WARNING: This chapter has sex in it, but it's not very graphic.

How it should have been - Chapter 14

The next day Connor kept watching the clock waiting for four o'clock to roll around. When it was three, he was done with all his tutoring, and he went to find Angel. Angel was in his office and looked up when Connor came in. Connor said, "Hey. I'm gonna call Julie in an hour, and I was going to ask her to see a movie tonight."

"Okay. As long as you still have time to finish all your other responsibilities that's fine with me."

"Um….I was wondering…"

"What?"

"I remember when we went to the movies that it was kind of expensive, and I have some money left, but not much…."

Angel stood and got a couple of twenties out of his wallet. He said, "Here."

Connor was happy that it had been so easy. He took the money and said, "Thanks."

Angel said, "How are you going to get there?"

"Run."

"No, I mean how are the two of you going to get to the movies?"

"Walk?"

Angel pulled out a couple more twenties and said, "We'll have to teach you how to drive soon, and get you your drivers license. For now take a cab. Do you know how to do that?"

"No."

Angel got the phone book and wrote down a number for Connor on one of his business cards. He said, "Just call this number and tell them the address you're at, and they'll come get you, and drive you where you want to go. They charge you by the mile, and you should give them a little more money then it actually costs for a tip."

"Okay. Thanks."

Angel put a hand on Connor's shoulder and said, "You're welcome. I just hope I can meet her soon."

Connor called Julie right at four o'clock and set up a date for eight that night. He finished up his hours with Fred and Gunn before he left.

Connor ran to pick up Julie. He knocked on her door and when she answered, he just stood there staring for a few seconds. She had on a tight green top that exposed her midriff and a short black skirt that showed off her legs. Connor couldn't think of much of anything while he stared at her. She smiled and said, "I thought I should dress up for our first real date."

Connor tried to say 'yeah', but the sound that came out was more like, "yah-huh."

Julie pulled him down for a kiss. When they were done Connor said, "You look good."

"Thanks."

"We should call the cab, and then while we wait, we can decide what movie to see."

"Okay, come on in."

They called the cab, and looked at movie times on the internet while they waited. Things went well at the movies, and when they were getting ready to call the cab to leave Julie said, "I had a really good time Connor. Thanks for taking me."

"I had fun too."

"All day yesterday I was thinking about Fred and meeting her, and I was wondering when I could meet your dad and the rest of your friends."

Connor sighed and said, "I guess we could go right now if you wanted to take the cab there."

Julie smiled and said, "That would be cool."

Connor and Julie arrived at the hotel half an hour later. Connor went in and kept a hand on Julie's hand. He yelled out, "Hello. Anyone here?"

Angel came out of his office and was pleased to see Connor and a girl he assumed was Julie. He smiled and said, "Hi."

Connor said, "Where is everyone?"

"Fred and Gunn decided to go on a date too. Wesley already went home, and Lorne…Lorne went to karaoke night at the bar down the street."

Angel shuddered at that last one. Connor frowned and said, "Oh well, I brought Julie to meet everyone, but I guess she just gets to meet you."

Julie let go of Connor and walked over to Angel. She held out her hand and said, "Nice to meet you…Connor's dad."

Angel smiled and shook her hand. He said, "It's Angel, and it's nice to meet you too. Did you kids have a good time?"

"I did. Did you Connor?"

"Yes."

Angel said, "Would you guys like to have some coffee or something? I think there's some leftover pie in the refrigerator."

Julie said, "Thanks, but I should be getting home. I have to get up for class tomorrow at eight."

"Okay, well thanks for stopping by, and I hope to see you again soon."

Julie went back over to Connor, and as they were going up the steps Julie figured she was out of Angel's hearing range and whispered to Connor, "Your dad's hand was cold. It felt like that horrible vampire you took me to see."

Connor closed his eyes and shook his head at his luck. He looked behind him to see Angel who had lost his smile, and had one eyebrow up questioningly. Julie said, "Connor?"

Connor looked at Julie and whispered back, "He doesn't have very good circulation."

As they got to the door Angel called, "See you later son."

Connor didn't reply. As Connor opened the door for Julie she whispered, "And he looks so young. He must have been a teenager when you were borne."

Angel could just make out Connor's reply of, "He's older than he looks. And besides in this dimension, it's only been seven months since I was born." before they were out of range.

