Chloe woke up on a balmy August morning to Iris moaning and crying on the baby monitor. She rolled over, her eyelids still heavy with sleep, but she realized that Lucifer wasn't beside her.
She got up to take care of Iris first, then she would track down the rest of her family.
As she crossed the hallway (the floors finished with a dark hard-wood, and the walls painted light gray and decorated with some art work from Lucifer's collection) Chloe could hear the sound of pans against counter-top and Trixie bantering about something. Well, at least she knew where they were now and that breakfast would be waiting for her.
Gently, Chloe opened the white door to the nursery, smiling as she entered. The nursery was still bathed in darkness from the drawn pink drapes. Neither she nor Lucifer wanted to change it much from the nursery he created at the penthouse, so they kept the same colors and just rearranged the furniture to fit the new room. They order a wall sticker to hang over the crib on the only pink wall. In scrawling black letters, it read: Iris Melody.
Iris picked her head up as the door opened and made cooing noises. As her mom came closer, she pulled herself to her feet using the bars of her crib.
"Hi baby," Chloe whispered. "Good morning! Sleep well?" She asked as she lowered the gate of the crib.
Iris's face scrunched up and she started crying before Chloe even picked her up.
Chloe thought that was odd. Iris wasn't normally this unhappy in the morning unless somebody woke her up earlier than she wanted.
"Did Daddy and Sissy wake you up?" Chloe wondered. They knew they were supposed to be quiet if either of them got up early.
Iris cried harder, but then she did something she's never done before. She rubbed the back of her tiny pudgy hands over her eyes and nose, rubbing them as best her little muscles could do as if they were bothering her.
"Hmm. Come here sweetie." Chloe muttered, picking Iris up out of the crib and holding her close.
Iris clung onto Chloe while she still cried.
As Chloe tried consoling her, she sat down on the white rocking chair in the corning and turned on the small black lamp.
Now that she had better light, Chloe balanced Iris on her thigh and got a better look at her.
Concern filled any lightness Chloe felt when she woke up this morning. Regardless of the crying and the look of pain on her daughter's face, Iris's nose was running and the tip of her nose was red. Her cheeks seemed redder than normal too and her eyes were glossy.
Chloe gave an uncertain hum and gently pressed her hand against Iris's forehead and held it there for a moment. Her temperature seemed warm.
"Oh no." Chloe sighed. "Shh shh, it's okay baby. Mommy's here." Chloe consoled, pressing Iris against her.
She held Iris with one hand and pulled her cell phone out of her pajama pants. She typed, as quickly as she could, a text to Lucifer, asking if he could come up here.
A few minutes later, Chloe heard the sound of somebody gingerly running up the stairs. Then she heard, "Detective?" called a few times as Lucifer searched for her.
"In here," She called. Soon enough, Lucifer had peaked his head in Iris's room.
"What's wrong?" He asked.
Chloe looked at Iris sadly, feeling so sorry for her, and worry evident in her tone. "I think Iris is sick. She feels like she's running a fever. Do you think we should take her to the doctor?"
Instead of coming over to form his own opinion of the situation, Lucifer stood in the doorway and laughed, shoving his hands in the pockets of his black robe.
"That's what you called me up here for?" He scoffed.
Chloe glared at him disbelievingly. Their daughter is clearly not feeling well and he's not concerned at all?
"Lucifer! Look at her! She's in pain, her nose is running, and her face is red." Chloe scolded.
Lucifer looked at her like she was overreacting.
"Detective," He said patronizingly, which made Chloe want to punch him.
"Angels can't contract human illnesses. She's probably just hungry or moody or...some other mysterious issue that would cause a woman to get upset. She's fine!"
Chloe shook her head and answered a bit angrily, "Okay, you stopped being able to use the 'angels aren't affected by human things' crap when you knocked me up with this one."
She pointed to Iris and Lucifer's face paled as he shifted nervously. She knew he damn well remembered the night they conceived Iris and he assured Chloe that angels and humans had never given each other STDs and that he wouldn't be able to get her pregnant. So much that confidence did because here they were with a sick ten-month old!
