An infant’s wail interrupted the still night. It shattered the silence, echoing off the lonely mansion’s walls.
Angel blinked in the darkness. Buffy’s arm lay across him and her breath whispered in his ear. “Your turn,” she murmured sleepily and rolled away from him.
Careful not to disturb her too much as he climbed out of bed, Angel moved the blanket aside and reached for his robe. He shrugged into the black silk as he walked from the room. He made his way with certainty in the dark, his night vision still as good as ever. Plus he knew this track now too well.
Angel entered the nursery quickly. The room didn’t look like it belonged in the rest of the house. It was brightly furnished, filled with stuffed animals and child’s toys. Ailia’s crib stood against one wall. She’d managed to get out of her blanket and even now she kicked her feet angrily as she cried. Angel scooped her up gently, rocking her to calm her. When that didn’t work on its own he carried her with him into the kitchen.
Several minutes later, happily sucking on her bottle, Ailia calmed. Angel smiled slightly. Her amazingly tiny, perfect hands clasped at the plastic bottle. He rocked her slightly and began to hum. It took him a moment to recognize the tune. It was a lullaby, one he vaguely recalled his mother singing to his younger sister. He didn’t remember the words at all. It hurt sometimes that memories became so vague over time. He wanted to remember the words that his mother had sung.
This time, though, the memory that the tune recalled did not pain him. Sure, the guilt would always be there, but now there was something to balance that guilt. Now there was something of his family that would continue on. Looking at his infant daughter, falling asleep again with her lips still moving on the bottle, Angel saw a glimpse of his long deceased sister in her face. He may have only imagined it, but it made him smile nonetheless. It meant his family hadn’t died with him.
Family. Yes, Angel did have reason to smile these days. He lifted his tiny daughter to his shoulder and thought about the woman who slept only a few rooms away. Even though he and Buffy had been together all through Buffy’s pregnancy and they’d been spending nearly every moment together for a few months now, it still felt strange to him. Of course, his whole life felt strange at the moment. For once there were actually decisions to be made that weren’t going to be made for him by events beyond his control.
There was room in his life for hope now.
Ailia continued to sleep soundly as he put her to bed, a stuffed animal larger than she was tucked into the crib next to her. Looking at her sleeping, Angel yawned and remembered how tired he was.
Buffy woke slightly when Angel climbed back into bed. She rolled over once he lay down, snuggling back into his side. She kissed him lightly and, fully awake, Angel returned it. Her arm snaked around his neck to bring him as close as possible as the kiss heightened in passion.
Suddenly she chuckled into his mouth.
“What?” Angel asked curiously.
She held up a damp hand to him. “Baby spit ruins the romance.”
Angel smiled and, kissing
her softly, climbed out of bed again to clean off his shoulder. When
he returned, Buffy was sound asleep, her head on his pillow and her arm
across his side of the bed. Angel slid into bed beside her, shifting
her gently so that her head and arm rested on his chest. Laying there
with her, together, he let the sound of her heartbeat follow him back into
sleep.
“Wakey, wakey!”
Angel lifted his head from off his desk. “Huh?”
Cordelia looked at him in irritation. She was standing in the doorway of his corner of the office, her hands on her hips. “You know, if you’re going to make us put together those files on every case, the least you could do for me is not drool on them.”
Angel sighed slightly and wiped his eyes sleepily. “Sorry,” he muttered.
Cordelia didn’t stay annoyed for long, but smiled as Angel yawned. “Baby keeping you awake?” she asked.
But Cordelia knew that wasn’t the truth. Angel had responsibilities in L.A., and that meant he’d been splitting his time between there and Sunnydale. For the first time since Ailia was born, he hadn’t seen her nor Buffy for several days. He hoped that they weren’t staying in the mansion all by themselves. “I haven’t been sleeping well,” he muttered, looking at the photograph that sat on his desk. It was taken of Buffy holding Ailia only a week after Ailia was born. He smiled slightly at the look on Buffy’s face. She looked amazed.
“Uh huh,” Cordelia replied with a knowing look on her face. “I thought you were used to sleeping alone.”
“I got un-used to it,” Angel replied. He looked at Cordelia oddly. “What do you want anyway?”
“Kate’s here.”
Angel blinked at her in surprise. “She say what she wanted?”
Cordelia rolled her eyes. “No. But I figured I’d come and wake you up before I let her in here.”
