Title: Read between the lines

Author: Joy

Email: SleepingBeauty2@ziplip.com

            All the Scoobies were snug in their beds. Dawn slept resting her chin on Wolf's chest. He just watched her sleep, stroking her face. He had just entered a brand new world being with Dawn Summers. He had a new family, people to seek guidance from. Wolf tried to comprehend what the morrow would bring.

            Willow and Tara had separate rooms in the hotel but had been talking so much that they just snuggled into each other to fall asleep. Fred had stayed up to chat with Wesley but ended up laughing at the evening's events with Gunn. Heading to her room she saw both men eyeing her and wondered if romance was coming for her as well.

            Cordelia and Angel did the domestic thing caring for Connor, putting him to bed. Their serenity was occasionally interrupted by the boisterous activates of the engaged couple a few doors down. Angel's eyes met Cordelia's at the sound of Anya then Xander going over the edge, loudly. In his most causal voice possible, Angel said, "We'll get the curse looked at tomorrow." Cordelia just nodded her head and rocked Connor. He came behind her and ran his hands down her arms, bringing his body close to whisper in her ear, "You don't know how sexy you look holding my…our son."

Cordelia breathed shallowly as she laid Connor down and looked up with shy eyes at Angel. He quickly gathered her toward him then kissing her passionately. When Cordy pulled out of the kiss for air she said, "Is there anything we could do tonight with protection… Not condom protection but making sure you don't go all soulless."

"The trunk in the office maybe," Angel panted.

Cordelia speedily made her way to the look since vacant room with Angel on her heels. The trunk swung open to reveal lots of signs of Angel's taste. Cordy smirked, "Guess Buffy was right."

"What?"

"Generations without a soul does tend to shape your sexual appetites," she responded. Angel almost blushed looking at his feet. "So what am I looking for? I don't see anything that jumps out at me as restraint."

"No…" Angel shuttered. He looked in the trunk; "I told him he couldn't do that in here."

"Yes, and he came back with 'then why do you still have them?'" Cordelia answered confidently.

"You learned Fiorle in this demon exchange?"

"Nope. I had Buffy-threatening Lorn… That works way better. Lets just say Lorn wouldn't repeat the tail end of the conversation and commented he didn't know you were into this stuff."

"My Childe can be so…" Angel growled.

"Not his fault he has your taste…you taught him, remember, Peaches?" Cordelia goaded. She got up from the floor and headed toward Spike and Buffy's room.

"What are you doing?" Angel asked.

"I'm going to find out if the items are in use or if Spike was just messing with your head."

Cordelia banged at her friend's door. She kept banging until Buffy yelled panting with excitement, "If this isn't the apocalypse, I'm ripping someone's head off."

"I just need to know if all of the restraints you grabbed are in use?" Cordy ventured.

"Of course they're in use you git. We're having sex…and it's bloody good…so sod off and try the armory," Spike grunted and groaned, never stopping his rhythm.

Cordelia shook her head and started to head down to the armory only to meet Angel on his way up. "I just remembered," he said with a wide grin holding up handcuffs and chains, "we have restraints in with the weapons." Cordy smiled and pulled him back toward his room. Angel dragged his heels, "We can't in there… Connor will hear us."

"But we can't go to another room because we couldn't hear Connor. What if we turn the lights off in the bathroom and put the bassinet in there?" Cordy responded.

Angel's face grew wide with a smile again, "I knew there was a reason I loved you." He said the words without a second thought as they entered his room.

Cordelia's face grew confused; "You love me?"

Now Angel was the confused one, "I said that at the club tonight."

"Yeah, but you were sparring with Spike. I didn't know you actually meant it… I mean being called the woman you love instead of Buffy was really cool. I guess I just thought it was more posturing."

Angel was more then a little concerned now, "You think I would say that to compete with Spike?"

"Well, you wouldn't back down from Dawn earlier about Buffy…" Cordelia answered.

The souled one just gazed at the woman in front of him, "You don't love me yet, do you?"

"Of course I love you… You know that."

He shook in his head, "Not like this…" Angel sat down his bed breathing deeply. "I…I think we should wait…at least for tonight. We'll talk to the girls tomorrow…" Cordelia read the pain on his face. "I have you and Connor, you're my world. I just can't…"

Angel stared at his shoes, "How do I explain someday to Connor that he wasn't made out of love but out of hate…my hate? How do I tell him I raped his mother and that's when she got pregnant? How do I explain that all that happened while I was 'good' or souled? That it didn't matter that I might lose my soul again even after what I did in Sunnydale." There was a long pause. "How do I explain being in love with a teenage girl that I knew from the beginning I wasn't meant to be with, but refused to admit it? How do I explain having slept with her and lost my soul…and tortured her in every way possible? I abandoned her moments after it was over, I stalked her friends, I kidnapped her sister, and I killing a friend of hers then tortured the only father she ever had." Angel looked into Cordelia's eyes, "I'm not a good man, Cordelia… Spike is better at loving then I am. He always has been…" Cordelia cringed at his words and went to turn away. "No, look at me. I got turned on and jumped in, like a sixteen year old boy… I can't afford to make idol mistakes with you. I've used all my get out of jail free cards…I had years to be better at life then I am. But one thing is perfectly clear, I refuse to be blind again."