The whole way back to Julie's place Connor was distracted and didn't talk much. When they got to Julie's dorm Connor forgot to pay the cab driver until the guy yelled at him. Julie was able to distract him for a few seconds with a long kiss, but then she said goodnight, and Connor was alone. He decided to walk back to the hotel instead of taking a cab or running. He thought, 'If I walk really slowly, it might take me an hour to get back. And hey if I get attacked and have to kill something along the way, well that won't be my fault.'

An hour later he was standing outside the hotel, and thinking about trying to sneak in his window. After another five minutes of thinking about it, he took a deep breath and went through the front door. Angel went to his office door as soon as he heard the hotel door open. Angel leaned against the office doorframe with his arms crossed and looked at Connor expectantly. Connor sighed and said, "I had to show her. She was walking around at night, and didn't believe me when I told her why that wasn't safe."

"So you put her in danger to keep her safe?"

Connor went to sit on the round couch in the lobby and said, "No. Not exactly. Well, maybe. It was just the one time."

"And when was that?"

Connor looked down at the floor and muttered, "A few days ago."

"I see. Why don't you come into my office, and we can talk about it some more."

Connor got up and slowly walked over to the office door. Angel stepped back and held the door open until Connor was through. Connor sat in one of the chairs and Angel shut the door behind them. Angel moved the chair that was next to Connor and put it directly across from Connor and sat down. He said, "I can't imagine that you went to go hunting at seven in the morning, so when was it?"

"Two thirty."

"When you told me you'd been seeing Julie every morning, was that a lie?"

"Two thirty is morning."

Angel asked, "Didn't I just spank you for lying by omission? Didn't I tell you that if you were out doing something that I probably wouldn't approve of, and then kept it from me that it was the same as lying?"

"Yes."

"And you didn't think this counted? Or maybe I didn't make a strong enough impression on you."

"You were already mad! I didn't want to make it worse."

"Well it's worse now then if you had told me about it then. Tell me exactly what you did."

"I snuck out right after going to bed, and met her at her dorm room. We tracked a vampire to the sewer, where I killed it."

"You took her into the sewer?"

"Yeah."

Angel shook his head and stood up to start pacing. He said, "And when did she touch it?"

"I sort of got knocked against the wall, and he….kind of grabbed her….and maybe tried to bite her."

Angel said, "I can't believe she's still talking to you! It sounds to me like you almost got her killed."

Connor got defensive. "At least when she was with me I had a good chance of protecting her. It would be worse if she didn't believe in vampires and got killed walking home alone at night."

Angel said, "You know Connor if you would just talk to me about things you would avoid a lot of trouble, both for yourself, and for other people. If you had told me about it, and convinced me that you really wanted her to believe in vampires, we could have caught one and brought it here to show her, and then we would have had the whole team for backup."

Connor thought about it. He said, "I didn't occur to me that you would do something like that."

"I wouldn't do it just any time, but since she's someone you're seeing I would find a way to show her that was safer than what you did."

Connor nodded and then Angel said, "Is there any thing else you want to tell me about? Any thing else you did, that you know I wouldn't like, while you were seeing her?"

"No."

Angel sighed. "If you had told me the morning I found out you were seeing Julie, I would have given you a few extra swats, and it would have been done. Now you get a whole new spanking."

Connor just glared at the floor. Angel picked up the hairbrush that he had put in his office right after Connor had left with Julie, and sat back down in his chair. He said, "Come on. Let's get it over with."

Connor stood and walked the couple of steps to Angel's side. Angel said, "Pants down."

Connor cringed and undid his jeans. Before Connor could push them down, Angel pulled Connor down across his lap, and pushed the jeans and underwear out of the way. He started spanking hard and fast. Connor yelped at the first couple of swats, and then the thought flashed through his head, 'What would Julie think about this?'

Connor bit his lip to keep silent as he felt his face heat up with shame at the thought of the girl he liked seeing this. He yelled, "You have no right to humiliate me like this."

Angel stopped in mid swing. He said, "I'm not doing this to humiliate you Connor. I'm doing it to help you. I want you to learn how to be a man in this society, and a champion. I have to teach you everything you need to know about life and this world in a year, and I can't fail you. I love you more than I can put into words. I know you hate it when I spank you, but I also know that it works."

Angel paused for a second and then started spanking Connor again and said, "You don't lie to me Connor, and you don't hide things from me because you think I'll be angry."

