Oh goody! You came back! I'm so happy! Well, I won't keep you from the story. Enjoy. ~SG

Chapter 2

Seeing Alexa for the first time in nearly three decades had shaken him up, and now he was nervous about seeing her again. He was even more nervous about meeting Wren. Because of that nervousness he'd kept himself busy yesterday making sure the house was spotless. He'd made sure the two guest bedroom were ready, and that the kitchen and bathroom were stocked properly, and he was sitting nervously on the front porch waiting for them while his Jack Russell/Beagle mix ran around the yard barking excitedly when a charcoal gray Dodge Charger towing a U-haul trailer pulled into the driveway.

Cash was excited to have company in general, but Gabriel was more interested in the girl that emerged from the driver's side of the Charger. No, he reminded himself. She was twenty-six. She wasn't a girl anymore. She was a woman. A beautiful woman, he thought as he watched her get out of the car and stretch her legs from the long drive.

She wore a tight pair of jean shorts and a tight black tank top that showed off an inch or so of her belly. Actually, that section of skin might be too low to be considered her belly. Her shorts weren't exactly hugging her waist. She was barefoot, and her curly auburn hair was pulled into a ponytail. Her eyes were hidden behind a pair of dark sunglasses, but he found himself hoping they were blue like her mother's. She was about five and a half feet tall, maybe a little over, and had long legs and a figure that probably drove the boys crazy. When she pushed her sunglasses up on her head he could see that she favored her mother, but there was a little bit of him in her face as well. Or Richard anyway. And her eyes were brown. Where had her coloring come from?

Alexa had brown hair and blue eyes. So did both of her parents, Callahan and Josephine Monroe. And Richard had blonde hair and hazel eyes. Wren's red and brown combination must have come from further back in the family. Or maybe she dyed her hair. It didn't really matter. No matter what color combination she possessed she was gorgeous, and he imagined that if he'd been around when she was growing up he'd have had to beat the boys off with a stick.

She smiled at him as her mother got out of the passenger side. "Hi."

Gabriel had to remind himself that she was talking to him, and not someone that had randomly appeared behind him. He had forced himself not to turn around and check just to make sure. Angels were tricky like that. Instead he smiled back. "Hi. You must be Wren."

"Oh, I'm so glad you didn't just call me Wynette." she said as she walked over, still barefoot.

Gabriel smiled, noting that she pronounced it Win-nette instead of Why-nette, and was glad Alexa had let him know which of his names she had given their daughter as he shook her hand. "Your mom told me you're not so crazy about it. I'm Richard, but you probably already knew that. You can call me Rich if you want. Your mom does."

Alexa greeted him with a hug as Wren crouched to pet the dog that was energetically demanding her attention.

"That's Cash." Gabriel informed them. "My vicious attack dog."

"Hi Cash." Wren said in a voice most people reserved for dogs and babies, scratching the excited dog between the ears as he tried to climb into her lap and knocked her over on her butt in the grass. She was focusing on the dog because Gabriel wasn't the only one who had noticed the faint resemblance. He was far too young to be her father, but maybe an uncle or a cousin? Maybe even a half brother. Her father would be about sixty by now. She could have half siblings in their mid-thirties.

"Thanks again for letting us stay here, Rich." Alexa said, drawing her daughter's attention away from the deadly guard dog greeting her with kisses.

Wren looked at the house. It was a little Craftsman style house, all beige and brown, nothing fancy, but pretty just the same. A little covered porch that stretched across the front of the house with a couple of rocking chairs, a rather small front yard, and a fenced-in back yard. It wasn't home, but judging by the outside it would do for a little while. And maybe they'd be here long enough for her to figure out how she was related to Rich.

No matter what her mother said she knew she had to be related to him somehow. There wasn't a strong resemblance. In fact, it was barely there at all, but there was enough of one that she could see it if she looked close enough. And then there was the name. She didn't think he was quite old enough to have gone to high school with her mom, but they certainly could have grown up together in Slidell. She hadn't had a chance yet, but she planned to do a little research on the Hensley family and see if she could figure this little mystery out. But first they needed to get settled into their temporary home. Then she could start snooping.

Gabriel helped them get their bags inside and showed them to their rooms, thinking that Wren didn't seem all that interested in him. Maybe she was shy. But Alexa had said she was sassy, something she'd definitely gotten from him. He doubted that was all she'd inherited from him, and he certainly wasn't shy. Never had been. He'd never been insecure either, but the thought that his daughter didn't like him sure was bringing out that unpleasant quality. And it didn't matter that she didn't know who he was. Father or not he wanted her to like him. Maybe she just needed some time to get to know him a little.

As he left them to get settled he wondered if it was too much to hope that Wren would take it as well as Alexa had if she found out the whole truth.

He remembered that last night perfectly. She'd been a little freaked out at first, but she'd quickly realized that he was serious. Once she had she'd accepted everything he'd said pretty easily. Even the part about having to leave. She hadn't liked it at all, and he still wished he could've taken her with him when he rejoined the pagans, but he didn't think that would've gone over so well. Kali certainly wouldn't have approved, and that might've blown his cover.

He could only hope Wren took after her mother when it came to reacting to bombshells being dropped on her if she ever had to find out the truth about who he was and what she was.

Aw! Isn't Gabriel adorable as a nervous dad? He wants his little girl to like him so badly, but he can't tell her who he is. I'll be posting the final chapter tomorrow, so we'll see how it all works out. Well, you'll see. Obviously I already know. And because I already know I think you'll like it, but I guess we'll just have to wait until tomorrow to see about that too. And yes, I know this was a short story, but it didn't feel right adding more even though I tried. I'm already working on the sequel, which is also a prequel, aka a big hunk of the story is a flashback, so hopefully I can start posting it soon. And then I think (not sure yet) the next one will probably be introducing Twin. If so it'll also be where the story gets AU. But you don't care about that right now, do you? You're still waiting for the last chapter of Angel Baby, and whatever I decided to call the next one. Anyway, I'm gonna let y'all get back to your lives now. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you again tomorrow to see what happens between Gabriel and Wren! Kisses! ~SG