Chapter Text
“Aaaaaahhhhhh,” Chloe screamed, one hand gripping the dashboard and the other grasping her side as a pain ripped across her stomach.
Lucifer looked over at her, knuckles turning white on the steering wheel. “Are you okay?” He couldn’t keep the worry out of his voice.
“Do I look okay?” Chloe yelled as she tried to breathe through the pain. “And why are you slowing down?”
Lucifer had inadvertently eased off the gas when Chloe screamed. “I wanted to make sure you were alright?” he said, clueless.
Panting, she turned to him. “I thought the reason we took the Corvette was because it was faster!” she managed to get out between moans.
Lucifer continued to look at her, trying to understand what she was talking about. Granted, he was also trying to quell the panic arising in his chest, so he wasn’t at his best at the moment.
“So,” she exclaimed, “drive faster.”
Lucifer turned his eyes back toward the road and increased his speed. Fortunately, at this time of day the traffic was light.
Chloe finally collapsed back into the seat as the pain eased and took a deep cleansing breath, rubbing her stomach.
She was somewhat surprised that her pains were getting as strong as they were at this point. She had awakened earlier in the morning thinking the pains were just the same Braxton-Hicks contractions she had been having for the last week. She had gotten out of bed, careful not to wake Lucifer and made her way into the living room. She had not been sleeping well the nearer she got to her due date, so it was not surprising to be awakened. But the baby’s due date was still over two weeks away so she didn’t expect anything of this round of pains.
Walking sometimes eased the pain and she made several circuits between the living room and the kitchen but after two hours, the pains had become somewhat more regular. After calling her doctor’s office to ask if she should head to the hospital, the nurse on call told her to wait until the pains were five to six minutes apart and more regular. Chloe figured it was time to wake Lucifer. Thank heaven, Trixie was with Dan.
As expected, Lucifer had panicked and practically hauled her into the car before she could stop him. Her pains were still 20 minutes apart so eventually, she was able to calm him down enough to get him to help monitor her contractions. It was a good thing because her contraction intervals got shorter and shorter until they were only 10 minutes apart sooner than she expected.
Lucifer didn’t want to wait any more and insisted on taking the Corvette to drive to the hospital. Chloe was in too much pain to argue.
Now, sitting in the passenger seat, Chloe looked over at her husband. She knew he was doing his best but she really didn’t have time to molly-coddle him through his freak out. She closed her eyes and hoped they got to the hospital soon only to open them again when she felt the car slow once more.
“Why are you stopping now?” she inquired, disbelief dripping from every syllable.
“The traffic light is turning red,” he answered, looking over at her, a puzzled expression crossing his face.
“Lucifer, I don’t care about the light. Run it!” Chloe couldn’t believe he would pick this moment to start obeying the law.
“But your safety is paramount,” Lucifer snapped back. “You are always complaining that I drive recklessly when we are going to a crime scene.” Really? Couldn’t she make up her mind?
“Driving to a crime scene is not an emergency,” she exclaimed. Seriously? What could he be thinking?
“And this is an emergency?” he asked, quizzically.
“Yes!” Chloe shouted. “So, help me Lucifer, if you don’t get your ass in gear, I’m gonna…,” she paused. “Oh no…” She stopped speaking.
“What?” he shrieked when she didn’t continue her sentence, too focused on not wrecking the car to look over at her.
“My water just broke,” she said in a small voice, looking down at the wet stain on her pants.
“Bloody hell,” Lucifer uttered and floored the accelerator.
“Excuse me, excuse me,” Lucifer shouted as he entered the Emergency department, “a little help here. Lady having a baby.”
“Put me down, you idiot. I can walk.” Chloe said, hitting Lucifer on the chest as he carried her into the hospital. He had wheeled to a stop at the door and grabbed her out of the car before she could protest. She could protest now.
An orderly came over with a wheelchair and Lucifer deposited Chloe in it. A nurse had followed and began asking questions about how far apart her contractions were and whether or not her water had broken. When Chloe said yes it had, the nurse instructed the orderly to take Chloe on back and turned her attention to Lucifer.
