CHAPTER 2

Chloe walked into the station to start work for the day. She'd been home for a couple of weeks. She felt a lot more relaxed now that she was home and away from Father Kinley. Since being back and working with Lucifer again, she'd come to realize how wrong Father Kinley was about Lucifer. She should have never talked with him. Now that things were back to the way they were, she could see the partner she remembered clear as day. She couldn't say their weren't aspects of who he was that frightened her, but she also knew he wasn't what Kinley believed and tried to get her to believe.

Chloe did feel guilty for even considering agreeing to Kinley's plan. She had been close to agreeing to send her partner, and now the father of her child, to Hell. She didn't know what she could be thinking. Lucifer had never done anything to hurt anyone unprovoked. He didn't deserve what she nearly did. But she couldn't change what almost happened. All she could do was be glad that it didn't happen and strive to do better.

Chloe rubbed her stomach for a minute. It was because of her baby, whom she already loved, that she'd changed course. She believed she would've eventually changed her mind anyway, but her child helped her get there sooner. It was part because of her worry over what Kinley would do, but she also realized that she was judging Lucifer unfairly. She realized she was judging Lucifer the way that Kinley and those like him would likely judge the child she was carrying.

Chloe had yet to tell Lucifer that she was pregnant. She didn't know how to tell him and she didn't know how he'd react. Lucifer had always been very blunt about how he felt about children. He was okay with Trixie most of the time, though he did shy away whenever she latched onto him, but it was different when it was your own kid. How as he going to react to impending parenthood? Would he even want to b apart of the child's life?

Chloe pulled out of her thoughts as she walked to towards her desk. She passed Dan on the way. "Morning, Dan."

"Morning, Chloe," Dan greeted.

"Did you see Lucifer come in?" Chloe asked. They were in the middle of a case, so she assumed he'd be coming.

"Thankfully not," Dan said with a sneer.

Chloe sighed. Things had been tense between Dan and Lucifer since she got back. Well, tense on Dan's side anyway. "Dan, I think you should make peace with Lucifer. You're always going to have to deal with him." That was especially true with her being pregnant with his baby. Their child was Trixie's sibling, which in a way, made them all family.

"Sure. When he brings Charlotte back from the dead," Dan said angrily.

"Detective!" Lucifer's voice called out.

Dan glared at Lucifer for a minute and then stormed off.

"Hey," Chloe said as she watched him come over.

"Hello. Ready to solve the case?" Lucifer asked with a smile.

"Definitely. Listen, we need to talk about something soon," Chloe said. She couldn't keep putting this off. She was six weeks along. She'd already waited too long to tell him. She was going to start showing soon, and that was definitely not how she wanted Lucifer to find out.

"Is everything alright?" Lucifer asked concerned.

"Yeah, I just need to talk to you. Everything's good," she said.

"Alright. Would you like to come over tonight?" Lucifer asked.

"Let's make it tomorrow night. Trixie will be with Dan," Chloe said. That would also give her a little more time to figure out how to tell him. Plus, she hoped to have the case wrapped up by then. She hoped for them not to have any distractions in the middle of an investigation.

"Yes, of course. Shall we get to work?" Chloe asked.

"Absolutely," Chloe said before leading the way to her desk.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

At around six that night, Chloe was getting dinner ready for her and Trixie. She and Lucifer managed to wrap the case up, so she made it home a little earlier than normal.

Soon, Chloe heard the door.

"I'll get it," Trixie said from her spot at the kitchen table.

Chloe heard Trixie open the door, followed by a voice that made Chloe's stomach turn when she realized who it was.

"Hello, Child. May I speak to your mother?"

Chloe turned and found Father Kinley with her daughter. "Trixie, go finish your homework in your room."

Trixie nodded before grabbing her stuff from the table and heading for her bedroom.

Chloe turned the stove off and went over to Father Kinley. "What are you doing here? How'd you know where I lived?"

"It wasn't very hard, Chloe. I simply did a bit of digging. I was surprised to find you'd left Rome so suddenly," Father Kinley said.

