Part Three

Cordelia chewed on the inside of her cheek, her cell phone placed back on top of the kitchen table mere seconds ago. Her call with Sunnydale librarian and Watcher, Rupert Giles, had ended with a promise that she and the rest of the Sunnydale alumni would be at the library shortly after school ended. She let out a breath of air. It wasn't as if she hadn't missed the man because she had, he had played such an important part in her high school life and she respected him and looked up to him as a daughter would look up at a father; her real father had been almost nonexistent in her life, visible only enough to spoil her with materialistic fancies. Giles had been much more. . .

"What's bothering you, sweetheart?"

She smiled at the concerned voice of her husband and her smile only grew when she felt his arms wrapped around her from behind. His lips pressed against the top of her head.

"I was just thinking," she told him, her own arms rested atop his.

"About anything in particular?"

She let out a sigh, "Giles is going to wonder why he never met Connor." She felt her husband give a nod of his head. "He's sixteen years old, Linds. I graduated high school not too long ago, Giles is going to wonder why he never met or even heard of him. In Giles' mind, Connor would have twelve when I graduated. He should have been around, I should have talked more about him. Before today, Giles had never even know Connor existed. What am I going to tell him, babe?"

Lindsey McDonald drew his wife closer and pressed yet another kiss on the top of her head. "You tell him the truth, that's all you can do."

And Cordelia Chase-McDonald could do nothing more but agree. "You're right, of course you are." She turned in his arms, a slight gap between them. "How did I get lucky enough to marry someone as smart as you?"

Lindsey smiled down at her, "Must have been all that good you've done. All the good that you continue to do. And, sweetheart, let me tell you, I'm the lucky soul in this relationship. Before I met you, I was content in turning away from right and wrong, fine with ignoring the horrors that came with working in WolfRam & Hart. . . But then you walked into my life and saved me. Gave me another chance even though I hardly believed I deserved one. Sweetheart, without you, I truly think that I would be dead by now and I thank the Powers That Be every single day for letting you into my life."

"Oh, that's so sweet," came the unexpected voice of the Slayer known as Faith. Lindsey and Cordelia snapped their heads in her direction and Faith smirked, "Stop before I throw up. . .wait, never mind, I just threw up a little in my mouth."

Cordelia rolled her eyes, pressed a quick kiss to Lindsey's lips, and detached herself from him. She reached for her cell phone and waved it at the other woman, "Giles called. Apparently, he's met Connor already. He asked us to stop by the library when the school's closed."

Faith nodded and crossed the kitchen, the Slayer's arms full of groceries which she set down on the kitchen island. Cordelia helping her unpack while Lindsey excused himself to the living room to continue his task of unpacking and moving furniture around alongside their friends Charles Gunn and Daniel Osbourne.

"He ask you about Connor?"

Cordelia shook her head, "No, actually. But I think he's just waiting to ask face to face." She paused and ran a hand through her long, curly locks. "Linds said that I should just tell him the truth."

Faith agreed. "Giles will understand. He knows more about the supernatural than any of us do, aside from maybe Wesley."

"Right. He won't be surprised to learn that more than a year ago, Connor was only a baby. He won't even blink at the fact that we were attacked and Connor and Spike were sucked into a hell dimension before the night was over. And that the next time we saw Connor, he was practically fifteen years old and had just watched his uncle Spike die," Cordelia's words were filled with sarcasm and sadness.

But Faith ignored the sarcasm and nodded her head. "Pretty much."

Cordelia rolled her eyes.

"Seriously, C, Giles will understand. He's seen us through a lot of tough times, this is just another one of those times," she patted her friend's arm in comfort before she turned her attention to the last bag, pulling out bottles of various flavored sports drinks. She looked at her friend once more, "And we can't leave out the fact that Connor's really the son of two vampires, because that is way too important."

"OK, but we're only telling Giles."

Faith looked confused, "Who else is there to tell?"

The corner of Cordelia's lip turned upward, "Sunnydale can't stay unprotected for long; Giles has a new group to watch over."

Faith smirked, "Bet-cha twenty bucks that we're still his favorites. A Slayer, werewolf, and mutant are kind of hard to beat."

"He's got a Slayer and a witch in this batch." Cordelia paused and with a frown said, "He's also got a vampire part-time."

Faith blinked. "You think it's him?"

"Can you think of any other vampire with a soul?"

"There was Spike."

"Yeah, there was."

"And Darla had a soul during the time she was pregnant with Connor."

"Faith-"

The Slayer blew out a frustrated breath, her hands clenching and unclenching into tight fists. She narrowed her eyes as she looked at her best friend, "C, if it's really him. . . I'm going to drive a stake through his undead heart."

Cordelia smirked, "You're going to try."

And Faith nodded. As much as she hated the vampire for just running out on them all those years ago, he was still one of the good guys. "But the second he turns into Angelus, he's dust."

"And we'll all help."

Silence settled over the two before Faith spoke.

"If it's Angel, he's going to say something stupid when he sees you. . ."

Cordelia left hand drifted over her swollen belly, her silver wedding band displayed on her ring finger. "He always says something stupid. It's just how he is. He'll probably just stare and point out the obvious, then brood and bitch once he finds out that I married Lindsey and we're expecting a little girl."

"He left us, he abandoned the team, C. Angel has no right to say a word against what we've done with our lives, what we've done with Connor's life. He gave up that right the night he tucked tail and ran."

Cordelia sighed, "That doesn't make him any less of Connor's father."

Faith scowled, "And that doesn't make what he did right."