"Casey, I'm going to go inside and make dinner, are you good?"

"I'm good Mama. I can stay here?" Casey looks up imploringly at her mother, the open glue bottle still suspended upside down in her hands, not bothering to stop the slow-flowing glue strand from collecting on the paper below her.

"Of course," her mother swipes a hand threw her hair and drops a kiss on her forehead, "I'll leave the door open. Shout if you need me."

The five-year-old nods and goes back to her hodge-podge of paper and glue at the balcony table. In a fit of wasteful creative passion, she squeezes the glue hard and makes quick circles with it over the paper, plops the glue on the table, and turns to get the pot of glitter her mom thought was out of reach. Casey, standing on her chair with her back to her creation, doesn't notice when it starts to glow.

The glitter is frustratingly just out of reach, so the girl moves to the arm of the chair. She just touches the pot of glitter when she loses her balance and falls toward the edge of the balcony. Too startled to even scream, the girl doesn't even realize she is going over the edge and thinks she will plop hard into the seat of her chair. Instead, she is caught by strong arms.

Startled, Casey looks up into the glowing red eyes of a handsome man with horns. "Who are you?"

Softly, the man responds, "My name is Luci. You summoned me," he looks back at the crudely drawn sigils in glue and smiles softly, "Accidentally by the looks of it."

"Summoned?" Casey asks confused.

Luci gently places her on her feet in the seat of the chair she was just standing on. "It means you called me here." He reaches behind her to the pot of glitter she couldn't quite reach and uses the glitter to carefully highlight the sigils she accidentally drew. "When you draw these markings like this, I can always come to you."

The little girl studies the markings, "and then you will play with me?" she asks hopefully.

Luci's smile widens, "of course! We can always play!"

She takes out some paper and crayons, "Show me how to draw it again?"

They spend the time before dinner practicing how to draw the sigils until the girl can draw them better than she can write her own name. When her mother called Casey in for dinner, Luci smiled and promised to come back every time she called before fading away.

Lucifer returned to Hell, troubled. Usually, when a child needed more friends or coping mechanisms than they had, the Imaginary Friends department of heaven stepped in. Where was this child's guardian angel? How was she able to summon him?

This should not have happened.

Children are not meant to be left in Hell's care. Ever.

He sits through report after report. A new soul acquired here, a promising lead there, but through it all, he thought of Casey.

It wasn't long before she summoned him again. And again. And again.

Before long, they were playing every day. Lucifer tried to contact the Imaginary Friends department. He put in a complaint to heaven. He even prayed. There was never an answer. So he took care of the girl himself. Children are pure, they should be cared for, even in the eyes of hell.

Playful afternoons turned into weeks, then months, then years.

"Luci," Casey said while coloring one Sunday afternoon, "do you think hell is real?"

"I think heaven and hell are both very real," he replied, handing her a blue crayon as she started looking for it, "why do you ask?"

"In Sunday school, we learned about heaven and hell. My daddy wasn't baptized like my mommy. Is… is he in hell?" Tears start forming in her eyes, so Lucy moves behind her, picks her up, and secures her in his arms.

"I am absolutely certain your daddy isn't in hell. Do you know what an EMT is?"

She shakes her head no.

"Well, an EMT is a person who knows how to save people and then rushes to help them when they get hurt. Your daddy was an EMT and he saved many people. He died while saving two children. Your daddy was a very good person, and he is certainly in heaven."

Casey is silent for a while, thinking. "But he didn't believe in God. And they said if you don't believe in God, then you can't go to heaven."

"Believing in God doesn't make someone a good person. Being a good person all the time does. Your daddy was a good person, right?"

"Right!"

"Then he is in heaven."

Casey snuggles further into his arms, "I feel better, thanks." After a moment she turns back to her drawing. "Luci?"

"Yes?"

"Are you sure my daddy isn't in hell because you are actually Lucifer? King of hell?"

Lucifer, too shocked to really answer, works on schooling his face to conceal his shock. Should he erase her memory? Will she be scared? What should he do?

Taking his silence as confirmation, Casey reaches for another crayon and says "It's okay if you are. You've always been nice to me. Does this mean you own my soul?"

Her question pulls Lucifer from his panicked thoughts. "In order to sell your soul, you have to enter into a contract, you aren't old enough to enter into a contract so I wouldn't even attempt to take your soul."

Casey thinks about this for a while, "Does that mean you will try to take my soul when I turn 18?"

"No."

She turns to look at him. "Why?"

