Disclaimer: I own
the stuff you don't recognize, if you think I own anything else, you're nuts.
But JP, Austin, Kieran, and Esther is mine. Ask if you want to barrow.
"Daddy? Angel inquired again as he watched the werewolf pick up the child and walk over towards the group.
Oz looked up, and stared him in the eye. "Young people make dumb mistakes. I'm just happy it turned out better than expected." JP yawned and stuck his thumb into his mouth; Oz didn't even bother to remove it.
"But where was he?" Cordelia asked. "I never saw you carry around baby bottles or a diaper bag…"she looked at him, her eyebrow raised in question. Everyone decided it was best if the three were alone so they could talk about what had happened in the past couple of years.
Leaning his head against the child's, Oz smiled softly. "I left him with my aunt and uncle, but it did not work out. Tried to rid themselves of his abnormality. Took a bit more than a court order to get him back." Kissing the JP's temple, he put the child down for a moment. "We've gotta go. The hotel's a couple blocks away."
Cordelia shook her head. "You're not going anywhere. We've got room to spare, and where do you get off being the Lone Ranger with your son being the ankle biter Tonto. No, I won't have it."
Oz shook his own head. "I'll be back tomorrow," he promised. "But I've already paid for the night. I'll take you up on the offer later though." Lifting the child up with a practiced movement, he walked out the door.
Cordelia and Angel watched the retreating figure before he made his exit. "He loved the kid, doesn't he?" Cordelia asked, leaning her head against his shoulder.
Angel shrugged, "That love seems unconditional."
She looked up at him, "How do you know?" she asked, eyebrow raised.
"That's how it is with Connor," Angel told her, "It's just that…with your child, you can't help it." Smiling slightly, he leaned down and kissed her lightly on the forehead..
"You're not kissing in the middle of the stairwell, are you? There are people who want to utilize them," Connor implored. He stood at the top of the stairs; Kieran was next to him, trying to hide a smile.
"Shut-up!" Kieran said, hitting him in the chest, her smile was unabashed. "That moment was really sweet, and where did you learn the word utilize, you malnourished albino prairie dog?" she cocked her head to the side in question, for added effect, she started tapping her food impatiently, like she was expecting an answer.
Connor opened and closed his mouth; no sound was coming out. Kieran smirked in victory and sauntered past the very amused Cordelia and Angel and into the kitchen. Finally Connor ceased his impeccable impersonation of a goldfish and turned to go upstairs and escape the humiliation and into his bedroom. Or what he referred to his bedroom, people really weren't sure after the door opened.
"See what I mean? He's a kid only a parent could love," Angel told the woman.
"I heard that!" Connor yelled down, just now getting his voice back.
"You were meant to," Angel called back, a smirk on his face. When Cordelia glared at him, the smirk was reduced to only a shadow, and he shrugged. "No where did it say I have to be nice all the time."
Cordelia rolled her eyes, as she flipped her dark hair over her shoulder. "Well you should get off to bed," she said bossily, "Your foot is still broken," and with that said, the pair walked up the stairs together, arm in arm.
"Good morning, Uncle Maxwell," Esther smiled as she walked into the old man's room. Maxwell Goldstein lay in his bed, watching CNN intently, eyes following as the stocks crawled by at the bottom of the screen. The large bed made him look even more frail than he was.
Putting the tray that she was carrying down, Esther removed half of the contents and placed it on the table. Picking it up again, she placed it in front of her great uncle. "Enjoy," she chirped merrily as she walked back to her own breakfast. After the usual prayers were said, Esther waited until he started eating before beginning herself.
"It's not cooked right," the old man said after a bit.
Another smile crossed Esther's face, "But I prepared them just fifteen minutes ago. Stop kvetching," she told him, taking a bite out of her buttered and jammed toast.
They ate in silence and Esther wondered how she should bring up her findings. Granted, they weren't really findings, just and alternate translation of a passage. It was nothing really, just an idle pass time when she didn't want to work on her thesis.
Finally she got to the heart of the matter, "What do you think of the prophet Adinah?" Esther tentatively, hoping the question just seemed off handed. The prophet she spoke of was from the second century, Common Era. Much like Joan of Ark, she too had visions that consisted of bright lights, which were widely believed to be other prophets Elijah, Deborah, and Daniel.
"Bit strange, no sense, all prophesy," her great uncle told her before lifting another forkful of eggs to his mouth staring blankly at the television.