“If you’ll come with me, sir,” the nurse began.
Lucifer let out a low growl and looked down on the nurse’s hand on his arm.
Chloe heard the sound Lucifer made and knew she needed to intervene before things got out of hand.
“Lucifer,” she said, reaching out for his hand. He moved closer, dislodging the offending hand, and crouched in front of Chloe.
“You did good, Lucifer,” she told him soothingly. “You got us here and now you have to let these people do their jobs. Okay?” She knew his protective streak could be intense. He didn’t reply but she could tell he was listening to her. “Now, you need to go with this nice nurse and check me in.”
“But I need to be with you,” he interrupted, a pleading edge to his voice.
“And you will be but you have to check me in and then call Linda. Remember? We had a plan,” she reminded him. They had set up a call tree to let everyone know when Chloe went into labor. At his nod, she squeezed his hand.
“I have to do the bloody paperwork,” he quipped with a small smile.
Chloe relaxed. “Yes,” she smiled back at him, “and then they will bring you back to me.” When she could tell he had calmed down, she pulled him closer and pressed a quick kiss to his lips. When they broke apart, she whispered, “I love you.”
“And I you,” he whispered back and stood to allow the orderly to wheel Chloe into the exam area. He turned back to the nurse and apologized before gesturing for her to lead the way.
“Name?” the receptionist asked.
“Lucifer... Morningstar,” he smirked, grinning his trademark devilish grin.
Shaking her head, the receptionist tried again. “No, mother’s name?”
“What does that have to do with anything,” he scoffed, rolling his eyes. “She was the Goddess of all Creation. She doesn’t have a name.” Perhaps he brought Chloe to the wrong hospital? Clearly, the workers at this one left much to be desired.
The lady behind the desk merely looked at Lucifer with a blank expression. “Sir, I need the patient’s name.”
“Well, why didn’t you say so,” he remarked. “Chloe Decker. No, sorry, Morningstar,” he corrected himself.
The receptionist entered the information into her computer. “It looks like your wife has already pre-registered. That’s good.” She continued clicking away on her keys.
Lucifer was getting antsy. Drumming his fingers on the desk, he kept looking toward the doors they took Chloe behind. What was going on? Was she okay?
“Okay, Mr. Morningstar, that will be $893.27.” The receptionist looked at Lucifer expectantly.
“What?” he cried. “Whatever for? The Detective told me her insurance would pay for this.” He was shocked. What was the purpose of having insurance if it wasn’t going to pay?
“Yes sir, Mrs. Morningstar’s insurance has been entered but we require a down payment for the patient’s responsibility.” The receptionist informed him with a hey, pal, I just work here attitude.
Before Lucifer could reply to the lady, a security officer came into the waiting room looking for the owner of the Corvette that was still parked in the entrance.
Lucifer started to make his way to the entrance when the officer claimed that he was about to have the car towed only to be called back by the woman behind the desk.
“Bloody hell,” he cursed but reached for his money clip.
“We only take a check or credit card,” she said, forestalling him from counting out the cash. “Do you do have a credit card?”
Lucifer stopped and regarded the woman. “I’m the former King of Hell, of course I have a credit card.” He reached for his wallet and threw down his American Express Black card before leaving the building to rescue his beloved automobile.
By the time Lucifer had parked the car and retrieved his credit card, Chloe had been moved into a room. After arriving at the maternity floor and exiting the elevator, he looked around trying to determine which room was Chloe’s when he heard her voice raised in a painful cry. Hurrying down the corridor, he flung open the door to the room only to see Chloe hunched over in pain with what appeared to be a nurse holding her hand. She looked toward the open door and he could see the relief in her eyes briefly before she closed them once more against the pain.
He was by her side in a moment.
“That’s it, good, good,” encouraged the nurse as Chloe’s labor pain subsided. “Now, a nice deep breath.”
The nurse, who introduced herself as Angela (you can call me Angie), helped Chloe get more comfortable on the bed and gave her a smile.
“You must be Mr. Morningstar,” Angela said, looking on as Lucifer grabbed Chloe’s hand and stood next to the bed. He acknowledged her with a tight smile and tilt of his head before focusing his attention on Chloe.
