Estrella's Prophecy

✢ TWENTY THREE ✢

"Estrella, would you please take table two. The customer is creeping me out, plus; all he does is stare at you." said Rebekah. 

Rebekah was eighteen years old with very black hair that was extremely thick and long, and creamy brown skin. Estrella looked up from the registry and glanced at table two, feeling her heart heave. 

"Yes, I'll take the table," she replied then walked away. More like wobbling side to side with the swollen belly. There he sat at a booth; resting his elbows on the table. He sat by the window, staring out at it at the first thunderstorm of the summer. "I'm guessing you won't want coffee?" 

Lucifer's lips curled into a smirk. 

"No coffee," he answered then looked up at her. He had a five o'clock shadow; bright blue eyes but his medium-length black hair that he kept partly-pulled back stayed. His eyes glanced towards her belly covered by a button-up white shirt and a black apron. "you certainly have that glow." 

Estrella placed a hand on her hip, feeling the ache in her back and in her feet. 

"What are you doing here, Lucifer?" she mumbled underneath her breath. "didn't you say that it's dangerous?" 

She looked around the diner. A young couple sat the very back enjoying a strawberry milkshake together, and a homeless man enjoyed a free cup of hot coffee two tables behind Lucifer's. 

"I did say that but in case you've forgotten I can't be away from you for too long without choking on my own blood," he spat. Lucifer leaned back against the padded seat but kept his arms on the table. "can you and I talk?" 

It was eleven o'clock on a Thursday night, the rain was pouring hard with lightning and thunder in the sky. It didn't seem to want to lighten up anytime soon. 

"My shift isn't over for another thirty minutes...but I'll see if I can get a break." 

"Meet you outside then." 

"In the rain?" she exclaimed. 

Lucifer slid out of the seat and towered over her. He smelled good for some reason, she didn't know why, and the scent made her weak in the knees. The way Lucifer looked down at her made her heart thunder. 

"It's just rain, darling. You won't melt." 

Then he walked away. Estrella huffed but approached Martha, the one in charge for tonight. She was in her sixties, always smelled like cigarettes and a perfume that made you choke. She requested for a break and was granted it, then she walked off to the back to get a raincoat from the storage closet that Martha insisted she wear. Lucifer stood outside in the rain, leaning against the building. The hood of his cloak was pulled up; shielding his hair. The air was cooler than it had been and the rain was cold. She approached him, her arms crossed. 

"How's things in the Devil's kingdom?" 

"Chaotic," he responded. "I'm guessing that things with you are going well?" 

"Well, I have this shitty job but it pays bills. I have a shitty a two- thousand and eight car but it gets me around. I have a huge stomach that gets in my way all the time. But no Archangels!" 

"She's doing okay?" 

"She kicks and moves all the time, sometimes really hard. She likes to kick my ribs and lay on my bladder," Estrella complained. "she reacts to my voice. Sometimes I just lay and talk to her," she looked at Lucifer and pondered if he wished he could experience those things as well. He has missed most of this pregnancy. "you're going to be here when my water breaks...right?" 

"We all are. Prepare yourself for the fight of your life, darling." 

"They wouldn't come after me while I'm delivering, would they?" 

Lucifer hesitated to answer. 

"Of course they would, Estrella. That's when you're most vulnerable. That's when the fear of her comes true...my brother Raphael came to me today to present a deal to me. They want me to murder her after she's born, then they'll leave you and I alone, but they want to make it impossible for you to bear children. I declined, obviously. So, it will only be a matter of time until they show up again...your due date is getting closer." 

Estrella felt fear but anger all at once. She just wished this would all stop, but it never would.
"What are we doing to do?" she whispered but Lucifer heard her over the rain. 

"I'll do whatever it takes to protect her, Estrella...you're going to have to trust me and listen to me when the time comes," he grabbed her by the shoulders and looked into her eyes. "do you understand me?" 

Estrella felt fear but anger all at once. She just wished this would all stop, but it never would. 

"What are we doing to do?" she whispered but Lucifer heard her over the rain. 

"I'll do whatever it takes to protect her, Estrella...you're going to have to trust me and listen to me when the time comes," he grabbed her by the shoulders and looked into her eyes. "do you understand me?" 

"I do but I'm scared, these are Archangels. I can't fight them off, Lucifer!"   

"No you can't, but you're forgetting I am an Archangel. I can fight them off." Lucifer said through his clenched teeth.

She watched his eyes return to the same-familiar black color she's grown used to. Trusting him was like a dangerous game but she had no other choice but to trust him with her life and with Danika's. The rain fell harder and thunder boomed louder, shaking the windows of the diner. They were staring at each other silently and he was beginning to feel the strength inside of him grow. Estrella smiled, her eyes lighting up. 

"Feel this!" she exclaimed, grabbing his hand and pressing it against her belly. 

She held it there and he didn't fight. Lucifer didn't know what she was up to, but suddenly he felt Danika kick. 

"Did you feel that?" she asked happily. 

Lucifer was speechless, he didn't know what to say. This was unlike anything he's ever felt before. Estrella was smiling at him, waiting for his answer, but she knew he was letting it sink in. 

"Do you want to see the nursery?"

Lucifer looked at her momentarily. "I'd be honored."