Chloe sighed and returned to her worry. "But she's only half angel, Lucifer! Where do we draw the line between what makes her an angel and what makes her a human?"
That seemed to resonate with Lucifer.
"You have a point." He said under his breath, striding over to the rocking chair and kneeling next to them.
Chloe turned Iris around so that Lucifer could see her. He grimaced at how wet her face was, between the tears and nasal discharge. Even still, he gingerly pressed a hand to Iris's forehead while she fussed.
He made an uncertain hum and Chloe worriedly asked, "See?"
"What's her normal temperature?" He asked.
"Um, around ninety-eight I think. Same as normal. None of the doctors or nurses at her check-ups have raised any concerns about her temperature. Why?"
Lucifer sighed, "Angels normally run warmer. Different species and divinity and all that. Perhaps Little Bullet is taking more so after her human side?" He mused.
"What do we do about this then?" Chloe stressed. "I want to call the doctor and ask for some medicine, but because she's not all human, would the dosage be different? Will she not respond to it? I don't know!"
"Detective," Lucifer said calmly, "Take a breath. It will be alright, we'll figure it out."
She nodded and ran her hand up and down Iris's back.
Then an idea came to her, "We should call Linda and ask her if this has ever happened to Charlie. Maybe she can give us some advice?"
"Good idea." Lucifer agreed.
Chloe stood up slowly and decided, "I'll give her a call. Can you take her into the shower and just stand under the steam for a little bit? I know that usually helps clear the sinuses when Trixie or I are sick."
Lucifer grimaced as Chloe placed the crying, sniveling, squirming baby in his hands, but he just reminded himself over and over again that she wasn't felling well, and at least he wasn't dressed yet."
"Sure," He muttered, taking the baby out of the room.
Chloe dialed Linda's number and paced the room while the phone rang. Soon, her friend answered.
"Hello?" Linda answered happily.
"Hey Linda, it's Chloe. Sorry to call you so early, I just have a question for you."
"Oh it's no problem. I'm getting ready to run an errand anyway. What's up?"
"Um," Chloe sighed and bit her lip. "Iris woke up sick this morning, so I asked Lucifer if he thinks I should take her to the doctor or not. It seems like it's just a cold, but I'm pretty sure she's running a fever. Anyway, he said I was crazy because apparently angels can't get sick. So, I guess I'm just wondering if Charlie's ever gotten sick before or if I am just the crazy mom of an impossible angel-baby."
Linda chuckled a bit and paused while she considered her answer. "Yes," She said calmly, "Charlie usually catches a cold at least once a year. He's getting small things here and there more often since he started preschool, but I never thought anything of it. Amenadiel never did either. When he was a baby we would take him to the doctor, she'd prescribe medicine, and we'd be good to go."
"Okay that's...that makes me feel a lot better. Thanks Linda."
"Anytime!"
"Oh and hey, while I have you, I just thought I'd ask," Chloe peered out into the hallway to make sure Lucifer wasn't eavesdropping or coming back in.
"Has Charlie shown any signs of being...you know...angelic yet?"
Linda made an uncertain noise and then replied, "Come to think of it, I don't think he has. I'm actually really glad you brought this up because I've never really thought about it before. I know Amenadiel has talked about him getting his wings or his abilities, but for all I know he's guessing, and he doesn't seem concerned. I'm just raising him like any other human child because that's all I know!"
Chloe nodded, "Right, right. No, I completely understand. Iris hasn't either. She gets bruises when she bumps into things, she's growing, and apparently gets sick. She doesn't have an invulnerability thing like Lucifer because the doctors are able to give her shots. I don't know what's more human than that." Chloe ticked off all of the human things Iris does on a mental checklist.
Linda continued, "And I would have thought that maybe because Amenadiel was more mortal than angel when Charlie was conceived that maybe Charlie missed that gene all together, but Iris developing the exact same way doesn't make sense. Lucifer wasn't mortal."
"But he is vulnerable around me." Chloe argued.
"Vulnerable, not human. He's still very much an angel...er, devil, I guess, even when you're around."
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Chloe's mind was spinning. What did all of this human-angel-genetic stuff even mean?
