Dawn's brow furrowed as her eyes darted from her boyfriend to Spike. Something was not right with this picture. Why had Spike called Jeff 'Connor'? And how did Jeff know Spike?

"What's going on here?" she asked, her voice trembling.

Jeff dropped his head and looked up at her sheepishly. The plan had been to lead a normal life with a normal girl and a normal family. That's what his father had wanted for him. The sacrifice had been great on Angel's part and he had done nothing to try to pull his son back into the fold even after the mindshift had been discovered by Cordelia and by Connor himself.

He remembered going back to the Hyperion to find his father sitting at his desk, a glass of scotch in his hands.

"I know who you are," he'd said softly.

Angel had kept his back to the boy, staring out into the night sky through his window.

"Then you know why I did what I did," Angel had responded evenly.

"I..." Jeff hadn't known what to say. A lifetime of memories had flooded back, mingling with those that were never his own. He sighed and stared at the back of his father's head. He looked up into the window to see his own reflection, but not his father's. "I just wanted to thank you... Dad," he whispered.

He never saw the tears that slid down Angel's cheeks. He never heard the man whisper you're welcome or that he loved him and missed him more than he could ever say. Jeff had said what he'd wanted to say. And then he slipped out of his father's office quietly.

Cordelia had been standing just outside the door, tears welling up in her own eyes upon seeing the child she'd loved as her own as an infant and the man she'd taken as her own as an adult.

"He loves you," she whispered. "We both do, Connor. Each in our own way, but both very much. We only wanted to give you what you deserved most... happiness. And something... normal."

He had nodded, barely able to look his mother, his lover in the eye. She'd reached out to touch his cheek, barely brushing it with the back of her fingers.

"You were such a good baby, Connor. And you're a good man," she'd told him. "Don't for one second think that we could ever forget you. You're in our hearts and at the very front of our minds every day. But you can't come back here again. It would kill him to see you. If any part of you loves him at all, go live the life he created for you. He sacrificed so much for you. Don't let it have been for nothing."

Cordelia had watched as Connor left the Hyperion. The emotions swirled within her. She'd loved the boy as if he were her very own. And she had been the first to love him as an adult. Her reasons had seemed so clear at the time. She had wanted to give him something real. Instead, she had fulfilled a prophesy that could have destroyed them all. And she had hurt Angel all the way down to his soul.

She had felt him while she was comatose. He had come in to read to her or talk to her. Sometimes he would just come in and sit with her. He'd hold her hand and stroke her knuckles with his thumb. And sometimes he'd lock the door and sit at her side sobbing for hours. She'd fought with everything she had to come back to him. He needed to know that she did love him and that she would wait forever for his curse to be reversed if she had to, the same way he waited achingly for her.

She had let herself into his office, his back still to the door. She stood in the doorway just watching as his shoulders shook with the pain of a million tears. And then she made her decision. She went to him and knelt at his feet, taking his hands in hers. His eyes were closed as the tears continued to fall blindly down his cheeks, wetting his face and his shirt, dripping angrily from his nose and chin. She pulled him down into the crook of her neck and held him tightly.

"I love you, Angel," she had told him for the first time. Her words only made him tremble even more. "I love you. And I'm not leaving you. I'll wait as long as it takes," she assured him.

He had pulled her up into his lap and held her close, letting her heartbeat calm him. She had been there through it all. She had become a woman nobody in Sunnydale could ever have imagined as a result of the shallow cheerleader she had been.

"I... I can't pull you into the dark with me, Cordy," he whispered. "No matter how much I like to deny it, I'm still a demon and you're a normal girl."

She had laughed softly and pulled away to look into his eyes.

"Hey Angel, part Brachen demon here, thanks to our good friend Doyle," she reminded him. "Haven't you figured it out yet? Not so much with the normal."

She had kissed him softly, just pressing her lips gently to his. She pulled away slightly and leaned her forehead against his.

"And I wouldn't have it any other way," she promised. "We were bound together by that child, Angel. And we were bound together by our secret, as well. But I give my heart to you freely. It's yours... consider it a gift and you know how I don't give gifts very often, so if you try to return it... I'll have to stake you," she told him, trying to lighten the moment.

He had looked into her eyes and could have sworn that he saw his own reflection.

"No staking," he told her. "I think I'd like to keep my gift. You just let me know when you want it back."

She had smiled at him and was surprised at the genuine smile he'd given in return. She pinched him hard and he winced.

"What was that for?" he yelped.

She giggled and kissed his cheek.

"You were just looking pretty damned happy, so I wanted to make sure you didn't make with the grr! and the argh!" she explained jokingly. "Now... go ahead and say it."

He had looked at her with a puzzled expression. She rolled her eyes and sighed.

"I, Cordelia, love you Angel," she told him. "Your turn."

He tucked her hair behind her ear and looked into her eyes. She saw nothing but love in them and smiled expectantly.

"And I, Angel, love you Cordelia," he vowed.