Esther sighed, that was generally the thought when it came to Adinah, and the whole Prophetica in general. It could have been worse, much worse. Maybe the answers to her questions could be found elsewhere. She's see if there were any places in the area that knew about this kind of thing.
They finished their breakfast in silence.
"Where are we going?" JP asked as he watched Oz pack their bags. This had happened before, but their stay had been so short, and he had liked it here.
Oz looked at his son, a tee shirt in his hand, "Remember when we went to see Daddy's friends last night? Well they offered us a placed to stay," he sat down and leaned closed, their nose almost touching, as JP was standing on the bed. "I bet if you ask nicely, Angel will show you his grr face."
"Grr!" JP shouted happily, bouncing slightly on the bed.
Oz nodded, "Now…what to wear today?" he asked the bouncing five year old as he ran a hand through his blue hair.
"I'm so bored," Kieran announced as she walked into the lobby, where Angel was drinking his normal morning cup of coffee, he didn't look nearly as broody as he had last night, Kieran noted. She decided that she would have to spike some of his blood with Jolt, just to see what would happen if the souled vampire was hyper. The thought made her giggle slightly.
"So what do you want me to do about it?" Angel questioned, looking up at the giggling girl. He wondered what she was laughing at, but then decided that he really didn't want to know. His wondering then lead him to the sudden appearance of Oz and the even more sudden appearance of a son.
"Can I paint your nails?" Kieran asked suddenly, her eyes widened with hope.
"No," Angel said shortly. If people heard about this, well, he'd never hear the end of it. Especially from his son. Seriously, Connor never grew tired of mocking his father. The only thing that comforted Angel was that he never grew tired of mocking his son.
"Please? Kieran begged, her eyes widened ever more, until they were the size of saucers. "I've got black…" she wheedled.
His eyes flickered up, "Aren't you a bit old for that?" he asked. She sounded sixteen going on ten.
She rolled her eyes, "I told you, I'm bored."
Angel looked around, when he was sure that nobody was around he turned to her, "Fine, but this is to be kept on the down low."
She nodded, hiding her smirk. "Right, got it. Keep that painting of the nails of the Scourge of Europe on the down low," smiling at him, she dashed off.
A few minutes later they were sitting across from one another, talking. Kieran popped a bubble as she chewed her gum and studied Angel's nails. "Wow, you have really nice nails for a dead guy. No offense," she looked up.
He shrugged, "None taken. But back to the subject, do you think Cordy and I…you know, can make it?"
Kieran gave him a sly grin. "Yes, don't listen to Connor. He's just a malnourished albino prairie dog that only a parent could love."
Angel glared at her, but the mood was ruined by the smirk that played across his face against his will. "You weren't supposed to hear that," he said, a chuckle hidden somewhere in his voice.
Kieran gave him an innocent look, complete with large, innocent puppy dog eyes. "But I was just walking by," she insisted, making her eyes even larger.
"If you never teach my son that, I'll pay you," Oz's voice came from the door. He once again held JP in his arms. His dark eyes studied the pair. Slowly the little boy climbed down and walked over to the teenage girl.
"Sorry for yesterday," he told her, scuffing a foot into the floor. Oz stood back, proud that his son apologized all on his own.
Kieran crouched down to his level and looked into his eyes. "Forgiven and forgotten. Now why don't we go wake up Connor?" she asked, a wicked grin on her face.
When he saw the look on her face, JP's face broke out into a large grin of it's own. "Yay!" he yelled happily and threw his arms around her neck. The pair headed towards the stairs.
"There's ice in the kitchen," Angel called out. Their direction change almost instantly, and they headed towards the kitchen. When he saw Oz's disapproving stare, he shrugged. "Hey, ask long as I don't have to do it."
Oz remained passive, blinking every few seconds. "If I ever find myself woken up with ice by JP, I'm personally blaming you."
Angel shrugged, "Okay. Besides, this works out perfectly fine, Kieran and JP have their fun, Connor gets woken up, and I don't get in trouble with Cordy for it."
"Don't get it trouble with me for what?" Cordelia asked, hands on hips and eyebrow raised as she came to stand next to the vampire. Neither man had seen her walk over. "And why did I just see both Kieran and JP, hands full of ice, heading towards Connor's room?"
"Oh, I don't know…" Angel trailed off, his eyes not meeting Cordelia's..
A loud sound came from Connor's room. High pitch squealing sounds floated down along with the sounds of feet pounding did as well. There was a loud thump from above and they all looked up, wondering what that thump could have been. Angel hoped it wasn't anything expensive, they've already had to replace a few lights, a couple windows, and they still needed to fix that second hole in the wall. Oz just hoped JP wasn't creating too much havoc, he hated cleaning up.
