Christmas Eve, December 24th 2021

It was only when Lucifer's grip on her arm tightened, as if he was reminded of something bad, that she noticed the weird glances Lucifer and Amenadiel were shooting each other.

"Hey," she said and softly nudged him in the side. Their eyes locked and for a few seconds that felt like minutes, she just stared at him, as if she was trying to figure him out. "We are incredible, aren't we?" she blurted out all of the sudden. The insecurity in her voice wasn't able to be overheard.

"We are," he replied with a softness in his voice that surprised her every time she heard it.

"We are." she repeated, almost as if she needed to remind herself of that yet another time. "So then tell me, Lucifer, what is going on with you... and Amenadiel?" she asked and sat up, winding herself out of his embrace. She had about enough of this. "Just tell me-" she started again, but this time she got interrupted by a high-pitched scream.

...

"Oh my god! Look!" Trixie exclaimed over and over again, as she ran to the window. "It is snowing!" she said excitedly and pointed outside.

Charlie chortled happily, almost as if wanting to agree with Trixie or maybe rather with her enthusiasm. The adults immediately craned their necks to look outside and indeed, thick white snowflakes were falling from the dark sky. They all had seen snow before, but never before had one of them witnessed snow in Los Angeles. Much less on Christmas Day. And suddenly they all had scrambled to their feet, wanting to watch this miracle from up close. Trixie ran outside, just so managing to throw over her coat and slip into her shoes at her mother's intervention, and started catching the snowflakes with her tongue.

Chloe's eyes fell on Lucifer, who was standing next to her, watching the little urchin, as he so lovingly referred to her, with a soft smile on his lips. As much as she wanted to be angry with him, because she was now sure that there was something going on he wasn't telling her about, she couldn't help but be amazed by him, knowing that it had taken a piece of him to arrange this.

"I knew you would let it snow!" Trixie exclaimed happily and looked up at Lucifer. She was almost used to Lucifer spoiling her, after all she knew exactly which buttons to press to get what she wanted. But this was something else. This meant so much more. "Thank you, Lucifer." she added with a genuine smile, before pulling him in for a hug.

Lucifer just patted her on the head, as he was feeling flustered and had no idea what to reply. Sometimes the staunchly faith the girl had in his abilities and the goodness of his heart surprised him.

In the next moment, Trixie had already run outside again, joining Eve, Linda, Amenadiel and Charlie, who had also decided to relish the rare occurrence of snow in Los Angeles. Charlie was wearing a snow suit and a self-knitted bobble hat that was still a little bit too big for him and thus continually slipped down and covered his sight. But that didn't stop him from roughly trying to grasp the snowflakes with his little hands, which he more or less failed at. But even that didn't seem to bother him all too much and he just chuckled happily.

"You look amazing in that dress by the way." Amenadiel said quietly and offered Linda a warm smile. Linda's grey evening gown was sparkling in the snow and with the way her blonde locks were softly falling over her shoulders she could have easily pulled of the act as the queen of ice.

"Well, you are the one who bought it for me, remember?" She chuckled somewhat nervously, when she felt the warmth creep up her cheeks despite the coldness of the snow and her eyes met his.

"I remember."

And suddenly everything and everyone else faded away and as if they were being pulled towards each other by an invisible magnet they closed the remaining distance between them. His heart beat picked up, just like it always did around her, but especially when her eyes fell on his lips. She slowly and somewhat hesitantly leaned in to meet his lips for a tender kiss. Their lips brushed for a brief moment, almost as if they were afraid it would all crumble to pieces the second they allowed themselves to be honest about how they were truly feeling. But nothing happened. Their lips met and the world continued spinning. No one was trying to break them apart, not Maze nor anyone else. Amenadiel smiled into the kiss, when he realized that it was actually okay and leaned in even further, this time meeting her lips more passionately.

"Thank you, Lucifer." Chloe mumbled into his ear and she meant it.

The two of them were still standing at the door, watching their families and friends. Moments like this reminded her that maybe Linda was right. There was a lot of good in the world. And watching her daughter, Maze and Eve sing the finishing tunes of Elsa's 'Let it go', she realized that her sadly not so little monkey anymore was still far away from being an annoying, moody teenager, which was something she had been dreading for months. Lucifer had that effect on her, at least partly, and it was just another reason why she loved having him around.

"May I have this dance, detective?" Lucifer asked then, offering her his hand like he had done so many times before. She smiled softly as she took it and followed him outside. With his strong hand on her waist and his body pressed against hers, which spend her warmth in a way that her jacket could never, they started slow dancing to Maze, Eve and Trixie's performance of 'Hallelujah' by Pentatonix.

