❝SWEET CHILD O' MINE,
SWEET LOVE O' MINE.❞

GENEVIEVE WAS LAUGHING in disbelief at Lucifer's absurd plan at first, but when she followed him to the black Corvette parked outside of Lux, there was indeed a young girl seated behind the wheel, showing her missing teeth in an adorable smile at Lucifer and the new woman in their company. The sight of this eight-year-old caught Genevieve by surprise, although she knew that Lucifer wasn't one to lie, but somehow she still hadn't expected to actually find a child in his car. Still, there she was, and Genevieve had agreed to play her mother for the day — however, she was now questioning just what she had signed up for.

"Hi! Are you Genevieve? My name is Trixie!", the child was very eager to pull the queen into a hug, but instead of accepting the warm gesture, Ginny simply looked up at Lucifer and lifted a doubtful eyebrow.

"Luci, whose child have you stolen?", she wondered out loud — even if she was the Shedevil, there were some things even she respected. One of those things was children, which was one of the few differences between Genevieve and her husband. Whereas Lucifer loathed children and avoided interacting with them, Ginny found something comforting in them and their innocence and carefree lives. She had always liked the idea of having children, but of course, that was impossible for her and the closest thing she had to offspring was the demons in Hell. But now that she was standing in the presence of one, with the possibility to play house with this little cutie, something shifted within Genevieve.

"What?", Lucifer questioned as he sat into the Corvette, laughing when he realized what was going through Genevieve's mind. "I didn't steal the child, I promised the detective I'd look after her for a while. Well, technically, I promised to take her to school, but I did not specify which school", the Devil grinned as he gestured for Genevieve to join him and Trixie in the vehicle. But instead of doing so, Ginny merely crossed her arms and gave a bored look to Lucifer, making things difficult, as always.

"You want me to pretend to be the mother of Chloe Decker's child? Have you lost your mind?", Genevieve shook her head, but Lucifer was quick to argue back.

"I want you to help me gain control of these pesky emotions, so I can ignite the Flaming Sword. We're gonna do that by using the child to get into a school that specializes in that very matter, alright? So hop in, so we can kick Mum back to Heaven ASAP", Lucifer explained, and slowly, Genevieve started to realize she needed to help. And perhaps spending the day with Lucifer and Trixie didn't sound so bad, after all.

It was eventually the child that convinced Genevieve, with her adorable innocence. "I can handle adult talk, you know", she stated bravely, her doe eyes staring at Lucifer, which made Genevieve break into a fond chuckle.

With a small smile twisting her lips, Ginny then opened the car door and took Trixie to her lap before sitting down. "It is very nice to meet you, Trixie", she offered her hand for the child, "tell me, do you like Pop-Tarts?"

—————

STARFORD ACADEMY was where Lucifer took his wife and the child he had bribed with chocolate cake and driving lessons in the Corvette — a fancy, progressive school in L.A, with a recently murdered staff member, which was why Lucifer was suddenly interested in the preppy place. He had visited the place through work, and then gotten the idea of taking Trixie there for his own gain, but whereas he was constantly forgetting about the child and struggling to hold hands with her, Genevieve didn't mind dancing around the hallways with the girl and joking about the queen's grumpy husband with her.

"Are you Lucifer's girlfriend?", Trixie then popped a question as the three of them were walking towards the book nook, where a woman named Madison was encouraging children to turn their emotions into energy. Sounded just perfect for Lucifer.

Ginny lifted a surprised eyebrow at Trixie's question, and after glancing at Lucifer who simply flashed a dashing smile in return, the woman turned back to the small girl and shook her head. "No, actually, I'm something... more. You know what marriage is, right?", Genevieve poked at the subject carefully, but much to her relief, Trixie enthusiastically nodded her head and let her few teeth show as she smiled yet again.

"So you're Lucifer's... wife? Is Lucifer a good husband?", Trixie gasped as she tasted the unfamiliar words on her tongue, and hesitating, Genevieve let her eyes widen but she ended up nodding, nonetheless. Trixie grinned, but the happy expression faded as she glanced at Lucifer and saw the glum look on his face, which prompted her to turn back to Genevieve with another question. "Does Lucifer hate children? Or me?", the girl wondered, which caused a sad frown to appear onto Genevieve's face. A part of her wanted to slap Lucifer for making the child think so, but knowing it would have put a pause on their little act, Genevieve swallowed the frustration in her and put on a reassuring smile.

"No, no, he doesn't hate you. He just... well, where we used to live, there weren't that many kids. But they were really mean and scary, and I guess that's why Lucifer still avoids them. Which is too bad, because I kind of like children. Especially you. And honestly, I think Lucifer adores you — he just tries to act tough", Genevieve explained, whispering the last sentence which made Trixie giggle. However, concluding from the glare Ginny saw Lucifer send her way, he had heard her — perhaps that had been her intention all along, though.

Taking Genevieve's hand, Trixie then smiled at the queen again. "I think you'd make a great mom. You're awesome", the child complimented, and frankly, Genevieve's heart filled with the purest kind of joy at the sweet words. Everyone knew children spoke the truth, and this was one that Genevieve rarely heard, but was obviously glad to know.

The three finally arrived at Madison's class, and they all sat next to one another in the small circle of children. The teacher discussed the subject of the lesson, and all Genevieve could do was feel boredom land on her heart, causing her to squirm uncomfortably on the chair. Despite everything she had done to achieve change, she still hated feelings — however, for Lucifer's sake, she sat through the torturous minutes and listened to the woman's irrelevant rambling.

But when it came Trixie's turn, Genevieve suddenly found herself interested in what the girl had to say. She couldn't deny the surge of sympathy that kicked in when Trixie explained how she pretended to be okay, how her mother's job was scary and she was constantly worried. She felt so much for such a young child, and frankly, Genevieve admired the strength she had — it was better than the queen's sometimes.

