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It had not been a pleasant day for Lucifer.
He had woken up early specifically so he could be on time for the meeting heaven had called him to, but instead of using the extra two hours in the morning to get ready, for some stupid reason he couldn't get himself to move. Eventually Lilith had to lift him out of the bed and chuck him in the shower, and he ended up being late, making Sera mad.
The meeting itself was dreadful. Adam was pushing for a second extermination. Lucifer had nearly cried twice during the two hour conference, and barely got any words in edgewise with Adam's ear splitting voice and Sera’s stern mediation.
Lilith was out at the park with Charlie when he got home. He tried to get more work done before Lilith got back, but he just ended up once again, in bed. He flopped around in the sheets for two hours, unable to get comfortable, until he heard the door click open, Lilith and Charlie had returned.
At dinner was when his day went from bad to worse.
“Daddy, how was your meeting?” Charlie cheerfully asked.
“Well… sweetie” Lucifer's left eye began to twitch, his anger from the meeting, the stress of it all swelling up inside him. He stared blankly at her for a moment, before breaking down crying, the entire day coming crashing down on him in that one moment. Through his tears he saw Lilith carrying Charlie out of the room, not even glancing back at him.
After maybe 10 minutes, he was still crying into his hands at the dining table. He didn’t even notice his wife re entering the room until she sat down next to him, laying her hand on his heaving back.
“Bad day?” She asked, monotonous and blunt.
He nodded his head.
“You’ve had a lot of those recently.” The edge in her voice became more prominent. “It upsets Charlie.”
“I know… I know. I just-“ Lilith cut him off. “I don’t want you around her like this. I get it Lucifer, I do, but Charlie is worrying. She shouldn’t be worrying about her parents! She’s eight!”.
Lucifer looked up at her, his face contorting into a look of utter betrayal. “you don’t want me to… SEE MY DAUGHTER?”. He wiped his face on his sleeve, standing up.
“You know what I mean, Lucifer. Stop being childish.” Lilith's voice was uncharacteristically cold.
“Childish! You’re the one being childish! You’re- you’re!”
he stormed out of the room, childishly.
Lilith cleared the plates from the table, mulling over the conversation. She felt like a bitch.
Her heels clinked as she walked down the hall to check on Charlie, who was sleeping peacefully, the nightlight softly illuminating her pale face. Lilith stayed in the doorway for a while, giving herself time to cool off before heading up the stairs to her husband.
She silently moved through the upstairs hallway, heading for the bedroom. However, as she passed by Lucifer’s office door, she noticed the illumination of his lamp underneath the doorway.
Lucifer had his head resting on his hands, sitting at his desk. His fingers dug into his tousled hair, his thumbs rubbing his temples. She glided over to his desk, as he lifted his head up to stare at her, his eyes puffy.
Without saying a word, she lifted him up, laying his head on her shoulder. They both stayed silent as she carried him to their bedroom.
She laid him down in their shared bed fluffing the pillow behind him. Her eyes remained cold, but her hands ran down the side of his swollen face, caressing his temples, her intimacy attempting a silent apology.
Lucifer did not accept this. Her hands were pulled from his face as he flipped over to the side, now facing away from her. He huffed as he did this, a clear indication to try harder.
She sighed, sitting down on the bed, facing away from him.
After what seemed an eternity, Lilith spoke.“I want you to see our daughter.”
“I should hope so.” Lucifer's tone was cold and blunt, his voice husky from his tears earlier.
Lilith cringed inside at his curt reply. “You understand, though. Right Lucifer?” she tried to soften her voice, placing her hand on his back, rubbing circles into his spine with her long nail extensions.
“Understand what?” he huffed sarcastically.
She rolled her eyes. “That Maybe you should try to work on your problems!? I don't know Lucy! I just want our daughter to grow up with a father who can function when he's asked a basic question!” the entire time she was speaking she was beating herself up inside for yelling at him. Why should she be the one to lecture him about mental health when she couldn't even hold a decent conversation without losing her temper.
She noticed his back shaking, a telltale sign he was crying again. It was a shock he had any moisture in his body to expel at this point. “Please don't cry…” she mumbled.
“I'm sorry” he whispered, curling into a ball “im sorry im sorry im sorry!”. His voice got progressively louder as he continued to apologise, putting his hands over his ears, rocking himself slightly.
Lilith laid herself next to him, wrapping herself around her quivering husband. She pushed her face into the crook of his neck.
“I'm the one who’s sorry Lucifer” she mumbled into his shoulder, wrapping her long slender arms around him. They stayed like that for quite some time, both silent, still calming down, basking in the peaceful post fight lull.
Lilith was the first to speak. She lifted her head off his back, which was now rising and falling slowly, close to sleep.
“Would you try therapy again?”
Lucifer rolled himself over to face her, his face still slightly stained. He deadpanned. “Don't recall it going very well last time.”
“Lucifer, that was 1991. Times have changed. Our situation has changed.”
He shoved himself closer to her, letting her soft, cool skin envelop him. The last time he had seen a therapist his files had somehow gotten leaked to the public. Every media outlet had covered every single one of his issues by sunrise, it had taken a while before such a scandal had died down.
Alas, she had convinced him then. She could do the same again. Better to simply give in.
“Sure”
Lilith let out a sigh of relief that her request hadn't restarted their previous fight. She flicked her arm at the lightswitch, plunging the room into comforting darkness.
“Thank you. I'm proud of you Lucifer.”
It was roughly midnight and her eyelids drooped as she lifted the duvet onto her husband's form, resting her head on his chest, listening to him rant about his meeting.