“Thank you,” Angel said briefly, and Cordelia smiled slightly. She left him then, passing Kate in the doorway.
She stood there for a moment, looking uncomfortable. “Hey,” she said.
“Hey,” Angel replied. The silence stretched on for a moment. “It’s been a while.”
“It has,” Kate acknowledged. “Several months at least.” Her gaze went to the windows, the shades pulled up to let in the bright sunlight. She looked at Angel with questions clear in her gaze.
Angel ignored them. He was tired of explaining anyway. “What can I do for you?” he asked.
Kate looked confused but seemed to shake it off. “There have been a series of murders lately and I was hoping that you could tell me whether they’re, you know….”
“Demon related?”
Kate nodded.
“I probably would have heard about them before now if they were, but I’ll….”
Angel was interrupted by the exterior door of the office opening and a familiar voice. “Angel!”
Completely forgetting Kate and his recent fatigue, Angel jumped up from his desk. He rushed out of the room to find Buffy grinning from ear to ear, baby carrier in her arms. She put down Ailia just as Angel scooped her up in a hug, then gave her a quick intense kiss.
She laughed as he put her back down. “I’m happy to see you, too,” she said with a grin.
Angel smiled. “What are you doing here?” he asked, pleasantly surprised.
“Mom had something to pick up for the gallery, so Ailia and I decided to tag along,” Buffy replied.
“And how is Ailia?” he asked, scooping up his daughter from the carrier and cradling her in his arms.
“Just like me. She misses her daddy.”
Angel kissed her softly, then placed a kiss on Ailia’s forehead. “I’m sorry,” he said to the two of them earnestly. “I’m trying to work things out here. Really I am.”
“I know,” Buffy said with a nod. They stared at each other in silence, and then Angel was lost in her eyes.
A pointed cough sounded behind them, and Angel turned to face a very wide-eyed Kate. “Oh, I’m sorry!” he said, almost startled by her presence. “I’d forgotten you were here.”
“I…noticed,” Kate said dryly. She looked rather shocked. She looked from Angel to Buffy and then to Ailia as a strange silence filled he office.
Buffy nudged Angel in the side and gestured to the female cop, her eyes questioning.
“Oh!” Angel got the hint. “Buffy, this is Kate Lockley, my contact in the LAPD. Kate, this is Buffy, my….” He faltered, trying to find the words to describe what Buffy meant to him. My sunlight? The love of my life?
“Serious girl friend,” Buffy finished for him, holding out her hand to shake the police detective’s. She smiled very slightly.
“I see,” Kate replied in a strange tone of voice. “It’s…a pleasure to meet you.”
“Same here.”
“And this,” Angel said suddenly, unable to resist showing off his daughter, “is Ailia Rose.” He glowed with paternal pride.
Kate smiled at the happy baby for a moment. She looked at Buffy. “Your daughter?” she asked even though it was obvious.
“Our daughter,” Buffy clarified pointedly.
Kate paled, but recovered quickly. “She’s beautiful,” she said, then looked back at Angel. “Will you look over those papers I brought for you?”
“Of course. It was nice seeing you again.”
“Likewise,” Kate replied. She didn’t get to say anything else, though, or ask her gnawing questions, for Angel’s attention was on Buffy again and didn’t look like it would be returning to her anytime soon. “I’ll just see myself out,” she muttered, and left.
Buffy chuckled slightly. “I think you broke the cop-lady’s heart,” she said with false sympathy.
Angel looked at her blankly. “What?”
“Kate has a thing for you.”
Angel shook his head with a slight laugh. “No she doesn’t.”
Buffy looked at him pointedly and nodded.
“Buffy, she ran me through with a 2x4. That’s hardly a sign of affection.” Buffy’s eyes went wide and Angel was quick to explain. “She knew it wouldn’t kill me-that I was a vampire. She’d just found that out. She was getting the vampire behind me.”
“So she decided to go through you?”
Angel nodded.
“What is it with you and dangerous women?” Buffy said, amused. “You have to come back to Sunnydale. I want to be able to keep an eye on you.”
And I can tell by the
way you’re talking,
that the past isn’t letting
you go
There’s only so long
you can take it all on,
and then the wrongs gotta
be on its own
And when you’re ready
to leave it behind you,
you’ll look back and
all that you’ll see
Is the wreckage and rust
that you left in the dust
on your way to the jubilee
Until I receive Angel in
leather pants, I'll keep asking for feedback
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