Natalie took a sip of her coffee long after it had grown cold. The dark storm clouds continued to roil in the sky overhead and rain poured down upon the town, an unusual amount for that time of year, but not unheard of. The water pattered down through the canopies of the old oaks in her backyard, and puddles formed between their roots, while squirrels and birds took up roost among the branches for shelter.
Natalie watched from the steps of the patio deck, the overhanging roof protecting her from the rain, as she sipped her coffee. She was lost in a daze and her eyes were unfocused. The emotional turmoil she felt had exhausted her mentally and physically, absently, she had hoped the coffee would bring her back to reality so she could help those that needed it.
Jekyll had appeared a bit smaller before her and crawled onto the patio deck to lay behind her and offer her support and warmth. He had no words to give her. He was not an emotional creature and only understood that she was sad and he needed to protect her in such a state.
It was cold outside, even more so with the rain, and her breath fogged up before her after each sip. She could imagine the coffee was still hot that way and that her toes weren't freezing.
For once, she wished her house was empty, so that she could mourn at her own pace. But there were others who were upset and she needed to do her best to offer as much support as she could.
"Natalie?"
Green eyes stared ahead sightlessly but she responded after a moment's pause, "Yeah?"
"Do you mind if Felix and I stay here for a few days?" Laila asked from the sliding glass door. She was dressed in a purple top that hung off one shoulder, a black sports bra, and black leggings. It looked as if she had just been getting ready for her morning run when Michael had called her.
"Stay as long as you need," she said with forced cheerfulness after clearing her throat.
"Thanks," Laila mumbled and stood in the door for a few minutes, unsure of how to help, as she was never good in such situations. Some ideas had formed in her mind but she held off on voicing them as it seemed Natalie was mourning herself and she did not want to bother her. She stepped back into the house and shut the sliding glass door with a sigh. Felix had fallen silent in the living room and Michael had taken to standing at the kitchen sink, staring out through the window, while he bit the nail of a thumb in thought.
She had gotten to know Pax very well over the years, as he and Felix were partners in crime, but she had always dealt with death a little differently. Sure, she was sad, but she was also able to still function through her sadness. It was then that she decided to step up and help the household back to its feet. Natalie couldn't always be the one supporting everyone and lifting them up, she was only one person, so with that in mind she cracked her knuckles with a sigh.
First thing first, she decided with a raised brow as she eyed the trail of dirty footprints leading upstairs, the house was a mess and needed a good cleaning. Secondly, they needed some good comfort food for later in the day when they had calmed themselves enough to feel hungry. And thirdly, Gabriel needed to be informed as he was far more kindly and caring than Laila and could offer more emotional support than she could.
Lucifer stood in the bathroom and ran a hand through his hair while he examined his human face in the mirror. It had taken him a bit of effort but he had managed to change his form. After so long in his natural state, it was hard to pull the face back on, but he didn't want to cause Natalie anymore stress. He looked like his usual twenty-five your old self that he had taken to appearing as for Natalie's sake. It was close enough to his usual chosen age range, so he didn't mind the shift.
He braced his hands on the bathroom counter top and stared down into the sink, frustrated beyond belief for his own stupidity. He had flipped out over an existential crises, of all things, and lost a life because of it. Had he waited for Raphael to provide further impute, collect more information, and gone in with a full team Pax would still be alive.
But he had wanted to blow off steam and prove he was a bad ass and could stop the thing on his own. He snorted in disgust as he prodded the healing puncture wound on his shoulder where a branch had split flesh during his fall into the pit. It was still bleeding a bit but the skin was beginning to mend.
With a snap of his fingers, his was wearing sweatpants again, and he pulled a tank top on after as he remembered Natalie's decree that he not walk through the house shirtless. She had let him slide a few times but now was not an opportune moment, he thought.
When he came down stairs, he found Laila with a mop in hand, cleaning up the mess he had left with his trek through the house. She glanced up as he descended the steps and offered a quick wave before she returned to her task.
"Where's Nat?" he asked. He could see Gabriel cooking in the kitchen but made no comment on it as he glanced about the rest of the room.
"On the patio," Laila answered with a sigh and thumbed over towards the sliding glass door.
Lucifer grunted and was stepping out onto the patio moments later, sliding the door shut behind him, and skirted around Jekyll's tail to find Natalie staring out into the rainy backyard. He rubbed the back of his head, unsure of how to handle the situation because he felt like she was a balloon ready to pop, before he decided to sit down on the top step next to her.
Without so much as a word she reached over for his hand and curled her fingers through his, never once taking her eyes from the trees, and gave a tight lipped smile.
Lucifer watched her for a moment, wide eyed, and surprised that she was so ready and willing to accept him still when he had run off on her. He dropped his gaze to their hands before his ears drooped and he turned to look out at the backyard as well. "I'm sorry," he mumbled a few moments later and tightened his own grip on her hand.
Natalie lowered her eyes to the grass just before them and whispered, "Don't do that to me again."
