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Lucifer knew Chloe hadn’t been sleeping well lately.
From stress at work to dealing with Penelope to the Antichrist causing a ruckus in her belly, it hadn’t been easy for her to find some much-needed rest.
Combine that with the trauma that had been heaped onto both of them in the last years, and you had the perfect recipe for insomnia paired with the occasional nightmare.
So when he felt the mattress shift around two in the morning, there were a couple of options to choose from.
a) She had to go the bathroom because of Rory sitting on her bladder. Again
b) Something popped into her head about a case her detectives were working on.
c) A nightmare had rattled her.
d) All of the above.
Lucifer lifted his head, then squinted against the light flooding from the bathroom as she opened the door. Ah, so peeing it was.
Turning around on his other side, he already felt the warm spot beside cool in his partner’s absence. He hoped she’d be back soon.
A flush sounded, followed by the running of tap water. The light went off, followed by the tentative shuffling of feet on the cool floor. She was constantly warm since hitting her third trimester, so the AC was on day and night.
Even in February, but the winters were mild in LA.
Lucifer didn’t mind. As long as he got to be with his Detective.
And of course seeing his partner in shorts and tank tops was always a very pleasant bonus.
But instead of feeling the mattress dip and Chloe’s lips pressing a kiss against his temple before lying down, the sound of her footsteps grew more distant.
Was she going to fetch a damp washcloth to cool her skin?
But she could have done that easily in the bathroom.
Or perhaps her feet were swollen and she needed some ointment?
No, that couldn’t be it. He’d made a handy basket with everything she could need at night on the bedside table.
Including what Chloe often lovingly referred to as ‘her very own pharmacy’.
When her heard the distinct creak of the step at the top of the staircase, he knew she was headed down.
Lucifer sat up in bed, every trace of sleep leaving his body. He knew she always watched re-runs of Grey’s Anatomy when her dreams haunted her into waking.
Even though he insisted she could wake him up after a nightmare, Chloe could match him piece by piece when it came to stubbornness. They truly were each other’s equals in that regard.
Shrugging on his night robe, Lucifer crept into the hallway on silent feet. Luminescent arrows on the floor guided him to the stairs – he had to make sure his pregnant partner was safe during her nocturnal wandering.
Perhaps he couldn’t make light anymore, but he sure as Hell could buy glow-in-the dark stickers at Target.
The arrows continued down the stairs, and the further he got the more their glow dimmed in the light of the kitchen. The second he caught sight of her, everything suddenly made sense.
Lucifer chuckled to himself. He’d forgotten an option, one of the most plausible ones –
e) Sudden food cravings.
Chloe froze like a deer in headlights when she spotted him on the staircase.
In one arm she clutched a jar of pickles and a pack of cheddar cheese, while the other arm was still rooting in the fridge.
“Hi, honey,” she said, sounding like a child who’d been caught with her hand in the candy jar. She gave him a sheepish look. “Did I wake you up?”
“I was just checking to see if you were alright, love.” Lucifer descended the last steps and walked over to her. He pressed a kiss to her temple. “Shall I make you some tea?”
There was already a jar of Nutella on the counter, along with a bag of tiny marshmallows. Which strange food combination was she going to make tonight?
Yesterday it had been melon wrapped in slices of Italian salami, drizzled with peanut butter sauce.
And that hadn’t been the weirdest thing she’d eaten lately.
“I won’t say no to that.” Chloe hummed and grabbed the cookie dough ice cream out of the freezer. She watched him with a curious gaze. “You don’t have to stay awake for me, you know. I’m alright – Rory’s just refusing to sleep when I do.”
Lucifer filled a kettle with water and turned on the stove. He took extra care being quiet. Beatrice had had her fair share of nightmares the last months, and she needed her sleep.
“I know,” he said, walking over to her. He slid his arms around her from behind, placing his hands beneath her round belly. He tucked his chin over her shoulder. “Maybe I just like being around you. And the Antichrist.”
As if on cue, Chloe’s skin rippled beneath his hands. The movement lasted for a few seconds, then died down. It would never fail to take Lucifer’s breath away.
“Oh, she’s being feisty tonight, huh?” He chuckled, running his hands over her baby bump. Rory reacted to his touch, pushing back against his palm. “A little fighter – just like her mother.”
Chloe scoffed and turned in his embrace. Her hands were still full of food, so she just looked up at him with a playful twinkle in her eye. “A pain in my ass – just like her father.”
“But you love me all the same.”
Chloe rose on her tiptoes to kiss him, and his heart stuttered. “Damn straight I do.”
Lucifer opened his mouth to reply but was cut off by a whale call from his partner’s stomach. So it was more than just a craving – she was actually hungry.
