DAD, DID YOU WISH ME?
One shot story by BabyBella
Rewritten version
Summary: Five years after 'To Shanshu In LA', Angel talks to his and Buffy's son.
Author's Notes: While I try to convince my muse to come down over me for a little work at 'Children Of Darkness', I decided to rewrite my first stories. Hope you like this.
Angel O'Connell looked at his son, who looked so cute and young at his purple Tom Cat pajamas, and smiled. Who would have thought that him, a person who lived almost three hundred years - twenty-five as a human man and two hundred and fifty as a vampire - and who had hosted a monster who had killed thousands, would receive the wonderful gift of love and life?
Yet, there he was, putting his only son to bed. His son. His son. When could he have wanted to have a son? To be a father? Heck, when could he have wanted to be a husband, to begin with?
Since he had met Buffy.
Buffy had made it all possible.
So, thanks to Buffy - and, undirectly, to Whistler, who had shown her to him -, there he was, putting Liam Christopher Summers-O'Connell to bed.
Liam Christopher was a five-year-old boy with Angel's looks and Buffy's green eyes, and was staring adoringly at his father. Sure, Liam loved his mom, but there was this special connection he shared with his dad - which had begun to grow stronger after Angel beat the crap off Riley Finn when Liam was only three.
F L A S H B A C K
It was a sunny Saturday, and Buffy and Angel decided to take time off their job - they owned a self-defense school - and take Liam out to a stroll and a picnic on a park near to their home, at the Hyperion Hotel, in LA. After a tiring game of soccer with their son, Angel decided to go pick the picnic basket at the car, while Buffy and Liam rested on the lawn.
Mother and son were relaxing and enjoying the gentle sun rays that bathed their skin, eyes closed, when a shadow fell over them, hiding the sun. They both smiled, and opened their eyes, hoping to see the loving silhouette of their husband and father, but...
It wasn't Angel who had approached them. It was a man who Liam had never seen, staring at him with perplexed eyes. Buffy squeaked and pulled Liam to her lap, hugging him tightly.
"Mommy, who is this?" Liam asked, frightened. He hadn't liked this man. In fact, he had hated the way the man was looking at him. He wanted his daddy there to protect him and his mommy. This man was evil, he could feel.
"He's coming, sweetie", Buffy whispered in reply. Riley kneeled in front of them and lifted his hand to caress Liam's soft, pinkened cheek, but Liam dodged his touch and stuck his tongue out. Buffy noticed Riley's eyes darkening, and hugged Liam tighter. Where the heck was Angel? What was keeping him away?
"He's beautiful, Buffy", Riley said, looking up to her. She felt a rush of pride, but then her blood froze as he asked, "Can I hold... My son?"
Buffy was too shocked to say anything. Liam was watching the man silently, hating him at each passing minute. When Riley made the absurd question, he reacted promptly. "I'm not your son!" He yelled, eyes welling with tears. "You're not my daddy!"
"You're right, Liam", Buffy and her boy looked up to meet the loving dark eyes of their husband and father. Buffy felt her breath leaving her body. Liam smiled proudly. "He's not your daddy. I am".
"Daddy!" Liam squealedin delight and ran to Angel, jumping up to his loving embrace. He turned around to glare at the weird man and stuck out his tongue again. "Told ya you're not my daddy".
Riley was astonished. What the fuck was going on? What the shit the vampire was doing there? And claiming to be Buffy's son's father? The boy was around three and there was no way in hell the vampire could be his father. Riley knew vampires couldn't have children.
"You can stop lying to our son now, Buffy", he said softly, ignoring the boy and Angel. "I'm back".
Finally Buffy recomposed herself. "How idiot are you?" She yelled. "Liam isn't your son, Riley! Which drug are you on?"
"Buffy, I think you were brainwashed. The boy can't be the vampire's, vampires can't have children".
"Now you're not only on drugs, you're blind too", she shot back sarcastically. "Look around, Riley!" She shook her hands around. A glint caught his eye. "It's a sunny Saturday morning, and Angel isn't burning!"
Riley grabbed her left hand, and saw the big diamond shining on her finger. "I can't believe it", he whispered to the former slayer. "You married this... this monster! Buffy, how could you! I would've given you the world, if you asked me!"
"I once told you, Riley. I never loved you. And Angel... He gave me so many more things, things that are more precious than the world. He gave me love. He gave me my son".
Angel and Liam smiled brightly to her, and the former vampire handed Liam over. Then, he turned to Riley. The former commando was with his eyes fixed on Liam, his face contorted on a disgusted expression. He now saw there was no way to deny who was the boy's father. After all, the only thing Liam had of his mother were the eyes - the same hazel eyes that had made Riley fall in love with her, so many years ago.