Cordelia pushed Angel back on the bed twisted his body to be in its normal sleeping position. Without a word she removed his socks and shoes messaging his feet. She divested him of his shirt and then raided his closet. A pair of boxers got tossed on the bed as the closet door shut. Cordelia returned wearing one of Angel's extra long shirts. He was already under the covers when she climbed in next to him. He startled about to object when she spooned his back saying, "Tomorrow we'll talk to Willow…now we sleep…until Connor wakes us."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            "So, ya think they're…" Buffy asked Spike playing with his fingers as they lay together in bed.

            Spike smirked, "If Cordy was that set on getting those chains even though she knew she might be interrupting, I'd say it was it's a pretty good guess." He gazed at her stroking his fingers, "You okay with that pet… You can tell me if you're not. I expected way bigger fireworks about Connor then you gave."

            "I don't mind," she said with a puzzled look on her face, "but I feel like I should. Does that make sense?"

            "Yeah, pet, it does," he said hugging her closer in his arms kissing her forehead. "I think it means you have on every basic level accepted what Love showed you. It's probably just hard for that younger part of you to be convinced that you aren't in love with Angel anymore, when it was sure you'd love him forever."

Buffy looked up at Spike and kissed him lightly, "My personal therapist, serving for 128 years and counting."

            He chuckled, "Sleep now pet… We have the meetings of families tomorrow." Spike laughed some more, "Can you imagine Nibblet's wedding? Can't have it in the day to accommodate Angel and I. It won't be bride or groom's side, it'll be Vampire/Slayer or Wicca/Wolf."

            "Thought we weren't going to talk about that now?" Buffy said with a small pout.

            Spike examined her face for a few moments when reality hit him in the face. "You're afraid you'll never get married… You're afraid Dawn will be married before you." Buffy continued to pout even more not wanting to talk about it, so she rolled on her side away from Spike. "That's it, isn't it? You want to get married?"

            "I didn't say that," she grumbled into the pillow.

            Spike spooned her back, "But you're not opposed to the idea."

            "What's the point? I'll just die again," said mumbled in toward the wall she had been chained to. A tear ran down each of her cheeks.

            "You don't believe that," he whispered in her ear. When Buffy didn't reply, he rolled her back toward him with great effort. "You don't actually believe we shouldn't get married because you're just going to die again?"

            More tears staining her face as she nodded, "All I can ask is that I get to spend my remaining days with you."

            Spike was completely taken aback by this display of vulnerability and cynicism. He stroked her tears away from her cheeks. "Don't think that way. Your death wish is already strong and I really don't want it killing you. I've lived without you once and it nearly killed me, not to mention what it did to Dawn. Don't make us go through it again." He sighed trying to get a reaction from her, "If you want normal looking, I'll happily marry you. It hasn't come up before because whenever we talked about life and us, you never even tinted that marriage is something you would want. I guess I know why, you're planning to die on me."

            Buffy rolled her eyes and moved back to her side, "Time for bed like you said."

            "Don't pull that with me Blondie. This hits at a nerve with you and I want to know why!" Spike demanded. "Why are these things linked? You dieing and us being married?"

            A soft muffled voice Spike heard said, "You haven't even claimed me."

            Spike blinked slowly trying to comprehend the notion. This time when Spike tried to roll Buffy over to snuggle into him she offered no resistance. Delicately tracing her face with his fingers, he whispered, "A wedding ceremony would be much safer then a claiming ceremony. If that's all you want, I'll give you that in a heart beat, but it wouldn't really include Nibblet." Buffy frowned.

With a smirk Spike teased, "I'd kind of like to be a Summers in name."

            Buffy giggled, "You would not."

            "Would so… We'd all have the same last name. I could be the positive male role model in the house and you could make a respectable man of me… We'd no longer be living in sin."

            Buffy completely cracked up at that, "You're serious."

            All Spike did was smirk, "Night Buffy… Pleasant dreams."

            "Spike!" she squealed at him for suddenly claming up.

            "Ssshhhhh," he fussed with his eyes closed. "I'm trying to get my beauty sleep." The thwack sound of Buffy's pillow connecting with Spike's face resonated in the room.

Spike looked up at Buffy who hit him again. He tackled her midsection, "You're in for it now, Slayer."

            "Ya promise?" Buffy growled. Soon the rough housing turned into a tickle war, which led into passionate kisses. After another round, exhausted bodies finally gave into much needed sleep. After all, tomorrow the real fun begins!

TBC….

A/Q: Should I end this series here and pick up with a sequel or should I just continue into infinity with this story line?