Redemption

by kinoa

This is the final book in the The PTB'S Boss Sends Help trilogy. Angel will become human a little at a time. He is being given time to adjust. The families will increase. Who will die first Angel or Cordelia?

12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

The day started out with clear skies and remained clear throughout the day, which was unusual for this time of the year. The Santa Ana winds had ended two months ago so that meant there were no winds to blow the smog out of the valleys. It had rained the night before and apparently that had cleaned the air. Angel had been driving for four hours already and they were now getting close to the High Sierras. Wesley was sitting up front with Angel while Lou and Cordelia were sitting in the back sleeping. They had been talking continuously for the first three hours of the trip. Angel and Wesley had been listening to them. When the girls finally quieted down Wesley turned around to check on them.

"They're sleeping now. I don't know how women can find so much to talk about." When Wesley looked at Angel to tell him the girls were sleeping he noticed smoke coming from Angel's left hand. "Angel I think Angelus has reached his limit on exposure to the sun. You better pull over so we can switch and you can go to the back."

Angel looked at his hand. He didn't notice it getting hot until Wesley brought his attention to it. He immediately put his hand down to his side and out of the sun. "I think your right. Do you remember how to get up to the town we were at?" "Yes, no problem." Angel waited until he came to a rest stop that had signs informing you there were restroom facilities available. He knew the girls and Wesley most likely needed to use them. After Cordelia had delivered Kathleen he stopped needing to relieve himself so frequently and once a day was now the norm for him.

Wesley and Angel got out and opened both side doors for Lou and Cordelia. "Ladies it's time to wake up." Wesley called out to them. Cordelia and Lou squinted their eyes to try and block out some of the bright sun light. "Are we there yet?" Cordelia said as she came forward. "No we're just at a rest stop. I'm going to take over driving so Angel can get in the back and out of the sun." "Oh, I hope it has restrooms because I have to go." "Me too." Lou said. As soon as the girls exited the van they all headed for the restrooms while Angel climbed into the back of the van and opened the ice chest so he could put his hand into the ice cold water. 'Man does that feel good.' Angel said to himself.

After fifteen minutes his traveling companions returned. Wesley took over the drivers' seat while Lou was in the passenger seat and Cordelia went to the back to be with Angel. "Anyone want something to drink?" Cordelia asked. "Yes I'll take a bottle of water." Wesley said while Lou asked for a Pepsi. As soon as Wesley opened his water and drank half of it he started the engine and they got back on the road.

Angel and Cordelia were quiet in the back while Lou and Wesley were having a conversation about her history studies. After listening to them for awhile Cordelia reached into her large bag that she had stashed in the back. She pulled out a book that she had wanted to read but never seemed to have the chance. "How about if I read to you for awhile Angel would you like that?" "What is it?" He asked. "Don't laugh when I tell you." "Okay I promise I won't laugh." He said with a smile. "It's 'Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone.' I've wanted to read this ever since I heard about these series of books. Everyone that I talk to says that they're real good and a lot of adults read them." Cordelia looked at Angel. "Well, do you want to hear it?" Angel didn't say anything for a few minutes. He turned to her then with a big grin. "To tell you the truth I've been curious also, but I didn't want anyone to catch me reading it. I knew what Gunn would say if he caught me." Angel raised his voice so Wesley would hear. "So we won't tell anyone will we Wesley and Lou." "Angel I've already started reading it to Fred. I've been anxious to continue the book because I got almost half way when Fred delivered the boys. Why don't you sit in one of the middle seats Cordelia so Lou and I can hear you also?"

Cordelia moved to the center seat and started reading the book. She was able to read up to the point where Harry received the gift of the Invisibility Cloak for Christmas when they arrived at the Motel they were going to stay at. They became so interested in the story that they didn't even stop to have lunch. While Angel continued reading Cordelia passed out the sandwiches that Connie had packed for them and opened a bottle of blood for Angel. Lou unwrapped Wesley's sandwich for him and opened a bag of potato chips for him also which made it easy for him to reach everything safely and continue driving. When Angel's voice started to go Lou took over then it went back to Cordelia. Everyone liked to hear Cordelia read because she brought her acting ability into play and made the characters seem more life like.

"Okay everyone where here. Shall we go and eat first or shall we register and get settled into our rooms?" Wesley asked everyone. "Why don't we go and get something to eat after we register. I don't think places stay open very long around here so we better get something to eat while they're still open." Angel said.

Wesley went to the motel and registered for 3 rooms and then asked if their was anyplace to eat in town that was still open since it was already 9 o'clock at night. "The only place that is open Angel is the local bar which serves hamburgers and tacos." "Do you ladies have a problem with going to a bar for dinner? It might be a little rough?" Angel asked Lou and Cordelia.