Cordelia glared at Angel, "You didn't… We just fixed the door…" she trailed off as she found Kieran rushing past her, JP handing off her back, his arms clasped around her neck for dear life. Connor was following them in hot pursuit, his hair matted to his forehead.
"I didn't do it! She came up with the idea, I only facilitated," Angel held up his hands in defense.
Cordelia's eyes narrowed, "How much did you facilitate?" she asked him.
Angel at least tried to look guilty, "Told them where the ice was."
Suddenly JP zipped back into the lobby, Kieran following as well as Connor. Grabbing onto Oz's legs he stuck is tongue out at Connor, who only scowled back in return. "I'm safe, I'm safe. I'm on base," the child taunted the teen.
Oz looked at Angel and Cordelia lazily, "When did I become base?" he asked them, a glint in his eye. They shrugged, no knowing what to say, or how to react. "In that case…" Oz leaned down, his eyes widening a bit, and started to tickle JP without mercy. "I get to have part of the fun."
JP's shrieks and giggles soon echoed throughout the lobby, making everyone whom stood their grin, even the corners of Oz's mouth turned up a bit.. Except for Connor, who was wet, and still cold from his early morning wake-up call.
Eventually everyone was sitting around laughing and talking, and Oz had JP sitting in his lap, the little boy was tired from the tickling he had endured from his father. Wesley walked in, cordless phone in hand, "Angel, call for you."
Thanks muchly to my pal gigetgirl, aka Jen, who graciously took the position of editor, it wouldn't be as good if it wasn't for her.
Reviews! Lovely! Thank you bunches and bunches.
Antonia- The explinations of Austin, Kieran, and JP are coming up, although JP is slightly explained in this chapter.
CordiAnne- Yup, Buffy's dead, but she died the way she did at the end of season 5. I'm not that mean, or that motivated to figure out another way.
Imzadi- So you wanna see the guy with the 'girly name'? I'll see, he could come, he could not, depends if I want that interaction in there or not.
Um, I don't think I have anything else to disclose yet...but if you are confused about something don't hesitate to send me an e-mail about this or leave a review. I'll get back to you. Thanks so much for the reviews though. It made me feel all warm and fuzzy....11!
"Daddy? Angel inquired again as he watched the werewolf pick up the child and walk over towards the group.
Oz looked up, and stared him in the eye. "Young people make dumb mistakes. I'm just happy it turned out better than expected." JP yawned and stuck his thumb into his mouth; Oz didn't even bother to remove it.
"But where was he?" Cordelia asked. "I never saw you carry around baby bottles or a diaper bag…"she looked at him, her eyebrow raised in question. Everyone decided it was best if the three were alone so they could talk about what had happened in the past couple of years.
Leaning his head against the child's, Oz smiled softly. "I left him with my aunt and uncle, but it did not work out. Tried to rid themselves of his abnormality. Took a bit more than a court order to get him back." Kissing the JP's temple, he put the child down for a moment. "We've gotta go. The hotel's a couple blocks away."
Cordelia shook her head. "You're not going anywhere. We've got room to spare, and where do you get off being the Lone Ranger with your son being the ankle biter Tonto. No, I won't have it."
Oz shook his own head. "I'll be back tomorrow," he promised. "But I've already paid for the night. I'll take you up on the offer later though." Lifting the child up with a practiced movement, he walked out the door.
Cordelia and Angel watched the retreating figure before he made his exit. "He loved the kid, doesn't he?" Cordelia asked, leaning her head against his shoulder.
Angel shrugged, "That love seems unconditional."
She looked up at him, "How do you know?" she asked, eyebrow raised.
"That's how it is with Connor," Angel told her, "It's just that…with your child, you can't help it." Smiling slightly, he leaned down and kissed her lightly on the forehead..
"You're not kissing in the middle of the stairwell, are you? There are people who want to utilize them," Connor implored. He stood at the top of the stairs; Kieran was next to him, trying to hide a smile.
"Shut-up!" Kieran said, hitting him in the chest, her smile was unabashed. "That moment was really sweet, and where did you learn the word utilize, you malnourished albino prairie dog?" she cocked her head to the side in question, for added effect, she started tapping her food impatiently, like she was expecting an answer.
