Some time ago, right outside the police department
"Were those all forms I need, officer?" - Said Robert, holding the baby girl gently.
"Yes. You may take her with you provisionally, now that we know where she is and so on. Should the parents show up, we'll have to see how things go."
Robert nodded, sighing.
"I see. I will make my own efforts to seek out the parents, too..."
"You do that." - Said the officer, gently - "Come, I'll drive you ho-WHAT THE FUCK???"
The officer was looking at a rift in space that opened right in front of him. Robert just sighed. I wonder if she does this on purpose... - She thought.
"Oh. Hey, officer. Robert. Hope I'm not intruding. Listen. In some two hours, we got an interview. It oughtta help us find the kid's parents." - Said Lucas, as if talking about the weather.
"That... is actually a good idea. How did you get access to the media like this, if I may ask?" - Asked the officer.
"I can open rifts in space and you're asking about media access?" - Said Lucas - "Well, basically, I happened to know a nice reporter."
"Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm dying to know how you can do that, but I don't think there's a snowball's chance in hell you'll tell me." - Said the officer - "So, I take it that ride won't be needed, Miss?"
"Correct, officer..." - Said Robert - "Lead the way, Lucas..."
"Okay. All aboard." - Said Lucas, smiling - "By the way, officer? I liked the cut of your jib!"
"Yeah, yeah. Good luck. And Miss Douglas, remember, don't assume it's only on account of the baby's... species..." - Said the officer.
Robert nodded. "Thanks." - as the rift closed.
Now, Moonscape.
"You don't know how lucky you demon-changed are to only sleep four hours a day, Bob..." - Said Lucas, stretching.
"You seem oddly well, though, Lucas." - Said Robert.
"Created a little concoction I can only use in this world. Liquid Rest. Not caffeine, just works as if I had slept an hour or so per cup." - Said Lucas - "Of course, as Neruite informed, once I'm actually outside this place, if I haven't slept some, I'll be running on fumes. It's part of why I asked Jay to have the interview 'at my home'."
"I'm pretty sure I'll regret asking it, but how will he come to your home on the Moon?" - Said Robert.
"I gave Cass's address and set things up with her so that, once she's out, I have her door send Jay here and... Well, you get the idea. Anyways... There's someone I want you to meet..." - Said Lucas.
"Why, I am getting quite a few visitors tonight..." - Said a soft, gentle voice, chuckling softly. It was Selene, or Neruite.
Robert looked at her, a tall, magnificent woman with silver hair and marks of the Moon on her skin. It was odd for her to even be conceiving of a "goddess", but, well, there she was, if not THE goddess, at least A goddess.
"I am pleased to meet you." - Said Robert - "Er... Which name would you prefer for me to call you?"
Neruite giggled. "It is your call, Robert. I am Selene, I am Neruite, I am Luna and many other names. All are equally true."
"Well... Selene it is..." - Said Robert gently, smiling.
The baby saw fit to chime in at that moment. For some reason, she had woken up, and begun to cry.
"Oh, little one... What is it?" - Said Robert, gently. She had fed her, changed her and done all else she had to, and felt genuinely at a loss. She discreetly looked to Lucas, whose deer-in-the-headlights look proved Lucas's previous claims of utter ignorance when it came to dealing with babies.
Neruite was a bit more proactive.
"May I hold her, Robert?" - she asked gently. Robert nodded and carefully handed her to Neruite, who cradled her in her arms. The effect was immediate, as the baby once again slept.
"She was having a bad dream..." - Said Neruite - "I hope you don't mind that I solved it with, well... Magic."
"I trust you." - Said Robert, smiling softly.
Lucas remembered the moment Neruite entered her "dream", the one induced by the Forces of Law in the Far Realm.
"Goddess, you... You entered her dream...?" - Said Lucas, smiling widely.
Robert smiled lightly at the scene, allowing herself a moment to relax. "Well, Lucas told me you entered her nightmare back in the Far Realm. And I know that her nature goes back to before those events, so I don't think the little one runs the risk of ending up like her." - She quipped.
Neruite nodded, giggling a bit. "She's in the domains of a goddess of sleep. I will not have her having bad dreams. At least not here... Besides, Robert, you should rest a bit for the interview. I'll guard her sleep as much as you need."
Lucas smiled. "You're something else, Neruite... And Robert, do remember I may well be sorta present in her life. So she might end up at least somewhat like me."
"And while I'm sure that would mean she'd worry me everyday with her new grand plans and surprise me at every moment with her antics, Lucas, that would make me quite proud as a surrogate parent." - Said Robert, now quite more truthfully.
Lucas blushed. "Er, I... Uhm... Thanks. Uhm, anyways..."
The baby did not hear this conversation. No. She was too busy being cradled in her sleep by the goddess of dreams, and feeling as a certainty, in her mind and insofar as she could understand such concepts, that she was taken care of, and that everything would be okay...