“Go eat your pickles, I’ll make your tea,” he said, lamenting her loss as she nodded and waddled towards the couch. It wasn’t comfortable anymore for her to sit on the barstool, especially on days when her back was incredibly sore.
He’d read that in a pregnancy book – which he did now, thank you very much. His Detective was making an entire human being in there, so he wanted to help out wherever he could.
Even if that meant buying ice cream in bulk and making tea in the middle of the night.
There were worse things to do.
Grabbing a mug that said “The Devil Made His Home In My Heart”, Lucifer added a slice of lemon and took a bag of chamomile tea. He added a dash of sugar – no milk – and carefully wandered towards the couch.
The apartment was peaceful at night. The only light sources were the lights above the counter and the lamp beside the television, which cast everything in a warm glow. The dark softened the edges, giving the room a surreal feeling.
The dishwasher rumbled in the kitchen, and the place smelled like fresh laundry and tea. Even though they’d only lived together for seven months now, Lucifer had quickly gotten used to it.
To waking up beside the love of his life each morning – and being tackled into a hug by the urchin when he came downstairs.
Doing groceries together, folding laundry and helping Trixie with homework. He’d even gotten the hang of cleaning, and had single-handedly assembled the Ikea furniture in the nursery.
He still visited the penthouse, especially when he had business at Lux. And on childfree nights, he would enjoy the gigantic bed together with Chloe.
Some well-earned peace, if he said so himself.
“There you go, love.” Lucifer placed the mug on a coaster on the coffee table. He sank down on the couch next to her, catching a whiff of her coconut shampoo. “What’s the dish of the day?”
“You’re going to think I’m nuts,” Chloe sighed from beside him. She was hunched over the coffee table – or as best as her belly allowed. When he didn’t reply, she went on, “Okay, so I really wanted pickles, but not just pickles. It needs something… more.”
Lucifer looked at the plate she was holding. She’d fished a handful of pickles out of the jar with a fork, then wrapped every one of them in cheddar cheese. And then there was the open jar of Nutella she’d brought with her.
“That’s certainly… interesting,” Lucifer said. From the ease with which she’d gathered her ingredients, this probably wasn’t the first time she’d eaten this snack. “Whatever suits your fancy, dearest.”
Chloe gave him a LookTM as she dipped the pickle in the Nutella jar. “You can just say what you’re thinking. I know you too well for you to hide that.”
Lucifer gave her wide grin and shuffled closer to her on the couch. He snuck on an arm around her waist to tug her closer. “All I’m thinking right now is how much I love you. And that you’re quite creative in coming up with these things.”
“Charmer,” Chloe said, but couldn’t help her smile. It was a soft, unguarded thing, and Lucifer still couldn’t believe she was his.
That they’d made it – despite everything life had thrown in their direction.
Lucifer trailed kisses from her brow to her cheek, her soft giggle making him melt inside. Then he let her indulge in her pickles – because he knew better than to come between a pregnant woman and her food.
For a while, the only sound was the sound of Chloe happily munching and the rustle of palm trees in the night breeze.
Lucifer had come to live for these moments. When the tasks of the day were done and a calm descended over the city.
When he knew his loved ones were safe and sound – when he’d helped tuck Trixie in and said goodnight to Rory before snuggling up to Chloe in bed.
The first few months after Michael’s war and Le Mec and big Rory going back to the future hadn’t been easy.
Thanks to Linda, they’d managed to survive the darkest part of the aftermath. When the dust had settled down, it had started to sink in how supremely messed up the last year had been.
Especially after Daniel had been so brutally torn away from them.
Lucifer smoothed a hand over Chloe’s sleep-mussed hair. “Are you certain it was just hunger and the Antichrist keeping you up, love?”
“Mmm.” Chloe licked a smear of Nutella off her thumb before settling against his side. She smoothed a hand over his abdomen and rested her head on his shoulder. “I’ve just been thinking a lot lately.”
“About?”
“Everything. There’s just been a messed-up case at work, and my mom’s having a hard time, and…”
Lucifer nuzzled his nose against her cheek. “Worried about Rory sprouting wings earlier than expected and clinging to the ceiling?”
But in all honesty, he was a bit worried about that, too. When hearing about Charlie’s latest adventures from Linda, Lucifer had driven to the nearest store and bought twenty rolls of bubble wrap.
“Yeah, that too,” she said with a laugh. She lowered her gaze and picked at the hem of her Beach Boys shirt, now stretched over her belly. “It’s just… I can’t stop thinking how close we came to losing everything. To losing each other.”
Lucifer’s heart ached in his chest. He knew the feeling all too well.
There were still nights when he woke up in a state of complete terror, so certain when he opened his eyes he would see the endless gray columns of Hell.
That he had lost the love of his life – lost his daughter on a mere technicality in what had been a ripple in time.
