Chapter Text
Lucifer debated packing a bag or a suitcase. If he was going to stay at the Hazbin Hotel it would be temporary. Charlie didn’t need him around all the time, and who knows what those Sinners would do to his Little Duck!
Dowan was pouting at him from her spot in the playpen. It had belonged to Charlie and was made of red wood and decorated with moving beads and thin crystals that worked as a rattle. It had been a gift from Satan that he was glad he still had. He had a soft blanket across the bottom, with a few toys scattered around her.
“Should I pack myself a suitcase?” He asked Little Duck, turning to watch her chew on a purple duck before fisting the blanket to her face. “Little Duck, where did you go?” He called dramatically, smiling when the baby wiggled.
“Oh, Little Duck! Did you fly away?” Lucifer sang as he leaned over the playpen and watched her. She was so much bigger than when he got her, kicking her legs and stretching to grab things. She still struggled with ‘Tummy Time’ but she could lift her head and look around. “Where’s Daddy’s baby?” He asked and made his voice sound sad. Dowan immediately lifted her head and looked around, her expression was so concerned Lucifer immediately scooped her up and lifted her above his head. “There she is!” Both laughed as she waved all limbs in the air and he spun her around.
“Look at Little Duck fly!” He continued to sing, taking dramatic steps and swinging his arms in an imitation of flight. Dowan loved it, smiling and squealing.
It was moments like this that made him feel whole. Call him selfish, but knowing he was her whole world and he made her happy? He wanted to wrap it in a blanket and hoard it away. No Sinners, demons, angels, or his Father could ever deserve to see the toothless smile and crinkled eyes or hear the enchanting laughter and coos. Only him.
“When you’re a bit bigger, we’ll fly through all the Rings. And you can see Uncle Ozzie’s and Auntie Levi’s blues.” He pulled her down to his chest, chuckling when she perked up at the word blue. That seemed to be her new favorite thing. Of all the colors Bel insisted he surround her with, she seemed to gravitate to blues, greens, and the occasional purple. “Did I say bluuuueeee,” Little Duck cooed and patted at his neck.
While he nuzzled her face, he used his magic to summon her plushie and change the soft yellow to have blue dots. Little Duck looked amazed, latching on with hands and mouth as she looked up at Lucifer with violet eyes. “Now, let’s call Char Char and get packed, yeah?”
… … …
By the time Lucifer made it to the hotel, Little Duck was starting to fuss like she had that morning. According to Bel, even though Little Duck had been exposed to a higher concentration of Demonic Energy, she still needed a mix of Angelic and Demonic to stay comfortable. He naturally leaned more into his Angelic nature and his Demonic Energy when he needed to protect or fight something. He lived mostly in isolation, meaning his Demonic Energy wasn’t as potent as his Angelic. Little Duck hadn’t had much, if any, until meeting Charlie and the others. Charlie naturally balanced both energies, and while she had held Little Duck, had instinctively let the baby latch onto them. If Lucifer hadn’t let Charlie hold her, she probably wouldn’t be in pain.
Lucifer forced his thoughts to stop. He wanted Charlie to hold Little Duck. He wanted them to be close and to have a connection with each other. It was a good thing for Little Duck to be exposed. An especially good thing it had been Charlie who had exposed her. What if an Imp had picked her up one day? Or a Sinner attempted something? The sudden new energy would have hurt Little Duck worse than just some discomfort! Charlie was-is the best solution to helping him with Little Duck. If she wanted to that is.
“Don’t worry, we’re almost there.” He reassured, taking a deep breath to focus his two energies into a small stream for her. She settled a bit as he tried again, quietly sucking on her pacifier even as she gave off a dim glow. It felt exhausting trying to keep the two energies balanced, and he worried about how Charlie felt on a regular basis because of it.
“Dad! You’re here!” The loud greeting made him jump. Little Duck let out her own sound of surprise and spit out her pacifier to pout at him. “With Dowan!” Charlie added with a wide smile.