"You are so beautiful," Lucifer said quietly, his eyes locked on her. He really didn't tell her that even nearly enough. Her hair was loosely falling over her shoulders and sparkled a little bit in the light, because of the snowflakes that were caught in her hair.

Chloe now felt the warmth creep up to her cheeks and she looked down at were their bodies were touching. "Thank you," she whispered under her breath and locked her eyes with his again. "Lucifer... you know that you can tell me anything, right? Whether it is good or bad or whatever, I want to be there for you, okay?"

For the fraction of a moment something flickered through his eyes, but for the love of god, she couldn't put her finger on what it meant. "Ah, detective, while that is really sweet, you-" Lucifer was abruptly interrupted, when something hit his dark black winter coat from behind. "What- who did this?" he thudded and turned around, when he realized that he had been hit by a small snowball.

Charlie was sitting on the ground, still trying to grasp the snowflakes with his hands, while Linda and Amenadiel had also started slow-dancing and Eve and Maze were still singing 'Hallelujah'.

"Trix!" he exclaimed, when he saw the not at all guilty look she was throwing him. "You don't know what you just signed up for, urchin!" he said, trying to get as much snow as he needed to form a snowball, which was considerably hard as there was barely even a thin layer of snow covering the ground.

"So you are up for a snowball fight?" the girl asked excitedly and came out of hiding from behind Maze, already encouraging the demon to help her.

"A snowball fight? That sounds fairly boring, doesn't it?" Lucifer said and shook his head, before his eyes fell on Maze and Eve, who had started singing 'Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow' by Dean Martin. And suddenly his face lit up like a light bowl. "How about we call it a Snowy Celestial Karaoke Jam?" he said, obviously quite satisfied to have come up with the name, and flung the first snowball in her direction, only missing her shoulder by a few millimeters.

Time flew by like it was nothing and they soon returned inside to warm themselves up with some hot chocolate, but the teasing between Lucifer and Trixie continued, as they couldn't really determine a winner, probably because they both considered themselves to be the winner.

As they sat around the wooden table in the livingroom, sipping on their hot chocolates, they exchanged a few gifts as they weren't gonna see each other tomorrow or the day after that. Chloe, Ella and Eve had paired up and bought a ton of clothes for Charlie - from very cute rompers to plainly hideous costumes - but Linda and Amenadiel accepted them more or less gracefully. Ella had also thought to buy a hoodie for each member of their tribe, including Eve. It was a radiant red hoodie on which a photo of their first night out as a group was printed and Eve had been, well, edited into the photo.

"Oh my god, we definitely had a bit much too drink that evening!" Linda exclaimed and pointed at Chloe on the picture, who was starring somewhere in the distance and barely even seemed to notice that there was someone taking a photo of them.

"Oh come on, Decker is only fun, when she had a bit too much to drink!" Maze responded and flashed Chloe a grin and a soft nudge in the side.

"Nice Maze, thank you," Chloe replied and shook her head, but couldn't really help the small smile that played on her lips.

"Tribe night out next week? Drinks are on me!" Eve suggested then, as they had all been pretty busy in the past few weeks and their last night out had happened many months ago. The girls simply cheered and clinked their glasses agreeingly.

When a very content Amenadiel and a not so content Lucifer came back from having brought Charlie to bed, they decided to play monopoly. Well, at least most of them. Lucifer was sitting on the edge of his seat, seemingly getting more and more nervous with every minute that passed by. He barely seemed to notice the people around him, let alone the game or the fact that he was way behind the others. Turning her head to study him a bit more intensively did nothing to help ease her mind: he was fidgety and seemed to be lost in his own world.

Reaching out to put her hand on his leg, Chloe asked him: "Hey, what is going on with you?"

Almost flinching at her sudden touch, he looked at her as if she had caught him doing something he wasn't supposed to. "I..." he stammered, avoiding her piercing blue eyes. Instead his eyes once again fell on his brother, who nodded, almost encouragingly. "Can we talk... outside?" Lucifer asked finally.

"Uhh... sure," she replied with a shrug of her shoulders.

They slipped into their coats and stepped outside, which was, considering that it was still snowing, a weird place to have a serious talk. But as long as he was finally going to open up to her, she would accept literally any place. And honestly, it wasn't too bad of a location. The snow had by now covered the normally green grass under a coat of white and in combination with the colorful Christmas decoration, consisting mostly of Holiday lights, it made up a magical evening. Lucifer offered his hand, which she, a bit hesitantly, took and he carefully pulled her with him into a quieter area of the backyard, where they also had enough light to actually see each other.