"As long as you promise to behave yourself I think we'll be okay." Cordelia said and Lou giggled behind her hand. "Ha! Ha! Very funny. I tell you once we get married a man's life is over Wesley. No more fun times anymore with the guys." "Yes that's true Angel but I would trade that in anytime for what we have now." "Well I don't know Wesley it's been so long since we had a good time I don't remember if it's worth giving a good night of drinking and fighting up. Let me see if she can refresh my memory." Angel pulled Cordelia to him and she gave him a very long kiss that entailed tongues doing major research in each others mouth. As they finally pulled apart Angel licked his lips and smacked them a few times. "Yup she has reminded me that it is worth my giving all of that fun time up."

"Okay then it's the local bar then. Behave yourself now Lou I don't want to have to bail you out of jail in the morning." Wesley told her. "I think I'll be able to restrain myself. Just for tonight though okay?" "Okay that's agreeable." Wesley drove to the one and only bar in town with the one and only restaurant that was still open.

As they got out of the van and walked into the bar they knew right away that they had better make it a short dinner. The patrons consisted of mostly men that looked like they were construction workers. Several of the patrons appeared to be well on their way to surpassing the legal limit of alcohol.

Angel took Cordelia's hand and Wesley took Lou's and they went to the furthest table. They quickly ordered their dinners and waited. They were all sitting at a table with Angel and Wesley on the side close to the bar. Cordelia looked at Angel as he eyed the men at the bar. She could practically see him oozing Alpha Male testosterone. The waitress brought their food over after just fifteen minutes. She watched the waitress take a second look at Angel and Wesley and lick her lips as she put the bill down by Angel. Cordelia put her left hand on Angels hand as the waitress put the bill down. She saw the waitress look at the wedding rings on her hand then looked at his left hand and saw his wedding ring. "All the good ones are always taken." The waitress said then left. "What did she say? Angel asked as he started in on his dinner. "Nothing important dear just eat your dinner so that we can get out of here." Cordelia said as she started in on her own dinner. Lou had seen all of this and decided she would talk to Cordelia about it later when they were alone. They almost made it out of the door without any confrontations.

As they were walking towards the door a drunk came up to Cordelia, completely ignoring Angel, and put his arm around her. "Where are you going so soon ladies, stay awhile and dance with us, have a few drinks." Wesley and Lou had already walked out of the door while Angel was right behind Cordelia. "Take your hand off of me sir or you will regret it." Cordelia said as she looked straight at him. "Come on now don't be like that sweetheart my friends and I would like to get to know you." Angel waited to see what Cordelia would do. He had spent many hours teaching her how defend herself. He waited like a tightly coiled spring, ready to go into action if she should need him.

Cordelia slammed her heal down on the mans foot as hard as she could but since it didn't have the immediate affect she wanted she brought her hand down into his crotch as hard as she could. As the man bent over she grabbed his head and flipped him over so that he landed on his back. She left him groaning on the ground and holding onto his family jewels.

After walking over the man that Cordelia left on the floor Angel bent down and said "Next time when the lady orders you to remove your hand I would advise you to do it." The construction worker sat up and just nodded. Angel left then to join the others.

As soon as Angel got in Wesley left for the motel. Angel and Cordelia's room were 2 rooms down from Lou's and Wesley's. While Cordelia went into their room . Angel escorted Lou to her room to make sure everything would be okay. Before leaving he asked her "How long do you think it would take for you to get from here to your Dad's winter home as a wolf?" "About 1 to 2 hours it all depends on if I have to go around anything that might be blocking my way." "Wow, it must not be to far from here." "Well it is a long way it's just that I can make it in 1 to 2 hours when I am running all of the way." "Oh. Well, let's wait until midnight and then you and I will leave. If anything should happen to you while your traveling up there your father would probably try to kill me. As soon as you get there let me know if everything is okay then I'll return." "Okay I'll see you at midnight." Angel left then to join Cordelia and tell her something new about her husband.

When Angel entered the room he could hear Cordelia in the shower. He didn't join her since he was going to be getting dirty anyway so he just turned the T.V. on and removed all of his clothes before he lay down. Midnight was 90 minutes away and he had to talk to Cordelia about it since she would have to let him out and in when he returned.

As she came out of the shower with nothing but a towel wrapped around her body she was wiping her hair with another towel. "Well I see your all ready for the nights activities." Angel raised himself on his elbow and patted the bed. Cordelia took her towel off and lay beside him and started to kiss him. Cordy it's nice that you have your engine already going and warming up but I need to talk to you about something." Cordelia was kissing Angels neck when he finally grabbed her shoulders and pushed her back.

"We can talk while we warm your engine up." She started kissing his neck again. Since he couldn't lie on the bed and talk to her he slid down to the floor and out of her reach unless she followed him.

"Now Cordelia I want you to sit right there and don't move no matter what happens, don't move and don't say anything until I'm done." Cordelia sat up against the headboard and crossed her arms under her breasts. "Okay I'm ready, shoot."