Lucifer nodded once, jaw tight against emotions, and wished he had a cigarette.
"I'm serious, Lucifer, I can't do this alone," she added with a shaky voice and wiped at her eyes. "You said no more apocalypses, no more running off into dangerous situations . . ."
"I know, kid, I'm sorry," he muttered and rubbed at the bridge of his nose. He didn't bother trying to excuse his actions, because she was right, he had been wrong to run off and go head first into a fight just to prove his worth to no one but himself.
Neither one of them had the strength to argue in that moment, they were both physically and emotionally exhausted, but Natalie continued with a shuddering sigh, "You don't understand, Lucifer." She grasped his hand tightly as she felt her chest tighten and panic slither to life in her limbs. She was afraid to tell him, afraid that he would run away again, and that she would be left to sort things out on her own. She bit her lip and squeezed his hand as hard as she could as fear turned her blood cold.
"It's alright, Nat, I'm not going anywh-."
"I'm pregnant."
Natalie hunched forward as Lucifer stared with wide eyes, looking as if he had seen a ghost, before he jumped to his feet and jerked back as if he had been stung. The wooden railing cracked as his back smacked into it and he lifted his hands to his head.
Silence fell between them and the only sound to be heard was the rain and thunder as it intensified. Sheets of water fell over the backyard as wind whipped it about and sent it cascading through the leaves of the trees.
Lucifer's eyes did not move from Natalie's back as his fingers grasped at his head, overwhelmed, and he stumbled back up onto the deck with a grunt. Jekyll lifted his head to watch his master curiously as he shuffled back into one of the wicker chairs and knocked it over, startling himself with a curse. He chose to brace himself against the railing of the deck and stare down at the gravel, drowning in rain water, below the patio with wide and unseeing eyes.
"Umm," he tried to force himself to speak, but nothing came, and he chuckled nervously. Disbelief was the only emotion he felt in that moment. If not disbelief than mania, because becoming a father had never even crossed his mind in the thousands of years he had lived, and he was the Devil. He rocked back on one foot, needing to work out the energy rising within him somehow, and ran a hand through his hair.
Natalie's heart broke for the second time that day and she struggled to breathe against the pain. She needed him so desperately in that moment, because something was stealing the souls of children, while she herself was pregnant. She was terrified and stressed beyond all possible limits. But he looked as if he was going to run and it tore her to pieces.
"Fuck. Natalie, I-," he cut himself off and stood straight, rocking on the balls of his feet, and covered his face with his hands.
"It's alright," she murmured. "I just thought you should know. I'd understand if you wanted to-."
"Shut up," he cut her off with a raised hand, the other still covering his face, "Just shut up. Stop letting your brain run haywire."
She lowered her eyes to her feet, hands shaking in her lap, and struggled against further tears.
"I don't care if I am a father," he finally forced out between grit teeth and a tight jaw, "I don't care about having responsibilities or any of that bullshit." He finally pulled his hands away and dropped to his knees before her as she turned in her spot to look at him, "But Natalie, you have to understand, that I-," he struggled to continue and grabbed her by the shoulders imploringly, "Natalie, I am the Devil. I am Satan. You do realize that any child of mine is considered . . ."
She nodded with a watery smile, struggling to piece her heart back together, and wiped at her eyes. "But the apocalypse already happened, so I figured, what the hey?" she mumbled through her tears and lifted her hands in a shrug.
Lucifer stared at her searchingly, eyes jumping from the other, with drooped ears and scrunched brows. His grip on her shoulders tightened momentarily.
"Natalie, I . . ." He what? He didn't even know. His chest was tight and his heart ached for all that had happened and now a bomb had been dropped and he couldn't decide if it was good or bad. "I don't deserve you," he finally forced out, "You beautiful, beautiful thing." He brushed a lock of her hair behind her ear with shaking hands.
Natalie dropped her gaze to her hand, resting upon one of his knees, as sadness washed through her again.
"Hey," he called quietly and grinned nervously as her eyes lifted to his again, "It'll be okay. We'll figure everything out."
"What do you want to do?" she asked in a whisper.
Inside the house, Laila continued to clean while Gabriel clattered about in the kitchen. Michael was shouting something as the sound of the front door opening filtered through the glass of the sliding door, Max's voice greeted Michael's, followed by Chelle's. It seemed Laila was taking control of that mornings events and bringing everyone together to discuss how to proceed and, hopefully, bring a little cheer back into their hearts.
Lucifer bit his lip, drawing blood with a canine, and stared into her eyes. He was searching deeper than he had since before his fall, pulling up the deepest strands of thought, in order to answer her as truthfully as he could. Her voice rang through, as he recalled not but a week ago, when she had asked him how he wanted to handle a situation. "I . . . we . . .," he scowled in frustration as he struggled to answer but her patience never wavered. "Fuck it," he finally spat out with his signature sardonic grin, "Let's prove them wrong."
The smile that claimed Natalie's face was well worth it, he decided later, because she had lit up that whole backyard as the rain slowed to a stop.
