Page 19 of Falling for Lucifer

“You remember when I asked you to be Etta’s godfather?” Lucifer asked, trying to drop the hint to go along with it.

Hades mugged him. “Who?”

Lucifer sighed and shook his head. “My daughter, man. Etta.”

Hades glared at Etta and then back at Lucifer. “No.”

Ellodie honestly wanted to burst into a fit of giggles. Hades was far from a comedian, but the look of disbelief on her mother’s face and Lucifer’s exasperation had her ready to fall over laughing.

“Man, just listen to Ellodie’s mother so she can tell you what to do,” Lucifer said. The irritation in his voice was evident, and Ellodie immediately rubbed his arm. When he looked down at her, she smiled, which caused his frown to melt away.

“I ain’t listenin’ to her,” Hades argued.

“You know what? We can just skip the godparents’ portion.” Kamilah threw her hands up into the air.

Ellodie giggled at that. She couldn’t help it. The fact that this had suddenly become stressful for her mother caused her a great deal of joy.

“I want to do my part in this christening,” Yasmine complained.

Hades eyed her. “Who the fuck are you?”

“Language!” Kamilah shouted. By now, the entire church looked their way. Daniel jogged up the aisle from the stage to see what all the fuss was about, but Hades spoke before he could get to the bottom of it.

“I don’t know who you are, lady, but my mama is dead, and my wife would never talk to me about language. She know what my mouth do.” The wicked smile he gave Kamilah had to have been the final straw.

“Just forget it! Ellodie, shame on you for bringing these heathens into the house of the Lord. You will not embarrass me. I forbid it. They need to leave so we can proceed with the day.” Kamilah straightened the white suit jacket she wore and looked around at everyone as she slowly became unraveled.

“Kamilah, you can’t kick them out of here. You don’t own this place,” Daniel reminded her, trying to defuse the tension.

“Shut it!” she hissed.

Ellodie had never seen her mother so irritated before.

Daniel grabbed her arm and glared at her. “Excuse me?”

“Unhand me,” Kamilah said. She snatched her arm away from her husband and glared at the group of people in front of her before her eyes landed back on Ellodie. “Well? Get rid of them.”

Ellodie took a step back like her mother flinched at her. “I’m not getting rid of anyone.” Ellodie was so offended. Her mother was always rude, but it was normally reserved for her.

Hades chuckled behind her. The sound hosted no amusement. Chills ran up Ellodie’s spine.

“I’m about to raise hell, bro. Get this bi?—”

“I’m going to take him outside,” Harley said, cutting her husband off. She tugged on his arm and turned while navigating the stroller and pulling him out of the building.

“We’re right behind you,” Ellodie said as she stared at her mother. Tears filled her eyes as she addressed her. “I refuse to stay anywhere they aren’t welcome. Until you can accept Lu, you won’t be seeing me or Etta.” Her eyes found her father, and she swiped at her tears. “I’m sorry, Daddy.”

She could see the pain in his eyes, but that couldn’t move her. He chose to marry this she-devil, so in Ellodie’s mind, he was on her side, even though the pain in his eyes told her otherwise.

Daniel sighed and pulled Ellodie into his chest. Low enough for only her to hear, he whispered, “No, I’m sorry. I’ll call you a little later.”

She stayed buried in his chest for another moment before pulling away. She didn’t bother to look at either of her parents again as she turned and walked ahead of Lucifer out of the church. As soon as she got outside, she felt like she could breathe again.

Harley and Hades stood just outside, fussing at one another. When Harley noticed them, she immediately spoke. “You didn’t have to leave for us. I should have known better than to bring his ignorant ass here.”

Lucifer chuckled deeply. “Oh, man. Tink is cursing? She’s big mad, bro. You definitely showed yo’ ass.”

“Call her Tink again, nigga. I’ll crack ya skull.” Hades looked highly irritable, but Lucifer simply waved him off and adjusted Etta in his arms.

“Now what, baby?” Lucifer asked Ellodie.

She shrugged, feeling the weight of what happened. “I don’t know. I’m sorry about my mother. She’s honestly the worst?—”

“Aye, what I tell you about shitty parents?” Hades asked Ellodie.

She sniffled before a small smile graced her face. “Fuck them up?”

Ellodie could tell Hades wasn’t the type to smile, but she swore she saw a ghost of a smile form on his lips. “Fuck them mothafuckas up . Want me to go handle that?”

Ellodie let out a soft giggle and shook her head quickly because she had a feeling Hades would have no issues going back in there and handling her mother.

Hades shrugged and looked at Harley. “I know yo’ ass is tired. Let’s go home so you can nap. I got my baby.”

Harley beamed up at him. The chance for an uninterrupted nap was the best thing a new mom could hear. Forgetting all about how he’d just acted, she looped her arm through his and pulled.

“Let’s plan a christening for both babies in a few months,” Harley called out as they walked toward their truck.

Ellodie waved her hand at them in agreement. She and Lucifer watched as they got into the car before she turned to look up at him. She sighed and then pressed her forehead into his chest as best she could with Ellodie between them.

“Why did I get stuck with the world’s worst mother?” Ellodie asked dramatically.

Lucifer kissed her head. “I got stuck with the world’s worst father, so we kind of fit together.”

She looked back up at him. “We do, don’t we?”

Lucifer’s lips twitched up into a half smile. “Is that why you walkin’ around claiming me as yo’ man?”

Her face heated. “My fake man.”

She said it, but they both knew she didn’t mean it.

“Oh yeah?” His brow rose in challenge.

She bit her lip. As much as she wanted to play this game with him, she wanted to test the waters even more. “What if I told you I wanted you to be my man for real?”

She felt exposed asking that. She had only ever been pursued by Wes. She never had to pursue anyone, and it felt too vulnerable for her comfort.

Lucifer leaned down to kiss her, squashing her insecurities with the touch of his lips. “What if I told you I been that?”

Ellodie felt warm all over. Her brows rose in surprise. “I don’t remember you asking me to be my man.”

“That what you want?” His voice was filled with amusement.

She bit her lip and looked at his chest. Shyly, she replied, “I never had that before. Might be nice.”

Lucifer lifted her chin with his finger. “Say less.”

They kissed again, and Ellodie felt tingles shoot through her body.

Part of her wished she would have made things official right then and there with him, but the girly girl in her wanted to be asked properly.

She knew until he made that happen, she would be on pins and needles, waiting in anticipation.