“I know, darling.” He hugged her closer to him, his hand brushing the side of her belly. The only thing that soothed him was keeping his Detective close. “I know what it’s like. The fear, it… I know.”
They were quiet for a while, just holding each other in silent understanding. The fridge hummed, and crickets chirped outside.
The world kept on spinning, yet here time had slowed down.
Each moment like this was an invaluable gift. Lucifer carefully tucked the memory away, like dried flowers between the pages of a book.
Chloe tucked her head beneath his chin, her fingers curling in the silky material of his night robe. Her cheek was damp against his skin. “It’s not good for the baby that I get this upset.”
“She’ll be fine.” Lucifer laced their fingers together and gave her hand a squeeze. “You don't have to feel guilty for being overwhelmed sometimes. Rory knows that.”
Rory – or at least big Rory – had been the most breathtaking thing he’d seen in his very, very long life.
Her fire, her spirit, her gift for music. The boundless love she held for her family, the lengths she’d go to defend them.
She had his coloring, but everything about her had screamed Chloe – from her face to her wit to her impeccable shooting skills.
Lucifer couldn’t wait to meet her again. To hold her in his arms and tell her he loved her more than anything.
Their Aurora.
As if she’d heard him, he felt a small movement beneath the hand on Chloe’s side.
Hello, little troublemaker, he thought with no small amount of affection. Just a couple more months.
Chloe was quiet, then angled her head to meet his gaze. “I don’t want to ruin our moment, but do you mind if I have some more pickles? I won’t go anywhere.”
“By all means.” Lucifer settled himself on the couch as she grabbed her cheese-wrapped pickles and the Nutella jar. He reached for the remote. “Do you want to see the horny doctors, or are you feeling tired?”
Chloe snorted, nearly choking on her pickle. “You make it sound like a porn movie. And yes, I’d like to see an episode or two. It’s Friday, anyway.”
Turning on the television, Lucifer scrolled through the recordings until he found the episode they’d been on. He had to admit, the writers knew how to hook their viewers.
That, and the doctors were very attractive.
But not nearly as attractive as his Detective.
“Blanket?”
Chloe wiped her hands on a paper napkin, placed the jar on the coffee table before curling up next to him. She shook her head. “No, you’re hot enough next to me.”
Lucifer gave her a feline grin.
“Not like that. I mean that you give off a ridiculous amount of body heat.” She tugged his arm into her lap, then entwined their fingers. “I’m good like this.”
Lucifer leaned against her, happiness spreading through his body like golden sunlight. Even after living together for nearly half a year, he still marveled at moments like this.
Just the two of them, being happy and in love.
Who’d have thought?
Pressing play, he put the remote on the table. His eye fell on the pint of cookie dough ice cream. “Are you going to eat that, love? Desert?”
Chloe bit her lip as she considered this. Then she looked at him sweetly. “Share with me?”
“Naturally.” Lucifer grabbed the spoon and popped the lid off. On screen, there was an aerial view of Seattle. He placed a kiss on her forehead. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.” She smiled brightly, and his heart stuttered like a teenager in love. Her eyes flicked in anticipation from the spoon to the pint.
Lucifer chuckled and shook his head. He dug out a cookie chunk – which was easy, since the ice cream was half-melted – and held the spoon out to her.
Eyes glued to the screen, they both watched McDreamy stride through the hospital as a patient was brought in and the interns scrambled to follow him.
The ice cream was gone in no time.
Halfway through the episode, Lucifer was pulled out of his concentration by the distinct sound of snoring.
Chloe had fallen asleep on his shoulder, mouth half ajar as she produced adorable chainsaw-sounds. No one did it like her.
He turned the tv off and took a moment to study his partner. From her closed eyes to her nose and cheeks to the curve of her lips.
Each feature as familiar as his own – and a thousand times more beloved.
Being careful with his very pregnant partner, Lucifer slipped an arm behind her back and another beneath her things.
She kept on snoring.
He lifted her up with ease and started going up the stairs, each step guided by the glowing arrow stickers. The door to the bedroom was still open, the AC blowing cool air into the room.
Slowly, Lucifer lowered Chloe onto the sheets. He went into the bathroom to refill her glass with water, then took a quick downstairs to turn off the lights.
When he came back, she was still sound asleep. Her snores rang out into to the hallway and filled the room, but Lucifer didn’t mind.
He’d lived above a night club for six years, for Amenadiel’s sake. He could probably sleep through a gun fight if he wanted to.
Lucifer walked past the framed pictures on the wall of them and their friends and slipped beneath the covers.
"Goodnight, Detective." He tugged the sheets up till her middle, then stroked her hair. He lay down facing her, completely at peace. "I love you."
The snoring continued.
And did not stop until well into the morning.