CHAPTER 16

Chloe sat on the couch in Linda's apartment with her, Lucifer, Trixie, Amenadiel, Maze, and Amenadiel and Linda's new baby. Chloe felt huge. She was now just under seven months along. Her baby had grown a lot.

Chloe, Lucifer, and Trixie were of course there to see Amenadiel and Linda's son, Charlie, who had been born just a week ago."

"Charlie's so cute. He's gonna be just a little older than my brother or sister," Trixie said as she stood next to Amenadiel, who was holding the baby.

"That's right. They'll be able to play together," Linda said with a smile.

"I can play with them sometimes too," Trixie said.

"Of course, you will, Monkey. You're gonna be a great big sister," Chloe told her daughter.

Just then, Charlie started crying.

"He's probably hungry. I'm going to grab a bottle. Here, Luci, you can take him," Amenadiel said before going to hand his son over to his brother, who was standing next to the couch by Chloe and Trixie.

"What? Why? His mother's right there," Lucifer said as he took a step back.

"Because you need the practice. Your baby will be here in a couple of months. You should get used to having a baby in your arms," Amenadiel said.

"I don't need practice. I've held your child before," Lucifer said.

"You held him for two seconds and then gave him back to Amenadiel. Take the baby, Lucifer. You will be holding our child a lot because I will not do this alone," Chloe said in a firm tone.

"Very well," Lucifer said before tentatively holding his arms out for the baby.

Amenadiel put Charlie in his arms before going to get a bottle.

"Have you guys thought of names yet?" Linda asked.

"How could we do that? We don't know the gender because someone still refuses to let us find out," Lucifer said as he looked at Chloe.

Chloe rolled her eyes at her boyfriend's antics. Things were going strong between them. She and Lucifer had mostly worked things through. She knew Lucifer would never forget what she did, but he'd forgiven her, and they'd worked past it. "We can think of names for both genders and decide when the kid is born. We haven't decided anything yet though, Linda. Thankfully, we have over two months left."

"Amenadiel and I couldn't agree on a name until Charlie was born," Linda said.

"You shot down all my ideas," Amenadiel said as he came into the room. He took Charlie from his brother and began feeding him.

"They were really uncommon. He would've been teased," Linda said.

"They were Heavenly names," Amenadiel defended himself.

"Well, there was your first problem," Lucifer said.

"Really? Well, Linda picked a Heavenly name at first too. She wanted to name him Michael," Amenadiel said.

Lucifer looked at Linda with horror in his eyes. "Are you bloody mad? Why would you subject that child to such a thing. He would've had to live with that name forever!"

"Linda, you're my girl, but I would've killed you before I let you name the kid that," Maze said. She didn't know Lucifer's brother, but she wouldn't let her friend name the baby that just on principle.

"What's the big deal?" Linda asked.

Chloe laughed. "Really? I was an atheist, and even I know who Michael is in the Bible."

"So he's real? Sorry, but I never know what is or isn't real in religion anymore," Linda said.

"Yes, unfortunately, he's real," Lucifer said.

"I don't see him as terrible as Luci does, but I'd never name my kid after him," Amenadiel said.

"Yes, that name is officially off the table," Lucifer said as he looked at Chloe.

"I never considered it in the first place," Chloe said.

"Have you guys got everything set up yet?" Linda asked.

"Yeah, for the most part the nursery's all ready. We'll keep the baby in with us for the first few weeks. The nursery was now where her bedroom was, as she'd moved into Lucifer's room. The crib, however, was in their room for now.

Amenadiel smiled down at his son as he fed him. "You're gonna have a little cousin in just a couple of months. You guys will get along great."

"Let's hope anyway," Chloe said.

"Well, me and the little human need to get going. Ready, Trix?" Maze asked. She and Trixie didn't get to spend as much time together now that they didn't live together anymore, so they were spending the afternoon together.

"Uh huh. Bye Mommy, bye Lucifer," Trixie said as she stood up.

"Bye, Monkey. Be good for Maze. And Maze, keep things PG please," Chloe said.

Maze rolled her eyes at her friend. "You're no fun, Decker. Come on, kid."

Trixie followed Maze and they headed for the door.

Once Maze and Trixie were gone, Lucifer turned to Lucifer and Chloe. "How are things going with Kinley?"

"There's been nothing from him since he confronted Lucifer about me being pregnant," Chloe said.

"There will be though. I'm certain he's just waiting for his moment," Lucifer said tensely. Honestly, a part of him thought of just getting rid of the bastard. He would've a few years ago. Well, sort of. He wouldn't have killed him because he wasn't allowed, but he would certainly have made it clear what would happen if the bastard came after him. The way he dealt with people changed when he met Chloe, though he would do what was necessary if Kinley came after his family.

"Maybe not. Maybe he's realized that he can't do anything, or that it's not his place to do anything," Linda said. It was wishful thinking, but she wanted to believe that the danger to her friends was behind them.

"Unfortunately, priests typically think too highly of themselves for that. They think it's their duty to do God's Will. The problem with that is that they have no idea what Father's Will is. They follow what they believe it is, and they don't care what they need to do to exact it. The ends justify the means to them. While there are a few exceptions, Father actually doesn't have much patience for priests because of that," Amenadiel explained.

Chloe watched as Lucifer tensed even further. She reached out and took his hand. "Hey, we'll be okay. We got through Pierce, who was an immortal. We can deal with a priest."

Lucifer nodded. "Perhaps, we should leave as well. I'm sure Linda and Amenadiel would like time alone with their child."

"Yeah, that's a good idea. Thanks for having us, guys," Chloe said as she stood up.

"Yes, of course. You two are always welcome. You better be frequent visitors once that baby comes," Linda said.

"We will. See you guys later," Chloe said before she and Lucifer headed out.

Xxxxxxxxxxx

Later that night, Chloe was in her car driving. She'd been feeling restless and needed a drive to clear her head a bit. Normally, she didn't go out alone. Lucifer was extremely overprotective because of Kinley, but she needed a drive by herself. Lucifer hadn't been happy about it, but he conceded to her wishes. Chloe had a feeling he had someone following her anyway, and she wasn't going far.

Chloe drove a couple of miles and was heading back to the penthouse when she noticed the car behind her, which had been following almost the whole time. At first, she assumed he was right and that Lucifer had had someone following to make sure she was safe, but then it got extremely close to her, which made her nervous.

Chloe sped up a bit, but the car behind her did the same. She kept going quickly, trying to find a way to lose the guy, but it wasn't helping. Soon, it became clear that he wasn't going to stop. He was trying to run her off the road.

Chloe mentally kicked herself as she tried to get away from the car after her. She got too comfortable. She knew Kinley was out there, but because he hadn't tried anything, she took risks she shouldn't have; Amenadiel had even warned them earlier about people like Kinley. They didn't give up. She should've stayed home or let Lucifer come with her. Now, she'd placed her baby at risk.

Chloe was forced to veer off the road when she came to a four lane intersection with heavy traffic. The car behind her rammed into her hard and she hit a pole. She felt a sharp pain in her arm and shoulder, as well as her head, which had slammed against the side of the car. The last thing she remembered before passing out was the pain in her stomach. A pain she remembered well. She was in labor. Unfortunately, just as that hit her, she lost consciousness.