"Because I was summoned to you accidentally. If your development were normal, you would never have met me, so your soul would not have been at risk. I have no intention of taking your soul, ever."

She searches his face, and stares into his eyes, searching for something. When she finds it, she nods, says "Okay," and turns back to her drawing.

Many pictures, tea parties, and fun afternoons later, the summonings start to decrease. Teenage Casey doesn't need his attention as much. Between school and homework, she is too busy.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Which is why Lucifer is startled to receive a summon from her at 10 in the morning on a random Tuesday in October. She should be in school, he thinks, while flying through hell to get to the summoning portal as quickly as possible, something must be wrong.

He appears, not in the school bathroom he expects, but in a private hospital room. "What happened," he gasps while moving forward and checking her injuries. She is banged and bruised with a broken arm and a few broken ribs, but nothing life-threatening. He sits on the bed and hugs her while she starts to sob.

"I… we…"

"Shhh… deep breaths. Breathe with me. In… out… in… out." Slowly, she matches his breathing, and while the tears don't stop, she eventually calms enough to talk.

"We were on our way to school. Mom was dropping me off because I had a huge project to bring in. We had to make a diorama, and I picked the solar system, and it was a little too big for the bus, ya know?" She snuggles in deeper against his chest and wipes at her eyes, "They said a truck driver fell asleep. I didn't even see him coming, everything just went dark. Mom…" she starts crying harder, "Mom died on impact."

Lucifer tightens his arms around her. If Casey's mom is dead, then she has no one. Against his will, he formulates plan after plan to convince her to trade her soul for security and immediately discards them all. Over the years, he thinks Heavin made an accounting error and assigned him as this girl's guardian angel. He won't take her soul. Ever.

Instead, he rocks and comforts her while she processes her feelings and sends a quick note to his second-in-command that he will not be returning for a few days.

When child services come to place her in foster care, he gives her the words and forms to ask for in order to be emancipated. She only spends a week in a group home before she is granted emancipation. Her parents left her enough that she never has to work a day in her life if she is frugal. Her condo is paid for, and she convinces the judge that she can take care of herself and understands the finances so she won't be in trouble.

The first year after the accident, Lucifer comes every day whether she summons him or not. He meets her at the door when she returns home. They cook dinner and pack her a lunch for the next day together. They go through memories, build a cookbook of her parent's favorite recipes, slowly sell the things she no longer needs, and pack the rest up in a memory box. Sometimes he even helps her with her homework.

The next year, they focus more on five-year plans. What does she want to do when she grows up? He helps her fill out her college applications. He gives her a communication mirror so she can call him without summoning him. Then, he slowly gives her more and more space. He stops coming on Wednesdays unless summoned, then he drops Mondays and Fridays. By the time she turns 18, he only comes when summoned, though she still calls at least once a week.

Years of weekend phone calls and a few graduations later, he receives another summons. The first in years. Usually, Casey calls him on the communication mirror and asks him to come. She stopped directly summoning him years ago.

Fearing the worst, he rushes to her side, only to find her looking nervous in the middle of her living room. "Casey?"

Excited to see him, she launches herself into his arms. He catches her, stunned. "Luci! He proposed! Mark proposed!" she pulls back, showing him a tasteful ring.

Lucifer smiles at her, "I'm pleased for you. He is a great guy."

She looks at him suspiciously, "Luci, did you stalk him?"

He looks away, "Of course. You two were getting serious, I had to make sure he was good enough for you. Don't worry, he passed."

She wiggles out of his arms and starts pacing back and forth. "Anyway… I know this might not be possible, and I thought it was better to ask in person, but maybe I should have called instead, but… um…"

"Casey? You're rambling."

"Willyouwalkmedowntheaisle?" she rushes out.

"Slower, darling. I didn't catch that."

She sighs, locks eyes with him, and repeats "Will you walk me down the aisle?"

Lucifer looks at her stunned, "what?"

"Will you walk me down the aisle? I'm serious."

"You want me, the king of hell, to walk you down the aisle?"

She nods. "Please."

"I can't go into churches. They are holy ground."

"Then we will hold the wedding outside. My friend can officiate, so you don't have to come face-to-face with a priest. Please!"

In the end, he walks her down the aisle. Then he is the first person to hold her children after each is born. Somehow, he manages to get out of being a godparent, but it is a near thing.

He spends as much time watching her children grow, as he did watching her. They each learn how to summon him when they are six. He never misses Christmas or a birthday, and when the oldest begs for a puppy for Christmas, he leaves them a hellhound pup.