Angel got down on his hands and knees and concentrated on what he had to do. Right before Cordelia's eyes she watched her husband become a large wolf. She stretched out over the bed sideways and stared at her husband. "Ohhhhh, kinky." The wolf in front of her sat down and looked at her with his head tilted sideways. "You make a handsome wolf Angel." Cordelia got down on the floor in front of him and put both of her hands on either side of his head and ruffled it then gave him a kiss on his head." Angel licked her face all over then she started to scratch his side which made his hind leg start to try to scratch the same area.

Angel changed back then without any problem this time. After he checked himself he sat down and just stared at her. "You knew I could do that didn't you?" "To tell you the truth no I didn't. At least not until you went camping. You my dear husband forgot about the link between us. Normally I don't hear or sense what you are doing unless it's very intense. Like intense emotions or pain your feeling. Apparently when you did it for the first time when you came up here it had been a long time since you had changed into a wolf and the pain you were in passed to me through the link. I was with you when you, Spike and Connor went hunting also. Fortunately Angel your daughter was sleeping when this was happening." Angel rolled on his back and stared up at the ceiling.

"Well she won't hear my voice in her head anymore. I was able to shut down the link to her last night. All I can do is feel her well being now." Angel was quiet for a few minutes. Cordelia could tell that he was deep in thought when she saw one tear fall from the corner of his eye. She got off of the bed and lay next to him on the floor and reached up and wiped the tear with her fingers.

He turned and looked at her. "I envy you Cordy. I envy you because you have a special connection with our daughter that I can't have anymore." "No Angel I'm the one that envies you. You have a special love with our daughter that no woman can ever have with their baby. You share a love and relationship that I can only guess as to what it is like. Your daughter loves you so much that even at her very young age she feels an emptiness when your not there for her to talk to. The only difference between now and before is that you and our daughter will have to actually use your mouth to speak. But the relationship you share is still there. Now what are you going to be doing that you needed me to know about your other self?"

"Lou says that she can change into a wolf also so her and I are going to become wolves so that she can go up to her fathers winter home and then come back when her father and brother meet us tomorrow. This way she can have a little longer with her family. I don't want her traveling around as a wolf because there are always men out there that get a big kick out of killing wolves. I would never forgive myself if she should get hurt while she is supposed to be in my care. So at midnight I need you to go over to her room and be with her while she gets ready to change. She has a back pack that she's going to put her clothes in. After she changes you need to open the door for her since she can't open it with her paws. Then come and let me out and Lou and I will leave. I should be back sometime between 3 and 4 A.M."

Cordelia reached up and kissed him on the nose. "Yes my little fuzzy wuzzy." Angel slapped his head with his hand. "Don't tell me I'm going to have to listen to all of these cute little names from now on." "No it won't be from now on." Cordelia jumped back up on the bed and pulled the covers over her head then said "Sooner or later I'm going to run out of names." Angel jumped on the bed and pretended to eat her. She pulled the covers down and looked at him. "Just think Angel we can play Little Red Riding Hood and we can have a real wolf to play the part." Cordelia pulled the sheet off the bed and around her head. As she held it with her hand under her chin she pretended she was a little girl with a basket of goodies for her grandmother. Angel was roaring with laughter. He was laughing so hard that he had to hold his sides because his ribs were hurting.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you Miss. Hood but I change only when I absolutely have to. It hurts too much to do it just to play sex games with you." "Oh Rats. You sure you can't do it just once in a while?" "Well maybe just once when we get home but you have to promise to give me a good massage. I also usually have a problem with my shoulder blade not going back into it's correct position." "Do you really? Oh my poor baby I bet that does hurt. So when can we do it then?" "You're not going to let me rest until I do it for you are you?" "I tell you what, I'll only remind you one day each month." Angel looked closely into her eyes and searched her mind for the truth." "Yeah, I see your plan. One day a month but a hundred times during that one day. You little……." Cordelia jumped up and grabbed her coat and threw it on while running out of the door. She was fast but not fast enough to miss Angels reach as he slapped her behind. As she went out the door he could hear a muffled OW as his hand found it's mark.

Angel got up then and pulled a bottle of blood out of the ice chest and warmed it up in the microwave. When he was done he changed into a wolf and waited for Cordelia to come and let him out.

When Cordelia arrived at Lou's door she knocked and said "Lou it's me Cordelia." The door opened and Lou let her in. When she closed the door Cordelia could see that Lou wasn't wearing anything under her robe. "Are you ready?" She asked Lou. "Yes I have my clothes in a back pack that I bought a couple of days ago. Here is my room card key that you can hold until tomorrow night." Lou took her robe off then and got onto her hands and knees and proceeded to change. When she was done and had checked herself out she picked the backpack up and went to the door. Cordelia signaled for her to wait then stuck her head out of the door and checked for anyone standing around outside. She didn't see anyone so she stepped to the side to let Lou out. After turning the lights out and closing the door Cordelia went to her own room and let Angel out. Angel greeted Lou then licked Cordelia's face in goodbye then left.

