Summary: In August, nine months after the events of 'I Will Remember You', Angel is given, by the Powers, the baby girl supposed to be born from that day.
Disclaimer: The characters relate to both 'Buffy, the Vampire Slayer' and 'Angel – The Series' belong to Joss Whedon (a.k.a. God/Primer Evil, depending on the episode), FOX, the WB, Mutant Enemy and Kuzui Inc. The baby is mine.
Disclaimer: My profile at The version in Portuguese will be available at Nanna O's profile at the same site and at MIPS.
Spoilers: To the whole B/A story, from 'Welcome to the Hellmouth' to the second crossover, 'Sanctuary'/'The Yoko Factor'.
The Daughter
Chapter Two – Finally, Truth.
The adults in the living room froze, as Katharine ran to her unknown mother. Buffy felt the little body crashing against her legs, as the little girl hugged one of them tightly, happily.
"Want up, mommy!" She said with a sad smile. Buffy disentangled herself from Katharine's strong grip, and Katharine's lower lip started to quiver, as her silver-gray eyes filled with tears.
Buffy felt bad and kneeled, taking the little girl into her arms.
"What's up, sweetie?" She asked as she felt the wetness in her shoulder. Katharine was crying quietly, her little arms wrapped around Buffy's neck.
"My daddy… Papa is gone, mommy".
Buffy froze, and would have fainted, hadn't Wesley hurried to her side and helped her stand straight. Kate delicately put Deanna next to her and went to get Katharine.
"Come with me, Katie, baby. Otherwise you're gonna hit the floor, your mother looks like she'll faint", she said as Katharine refused to go with her. Looking worriedly at Buffy's weary face, Katharine gave in.
"Katie-kid, why don't we go lie down? B will come to us soon, but first you should nap", Faith said knowing Angel would be pleased if they kept Katharine's routine going on.
Katharine nodded and, comfortably perched at Faith's lap, went upstairs.
Cordelia made Buffy sit down on the couch, silently praying the gods to send her patience to explain to Buffy the odds of Katharine's existence.
And, soon enough, Buffy started firing questions at Cordelia.
"Who is that girl? Why did she call me mommy? Who the hell is her father? Where's Angel…?"
"One question a time", Cordelia interrupted the litany of questions. "Let me tell you a story, okay?"
Buffy nodded.
"At Thanksgiving of 99, you remember you came here to yell at Angel?"
Buffy nodded again.
"You didn't stay for five minutes, Buffy. You stayed for twenty-four hours", Cordelia said gently. Buffy opened her mouth. "No one remembers because Angel chose to erase the day. He was human, you were here and you two made love the whole day. But then that Mohra wasn't really dead. So, Angel went to kill him, alone. He almost died. You arrived in time and killed the demon, but Angel knew he'd be a liability for you, so he went to the Oracles".
Cordelia's lip started to quiver slightly. Gunn took her hand and squeezed it gratefully. Buffy whispered:
"My dreams…"
Cordelia frowned at her former classmate.
"What dreams?"
"Uh… I've been dreaming of a human Angel for, like, six or seven years. He meets me on Santa Monica pier, kisses me, takes me here… We make love… I always wake up crying and saying I'll never forget".
"Oh, God", Cordelia whispered. "You remembered it. Why didn't you come to tell Angel of those dreams?"
"I had no idea they were real!" Buffy exclaimed. "Go on".
"He gave up his humanity for you. You'd die if he stayed human, so… He chose to be a vampire again, just so you'd be alive, and the Oracles would erase the day. It had a catch, however. No one but him would remember the day, so he could prevent it from happening".
"How does it relate to the girl?" Buffy asked, tears brimming in her eyes.
"Nine months later, Powers sent me a vision. The Oracles wanted to see Angel. He went there and, when he came back, he brought a baby with him. A little girl. Katharine".
Buffy looked quizzically at Cordelia. The brunette sighed.
