It started with a hug.

Lucifer was back. He was back, and the overwhelming joy she felt over that one piece of news made all the sadness of the last six months disappear in an instant. And right along with it, the anger that had lingered underneath it all. Because, boy, was she angry. He left without even saying goodbye, and it hurt. She missed him. She missed him even before he went away. What with all that time Mom spent with Marcus, the weird trip to Rome, and Lucifer getting a new girlfriend… Over the last couple of years, she had barely seen him. And then he went away, and this time, Mom said he was never coming back.

She knew where he went, of course. Mom never talked about it, but Maze certainly did. Although 'talking' probably wasn't the right way to describe it. There was a lot of shouting, plenty of screaming, and, once or twice, even some crying—not that she was supposed to tell anyone about that. Maze threw every single swear word in Lilim that Trixie knew in Lucifer's direction, and then some on top of that. At first, it stung, the thought that her best friend wanted to leave too. But then Maze explained that she didn't, that she wouldn't, not now… but that didn't mean she wasn't still mad, because Lucifer never gave her a choice.

Instead, he abandoned her, when he promised he never would.

Trixie understood. She had cops for parents; her life was filled with broken promises and disappointment. It didn't mean she didn't still love her mom and dad… but she knew how painful it was to be forgotten, especially by someone you loved. And although she would never admit it, Maze loved Lucifer. A lot. They were family, just like her and Maze were.

But the way Mom loved him was different.

Trixie didn't have many memories of when her parents were happy and in love, but she did remember the way her mom used to look at her dad. It was the same way she looked at Lucifer now, the same way he always looked at her, whether he knew it or not. And when he went back to Hell, she had never seen Mom so devastated. It was like the light went out in her eyes. For weeks, Trixie was the one having to keep things going, with only Maze and dad around to help out when they could. Dad, well, he was still busy with work, as always, and Maze… she had Charlie, and bounty hunting, and LUX to look after now. Technically, that was supposed to be Amenadiel's job, but according to Maze's many rants about it, he didn't have a clue what he was doing.

When she told Mom how much she missed her though, she said the last thing Lucifer would have wanted was his club's reputation ruined, and that Maze was just trying to honour that.

She spoke about him like he was dead. They all did.

And so, she got angry. Angry that Lucifer was gone. Angry at what that did to Mom, to Maze, and to her. Angry that everyone gave up on him ever coming back.

Maze helped her with that anger. After her mom threw herself into work, like she always did when she was upset, and Lucifer's brother finally started to get the hang of running LUX, her best friend was around a lot more. And Maze being around more, well, that meant training. Every time Mom got home from a stakeout, she would return to find more artwork covering blade marks on the walls, and a roaring fire no matter how hot it had been that day. She had no idea that it was fueled with drawing after drawing of Devils and men in black suits with red pocket squares, each one almost torn to pieces after repeatedly being used for target practice. Trixie could barely keep up with drawing the amount of pictures they needed for the nights Maze was babysitting, not with the rate that they destroyed them together.

But as time went on, and things slowly started to get back to normal, her anger started to wane. Training went back to self-defence—mostly at dad's insistence after an unfortunate incident involving a karambit and one of grandma's film posters—and Mom… she didn't cry anymore, at least where Trixie could hear her, anyway. There were even times when she smiled, and it actually felt real.

Eventually, her anger died to a simmer. Life, as it always did, moved on. There was a new school to deal with, new lessons to learn, new friends to make. And new enemies too, of course, as Maze kept reminding her.

But she never stopped missing him though, not for a second.

And even though they never talked about it, she knew her mom didn't either.

So when she got the message Lucifer was home… well, let's just say she had never gotten home from school quicker in her life. Which, admittedly, might have had a little something to do with knowing the password to the Devil's Uber account. She didn't feel too guilty about it; if he didn't want her to use it, why pick her birthday? As far as she was concerned, that was practically an invitation. Otherwise, the access code would be her mom's, just like his safe was. And his phone. And his Netflix account.

Okay, so she may have done a little exploring in the penthouse while Mom and Maze packed up his things.

Thinking about that made her smile. They would be unpacking them again soon! She couldn't help but wonder what life was going to be like now. Would Lucifer finally be Mom's boyfriend? Would he move in with them? One thing was for certain, and that was that Mom was going to be so happy now he was back.

As long as he didn't try to leave again, of course.

That knife throwing practice was going to come in handy if he did.

By the time she spotted her mom's car pulling up, her excitement had reached fever pitch. An all too familiar figure exited the passenger seat, and it took all she had not to run out there immediately and wrap her arms around him before he even reached the front door. But she forced herself to wait. During the short space between the Uber dropping her off and Lucifer arriving, she'd managed to raid the cupboard where Mom kept the party supplies, and there were now several balloons and streamers hung all around the apartment, as high as she could reach.

