Baby Girl "That's What You're Sorry For?"

Kathrine Ann wiped away the tears from under her eyes while still chuckling at her simple mistake, "I think I may be hopeless." 

"Far from, Baby Girl," Lucifer reassured, an amused smile still gracing his lips. "You should be proud of yourself. Learning a new language the normal way is too daunting a task for most, yet you're doing it despite being unable to hear the words you're trying to learn."

She blushed slightly at the compliment, "Flattery will only get you so far, Jr."

"I'm satisfied with the progress so far." He said as he sipped his drink, "Have you decided on something?"

"No," she huffed, looking back at the menu.

"Sure you don't need help?" he offered again.

Kathrine Ann sighed, "I understand most of the words but don't know what they are. I don't know what bolbrine or jasper root is. Do I like sripper? Who knows."

"Yes to jasper root, probably a no on sripper and a hard pass on bolbrine. It's the breakfast meat you always give to me."

"Well, that rules out what I was currently looking at," she groaned, dropping her menu.

"Tell me some of the things you've enjoyed eating, and I'll help you choose something," Lucifer instructed, picking up his menu.

"Humm?" she pondered. "Well, I liked what you cooked when we went camping, but that might be a bit heavy for late lunch."

"What about the soup you ate when you first arrived?" Lucifer asked, skimming the menu.

"It was good, kind of bland," she answered. "Oh! At our wedding, the little sandwich things were so good. They had this really crispy bread and some thinly sliced meat with this purple leafy stuff that was dressed with a creamy sauce of some kind."

Lucifer nodded and sipped his drink while he narrowed down his options, "Go on,"

"Oh, and almost everything from Lilliana's."

"That's not helpful. Lilliana's is a restaurant that specializes in food from other worlds, not Hell, so you're not going to find most of those ingredients on this menu," he informed. "Actually, I got it. I think you'll like this," he said, leaning over the table and pointing to the item on her menu.

Kathrine Ann looked it over, and after a couple of minutes, she smiled, "Soup and a sandwich. Sure, that sounds great. Thanks, Luce."

The waitress returned, and both of them ordered. While they waited, they made small talk. As they were chatting about Lucifer's upcoming trips, his phone rang. He pulled the phone out of his pocket and rolled his eyes,

"Of course. Almost every single time I step foot in this city," he groaned and answered the call, "Lunther." He greeted and listened for a moment, "That is correct, but I'm not here on business—" Lucifer let his head fall forward and gave an apologetic look to Kathrine Ann, who just returned him a 'What can you do?' shrug.

Not wanting to be nosey and frankly uninterested, Kathrine Ann looked around the patio when her eyes fell on the family they shared the space with. Now, another family was standing by their table. The parents engaged in conversation. This family had two little ones with them. A girl around the same age as the other and a little boy who looked a year or so younger than the girls. The two girls were giggling and whispering when one of them pointed in Kathrine Ann's direction, making her smile. When they saw she caught them, they quickly looked away. Knowing they wouldn't be able to resist another glance, she waited, and sure enough, not even a minute later, they snuck a peek, so Kathrine Ann gave them a wave. Both girls giggled even more as one reached over and yanked on the standing woman's skirt, who was talking with the other mother. She held a finger up to gesture for her daughter to wait. They looked back at her, so doing the only reasonable thing she could think of, Kathrine Ann stuck her tongue out at the girls, causing them to gasp before another giggle fit, prompting a harder tug, but this time, the seated girl was also trying to get her mother's attention. The combined effort worked, and both mothers turned to their children to see what was so dire.

The girls giddily told their mothers what was happening, and just as the mothers looked over, Kathrine Ann looked away, obviously acting like she hadn't been messing with the two. The giggles turned into audible laughter and caused Kathrine Ann to chuckle. She now had the attention of the whole table. The adults bowed their heads, and one of the mothers gave her a questioning look, but Kathrine Ann returned with a slight shrug and a smile. As the adult returned to their conversation, Kathrine Ann immediately looked back at the girls and winked. The two girls lost it. Kathrine Ann chuckled again but turned her focus away from the families so that she wouldn't cause any more of a distraction.