"Linda," Chloe began, her detective mind putting together a clue-board in her mind. "You don't think that it's the self-actualization thing, do you?"
"What do you mean?" Linda asked, her curiosity clearly piqued in her tone.
"Like," Chloe sat back down in the rocking chair, "You said that, for example, Lucifer's devil face is the result of how he feels about himself, same with the wings. It's all about how he sees himself."
"Right," Linda drawled.
"Well, I'm wondering...what if it's the same with our kids?"
"The same?" Linda asked.
"Yeah! What if, I don't know, maybe because they didn't grow up around angels in the Silver City or wherever, human nature is instinct to them because they're being raised around more humans! Maybe their angel side is second nature and they need to see themselves more as angels than as humans in order to do whatever it was Amenadiel was talking about, getting their wings and stuff."
Linda laughed exasperatedly. "Chloe, you're a freaking genius! I don't know if that's right, but it makes a ton of sense! Sorry to cut you short but I've gotta go. I hope Iris feels better, please keep me updated!"
"I will, thanks for your help Linda!"
"Of course, and we'll talk more on this self-actualization stuff later too."
"Okay, bye."
"Bye!"
With that, they hung up. Chloe leaned back in the rocker, her mind racing with thoughts and worries about Iris growing up and having to choose what species she sees herself as. She figured her daughter was going to have a harder time growing up, being who she is and having to form her own opinion of herself given that, but Chloe never thought Iris's future would be this insane.
***
Lucifer turned the master shower on and turned the knob until the water produced a good amount of steam. He didn't want to scald his sickly Little Bullet, his own skin be damned, but hers is delicate. He stripped down to his boxer shorts and undressed Iris completely.
They stood in the steam for a while, and Iris seemed to calm down.
"Not feeling well, are you?" Lucifer asked softly, rubbing her back. She laid her head on his shoulder, her face looking toward his neck. He could hear how much she was struggling to breathe through her plugged nose and his heart ached for her. She was only ten months old, what did she do to deserve this?
"I don't know what it's like to have a human cold, but it doesn't seem pleasant. I'll make you feel better though, I promise my sweetheart."
Iris made some noises as she shifted herself on his chest.
Lucifer began panicking when, all of a sudden, Iris started whimpering again. She tensed under him and then shivered, even though the room had to be over eighty degrees.
"Oh bloody-" Lucifer muttered, moving so that Iris's back was partially under the shower head. Perhaps the water would help warm her up.
She felt warm. Actually, she was pretty hot, which Lucifer wouldn't think twice of if she was an angel, but clearly that excuse doesn't work. She was burning up for a human temperature, but she continued to shiver like she was cold. That can't be good. Guilt knotted his stomach, thinking that his first reaction to this was so nonchalant. How could he be so careless?
Lucifer turned off the water, threw back the curtain, and called, "Detective? Detective!"
He heard Chloe run into their room as he grabbed a towel to start drying them off.
"What's wrong?" She insisted.
"We were under the steam and then she started shivering, so I put her under some of the water, but she still seamed cold, even though she feels just about as hot as I normally do."
Chloe made a grabbing motion with her fingers, physically asking for him to hand the baby over.
Chloe winced when she felt Iris. "Oh my gosh. You poor thing!"
She picked her up and held her close, doing her best to calm her down, but Iris kept on crying.
"I think we should take her to the doctor." Chloe said for the second time that morning.
This time, Lucifer agreed.
He rushed to get dressed first, not putting in nearly half the effort he normally does, given that this was a bit of an emergency.
The detective went back into the nursery to get Iris into some actual clothes, and then she said she would throw something on.
Lucifer ran downstairs to load up the car when the older urchin stopped him.
"Lucifer what's wrong?" She asked, a fork full of pancake in her hand.
"Ah," Lucifer hesitated, grabbing the keys to the family BMW from the hook on the wall.
"We believe your sister's sick. She's running a pretty nasty temperature, so your mum and I are going to take her to the doctor."
Trixie became extremely concerned and starting shooting off questions and wondering what she could do to help.
"Just," Lucifer interrupted rather impatiently, "Stay here and keep the doors locked. We'll be back as soon as we can."
