Chapter Text
Lucifer usually woke up last, lounging in bed until noon. There was no reason for him to be out of bed sooner unless Charlie had a redemption exercise planned. Not that he exactly liked joining them, but he loved seeing how happy him being there made his daughter. This morning though, he was awoken by a sound he hadn’t heard in about a couple of hundred years.
The sound of a child crying. Specifically, his Charlie.
Lucifer shot out of bed and out of his room, charging down the stairs and towards the sound. He registered the door handle to his daughter’s room moving, and the crying was right behind it. Lucifer paused, his face full of confusion before he grabbed the handle and opened the door carefully. He was met with the sad splotchy face, of his baby Charlie, looking about two years old. Lucifers jaw dropped and he would have too, had his little girl not immediately clung to his pants. He patted her head absent mindedly and looked around. Another bout of shock hit him as the other toddler came around the bed, little wings dragging on the floor, small hands rubbing her eye. Vaggi looked up and blinked, brows pinched and looked between him and Charlie. Luckly whatever happened included their pajamas, since both girls wore a matching button-down pajama set, though Charlie’s were red and Vaggi’s were gray.
“Oh, Father.” Lucifer whispered. He blinked a few times, finally kneeling and scooping up his daughter. Charlie curled her arms around him and snuggled into his shoulder, cries dying down to sniffles. Lucifer rubbed her back and subconsciously started to hum and sway. Ok, ok. So, somehow last night his daughter and her girlfriend turned into children. He could figure this out. Lucifer reached his hand out and was kind of surprised when Vaggie didn’t hesitate to grab it, following him out and down the hallway. Though Lucifer wasn’t apposed to being able to hold his baby girl like this again. He was startled when he reached the next hallway, scratching coming from two of the rooms. The spider and the cat demon. Oh no.
“Shit, what happened?!” Lucifer exclaimed, opening the spider’s door first. It had a bright pink heart and the other hotel residents pictured in the middle of it. Pushing it in carefully he jumped when a hell pig ran out first, followed by the little spider demon, pouting and wrapping his arms around himself. Lucifer didn’t bother chasing the pig, instead kneeling to be at his height.
“Are you ok, little one?” he blinked and didn’t seem to recognize Lucifer, though he wasn’t sure if it was the heavy sleep that clouded his eyes. He sighed and stood back up.
“Vaggi, sweety? Take his hand too, ok?” Lucifer nodded his head to the pink demon. Vaggie frowned up at him but reached out and snagged one of his middle arms out from around the spiders waist. Lucifer studied the children, listening as from the other side of the door he could hear growling and louder scratching. The bartender, Husk. He could feel panic building in his chest, causing it to squeeze and his heart to pound. How in Hell was he supposed to take care of these children?! He barely handed Charlie alone and even then, he wasn’t all the way alone with Lilith. Well, I mean… Lucifer flinched at the flash of memories of Charlies first few years. Seeming to sense his distress, Charlie leaned back in his arms and smacked both hands onto his cheeks, eyes suddenly serious.
“Dada!” she stated, seeming to say many things with the one word. Immediately he relaxed, pushing his face into hers and rubbing her nose where his would be. She giggled and leaned in to hug him again.
“You are right, apple-pie. No need to panic. I can fix whatever happened to you guys’ last night and everything is going to be ok. Now, lets go get Husk.” With that he started for the cat’s room. Once hearing the demon’s name, the pink spider looked up at him in surprise and took his hand away from the fallen angel, running to the door and jumping up to help open it. Lucifer chuckled and ruffled the fur on his head. Damn that’s soft. Another howl had Lucifer rolling his eyes and opening the door, letting the small bartender grumble out of his room, wings held tightly against his back and tail flicking with agitation. He rubbed his eyes, seeming to try and hide his tears. The spider rubbed his head, and the cat swatted him away.
“Husk!” he grinned, replacing the swatted hand with another. Husk couldn’t hide the smile behind the grumble this time, though still swatted the offender away.
“No touching.” Lucifer was just about going to combust. Father, they were so cute. At the insistent tug from his side, he looked down at Vaggie. She was pouting.
“Hungwe.” She stared at him intensely. Lucifer smiled at her.
