A/N: This story was initially intended to have only one chapter. However, with the positive response it got when I first published it I might have given a few people my word to try to add a scene or two for this Christmas. It might not be much but I suppose we could all use something to lift our spirits.

A big thank you to my beta silver-doe287 for her help with the story.

Joy to the World

Epilogue

Glancing at her phone to check the time, Chloe was forced to conclude that the experience of having everything ready beforehand when it came to the Christmas dinner was decidedly alien. Normally, no matter how much she tried to prepare in advance, there always seemed some last-minute things to do that kept her occupied. Not this time.

Feeling a tad uneasy, she switched on some music.

City sidewalks busy sidewalks

Dressed in holiday style

In the air

There's a feeling of Christmas-

The sentimental melody really didn't do much to improve her mood. It wasn't that she was second-guessing herself, but… Well, she did invite Lucifer of all people to a Christmas dinner, so she guessed from an absolutely neutral point of view that she was practically asking for something to go sideways. That could be a decent excuse for her restlessness, but she couldn't help feeling that it might actually have more to do with holiday family gatherings having an inherent flaw of being potential minefields, which keeping busy was meant to distract her from.

Just as she was reaching this oh-so-cheerful conclusion, there was a knock on her door, which signified somebody's early arrival. A minute later she was letting her partner in, very seriously considering the origin of the phrase "speak of the devil" considering the direction her thoughts were taking just a moment ago.

"Detective, I have to say you look even more radiant than usual," Lucifer greeted with a decidedly inappropriate grin. "I would-"

At that point they were interrupted by a crash coming out of Trixie's room. Not waiting for him to finish the sentence, Chloe rushed off to see what had happened to her daughter. Upon entering the room, she was met with the sight of her child giving her a decidedly too innocent look. There was a mug smashed on the floor next to the girl's bed.

Trixie apparently followed her mother's line of sight, giving her about a second to take everything in, before declaring emphatically,

"This wasn't my fault!"

Chloe held the girl's gaze.

"Then I suppose it got trampled by a reindeer that then escaped, flying out of the window?"

"Would you believe me if I said yes?"

"Speaking as an authority on the matter, I would say you are emanating too much guilt to convince anyone, let alone someone who knows you as long as your mother does." Chloe became aware of Lucifer standing behind her in the doorway. She snorted.

"I would have thought you'd be glad that at least there is someone not using the old 'the devil made me do it' excuse."

"You seem to be forgetting that for once, I actually have an alibi of being in the presence of a law enforcement officer at the time the event occurred."

"Actually, said law enforcement officer is starting to get an impression that you are providing a distraction in order for Trixie to get away with whatever it was. Speaking of, Monkey, care to fess up?"

The girl seemed to be contemplating it for a moment, clearly trying to come up with a way of presenting the events in a way that made her look like an innocent bystander.

"It was all the fault of that dress from grandma."

"Oh really?" Chloe did her best to keep her expression neutral.

"Yeah. I mean, I'm not used to wearing those puffy skirts and the mug was stranding on the nightstand when I came to see if my phone got charged-"

"You mean the same mug that you had hot chocolate in last night and that I told you to put in the dishwasher this morning?"

"I was going to do it!"

"I'm sure. Now," she said with a quick glance to make sure the girl had her shoes on, Chloe made a valiant attempt to project the air of authority. "You are going to march off to get the dustpan and clean this up before grandma gets here. Make sure you're careful with the shards and don't get your dress stained."

"Okay." With a defeated mutter somewhere on the lower threshold of audibility Trixie exited the room.

Only then did Chloe allow herself to start chuckling.

"I take it you aren't particularly grieved by the loss of the mug then?" Lucifer asked, irony lacing his voice.

"Are you kidding? It finally starts to feel like a holiday. Everything was too unnervingly perfect before. I've been wondering when the other shoe was going to drop."

III

Chloe glanced at her watch for the third time in the last five minutes. When her mother called her in the morning to say that there was a slight delay in her flight, she didn't think much of it. After all, she assured her daughter that she would still arrive with plenty of time until dinner. Dinner, which was currently getting cold, with her mother nowhere in sight, even though the airport's website listed the plane on the arrived list for over an hour now.