Trixie didn't argue further because then her mom came jogging down the stairs, Iris in one hand and a diaper bag in the other.
She had put on a large white shirt and a pair of jeans that Lucifer could have sworn were in an unfolded heap on their bedroom floor yesterday, but it seemed she also hadn't messed with her hair or makeup in the rush.
They loaded Iris into the BMW and took off to the nearest Quick Care. It was Saturday, meaning their normal pediatrician wasn't in, otherwise they would've just gone there. Iris screamed almost the entire way. Chloe would tear her fingers through her hair nervously. Lucifer knew she hated hearing her child in pain, knowing there was nothing she could do about it.
When they arrived, Chloe and Lucifer had to fill out insurance and symptom forms. They waited for only ten minutes, Iris still crying just not as intensely.
A nurse escorted them to a room where she took Iris's weight, height, blood pressure, temperature (Lucifer was appalled when the nurse shoved the thermometer up the baby's backside), and asked questions about her symptoms. Chloe told the nurse exactly everything that happened and that she didn't know what to do so they just decided to bring her in. Except, she left out anything having to do with her more angelic concerns.
The nurse assured them that they did the right thing and that the doctor would be in to see them shortly.
Shortly to doctors apparently meant a half hour, and for a majority of that, Iris cried and refused to be consoled be either of them.
"Bloody hell, if we're waiting longer than they're in here, somebody will be sorry." Lucifer said through gritted teeth.
Chloe sighed.
After thirty minutes of waiting, there was a knock on the door, and an attractive young man walked in, introduced himself as Dr. Pike, and shook both Chloe's and Lucifer's hands.
"So what's going on? Iris is running a fever?" He asked politely.
Chloe could see Lucifer tense and smirk like he was about to make a rude comment, so she interjected, "She woke up with a runny nose and a fever. Her fever got worse after we tried standing in a steamy room with her, and she's been extremely fussy. We didn't have any medicine for her, and frankly, didn't know what to do, so we decided to bring her in."
The doctor thought on that for a moment before saying, "Her temperature was pretty high. Is she coughing at all?"
Both Chloe and Lucifer shook their heads in a negative.
"I'm going to run a rapid antigen test for the flu. It's not common in babies, but just to rule it out."
He called a nurse in and they took a swab from the inside of Iris's mouth. He then assured them that the test results would be back in under five minutes.
"If it is the flu, how would she have gotten it?" Lucifer asked. "It's not flu season."
"That's true," Dr. Pike said, "Does Iris attend day care?"
"No," Lucifer answered. "She stays with a family member."
"Are there other children in the house? Is there anyone you know who's been sick?"
Chloe figured out where this question was going, having been to the doctor with Trixie several times. He wants to know if any other children have been sick lately that could have given the virus to her.
"The family member she stays with has a son that just started preschool and my other daughter just started high school. Nobody we know has been sick, though."
Dr. Pike hummed and crossed his arms over his chest.
"My best guess is, if it is influenza, either your daughter or the other child was a carrier for it from someone at school. Schools are breeding grounds for disease, especially the younger ones. Luckily, we have antibiotics to treat it, and we probably caught it early, so Iris should be just fine."
Both of them let out sighs of relief. Lucifer made a comment about humans the millions of disgusting bacteria they carry with them wherever they go, and Chloe laughed it off nervously, hoping Dr. Pike ignored him.
A few minutes later, a nurse came in with the test results.
"Nope!" Dr. Pike exclaimed. "Thankfully, Iris does not have the flu. She just has a nasty cold. I'll prescribe you some medicine for the post-nasal drip and ask that you buy some Baby Tylenol for her fever. She should be feeling better in a few days."
Chloe and Lucifer both thanked Dr. Pike, and they took Iris home, planning on a full day of napping and doing quiet activities. Chloe wondered if at some point, she should pick Lucifer's brain about what he thought of her self-actualization theory regarding the kids. It might not hurt to hear what he thinks. He's dealing with all of this unknown just as much as she is.
It doesn't matter to Chloe what Iris is or what she might choose to be; she loves her daughter with everything she is and would do anything to take her pain away, even if it is just from a cold.