“Oh? Do you guys want some breakfast?” All four children snapped eyes to him, heads all nodding and they were off down to the lobby. Going down the stairs turned out to be the most challenging of all. The pink demon, what was his name, and Husk tried to hop onto the banister and slide down to the lobby. Thankfully Lucifer was able to wrap his arms around them before they could. He had Charlie in one arm, holding her under her butt as she wrapped her arm around his shoulders. He had Husk and the other one with their backs pressed against his chest and arm across their waists.
“You guys are so lucky I’m strong enough to hold all of you.” He grumbled. What he did not anticipate was Vaggie trying to take flight down the stairs instead of walking. His tail snapped into being as she flapped past him and he just caught her with it.
“Hey! I expected better from you. Come on!” the watery look he received with the bottom lip sticking out made the quick fear for her safety vanish. “Ok, ok I’m sorry, lets walk though please? I know your wings aren’t going to hold you very long in the air and I don’t want you to crash, ok?” she seemed to understand and nodded. He let her down next to the banister and they finished down the stairs. Walking into the kitchen he was met with another dilemma, but nothing a little magic couldn’t help. He snapped the chairs from the table in the middle of the kitchen away in exchange for highchairs. He slid Charlie into the red one, snapping the buckles in place with the tray. Vaggi was in the gray one next to her, Husk across the table in a black one, and the pink spider in a pink one next to him.
“Alright! Who wants pancakes?” Each child cheered and the smacking of trays echoed around the room. Lucifer laughed and was starting the process when a crackle of static and the unmistakable presence of the Radio Demon entering the room made Lucifer turn to the door in surprise. He grinned throwing his hands out.
“Oh, thank Hell! I was so sure I was alone.” Lucifer had never seen the look on Alastors face before. His eyes wide, brows high and the static almost quiet. He was looking around the room at the kids, very shocked. Charlie was smiling and waving at him, Vaggie glared as did the pink demon and Husk shrunk in his chair, avoiding eye contact. Alastor composed himself and looked at Lucifer.
“Sire, what in the absolute hell has happened in here.” Lucifer laughed at the way the question was asked. He knew he was being way to chill about this new predicament, but he couldn’t help it. He loved kids, and he was never around them. Plus seeing Charlie this little again filled him with such joy, he was having a hard time finding an issue right now.
“I have no idea, I’m surprised you didn’t wake up to the crying and scratching. Honestly, I completely forgot you were even here, Bambi.” Lucifer turned back to making pancakes. He knew snapping them into existence wasn’t a good idea for growing bodies. It had been a while since he let himself cook anyway and even though he was getting flour all over the place he didn’t mind. He was lost in thought, humming under his breath and flipping pancakes in three different pans when the radio static reminded him of the other adult in the room. He frowned as a thought occurred.
“Hey, why didn’t you turn into a child? I know I didn’t because, I mean I’m the Devil so whoever did this couldn’t possibly have changed me.” Alastor scuffed. Lucifer scowled over his shoulder and startled at the soft look on the demon’s face. He had leaned his staff against the wall next to the door and his coat was draped over a chair he must have materialized at the head of the table. He had gotten some fruit out of the fridge at some point and was cutting them into bite sized bits, placing a few at a time on all the trays. He even gave a gentle pet to Husk, who had cowered at first but started to purr upon the affection. Lucifer was holding his breath, completely taken aback by the picture. He must have made a sound, because Alastor glanced up at him. His eyes shined and his forced smile was gentle. They stared at each other, Lucifer's face starting to glow before the smell of burnt batter cursed him to finish breakfast. Oh, my Dad. That was the hottest thing I have ever seen in my eons. The way he was being so gentle to them. This demon was digging into his heart faster than Lucifer could process.
He could hear the chattering and chewing behind him, reminding him of the very hungry demons waiting for the rest of their breakfast. He snapped sippy cups and small plates onto the counter in a row, all designed for each child. Charlies was white with red swirls around the edge, an apple with a tiara in the middle. For Vaggie he made a white plate with golden swirls and a spear in the middle. The spider had a white plate with pink swirls and that hell pig in the middle, which he needed to probably find later. Husk had a white plate with red and white dots around the rim, a few cards in the middle, one for each suit. He plated and cut up pancakes for each one, filling the cups with apple juice and giving them out.
