Chapter 21: A Day In L.A.
Cordelia's eyes widened when Angel strolled through the door of the Hyperion
hotel around noon. The door shut behind him and she kept staring at it but nobody seemed to follow him.
"Hi," she said, but frowned. Angel. On his own. On a Saturday. In L.A. Something
wasn't quite right.
"Hello Cordelia," he flashed her a smile and then walked over to his office and
sat down on his leather chair flipping through the mail.
The brunette's frown became harder and she shook her head before she stood and
followed the former vampire, stopping before completely entering his office and
leaning at the doorframe. When he didn't instantly look up she patted her hand
impatiently against her thigh.
He raised an eyebrow but not his head, "You wanted something?"
"What the hell is going on here?," she asked, watching him through lowered
lashes.
"What should be going on?"
"You tell me and didn't anyone tell you not to answer a question with another.
It's very impolite." She crossed her arms in front of her chest, her face clearly showing that she was expecting an explanation.
Angel sighed and put the mail away, then finally looked at her, "Nothing's going
on here, Cordelia."
"But it is Saturday and you're here."
"And? You're here too, right?"
"Right," she agreed, "but that's just because Gunn had to work on a case this
morning, but he'll be here soon and ... I'm *so* getting off track here. What I meant was that you're in L.A. On a weekend. On your own. Where's Buffy?"
"Parking the car," he replied, an amused smile playing around his lips.
She relaxed a little bit, "So she is with you, well then I think ... wait, what
did you just say? She's parking the car? But you never ever let anyone drive that car! And Buffy even can't drive very good."
"She can drive very well," he said, grinning now, "and it's her car as well as
mine."
"Her ...," further thoughts were interrupted when Cordelia felt a hand on her
shoulder.
"Hi Cordy, nice to see you," Buffy gave her a smile and then walked over to
occupy the other chair in Angel's office.
"Something odd is going on," Cordelia's gaze went back and forth between former
vampire and slayer. "There has to be a reason why you're both here."
"There has to be?," the blonde raised a brow.
"Yo, Angel," came Gunn's voice from the hall and a second later he stood beside
his wife in the doorway. "What's up? Already tired of good old Sunnydale?"
"Not quite," the former vampire smiled slightly, "Hi Gunn."
"Buffy," the black man made a bow. "What honour to have you here."
She giggled in response, "Did anyone tell you that you're crazy."
Gunn put a flat hand over his heart, "Me?," he raised a brow in mocked annoyance, "You can't possible mean me?"
His wife punched him on his arm, "Stop it. She's taken. There's no need to flirt
and by the way, if you've forgotten it, you're married."
He scratched his blank head, "I knew there was something."
Cordelia shook her head and rolled her eyes, but then turned back to Buffy,
"Would you now please care to tell us what's going on here. Angel's in full
cryptic-mood and driving me crazy."
The former vampire winked at Gunn, who grinned and the brunette shot both a nasty look.
"Actually," the former slayer began and instantly Cordelia spun around, "there's
something we wanted to tell you. Angel and I are getting married."
"Congrats," Gunn gave his friend and the blonde a genuine smile. "But are you
sure what you're getting yourself into?," he joked.
"Well, of course you're getting married," his wife wasn't impressed. "I pretty
much expected it sooner or later. And for this you came to L.A.?"
"Well," Angel grinned. "There's something else." He exchanged a loving glance
with his future wife and then said, "Buffy and I are going to have a baby."
"A ... a baby?," Cordelia stared at both for a long moment, while Gunn grinned
beside her and winked at the expecting parents.
Seeing that his wife seemed frozen in place he tentatively touched her arm,
"Cordy, are you alright?"
She ignored him, but her eyes narrowed and under her lowered lashes her eyes shot daggers at the former slayer, "How could you do this to him?," she hissed.
"Cordelia...," Angel tried to interrupt her, but she would have none of it.
"You ... you bitch," she stepped closer to Buffy, "And I thought you loved him.