Cordelia watched them for as long as she could. She closed her eyes then and concentrated on sending Angel her thoughts. "Be careful Angel and may God go with you." She felt his love come back to her. She heard Wesley come out and stand by her. "He'll be alright Cordelia he did it when we were up here the first time." "I know Wesley it's just that ever since I had Kathleen I've had a nagging feeling that our days together are numbered and the count down has begun." Wesley put his arm around her then waited as she went back into her room and closed the door. He went back to his own room then and waited to hear Angel's safe return.

Wesley had intended to stay awake until Angel returned but one hour later he was asleep and didn't wake up until 11 in the morning. When he saw the time he reached for the phone and called Cordelia. The phone rang several times before she answered it. "Hello." She answered in a voice that told him he had awakened her.

"Cordelia did Angel return okay?" "Yes he came back around 5, he said he came across a hunter that shot at him but missed so he had to lay low for an hour before he could come back. Are you ready to go and have breakfast?" "No I just woke up myself. Give me a call when you're ready okay?" "Okay Wesley but I think I'll just go back to sleep for a little longer. Bye."

Cordelia put the phone back in its cradle then pulled the covers over her head. It was winter time now and they were up in the mountains so it was cold. Angel's body heat had slowly started to increase but it still felt cold under the covers. "Let's see if we can get your body to warm up some my stud muffin." She curled herself around him and pulled the covers up further. She started by running her finger nail over his stomach and chest very lightly. Angel responded by rubbing his hand over where ever she had touched him. Once again she ran her fingers over his chest then down his stomach and down to the hair between his legs. Cordelia wasn't getting enough of a response out of Angel so she thought she would go a little further and perhaps become just a little sadistic, just a little. She wrapped one, just one hair around her finger and pulled gently at first to see if she would get a response. Apparently Angel must have had a long way to run last night because even this little torture didn't wake him up. So she pulled a little harder.

While Cordelia was busy at one end Angels eyes were opening at the other end. When she pulled his hair again he sat up carefully and looked at her head under the covers. "That hurts you know!" He said it so loudly and suddenly that Cordelia let out a little scream and fell off of the bed as she tried to get her head out from underneath the covers.

Angel leaned over the bed and looked at her. "Were you trying to be funny or something?" "Why no Angel, what makes you think I was trying to be funny? It's just that I was cold and your body was cold so I thought we could do something to warm it up so that I could be warm under the covers while I'm lying next to you." Angel put his hands under her arms and pulled her up and on top of the bed. Then he centered himself on the bed and stretched out his arms and legs and looked up at the ceiling.

"You may commence with the procedure to warm me up." Cordelia just stared at him when he said that. At first she had a look of surprise on her face when he said that. It made her feel like a prostitute that was being paid to pleasure him. But then her look of surprise turned into a mischievous grin. "You just stay right their Mister Martin and I'll get ready for you." She went over to the dresser where her overnight bag was and reached into an inner bag and pulled out two pairs of handcuffs and laid it on top of her clothes. She started to put her makeup on and fix her hair then she picked up a small bag and went into the bathroom for a second then came out again wearing her bathrobe and grabbed the handcuffs.

"Sit up and lean against the headboard Angel." He did as she said and she put a couple of pillows behind his back because the headboard was made of wooden dowels spaced evenly through it. When she was done making him comfortable she asked him to give her his left hand then she put the cuffs on and attached it to one of the wooden dowels on the headboard. She then proceeded to do the same thing to the other arm.

"Now Mr. Martin would you like some blood to drink?" "Yes Mrs. Martin I sure would." Cordelia warmed him up a glass of blood and held it for him as he drank it. When he was done she wiped his mouth and a little of the blood that had dripped out of the corner of his mouth and fell on his chest. Cordelia called Wesley then when she remembered that he was waiting for her call.

"Wesley have you eaten yet?" "No and I am sure hungry are you guys ready yet?" "No that's why I'm calling you. We're kind of tied up here why don't you go ahead and bring us back some sandwiches. I'll take a Ham and cheese and Angel will have a Roast Beef sandwich with chips. When we're done with what we're tied up with I'll come and get the sandwiches from you." "Okay Cordelia. I should be back in an hour." "Thanks Wesley." Cordelia hung up the phone and went back to the bathroom. A few minutes later she came out with the bathrobe on and put a CD into the CD/radio player. She slipped back into the bathroom again. She looked around the door to the bathroom and looked at Angel and winked at him.

To his surprise the music Cordelia had put on was from the Strip Tease sequence from the movie Gypsy Rose Lee. As the music started she came out at a fast pace. It was kind of hard to copy the way Natalie Wood did it on the stage because she didn't have anywhere near the space that Natalie did. She did her best though as she removed her clothes a little at a time and when it came time for the dress to fall down she positioned herself by the bathroom and opened up a large fan in front of her as she let her dress fall to the floor. Cordelia ended the show by spinning around and around with the fan until she was standing by the wall leading to the bathroom. At the last second she dropped the fan and slipped back into the bathroom and the music ended. She picked up the fan again and opened it so that it covered her torso. She then proceeded to bow several times and went to the bed.