Luckily, the class wasn't all useless, as Lucifer's frustrated ranting about the lack of advice regarding emotions led into a kid showing his drawing of his mother stabbing the recently murdered victim.

"Splendid! You got to talk about your feelsies, and we solved the case!", Genevieve turned to Lucifer, "high-five!"

—————

LATER THAT NIGHT, pretending to be Trixie's mother and father was over for Gen and Lucifer, and Chloe and Dan stepped back into their usual roles. Even if the game was over, a warm feeling remained in Genevieve's heart, satisfied with the successful day, but it seemed her husband would use another word. He was no closer to grasping his feelings, and before Ginny could even try and pretend to understand the emotions she was struggling with, as well, Lucifer had left Lux for a session with Dr. Martin in the belief that she was the one person who could help.

And it turned out, the smart woman did manage offer some wisdom for Lucifer, who eventually returned to Lux with a so-called solution. He joined Amenadiel, Charlotte and Genevieve in the penthouse, his impeccable timing interrupting a fight between the three, which instantly earned a roll of eyes from the Devil.

"Son, why is she here? Surely you can't trust that she'd help us in any way", Mom glared at Genevieve, before turning to Lucifer with despair written all over her face. It was obvious she didn't want Genevieve there, which only made the queen more enthusiastic to help and force her presence upon them.

Surprisingly, Amenadiel interjected, defending Genevieve. "I can't believe I'm siding with her, but Genevieve is Lucifer's wife, Mom. Maybe she just wants to change and be the supportive queen she was created to be", the angel argued back, and even though it amazed Ginny, she couldn't help but nod approvingly at her brother-in-law's unexpected support.

"Right, exactly. Thank you, bro. You get it", Genevieve nodded, but it seemed their relationship wasn't quite at that point where calling him bro or suggesting fist bumps would be acceptable. With that in mind, the queen rolled her eyes and lowered her fist, as Lucifer eventually spoke up and grabbed the Flaming Sword, ready to show his party trick for his family.

Frankly, the sight of that blade still made Genevieve think about Uriel and their visit to Hell, which had almost ended terribly on Lucifer's behalf. She did not know how Lucifer held it with such ease, as if the last time he had grasped the weapon didn't end in bloodshed and fratricide.

"Enough! Gen stays. Now, I've figured it out — I can do this", Lucifer cleared his throat, and as Genevieve stood by his side like the loyal wife she was supposed to be, he lifted the blade and stared at the sharp edges with determination. And with that, it became silent in the penthouse as the Devil tried his hardest to ignite the sword.

At first, Genevieve was unsure of what Lucifer was trying to do, what emotion he was trying to invoke, but then his hand began to tremble and the usual confidence on his face faded away. But it worked, and the blade broke into small, but true flames through Lucifer's shattering heart. A smile appeared onto Genevieve's face, but when she heard Lucifer choke out, the queen quickly turned to face her husband only to find him in tears, his eyes glistening as the flames reflected from the broken shade of brown. And once she realized that she was using the sadness and heartbreak in him to ignite the blade, her hand instinctively took his other one and her body leaned closer to his for comfort and support.

And then, the flames just died out. All the emotion and power and energy Lucifer put into it, vanished, and the disappointment was evident on his features. Shaking, Lucifer then set the blade down, but in that moment, Genevieve didn't care about the minor success — she just cared about Lucifer, and that was obvious as she threw her arms over his neck and pulled him down into a soft embrace, allowing him to shed his final, silent tears against her shoulder.

Genevieve hated to see him like this, but even more she hated being one of the reasons he was so beaten and broken. She had denied him from his happiness for so long, and even when he had put his faith into her and created a wife to keep him company and save him from loneliness and misery, she threw all that away and played by her own rules. In the beginning, she was the one who abandoned Lucifer. She turned her back on him when he needed her most, just after both of his parents had done the very same.

But at least, she was there now. She could hold Lucifer, and the man could cling onto his wife with despair as the hot tears rolled down his cheeks and onto his trembling bottom lip, his whole body shaking as she tried to comfort him with words as simple as, "I promise, you'll be okay. I'll make sure of that."

There was a difference between Genevieve and Charlotte, though. See, whereas Genevieve was trying to be better and offer Lucifer comfort and help, his Mother merely continued to push him.

"That's it? You must not be feeling enough! You have to try harder", the Divine Goddess demanded, stepping towards her son whilst grabbing the blade and trying to push it in his hand. However, before Lucifer could argue and defend himself, Genevieve had let go of her husband and faced Charlotte with bravery and defiance, eyes flaring with red as she stared down at her.

"Will you ever stop torturing him? If you don't let him breathe for a second, and shut up about Heaven soon, I'll give you a ride to Hell, you manipulative—", Genevieve began to fight, already raising her hand to smack Charlotte down to the floor, but before the situation could escalate, Amenadiel had spoken up and made Ginny stand down.

"Enough. We'll fix the sword, and we'll go home eventually. We have plenty of time", the angel assured, in an attempt to stop the fight, even if he was clearly frustrated with his Mother, as well. That satisfied Genevieve enough to make her back off — she preferred Lucifer's company, anyway.

Sure, they had time. Unless someone would show up with Genevieve's dagger and kill the Shedevil, of course. But they just didn't know, Ginny wasn't the only one running low on her minutes.

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protective!gen is my new fave

also, i thought a lot about her reaction to trixie (and kids in general) and making them friends felt so right tbh. i mean, luci hates children so i thought, why not make ginny love them. the cruel, wicked shedevil likes children omg.

thank you so so much for 6k!!