For such a stress causing undertaking, the situation with the Dekai ended better than anyone had ever imagined. Cordelia, Anya and Willow stayed at the Hyperion while everyone else, led by Connor, went to the Dekai's lair. The Dekai had cowered away from Connor, known him as the Destroyer, feared him more than anything else. And then, with little urging by the Fang Gang and the Scoobies, the Dekai had agreed to return to Pylea, where they had come from, so long as Connor swore never to go there.
It had turned out that the only Dekai powerful enough to retain their memories had been the Dekai that had invaded Cordelia and Doyle's wedding ceremony. They had been determined to kill them then, and if that didn't work, the remaining elders had been instructed to begin the process of altering the present. Most of those elders had been killed, leaving only a handful who knew how things had been. Most of the others weren't really sure whether or not they believed the stories.
The group had returned to the hotel late that night to find the three women stretched out on couches in the lobby. They'd fallen asleep waiting for them to get back. Cordelia was lying on one side, her face toward the door, one arm curled protectively around her abdomen. Even though she'd only just found out about her child, already her maternal instincts were demanding that she protect it.
Angel put a hand on Doyle's shoulder. "Do you want me to see if I can reschedule your flight for your Honeymoon?"
Doyle shook his head. "I think that after these past few days, she just needs a break. I'll take her home and put her to bed for a couple days. Then we can think about going away for a few days."
"Maybe getting her away from here would be good for her. I mean, even taking her to see your mother or something."
"Are you kidding? My mother and Cordelia do not get along in the slightest. I think it's got something to do with the fact that my mom told Cordy that she was a gold digging hussy who trapped me into marrying her with the art of seduction. Direct quote."
Angel expelled a deep breath. "That would do it. Okay, what about San Francisco? Go relax on the bay. She'd enjoy that. I'm not trying to push you to get away," Angel added quickly, "I just know you and Cordelia need some time away. If only for a private celebration of the baby."
Cordelia sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "We can have a private celebration at home just as well as anywhere else. I don't necessarily want to go away."
Doyle sat down next to his wife. "How long have you been awake?"
"Since Angel mentioned your mother. Do we have to tell her about the baby?"
"She'll be happy about the baby."
"About being a grandmother, yes. About me being the mother of her grandchild? Hell, no she won't be happy. She'll say that's the only reason you married me."
"We'll just tell her that you didn't even know until after the wedding."
"Do you really see her believing that one?" Cordelia asked. "I know, I know, we have to tell her. But can't we wait just a little while? I want to have time to get used to the idea before we tell our families."
Doyle slid an arm around Cordelia. "That's fine, darlin'. I don't imagine your parents are gonna be too happy either."
Cordelia shrugged. "Could go either way. They like you okay. They just don't like the fact that I'm all grown up and a married woman. Let alone that I married a private detective, and live in Los Angeles." She said, standing up. She crossed the room to get her purse and jacket. Then she headed to the door to pick up the bag containing her wedding dress, which was pretty much ruined. It was bloody and torn in several places. She'd probably end up throwing it in the garbage. That really was a shame, the dress had been Vera Wang, her mother had had it specially made for her.
"Ready to go home, huh?" Angel teased Cordelia, watching as she leaned heavily on the door frame, waiting for Doyle to get ready.
"I just want to get some sleep. We'll see you guys bright and early though. I want to see everyone before they head back to Sunnydale."
Doyle groaned. "How early are we talkin', Princess?"
"I don't know. What time are you guys leaving, Xand?"
"I don't think we've talked about it yet. Early tomorrow afternoon."
Cordelia looked at Doyle. "Is eleven late enough for you?"
"I think we can do that. We'll be here around eleven. Don't leave until we get here."
"I don't think you have to worry about that. Half of us won't be out of bed that soon. It's already four in the morning."
Doyle pulled his jacket back on and took the bag from his wife. She linked her arm through his, and with a quick wave, and her patented thousand watt smile, they walked out the door. Angel heard their car start a few moments later.
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Cordelia preceded Doyle into their apartment. She flipped on the lights, and nodded to Dennis, who turned on the stereo to her favorite station. She headed into the kitchen to check their messages and get two cokes out of the fridge. There weren't any messages, so she joined Doyle where he had plopped onto the couch.
"One hell of a day, huh?"
Doyle looked over at Cordelia and nodded. "This has been the longest day ever. Aside from the day when you came back."
He was referring to her time travel. That day had seemed to last a few decades. "That's for sure." Cordelia said, handing him a pop. "But it turned out okay."
"Better than okay." Doyle agreed, standing up. He placed the bag with her dress in the hall closet, and hung up his jacket. She tossed him hers and he hung it up as well. "What are you going to do with that dress?"