While Angel was talking Connor was listening intently, and thought about who he was when he first came to this dimension, and who he was now. His face heated up a second time thinking about what Julie might have thought of him wearing his animal skins and going off to take vengeance on a drug dealer because one of his junkies died. Or what she would think of him trying to kill his biological father. Then the spanking started again, and his mind was brought to focus on the reason for it. After twenty swats Connor was wiggling around involuntarily. He yelled, "Okay! Aahhh! I got it! Owww! No lying, and….Owww…no hiding things!"

Angel then said, "Good, now the rest of this is for taking Julie to hunt the vampire. Really not your best idea Connor."

Connor was soon crying, and Angel stopped once he thought he had gotten his point across. He tossed the brush on the floor, and pulled Connor's pants up. Then he turned Connor over and held him on his lap. Connor rested his head on Angel's shoulder and cried softly while Angel hugged him close. Angel said, "I don't know if this will help you or not Connor, but I want you to know that I'm not going to be spanking you forever. I do expect that there will come a time, probably in the next year or two when you won't need it. I kind of think of this time as retraining. Holtz taught you a lot of things that weren't right, and I have to fix those things if I can. But you have to know that I hate doing it. I don't like to see you in pain, and believe me, I remember what it's like to enjoy watching people in pain. But by giving you a little bit of pain now to change your behavior, I'm trying to prevent you from having much more pain later."

Connor was feeling better about it, and was extremely happy to hear that Angel did see an end in sight to this arrangement of theirs. He pushed himself off Angel's lap and wiped his face. He said with some humor, "I would call it more than a LITTLE pain."

Angel laughed and stood up next to Connor. He put a hand on his shoulder and said, "Try a hundred years in hell. Trust me its a little pain."

Connor said, "I'm tired. I'm going to go finish my homework and go to bed."

"Okay. Sleep well."

Connor headed towards the door, but then stopped right before he went out. He turned around and said, "Hey Dad."

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for….for keeping me here."

Angel was at a loss for words. Connor turned and went upstairs. Angel had a big grin on his face the rest of the evening.

The next day was Saturday, and Connor knew Julie didn't have any classes, so he was hoping to see her during the day. He planned to ask Angel if it would be all right at breakfast. When he walked in the kitchen he saw Fred sitting on Gunn's lap, and they were kissing. Fred heard the noise, and stood up quickly and wiped at her mouth. She smiled at Connor and said, "Morning. I made some scrambled eggs if you want some."

Connor decided things were definitely back to normal for the two of them. He had caught them kissing on more than one occasion in the four months he had lived with them. He smiled and said, "Thanks Fred."

As Connor was finishing his plate of eggs, Angel came in and gave everyone a short wave of hello. After Angel had a mug of warm blood in his hands Connor said, "Hey Dad, Julie doesn't have any classes today, so I thought maybe I could see her around lunch time. I mean her lunch time, around noon."

Angel took a sip and said, "I guess. As long as you finish up all your other stuff sometime today it's fine. And you should know that the first time you see her and don't get all your other stuff done, you won't be seeing her the following day."

Connor nodded and said, "That's fare."

Angel was surprised at how mature that sounded, and it showed. Connor smiled and said, "I've decided to prove to you that one year of retraining is more than enough."

Angel nodded and smiled.

Connor called Julie and asked her if she wanted to go out to lunch. She offered to take him to a restaurant that she liked which was right next to the campus. Connor did his tutoring with Wesley and Lorne, and then went to meet Julie for lunch. They had a nice lunch together, and on the way back to Julie's dorm room Connor thought about how glad he was that Angel had made him stay at the hotel. He wondered where he would be now if Angel hadn't gone looking for him. He was pretty sure it wouldn't be as nice as what he was doing now. When they got to Julie's dorm room she said, "Do you have to get back right away?"

"No."

"You wanna come in for a little while?"

"Okay."

Connor went in and stood by the window while Julie shut and locked the door behind her. Julie went and sat on the bed. She said, "Why don't you come sit by me?"

"Okay."

Connor sat next to her, and she put her hands on his face and pulled him down for a longer kiss. Soon he felt her hand on his knee, and it slowly moved up his thigh. He jumped a little when her hand got to his groin. She stopped the kiss and took off her shirt as she said, "Have you ever been with a girl Connor?"

Connor looked confused and said, "I've been with you lots of times."

Julie smiled and said, "No, I mean have you had sex before?"

"Sex? I don't know."

Julie's smile got bigger and she said, "If you don't know, then you probably haven't."

Julie took Connor's hand and brought it up to cup her bra. She said, "Would you like me to take this off."