Connor opened and closed his mouth; no sound was coming out. Kieran smirked in victory and sauntered past the very amused Cordelia and Angel and into the kitchen. Finally Connor ceased his impeccable impersonation of a goldfish and turned to go upstairs and escape the humiliation and into his bedroom. Or what he referred to his bedroom, people really weren't sure after the door opened.
"See what I mean? He's a kid only a parent could love," Angel told the woman.
"I heard that!" Connor yelled down, just now getting his voice back.
"You were meant to," Angel called back, a smirk on his face. When Cordelia glared at him, the smirk was reduced to only a shadow, and he shrugged. "No where did it say I have to be nice all the time."
Cordelia rolled her eyes, as she flipped her dark hair over her shoulder. "Well you should get off to bed," she said bossily, "Your foot is still broken," and with that said, the pair walked up the stairs together, arm in arm.
"Good morning, Uncle Maxwell," Esther smiled as she walked into the old man's room. Maxwell Goldstein lay in his bed, watching CNN intently, eyes following as the stocks crawled by at the bottom of the screen. The large bed made him look even more frail than he was.
Putting the tray that she was carrying down, Esther removed half of the contents and placed it on the table. Picking it up again, she placed it in front of her great uncle. "Enjoy," she chirped merrily as she walked back to her own breakfast. After the usual prayers were said, Esther waited until he started eating before beginning herself.
"It's not cooked right," the old man said after a bit.
Another smile crossed Esther's face, "But I prepared them just fifteen minutes ago. Stop kvetching," she told him, taking a bite out of her buttered and jammed toast.
They ate in silence and Esther wondered how she should bring up her findings. Granted, they weren't really findings, just and alternate translation of a passage. It was nothing really, just an idle pass time when she didn't want to work on her thesis.
Finally she got to the heart of the matter, "What do you think of the prophet Adinah?" Esther tentatively, hoping the question just seemed off handed. The prophet she spoke of was from the second century, Common Era. Much like Joan of Ark, she too had visions that consisted of bright lights, which were widely believed to be other prophets Elijah, Deborah, and Daniel.
"Bit strange, no sense, all prophesy," her great uncle told her before lifting another forkful of eggs to his mouth staring blankly at the television.
Esther sighed, that was generally the thought when it came to Adinah, and the whole Prophetica in general. It could have been worse, much worse. Maybe the answers to her questions could be found elsewhere. She's see if there were any places in the area that knew about this kind of thing.
They finished their breakfast in silence.
"Where are we going?" JP asked as he watched Oz pack their bags. This had happened before, but their stay had been so short, and he had liked it here.
Oz looked at his son, a tee shirt in his hand, "Remember when we went to see Daddy's friends last night? Well they offered us a placed to stay," he sat down and leaned closed, their nose almost touching, as JP was standing on the bed. "I bet if you ask nicely, Angel will show you his grr face."
"Grr!" JP shouted happily, bouncing slightly on the bed.
Oz nodded, "Now…what to wear today?" he asked the bouncing five year old as he ran a hand through his blue hair.
"I'm so bored," Kieran announced as she walked into the lobby, where Angel was drinking his normal morning cup of coffee, he didn't look nearly as broody as he had last night, Kieran noted. She decided that she would have to spike some of his blood with Jolt, just to see what would happen if the souled vampire was hyper. The thought made her giggle slightly.
"So what do you want me to do about it?" Angel questioned, looking up at the giggling girl. He wondered what she was laughing at, but then decided that he really didn't want to know. His wondering then lead him to the sudden appearance of Oz and the even more sudden appearance of a son.
"Can I paint your nails?" Kieran asked suddenly, her eyes widened with hope.
"No," Angel said shortly. If people heard about this, well, he'd never hear the end of it. Especially from his son. Seriously, Connor never grew tired of mocking his father. The only thing that comforted Angel was that he never grew tired of mocking his son.
"Please? Kieran begged, her eyes widened ever more, until they were the size of saucers. "I've got black…" she wheedled.
His eyes flickered up, "Aren't you a bit old for that?" he asked. She sounded sixteen going on ten.
She rolled her eyes, "I told you, I'm bored."
Angel looked around, when he was sure that nobody was around he turned to her, "Fine, but this is to be kept on the down low."
She nodded, hiding her smirk. "Right, got it. Keep that painting of the nails of the Scourge of Europe on the down low," smiling at him, she dashed off.
A few minutes later they were sitting across from one another, talking. Kieran popped a bubble as she chewed her gum and studied Angel's nails. "Wow, you have really nice nails for a dead guy. No offense," she looked up.