"Lucifer, what is going on?"

"I-" he trailed off and his eyes hectically darted from the ground to her and back to the ground. It had been quite a while since she had seen him so out of character and that scared her, because it wasn't like Lucifer to get insecure and nervous about something if it wasn't of extreme importance, so whatever the hell was going on, it wasn't nothing.

"Lucifer, it's okay," she said and placed her hand on his cheek, forcing him to look her in the eyes, "Whatever it is that is going on, you can tell me."

And as much as she meant those words, she was also trying to calm herself down. Seeing him so restless did nothing to help calm her own nerves, because maybe, just maybe she hadn't been wrong in the first place. Maybe there was something going on, something bad. Maybe her instincts had been right. After all they rarely ever let her down.

He exhaled deeply. "Ah, detective... here you are giving me just another reason to, well," he trailed off once again. With a sharp intake of breath, he cleared his throat and it seemed like he had finally gathered himself. "You know you will not here me say this very often, but I am actually not good at this. At all."

"Not good at what?"

"I- I have been thinking. About us. A lot." he started again, tactfully avoiding the question she had asked.

And there it was again. That bad feeling in the tip of her stomach. "You are not breaking up with me, are you?" she joked half-heartedly, "Because this would actually be the worst timing-"

"No! I- Why would you even think that?" Lucifer asked, seemingly feeling horrified about her assumption, before a smile crept up on his lips.

"This is not funny, Lucifer!" she exclaimed and playfully hit him against the chest, "Just tell me what the hell is going on."

"I am trying to do the opposite actually," he admitted and his features softened. But the detective just raised her eyebrows in question, obviously not getting what he was talking about. "How are you the best detective out there and not have this figured out by now?" he asked and his smile turned into a full-on grin.

"Detective- Chloe, I love you. You are the best partner I have ever had. Work, sex and life." He continued and suddenly the penny dropped. Her face went blank, as realization set in. He chuckled nervously. "You are a miracle, Chloe. My miracle."

His hand slipped into the pocket of his winter coat and his fingers closed around a small satin box, when he continued: "And as much as I like to bash my father... bringing you into my life was by far the best thing he did in a long time." He slowly pulled his hand out of his pocket and got down on one knee, opening the small box in his hand. Her heart was now beating so fast against her ribcage she was afraid it might jump out of her chest.

"Chloe Jane Decker, will you do me the honour and marry me?"

"Oh my god! You guys, look!" Ella exclaimed suddenly, when her eyes caught sight of Lucifer, who was currently kneeling in front of Chloe in the snow. Their heads all turned at her intervention and a murmur mixed with surprised gasps and happy squeaking went through the crowd.

"Who would have seen that coming, huh? The devil proposing to a human." Maze said and couldn't help but chuckle.

Outside, Chloe was simply starring at Lucifer and blinked a few times, as if she wanted to make sure that this was actually happening right now. But no matter how many times she blinked, he was still there. He was still kneeling in front of her with a ring in his hand that was glistering in the warm light, almost as if it was screaming at her to just take it. Her eyes then met Lucifer's.

"Yes," she breathed finally, "Yes, of course." She could literally see the insecurity disappear from his eyes to make room for pure happiness. He scrambled to his feet and carefully slipped the ring on her finger. "Oh god... Lucifer, this ring. I-It's... perfect." she pressed out. The diamond wasn't exceptionally big, but that's not what she would have wanted anyway, so it was just another sign of how well he actually knew her.

He softly brushed away the tear that was rolling down her cheek, before she leaned in for a quick peck on the lips. She then fell into his arms, burying her face deeply in the crook of his neck. "I love you too, Lucifer. So much," she then whispered into his ear. He smiled to himself and couldn't help the sigh of relief that escaped his mouth. Even if he had been pretty sure that she was going to say yes, just the teeny tiny possibility that she might negate his proposal was enough to annoy and quite frankly, scare him to a nauseating degree.

And then, from one second to the next, they were no longer alone. Suddenly everyone was there, cheering them on and mumbling words of congratulations. Trixie was the first who was trying to hug them, but with her still quite little arms she barely managed to embrace both of them at the same time.

"I can't believe you'll now officially become my favorite step-devil!" she exclaimed and looked up at Lucifer with a happy grin. The two of them had grown exceptionally close in the past few years, but especially in the past few months. Him being her step-devil had become an insider joke many months ago, when, at a school event, Trixie had introduced him as her step-dad and he had corrected her: he was her step-devil.