"How did you like my performance Mr. Martin?" "If my hands were loose I would still be clapping Mrs. Martin. Bravo! Bravo! Natalie Wood has nothing over you. Now if you would either proceed with the next step in pleasuring me, or unlock my hands, so that the young, handsome fan can ravage the beautiful actress that he has been stocking for several weeks." "I'm not done yet Mr. Martin." Cordelia put the fan over his face so that he couldn't see what she was doing.

For the next two hours they played some and had sex some. Cordelia was even able to get him into a position where the wolf was ravaging poor Little Red Riding Hood. He had Cordelia on her hands and knees and he took her in this position as he bite down on her neck. When he did that she almost lost her ability to support his body as well as her own. When they climaxed this time they were both too tired to even get up and onto the bed. Angel just pulled the blankets onto them as they laid on the floor. They slept then for an hour before the alarm rang that she had set earlier. She jumped up and turned the alarm off then. It was now 4:30 in the afternoon and they were supposed to meet with Chambeau at the restaurant at 6.

"Angel wake up we have to get ready to go to the restaurant." By 5:30 they were ready and waiting at the van for Wesley. He came out a few minutes later with his laptop computer and cell phone in a large canvas bag. "Let's go." Cordelia and Angel were hungry after the day's activities. Neither one of them had, had any solid food to eat since the previous night. Cordelia and Wesley were freezing so Angel warmed the van up as fast as possible then took off for the restaurant.

When they arrived they found the Chambeau family already inside where it was warm. As they went in Lou waved her hand and called "Cordelia over here." Lou had a big grin on her face. She seemed so happy to be with her father and brother. As soon as they came to the table Lou introduced Cordelia to her father and brother then they sat down and ordered coffee when the waitress came over. They all studied the menu and ordered before they started talking.

"I want to thank you Mrs. Martin for taking my daughter into your home and family. She has told us how much she has already learned from you already." "Please call me Cordelia. Lou has been a big help to me and the other women. We have a total of 4 babies in the hotel now and Lou is helping us all a lot. I don't worry about them whenever we ask her to watch our daughter and the rest of the children. You should be very proud of her she is having to learn a lot all at once and is getting by just fine."

"I'm sorry to interrupt everyone but I have to ask you a few questions Daniel. I remembered that you said you delivered your children yourself. Did you in anyway let their birth be known to anyone such as a doctor or a hospital?" "No I didn't. I was too afraid that they would find something unusual about them and take them away from me. Fortunately they were very healthy babies and they seemed to inherit my ability to heal quickly." "What about later on as they were growing up did you every try to get birth certificates for them or anything?" "No, as far as the community knows they don't exist on paper." "Okay then that is what I am going to take care of now. Actually I'm not the one that is going to do it. A friend of ours is real good at computers and is going to create birth certificates and social security numbers for both your children and you." Wesley set up his computer and placed a call to his network provider. He then sent Willow all of the information she would need then closed everything down so that he could eat while Willow worked on creating a paper trail for the Chambeau family.

The waitress brought over their order and they all dug in. Cordelia and Angel were hungry so they were quiet while they proceeded to eat their dinner. Thirty minutes later Wesley's phone rang. It was Willow and she was done creating the proper papers.

"Okay Daniel you now all officially exist on paper. I've opened up a Post Office box for you so we can send things to you. You should get your Social Security Cards in several weeks. We had yours and your sons cards sent to this Post Office box and Lou's will go to the hotel of course. Willow has created birth certificates for both of your children and you. Would you like me to keep these for you in our safe?" "Yes please." Chambeau answered. When you get those Social Security cards I want you to go to the bank and open an account. Then call me with your account number and I'll take care of everything else. What I need for you to do sometime this week is to contact your lawyer or whoever is handling your Swiss Bank accounts and have them send $50,000 to this bank account number in L.A. What I need to know is would you prefer to carry around cash or a credit card."

"I think I would prefer cash." Chambeau answered. "Okay then once the $50,000 is in the L.A. account I'll transfer $5,000 to the account at your bank. I don't want to send anymore then that because small town banks like the one here just can't handle the large amounts of money where as in Los Angeles they handle much larger amounts with ease. Plus everyone knows what everyone else is doing in a small town like this and a large amount like $50,000 would really start the gossip and that is what you want to avoid.

"Now the story that we usually use to explain why Spike and Angel can't go into the sunlight is they have a rare skin disease that will make them real sick if they expose their skin to the sunlight. I advise you to start making visits to town at least once each week for awhile. Your son can come in once in awhile by himself to do some shopping while he spreads this story. Tell people how eccentric your father is also and how he likes his privacy. Just remember that you need to keep your story consistent so that people don't become suspicious. Don't forget to check your Post Office Box at least one time each week. I will keep in touch with you through the mail.