“Becca and I,” Angie said, indicating the other woman in the room, “will be looking after your wife.” The other nurse gave them both a smile while she hooked up an IV.
While Angela spoke, she adjusted the baby’s heart monitor on Chloe’s stomach. The whooshing sound of the baby’s heartbeat sounded in the room.
“Can I still get an epidural?” Chloe asked, worried that she was too late and she would have to give birth without anesthetic. She was really not looking forward to that.
“That depends on how far you have progressed. Let’s take a look.” Angie retrieved a pair of gloves and put some clear gel on two of her fingers before raising the sheet.
Lucifer, who had been silent since he entered the room, now perked up when he realized what the nurse was about to do and stretched his neck trying to look under the sheet.
“Ooo, can I watch?” he snickered.
“Lucifer!” Chloe barked through clenched teeth and glared at Lucifer. Releasing his hand, she slapped his arm to get his attention.
“What?” he remarked, trying and failing to look chastised.
Chloe just rolled her eyes. Sometimes she really wanted to strangle him.
“You’re about 4 cm,” Angie called out as she rose up and pulled off her glove.
“4 cm!” Chloe exclaimed in a huff and threw her head back.
Lucifer looked down at her questioningly. “Is this bad?”
Chloe just glared at him with a you are so dead look.
Nurse Angie chuckled. “Well, she’ll have to be 10 cm before she is fully dilated,” she addressed Lucifer, “but the good news is, you can still get the epidural.” This last was addressed to Chloe.
Chloe sighed in relief before once again crying out in pain as another labor pain struck. Angie looked at Lucifer expectantly and frowned when he continued to stand by the bed doing nothing.
“Come on, coach. Help her out,” she encouraged him, gesturing to Chloe.
Lucifer looked at the nurse with a panicked expression. What did she expect him to do?
“You didn’t take a birthing class?” she asked incredulously.
“What, all that breathing stuff? Jolly waste of time if you ask me,” Lucifer scoffed.
“I thought…(grunt) I took it before. (moan) I thought I’d be okay.” Chloe tried to speak over the pain.
“Fine. You,” Nurse Angie said in a no-nonsense voice and pointed her finger at Lucifer, “watch me.” She then stepped in and helped Chloe breathe and focus as the pain crested then waned. She instructed Lucifer on what to do on the next contraction. He would have to help Chloe until the anesthesiologist could arrive to administer the epidural.
Still feeling quite out of his depth, he nevertheless agreed.
Lucifer looked on from his position beside the bed as the nurses continued to get Chloe settled. He had no idea what most of the equipment in the room was for but the ladies seemed to know what they were doing. However, his attention was once more directed to Chloe when she began to have another contraction.
Stepping in to help as he had been instructed, he began telling her to breathe.
“I am breathing,” Chloe snapped, grunting.
“That’s panting, not breathing,” he countered with a slightly smug tone.
“Ow, ow, ow,” Chloe cried, grabbing the railing on the bed and curling her back against the pain.
“Breathe and relax, breathe and relax,” he continued to chant.
“Stop telling me what to do,” she yelled, directing a glare in his direction.
Lucifer was taken aback by the vehemence in her tone, his expression wary.
“This is all your faaault. (more groaning) I wouldn’t be in this mess if it wasn’t for you,” she continued to shout, panting. “You did this to me! I wish I’d never met youuuuuuuu!” The last syllable turned into a long drawn out moan as her pain reached its maximum intensity.
It was as if ice water was suddenly poured down Lucifer’s back. He started moving away from her, staring at her in disbelief, as the words left her lips. What she said was the truth. This was his fault. All the pain she was experiencing now, all the pain she had experienced since she had met him was because he was selfish and only thought about himself. He truly was poison for anyone who dared care about him.
Especially Chloe.
The world seemed to stop as he stared at her, writhing in pain. He always knew someday she would realize he was not worth all the trouble he caused her. He just never expected it to be now.
Everything he touched, he ruined; from rebellion against his father, to putting Chloe through pain and suffering.
On feet he could no longer feel, Lucifer made his way out of the room.