What Kathrine Ann hadn't realized was that Lucifer, though on the phone, had been watching the whole thing. When she looked at him, he had a soft, lopsided smile.

"Again, Lunther, as my father and I explained, I think it's best you both stay out of this. Now goodbye. I'm trying to enjoy my lunch since my breakfast was so disappointing." With that, Lucifer ended the call and dropped his phone on the table.

"I'm sorry, Kathrine Ann." He sighed, letting the smile fall from his face.

"Don't be. I'm aware of how important your job is," she reassured.

"Not that," he said as he looked at the families chatting. "That. I can never give you a family. I know how much children mean to you."

Kathrine Ann tilted her head, "Really?" Lucifer looked at her confused, "Out of all the dumb things you've said and done recently, that is what you're sorry for?" Lucifer pressed his lips, "Look, Luce, I know that a family, at least a traditional one, is off the table, but that's not something you need to apologize for. I would never be upset or angry at you over not being able to have children. Besides, we can figure something out if we decide we want a family. I assume adoption is a thing here."

"It is, yes. Though, there are not many parentless children. However, sadly, things happen." He verified, "Would you be okay with adopting?"

"Sure, I mean, I think we need to do a lot of work on us before bringing children into the equation, but I think adoption is a wonderful thing." She smiled. "I'm a bit surprised you would want to, though. We can't return them when they get older and you lose interest," she teased.

"That's what I have you for," he sneered. "You can take over once I lose interest."

"Because that's what a 'good wife' does?" she scoffed.

"So you remember how to be a good wife you just don't practice?" Lucifer smirked, picking up his drink.

"Sorry, Young Lord. If I weren't already sitting, I'd curtsy for you, so I suppose this will have to do instead," Kathrine Ann then raised her hand, fingers spread, placed her thumb to her nose, and wiggled her fingers.

Lucifer, who had his glass halfway to his mouth, froze, and Kathrine Ann figured he was stunned into confusion. He slowly put his glass down, then laughed loudly, "Touche, Baby Girl."

"Finally! You got one!" she clapped and laughed with her husband.

"How dare you cock a snook at your Prince," he replied, still chuckling.

"Cock a snook? I always heard it referred to as thumbing your nose," she replied.

"I have heard that as well. You would be surprised to know it's a shared insult among worlds. Not all of them, of course, but I have seen variations of that hand gesture in many."

"Really?" Kathrine Ann hummed, "Guess there's a little childish in all of us."

Just a moment later, their server appeared with their food, placing both dishes in front of Lucifer, who took a small bite from each of her dishes, "Why do you do that if you know Thron already tested it?"

"As much as I trust Thron, I do not trust anyone completely when it comes to my life and now yours." Lucifer replied, "Both my father and I have been poisoned more than our fair share, and though none have killed us, it is not a pleasant experience," Lucifer answered, "Usually," He suddenly added, "There was one time that took me for a wild ride. I never caught the guy. I wish I had so I could ask him what he slipped me. Nevertheless, if trying everything guarantees I keep you by my side, I'll risk a day or so of illness."

"So you think Thron would betray you?" she gasped.

"No. He wouldn't be my guard if I did. However, as long as I've lived, I've learned desperate people will do things no one ever expected, even themselves," he sighed. As a young child, I had a different guard—one my father chose—his guard, actually. Palvick was his name, and he was around constantly. My father was always paranoid someone would try to hurt me or use me to blackmail him."

"Loulou mentioned something about that," Kathrine Ann mumbled.

"Along with Vassal, Palvick practically raised me and respected him. He always looked after me and gave me great advice. Then, one day when, my mother came during my lessons to take me on a walk. My teacher refused, but Palvick was there to assure her that my father agreed."

"He betrayed you," she gasped.

Lucifer nodded, "Years later, I was told that my mother threatened to kill Palvick's elderly mother if he didn't help her 'spend time with me.' I never saw him again after that night. I doubt anyone did. I still like to believe he didn't know her intentions, that he wouldn't have helped her if he knew she would hurt me."

"Luce—"

"The point is, everyone has a price, Baby Girl, and usually it's not money. Now eat," he ordered, sliding her food to her. "After we're done, we'll walk to the hospital. It's a nice afternoon."