“Hi Apple,” he greeted back softly. “Of course,” he added while patting Little Duck’s bottom with one hand. “I wasn’t sure how long,”
Before he could explain -again- why they would be staying at the hotel his phone went off. “Bang, bang, bangity bang! I said bang bangity bang bang!”
“Ozzie?” Lucifer answered in confusion. The last he had spoken with the Sin of Lust, was when he asked him about some contract Mammon owned. “Slow down! Wait,” he could barely understand the growls the other was making through the phone. “Char, can you? I, Ozzie! Shut up for a minute!” He snapped into his phone while adjusting his arm for Charlie to grab onto Little Duck. He hated the look of concern and confusion on Charlie’s face as she lifted Little Duck from her sling and settled her against her chest. If not for Ozzie’s voice in his ear, Lucifer would take a few dozen pictures of the two. But, being King and the defacto middle child, meant he had duties.
“Give me a few minutes, Duckies. I, I’ll be right back.” He tried to reassure Charlie, eyes flicking from her concerned expression to Little Duck’s own confused one. With a nod, he watched Charlie return inside, feeling guilt well up in him when he heard Little Duck warble for him.
He wasn’t doing anything wrong. He really didn’t want his daughters to see or hear whatever was going on. It wasn’t their problem. Having to step away for a phone call wasn’t a bad thing. It just showed he was protecting them. Right? What if he was starting to slip again? First, it would be this call, then a meeting, then it would be a week before he saw them again!
“Lucifer?” He shook his head. He was fine, this was fine. He would handle whatever Ozzie was mad about and then go inside.
… … …
As soon as Charlie had passed out of her Dad’s sight, she felt her mood drop. She didn’t want to think the worst or assume anything bad, but she knew firsthand how absent he could be. Even if he was trying to be otherwise.
“Hey Toots, how’s the womb nugget?” Angel’s easy tone made her roll her eyes even as she laughed.
“Dowan is perfect. Aren’t you?” Charlie baby talked while lifting her baby sister up enough to meet her eyes. The reddish eyes blinked at her for a beat before she began to squirm and chew on a fist. “Oh, no you shouldn’t do that.” She’d done a lot of speed reading while waiting on her Dad. Babies were prone to putting everything in their mouths and it was a bad idea to let them do that in case it made them sick. She was pretty sure Razzle and Dazzle would be back soon with some of the baby items she’d sent them after. Had she gotten enough teethers? Was Dowan old enough to have teeth come in?
“What? Squirm? Hate to say it, Toots, but that’s what babies do.” Angel huffed as Charlie pinned the baby to her chest and made her whine. “Fix ya arms, she’s gonna puke like that.” Charlie was surprised as Angel moved her arms so that they cupped under Dowan’s legs and across her back.
“I, you know about babies?” Charlie asked, choosing not to tell him she was actually going to try and stop Dowan from chewing on herself.
“Hun, I grew up in a big family. Babies happen.” He deadpanned even as he reached out to gently brush through Dowan’s dark hair. “Feels like she’s got tangles, might wanna brush it.” He added before retrieving his favorite sunglasses. “I gotta shift, see ya.”
Charlie gave an absent farewell while walking over to the Welcome Desk. Vaggie was working on a stack of papers, her pen making a comforting scratch sound before she looked up at Charlie.
“What happened?” She asked with a narrowed eye towards the door. “Where’s Lucifer?” She questioned with a hard edge to her words.
“It’s fine! I mean, he had a call. He said he’ll be right back.” Charlie explained while carefully shifting her hold on Dowan. She wished she’d thought to get the sling from him, Dowan didn’t look it, but her arms were getting tired.
Vaggie hummed, looking from the door to Charlie before setting her pen down to stand. “Come on, let’s go sit down. When he comes back, we’ll show him his room.” Charlie breathed a sigh of relief and skipped after her wonderful girlfriend.
The two settled down on a throw blanket Vaggie retrieved from the couch. Charlie sat cross-legged in front of her baby sister. Dowan was holding her head up and kicking the air behind her while fussing. “You need Tummy Time,” The baby gave a sharp cry at that, her small glare making Charlie giggle.