"I wouldn't have it any other way Trix," Lucifer replied softly and flashed the girl a smile.

It was such a simple thing to say, but it still meant so much and Chloe could barely keep herself from starting to weep again, when Trixie loosened her grip on her and Ella already pulled her into the next hug and then went on to inspect Chloe's ring.

"Oh my god, sista, would you just look at this ring? It's beautiful!" Ella exclaimed with big eyes, before turning to Lucifer, "You really have taste, dude!"

"Why do you sound so surprised?" Lucifer asked, feeling a tad offended. "How long have we known each other now, Ms Lopez?"

Ella just shook her head at her friend and chuckled. "Ah, come here, big dude!" she exclaimed and pulled Lucifer in for one of her hugs. "I am proud of you." she whispered into his ear. It was hard to imagine that the eternal bachelor she had met a few years ago would one day propose to someone for all the right reasons, but here they were and Ella couldn't have been happier for her friends.

Dan was the next on to engulf Chloe in a friendly hug. "Congrats, Chlo," Dan whispered.

Sure he wasn't over the moon like Trixie or Ella were, but he was still happy for them, but mostly for Chloe. And it wasn't because he found that Lucifer was the perfect guy, especially not the perfect guy for Chloe, but rather because Lucifer managed to make her happy in a way Chloe had never been happy before. And that was all he wanted for her. Even if it was with someone like Lucifer.

"I am so happy for you, Luc... and Chloe, you too, of course!" Eve piped up and nodded, as if wanting to underline her words.

Sure, Lucifer had hurt her once upon a time, but in retrospect she realized that she should have seen it coming. All the signs had been there, but she had deliberately ignored them, because she didn't want to face the truth that Lucifer was already madly in love with somebody else. And that somebody else was nobody else than Detective Chloe Decker. But all of that was in the past now. Eve interlaced her fingers with Maze's and offered the woman she loved a smile. They were all happy and if that wasn't a reason to celebrate, she didn't know what could be.

As if Linda had read her thoughts it was in that moment that she returned from the inside with a glass of champagne for everyone plus a glass of orange juice for Trixie. Linda couldn't help but smile, when she watched the newly engaged couple. Lucifer had his arm around Chloe's back, softly keeping her close, as they were talking to their friends. And in one way Chloe had definitely been right. It was incredible to watch the two of them so madly in love. Even after everything they had been through.

"To these two and their engagement. We love you!" Linda exclaimed, after they had all taken a glass filled with the sparkling goldish liquor, "To family."

"To family!" Everyone repeated at the top of their voices and they clinked their glasses. Because even if most of them weren't related by blood, they had been through so much together that they definitely considered each other to be family by now.

Amenadiel pat his brother on the back, "I am proud of you, brother." he said quietly, but loud enough for Chloe to hear.

And suddenly something clicked. Suddenly it all made sense in her mind. "Wait, that's what you were chatting about with Amenadiel right? This," The detective pointed to the ring on her finger, "is why you behaved so weirdly these past few days, right?"

"Oh, you should have seen him." Amenadiel laughed. "He was so scared. Like a child before-"

"Okay, okay, enough brother, thank you." Lucifer interrupted his brother with a dismissive gesture of his hand, "But yes... there is nothing bad going on... I was simply trying to keep this a surprise."

"Well, it was. But don't you dare play me like that again!"

"Oh, detective, you know I can't promise anything." he replied with a smug grin and softly brushed her nose.

"I wouldn't have it any other way." she replied, because as much as she pretended to detest it, a part of her loved that she could always count on him to surprise her and to bring action and fun into her life. And that's why she wasn't doubting her answer even for a second. She leaned in to steal a kiss and when her lips brushed his she knew: this was just another reason why she wasn't doubting her answer. Not even for a second.

AN: Well, that was the second chapter... I hope you liked it! Personally, I am much more content with this chapter than with the first one, even though it wasn't easy to make the proposal at least somewhat realistic. In addition to that, I just wanted to say that I know that snow in LA isn't very realistic either, but after all this is a show about celestials.

Credit for the wordplay 'Snowy Celestial Karaoke Jam' goes to the Lucifer writers, as it was inspired by the title of the musical episode 'Bloody Celestial Karaoke Jam'.

Anyway, in the next (and last) chapter Penelope is going to visit our newly engaged couple... we'll see what she has to think about this ;)