Divine Alterations ( Lucifer Fanfic)

CHAPTER 18

It was a while before Lucifer was allowed to see his son. It was at least an hour. He was also asked to put on a surgeon's gown and gloves. Normally, he'd protest to wearing something like that, but if it somehow protected his son, so be it. Finally, he was allowed in and escorted to the boy. He was so tiny and frail looking. It looked like the slightest touch could break him. The tubes and machines around him only made him look smaller.

A nurse and doctor stood on the other side of the incubator. "Mr. Morningstar, I'm Doctor Grant. I'll be in charge of your son's care while he's in the NICU. I know it doesn't seem like it, but he's doing well so far."

He's enclosed in this contraption with machines breathing for him. His body looks like it will give out any minute," Lucifer said while glaring at the man. He did not need to be coddled with false information. He needed to know if his son was going to live.

"I know. He certainly has a rough road ahead of him, but for a baby born this early, he's doing good. He's not able to breathe on his own right now, but that's expected at this stage of development. The machines and incubator are here to do the work until he can do it himself," the doctor explained.

"Will he survive?" Lucifer asked.

"I can't answer that. Things can change drastically for a premature baby at any moment, especially when they are born this early. Right now, your son doesn't show any sign of suffering any severe complications, other than difficulty breathing, but he hasn't even been in the world two hours, and as I said, things can change. But he has a pretty good chance. A lot of advances have been made in neonatal care. I've seen babies born even earlier than your son was make full recoveries. There's every reason for you to be optimistic. It will be a long journey, but I have every reason to believe that you will take your son home in the end," the doctor said.

Lucifer nodded. It was all he really could do. There didn't seem to be anything else that could be done for his child.

"If you have any more questions, just have a nurse come find me," he said before walking away.

"You can talk with him and touch him. We find that helps a lot of times," the nurse said.

"Talk to him? Why? He can't understand me," Lucifer said.

"He may or may not be able to understand what you're saying, but there are studies that indicated children can hear voices form their mothers' wombs. I'd guess that he already knows your voice. Hearing it could give him comfort," she said.

That explained why Chloe often spoke to the child as if he could hear her, Lucifer thought. He had found it to be ridiculous, not believing the child could understand what was being said when he wasn't even in the world yet.

"You should give it a try," the nurse said before walking away.

Lucifer sighed and placed a hand on top of the incubator. "I suppose it can't hurt anything to give it a try. Hello, little one. Sorry, you don't have a name yet. Your mother is a stubborn woman. She refused to find out if you'd be a boy or a girl, so that made the decision making harder. You were also born more than two months early, so that didn't help either."

Lucifer paused for a moment, watching as the machines kept life in his son's tiny body. It wasn't right. His son should be growing inside of his mother's body. He shouldn't have been forced into this world months early. Lucifer should've been able to keep him and Chloe safe. "I'm sorry. You're barely an hour old and I failed you. I should've stopped Kinley when I knew he was a threat. Father's rule about not killing humans shouldn't have stopped me, not from protecting my son."

Lucifer tentatively reached a shaky hand into one of the holes of the incubator to touch his son. He was half afraid that he was going to hurt him by touching him. The baby was just so small that it seemed liked the slightest touch would break him. But that didn't happen. Lucifer's touch didn't seem to do anything to him. "I'll do better. I won't let anyone hurt you or your mother again."

Lucifer continued to gently touch the boy's small arm. "You'll meet your mother soon. She's hurt right now, but she'll be better soon. She'll be here when she can, and I'd guess she won't leave your side after she gets here. Oh, and I suppose I should tell you who I am. I shouldn't expect you to guess. I'm your father."

It actually hit Lucifer as he said the words that he was a father. It was different when he was simply going to be a father. It wasn't completely real, even as he planned for the child's arrival. It was different than touching him and telling him who he was.

Soon, Lucifer's thoughts were interrupted by a voice behind him. "Mr. Morningstar?"

Lucifer turned to see the nurse behind him.

"There's a detective outside that needs to see you," she said.

Lucifer nodded before reluctantly stepping away from his son and walking towards the doors. He assumed it was Daniel, and as he walked outside, he found he was right. Daniel was standing there with an officer Lucifer recognized, but never bothered to get the name of. "What is it? Has something happened with Chloe?"

"No, man. It's nothing like that. I did stop by her room though. She's still sleeping. They think she won't wake up until the morning, with both the surgery and the head injury. How is your son?" Dan asked.

"Small. You can barely see him with those machines around him. The doctors are hopeful, but they can't tell me for sure that he'll live. What did you need?" Lucifer asked, wanting to get back to his child. He also wanted to check on Chloe. He felt a bit torn in half right now.

Dan pointed to the officer. "Officer Brown is going to be stationed outside to the NICU to make sure no one gets in that isn't supposed to. This ward is pretty secures as it is, but I figured a little extra protection couldn't hurt. I also have an officer outside Chloe's door in case the priest goes after her. I wanna put people at the penthouse as well for Trixie."

"No need for that. Maze is with the child now. No one will get by her. I have others watching the premises very carefully," Lucifer assured him.

"I know you'll do your best to protect her, but I'd still like to put a car out in front of Lux," Dan said. He knew Maze was really good protection, but he wanted to be sure.

"Very well. Thank you for all that you're doing, Daniel. You're being much less of a douche tonight," Lucifer commented.

Dan had that comment coming, and he knew it. "I wasn't a douche. I was a dick. I'm sorry. Charlotte's death messed me up, and I needed to blame someone. It wasn't right for me to take it out on you, and it certainly wasn't right for me to lash out at Trixie or to react the way I did when I found out about your baby. I'm sorry for what I said about you being a terrible father too. It wasn't fair. I can already tell that you love that baby. That already makes better than a lot of others."

"Thank you," Lucifer said.

"Go be with your son. Take care of him and Chloe. I will find everyone involved with this. They will pay," Dan promised.

"Father Kinley is responsible. There's nothing really to investigate," Lucifer said tightly.

Dan decided against arguing that they needed evidence to back that up. Lucifer didn't want or need to hear that right now. He only wanted to hear that those involved were punished. "Go to your son. I'll handle it."

"Fine. I'll allow that for now, but if you fail, or if my son doesn't make it, I will punish the bastard myself," Lucifer said before walking back inside the NICU.