Okay, this is really the final chapter. I hope it's a good enough finish to this story, which I never thought that I would ever finish, but I'm glad that I have.

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Three years later…

The Plymouth GTX pulled up silently to the sidewalk, as Angel killed the engine and let out a sigh, looking out at the house he had parked outside: 1630 Revello Drive.

"You sure this is a good idea?" he asked.

Cordelia looked at him and cocked an eyebrow.

"Xander invited us to his wedding and it'd be kinda rude not to go. Me and him, we're friends and it's what friends do, even if we don't talk to each other much."

Angel glanced into the backseat, "I'm having second thoughts about bringing him."

She rolled her eyes at him, looking into the backseat at their two-month-old son, Connor, who was sound asleep in his crib. Cordelia smiled to herself as she gazed at her son, still unable to believe that she was a mother, especially considering that Angel was unable to have children. She had been immensely surprised when she discovered that she had fallen pregnant, but that had come at a price, as the Angel Investigations team spent the next several months fending off threats from demons, vampires and the evil law firm, Wolfram and Hart. But Connor had been born safe and sound, while Angel had taken care of all threats, save for Wolfram and Hart.

"If I recall, you were the one who insisted on bringing him," Cordelia replied.

"I couldn't bear the thought of leaving him behind," Angel tried to reason, "He's only little. I really don't think the others could've handled him."

"They would've been fine, Angel. Now come on. Time to face the music."

With a sigh, Angel got out of the car and prepared the stroller, as Cordelia unbuckled Connor and set him in the stroller, before heading to the front door and ringing the bell. Angel joined her, as the door swung open and a teenage girl stood before them.

"Hey, Dawn," Cordelia greeted with a smile, "We're finally here."

"Hi, Cordelia. Angel," Dawn said, "Ooh, who's the baby?"

"He's our son, Connor," Angel replied, "Your sister home?"

"Everyone's here. Come on in."

Angel nervously stepped inside, following Dawn as she led the way to the living room, where sure enough, everyone was there…including Spike. He was leaning against the far wall and frowned when he saw the stroller Angel was pushing.

"Hey guys, we made it," Cordelia greeted.

Everyone was silent, taking in the couple. While they were familiar with Angel and Cordelia being a couple, nothing had prepared them for the bundle of joy they had brought with them, especially Buffy. Having been resurrected a few months prior, Buffy had secretly been hoping that she could get back with Angel, wanting some measure of happiness following her removal from Heaven. But when she saw the baby in the stroller that Angel was pushing, her heart sank into the recesses of her chest.

"Glad you could make it," Xander said, breaking the silence and joining the couple, "So, tell me, who is this little bundle of joy?"

Cordelia smiled, tucking a strand of her short hair behind her ear, "He's my and Angel's son, Connor."

"That's impossible," Spike scoffed, "Vampires can't have kids."

"Somehow we did," Angel said, barely able to keep the growl out of his voice, "He's our miracle child."

Spike rolled his eyes, heading towards the kitchen, muttering something about needing a cigarette, as Willow, her girlfriend Tara and Xander's fiancée, Anya joined the couple, all peering into the stroller, as Connor unsuspectingly slept on.

"He's so little and cute," Anya said, "Xander, when we get married, I want a baby!"

"Whaa? Anya, maybe we should wait a while after we get married before we start having children," Xander tried to reason, "I'm not quite ready for that."

"Hey, can I hold him?" Dawn asked.

Cordelia and Angel shared a look, the former shrugging and gently took her son out of the stroller, before instructing Dawn on how to hold a baby, then gently placed Connor into Dawn's arms, watching over her, as Angel noticed Buffy hanging back. He saw her look of sadness and headed over to her, as she glanced at him.

"You look good," she said softly.

"Thanks, um, so do you," Angel replied, feeling somewhat awkward, "How you been?"

"Apart from being dead and resurrected? Fine," Buffy shrugged, "I guess congratulations are in order for you and Cordelia."

"Uh, yeah, thanks."

"So, how come you never told me about him? He looks to be a couple of months old and you didn't think to call me and tell me you suddenly had a son?"