"I know this is a lot that I'm throwing at you but it's all important things that we need to establish your existence on paper and now I have the most important part of this paper trail. We need for you to sign this paper that will give Angel and Cordelia guardianship over Lou. This will allow them to enter her into school and also any medical procedures that she may need. In other words you are giving them full control over her life. This will continue only until she turns 18 but some things will continue since she will still be covered under their medical insurance if she decides to go on to college."

Chambeau didn't say anything he just accepted everything Wesley said and signed all of the papers he was given.

As he finished Wesley placed everything back in his briefcase then packed up his laptop and cell phone. Now that the reason for them coming to see Chambeau was finished they were able to visit for awhile. Lou was sitting between her father and brother and was busy telling them about her experiences in Los Angeles and how much she loved being there. But she also let them know how much she missed them.

After two hours of taking up the booth in the restaurant Angel decided that it was time to go when he noticed Cordelia's eyes starting to close. "I think it's time to go Wesley and Lou. Chambeau if at any time you would like to come to L.A. I'll be more than happy to come out and get you. Lou if you want to you can spend a little more time with your father and brother and come back to the motel tomorrow morning." "No I think well say our goodbyes now. I've had a big day and I need my beauty sleep tonight."

Chambeau and his son looked at Lou then at Angel. "Where did she pick up talk like that?" Angel just pointed to Cordelia. "And who is it that you have to take care of your looks for? Do you have a boyfriend already?" "No Daddy it's just a saying. Cordelia said that a young woman needs at least 8 hours sleep each night or else you start getting dark circles around your eyes and if you're not careful you'll start getting bags under your eyes also." Lou didn't think that she should say anything about Connor yet.

Angel left a large tip on the table and took the bill up to the register to pay it. They all walked out to the van then and talked for a while longer. It was freezing though and Cordelia and Wesley were shivering. "I am going to get into the van now because I am freezing to death out here. Good bye Mr. Chambeau it was a pleasure meeting you." Cordelia shook his hand and his son's and got into the back of the van. Wesley was next then finally Angel and Lou. They left Chambeau and his son standing in the light of the restaurant and Lou watched them for as long as she could. They could hear her sniffling as they left the restaurant. She was sitting in the passenger seat so Angel put his hand on hers to comfort her. She smiled back at him. "Thank you for this weekend Angel." "Your welcome Lou."

As soon as they got back to the motel Cordelia said goodnight to Lou and Wesley and went running into their room. By the time Angel came in Cordelia was already in the bed with the covers pulled up over her head. He made a couple of cups of hot instant cocoa then crawled into the bed beside her. There were no activities that night since Cordelia was tired from the morning and afternoon activities. They sat up for a while just watching the news and drinking their hot cocoa.

The next morning they all got up early. Cordelia had checked out the location of the local Catholic Church and the times for the mass. By 10 A.M. they were on the road back to L.A. and Cordelia had started to read the Harry Potter book again and this helped to make the time go by fast. By 7 that night they were back in L.A. and at the Hotel.

As luck would have it they arrived just in time for dinner. They took a few minutes to greet the returning travelers then everyone sat down to eat. It was getting colder as the days got closer to Christmas so Connie had made Chili Beans and white rice. Since she had made a simple dinner that didn't take too much time she gave them a special treat of Sopapillas. These were essentially deep fried tortilla dough. When placed in the oil they would puff up like little pillows.

Connie, Joaquin and Lucinda brought in 3 large bowls of these Sopapillas and placed one at each end and the middle of the table.

"Oh! I've seen these before in Texas at a state fair. But they were selling them as snacks with butter and jelly." Fred said.

"So how do we eat these Joaquin?" Connor asked.

Joaquin pulled up a chair next to Connor and Connie brought him a bowl and spoon. They were all watching him closely. Joaquin looked for a Sopapilla that was just right. He grabbed one that had a light upper crust that had separated from the bottom part. He broke one end of the upper crust and started spooning in the rice and Chili Beans. He then sprinkled some green onions on the top and started to eat it. Everyone else tried it after watching him. Joaquin laughed at their response to this new food item. "We are going to make Mexicans out of all of you yet." They all laughed because they loved the way Connie cooked and were quickly becoming indoctrinated into the New Mexico type of food.

After Cordelia finished feeding her daughter she gave her a Sopapilla to keep her busy. Kathleen wanted her Daddy though and started to call to him to pick her up. As always Angel catered to his daughters wishes and picked her up.

Kathleen hugged him and then put her little hands on either side of his face so that he would look at her. "How come you don't talk to me Daddy? I miss you." "What do you mean? Daddy talks to you all of the time." "No Daddy in here." She pointed to her head. Angel knew that the time had come and he looked at his mother to answer Kathleen's question. His mother gestured for him to bring her over to her.

"Grandma is going to talk to you about why Daddy can't talk to you anymore like that, okay?" "Okay Daddy." Angel walked to the other end of the table and gave Kathleen to her grandmother. He started to walk back to his chair but Dr. Martin told him to pull a chair over and sit by her.

