Lucifer's Little Angel

19

"Ari?" Michael softly entered the room, not wanting to startle the girl as it looked as if she was falling asleep already. "Baby, we can't fall asleep"

He picked her up effortlessly, earning a whine from her. He didn't mean the little girl to be upset, but she couldn't take a nap at that time either. At least according to Lucifer, although he thought it wouldn't be a big problem if she slept for a little while. Maybe the previous events being all fussy got her that sleepy.

"Where's daddy?" thankfully she didn't realize how she referred to Lucifer in front of a stranger, or it'd had been super embarrassing for her.

"He'll be right back before you even know it. He just needed to work on some things" Michael noticed the sad look on her eyes, so he had an idea. "How about you tell me where your favorite plushie is? I remember hearing something about it"

"Don't know. Daddy took it 'way because he needed a bath"

Michael stood there for a few seconds until he understood what she meant. Lucifer had put it in the washing machine, of course. He just hoped he had left it to dry, because he didn't want Arella to get disappointed twice now.

He didn't want to ask anyone there because his reputation was only good with Arella, and other demons wouldn't hesitate to give him a hard time.

He just walked with her in his arms for a little while until he found a small room, he opened the door and there it was. It was obvious it was the plushie she wanted, because as soon as the girl noticed Michael had it with him, she smiled and happily grabbed it, hugging it close. Arella didn't think she could be that needy of a mere object, but she was still getting surprised every day. The flowery scent from the plushie made her feel more comfortable too.

"I see you like it too much huh"

"Yes! Cleon gave it to me" Michael sighed in defeat.

"Of course he did..."

Arella wasn't the only one trying to understand her current situation. Michael didn't get most of the things that were happening right then either, and if it wasn't because he already knew the sweet relationship Arella was having with Lucifer, he wouldn't had believed that Cleon, one of the most bloodthirsty demons in Hell, would gift her such thing. It just didn't make sense at all.

He noticed her getting comfortable by laying her head on his shoulder, and gave up. What could a 30 minute nap do? Lucifer wouldn't kill him for that... maybe. But he didn't care. The little girl was obviously too sleepy to be kept awake for more hours. Then, he thought that he could take this as an opportunity to explore the place a little more, to see if he could find anything to prove Lucifer was as mean as everyone knew and make Arella go where she really belonged. That's why he suggested to read a bedtime story for a quick nap, which she immediately agreed on. Truth be told, no one had ever done that for her, and the feeling wasn't familiar.

Michael wondered if Lucifer gave her a bottle or if he hadn't got to that point yet, but didn't say anything just in case. He knew Arella was new in there, so making her upset talking about that wouldn't be the best idea. So leaving the girl on a rocking chair before earning a whine, he went to a bookshelf near them in the playroom they were before, and started to look through the book covers. "My first demon", "Torturing for dummies", "Sam and the Hell creature" were some of the horrible titles Michael saw, hoping that man hadn't read them to such a pure angel like her.

"Let's see... oh, this seems like the best of all"

He ended up picking The Princess and The Frog from Disney, Arella's favorite movie. She had never read its book, of course, but this book was a child's adaptation and it wasn't too long, filled with many pretty drawings of the movie. Ari wasn't paying too much attention until she saw the cover and instantly asked Michael to read that one for her, and she wasn't sure if that was her little or "big" side speaking.

He simply chuckled at her actions and let her grab the book too. Arella opened it but frowned as soon as she saw its content: she couldn't read it.

"What is it? You don't like it?"

"Can't read. Why?"

"Oh, silly me. This is a different language from the one you're used to. This one is... older. I'm not quite sure as to why it's not in English, though"

That made Arella feel a little annoyed, but also more excited to get Michael to read the story for her. He placed her on his chest, finding adorable how fast she got used to him (although he did have that effect on people). His heart beating made Ari feel even sleepier, but she didn't want to fall asleep yet. Even though she knew the whole story, she was excited to get to listen to it from the book in his hands.

"Once upon a time..." Michael started. Arella loved his voice, it was too soothing and nice to listen to. She felt vibrations through his muscular chest every time he spoke, which was absolutely amazing for her. Arella didn't notice either, but she was subconsciously putting her thumb in her mouth as he spoke, which he made a mental note of.

Sometimes he would encourage her to look at the pictures on the book and made it feel as if it was a masterpiece. She really felt like a little kid, and she didn't mind.

A few minutes later and Ari was out like a light. Not only her, but also Michael. It seemed that all his hard work on Heaven was obvious, because even though he didn't really need sleep, it was too helpful from time to time. Last time he slept must had been about 100 years ago. He let out some soft snores every time he breathed out, with Ari cuddled to his chest on the rocking chair and with her thumb still on her mouth. Who would think that Michael was the guy her daddy despised the most?

A little while later, and after a pleasant nap where everything was silent on the room, Arella whimpered at the loss of touch from the man she was cuddled with. Arella immediately stopped once she felt the familiar pair of arms holding her with Spikey still with her. She did feel Lucifer tense, but didn't complain as she was content enough that he was back, if that made sense.

"Daddy, 'm sleepy"

"Yes, sleepyhead. You slept quite a lot"

"I missed you"

"I missed you more, baby"

She tiredly opened her eyes, trying to adjust to the bright light from the room as they walked down to the living room. Amos had already left her favorite meal: burgers. Of course he had to put vegetables too, but she didn't mind eating broccoli that much at the moment.

"Let's just eat a little and then you can go to sleep early, yeah?" Arella wanted to do as told, but she felt too comfortable on her daddy's arms, inhaling his sweet perfume where she felt safe. Lucifer didn't need to read her mind to know this, though. "I know you're comfortable darling, but you need to eat a little. I ordered Amos to prepare your favorite, don't you wanna try?"

Her eyes lit up as soon as she ate some bites. Not only did she love burgers, but she also loved Amos' cooking.

Lucifer would deal with Michael later.