[A/N: I gave in and wrote a continuation! The song is "A Song for Sleeping," by the Stone Temple Pilots. I do not own the song, nor do I own the characters in the story. And the name of the baby is just one I'm using. It's not a spoiler, it's just a Gaelic name that I found]

//Finally I've met you, the day has come, you're more then beautiful, and you're my son. I don't deserve this, I never thought it could be quite like the moment when y ou first smiled at me. A toothless wonderful feeling like I'd never seen//

It had been a year since Angel had watched Darla die, 365 days since she left the crying baby in his arms. Now, he listened from his room as little baby Carson began to cry. Getting up from his bed, he walked into the child's room, but not before Cordelia had.

She was leaning over the crib, talking in a hushed voice to soothe the baby. Picking him up, she began to gently bounce the baby up and down. She didn't notice Angel watching her from the doorway.

Cordelia had been living at the Hyperion since Carson was born, always there to help with anything Angel needed. She was always the first to go to him when he woke up crying, and was there to watch him while Angel went to kill the bad guys.

Cordelia loved being the one to soothe Carson. She would stand by the window and imagine that he was her baby, and she and Angel were happily married. She could never tell anyone she fantasized about that, Angel would be completely humiliated if he knew she had feelings like that for him.

So she stood alone in the dead of night by the window, talking quietly to the child in her arms, imagining Angel was waiting for her back in bed.

She was so wrapped up in her image that she didn't hear Angel enter the room and walk up behind her. If he had cast a reflection, she would have seen it, but instead it was Carson who noticed his dad.

"Why did he wake up?" Angel asked. Cordelia shrugged.

"I don't know, he hasn't done this in a long time. Maybe he was just lonely."

Angel took a deep breath of the room; Cordelia's hair mixed with the smell of Carson's baby lotions filled his nostrils. It was a warm comforting smell.

"You should go get some sleep," he said to Cordelia, taking the baby from her arms. She slumped into a rocking chair by the crib and watched Angel with the baby.

"I'm fine, I'm used to not sleeping," she replied, tucking her legs underneath her to be more comfortable. A comfortable silence followed, neither saying anything, but enjoying each other's company. The child's sobs had been reduced to soft hiccups.

"I really appreciate everything you've done, Cordy," said Angel, breaking the silence, "I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't been here. You've done more then I've asked and I've never told you how much it's meant to me."

Cordelia made a noise that was sort of a half sigh and half word, and Angel took another deep breath.

"There was something else I wanted to tell you, Cordelia," he said, turning, but Cordelia was asleep. Smiling slightly, Angel put Carson back in his bed and grabbed a quilt that lay beside it. He draped the quilt over Cordelia and watched her sleep for a minute.

"I think I'm in love with you," he said softly, and left the room with no one to witness his confession.

//And when you lie down to sleep I'll protect you from the demons of the night, while I'm watching you grow//