"So you decided to come after me?" Chloe asked.

"Well, after all that we discussed, I figured I should find you. You left without a word and haven't answered any of my calls," Father Kinley said.

"Because I figured my leaving would be enough of a response. I guess you need a more direct one. I'm not doing it," Chloe said firmly.

"I thought you'd come to understand what you needed to do," Father Kinley said.

"I did. That's why I left," Chloe said.

"The danger Lucifer poses is strong. He must be stopped," Father Kinley said.

"Stopped from doing what? Running a night club? Helping the police solve murders? I don't see the evil you're so convinced exists in this man," Chloe said

"That's because he manipulated you. I've told you how well he is it at doing it," Father Kinley said.

"How would you know? You don't know him. You've never had a single conversation with him," Chloe said. It was something she should've realized before. Father Kinley had never even met Lucifer before. She knew nothing about him. She did. She spent three years around him. She knew what he was really like. She'd just let fear take her over. She couldn't say there wasn't a part of her that wasn't still scared, but that was mainly about what she saw and what she'd heard. She knew deep down that Lucifer was a good man.

"There is evidence. There are stories told throughout…"

"Stories aren't evidence. They're conjecture," Chloe said. It was another thing she should've realized. Nothing that was said about Lucifer was proven fact, and much of it was improbable given what she knew of him personally. She saw that more and more each day.

"Being sent to Hell by God wasn't conjecture," he argued.

"No, but if God still wanted him in Hell, would he not be there?" Chloe asked

"That is why those like me exist. To do God's work," Father Kinley replied.

"More conjecture. You don't know what God wants," she said.

"I know that someone like Lucifer shouldn't be here. He's already done a lot of harm. A man is dead. Many others have been damaged just from seeing him. He needs to be stopped before something worse happens. We're lucky it hasn't already, I suppose. We could be dealing with an evil such as the Antichrist," Father Kinley said. It had occurred to him that that might be the evil in the prophecy. The Devil meeting his love and procreating would definitely constitute creating evil. After all, the Devil's child couldn't be anything else.

Chloe's hand unconsciously moved to her stomach and her heart began to beat faster. This was her child Kinley was referring to. He was calling him or her evil. "The Antichrist? Meaning the Devil's child."

"Yes. God help us if that being ever comes to be, and given what I've heard of Lucifer's sexual openness, it is lucky that it hasn't come to be. It might be impossible to destroy it," he said.

"Destroy it?" Chloe asked, her worry and anger increasing. This man was talking about murdering her child. She wanted to grab her gun and shoot him just for suggesting it. The other part of her wanted to get the hell away from this man, knowing he would pose a danger to her unborn child if she knew he or she existed.

"Yes, if it was created, we'd have to find a way to get rid of it before it grew to reach the level of evil as its father," Father Kinley said.

Chloe was barely hiding her rage and fear. "If Lucifer had a child, it would be innocent. Children are not destined to become evil."

"It isn't a child, Chloe, not really. It is the spawn of the Devil. But we are getting ahead of ourselves. This is why the Devil must be sent back to Hell, so we don't have to worry about it," Father Kinley said.

"I gave you my answer, Father. I won't help you. Please leave," Chloe said. She wanted him gone. He was way too close to her child right now, actually both of them. Anyone who would talk so bluntly about murdering a baby didn't belong near any child.

"I urge you to rethink your decision. You have my number," he told her before walking out the door.

As the Father was walking out, Maze walked in. "Really, Decker, a priest? You planning an exorcism?" she asked.

"Maze, will you stay with Trixie please," Chloe asked in an urgent tone.

"You okay?" Maze asked. Decker hadn't asked her to babysit since she got back. In fact, she watched her every second when she was in the same room with the kid. It was a little unnerving that the woman was asking her to watch the kid now.

"I need to see Lucifer. Stay with Trixie please," Chloe begged. She wasn't willing to wait even another day, not with Father Kinley around. Lucifer needed to know everything, even that she'd nearly betrayed him.

Maze nodded, knowing it was an emergency.

Chloe grabbed her purse from the table and ran out of the house.