“Yummy!” Charlie squealed, grabbing a handful of pancake bites and stuffing her face. Alastor was closer and snagged a couple of them out, tutting at her to take little bites. Charlie giggled and grinned, pancake sticking out of her mouth. Vaggi was carefully taking one at a time and eating carefully, watching the spider and Husk eating like, well, animals. Both had dumped their plates on the tray, and the clattering of plastic hit the floor as the pink demon threw his plate, laughing at the sound. Husk kept his to the side, organizing the pancake bites with largest on the plate and stuffing the smaller ones in his mouth. Lucifer watched all of this with a burst of happiness, giggling at the look on Alastors face as food started to get everywhere. His ears flattened and he rolled his sleeves up. He shook his head and looked at Lucifer.
“As much as I can see you enjoying this, sire, I must insist we figure out how this happened. We can not run the hotel without Charlie.” Alastor tucked his hands behind his back, sharp grin in place though still soft around the edges, watching the kids eating closely. Who knew he was so paternal? Lucifer smiled at him, tilting his head. He would be such a good dad. Lucifer blushed gold at the thought and rubbed his face. He needed to stop. He uncovered his eyes and found Alastor staring at him once again.
“Look, something happened last night for sure, and it had to have been after we went to bed.” Lucifer tapped his chin. Last night. He remembered a lot for sure, not everything. The crimson eyes, warm happy feelings, then staggering to bed. Followed by the not so happy feelings. Lucifer felt his eyes widen and he winced, glancing around at the happy kids. Non the wiser. And now they were all sticky, pancake and fruit sticking to fur and faces, all but Vaggie, who was looking at the other toddlers unamused. Lucifer chuckled but cleared his throat at Alastors inquiring look. He scratched the back of his neck, sheepishly looking to the side.
“Ha, well. Turns out I kind of remember, maybe making a wish? And in my drunkenness, magically made it come true.” Lucifer smiled and shrugged. Alastor blinked and sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose. Lucifer knew he wasn’t actually annoyed since he saw how the kids already had him around their sticky little fingers.
“Well, at least it wasn’t an outside source, and you can change them back.” Alastor moved to take the trays off, but at the wince from Lucifer he stopped. “You can change them back, can you not, Your Majesty?”
“I’m not actually sure. I know after a week the magic should dissipate, and they will turn back to normal right away. It wasn’t a royal wish or anything proper, that needs contracts and special words and all that.” He flitted his hands in the air, wigging his fingers. “But because it was still a wish, this is what they call the trial stage, if that makes sense.” Alastor shook his head slowly.
“Before this moment, I was unaware angels could grant wishes. My closest knowledge of granted wishes was if you visited the tomb of Voodoo Queen Marie Laveau.” Lucifer raised his eyebrows with interest.
“Ooo, I would love to hear more about her later for sure!” Lucifer grinned and started to remove the kids’ trays. While they had been talking, the pink demon had started throwing food across the table, much to the exasperation of Vaggie and the delight of Charlie, who was throwing food back. Husk had his plate over his face in defense, a small growl rumbling his little frame.
“Anyway, when someone asks an angel to grant a wish, no matter what it was, still took a lot of magic. Especially since it was already difficult for them to get to Earth anyway. So, before they made the trip, if an angel was even contacted, they did a trial of what the wish was to make sure the person even actually wanted it. Most times they were selfish, like more money or power or something, ya know, sinful. Which angels wouldn’t grant anyway, part of the reason people quickly stopped trying to summon them. The trial lasts only a day for an angel, so I figured for me, including the fact that I wasn’t fully conscious, I am willing to bet in a week’s time, the wish will disappear on its own.” Lucifer shrugged and easily picked up the two girls, not caring about the sticky mess that was Charlie. Alastor glared at him for taking the easy ones, grumbling as he wrestled the pink demon who was very much not ready to quit playing in the sticky mess.
“Angel! This is most unbecoming of a young man. Please, I implore you to stop this nonsense at once.” Angel looked at the frustrated red demon and pushed both hands up towards his face. Alastor had bent down to meet the little demons’ eyes, so he got a face full of sticky syrup and pancake. Angel laughed as Alastor gingerly picked him up moving to grab Husk who was much more compliant. Husk glared at Angel, thank you Alastor, with his ears back, clearly annoyed as Angel tried to pet his ears again. Lucifer giggled and started for the door.
“Let’s pause the chit chat while we get these kids cleaned Bambi. A nice bath will have them chilled out in no time.” He could have sworn he heard the sudden screech of a radio, thankfully by the bar so it didn’t startle the toddlers, and a heavy sigh as he was followed out.