows how to hide them."
Her voice goes slightly hysterical at the end and Lucifer reaches out to squeeze her hand. "There, there, Detective. I'm sure no one will notice. Humans see and believe what they want," he says.
Chloe shakes her head. "Oh no, we definitely need to figure out a way to keep the wings under wraps."
She lifts Alex into her arms and the tiny feathers flutter with the movement. The wings droop downward as Alex cuddles against Chloe's neck.
"Maybe they'll go back when he falls asleep?" Trixie wonders, snapping another picture of her mom holding the baby.
"Maybe," Chloe agrees. "Hopefully!"
An hour later, Alex is deeply asleep and his wings are still splayed out under him.
"Okay, yeah," Chloe whispers, looking down into the crib, "sleeping isn't going to work.
Trixie winces. "Sorry I can't help, mom. I'm supposed to meet everyone at the mall in like twenty," she checks her phone. "Uh, actually more like 10. Hey, Lucifer, can I take the Corvette?"
"Hm? Oh, yes," Lucifer agrees absently, looking down at Alex's wings. "Keys are on the hook."
"Sweet!" Trixie fist pumps and runs out of the room, barely hearing Chloe's call of "be careful!"
"You're being very generous with the car today," Chloe teases, leaning her chin on Lucifer's bicep.
He tilts his head. "Yes, well, she's a good child. I know the car is in safe hands," his reply is easy, but his forehead is furrowed.
"Are you that worried about Al's wings?" Chloe says, lacing her fingers with his. "We'll figure it out."
"Hmm, yes, we will," Lucifer smiles down at her. "There is one thing...it might work."
"Yeah?" Chloe asks excitedly. "Let's try it because he's got his six-month check up next week and I really, really don't want to pretend that we're some kind of Halloween fanatics."
Lucifer snorts and carefully lifts the sleeping baby into his arms. He's still awkward about it, uncomfortable but learning. The wings are limp, dangling downward, even as Lucifer turns Alex in his arms so the baby's stomach is resting across Lucifer's forearm and his pudgy cheek is nestled in the crook of Lucifer's elbow. Chloe watches as Lucifer gently ghosts his fingers down the baby's spine. The wings shiver again and then retract into Alex's back.
"Oh!" Chloe gasps. "It worked!"
Alex is a warm, heavy weight against Lucifer's arms and he doesn't move to put the baby back in his crib. His free hand strokes over the baby's back. "I thought it might," he says quietly. "Wings are sensitive and it's a protective mechanism, if they're injured in some way, to be able to have someone else force them back."
"It's never worked on you," Chloe says, thinking about all the times she's stroked her fingers up and down Lucifer's spine.
"Well, I'm very old and very much in control of my faculties," he smirks.
Chloe lifts her chin and smiles at him, amused. "Yes, clearly very much in control," she teases, flicking her gaze down to the fly of his pants, the fabric beginning to strain.
"Detective!" Lucifer gasps, mock-scandalized. "In front of the child?"
She shakes her head and rolls her eyes. "Come on, put the baby down and take me to bed, Lucifer."
"Don't have to tell me twice!" Lucifer croons, carefully laying the baby back down and scooping Chloe into his arms faster than she can blink. She laughs in his embrace, looping her arms around his neck and kissing him deeply.
"I love you," she whispers against his lips.
"And I you, Detective," he replies.
a/n: some more fluffy domestic deckerstar! i love writing these guys!