"You don't understand it? Make the math, Buff! You go for it like rabbits in November. Next August, Angel goes on his own, comes back with a baby", Cordelia started to sound annoyed. "Katharine is your daughter!" Here, she had said it.
Buffy blanched.
"It's not possible! I don't remember going through pregnancy and delivery!"
"Because you didn't", Wesley said gently. "The Oracles gave Katharine to Angel. She wasn't supposed to be born. Adam would manage to kill both you and her when you were six months pregnant".
"Why he never told me?"
"How could he, Buffy?" Cordelia took the word again. "Would you have believed if he came to you and said, Hey, Buffy, remember when you came in last Thanksgiving? Well, you didn't manage to break my heart in two minutes. Actually, you did it in twenty-four hours! And, guess what? We made love and now I have the baby born from that day!" The brunette remembered well the words Angel had said the first time they asked what he would do.
Buffy hung her head.
"Where's Angel?"
Cordelia's eyes filled with tears.
"He's gone", she whispered. "He went with Gunn and Wes to a vampire's nest, but they were too much and… one of them staked him".
Buffy looked up horrified.
"No! No, no!" She started to shake and sob uncontrollably. Cordelia stood silently next to her, tears streaming down her own cheeks.
"My mommy is beautiful", Katharine said to Faith as the two of them lay next to each other, both staring at the ceiling.
"You have her eyes", Faith said simply. "Now that Angel is really an angel, you'll probably live with her in Rome".
"No", Katharine said. "I'm not going anywhere. This is my home".
"That's my girl", Faith said. "Don't worry, kid. Every judge in California will give us your custody. But you'll have to visit your mother every once in a while".
"Don't you dare to speak badly of Angel in his house or to his daughter", Cordelia said suddenly. "I've seen Katharine cry more today than in her whole life, and I won't allow you to make her cry more. Do you understand me?", Cordelia said suddenly.
"Fine. But I'm taking her with me when I leave", Buffy said.
"That girl goes nowhere with you outside the limits of this city", Cordelia said, heart set at following Angel's wishes. And one of them was for Katharine never live outside LA.
"Who will prevent me?" Buffy challenged. She knew her rights. As mother, now that Angel was dead, she could take Katharine wherever she felt like. "Like it or not, Cordelia, I'm her mother. And now Angel is gone. He was the only who could stop me, but now I can take Katharine to hell if I want!"
"No, you can't", Faith said walking in. "Angel left a will. He said there, expressively, that he doesn't want Katharine living outside Los Angeles. So, either you stay with her here, in LA, with us also, or you can go and forget you ever found out you have a daughter".
"Faith, you know I have law by my side", Buffy said.
"So do we", Kate said. "I think we never met properly. I'm Kate Lockley, Angel's friend. My daughter Deanna is Katharine's best friend".
Buffy shook Kate's hand in silence.
"Can we please discuss that later?" She asked. "I just… want to stay with my daughter".
Faith nodded and got up, signaling for Buffy to follow her. The brunette slayer took Buffy upstairs, to Angel's room. She turned to face her sister-slayer.
"We mean what we said before, Buff. That little girl was Angel's everything, and we'll do whatever it takes to keep her around".
That said Faith left. Buffy opened up a crack of the door and found out Katharine lying down, awake, dressed in one of Angel's silk shirts and clutching tightly a box that Buffy recognized. It had been her last gift for Angel, for Valentine's Day, before he left.
"Kathy?" She called softly. "Can I stay with you?"
"Sure", the child's voice was soft and thick with tears. "I miss him".
"So do I, baby".
"Do you?" Katharine said. Buffy sighed. That girl seemed to be the kind who asked all the hard questions.
"Of course I do, honey", she said lying next to Katharine and taking the little hand into hers. "Your father… He was the love of my life".
"You were never around", Katharine accused. "Sometimes daddy would look at me and cry, because we're so much alike".
Buffy barely choked back a sob.
