Chapter 12
The Berkles finally remembered Fred and went over to give her a hug.
"What are ya'll doin' here?" she asked them.
Her mother spoke first. "Well, after you called and told us about this little sweetheart being home, we started talking about all that stuff up in our attic from when you were little."
Mr. Berkle turned and shook hands with Wesley, Angel, and Gunn and gave Cordy a kiss.
"You wouldn't believe all the junk that was still up there," he told them. "There was baby dolls, and Barbie dolls, and doll houses, and books!. Lord, all the books!"
"That's our Fred," said Cordy.
Mrs. Berkle went over and took her husband's arm. "We started packing some of it up to send up here. We though Katherine might enjoy it."
Mr. Berkle interrupted. "But then I thought, why not just take a run up there ourselves and give it to her in person."
Fred's mother looked at Angel. "We always regretted not getting up here to see her when she was first born, and then…"
Not wanting anything to put a damper on the evening, Fred spoke up. "Well, I'm sure glad you did. I hope you brought the Barbie house."
She turned to Katherine, who had been following the conversation with interest. "It has furniture, and wallpaper, and electric lights, and real running water," she went on excitedly.
"Who's Barbie?" Katherine asked her.
"She's a clothes demon," Gunn answered.
Katherine looked at Fred. "He's kidding?" she guessed, beginning to get used to that.
Fred nodded. "He's kidding," she confirmed.
Mrs. Berkle sat down on Katherine's new bed and motioned for Katherine to come and sit next to her. Katherine did and Mrs. Berkle put an arm around her.
"What's your name?" Katherine wanted to know.
"Well, you can call me Grandma if you want to. And that," she pointed to her husband, "can be Grandpa. How would that be?"
Katherine nodded and smiled. She had never had grandparents before and she took an instantly liking to the Berkles.
Soon, everyone cleared out of Katherine's room so that she could get ready for bed. After her bath, she asked her new Grandpa to read her a story. He read her three. After that, Angel came up tucked her into her new bed.
"You gonna be okay in here by yourself?" he asked her as he kissed her goodnight.
"I'll be fine," she assured him. "You going to be okay in there by yourself?"
He laughed. "I'll do my best." He told her goodnight and went downstairs.
Everyone was sitting in the lobby talking. Angel motioned to Wesley, who excused himself from the group. They went outside into the garden.
"It was nice of them to come and bring Katherine the toys," Wesley said.
"They're great," Angel agreed. "I'm glad they're here."
"You don't seem glad," Wesley observed. "Is something wrong?"
"Yeah," he confessed. "But not with the Berkles," he said as he sat down. "Katherine doesn't really have any family except me. It'll be good for her to have someone to call Grandma and Grandpa."
Wesley joined him on the bench. "What then?"
"Upstairs just now…she told me she loved me," Angel told him sadly.
Wesley looked confused. "I don't understand. That should make you feel…well, wonderful."
Angel got up and picked a leaf off a bush. "It was the best feeling I've ever had," he said.
Wesley still looked confused.
With no joy in his voice, Angel looked Wesley in the eye and said, "I've never felt so happy in all my life."
Realization finally sunk in and Wesley stood up. "The curse. If you experience true happiness…"
Angel swallowed hard. "Wes, you've proven that you're willing to protect her. No matter what. I need to know that I can count on you for that."
Angel walked over to Wesley. "If I change…" he began.
Wesley shook his head and walked away. He stood silently for a moment, and as a thought occurred to him he turned back to face Angel. "The first time you turned, after you and Buffy…"
Angel nodded his understanding.
Wesley went on. "You had no knowledge of the curse then. You and Buffy were together, you were in love, and there was nothing to prevent you from experiencing total happiness."
"Yeah?" Angel said, not clear where Wesley was going with this.
"But if you had known about the curse, and what could happen…"
The light bulb finally went off for Angel. "Knowing what could happen, and that I could hurt her would have kept me from being able to be truly happy!"
Wesley moved closer to Angel. "Simply knowing the existence of the curse, in essence, nullifies its threat."
Angel sat down hard. He put his head in his hands. "All this time, I was afraid…I thought if…"
Wesley sat down and put his hand on Angel's shoulder. "You're probably the first person in history who ever considered finding out they could never be truly happy good news."
Angel sat up. "This changes everything, Wesley. I mean…Buffy…" He glanced through the doors. "Cordy…"
"I imagine you'll have a lot to sort through. If I can help…" Wesley offered as he stood up.
Angel stood up and extended his hand to Wesley. "You have. More than you could ever know."
The two men shook hands and Wesley went back inside to rejoin the Berkles.
Angel sat and listened to the laughter coming from inside the hotel as Fred's parents entertained everyone with stories about Fred when she was Katherine's age. Wesley was right. He had a lot to think about.