Then there are grandchildren, and he protects each of them as well. And then, one day, he receives an unexpected summons. From Mark.

"Lucifer," he smiles sadly, "it's been a while."

"Mark, when did you figure out who exactly I was?"

"I saw Casey teaching Amanda how to summon you. I thought about confronting her about it, or you, and then I figured there was a reason you acted like her father and we were probably safe." He gestures to the sofa, inviting him to sit, and then hands Lucifer a drink while pouring one for himself. At 11 in the morning.

Lucifer looks at the drink, and then at Mark. "So, what is it that you want, exactly," he takes a sip, "do you want a deal? Because I have to tell you, your family doesn't get deals."

"No, no deals. I mean, I had hoped, but no. No deals."

"Mark, what is it? I've been a member of your family since you married Casey. You can tell me anything."

"It's Casey. I… I thought you would want to know. They found a brain tumor. Operable, but urgent. They rushed her straight from the CT to the OR, hoping to get it before it wasn't operable anymore. That was a week ago. She… she hasn't woken up. There was a bad reaction to the anesthesia."

Lucifer downs his drink and leans forward. "Why didn't the kids call me?"

"They know she is in the hospital, but not how bad it is. The doctors told me that she will probably never wake up again this morning. I wanted to talk to you and see if there is anything to be done, before… before I tell the kids."

"Okay, let's go," Lucifer puts his empty glass in the sink and starts walking toward the door, "Come on."

Driving to the hospital takes an eternity from Lucifer's perspective, even if it is only ten minutes away. Finally, they make it to Casey's room, where Casey's soul is standing in the corner staring forlornly at her body.

Lucifer walks straight over to her and envelopes her in a hug. "You're here. I… I tried to summon you to figure out what's wrong but I couldn't. Did the kids call you?"

"No, Mark summoned me."

She pulls back, "When did Mark learn how to do that? How long has he known?"

"About 25 years," Lucifer smiles, and Mark walks in the room after talking to the nurses to see Lucifer smiling and hugging… air?

"Um… what're you doing? You're supposed to be checking Casey." He angrily spits out, how dare Lucifer come here and play tricks?

"I am." Lucifer looks between Mark and Casey, then leads Mark to sit down on the couch under the window. "Mark, I'm afraid Casey is no longer in her body." He turns to look at Casey and asks "Can you get back in your body?"

"No, I've been trying, but nothing I do works," she answers at the same time as Mark says "Are you talking to Casey? Is she here? Baby!"

"She's here, Mark," Lucifer says, gesturing to where Casey's soul sits next to him on the couch. His eyes glow brighter for a moment, and Mark can suddenly see her. "I'm going to check her body real quick and then I will tell you both what is going on." He turns to do just that, even though he knows he will find her body is brain-dead.

He stalls there and ignores what they are saying to each other, trying to give them at least the illusion of privacy. Then he excuses himself and uses the mirror to call all of the kids to the hospital. One by one, they arrive in the waiting room, and when the whole family is there, he leads them to Casey's room, subtly giving each of them the temporary ability to see her soul.

Letting the family know Casey is dead and has to move on today or risk ending up in limbo is one of the hardest conversations he has ever had. There is screaming, crying, bargaining, and offering of souls and deals that he turns down.

There is nothing to be done. He gives the family time alone to say goodbye and tells the nurses that the family has decided to pull the plug. She gives them an hour to finish their goodbyes, and he spends the hour looking for the missing reaper who should have already whisked her away. Unsuccessfully.

In the end, when everyone is gone, and it is just the two of them, he takes her hand and leads her to heaven. They watch her life together on the way, and she slowly accepts her situation and releases her worldly desires. They make it to the gates, and she walks through with no problem, meeting her parents and grandparents again.

Lucifer smiles softly and watches her go. Then turns, and walks back down the stairs. God meets him at the bottom.

"What are you doing here?" Lucifer asks.

"You mourn her," God replies.

Lucifer glares, not in any mood for God's shenanigans.

God sighs, "There haven't been any demon deals in over 20 years."

"You seem to be letting people down. Has the Imaginary Friends department been disbanded?"

He smiles, "Your punishment is over. You will still lord over hell, someone must, but you are welcome in heaven anytime." He vanishes in a flash of light, leaving a key to heaven behind.

Lucifer stares and ultimately decides to pocket the key. The journey to heaven took longer than he thought, and the kids are summoning him, presumably to their mother's funeral.

He'll have to tell Casey all about it later.