"Remember last week when Daddy had an Owie and Grandma had to fix it?" "You mean when Daddy had a big bandage on his head?" "Yes that's it. Do you know what caused Daddy to have that Owie?" "No, did he fall down and hurt his head like I did yesterday?" "No your Daddy has been having an Owie that had been growing inside of his head. See this is where we took out the Owie. Put your head down so we can feel the scar Angel." Angel did as she said and Dr. Martin felt for the scar. When she found it she put Kathleen's hand on the scar. "Do you feel the Owie?" Kathleen felt it for awhile. "Poor Daddy, does it hurt?" "No not anymore since Grandma fixed it." "Now that it doesn't hurt any more can you start talking to me again?" "No Baby." "When your Daddy starts to talk to you in here his Owie starts to hurt again." "You mean Daddy can't talk to me anymore?" Kathleen pointed to her own head. "No he can't but he can talk to you through here just like you and I are talking now." Dr. Martin pointed to Kathleen's mouth. Kathleen was quiet for awhile while she thought about it.

"Okay Daddy, I don't want your Owie to start hurting again. Can I still talk to Toby Gama?" "Yes you can continue to talk to Toby and your Mommy whenever you want." Kathleen reached for her Daddy and gave him a kiss and hug as Angel went back to his own chair at the other end of the table. As he sat down he had to blow his nose and wipe his tears.

"Why are you crying Daddy?" "I am crying because I am going to miss our time together in here." Angel pointed to her head. "That's okay Daddy cause I will always love you cause you're my Daddy and I'm your princes." "Yes you are my princes. No matter how many babies come to our home you will always be my very own special princes and nothing can ever change that. See I'll show you where your Mommy put you in my heart." Angel opened his shirt up and showed her the scar that was just above his heart where Wesley's father had stabbed him with the spike.

"See this scar here." He pointed at it while Kathleen bent over and looked at it. She put her little finger on it. "When you were born your Mommy took a little part of you and made a little cut into my heart and put it in there then closed it back up again and that is why you will always have a special place in my heart and no one can ever take it out." "I want some of you in me to Daddy so no one can ever take you away from me." "Okay but we have to wait until we see Aunt Willow again and she will be able to take a tiny part of me and put it into your heart to. Okay?" "Okay Daddy. Don't cry anymore okay, because you make me sad when I see you cry." "Okay I'll try." Angel put her back into her high chair then looked at everyone else. He realized then that everyone had been watching him talk to his daughter. They were all wiping their tears away and blowing their noses.

Joaquin brought a large envelope over to Cordelia and whispered something into her ear then left. Cordelia left the envelope on the table and went to get the phone then brought it back to the table.

"Uhmm…" She cleared her throat to get everyone's attention. "I am going to make a very important call here and I need everyone to be quite and to listen." She proceeded to call Buffy in Sunnydale then.

"Buffy, hi it's Cordelia. I need to ask you if everyone is there for your usual Monday night meeting? They are, good, can you put me on the speaker? Good hi everyone." Cordelia put the phone on the speaker so everyone at the table could hear her.

"I'll make this short everyone. I know that you all made bets as to whether I would be able to find a way to see the portraits Angel is painting. I want you to know that those of you that placed their bets on me have won." Angel stood up. "How did you get in? I even put a spell on the room that would prevent you from going in and looking at them. I know it worked because I got it from Willow."

"Poor Angel, so full of pride in his own abilities. The problem my dear husband was in how you phrased your spell and your orders to me to stay out of the room." Angel went over the words he used in his spell and his orders to her not to go into the room. He looked at the envelope and then at Joaquin who was standing by the entrance to the kitchen. Angel finally put 2 and 2 together and then slumped in his chair.

"So how did you do it?" Dr. Martin asked.

"She had Joaquin go into the room and take pictures. The spell was to prevent Cordelia from going in and not anyone else. By having Joaquin do it she obeyed Angels orders." Fred said. "How do you know this?" Wesley said. "I was here and I heard Joaquin going up to the 4th floor and I just figured out the rest now."

"I presume that is what is in the envelope that Joaquin gave you so pass them down so we can take a look." Wesley said. Cordelia didn't look at the pictures, she just passed them down.

Wesley opened the envelope and carefully looked at them. Everyone watched him as he turned the pictures this way and that way then held it close to his face then further away.

On the other side of the line they could hear Willow counting up the money she would have to pay. "Did you bet that I would win Willow?" "Yes because I had faith in you Angel and I didn't think that you would overlook anything." "Willow, Willow, Willow. How easily you give in." Angel said. He sounded as though his feelings were hurt.

Cordelia heard what he was saying and didn't like the sound of his voice. Wesley had passed the pictures on to Fred and the rest. Cordelia noticed his big smile as he looked at her. Then she looked at Angel and saw a smile touching the corners of his mouth. She went down to the other end of the table and looked over Giles shoulder as he looked at one of the pictures. She took the pictures and looked at all of them. You could practically see the steam coming out of her ears.