"Look, we were all very busy," Angel said, "We were fighting threats off from all sides and it's only just now we've finally got some downtime."

Buffy didn't want to hear any more. Her dreams, her hopes had been irreconcilably dashed. She wanted a piece of the past back, but seeing now that Angel had a child with Cordelia, she knew that the past would never happen again and she felt both betrayed and destroyed. This wasn't the Angel she knew. She didn't know how, but he seemed different to her. Happier now, if she wanted to diagnose it right. Saying something about needing air, Buffy left the living room, heading upstairs to her room, as Angel watched her go with a sigh, before going back over to Cordelia.

"I'm going outside for a bit," he whispered to her.

"Not even five minutes and you're already blueing with Buffy," Cordelia said, just as Connor started to stir, "Don't be too far away, got it?"

Angel nodded and headed out the front door, going to a nearby tree and leaning against it with a sigh. This hadn't been what he'd been hoping for. He had hoped that he and Buffy could have a civil conversation, but things with Cordelia had muddled it up. He wanted Buffy to accept that he had moved on, knowing why she was upset, but he figured he must have gone the wrong way around it.

"Slayer's been pretty miserable since she came back," Spike said, rounding the tree and dusting his cigarette, "So don't feel too bad about it, Angel."

"I'm not…I was just…maybe I shouldn't have brought Connor."

"Maybe it's the right thing for her. She's been pining for you since Red pulled her out of Heaven, so perhaps your boy could be the wake up call she needs."

Angel glanced at his grandchilde, knowing exactly what he was hinting at.

"You're in love with her, aren't you?"

Spike was able to retort in denial, but when his grandsire held the gaze, he deflated with a defeated sigh, digging in his coat for another cigarette.

"Yeah, I guess I am. Have been for years. S'why I turned up at her prom, even though I didn't realise it at the time. But she doesn't believe that I love her. I mean, we were getting somewhere, but then she died and since she came back, it's been…funny."

"I don't know if this is right, but you need to talk to her," Angel said.

"I've been trying," Spike cried, "You think I haven't tried? She shoots me down. Says that being a soulless being, I'm incapable of love. Ridiculous, right?"

"Just try harder, but not too hard. Just talk to her, but don't be an idiot about it."

Spike frowned at him, "Why the bloody hell are you pushing me towards your soul mate? Shouldn't you be staking me instead?"

Angel shook his head, "I love Buffy. Always will. But I'm not in love with her. I'm in love with Cordelia. We have a family. She's my soul mate, not Buffy. She's my future. Buffy needs to realise that I'm not the one for her. Someone else is. You."

"Never thought I'd see the day when the great Angelus lectures me on love."

"She has some kind of feelings for you, Spike. You just need to bring them out."

Patting Spike on the shoulder, Angel headed back inside, as Spike thought about his words, before heading towards the back of the house, spying Buffy sitting outside her bedroom window. She hadn't noticed him, as he silently climbed up the latticework, until he was standing beside her and took his place beside her.

"Sky's looking pretty nice tonight," he said.

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Dawn looked scared at the prospect of a crying baby in her arms, so just as Connor started to cry, Cordelia scooped her son out of the teenager's arms, while digging around in the baby bag for the bottle of milk, uncapping it and putting the teat into Connor's mouth, quietening him down, while stunning the others.

"Wow," Willow said, "You've really changed so much since we've last seen you. I mean, look at you, you're a full-on mother, embracing motherhood."

"It has its moments," Cordelia said with a smile, "But it's really the best thing that's ever happened to me. Apart from becoming half-demon, but even better."

"Wait, what?" Xander cried, "You're half-demon?"

"Yes. I get visions of people in danger and Angel goes out and save them, but they had been literally killing me. And after Connor was born, I was visited by a messenger from the Powers That Be, who made me half-demon so they wouldn't kill me."

"Queen C, becoming half-demon. Usually, you run screaming from them."

"They're not all that bad. We know this one demon, he's a really great friend. And just simply the best singer I've ever known," Cordelia said, "Maybe if Angel finally proposes, he could sing at our wedding."