"Pitch it. Nothing gets demon guts out of clothing."
Doyle crossed the room and pulled his wife to her feet. He scooped her into his arms and carried her in the general direction of their bedroom. They'd both had their arms full so he hadn't carried her across the threshold to their apartment, but he was going to do things the traditional way when it came to their wedding night.
"What are you doing?" Cordelia asked, giggling and wrapping an arm around his neck to keep her balance.
"Exactly what I said I would do. Showing you just how happy I am about our baby."
"I think I like that idea."
"Even though we aren't in Hawaii like we're supposed to be?" ] "Even though. When we do go away let's make it a cruise to the Bahamas instead."
"Why's that?"
"When we first started Angel Investigations, you said that it would take a lot of paying customer for us to go on that cruise to the Bahamas together, and I said pretty much in your dreams. Well, this is our dreams coming true."
Doyle laid her on the bed and stretched out beside her. "That it is, darlin'. We're lucky, huh?"
"Very lucky." Cordelia said, rising to her knees to take his t-shirt off. "Now get your ass out of those clothes and let's get on with the wedding night part of getting married."
Doyle was more than happy to comply with her demands. He didn't think he'd ever been so glad to obey one of her commands. And he proceeded to show her exactly how glad he was that she was carrying his baby. Their baby. A child he'd never thought he'd get to father. To see grow inside it's mother, the woman he loved more than life itself. The miracle behind that child, still a rapidly dividing clump of cells inside Cordelia, was more that he'd ever deemed himself worthy of.
Over the past five years, Cordelia had given him more than he'd thought possible. She'd given him life, after he was meant to die. She'd come back in time, left the life she had come to know, to stop his death. She'd loved him the night he'd found out about his death, given him hope that it could be stopped, then come up with the plan to stop it. And even when she had returned to the future and his Cordelia had returned, she'd continued loving him.
It had started out as a challenge, he was relatively sure. Making him see that she was just as good. Making sure that she proved that he had fallen in love with her, not her future self. A self that didn't even exist anymore. And along the way, she'd fallen in love as well. He could still remember the first time she'd told him that she loved him. She'd been scared to death, and wet and cold. They'd just returned from a fight, he'd nearly died, almost beheaded by a stray blow meant to kill Angel. She'd proclaimed that he couldn't die because she loved him and didn't think she would ever forgive him if he broke her heart by dying.
And when he'd asked her to marry him nearly two years earlier, she'd said yes with no hesitation whatsoever. They hadn't begun planning the wedding for nearly a year after that, but she'd insisted that he move in with her because, she couldn't leave Dennis, could she? The ghost hadn't appreciated Doyle's presence at first. It had been rough getting used to living with Cordelia. She hogged the bathroom and the drawer space, and yelled at him every time he left his socks or a towel on the floor.
But she'd been exactly what he'd needed right then. She'd held him every night, pulling him tight to her small body, wrapping her arms around him as if, even three years later, she was still afraid he was going to disappear. She'd held him when he'd gotten news about his father dying, while he cried for the first time since he'd met her. And she hadn't treated him the way every other woman in his life had. Even Harry. Harry had been too interested in his demon half, as had all the women since her. Most of them had known about the things that go bump in the night, and had embraced the thrill and the danger. She'd treated him like she always had. Hadn't once asked him to show her his demon face. She'd said that she was curious, of course, but that he wasn't comfortable with it, and if he didn't want to, he didn't have to and she wouldn't ask.
And he'd had a blast watching her stand up to his mother. Their rivalry had ignited the first time his mother had met Cordelia. It had been the morning after they'd gotten engaged. She'd spent the night at his apartment, and Cordelia had answered the door to his mother in nothing but one of his shirts and a pair of socks. And when he'd told her that they were engaged, his mom had insulted Cordelia up one wall and down the other until Cordelia had stopped her, saying that yes she was marrying her son, but that no, she was not doing it for any reason other than that she loved him and wanted to spend her life with him. His mother hadn't bought it for an instant.
Things had been interesting since then, with scattered fights, lots of evil, and wedding plans. It had all culminated earlier that night with two rings and a declaration from a priest who had fainted as soon as his duties were completed. And the five years since Cordelia had saved his life, with all their ups and downs, fights and making- ups, were so, incredibly worth all the hassle, all the trials, and all the problems.
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Okay, folks, chapter 9. Hope you enjoyed it. Next chapter will probably be the birth of Cordelia and Doyle's baby. Any suggestions on sex and names? I'm open to ideas. The chapter after next will be the epilogue and the last chapter. So, the end is imminent. Maybe. Unless I suddenly get struck with inspiration. Let me know if you'd like to see me continue this one or move on to another story.