"Baby… Believe me, I love Angel. More than anything. When he left… It nearly killed me. I thought I would die. If it weren't for the fact that I knew he still loved me… I think I would've really died".
The woman and the girl stood silently on the bedroom.
"Daddy wanted you to have this", Katharine handed Buffy the box. "He always told me that, if anything happened to him, he wanted you to have whatever it is inside".
"Do you want to see what's inside?" Buffy said softly. Katharine nodded and they both sat down Indian style. The slayer ran her fingertips slowly over the carved Claddagh symbol and the Gaelic words for 'forever love'.
"What's that symbol?" Katharine asked curiously.
"Your daddy never told you?" Katharine shook her head. "That is the Claddagh", she said, her eyes clouding with tears. "The crown represents loyalty. The hands are for friendship. And the heart is for love".
"Hummm…" Katharine chewed her lower lip thoughtfully. "Daddy had a ring with that drawing".
"Of course he did", Buffy said, with her voice slightly thick with tears. "And it was facing in, right?" She asked, and smiled tightly when Katharine nodded. "It meant he belonged to someone".
"Who?"
"Me", Buffy said simply. "Let's open, okay?"
Katharine nodded eagerly. Buffy smiled and lifted the box's lid.
It revealed a journal with a black leather cover and Angel's Claddagh ring. Katharine's eyes lit up at the sight of the journal.
"I know this!" She exclaimed. "Daddy wrote all my life in it!"
"Really?" Buffy asked, and Katharine nodded with a yawn. "Honey, why don't you nap?"
"Will you stay with me, mommy?" Katharine asked, suddenly looking like the six-year-old she was. She had been behaving so maturely, Buffy found hard to believe she was only a little girl. But now her eyes were full of fear and vulnerability, and Buffy knew she already loved that girl.
"Sure, baby. Why don't you sleep and I read?"
Katharine nodded and instantly fell asleep. Buffy covered her with a light blanket and opened the journal carefully.
Written in Angel's antique, artful handwriting was 'Life of Katharine Vida Summers-O'Connell, daughter of Liam Angel O'Connell and Elizabeth Anne Summers'.
She ran her fingers lightly over the words and then turned the page.
Angel had chosen to start the history of Katharine's life writing a letter to Buffy, explaining why he couldn't just call her and tell they had a daughter.
Buffy, right now we can barely stay in the same room for five minutes without fights and heartbreaks. How could I call you and tell you we have a daughter, when you don't remember when we conceived her? It'd add up to the misery you feel, and I don't agree with that.
Buffy felt the tears running down her cheeks, and carefully wiped them. She didn't want those words to be stained by her tears.
Katharine is each day growing to be a brunette version of you. She's now eight months and Cordelia has lost the track of how many times she had found Katharine crawling to my bedroom. Our daughter is developing the strange habit of waiting for me in my bed until I'm home from patrol.
I must say it's good to see our baby girl sleeping on my bed when I arrive. Having Katharine changed my life. Now I fight a little harder, I'm stronger, faster, just because I know that I have a daughter to raise.
The slayer looked down at the sleeping girl. Had she any idea how much Angel loved her? Probably. She ran her fingers through the silky black locks, surprised at how they felt just like Angel's.
Katharine spoke her first words tonight. Daddy and mommy. Cordelia doesn't agree that I keep telling her about you, about us, but she has a mother, and it's her right to know who her mother is.
Buffy read the journal through the afternoon, crying hard.
Faith walked in hours later and found Buffy curled on Angel's armchair, looking devastated. The rogue slayer sat next to Katharine's mother.
"She's so serious", Buffy said in a whisper, her eyes set at the still asleep Katharine.
"She's Angel's kid, B", Faith replied softly. "He is… was… very cool, collected, a reflexive person. And ever since she was a baby she was joined by the hip with him. You can't expect Angel's personality not to rub off her".
"Why I never came to see him, Faith?" Buffy asked the question that tortured her for hours. "I mean… He went to help me that night when we fought the First, but I never was here for him when he needed me".
