AN: Not mine, or I wouldn't have bonus chapters. Well, originally, this story was only going to be two scenes, the conversation with the ineffable husbands and the therapy session, possibly at once, but after those split into their own chapters, the Azraels wanted in and the first epilogue (of two) demanded to be written. Then Linda, who was just barely edged out of the character listings, had a few follow-up questions that fit slightly before that and this ended up set mid-season 4. The next chapter may or may not be published in the usual nine-day interval, as like the May 25th update, we have a special guest PoV sneaking in under the radar for another bonus chapter set before the epilogues next time... What can I say? Favorites and follows inspire me, and reviews wouldn't hurt, either...
"What about Adam?" Linda asked, desperation seeping into her voice as she rifled through old files. She shouldn't pull them out where Amenadiel and Maze could find them, but Maze, especially, had a habit of sniffing out anything that should be forbidden to her. Linda was more likely to protect her patients' HIPAA rights by not getting too secretive with their records. Then the demon might at least dismiss them as boring. Besides, both Maze and Amenadiel likely already knew what was in this thick file.
"The first mortal is another unique case, but his situation is diametrically opposite our son's," Amenadiel said gently, bringing her back to a soft chair and setting the box of patient files on a convenient coffee table. He could be so thoughtful, but Linda didn't want to be treated like something fragile right now… even if she was.
"No, I mean… I wouldn't mind learning more about that Adam; you met him? But I meant Lucifer's Adam, Adam Young. His mother has to have known something was different, even if Lucifer didn't explain what was going on; didn't God send someone to look after him?" She grasped at straws, trying not to let her hormones lead her idle curiosity down random asides. It could be so easy to get sidetracked during a mood swing.
"Lucifer's Adam?" Amenadiel repeated, dark eyes widening as if the angel who had taken the greatest hand in the devil's "vacation" had yet to hear the reason behind it.
"His son in England, I think? He said they've been estranged for most of Adam's life, but he's been repressing his desire to reconnect with the boy." Linda dug through for any possible hint that she wasn't alone. Mrs. Young might know how to do it if she needed to baby-proof the overhead fan.
"Lucifer has a son?" Amenadiel was asking the universe in general as much as his lover in particular. The eldest of God's sons was no longer simply trying to anticipate her needs; Amenadiel was teetering on the brink of fight-or-flight. Despite his renewed lightened wings, Amenadiel always chose to fight. "How long do we have, Maze?"
Mazikeen rolled her eyes, setting a mug of warm herbal tea in the middle of Linda's papers and topping off her own coffee with something from a flask as she sprawled across the couch. "Don't worry about it. The kid rejected Luci's offer eight years ago and he's too soft to try again," the demon said, waving off Amenadiel's unspoken terrors. "Suits me fine. Lucifer forged him too small, and we could not hand the screaming monstrosity off to Crawly fast enough. I don't mind tears, but babies just don't offer any challenge."
Linda put a hand over her womb, passing a look between the unruffled demon and nervous angel. She'd beg to differ, if she didn't already know that Mazikeen was implying something totally different and probably disturbing. Sometimes she wondered if it was too late to run back to the mental hospital and check herself in, even when she knew it was real. This was her best friend and the father of her unborn child, and she didn't know their reality at all, sometimes. "Forged him too small?" Linda echoed, her voice as tiny as herself in her confusion.
Maze shrugged, both hands clutched around her coffee on the table. The psychiatrist in Linda recognized it as an attempt to put her at ease. "Adam doesn't have a bio mom, like the Lilium don't really have a dad."
"Heard you call Luci daddy once," Amenadiel muttered. For the sake of their friendship, Linda was going to let that one go. She knew that Maze had slept with both brothers before she had. Linda and Amenadiel had walked into this relationship very aware of the fact. While Mazikeen's relationships with her exes couldn't be considered fully amicable, the demon prickled her way back into their lives and hearts and home, making stronger, healthier platonic ties despite herself. As a therapist and friend, Linda Martin was proud of her, but Maze's offhand mentions of hell's darkest secrets sent her mortal brain on enough panicked scenarios without her boyfriend making it weird.
"Only when he's been acting like you," Mazikeen shot back. "Pretty much all of the non-humans in hell were forged by one being or another alone, besides the boss, of course. Lucifer would say it's just because he doesn't like to mix pleasure with business, but he's always shot blanks. Swimmers don't usually survive lakes of hellfire." Amenadiel flinched despite himself at the demon's baldly matter-of-fact revelation. "He just created Adam as a baby that could grow, instead of in a more useful body." Maze lifted a hand to indicate her own leather-clad muscles and honey-brown curves. "No wonder he turned against his father."
"But Lucifer said that Adam had been raised by his mother and her husband… who he called Adam's real father," Linda said, the light beginning to dawn on her that according to Lucifer, "real" parents meant the ones who had raised the boy.
"There was a mixup at the hospital," Maze explained. "Crawly was supposed to drop the squalling goblin off with some hotshot diplomat, but he got switched out with a random newborn instead. I guess they got that couple's baby." Maybe Linda would look into home birth after all. Midwives could bring an epidural to the house, right? She didn't think anyone could confuse someone else's baby with a newborn half-angel, but if Adam had been "forged?"
Her baby had been unexpected, a happy accident, when the very thought of him wasn't terrifying. Lucifer had had to go through whatever the celestial version of IVF was for Adam. So that's why he rolled his eyes whenever Linda or Ella implied he might need a paternity test as a result of his many past lovers.
And what had Amenadiel meant by how long they might have left?
Oh. Lucifer's son. Lucifer's rebellious son. Specially forged for... "business." She'd tried to reconnect the devil with the Antichrist, hadn't she?
Some mom Linda was going to make. Downright supernatural.
"I'm sorry, Linda, but with Mom gone, we're pretty much on our own when it comes to raising a celestial," Amenadiel apologized, putting a hand to her back.
"It is a pity." Linda knew Maze was making an extra effort to protect her and the baby, but she hadn't expected the demon to show any empathy for her former torture victim. Mazikeen had been too happy to be proven right about the Goddess's vicious personal agenda. "I was looking forward to some embarrassing horror stories about you and Luci as kids."
Linda still wished she had some way of contacting Mrs. Young. Or at least this "fellow ex-employee" Anthony. (Would Lucifer have entrusted his baby to a defrocked priest? A fallen saint? Linda would have no idea where to even start looking for someone else who understood what was going on.) Even if their advice wouldn't help her own son, they might be able to give her some pointers on how to raise Maze.