Trixie, apparently picking up on her mother's anxiousness, was getting impatient as well, until Lucifer mercifully herded her off to the piano to teach her some new melody. They had been sitting there for a while now, and the clumsy attempts at hitting the keys seemed to have stopped, which could either mean that the girl achieved an impressive degree of skill in impossibly short time or grew bored. Chloe couldn't help but bet on the latter option.

Trying to distract herself, she came closer to investigate, just as her partner started fiddling with the keys, seemingly without any particular melody in mind. He seemed to be bantering with Trixie as he did so.

"So, you'd like some more ambitious song, is that right Spawn?"

"Uh-huh. I want grandma to be impressed."

"Don't you think she'd be more impressed by you not getting your fingers tangled while attempting a piece?"

"Nope," Trixie said firmly.

"If you say so," he responded sceptically as the fiddling suddenly smoothly evolved into his own rendition of Queen's A Winter Tale. To make things more interesting, he seemed to be including a generous amount of embellishments in the melody.

Trixie simply stared.

"Do you think we could try something easier for now?" she eventually asked.

"I knew you'd see the light, Spawn. But it seems your mother wants our attention for now. Anything either of us can do for you, Detective?"

"Not really. I'm just worried about my Mom being late."

"I'm sure you are aware how nightmarish holiday traffic can be in LA. Maze was positively jealous when we first arrived that she wasn't the one to come up with that."

Chloe snorted. "Yeah, nothing like good torment-jealousy to kick off a holiday season," she commented dryly.

Just then there was a knock on the door, announcing somebody's arrival.

Chloe moved quickly to open the door, with Lucifer and Trixie following at a slower pace to greet the new guest.

As could be expected, the door opened to reveal Chloe's mother.

"I'm sorry I'm late, dear, you wouldn't believe the traffic from the airport-" Just as the older woman was stepping inside, she was interrupted by a loud exclamation of "Granma!" courtesy of Trixie.

Lucifer in the meantime put on his most charming smile.

"Oh, don't worry about it, Penelope. A true star needs a proper entrance after all. And if there ever was someone deserving of the title, she is standing before me now."

"Lucifer, lovely to see you," the true star in question stood a little straighter as she smiled in response. "It's been ages since we had a chance to talk."

"Which might have something to do with the fact that you were almost never in town lately," Chloe supplied under her breath, making the woman roll her eyes.

"At least I know I'm missed, dear. I love what you've done with the place."

"Thank you," the detective acknowledged, coming to a silent conclusion that her last-minute decorations she put up to stop herself from fidgeting actually proved themselves useful. Unless, of course, her mother was referring to the rather impressive tree that Trixie picked. "Now, I'm sure you're hungry after the trip and the food is already on the table so why don't you clean up and we can sit down to dinner?"

"Just a second dear," Penelope reached into her back, retrieving a cardboard nativity scene and placing it on the coffee table. "Some people were selling them at the airport. I thought maybe we could use one to add some authenticity to the celebration." she paused for a moment, arranging the thing before stepping back to admire her work. "Looks nice, don't you think? Now, I'll be right back."

As soon as she disappeared from sight, Chloe turned to her partner.

"Don't," she said emphatically.

"What, don't comment on the fact that somebody's idea of authenticity is to include young lambs in a scene supposedly taking place in December or some separate wooden building nobody would keep their animals in at the time?"

"Surprising as it is, some of us don't actually remember the architectural details of the time." She rolled her eyes at him.

Just then, Penelope returned to the room, commandeering the scene as usual.

"I am all ready now. Shall we sit down?" she announced as if she was giving a stage performance.

Chloe silently wondered how much Lucifer's presence had to do with her mother's behaviour.

When everyone else sat down, she stepped to a dresser close to the table, pulled out a box of matches and lit a candle next to a photo standing there. She lowered her voice.

"Merry Christmas, Dad. We miss you."

She returned to the table, briefly locking eyes with Lucifer, almost expecting him to say something. He did not.

The silence was broken by Trixie, who used her impeccable timing to get the attention of the guests.

"Have you seen the star on the tree? I made it myself!"

"Did you, spawn?" Lucifer glanced briefly at the tree. "Seems like you did a pretty decent job. I should know, I made my share of stars, back in the day."

Unfortunately for Chloe, she was taking a sip of water during the exchange and almost choked on the last sentence. She coughed a few times before taking a deep breath.

Whatever else this Christmas was going to turn out to be, it certainly wouldn't be boring.

The End