Dinner was great. Caesar salad, French onion soup and breaded chicken smothered in parmesan cheese filled her stomach up until she couldn't eat anymore. She turned her attention back to the bandstand and listened as Lorne sang for them. Fred, Gunn, Anne and Wesley were dancing like they were on air as she heard the pop of the champagne bottle. Turning her attention back to her secret admirer, he started to pour her a glass of the bubbly liquid.
"So, are you having fun?"
"Yes, I am." She took a sip of the champagne and gave him a big smile. "Is this the whole reason why you had me out all day?"
"Yea, basically." He kissed her and took a drink of his champagne glass, toasting her to a vision and apocalypse-free birthday. Setting his glass back on the table, he took out another box from inside his jacket. "Ready for more?"
"More presents? Angel, this is too much."
"This one isn't from me. This one," Angel placed the tiny box into her hands and took another deep breath finishing his sentence, "is from Doyle."
"What?" Her head shot up.
"It's from Doyle. I found it in his apartment after, well, you know. It had your name on it. I wanted to give it to you earlier, but every time I had it ready, a vision, demon, apocalypse or something else got in the way." He explained as she opened the tiny box and like the others was filled with cotton up the wazoo. Inside the tiny box was a pendant that was placed on a skinny silver chain. Her eyes started to well up then, bringing back memories that she thought she could handle now. But the truth was, she would never be okay with the way Doyle left them.
"Here." Angel lifted up a tissue in front of her face and she took it, wiping away the tears that had begun to shed.
"This is beautiful. I can't believe this." She tossed the tissue aside and placed the box back on the table, taking the necklace out of it. Pulling her hair to the side, she unclasped the chain and pulled it around her neck. "Can you help me?"
"Sure." Angel got up and took over where her fingertips were having the problems. Clasping the chain in place, he straightened her hair back out and went back to his chair. "Beautiful." He said, looking at her with most of her birthday presents on. The band switched to another song, this time playing one of Angel's favorites: A Sunday Kind of Love. He stood up, brushing off his nervousness and extended his hand. "May I have this dance?"
"Yes, you may." Cordelia looked up and smiled towards him. Sometimes, Angel could be the most insensitive, uncaring manpire in the world. But tonight, she thought slipping her hand into his strong one, tonight we was just a man asking her to dance and sweeping her off of her feet. The lyrics to this song, A Sunday Kind of Love, were so perfect for them. A Sunday kind of love, that's what he wanted...with Cordelia. One that will last past Saturday night. He wanted an every minute, every hour, every day love for all of his life. And he had found that love all in the arms of a girl who had turned from bitch to princess to insightful, strong, and caring woman that had come to know more than just his best friend, she was the woman who owned his heart. They swayed on the refinished hardwood dance floor, while Lorne sang the song with all of his heart. Anne and Wes had just finished their dance and were back at the table now, watching the two sway as the influence came from the music.
It was amazing really, that he had planned all of this behind her back and her not even picking up on the clues. Every day she was out while the rest either stayed behind, interviewing 'potential clients' or slaying the slum of Los Angeles, when in truth they were planning the party. All of them knew what he was going to do tonight and all of them demanded to be there when it happened. The music ended then as Angel laid a kiss upon her forehead and clasped his hand tightly in hers.
Walking back to the table, where Gunn, Anne, Fred and Wesley were now sitting enjoying their Tiramisu to full extent.
"Is that good Gunn?" Angel asked, pulling out the chair for Cordelia and watching Gunn scarf the rich dessert down in half a second.
"Mmmm hmmm." He muffled back to them, reaching for the napkin on his lap and wiping half of the dessert off of his upper lip. They all laughed at Gunn, who know knew that he had a fetish for tiramisu and the ballet.
"So, are you ready for one more present?" Angel asked her, sitting down beside her.
"There's more?" She said surprised and excitedly.
"Just one more. You want it know, or should we wait until later?" He asked, teasing her just a little bit.
"Yes. Now is good." She shook her head a few times to emphasize her anxiousness.
"Alright." He said, motioning for the waiters to bring it in and Lorne to come and join them for the last and final gift.
"This must be big." Cordelia said, watching all three of the waiters leave and Lorne coming back over to sit by her with a little get-up in his gait. The waiters came back out rolling a tray with an average sized box on the top and placed it in front of her.
"What is this?" She got up and looked around the box, making sure that there were no loop holes.
"A present. Go ahead and open it." Angel got up and stood closely beside her as she lifted open the top of the box and the sides fell down uncovering a miniature two layer cake.
"I'm not sure I understand. Angel?" A confused brow came upon her face. She turned to find standing a little farther back then before. "Angel?"
Wiping away all the anxiety that was surging through his veins, he wanted to get this over with and he wanted the ring in his pocket on her left hand finger.
"Cordelia Elisabeth Chase, you are the reason I get up in the morning. You are the reason that I'm still standing here today. When I wake up in the morning, I get excited just knowing that when I walk downstairs I get to see your beautiful smile. You were there in the beginning and I want you there by my side in the end. So, I come to you as a vampire with a soul, a champion who needs his princess, and as a man who is madly in love with a woman, nothing more, nothing less and ask you," Angel paused, taking the velvet box out of his jacket pocket and getting down on his knee. Opening up the box, he watched her back up, hands over her mouth and realizing what he was asking her. "Cordelia Chase, will you be my bride?"
There, he got it out. He had babbled his way through getting ready tonight on which version of his marriage proposal to say. Somehow they all got meshed into one and it was perfect, well, not perfect-perfect, but it got his point across.
Cordelia stood there across from him, frozen in time, still in shock of what he had just asked her. The gang sat at the table, watching as Cordelia stood speechless; which was the first time in ten years.
"Anything? Not even an 'oh my god'" Lorne asked from the table, wondering when she was going to even mutter any kind of sound. Anne slapped him slightly on the wrist, sending the death glare his way as well.
"I don't believe this." Cordelia managed to whisper under her hand-covered mouth.
"Believe it." Angel said, hearing her plea. "I hate to rush you or anything, but my knee is starting to stiffen up, any way you could give me an answer say, within the next minute or so?" Angel asked, knowing he was rushing her a bit, but the floor was not all that soft. She removed her hands from her mouth and came back up to him, pulling him up into her embrace. He felt the tears flow then, but couldn't tell if they were happy tears or sad tears. Pulling back away, he brushed his hand over her long brunette hair that seemed to be sticking to a side of her face.
"Does this mean yes?" He asked, wiping away the water on her face. She shook her head yes and leaned up to kiss him. The kiss was deep, one of those kisses that you would like to hand onto forever.
"Yes." She whispered, clutching him in an embrace again. Angel took the impeccable, one carat princess cut diamond on the platinum band and slipped it on her hand. It belonged there, he thought. It was supposed to be there.
"I love you, the soon to be Mrs. Cordelia Angel." He whispered, kissing the tip of her nose.
"And I love you, Mr. Liam Angel." She stopped and hugged him closer when Fred and Anne pulled them apart.
"You're getting married." Fred told her, the statement not really registering in her mind.
"I'm getting married." She repeated, clutching Fred and Anne's hands in hers. It registered. She was getting married. To a man...pire, to Angel. Mrs. Cordelia Angel. It had a certain ring to it and she loved it.
"I'm getting married." She repeated again, grabbing on tighter to their hands. The girls smiled and started to jump around, knowing this meant wedding plans, shopping, invitation lists, picking out the church, if there was to be an actual church., etc. And then they screamed.
"Oh my God!"