“I don’t think she likes it.” Vaggie joked as Dowan gripped the blanket under them and let out a grunt. “I know you read a bunch of baby notes, but maybe let her roll over?” Carefully, Vaggie pushed a finger into Dowan’s fist. The baby turned to look at her hand in confusion before Vaggie slowly pulled until Dowan rolled over.
“Surprise!” The blond cheered at her baby sister’s expression. It took Dowan a beat before she kicked her feet up and then grabbed a bare foot.
“You don’t think it’s strange?” Vaggie questioned, an eye trained on the baby with a softness that betrayed her tense posture.
“What’s so strange?” Charlie asked in a babying tone as she continued to play with Dowan. The girl gave her a wide gummy smile as she let go of her foot to grab at Charlie’s waving fingers.
“Your Dad and Dowan,” Vaggie admitted with a shrug. “He never really said where she came from.” Vaggie saw Charlie’s eyes frown but her smile remained as she let Dowan grab her hand. “I’m not saying anything bad or wrong. I just,” she trailed off.
Charlie sat back, eyes on Dowan as she thought over Vaggie’s words. It was strange for her Dad to pop up with a baby. She’d been so excited to see a literal baby she’d kind of just ignored the rest. Vaggie was right to question the situation and she should have as well.
“Dad said there wasn’t anyone else. So Dowan just has him. And us now,” she mumbled softly. “I can’t think of anyone who’d…” and then she could. She remembered when she was younger how her Dad or Mom would vanish in the middle of things.
“Charlie? You have an idea.” Vaggie spoke up, moving to sit next to Charlie on the floor. Dowan let out a sound like a dove, making both smile as she tried to chew on Charlie’s hand. “Talk to me?”
“I think Dowan’s from Earth.” Saying the words out loud made Charlie wince. “I mean! There’s this thing, not a bad thing, sometimes. Hold on, I can explain this.” Charlie rambled, nearly slapping Vaggie and making Dowan coo again.
“Deep breathe mi Reina,” Vaggie’s easy tone and exaggerated breathing made Charlie relax. “Now, one thing at a time. Dowan’s from Earth?”
“Maybe?” Charlie let out a whine. “Mom and Dad can be Summoned. It’s…weird. And people make really gross deals.” She started to explain, pouting when Vaggie swapped her hug to just holding Charlie’s hands. “Dad usually had people wanting some kind of power but sometimes they’d ask him for…babies.”
“Wait, you have siblings?” Vaggie’s surprise made Charlie quickly shake her head. “You don’t, have siblings?”
“Dad and Mom usually just helped the mortal be able to conceive but they never Named or Claimed any kid that happened.” Charlie explained, feeling the familiar tug of guilt and wave of jealousy. “I’m the only one they Named and Claimed.” She added and pushed away the old and familiar negative feelings.
“The way you’re saying named and claimed implies capital letters.” Charlie nodded and looked back at Dowan. Focusing on the baby made the topic easier.
“To be Named is to have a full name that has a direct connection to Dad. It means he gave his name and a piece of his soul to them. Being Claimed means he acknowledges and accepts that he shares blood with someone.” Charlie took note of the red dimples, the shape and changing color of her eyes, and the pale white skin. “Any of the Sins, Ars Goetia, or really strong Overlords can do it. But it’s really rare because it paints a target on both sides and can mean death if it’s not done carefully.”
“What?” The disbelief from Vaggie made Charlie nod. She’d grown up hearing stories of adopted family members being killed, hurt, or worse because of their connections.
“Dad Naming and Claiming anyone is almost unbelievable. But…”
“But you think he did with Dowan?” Both women looked down at the happy baby. She was completely innocent and didn’t even know what danger she was in. “So long as she’s with us or your Dad, she’s safe then.”
“Really?” Charlie asked, neck nearly popping as she turned to face her wonderful beautiful girlfriend.
“Yeah, she’s family.” Vaggie’s easy acceptance made Charlie tear up as she launched herself into Vaggie’s lap. “Char, can’t. Breathe!”