He shrugged, "None taken. But back to the subject, do you think Cordy and I…you know, can make it?"
Kieran gave him a sly grin. "Yes, don't listen to Connor. He's just a malnourished albino prairie dog that only a parent could love."
Angel glared at her, but the mood was ruined by the smirk that played across his face against his will. "You weren't supposed to hear that," he said, a chuckle hidden somewhere in his voice.
Kieran gave him an innocent look, complete with large, innocent puppy dog eyes. "But I was just walking by," she insisted, making her eyes even larger.
"If you never teach my son that, I'll pay you," Oz's voice came from the door. He once again held JP in his arms. His dark eyes studied the pair. Slowly the little boy climbed down and walked over to the teenage girl.
"Sorry for yesterday," he told her, scuffing a foot into the floor. Oz stood back, proud that his son apologized all on his own.
Kieran crouched down to his level and looked into his eyes. "Forgiven and forgotten. Now why don't we go wake up Connor?" she asked, a wicked grin on her face.
When he saw the look on her face, JP's face broke out into a large grin of it's own. "Yay!" he yelled happily and threw his arms around her neck. The pair headed towards the stairs.
"There's ice in the kitchen," Angel called out. Their direction change almost instantly, and they headed towards the kitchen. When he saw Oz's disapproving stare, he shrugged. "Hey, ask long as I don't have to do it."
Oz remained passive, blinking every few seconds. "If I ever find myself woken up with ice by JP, I'm personally blaming you."
Angel shrugged, "Okay. Besides, this works out perfectly fine, Kieran and JP have their fun, Connor gets woken up, and I don't get in trouble with Cordy for it."
"Don't get it trouble with me for what?" Cordelia asked, hands on hips and eyebrow raised as she came to stand next to the vampire. Neither man had seen her walk over. "And why did I just see both Kieran and JP, hands full of ice, heading towards Connor's room?"
"Oh, I don't know…" Angel trailed off, his eyes not meeting Cordelia's..
A loud sound came from Connor's room. High pitch squealing sounds floated down along with the sounds of feet pounding did as well. There was a loud thump from above and they all looked up, wondering what that thump could have been. Angel hoped it wasn't anything expensive, they've already had to replace a few lights, a couple windows, and they still needed to fix that second hole in the wall. Oz just hoped JP wasn't creating too much havoc, he hated cleaning up.
Cordelia glared at Angel, "You didn't… We just fixed the door…" she trailed off as she found Kieran rushing past her, JP handing off her back, his arms clasped around her neck for dear life. Connor was following them in hot pursuit, his hair matted to his forehead.
"I didn't do it! She came up with the idea, I only facilitated," Angel held up his hands in defense.
Cordelia's eyes narrowed, "How much did you facilitate?" she asked him.
Angel at least tried to look guilty, "Told them where the ice was."
Suddenly JP zipped back into the lobby, Kieran following as well as Connor. Grabbing onto Oz's legs he stuck is tongue out at Connor, who only scowled back in return. "I'm safe, I'm safe. I'm on base," the child taunted the teen.
Oz looked at Angel and Cordelia lazily, "When did I become base?" he asked them, a glint in his eye. They shrugged, no knowing what to say, or how to react. "In that case…" Oz leaned down, his eyes widening a bit, and started to tickle JP without mercy. "I get to have part of the fun."
JP's shrieks and giggles soon echoed throughout the lobby, making everyone whom stood their grin, even the corners of Oz's mouth turned up a bit.. Except for Connor, who was wet, and still cold from his early morning wake-up call.
Eventually everyone was sitting around laughing and talking, and Oz had JP sitting in his lap, the little boy was tired from the tickling he had endured from his father. Wesley walked in, cordless phone in hand, "Angel, call for you."
Thanks muchly to my pal gigetgirl, aka Jen, who graciously took the position of editor, it wouldn't be as good if it wasn't for her.
Reviews! Lovely! Thank you bunches and bunches.
Antonia- The explinations of Austin, Kieran, and JP are coming up, although JP is slightly explained in this chapter.
CordiAnne- Yup, Buffy's dead, but she died the way she did at the end of season 5. I'm not that mean, or that motivated to figure out another way.
Imzadi- So you wanna see the guy with the 'girly name'? I'll see, he could come, he could not, depends if I want that interaction in there or not.
Um, I don't think I have anything else to disclose yet...but if you are confused about something don't hesitate to send me an e-mail about this or leave a review. I'll get back to you. Thanks so much for the reviews though. It made me feel all warm and fuzzy....11!