How could you betray him?"
"I...," Buffy tried to say, but had no chance to explain.
"And of course because he loves you so much and is the perfect gentlemen he takes it as if it's his," she stopped only a feet away, planted her fists at her hips and stared down at the blonde. "God, if I had known how you really are, I'd never have tried to get you two back together. I really should've known. You were always a superficial, shallow ..."
"Cordelia!" This time Angel's voice was loud and demanding and her head snapped
around in response.
"What?," she asked irritated.
"This is my baby, Cordelia. I am the father."
"But that's not possible, you told me yourself that you're infertile and ..."
"That's what I thought. But it is possible if the partner is a slayer or an
ex-slayer for that matter," he explained, his voice soft now.
"Oh," was all she said and wanted to die on the spot. She felt the colour
creeping up on her face and closed her eyes in embarrassment.
Angel stood up and walked over to her, laying a hand on her shoulder, "But it's
very sweet of you to protect me like this. I'm really moved."
She slowly opened her eyes again, "Can you please forget about it? Please? God,
Buffy," a little laugh escaped her lips, "I am so sorry! I just ... God, I'm
sorry. You must think I'm crazy."
"No," the blonde replied softly. "I just think you love him very much."
Cordelia cleared her throat and frowned before looking at Angel again, "Sorry,"
she smiled sheepishly.
"No need," he smiled back and kissed her lightly on the cheek, "Thanks for being
my friend," he whispered in her ear.
"You're welcome," she whispered back and they both shared a smile.
"Alright then, after we now know it's my baby, Buffy and I thought about inviting you for lunch. What do you say? And by the way, where's Wes?"
"Who knows?," the brunette sighed. "He has a girlfriend, did you know?"
"A girlfriend? Wesley?," Buffy burst out laughing.
"Yeah, well. And she's even nice," Cordelia assured her. "Anyway. Said girlfriend took him for a short trip to Mexico. She loves tacos and Tequilla she said," now the brunette grinned, "Wes will be back tomorrow night and only God knows in what condition."
They all laughed thinking about the ex-watcher in some Mexican bar drinking too
much alcohol and they laughed even harder about the hangover he'd probably have
afterwards.
***
"This was nice for sure," Buffy unlocked the door to their house and opened it
wide for Ashlynn and Angel who was carrying a sleeping David.
"What was nice?," the little girl asked.
"Your mother and I went to lunch with Cordelia and Gunn," the former vampire
explained, shifting David in his arms who was getting heavy. Incredible how much
a little boy could weight.
"I'll better put him into his bed," Buffy reached out her arms and took David
from Angel. "He's out cold," she grinned and walked towards the stairs. "Maybe
you could start preparing dinner?," she gave Angel a pleading look and then
turned to her daughter, "Ashlynn, please set up the table, will you. There'll
be," she closed her eyes for a moment, thinking, "Eight of us, seven if you don't want to eat with us, it's up to you."
"I'll eat with you," her daughter replied quickly, not liking the idea of having
dinner with the smaller kids. When the friends met, they usually got the kids fed and then went to their own meals. But Ashlynn felt much too old already to be treated like them. She liked the idea of dining with the grown ups.
"Little One," Angel stroked over her head and she beamed up at him in response.
He couldn't have loved her more if she'd been really his, he thought. Genes did
only count so much. "Take the dishes in the living room, so you won't have to
carry everything from the kitchen, okay?"
"'kay," she answered with a smile. How could a father not be enchanted by someone like this. How could he just leave town and not care how she was. Brent probably thought Buffy would inform him if something happened to Ashlynn. But how could he bear not to be with her as often as possible. See her smile, see her falling asleep? Angel shook his head, his thoughts would be leaving nowhere and he also had to admit that the idea of having Brent around all the time wasn't that appealing to him. Well, at least he would do his best to make her forget her father was obviously caring so little for her.
"Heavy thoughts?," Buffy's voice came from the doorway.