"I don't know, B. Maybe you were afraid of seeing how he had dealt with life without you. But I know one thing – Angel never stopped loving you. Not in minute in his life he loved you any less. Katharine just added up to that feeling".
Buffy got up and started to pace.
"I can't stay here, Faith. I'm needed at the Council. And I want Katharine with me wherever I am".
"B, sit down", Faith demanded. "You don't have an established home and you met Katie only a few hours ago. No court will give you her custody. How do you think on raising her? At least here she has me, Cordy, Wes, Gunn, Kate and Deanna".
Buffy sat down.
"I already love her, Faith. She's a dream come true".
"That's not what I mean. I never said you don't love Katharine. But you don't have a routine to her. And that's something every judge will require".
"So what do you suggest?"
"Quit the Council. Finish college. Get a job. Stay here with us".
"I can do all those but not stay here at this building. There are too many memories of Angel and I can't deal with those".
"That girl is going nowhere", Faith said calmly. "She said herself. She grew here. This is home for her". Faith got up. "Think about it".
"Kathy? Wake up, baby", Buffy called softly. Katharine's eyes fluttered open.
"Mommy?" She asked drowsily.
"Yeah, it's me. We need to talk".
Katharine sat up.
"Anything wrong?"
"Baby, I know you love the hotel, right?" Katharine nodded. "But mom can't stay here. It's too painful for her. So, I was thinking… Would you like to move in with mommy to an apartment?"
Katharine looked at her.
"Why don't you like here?"
"Baby… There are too many memories of your daddy… Memories of a time when I wasn't around… Time that we lost".
"No. I'm not leaving my house!" Katharine yelled and bolted out.
Buffy started to cry.
Things around the Hyperion didn't get any easier. After Buffy's unfortunate suggestion, Katharine started to simply refuse talk to her mother. And Cordelia was mad.
But, as time went by, everyone started to see that staying at the Hyperion wasn't good to Katharine. All she did everyday was cry. Buffy was worried with her little girl, but nothing could do.
One day, Buffy had had enough.
"I'm taking Kathy out of here even if she hates me forever", she told Faith one night, two weeks after Angel's death. The brunette sighed.
"What do you want to do? Have a fight with Cordelia again?"
"Look at my daughter!" Buffy cried with tears in her eyes. "Faith, staying here is killing Katharine slowly, don't you see?"
"Oh, I do see. But Cordy is adamant on not letting you leave with Katie. The only one who she'll hear is Katie herself. And Katie doesn't wanna leave".
"I don't care!" Buffy exploded. Tears were running down her cheeks. "My baby is dying! How would Angel feel if he knew Katie is about to get sick because no one dares to take her away from an environment that is bad for her?"
Katharine walked in the living room and Buffy softened.
"Hey, baby. How are you?" Faith asked.
"I want daddy back", she said in a whisper. Then she looked at the ceiling. "Give me my daddy back!"
She fell to the floor in a crying ball. Buffy, with tears still cascading down her cheeks, ran to her side.
"Honey, please don't do that. Daddy wouldn't like it".
"Why?" Katharine sobbed. "Why did he have to go? He's my daddy!"
"I know. I know. I miss him too. But we gotta move on, baby girl".
Katharine smiled a little.
"He calls me that".
"We know, Katie", Faith said. "But Angel won't be pleased if he sees you dying slowly. Because that's what's happening to you, Katie. You're dying. Slowly and slowly, each day more".
"It's wrong to want daddy back?"
"No, baby", Buffy hurried to say. "It's not. But you have to go on. You'll never forget your daddy, but his memory should hurt less".
Katharine thought for a long moment. Then, she looked at her mother, with eyes clear of tears.
"Take me home, mommy".
Author's Notes: I know I probably went too hard on this or made Katharine too mature for her age. But that's how I feel Angel's daughter would be: she wouldn't be like a normal kid, and his death would bring the most rebellious side of her. Please review and let me now what you think!
