He found her in the nursery, simply looking over the empty crib and running her hands over the white edges of the painted wood.

"What are we going to do with this stuff?" She softly asked and turned around to look at him. "What are we going to do with this stuff Angel?"

"What would you like to do with it?" Angel stepped forward, taking her body into his arms and just holding her.

"I don't know."

"Why don't we just keep it?" He suggested as her head shot up in question.

"Why?"

"We can save it for a rainy day."

"Angel..."

"You never know, Cordelia, you never know." He brushed his lips up against her forehead and tugged her closer. "You know I love you right?"

"Yea, I know." Cordelia backed away and retreated into his bedroom and like always, he followed her. He honestly would follow her into the depths of hell, even though he didn't want to return seeing as he had already been there once or twice. Anyone of them would follow her because what was the family without the heart? If she wasn't there, none of them would have any kind of reason to stay together. She was now sitting in his leather chair Indian style and staring out into the great unknown of Angel's dark room.

"Cordy..."

"Angel, I don't feel like talking."

"Who says I'm coming to listen, maybe I want to talk."

"About what?"

"About how it's not just you who lost this baby." He told her sitting on the edge of the bed and looking straight at her. "Yea, you heard me right. All of us are just as torn up as you are. The Powers had me thinking that this was my second chance, that I could be a father again...to this child who wasn't even mine. Just like you were the mother to Connor."

"Angel, I..."

"Don't talk Cordy, just listen." Angel grabbed for her hand and pulled her over next to him. "No one is going to hurt as much as you do, I know that from experience. But as you once told me, we have to go on living. It gets easier day by day, but it never goes away, that's why we have people who'll need us and we'll help them. Because that's what we do."

"I'm sorry." She said, burying her head into his shoulder.

"Come on."

"Where are we going this time?" She asked, wiping away some of the drifting tears off of her cheek and latching onto Angel's hand.

"Out."

"Out where?"

"Anywhere. We just have to get out of here." Angel pulled her down the stairs and grabbed his jacket on the way out.

"Angel?" Cordelia asked again, letting go of his hand and going back in the hotel to grab her coat as well. She came back out with her jacket wrapped tightly around her upper body and up to Angel's side. "Now where are we going?"

"You still like ice cream?"

"Yea, but since when do you?"

"Since they introduced Bloody Mary flavored ice cream." He joked with her, sliding his arm up and around her neck. "I'm kidding."

"You better be because if you're not, then I want one too." She said and his head ship over to her half smiling face. "I'm kidding."

Ten minutes and two waffle comes with an array of flavors piled on top later, they walked hand in hand back to the hotel, giving each other smiles that suggested this was more than two best friends just out for an ice cream cone.

"You know, Fred's going to kill us." She said, slowing the pace down a bit and looking over at him.

"She is, isn't she?"

"Yeah, especially since we didn't bother to pink a cone up for her or stop at any of the sixteen taco stands between the hotel and the ice cream shop without picking her up at least one taco."

"We're going to get the silent treatment, which isn't all that bad."

"True."

"We should do this again, you know, just the two of us." He hinted looking down at his feet and hoping she wouldn't stop walking, but she did.

"Why, Mr. Angel, are you trying to ask me out?"

"Trying to, failing miserably." He said, looking back at her and waiting for any sort of answer.

"I did enjoy this."

"So..."

"So, sure. Why not?"

"Good, because I've already made plans." He added as they started to walk towards the hotel courtyard.

"Already made plans? You?"

"You sound surprised."

"I am. Angel, when's the last time you planned anything?"

"I don't have to answer that."

"Only because you know that you haven't planned anything since the day you were born. Angel?"

"Yeah?"

"You are such a dork."

Okay, so Angel finally asked me out and even though the technique needs some work, he was incredibly sweet. Which, is not normal, well at least when it comes to asking girls out. I'm still wondering about his so-called 'plan'. Angel doesn't plan. Never. I'll bet fifty dollars on the nearest blackjack table that Fred and Lorne helped him or did all the planning themselves. Gretchen went back home three days ago and for the first time in my life and hers, I called her grandma. It was weird, you know, not having a grandmother for the first 23 years of you life and actually felt natural and good. Something I could definitely get used to. I'd also bet that she had something to do with Angel's plan. He said to be ready tomorrow night at six thirty. I've been going crazy not knowing and even though I already use the computer for internet time, I've been, what Wesley calls 'overexceeding my limit' by searching for any kind of event around the area that Angel would even be remotely interested in. So, off to the 'net I go...

Cordelia clicked the icon on the computer screen and waited for the Yahoo search engine to load up. She couldn't stop thinking about where Angel was supposed to be taking her. She knew it wasn't Caritas, because Lorne had put a protection spell on the new and improved nightclub from them. And it couldn't be the pier because Angel was allergic to anything fun. She quickly typed her search words in and hit the return key when WtchyWoman popped up on the screen.

WtchyWoman: Hiya
VisionGirl: Hi Red.
WtchyWoman: How ya doing?
VisionGirl: Better than I was. You?
WtchyWoman: Not that bad. Anything new in good ol' LA?
VisionGirl: Apart from the daily freaky things, no. But Mr. Broody is supposed to be taking me out tonight and he nor anyone else will tell me anything!
WtchyWoman: What? Angel and you?
VisionGirl: It's not that big of a surprise is it?
WtchyWoman: No, not really. It's just like Captain Peroxide and Miss Likes to Slay.
VisionGirl: Are we talking who I think we're talking about?
WtchyWoman: Yep. He's got a soul like Mr. Broody now but no curse attached.
VisionGirl: Wow.
WtchyWoman: My thoughts exactly. So, how are you, you know, with the thing?
VisionGirl: You can say it Will. And although I'm not fully recovered and I doubt I ever will be, I'm coping. The gang is helping me through it and I don't know what I would do without them or Angel.
WtchyWoman: Ooooo, okay here's a hug (insert smile icon). I wish it was real.
VisionGirl: Thanks Willow. Where are you right now?
WtchyWoman: Creative Writing 101. Required for my last semester. YAY!
VisionGirl: Yes yay! Maybe after all this, I'll come visit.
WtchyWoman: Or me there.
VisionGirl: That would be nice. You can see how much Wesley's changed. He ditched his glasses.
WtchyWoman: No!
VisionGirl: Yep.
WtchyWoman: Yea, I have to come see you guys and...I also have to go. Teacher coming.
VisionGirl: Okay bye Will.
WtchyWoman: Bye Cordy. Talk soon
WtchyWoman had signed off

Willow Rosenberg hadn't been her best friend in the world but she made a good e-mail buddy and great listener. She didn't always have advice for her, but usually just a smiley or a few 'uh huhs' did the trick. Reading back over the message, she stopped to think about her coping comment. Coping was a hard thing to do and she wasn't really coping, heck she wasn't even sure how to cope. Having Angel there made it better. Having that big, strong shoulder was a good thing and since he had already gone through a similar ordeal, he knew how what was going on inside her brain. Much more than she did sometimes. Her thoughts trailed back to the computer screen. Date. She had a date. With Angel. Tonight.