Adventures in Urchin Rearing: an Iris One-Shot Collection

~~A Day of Surprises~~

The Decker-Morningstar-Espinoza household fell into a very strange routine over the next few days. With Chloe still recovering from surgery, many of the responsibilities fell to Lucifer. Chloe could not climb stairs yet, which meant that Lucifer had to make sure that Iris and Trixie were awake and in bed at appropriate times. Chloe did as much as she could downstairs, like prepping meals, working on laundry, or playing with Iris, but no matter what she did, nothing seemed like a great enough distraction. Her thoughts kept gravitating back to the twins at the hospital. She so desperately wanted to be there with them, but Iris vied for her attention as well.

Monday through Friday, when Trixie and Iris went to school and daycare, Chloe and Lucifer would spend nine hours at the NICU, sitting with the twins and bonding with them. Sometimes Amenadiel and Penelope were able to come in with them, both instantly falling in love with the twins and marveling at their progress.

At three o'clock everyday, Chloe and Lucifer would leave to collect Iris and Trixie and take care of them at home. It killed Chloe to leave the twins, as in actually made her nauseous every single day, but being able to take care of her older daughters made her feel more in control of things.

The weekends were harder when Trixie and Iris were home. Their fantastic family members and friends volunteered to take turns watching Iris on the weekends while Lucifer and Chloe went to the hospital, but Iris became increasingly difficult every time they left, which made Chloe's emotions even wilder.

On Sunday, while they were on their way out the door, Iris decided to throw a tantrum.

"No! You aw-ways weavin'! Mommy Daddy stay!" (No! You always leaving! Mommy Daddy stay!) She cried.

"Iris," Chloe scolded, "We've talked about this. Your brother and sister are sick in the hospital, and they need Mommy and Daddy right now."

"But I need Mommy and Daddy too!" She yelled.

Chloe put her face in her hands, frustrated and heartbroken. She hasn't been giving Iris as much attention as she's used to, but Chloe can't anymore! She has four kids!

"Detective, you go the hospital. I'll stay home with Iris." Lucifer calmly decided as he came into the room.

Chloe picked her head up and gaped at him. "Absolutely not!" She argued, "Lucifer, this is manipulation. If she gets everything she asks for, she'll grow up not knowing to respect us when we say no!"

Lucifer's eyes darkened slightly as he retorted, "And we're normally good about telling her no when the situation presents itself. And by we I mean you. She's a good child, Detective! I think this situation calls for a bit of leniency, don't you think? She's been practically alone for two weeks now!"

"No she hasn't!" Chloe slowly stood, cursing her still-tender abdomen. "The whole family has been pitching in. She hasn't been alone once. She's just mad because she's not getting her way. Plus, Lucifer, I can't drive yet! I need you to drive me to the twins."

Lucifer scoffed and rolled his eyes, "Can't you call Penelope? I thought she was coming to the NICU again today."

Chloe glared at him, shaking her head. Finally, she pulled out her cell phone and grumbled, "Fine. If you don't want to go see our kids today, fine."

As she found Penelope's number, Chloe noticed Lucifer had stepped forward, closer to her. Chloe gasped in surprise as she turned slightly toward him. Her eyes found his and she had expected them to be cold and angry. Instead, they were dark like before, but slightly wet and hurt-looking.

"Don't ever think I'm choosing one child over the others." His voice was like ice cold steel that cut Chloe to the bone. His voice rasped a bit as he continued, "I've been there before, Detective. I know how much that hurts, and I'd never do that to our children. I'm doing what I think is right."