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"Thanks so much for this Wills" she pulled her into a hug and smiled kindly before turning to her daughter and scooping her up to hand her over to her friend. Willow smiled widely then bobbed Sarah gently.
"No problem, she's a great baby" the red head made a funny face then beamed brightly when Sarah giggled loudly then tried to grab her hair. Willow grimaced playfully and leaned her head back to avoid her hair being yanked.
Buffy kissed her daughters hair then grabbed her purse and headed towards the courtroom that Angel was sitting in. She entered silently and made her way towards him; she kissed him quickly then sat behind him and his lawyer.
She could see his entire body taught with nerves, he shifted in his seat as he spoke to his lawyer then glanced over to the clock, re-checking the time for the fourth time since he had arrived – Darla had yet to arrive for the proceedings.
The doors to the room burst open loudly disrupting the silence of the room, Buffy refused to look at her as she strut her way to the front of her room, unfazed by the look the judge and her own lawyer gave her "Sorry your honour, cab came late"
Darla shot a vicious glare at Angel then at Buffy and sat down beside her lawyer, flicking her hair over her shoulder then attempting to reach for a glass of water but struggled due to the injuries she had sustained just under two weeks ago.
The Judge scowled at the tardiness then began the proceedings. Taking turns, both lawyers pled their case as to who should receive full custody of Connor – both of them not wanting to share custody.
Angels lawyer, and close friend Wes turned to look at Darla and smiled kindly "If we could take a few moments to go back to that incident 13 days ago… could you please explain what happened for us?" he saw Darla shift in her seat then casually shrug.
"All that happened was I had one glass too many of wine and got in a little accident" she attempted to look regretful but everyone could see through that, her acting skills weren't exactly the best.
Wes raised his eyebrow "At eight in the morning?" he handed the medical reports to the Judge then turned back to her "It wasn't just you who got injured… your son was in that car too, you not only endangered your own life but a six year old child as well"
*13 Days Ago*
The glass of wine that had been poured was sunk within a matter of minutes, Darla rinsed the glass out with water and placed in back in the cupboard "Ready little man?" she glanced over to her son who was eating his cereal.
Connor nodded mutely, since he had come home from his father's he couldn't get out of his funk; he had so much fun spending time with his dad, Buffy and baby sister; he hated being back home "Yeah" he placed the spoon silently in the bowl and sighed.
Darla rolled her eyes and yanked the bowl away from him and dropped it noisily in the sink, she turned back round to be face to face with her estranged husband who had been sleeping in the spare room for weeks "What?"
Lindsey brushed passed her to open the wine cooler; the bottle of Merlot half empty, he didn't say anything he just raised his eyebrow at her "Bit early is it not hon'?" he slammed the door then went to pour himself a mug of coffee.
"Out late last night, seeing one of your whores, darling?" she clenched her fists; she knew that ever since their problems began he was seeing if not one or more other women. When he smirked she let out a growl and grabbed Connors hand to pull in away.
Despite his protests she didn't ease up on her grip, she slammed the front door shut and pushed him towards her car "You're late for school" Connor rubbed his hand when she let go and clipped himself into the booster seat.
She switched the radio on loudly to drown out the question that Connor had just asked her, she didn't have the time to be civil today, even to her own son. She glanced in the rear-view mirror to see her boy looking upset, his little arms folded over his chest.
"I'm sorry baby… Mommy didn't mean to be angry" when he didn't look at her she turned the music back down "Con? I love you, I do… its just mommy's having a difficult time just now, I'm sad" he eventually looked at her sadly.
Darla felt her heart melt, sure, she wasn't mom material, raising a child when she classified herself as too young but she would always have a soft spot for him, even when he looked the spitting image of his father.
Too busy looking back at her son she ran a red light and was hit side on by an SUV that was speeding up the street. Immediately she felt pain course through her and heard Connor scream above the sound of screeching tyres.
Angel clenched his fists underneath the table to stop him from saying anything or most likely wringing her neck at her lack of thought when she decided to take him out in that car. His death glare made it way over to her to see the waterworks start.
"I'm so sorry, I would never willingly hurt him… it was a bad decision" she patted her eyes to wipe away the crocodile tears then pout "He's okay that's all that matters" she smiled a little too widely, making them all infuriated.
Darla's lawyer closed his eyes in defeat, he had briefed her last night on how to take the blame and work it so that she wouldn't look like the incompetent mother she clearly was. He whispered in her ear causing her to roll her eyes at him.