"No, not really," he replied and opened to fridge to get the vegetables. "I just
can't understand how Brent can stand to be apart from her."
"Oh Angel," she smiled, her eyes filling, and came over to him, hugging him
around the waist and leaning her head against his back. "I don't know. To think
she'd be far away from me ... I would miss her so terribly."
He turned around to face her, "I'm sorry I've brought it up, I didn't mean to
make you sad," he apologised.
She shook her head, "It's okay. You should've seen him when she was a little
baby. He was so fond of her. He was carrying her around all the time. But when he realised our marriage wasn't working the way he wanted it, he grew distant. Not only with me, but especially with her." She sighed, "I don't understand what was going on in his head, still don't."
"It's his loss, that's for certain," he told her with a smile. "This way I get to be around her all the time."
"I love you," she stood on tiptoe and kissed him. The kiss was about to deepen,
when suddenly Ashlynn's voice disturbed them.
"Yuck," she made and covered her eyes. "Will this go on the whole evening,
because if I'll better go upstairs."
Angel pulled back from his future wife, "You," he said in a playful threat and
approached her. She began to giggle and ran towards the living-room. He caught up with her and scooped her up in his arms, tickling her and making her squeal.
"N-no, N-no," she stammered between laughter, "Angel, noooo," she shrieked.
He stopped tickling her, but still held her close. Her arms came to encircle his
neck. "I really love you, little one," he said, kissing her cheek.
"I love you too," she tightened the hold around his neck. "I'm so glad you're
living with us now. Are you glad?"
"I am," he replied. "Very much," his voice was hoarse and muffled because his
face was burried in her hair. When he looked up again he saw she was watching
him. "What?," he asked.
"Grandma said you were alone for very long. Now that you've got us, you won't be
alone anymore," she kissed him again, then wriggled down from his arms. "I set up the table, but now I've got to go for a moment. April (her doll) needs to go to bed." With this she raced from the room and up the stairs, leaving Angel to get a hold on his emotions. How did he ever get so lucky, he wondered.
End Part 21.
Cordelia's eyes widened when Angel strolled through the door of the Hyperion
hotel around noon. The door shut behind him and she kept staring at it but nobody seemed to follow him.
"Hi," she said, but frowned. Angel. On his own. On a Saturday. In L.A. Something
wasn't quite right.
"Hello Cordelia," he flashed her a smile and then walked over to his office and
sat down on his leather chair flipping through the mail.
The brunette's frown became harder and she shook her head before she stood and
followed the former vampire, stopping before completely entering his office and
leaning at the doorframe. When he didn't instantly look up she patted her hand
impatiently against her thigh.
He raised an eyebrow but not his head, "You wanted something?"
"What the hell is going on here?," she asked, watching him through lowered
lashes.
"What should be going on?"
"You tell me and didn't anyone tell you not to answer a question with another.
It's very impolite." She crossed her arms in front of her chest, her face clearly showing that she was expecting an explanation.
Angel sighed and put the mail away, then finally looked at her, "Nothing's going
on here, Cordelia."
"But it is Saturday and you're here."
"And? You're here too, right?"
"Right," she agreed, "but that's just because Gunn had to work on a case this
morning, but he'll be here soon and ... I'm *so* getting off track here. What I meant was that you're in L.A. On a weekend. On your own. Where's Buffy?"
"Parking the car," he replied, an amused smile playing around his lips.
She relaxed a little bit, "So she is with you, well then I think ... wait, what
did you just say? She's parking the car? But you never ever let anyone drive that car! And Buffy even can't drive very good."
"She can drive very well," he said, grinning now, "and it's her car as well as
mine."
"Her ...," further thoughts were interrupted when Cordelia felt a hand on her
shoulder.
"Hi Cordy, nice to see you," Buffy gave her a smile and then walked over to
occupy the other chair in Angel's office.
"Something odd is going on," Cordelia's gaze went back and forth between former
vampire and slayer. "There has to be a reason why you're both here."
