Page 49 of Unholy Night
“The same. She’ll need to spend time on Earth to grow to adulthood, but that is nothing unmanageable.” He leans forward and presses his forehead to mine. “I’d be honored to be part of her life as long as you will let me. In fact, there is only one thing I want more.”
“What is that?” I frown.
“To be part of both your lives. To claim a space in your hearts no one else can have.” His hand cups my cheek. “Fill the hole in my heart, be the light of my soul.”
I stare into his eyes and wonder if he’s using magic to mesmerize me. My entire being feels entranced. “Is this magic?”
“Isn’t love always magic?” he asks.
“Is this love?” It’s been so long since I’ve been in love and this feels so fast, but also so much stronger, like what I felt in the past was a pathetic photocopy of the real thing.
“It is for me,” he replies. “Lyla, I can wait as long as you need to decide.”
“No, no, Lucifer. I want to try this.” I reach up and place my hand over his heart. “I want to try us. But I have to always take Mandy into consideration.”
“I don’t know why.” My daughter’s annoyed voice interrupts me and I turn to her, blinking. Her hands are on her hips as she stares at me. “You deserve to be happy, Mommy. Isn’t that what you tell me? Isn’t it what you tell your friends?”
Under my hand, I feel Lucifer's chest vibrate and I glare up at him. He’s trying his best to not laugh, while I get lectured about my love life by my eight-year-old daughter.
“I know I’m little and don’t know anything about all the mushy stuff. But I know when you’re happy and Mr. Lucifer makes you very happy. I’ve seen you looking at the snow globe so many times, I’m surprised you haven’t worn it out.”
I widen my eyes and make a face at her. Why is she spilling my secrets? And doing so while looking so much like me is unfair.
“And if that isn’t enough, maybe you should ask me what I want.”
“She does have a point, dear heart.” He strokes his thumb over the hand he is still holding.
I give him an unamused look. If I didn’t know better, I would think they had set this up together.
I pull away from Lucifer, even though it feels so nice to be back in his arms.
“Okay. Mandy, what do you want?” I realize I’m unconsciously mirroring her pose. My pose. Whatever. So I let my hands fall to my sides and definitely hear soft laughter behind me.
“I like Hell, Mommy. I like the demons and the happy souls. I like the Hellhounds and my giant pink bed.” She pauses and leans around me to look at Lucifer. “Think we could add some black to my room?”
“Done.” The amusement in his voice is obvious.
She looks back at me and this time, there is a vulnerability in her gaze. “And I like Mr. Lucifer. I don’t want to never see him again.”
“We can’t spend all our time in Hell.” I cup her face in my hands. “Time stands still there. And we have to visit our family. You need to go to school. If school ever goes back to normal, that is. But if you are really okay with this, I think we’d both be very happy.”
“All three of us would be very happy,” Lucifer adds quietly in his baritone.
Mandy reaches up and covers my hands with hers. “Let’s be happy, Mommy.”
Tears fill my eyes and her face turns horrified. “Don’t cry, Mommy! Don’t cry! This is happy! Happy! You’ll ruin your makeup!”
I laugh and pull her to me. “Since when do you care about make-up?”
“You look so pretty. I didn’t mean to ruin it.”
I dab carefully under my eyes with one thumb and smile. “You haven’t ruined anything and I won’t cry.”
“Good! Then let's go party!” Mandy steps back and claps her hands. “My first grown-up party!”
“Eh, these people might be older than dirt, but I wouldn’t call all of them grown-up.” Lucifer steps forward and offers both arms. “May I have the honor of escorting you ladies?”
I step forward and slip my hand in his arm and watch as Mandy mirrors my actions on the other side. Rudolph doesn’t bother to wait for us and leaps through the portal the moment it opens.