Connor stared at her bra and nodded. He let go of her when she reached behind her and undid the clasp. She took it off and he just sat staring. She reached for the bottom of Connor's tee shirt, and pushed it up as she said, "Your turn."

Connor helped her take off his shirt. Once they were both topless Julie lie back on her pillow and said, "Come kiss me."

Connor lay on his side next to her and they kissed for a while and explored each other's skin. After a few minutes of this Connor stopped and said, "Do you want to mate with me?"

Julie looked at him confused and said, "Mate?"

Connor said, "You know, like mating season, when the animals mate, except people do it anytime of year."

Julie said, "Yes. I want to mate with you. Sex is a different word for the same thing."

Connor smiled and kissed her again while trying to get out of his pants.

A while later Connor and Julie lay on the bed cuddled together relaxing. Connor said, "That was amazing."

Julie said, "Yes it was."

Connor gave her another kiss and said, "But I really should get going. If I don't get back soon, someone will come looking for me."

Julie said, "Okay. Will you come see me tomorrow?"

Connor kissed her and said, "No one could stop me."

When he got home Connor walked into Angel's office and sat down. Angel looked up for a second to see who it was and then looked back at his paperwork. He said, "So how was…"

Angel looked back up and sniffed the air. He got up and walked closer to Connor and sniffed again. He said with disbelief, "You had sex."

Connor smiled easily, "Yes. It was good. I liked it."

Angel stared at his son for a few seconds. He blinked and said, "What?"

Connor spoke slowly as if he were talking to a child, "I enjoyed it. I plan to do it again…..Is there a problem?"

Angel shook his head. "You've only known Julie for a week!"

"I know, that's why I was so pleased that she chose to mate with me."

"Mate?"

"Oh, sorry, have sex."

Angel couldn't believe how casual Connor was about it. He said, "Did you at least use protection?"

"You mean like a sword or something? No, but I can hear well enough to stop and get ready to fight before anyone could attack. She was safe."

Angel stood there for a few seconds trying to understand what had gone wrong. He opened his office door and yelled, "Wesley!"

Wesley and Fred were researching a demon together when they heard Angel yell. Wesley looked questioningly at Fred. She shrugged and said, "I don't know."

Wesley went in to Angel's office. Angel shut the door behind them. He crossed his arms and said, "Connor had sex."

Wesley looked from Angel to Connor and back to Angel again. He looked fairly uncomfortable and said, "I don't see what that has to do with me."

Connor mumbled to himself, "Me either."

Angel tossed his hands in the air in frustration and said, "You were the one who tested him for knowledge of this world! How did sex education not come up?"

Wesley looked even more uncomfortable and said, "We went over anatomy. He could name all the….parts and their functions. He was able to explain pregnancy and what happens to a woman's body."

Connor laughed and said, "Why are you talking about pregnancy? I didn't go out and marry her."

Wesley said, "Oh my."

Angel said, "Exactly."

They both looked at Connor who said, "What?"

Angel grabbed a fist full of Wesley's shirt and said, "Fix this."

Wesley hissed, "You fix it."

"You're the teacher."

"He's your son."

Connor was getting a little uneasy. Angel said, "Okay, we'll both do it."

Angel pushed Wesley into a seat and took one himself. He looked at Connor and said, "I don't know where to start."

Wesley said, "Why don't you tell me what having sex means to you Connor. What is the reason for it."

"The reason for it? I'm not sure. On Quar-toth Holtz and I saw many different beasts mating. Usually the most powerful male was the one who got to mate with the most females. The females trust the strongest males to protect them and help them find food, and so they stay with those males. Sex feels good, so I guess sex is like a reward for being the most powerful male around."

Angel shook his head and said, "Jeez, don't let Fred hear you say that."

Wesley said, "Or any girl for that matter. Sex is supposed to be enjoyable for the woman as well as the man. Did Holtz tell you that sex was like a reward for the male?"

"No, I just figured it out from watching things around me. Like Gunn and Fred. He's the most powerful male of her species here, so she has chosen him to mate with, and he protects her."

Angel groaned and said, "What did Holtz tell you about sex?"

"He said it was a good time to hunt, because the animals were distracted."

"No, I mean what did he tell you about you having sex."

Connor looked up to the ceiling thinking. He said, "I don't think we ever talked about it. There were no females of my species in Quar-toth. I had never seen a human female before coming to this dimension, so why would we talk about me having sex with one?"