"There has to be?," the blonde raised a brow.
"Yo, Angel," came Gunn's voice from the hall and a second later he stood beside
his wife in the doorway. "What's up? Already tired of good old Sunnydale?"
"Not quite," the former vampire smiled slightly, "Hi Gunn."
"Buffy," the black man made a bow. "What honour to have you here."
She giggled in response, "Did anyone tell you that you're crazy."
Gunn put a flat hand over his heart, "Me?," he raised a brow in mocked annoyance, "You can't possible mean me?"
His wife punched him on his arm, "Stop it. She's taken. There's no need to flirt
and by the way, if you've forgotten it, you're married."
He scratched his blank head, "I knew there was something."
Cordelia shook her head and rolled her eyes, but then turned back to Buffy,
"Would you now please care to tell us what's going on here. Angel's in full
cryptic-mood and driving me crazy."
The former vampire winked at Gunn, who grinned and the brunette shot both a nasty look.
"Actually," the former slayer began and instantly Cordelia spun around, "there's
something we wanted to tell you. Angel and I are getting married."
"Congrats," Gunn gave his friend and the blonde a genuine smile. "But are you
sure what you're getting yourself into?," he joked.
"Well, of course you're getting married," his wife wasn't impressed. "I pretty
much expected it sooner or later. And for this you came to L.A.?"
"Well," Angel grinned. "There's something else." He exchanged a loving glance
with his future wife and then said, "Buffy and I are going to have a baby."
"A ... a baby?," Cordelia stared at both for a long moment, while Gunn grinned
beside her and winked at the expecting parents.
Seeing that his wife seemed frozen in place he tentatively touched her arm,
"Cordy, are you alright?"
She ignored him, but her eyes narrowed and under her lowered lashes her eyes shot daggers at the former slayer, "How could you do this to him?," she hissed.
"Cordelia...," Angel tried to interrupt her, but she would have none of it.
"You ... you bitch," she stepped closer to Buffy, "And I thought you loved him.
How could you betray him?"
"I...," Buffy tried to say, but had no chance to explain.
"And of course because he loves you so much and is the perfect gentlemen he takes it as if it's his," she stopped only a feet away, planted her fists at her hips and stared down at the blonde. "God, if I had known how you really are, I'd never have tried to get you two back together. I really should've known. You were always a superficial, shallow ..."
"Cordelia!" This time Angel's voice was loud and demanding and her head snapped
around in response.
"What?," she asked irritated.
"This is my baby, Cordelia. I am the father."
"But that's not possible, you told me yourself that you're infertile and ..."
"That's what I thought. But it is possible if the partner is a slayer or an
ex-slayer for that matter," he explained, his voice soft now.
"Oh," was all she said and wanted to die on the spot. She felt the colour
creeping up on her face and closed her eyes in embarrassment.
Angel stood up and walked over to her, laying a hand on her shoulder, "But it's
very sweet of you to protect me like this. I'm really moved."
She slowly opened her eyes again, "Can you please forget about it? Please? God,
Buffy," a little laugh escaped her lips, "I am so sorry! I just ... God, I'm
sorry. You must think I'm crazy."
"No," the blonde replied softly. "I just think you love him very much."
Cordelia cleared her throat and frowned before looking at Angel again, "Sorry,"
she smiled sheepishly.
"No need," he smiled back and kissed her lightly on the cheek, "Thanks for being
my friend," he whispered in her ear.
"You're welcome," she whispered back and they both shared a smile.
"Alright then, after we now know it's my baby, Buffy and I thought about inviting you for lunch. What do you say? And by the way, where's Wes?"
"Who knows?," the brunette sighed. "He has a girlfriend, did you know?"
"A girlfriend? Wesley?," Buffy burst out laughing.
"Yeah, well. And she's even nice," Cordelia assured her. "Anyway. Said girlfriend took him for a short trip to Mexico. She loves tacos and Tequilla she said," now the brunette grinned, "Wes will be back tomorrow night and only God knows in what condition."
