Angel was sitting in his office at the Hyperion Hotel staring at his son's crib. It was the early hours of the morning and Connor was sleeping quietly. Angel had still not quite processed the fact that he had somehow managed to get another vampire pregnant and that they had produced a human son. It seemed completely and utterly impossible. But it had happened, and he wasn't quite sure how he felt about it. Fatherhood had never been a plan of his, even when he was alive; there was too much responsibility involved. But, now, here he was staring at his child, and, as he did so, a smile started to slowly creep across his face. In that moment, Angel made a promise to himself – he would be a better father to his son than his father had been to him. He would love Connor with all of his non-beating heart and he would show him everything about the world, the normal everyday world and the darker, supernatural one from which he was born.
As Angel sat contemplating how he would treat his son, Wesley Wyndham-Pryce appeared in the doorway.
"Have you been up all night, Angel?" Wes asked.
"Yeah. Have you been here the whole time?" Angel asked.
"Yes. I've been doing research with Fred trying to figure out how this could have happened." He gestured to the sleeping baby. "We still haven't been able to find any way two vampires could have created a baby, especially a human one." He walked over to the crib and smiled at Connor.
"I'm not ready for this, Wes," Angel said, standing up and moving to beside his friend. "I can't be a father. I'm a vampire. I drink blood for food and I can't go out during the day." Angel spoke these words aloud despite the fact that he had determined he would be a good father.
"Those things don't matter when comes to being a father, Angel," Wesley said comfortingly. "It's your heart and your soul that count. Even though your heart doesn't beat like his, it still loves and your have a good soul. That's what's important."
"Wesley's right, Angel," a tiny female voice said. "As long as you give Connor your whole heart and soul, he won't see that you drink blood and don't go out in the sunlight." Fred walked inside the room and over to the crib.
"I hope you're right, guys," Angel said.
"Of course they are," Cordelia said, also entering the room. She moved around Wesley and Fred and slipped her arm through Angel's resting on the edge of the crib. "All you can do is welcome him with arms wide open and show him the ways of the world. Give him love and give him everything you've got to give. And if you need help, we'll be right beside you to give it."
"Absolutely," Fred and Wes agreed.
"Thanks. My one wish above everything else is that he doesn't live the life I did when I was human. That he doesn't throw out money on girls and drinks and waste away his life. And I really hope that he understands what we do here and that he'll want to be a part of it," Angel said. "But I won't force him. He can do whatever he wants with his life. He's alive and human. I don't want to him spend his life fighting demons if he doesn't want to. My father pushed me to be someone he wanted me to be and then threw me out when I wasn't. I never want to be that for Connor."
"That's very fatherly and encouraging of you, Angel," Fred said. "I know that you'll tell him that when he's old enough to understand. But until then, just give him love and let him be a kid. He'll appreciate you most for that."
Just then Connor wiggled and opened his eyes. Angel, Fred, Wes, and Cordelia all smiled and the baby smiled back. Cordelia dropped Angel's arm as the vampire bent over the crib to pick up his son with his arms wide open.