She wanted him to see them when he walked in. She wanted him to feel welcome. She wanted him to know how happy she was to have him back. She wanted—

"LUCIFER!"

Suddenly, it didn't matter what he thought about the decorations. He had barely stepped foot inside the apartment before she was on the move, throwing her arms around his waist and burying her face in his stomach.

And Lucifer, he just… stood there.

He didn't flinch. He didn't even tense. When she looked up at him, two dark blank eyes stared back, completely empty of any kind of joy or familiarity. She opened her mouth, a question on her lips, but before she could say anything… he removed her.

Lucifer had never done that before. He had squirmed out of her grasp, certainly. Backed away before she could touch him, definitely. He had never pushed her away though, never put his hands on her in an effort to make her stop. But this… this wasn't even that, and in a way, that made it worse. No, what he did was a simple removal of something he decided shouldn't be there, no different to a piece of lint upon his suit. She didn't even have time to tighten her grip; one minute she was holding onto him for dear life, and the next, he had lifted her up and placed her back down on the ground as far away from him as possible.

The look he gave her then was freaky; alien, even. But then Mom came bustling through the door after him, her hands laden with bags of shopping. In an instant, his face changed entirely, lighting up with expression and feeling, and all of a sudden it was Lucifer standing there again. He turned to her mom, a smile on his face, and kissed her cheek, taking the bags from her in the process, before heading into the kitchen.

"Hugs over already?" she said, ruffling Trixie's hair. "You must be out of practice, Monkey."

Trixie didn't answer, still running through the events of the last few minutes in her mind. Her mom joined Lucifer in the kitchen, laughing as they unpacked the shopping together, while she teased him for forgetting where everything went. They looked happy. So happy, that it had to have been her imagination, the way Lucifer had reacted. Maybe he was no different from before, and it was her memory that was blurry.

That had to be it. What other explanation was there?

…

The rest of the evening went smoothly, as standard a Taco Tuesday as ever, with the exception that dad wasn't there. It didn't surprise her; sometimes he seemed to like Lucifer, but most of the time he didn't, and it only got worse after he went back to Hell. Dad didn't know, of course, why he had gone. All he saw was the devastation he left behind. He tried not to let how mad he was show when she talked about him, but he was really bad at hiding it.

She hoped Lucifer being here didn't mean he would stay away forever though. If she could forgive him for leaving, just like Mom obviously had, surely dad would eventually too? And Maze? She just wanted things to be like they were, and for everybody to be friends with her favourite Devil again.

Although, in her mom's case… more than friends. From her place at the dining room table, she watched as Mom and Lucifer tackled the rest of the clean up, him washing the dishes, while she stood next to him drying them. When they were finished, Mom moved in closer, her head resting against his shoulder as he laid a kiss against her hair. Trixie secretly took a photo of the moment and sent it to Auntie Ella, who had recruited her as her 'Deckerstar spy' soon after they met. She was going to be thrilled.

As was Trixie. It had been plain to see for years that Lucifer and her mom belonged together; she just wished they'd both realised it sooner. And now, they could be a family, just like she always wanted. It was going to be great.

"Trixie babe?" Mom said, after pulling away from Lucifer to put away the last final dish. "Time to get ready for bed."

"Is Lucifer staying?" Trixie asked, as innocently as she could. Mom looked up at him questioningly, but he shook his head.

"Things to do at Lux, I'm afraid." He paused for a second, pondering, and then he added, "Darling"—almost as an afterthought. "But I'll see you tomorrow, at work?"

Mom nodded, but Trixie could see the flash of disappointment in her eyes. Lucifer didn't seem to notice though, sweeping up his jacket from the nearby breakfast bar and tugging it on with haste. He adjusted the cuffs before bending down, to kiss Mom, or so she thought, but when Mom tilted her head up towards him, he merely altered his path to brush his lips against her cheek. "Right then," he said cheerily, straightening up again almost immediately, "I'll be off."

And with that, he strode towards the front door, and, if Trixie didn't know better, she would have gotten the distinct impression that he couldn't wait to get out of there. Even worse, he appeared to have completely forgotten she was even in the room. She shot up from her chair, sending it clattering to the ground in her wake. "BYE Lucifer!" she said loudly, determined not to let him leave without at least saying goodbye.

He froze, expecting, she guessed, another attack hug. But Trixie wasn't doing that again, not yet. She was pretty sure earlier was all in her head… yet she didn't want to risk it, just in case. Slowly, almost reluctantly, he turned back to face her, and with a small tip of his head, said, "My apologies, Trixie, how rude of me. Goodnight."