"Angel hasn't proposed?" Dawn asked.

"Nah. That's just so like him. He's cheap. But we really have been busy, I just don't think there's been enough time, especially now with Connor."

"I'm still curious as how vampires can have babies," Anya said, "If it was really possible, there would be vampire babies everywhere. Imagine that, especially when you go to br-"

"Okay, Ahn," Xander said, cutting her off, "We don't need to hear it."

Cordelia smiled, "It's not that bad, Xander. It's all good for the baby. Thankfully, Connor doesn't have any cravings for blood. He's just a normal human baby."

"So how do we know that it's really Angel's?" Anya asked, "I've heard-"

"Anya!" Xander cried, "Cordy says he's Angel, he's Angel. I mean, they've been together since near end of high school and-"

"Yes, I remember that. I was there at prom, remember?"

Xander collapsed onto the couch with an exasperated sigh, causing Cordelia to smile. She looked down at Connor, seeing that he had finished the bottle and she placed him over her shoulder, patting his back until he burped and began to nod off again.

"There we go," Cordelia smiled, laying Connor down, "All better now. Diaper changes are probably the only bad thing. Angel refuses to do it. He says something about his super sense of smell being very sensitive. He's such a man-baby."

"How does he sleep at night?" Tara asked, speaking up for the first time.

"He has his nights," Cordelia replied, "At most, he's really good, sleeping the entire night, but then there's nights when Angel and I are up most of the night trying to put him to sleep. Lorne's the best at putting him to sleep, with his crooning and all."

"So, Cordy, is it really true that Wesley is working for you?" Willow asked.

"Actually, he's the boss. Angel had some issues last year and left the business, so Wesley took over and he's been the boss ever since. But he's a really good friend and he doesn't have much of a stick up his ass. I'd trust him with my life."

At that moment, Angel came inside, sitting down beside Cordelia, but not before kissing her atop her head, his arm going around her waist and pulling her close.

"Everything alright?" she asked.

"Is now," he replied with a small smile.

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Connor stayed quiet throughout the wedding, which went off without a hitch and when Xander and Anya were pronounced as husband and wife, Cordelia glanced at Angel, sending him a silent message that caused him to swallow, setting a mental note to start searching for a ring once they got back to Los Angeles. At the reception, Cordelia chatted with Willow and Tara, while Angel kept to himself, watching over his son, who slept soundly in his carrycot. Soon, it was time for the newlyweds to begin their dance and afterwards, other couples joined in, with Cordelia literally dragging Angel to the floor after Dawn promised to keep an eye on Connor. During the dance, Angel noticed that Spike had managed to get Buffy onto the floor and the two vampires shared a quick nod. Before too long, the reception finished and everyone began their journey home, as Buffy made her way over to Angel and Cordelia. The couple shared a quick word, as Cordelia picked up Connor in his carrycot and headed outside to wait for Angel, as he turned to Buffy.

"So, you're heading back to Los Angeles in the morning?" she asked.

"Yeah, we will be," Angel replied, "I don't know when we'll see each other again."

"Perhaps when you and Cordelia get married?"

"Unless you and Spike get to the altar before us. You should give it a chance, Buffy," Angel said when she began to make a face, "Spike cares about you. That's something. I know Spike and he would do anything for you. You don't get many guys like that."

"No, I guess not," Buffy said, "I suppose you're right. I mean, you're really happy with Cordelia and I should let you guys be with that. I'll find my own happiness."

"I hope you do, Buffy."

He stepped forth and gave her a hug, which didn't last long in her opinion, as he then left the building, rejoining Cordelia as Buffy watched them head off into the night, saying goodbye to her past, knowing that it was time to move on.

'Cause I don't know who I am, who I am without you.

All I know is that I should.

And I don't know if I could stand another hand upon you.

All I know is that I should.

'Cause she will love you more than I could.

She who dares to stand where I stood.

Oh, she who dares to stand where I stood.

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Annnd finish! I hope you guys enjoy this epilogue and I would like to say thanks for all the reviews, alerts and favourites. I know it has been a long time, but the end is finally here. So thank you once more and farewell.