Chapter 9

Wesley reported for work the next morning as promised and he, Lorne, Gunn, and Angel spent the morning catching up on files. No one seemed to harbor any animosity towards him, not even Lorne, and he was grateful. He suspected some gentle arm-twisting had gone on by Angel but, whatever the reason, he was glad to be welcomed back.

Cordelia and Fred had a Girl's Day planned with Katherine. They were up and dressed and out the door by 8:00 and missed Wesley's return. They spent the morning having a manicure, pedicure, and facial. Then it was off to the salon to have their hair trimmed. They ate lunch at an outdoor café and spent the remainder of the afternoon shopping. Apparently, the long hours they had spent each day with Katherine as a baby must have had an impact. Katherine was as at ease and comfortable with them as if she had seen with them every day of her life. By the end of the afternoon, they had fallen back into their old habit of using her baby nickname Katydid, or occasionally just Katie. With one exception, it was a perfect day.

When the girls returned, Gunn and Wesley had gone to tie up a loose end on an old case. Lorne and Angel were in his office sorting through files. Katie ran in and jumped up in his lap.

"We had fun! Did you miss me?" she asked.

"I don't know. What'd you bring me?" he asked her.

She looked at Cordy with a worried expression.

"He's kidding," Cordy said.

Katherine relaxed. "But we did buy a lot of stuff. I got lots of new clothes and Aunt Cordy bought me a purse and a big, big bottle of bubble bath. It smells good."

Lorne came over and peeked into the one of the bags she was holding. "Is that Sweet Pea? I just love the smell of Sweet Pea."

"Who asked you?" she said, and snatched the bag away.

Cordelia looked at Angel, who said nothing. Lorne shrank back to the other side of the desk.

"Anyway," Katherine continued, clearly to Angel alone, "then we went to this other store and we got curtains and a bedspread and a furry rug and a picture of a ballerina. That's a girl who dances on her toes," she explained.

"I'm sure that will look just lovely in my room," he said sarcastically, squinting at Cordelia.

"Actually, it's for Katherine's room," she said.

Angel stopped smiling. "What?" He didn't like where this was going.

"Aunt Cordy said I could have a room of my own," she reported.

Angel gave Cordelia an icy look. "You should have talked to me."

"Angel, she can't keep sleeping in your room forever. She's needs a room of her own with things of her own."

Angel put his arm further around her and hugged her to him. "I like having her close, so I can keep an eye on her." Angel looked at his daughter. "We've been doing okay, haven't we?"

Katherine didn't know what to say. She didn't want to hurt his feelings, but she was excited about her new room. She had never had a room of her own.

"I guess…" she said slowly.

Angel saw the disappointment in her face and got the hint. He looked at her and smiled. "You really want your own room?"

She smiled back and nodded.

Cordy spoke up. "You know, your room actually has an adjoining door to the room beside it. That would be perfect for her. We could go tomorrow and pick up some paint and brushes…"

"Okay, I know when I'm outnumbered," he conceded.

"I'd be glad to go to the paint store," offered Lorne.

Katherine sneered at him. "No thanks. I don't like green."

Cordelia waited for Angel to scold her but Angel again said nothing.

Lorne walked toward the door. "Angelcakes, we're pretty much done here and I gotta go see a guy about a.m…thing…" he said vaguely.

"Thanks for the help today," Angel said. "See you tomorrow?"

"Sure. Night, peaches," he said to Katherine, who ignored him.

When Lorne had gone Cordelia turned to Katherine and said in a more serious tone. "How about filling your dad in on what else happened today."

Katherine looked at her blankly.

"About the little problem we had?"

Katherine continued to stare but Cordelia knew she was faking it.

Angel looked at her. "Katherine?"

Katie tried to sound spontaneous. "I saw this real tall man with legs about 10 feet long!"

"You did?" he played along. "That must have been interesting."

"Yeah," she continued. "He walked around on these sticks and juggled balls in the air while he walked!"

"Sounds cool." Angel looked at Cordelia. "What's the problem?"

Cordy looked at Katherine and waited for her to answer. "Katherine?"

Katherine snuggled down in her father's lap a little closer.

Cordy rolled her eyes. "Okay, fine, I'll tell him. We were at the T-shirt shop on the pier when she saw this guy on stilts way down at the other end. She wanted to walk down there but I told her we'd have to come back another time since you were expecting us home by 5 and I knew you'd totally freak out if we were like 30 seconds late."

Katherine began to fidget with the paperclips on Angel's desk.

Cordelia continued her recap. "Anyway, I went to pay the T-shirt guy and when I turned around, no Katherine. There were like 60 people standing around. I thought I'd never find her. This Houdini act of hers is starting to give me worry lines. Not good."

Angel looked down at Katie. "I thought you promised me you wouldn't go off on your own?"

"I just wanted to see the tall man doing tricks. I was afraid he might not be there next time," she explained innocently.

It worked. He was putty in her hands. He gave her a little hug. "I know, it's okay." he told her.

He caught a glimpse of Cordelia's disapproving look. "But don't do it again," he added.

Cordy picked up some of the shopping bags and held them out to Katherine. "Honey, why don't you take some of these things upstairs. I'll come up in a few minutes and help you hang them up."

"Okay." Katherine slid down from Angel's lap left with the bags.

When Katherine was far enough the stairs, Angel leaned back and folded his arms. "I suppose that was so you could talk to me privately?" he guessed.

"You betcha. Angel, she's getting the idea that she can just do anything she wants to, and she's getting it from you.

"Look, I just don't want to start dumping a bunch of rules on her the first week she's back," he said defensively.

Cordy tried to stay calm. "Fine. I can understand that. So, how about one rule? Just one. Don't Go Running Off Alone."

Angel filed some papers in the drawer beside him. "She was just excited. We'll just have to be more careful. Keep a better eye on her."

Cordelia desperately tried to make her point. "You give her anything she wants. You let her get away with anything she does. Did you not hear the way she talked to Lorne just now? He's like, family, and you just sat there while she totally dissed him. You're spoiling her," she concluded.

"That's the plan," he confessed.

"And you think that's a good thing?"

"Actually, I do."

Cordy couldn't believe what she was hearing. "You want her to grow up to be a selfish, self-centered brat that nobody is going to want to be friends with?"

"So, what am I supposed to do? The kid's been through Hell. Literally! Don't you think she's entitled to a little happiness?" he asked.

Cordelia folded her arms. "You know I want her to be happy every bit as much as you do, so don't even go there. But that feeling of entitlement can grow. And it can keep on growing until it snuffs out everything sweet and precious that's inside her. Is that really what you want?"

Angel pretended to look through the papers on his desk. "You're exaggerating."

Cordy sat down in front of him. "Am I? Do you know that I lived in Sunnydale all of my life and I didn't have one single real friend? Not one. Oh, I acted like that didn't matter. That I was glad those kids didn't like me since I was obviously so much better than they were anyway. But the truth is, I would have traded all my designer clothes and expensive jewelry for one real girlfriend."

Angel thought about this. "You had friends. The Cordettes. What about them?"

"Groupies and users."

Angel leaned over his desk. "Well, you have friends now. You have us."

"Because I finally grew up and realized that there were more important things in this world than me. Our friendship is amazing because it's based on trying to help other people. On trying to give something, instead of trying to get something. You're cheating Katherine out of ever being able to have that with anyone by turning her into a taker who thinks the world owes her something."

"You think that's what I'm doing to her?"

"Don't you?" she asked.

Angel got up and walked toward the door. "Okay, I'll go talk to her. I'll tell her about The Rule and about not being rude." He hesitated and turned around. "But then I'm taking her out for ice cream."