Dan had agreed to take Trixie over the weekend without asking any questions. Maze was getting ready to go out but she was unaware that Chloe had other plans for her. It had been hard for Chloe not to confront Maze straight away but she needed to get both Amenadiel and Maze in one room without them suspecting that she knew, or rather finally believed the truth that Lucifer had tried to make her see from the very start. Amenadiel would show up in about twenty minutes or so and Chloe was sitting on the sofa, nervously tapping her fingers on her knees, wondering what she should do to dissuade Maze from leaving before Amenadiel arrived.
She had spent the last two days and a half reading up on the Bible and the history of the Devil. She had replayed in her mind everything Lucifer had ever said to her about his family and about his fall. She finally understood why he had often seemed paranoid, why he believed everyone was out to get him and why he was unable to trust any one person completely. At the same time, from quite early on in their relationship, he had tried to make her see, to make her understand. He had wanted to trust her. She finally understood how her refusal to acknowledge the existence of the divine had frustrated him. Why had she not tested his blood? Why had she not asked him, pushed him to show her his other face, the one she had caught a brief glance of the night she had shot him in the leg? Now that she finally had made the leap of faith, she berated her past self for not being more daring in her dealing with him. Because it hadn't been about her just needing the eggs in a long time, to be honest.
She now understood the look of utter confusion when she had shot him and he had bled - for the first time ever, it would appear. And how he had tried to keep his distance for a few weeks when he found out that she was causing his vulnerability. Everything he had done, or failed to do, suddenly appeared in a new light. The monumentality of the truth still took Chloe's breath away now - God did exist and so did the Devil - but then all she needed to calm herself down again was to bring to the forefront of her mind those precious memories of Lucifer's caring gaze, his honest smile (the one he reserved mostly for her), his arms wrapped around her, his lips on hers, and she felt how truly unique their bond was. She believed, now more than ever, that he was not evil. He was put in an impossible position by his father, to be the punisher of all evil humanity was capable of, for all eternity. The realization that Lucifer had been stuck in Hell for thousands of years, forced to punish evil against his will, with no chance of redemption or one of his siblings relieving him of his unwanted duties for a few centuries now and then made her so, so angry. No wonder he had displayed such hunger for life when he had arrived on earth. He was willing to try each food, each drink, each new sensation. His excesses with alcohol and women (and men!) now appeared in a completely new light, and his ability to still care after all that he had been through and all the evil that he had encountered made her feelings for him deepen every single time she thought about him. Which was pretty much constantly. She needed to see him again, to tell him that she finally believed him and that she wanted to be with him. But first she needed to find out why exactly he had left. She knew it had something to do with Amenadiel and her mother but she wasn't sure what their relationship had been. 'I just hope he isn't my real dad' Chloe thought to herself as she got up to answer the door.
Amenadiel was looking dishevelled. He hadn't shaved in days, probably since Lucifer had left, and his T-shirt had stains on it. Still, he smiled at Chloe as she gestured that he should come into the apartment.
'How are you doing, Chloe?' Amenadiel asked and Chloe thought there was real concern in his voice.
'OK, how are you holding up?' she answered, trying to keep her voice steady.
Maze had heard the bell, as well, and was coming down the stairs at that moment. She was clearly surprised to see Amenadiel but didn't say anything.
'Can I talk to the two of you, please?' Chloe asked as she sat down in the armchair opposite the sofa. Amenadiel and Maze exchanged a glance that she couldn't read but they did as she asked.
'So what can we do for you, Chlo?' Maze asked. She had started using her nickname around three weeks ago.
'Well, I'd like to know what you said to Lucifer when you met him at McGrath's Bar ten days ago.'
Maze stared at her open-mouthed.
'I… I' she said but Chloe didn't wait for her answer.
'And I'd like to know why you came to see my mother all those years ago!' Chloe said to Amenadiel, taking the picture out of the back pocket of her jeans and handing it to him.
He took it -were his hands shaking ever so slightly?- and sighed, letting himself fall back into the back of the sofa. He closed his eyes for a few seconds.
'Chloe, that's not me. It looks a lot like me but perhaps it's my father?' he attempted.
'Your father like in God, the Lord creator of all things?' Chloe snapped at him. A small giggle escaped from Maze's mouth and Chloe turned to her, staring her down.
'You think this is funny? These past ten days you've acted like my friend, telling me you didn't know where Lucifer is or why he's left and all the while you knew exactly why he's gone!'
Maze's face fell. She opened her mouth and Chloe felt that she was going to tell her the truth.
Amenadiel grabbed Maze's arm in a tight grip and whispered her name in a menacing tone.
'Let go of my arm, Amenadiel! Or I swear I'll rip it off!' Maze growled. 'She's figured it out for herself anyway - finally, if you don't mind me saying so' she continued as she turned to face Chloe directly.
'Yes, I know it took me all this time to accept the truth. And it was staring me in the face all this time. But I need to know what happened that night. Lucifer came here and he was so upset, asking me whether I had known all this time… What did he mean?'
Maze got off the sofa and knelt in front of Chloe, grabbing her hand: 'He had just found out that 35 years ago, Amenadiel was sent down here to bless your parents. You know, they couldn't have children but after the blessing, they had you…'
Chloe stared at her roommate in disbelief. She was the result of a… miracle intervention by divine powers? A memory of Lucifer in the hospital hit her hard. 'How do I look?' she had asked him and he had smiled a sad smile and had said 'Heaven-sent!'
'Oh no!' Chloe whispered as a thought formed in her head.
'And Lucifer left because I'm the result of God's intervention? Because… because he thinks that my feelings of him are caused by me being this miracle child and not my own?'
Tears welled up as Chloe forced herself to say it out loud.
'Yes, that's pretty much it' Maze said, squeezing her hands even tighter.
'But is that possible? I'm sure there must be other blessed children out there? What about Abraham and Sarah in the Old Testament? Who blessed them with children?'
'Not me' Amenadiel said and he looked surprised at the fact that he had actually answered Chloe and therefore confirmed that there were angels, demons, God and the Devil.
'Well, perhaps you could find out who of your siblings is usually in charge of blessings? And why your father chose you in my case?' Chloe suggested.
'I can't, father and my siblings won't speak to me.' Amenadiel said sadly and Chloe felt sorry for him but now was not the time to deal with his issues. Maze saw the sadness on Amenadiel's face, too, and moved back onto the sofa to sit next to him.
'So… Lucifer thinks what? That God put me on this planet in order to use me against him?' Chloe asked.
'See' Maze said, hitting Amenadiel in the arm. 'She knows Lucifer so well, probably better than any of us!'
'Probably. But I don't know where he is. He wouldn't tell me' Maze replied to her friend 'Especially after I agreed to let his mother tell him about Amenadiel's blessing.'
'His… mother?' Chloe gasped. Her head started spinning. His mother. Then she hit her forehead with her flat hand.
'Charlotte Richards, of course!' she exclaimed, chuckling at her own stupidity.
Maze took of her high heels and got up. 'I'm getting a bottle of vodka. It' gonna be a long night.'