Iris

23. Light

This chapter is based on the song Light by Sleeping At Last.

Chloe was still sleeping when Lucifer returned. It had been obvious that she needed - and was well deserving of - a nap after being in labor for twenty-four plus hours and childbirth on top of that. 

He had just been watching over Chloe from the couch for a little over an hour when a new nurse wheeled the plastic bin back into the room, placing it next to Chloe's bed, and saying something about the baby possibly needing a diaper change. She left soon after.

The trio was finally alone in the hospital room for the first time all day, with no nurses or doctors to bother them. Lucifer rose and moved to the foot of Chloe's bed, and he smiled at how peaceful the detective looked. Then he glanced down at the bin next to her. Chloe was safe. The child was safe and seemed perfectly normal so far, except for the fact that she was very squishy and hadn't learned to do much but sleep, eat, and cry. She hadn't even opened her eyes yet (at least not to Lucifer's knowledge, and his google searches told him that that wouldn't be until quite a few hours after birth), she just slept peacefully, all swaddled in the soft pink blanket and hat the hospital provided, her mouth opened like a tiny bird's.

Lucifer wanted to sit by Chloe and watch for any signs of distress, but something about the tiny female offspring sleeping next to the love of his life drew him over to her. Normally, babies repulsed him. They were tiny and fat and served no real purpose for the first few years of their lives. They seemed to just be burdens on their parents that they too often came to resent. He had seen it with too many parents before, even his own.

Maybe Linda was onto something before? Maybe there was something different about his own child? There was only one way to find out...

That, or the baby was what he had feared all along. She was just another manipulation sent by his Father. Maybe this strange pull he was feeling toward the small half-angel was some sort of ability she possesses to control the minds of others. Maybe she inherited his ability of magnetism!

Lucifer stood over the baby and couldn't help but give her a small smile with his curious glance. She just seemed so small, so...happy. Her peaceful slumber brought a warmth to his belly that spread throughout his body, making his heart flutter. Chloe had been so excited about this moment for months, meeting the child growing inside of her, and now he finally found himself understanding a little bit of what she felt. He had spent an entire Saturday making a room for this urchin after all.

Temptation got the best of him, and he reached out to stroke the side of her small face with his left index finger. She's so soft. So warm. So...good he thought. In that instant, a name popped in his head, and Lucifer knew that this was, indeed, his daughter's name.

Someone knocked at the door, interrupting the moment. Lucifer turned around and there was Dan, waiting in the doorway with an excited smile.

"Hey, sorry man. It's just that, uh, Trixie wants to meet her little sister and see her mom." He rambled in a whisper, soon noticing a sleeping Chloe. "Oh...crap." The douche's face fell.

Lucifer looked at Chloe for an answer, also realizing and remembering that she was asleep, making the only adult left to make decisions was...him. Shit.

"Oh, yes, she could come and meet her I suppose." He tried to muster up enough confidence as he could by standing up straighter and putting a fake smile on his face, taking a step back from the plastic box on wheels.

Dan's eyes and smile were locked on the baby, and Lucifer's admiration followed. Both men were completely mesmerized by her.

It must be her divinity that's causing this feeling. There's been that tugging feeling through the pregnancy, but it's never been as profound as it is now. Well, just another not-so-awful trait she's inherited from me, I suppose.