"And you... you gave birth to... this half-breed?" He asked incredously. Buffy clenched her hands into fists. Angel would kill to have his game face on. "How could you? If only you had come for me, I kept some things, some drugs of the Initiative... back in Iowa. If you asked me, I could give them to you, and you'd miscarry the baby. Quick and clean". His eyes darkened with anger. "But no! You had to go and get pregnant of a hostile, Buffy! You, the epitome of Good!" He snorted. "You're such a slut".
Angel reached his breaking point with this. He just lost it. He grabbed the other man by his collar and punched him squarely on his nose. Buffy watched as tears cascaded down her cheeks, and Liam jumped from her arms, running to where his daddy was working to turn Riley into a bloody pulp. The boy then smashed Riley's hand with his little foot covered in commando boots, squealing delighted and smirking viciously when he heard the sounds of bones crushing under his foot, and Riley's muffled scream of pain.
F L A S H B A C K
Liam smirked again, remembering that day at the park. Angel caught a glimpse of the wide smirk on his son's face and asked, "What is making you smirk so much, Liam?"
"That day at the park when you gave fishboy a lesson", the boy shot back, smiling now.
Angel chuckled. "I see. It was fun, wasn't it?" He laughed when Liam nodded eagerly, and looked at his watch. "Time to go to bed, kid. If your mom shows up and sees you still awake, she'll be giving daddy a lesson".
Laughing, Liam let his father put him into his bed, covered with Tom Cat's sheets, and tuck him in. But, when Angel straightened up to leave his son's bedroom, the boy gripped his hand.
"Daddy?"
"What, son?"
"Did you wish me?"
Angel's eyes welled with tears. He looked at the fearful and sleepy green irises of one of his life's loves, and sat back down. Liam slid to the side, clearing space for his father to lie down, and Angel made his large, lean body as comfortable as possible in his son' bed. "Why are you asking me this, Liam?"
"I overheard mom telling aunt Willow I was... unpected", Liam said, hugging his father.
"Unexpected", Angel corrected automatically, and frowned. Buffy's pregnancy was unexpected for sure. They were married for four weeks when Angel's seed had taken root on her egg. And Buffy was only 20.
"Yeah, that", the boy replied. "Did you want me?"
Angel looked once more at his son, and tried to picture his life without the boy. He realized he couldn't. Liam was already such a big part of his life - has been since Buffy had told him they would have a baby. Tears welled in his eyes, and a lonely one rolled down his cheek. Liam frowned and lifted his chubby, soft little hand to wipe it away.
"Yes, Liam, I wished you with all my being", Angel replied as he kissed the soft palm. "How could I not? I mean... You are my son. You were born from my love with your mom. I had never dreamt or considered being a father before I met her".
"How old were you when Darla turned you?" The boy asked, his eyes never leaving his daddy's face, and he looked so much like Buffy, that Angel thought he was seeing his beloved in their son's body.
"Twenty-five".
Liam frowned. "It was old enough to be a dad".
"It was, kid. When I was turned..." Angel made a puse and thanked the Powers that Buffy and he had agreed on telling Liam everything about what they had been. "I was an irresponsible man. I didn't care or want to have a family, I didn't care of being a father. I started thinking about such things when I met your mother, but it was impossible, given my body was long dead.
"You, Liam, are a dream that came true. You are the fruit of a love that never died. I loved your mom from the second I laid eyes on her, back at Hemery. And she was only fifteen. She was just a teenager, and I was a vampire walking on this Earth for more than two centuries.
"I never wanted to be married to anyone but her. I never wanted any other woman to give a handsome son that I love so much, but her. So, you asked me if I wanted you. Yes, I did, Liam, and so did your mother. You know why? Because we proved, with your birth, that we got over everything that came our way and managed to stay together. I doubt one of your friends was more loved, wished, desired and spoiled even before their births".
Liam beamed at his father and settled into his chest, cuddling and closing his eyes. He gave a big yawn.
"Love ya, daddy", he whispered, sleeping almost instantly.
"I love you too, son", Angel whispered back, caressing his son's hair. Then, after a moment's silence, he asked, "How long have you been home?"
On the doorway, appeared a petite blond woman, with chestnut green eyes, looking at her husband and their son with her eyes full of happy tears. "A quarter of hour, more or less", Buffy replied, softly walking over to Liam's queen sized bed and lying onto it, cuddling against Angel's hard body, her arm thrown over Liam's side. "I love you, Angel", she whispered.
"I love you, too", Angel replied quietly.
The Summers-O'Connell family - Buffy, Angel and their only son Liam - slept peacefully and happily that night.