Angel looked frustrated. Wesley said, "What did Holtz tell you about marriage?"

Connor got a serious look and said, "He often talked of his wife and how he missed her. He said that a man wasn't really a man until he had a wife, because you have to have a wife before you can have a child to carry on your family name and traditions. He said once a man is married, he is responsible for the care and protection of his wife and children for the rest of his life."

Wesley continued the questioning. "How does a woman become pregnant?"

"God."

"I'm afraid I don't follow."

"Once a man and woman are married, God decides when they should have a child, and then He allows the woman to become pregnant."

Angel said, "Did Holtz tell you this?"

Connor looked at Angel and said, "Yes. He also told me that the Devil was the one who allowed Darla to become pregnant. He said God didn't think you were worthy of a child, and that's why God put me in his care, to protect me from you."

Angel was getting more and more frustrated with the conversation and said, "How could you not question that Conner? I mean you've been here for four months now. I know I've only been around for the past month of that, but haven't you watched enough TV, and seen enough people to know that most of what Holtz told you was a lie?"

Connor got defensive. "How should I know what to believe? Every time I ask about something that happened on TV Gunn, Fred, or you tell me it's not real. You say it's just pretend, and that those things aren't really happening unless it's the news or sports. And the only people I know are here. The only other people I meet are new clients, and all of you lie to them about what's really happening. I don't see what your problem is anyway. Gunn and Fred mate all the time. Wesley and Lilah mate all the time and he doesn't even trust her. Lorne doesn't mate, but he doesn't have anyone of his own species here to mate with. You're just jealous because I've found a girl who wants to mate with me, and Cordy left you."

Angel closed his eyes and counted to ten in his head. He said, "I'm sorry I've failed you in this area Connor."

Angel turned to Wesley and said, "Time for Sex Ed. 101."

Wesley said, "And we haven't even talked about diseases."

Angel said, "Oh God! I didn't even think….Oh God."

Connor looked nervous and said, "What diseases?"

Wesley thought about it for a minute. He looked to Connor and said, "Have you ever been sick Connor? Can you ever remember having a runny nose, or a sore throat? Have you ever vomited?"

"No. Holtz used to get sick all the time. He said it was because of the monster."

"What monster?"

"The monster inside me that made me heal fast. He said it also stopped me from getting sick the way I was supposed to. He always made me fast and say extra prayers when he got sick, because the monster was too strong to let the sickness get me."

Angel felt ill hearing more about the way Holtz had twisted Connor's sense of himself.

Wesley turned to Angel and said, "I doubt he can get any diseases, sexually transmitted or other. He should be tested of course both now, and a few months from now for AIDS and the others, but I doubt it will ever be a problem for him."

Angel thought about what he had heard. He looked at Connor and said, "I know I've told you before, but I'm telling you again, there is no monster in you. If Holtz had been a real father to you, he would have been grateful that you didn't get sick when he did. I hope Wes is right."

An hour later, a fully informed and somewhat dazed Connor came out of the office. He went to his room and sat there thinking for half an hour. Then Gunn yelled at him from the bottom of the stairs, "Connor! Phone!"

Connor went down the stairs, and saw everyone in the lobby. There was only one person who would be calling him, and he didn't really feel like talking in front of everyone so he asked Angel, "Could I use your office?"

Angel nodded and Connor went in and shut the door. He picked up the phone and said, "Hello."

Julie said, "Connor?"

Connor could tell right away that something was wrong. He said, "Are you okay?"

Connor could hear Julie crying, and he said, "Julie?"

"My….my mom. She's dead."

Connor felt a rush of emotions. He remembered how he felt when Holtz died, and felt awful that Julie now had to feel that kind of emotional pain. He felt useless, because he didn't know what to do to help, and he felt angry that this happened just as their relationship was starting out. He said, "I'm so sorry. Do you want me to come over? Is there anything you want me to do?"

Julie couldn't talk for a few minutes because she was crying. She said, "No…I…I have to go home. I'm…taking the next flight. Dad set up the ticket. The cab is waiting. I just can't believe she's gone…"

Connor didn't know what to say or do. There was silence while Julie cried. He said, "When will you be back?"

"I don't know."

"Will you call me?"

"Yes."

"I'll miss you."

"Me too. I have to go."

"Okay."

"Bye."

Julie hung up the phone. Connor stood there looking at the phone for a minute, and then ripped it off the desk and smashed it against the office wall.