Title: Aaron's Fairy Tale
Original post date: 12th April 2006
Spoilers: nothing major – Claire references fighting with Charlie because he lied to her. Could be set from episode 1x15 when Charlie didn't tell her about Ethan or from 2x12 when...well that would be spoilerish now wouldn't it? P
Summary: Charlie pauses to tell Aaron a bedtime story.
Disclaimer: not mine – like, at all. All ABC's and everyone else's but not mine. Sigh.
Dedication: To lozzybabe06 for her sweet sixteenth!

'Once upon a time there was a little boy who could see angels.

He saw them all the time – when he was walking down the street, when he looked out of windows, when he was getting ready for bed.

The only trouble was, nobody believed him when he told them – not even his mother.

"Look quick! There's one behind you right now!" he would exclaim whenever he saw one. But by the time she had turned around, the angel would have flown away.

"There's no one there," his mother would say. "They must have gotten a fright and flown away."

The little boy frowned and wondered why the angels kept flying away.

"Maybe only you're allowed to see them." His mother suggested. "Maybe you're special."

But it didn't make the little boy feel special. The other children at school teased him, saying that it was all a game of pretend and that there weren't really angels at all.

"They fly away when you turn to look," the little boy insisted but then they teased him again and he went to play by himself, feeling very sad indeed.

The little boy stopped seeing angels so much – and when he did, he would look away quickly and pretend that they weren't there.

Before too long the little boy wasn't little anymore, he became a teenager – almost grown up. He learnt how to play the guitar and started a band with his big brother. He didn't see angels hardly at all now – in fact, he had almost forgotten all about them by the time he was all grown up – he didn't see any for such a long, long time.

And then one day as he was walking along – he saw one.

For a moment he was sure his eyes were playing tricks but the angel was still there, smiling at him and asking for his help.

He helped her a little bit that day. And a little bit the next day. He wasn't the only one who could see her – but he was the only one who could see that she was an angel. She always seemed to be glowing from the inside out, like a star.

One day the angel had a terrible dream and the man looked after her as best he could.

"Something awful is going to happen," she told him sadly. And it did. The angel was kidnapped by an evil demon.

The man wanted to go out and look for her but nobody would help him. Just when he had given up hope of her ever returning to him, she came back, a smile on her face and a baby in her arms.

"This is our baby. Isn't he beautiful?"

The man reached out his arms and took the baby and smiled. The baby glowed just like his mother did.

"What about the demon?"

The angel looked frightened then, like she wanted to fly away but the man held onto her hands and wouldn't let go.

"He wanted our baby." The angel told him. "But we mustn't let the demon take him from us."

The man agreed and when the demon came skulking back to steal the baby again, he banished the demon and warned him to never return.

The angel was so happy that she hugged the man and thanked him for all his help.

The man smiled back but then he looked at her, very seriously. "I have to ask you a question," he said. "Are you an angel?"

The angel laughed. "You think I'm an angel?"

"I do," the man said, very seriously.

The angel smiled at him. "Well if you think I'm an angel then it doesn't really matter whether I am or not does it?"

The man smiled back. "I guess not."

And then the angel gave him a soft angel kiss and they all lived happily ever after – the man, his angel and their baby boy.'

Charlie paused to see if Aaron would stir. He didn't. Satisfied, Charlie stood up and turned around, only to find himself facing a pair of crossed arms.

'You missed out a couple of things,' Claire said accusingly but her eyes were still sparkling. 'Like the bit when the angel got angry at the man for lying to her.'

'Oh come on. It's a fairytale Claire.' Charlie offered her a lopsided grin as he leant forward to plant a gentle kiss on her bemused nose. 'It's got to have a happy ending.'