They all laughed thinking about the ex-watcher in some Mexican bar drinking too
much alcohol and they laughed even harder about the hangover he'd probably have
afterwards.
***
"This was nice for sure," Buffy unlocked the door to their house and opened it
wide for Ashlynn and Angel who was carrying a sleeping David.
"What was nice?," the little girl asked.
"Your mother and I went to lunch with Cordelia and Gunn," the former vampire
explained, shifting David in his arms who was getting heavy. Incredible how much
a little boy could weight.
"I'll better put him into his bed," Buffy reached out her arms and took David
from Angel. "He's out cold," she grinned and walked towards the stairs. "Maybe
you could start preparing dinner?," she gave Angel a pleading look and then
turned to her daughter, "Ashlynn, please set up the table, will you. There'll
be," she closed her eyes for a moment, thinking, "Eight of us, seven if you don't want to eat with us, it's up to you."
"I'll eat with you," her daughter replied quickly, not liking the idea of having
dinner with the smaller kids. When the friends met, they usually got the kids fed and then went to their own meals. But Ashlynn felt much too old already to be treated like them. She liked the idea of dining with the grown ups.
"Little One," Angel stroked over her head and she beamed up at him in response.
He couldn't have loved her more if she'd been really his, he thought. Genes did
only count so much. "Take the dishes in the living room, so you won't have to
carry everything from the kitchen, okay?"
"'kay," she answered with a smile. How could a father not be enchanted by someone like this. How could he just leave town and not care how she was. Brent probably thought Buffy would inform him if something happened to Ashlynn. But how could he bear not to be with her as often as possible. See her smile, see her falling asleep? Angel shook his head, his thoughts would be leaving nowhere and he also had to admit that the idea of having Brent around all the time wasn't that appealing to him. Well, at least he would do his best to make her forget her father was obviously caring so little for her.
"Heavy thoughts?," Buffy's voice came from the doorway.
"No, not really," he replied and opened to fridge to get the vegetables. "I just
can't understand how Brent can stand to be apart from her."
"Oh Angel," she smiled, her eyes filling, and came over to him, hugging him
around the waist and leaning her head against his back. "I don't know. To think
she'd be far away from me ... I would miss her so terribly."
He turned around to face her, "I'm sorry I've brought it up, I didn't mean to
make you sad," he apologised.
She shook her head, "It's okay. You should've seen him when she was a little
baby. He was so fond of her. He was carrying her around all the time. But when he realised our marriage wasn't working the way he wanted it, he grew distant. Not only with me, but especially with her." She sighed, "I don't understand what was going on in his head, still don't."
"It's his loss, that's for certain," he told her with a smile. "This way I get to be around her all the time."
"I love you," she stood on tiptoe and kissed him. The kiss was about to deepen,
when suddenly Ashlynn's voice disturbed them.
"Yuck," she made and covered her eyes. "Will this go on the whole evening,
because if I'll better go upstairs."
Angel pulled back from his future wife, "You," he said in a playful threat and
approached her. She began to giggle and ran towards the living-room. He caught up with her and scooped her up in his arms, tickling her and making her squeal.
"N-no, N-no," she stammered between laughter, "Angel, noooo," she shrieked.
He stopped tickling her, but still held her close. Her arms came to encircle his
neck. "I really love you, little one," he said, kissing her cheek.
"I love you too," she tightened the hold around his neck. "I'm so glad you're
living with us now. Are you glad?"
"I am," he replied. "Very much," his voice was hoarse and muffled because his
face was burried in her hair. When he looked up again he saw she was watching
him. "What?," he asked.
"Grandma said you were alone for very long. Now that you've got us, you won't be
alone anymore," she kissed him again, then wriggled down from his arms. "I set up the table, but now I've got to go for a moment. April (her doll) needs to go to bed." With this she raced from the room and up the stairs, leaving Angel to get a hold on his emotions. How did he ever get so lucky, he wondered.
End Part 21.