In the mean time Wes had a few words with the Judge then sat back down beside Angel giving him a knowing look. Buffy wanted to be beside him to comfort him, she could tell, even sitting behind him that he was struggling to remain calm.
The Judge gathered up the files neatly and slid them into a larger folder marked with their case name "After reading through each of your plea's and hearing from both sides today, I have came to a conclusion, I'm ruling in the favour of Mr Donovan, he will receive full time custody of the child"
Darla's face dropped, she looked seething when he addressed her "Due to the recent lack of care you will receive supervised visitation rights" he continued with his statement then looked at the both as they stood for him to depart from the courtroom.
Angel remained motionless as Darla let out a high-pitched squeal then storm off, throwing him a horrible look. Wes watched her tantrum then shook his friend's hand "Congratulations Angel, I'm so glad for you"
He shook Wes's hand then pulled Buffy against him to kiss her when she was close enough. Wes cleared his throat then left the pair to be alone; Angel smirked against her mouth then looked at the door that had just swung shut.
Buffy ran her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck "We won" she smiled up at the euphoric look on his face, the last time she had seen him this content was when he was holding their newborn daughter for the first time.
"I know" he didn't need to say anything more so he kissed her a couple of times then let out a contented sigh "Let's go, Connor should be almost finished school for today" he linked his fingers through hers then they headed out.
Willow had arranged to take Sarah for a couple of hours to give them space to set up things for Connor to move immediately in their house. Angel knocked on the door to Darla's house to be greeted by her soon to be ex-husband Lindsey.
Both of them only had a handful of meetings, they acted civil but it was clear they didn't like each other "Come on in… the little wifey hasn't come back yet… sure you know where the sprout's room is" he flicked his long hair in the direction of the staircase, not surprised that they had shown up.
Angel brushed passed him and climbed the stairs in silence, Buffy entered the house and smiled nicely at Lindsey; she hadn't met him before but had heard of him. His cool blue eyes ran over her, lusting after her making her squirm "You know, for having a kid not that long ago you are gorgeous"
Rather than taking it as a compliment she snorted in derision "Thank you" he smirked at her response then let his eyes linger on her ass as she left the room and climbed up the stairs to where Angel was.
When they finished packing some of his clothes and toys they went back downstairs to see Lindsey sitting on the sofa with a glass of whiskey in his hand, he smirked at Buffy when she hid from his gaze, he knew he was being a creep but she was beautiful after all.
"Goodbye Angel, drop by anytime"
Angel rolled his eyes at the other man; he couldn't stand how smarmy the Texan was "Be seeing you Linds" it was unlikely that they would see each other again, he wanted nothing to do with Darla and now that they were separating they truly wouldn't have a reason to speak at all.
They packed up the car then headed towards the elementary school that Connor attended, Buffy remained silent, not wanting to cause an argument if she told Angel how much of a creep Lindsey had been; today was going to be a good day no matter what.
Angel rested upon his car and waiting until the last bell rang signalling the end of school, when he saw his little guy come out of school with his friends holding his bag he smiled. Connor felt a pair of eyes on him and grinned widely "Daddy!"
He ran towards his father and wrapped his free arm around his neck; Angel hoisted him up to his waist and smiled. Connor waved his cast clad arm around to show them both the fresh pen marks that more of his friends had left.
Buffy looked from father to son and smiled, Angel grinned as he looked at the cast then back to his son "Awesome! Con… how would you feel, if I said that you can come live with me; Buffy and Sarah… every single day?!"
The little boy opened his mouth "like always?" Angel nodded "…does that mean I never get to see mommy?" although he wasn't too fond of his mother, he still loved her but she was nothing compared to how Buffy treated him.
"No, you'll still get to see Mom… we can see her as much as you want but it's not going to be everyday" he could see the thoughts in his sons head work overtime to process what he had just told him, only a moment later Connor smiled adorably and reach to shake his hand.
Buffy shook his hand when he extended it to her then opened the car door to let him inside then she clipped him into his booster seat safely. Angel stared at her intently when she shut the door over, without saying anything he leaned over to kiss her.
They broke apart and looked to the back seat where the small cough had came from, sitting in his booster seat with his arms crossed over his chest Connor raised his eyebrow at them at the display of affection he'd rather not witness.
Angel smirked at his son then faced Buffy "Let's go home"