And then he was gone.

He was gone, and he called her Trixie.

It wasn't her imagination, after all. Something weird was going on.

...

"Mom, is everything okay with Lucifer?"

Her mom's hand hesitated briefly before tugging up the blankets on the bed to tuck Trixie in further. She was a bit too old for her to still be doing this, but Trixie couldn't bring herself to ask her to stop, not yet. There were so many nights she wasn't here… it made this time of the evening special, and she wasn't ready for it to end yet. As long as her friends didn't find out, it didn't matter, not really. They no longer read books together like they used to; that was something Trixie did alone before lights out, but she loved how they would chat about their day, without TV, or homework, or chores to distract them. It was something she looked forward to on the nights Mom was home.

"Everything's fine, baby, why?" Mom replied, smoothing down the covers. She didn't look Trixie in the eye though, and she knew that meant she wasn't telling the whole truth. Too much time with Lucifer had taught her that.

"He didn't hug me." Her vision grew watery for a second, but she wiped the threatening tears away with the back of her hand. It wasn't until then that she even realised just how much his rejection had affected her.

"Oh, sweetheart," Mom said, gently stroking her hand over Trixie's face and brushing some hair back from her eyes. "I'm sure he didn't mean not to. He's just… going through a bit of a tough time at the moment, that's all. You know all that time he was away?" Trixie nodded. "Well, he had nobody to hug him, because we weren't there. It's going to take a bit of time for him to get used to it again."

"He lets you hug him though?" she asked. After all, she'd seen earlier how cuddly they were with each other. Perhaps Lucifer was making a special effort just for Mom?

Her mom chuckled a little. "I don't think I gave him much of a choice." She tickled Trixie then, and both of them laughed. "Must be where you get it from, huh?"

Trixie gave her mom a sly look. "And he lets you kiss him too?"

She tried not to giggle as her mom's cheeks reddened. But then she swallowed, and her eyes flickered away again. "He does…" she said, frowning slightly, "But it's not quite the sa—"

Suddenly, Mom blinked and shook her head, as though only just realising what she was saying. "Never mind all that though," she said, leaning forward to place a kiss on Trixie's forehead. "I'm sure you don't want to hear about who your mom is kissing."

She brightened then. "So you're kissing more than one person?" she teased with a grin.

Mom laughed, and winked at her in reply. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

Finally defeated, Trixie shrank down under the covers and rapidly shook her head. "Okay, you're right. I really, really, don't."

"I thought as much." Stifling a yawn, Mom got up to leave, switching off the main light when she reached the door. Trixie turned on the small bedside lamp, illuminating the room with a soft glow. "Lights out in 15, okay?" Mom said, poking her head back through the door. "Books only, no phones. I don't want to have to take it off you again just because Maze thinks midnight is an acceptable bedtime."

Trixie smiled, careful not to make any promises. "Goodnight Mommy!"

As it always did, hearing 'mommy' made her mom's eyes go all watery. This was the only time Trixie ever said it now, and she saved it for bedtimes especially. "Sleep tight, baby," she said softly before leaving, sliding the door closed behind her.

Immediately, Trixie dove for the book she kept on her bedside table, the one she had spent hours diligently cutting a hole inside to hold her phone. It was a little awkward using it that way, but it meant that if Mom found an excuse to open her door and check on her, all she ever saw was Trixie reading her 'favourite' book. Of course, she'd never actually said it was her favourite, but she couldn't blame her for assuming it was, given that it looked like she'd been reading the same story for months…

Slipping in her earbuds, she connected the bluetooth and dialled Maze's number. Any conversation they had would have to be whispered, but they were more than used to that by now. Maze was away on a bounty hunt again—back to Canada, which she had not been happy about—and Trixie liked to check in on her at least once a day, despite knowing she could beat up any bad guy with her hands tied behind her back. The last week or so though, their conversations had become so broken up with interference that they were indecipherable, and then they had died off completely. Maze's bounty had fled into the mountains, and Mom said the signal there was non-existent. She hadn't been able to get hold of her either.

Which meant Maze still didn't know Lucifer was back yet.

She waited for Maze's voicemail to kick in immediately, just like it always did recently. Mom said she wanted to tell Maze in person, rather than break the news about Lucifer through text like last time. The thing was, Mom had been so distraught after Lucifer's departure that she hadn't told Maze, hadn't told anyone outside of herself and dad, for a couple of days. Trixie didn't want to have to make her wait to find out he was back as well. If that meant a text, then so be it. Hopefully she would get it sooner rather than later

But the phone rang. And rang… and rang… until finally Maze's voice came through loud and clear. "WHAT?" Trixie giggled quietly, knowing that any second… "BEEP!"

Best answerphone message ever, she thought to herself, not for the first time. If the phone was ringing, that meant she had signal though, right? Her finger hovered over the redial button, but before she could press call, a text alert flashed upon the screen.

[21:08] QueenOfHell: Sorry kid, can't talk. Stakeout.

Excitedly, Trixie removed her phone from its place inside the book, figuring the risk of getting caught was worth it if meant she could type faster.

[21:09] DemonPrincess: Lucifer's back!

[21:09] QueenOfHell: Can't be. I'd know.

Swiping through her phone, she selected the photo she'd taken earlier, the one where Lucifer was facing away from her as he did the dishes, Mom's arm around his waist as she looked up at him so adoringly, she may as well have had heart emojis for eyes.

[21:10] DemonPrincess: See? Told you.

She watched the screen as the three dots showing Maze was typing appeared, then disappeared again. A quiet cough came from outside her room, and even though her 15 minutes weren't quite up yet, she rolled over to switch off her bedside lamp. If Mom thought she was asleep already, there was less chance of her coming in. A few seconds later, and the sound of the TV being turned on droned into the room.

[21:11] QueenOfHell: What's wrong with him?

Frowning, Trixie slid down the bed a little, getting herself into a more comfortable position so she could use the phone under her blanket. How could Maze tell he was acting oddly just from a photo?

[21:12] DemonPrincess: Nothing, apart from he wouldn't let me hug him.

[21:12] QueenOfHell: You're surprised? Look at him. He's standing strange. Is he hurt?

Trixie pulled up the picture again, zooming in on Lucifer. Maze was right, he was leaning to the side a little, but that's just because Mom was holding him, right?

[21:13] DemonPrincess: No. Seems fine to me.

[21:13] QueenOfHell: Good. I wouldn't want killing him to be too easy.

She barely covered her snort of laughter that escaped her. Lucifer was so in for it when Maze got home. Fingers crossed she got to watch the ass kicking he was going to get. But still…

[21:14] DemonPrincess: You can't kill him, Maze.

The photo, still visible at the top of the screen, caught her eye again. Before Maze could reply, she quickly added: Mom's happy.

This time, it was almost a minute before the dots stopped scrolling.

[21:15] QueenOfHell: Is he?

Trixie closed her eyes for a moment, thinking over Lucifer's visit. Was he happy? Sure, he would smile whenever Mom looked his way, but it was a smile that vanished as soon as she turned away again. He hadn't laughed once, not even a chuckle. She thought about lying for a second, and telling Maze he was fine, just as Lucifer himself would have done… but that's not what friends did. Or, at least, it's not what she did, not with Maze.

[21:16] QueenofHell: Well?

[21:16] DemonPrincess: I don't know. He called me Trixie.

She waited so long for a reply that at one point, the display dimmed to black. Just as she was about to give up and go to sleep though, the phone lit up again.

[21:26] QueenOfHell: Sorry, thought I saw something. Keep an eye on him. Not that I care or anything… but Hell is a bitch. And he's not the king he was.

Trixie's eyelids were growing heavy. She yawned, forcing them open just enough as she could send a reply, the words starting to blur as the bright light of the screen burned into her vision.

[21:28] DemonPrincess: I will. Mom says he needs hugs.

[21:28] QueenOfHell: She would.

It was getting harder to type now, the phone loosening in her hands. She wanted nothing more than to talk to Maze for longer, but the events of the day had her beat. There was one question she wanted to ask though before she turned in.

[21:29] DemonPrincess: Will you be home soon?

[21:30] QueenOfHell: One week, two at most. You humans can only run for so long.

That brought a smile to her face. The discarded book fell to the floor as she turned onto her side, snuggling into the mattress. One blink turned into a much slower one, and with a sigh, she finally gave up.

[21:30] DemonPrincess: I gotta sleep. See you soon.

She didn't wish her luck, or tell her to stay safe. She didn't need to. Besides, Maze would only tell her off if she did. Nothing could defeat her, not even Lucifer. It brought Trixie comfort, knowing there was someone in her life who would always come home to her.

[21:31] QueenOfHell: Looking forward to it. Beat his ass if he doesn't hug you again. And remember, live target practice is better than drawings. Just saying.

Trixie smiled again sleepily, and turned off her phone. The last thing she heard before she closed her eyes was the sound of her door opening slightly, but by then it was too late. Her phone secured underneath her pillow, she went to sleep feeling hopeful again. Maze would be back soon, and Lucifer would be himself again.

It was all going to be fine, she just knew it.