"You tricked me. You rat, you tricked me. You knew that I would find a way around your spell and your orders."

"What happened? Did Cordelia win or not?" Buffy yelled.

"Angel's paintings are still secure Buffy. He put some fake Picasso paintings in place of his paintings while we were out of town these past few days. Face it Cordelia he knows you too well." Wesley said as he got up and went into his office. He picked up the phone and told Willow to stay on the line so he could talk to her about what they did for Chambeau. He opened his office door and told Angel to take him off of the speaker.

Cordelia was still standing by Giles when he got up and reached for Dr. Martin's hand. "Come my dear lets get out of the line of fire."

Within the next minute Cordelia relaxed and took the pictures and put them in the trash. "That's okay Angel. This is a slight set back but all it means is that the bet is still on. What's that saying of your Grandmothers that you are always quoting Connor? Oh yes 'Don't get mad, get even.'" Cordelia picked up her daughter and started for the stairs. When she arrived at the top she turned around and yelled downstairs. "Come on Fred and Lou you have to come and help me to plot my next move. We can meet in my room."

"I guess we had better go and help her think of a way to get in to see those pictures or she won't stop talking about it." Fred said as she picked up one of her boys and Lou came and picked up the other one.

Before going into her room Cordelia went down to Giles and Moms room and knocked on the door lightly. Giles opened the door. "Hi Giles can I talk to you and Mom for just a few minutes?" "Sure Cordelia come in. Mary is lying down right now but she isn't sleeping yet." Cordelia walked in and went and sat on the side of the bed next to Dr. Martin. "Mom I've noticed lately how tired you've been looking lately. Why don't you and Giles go to Sunnydale for a few weeks and have a nice quiet vacation up there. You can stay at the mansion and stay in the master bedroom. Willow can get everything going for you." Dr. Martin looked at Giles. "It sounds awfully tempting, what do you think Rupert?" "I say start packing and I'll pull up the car to the back." "Okay then I guess I better call Willow to have everything turned on tomorrow and have the place cleaned."

"Oh wait Cordelia, Christmas is on Saturday and we have to be here for Christmas. How about leaving on Sunday morning after Mass?" "Okay then I'll still have Willow turn everything on and clean the place if it needs it. I'll leave you now to take a nap." Cordelia picked up her daughter and left without saying anything else. Mom was looking very tired and was actually getting dark circles around her eyes.

Giles had noticed how tired Mary seemed to be. He wanted her to stop working at the Hospital or volunteering at Dr. Fernando's free clinic but he knew that, that would be next to impossible. Apparently being stubborn was a family trait.

The next day Angel was in 412 all day and Cordelia didn't have a chance to see anything so she spent the day working on the finishing touches of the new Chapel that Xander was able to finish. All that was left was to clean it up and install the statues. She hadn't bought a crucifix yet to hang over the Alter so she packed up Kathleen and took off for a local religious store that Fr. Barris had suggested. Lou and Connor had taken off to the local Mall to go Christmas shopping. Gunn and Giles had agreed to buy the Lobbies Christmas tree. Everyone was busy and the Hotel was practically empty except for the Sanchez family, Dr. Martin and Angel. Toby was keeping Junior company all day while Connor was gone.

All of the Price family grandparents were gone now so Wesley and Fred had left with the boys to go shopping for Christmas also. They walked through the mall with their two boys in a large stroller that was big enough to put both of the boys in. Fred had gone into a small store that was too full of sales items to allow the stroller to be brought in so Wesley had to stay outside while she shopped. When she looked at Wesley walking the stroller back and forth she started laughing. She was thinking to herself that he looked like a proud Rooster with his first brood of baby chicks.

At the end of the day everyone came home loaded with bags. Connor and Lou had eaten already so they went upstairs to start wrapping their presents. Connor was helping Lou since she had never gone through something like this. She knew about Christmas but they had never done anything to celebrate it. She really didn't care that much about it because all she knew was that she had been able to spend the whole day with Connor.

Wesley and Fred had come back early since Fred was still getting used to being able to walk around minus two babies. Wesley was currently helping Gunn and Giles set up the Christmas tree in the Lobby while Fred was resting along with the boys.

Just as Cordelia pulled up to her parking space, which was marked with a special sign that Angel had made for her "VIXEN PARKING ONLY", she had a picture come into her mind that she knew automatically was the picture that Angel had just finished. He must have been staring at it for a long time. She could sense his love for her coming across the link as he stared at the picture. The picture was of her standing in her wedding dress as the trail of the dress and veil swirled around her and fanned out. She was standing at a one quarter turn to the side so that you could see a slight side view as she held her bridle bouquet at her waist. In smaller pictures he had painted Cordelia as a baby, a 12 year old, a teenager and then as he first saw her at a party in Los Angeles.

She wiped the tears going down her face when she realized it was getting dark. She picked up her daughter and went inside after she was sure that she looked okay and there was no sign that she had been crying. Before she went upstairs she stopped at her desk and called Sunnydale and let them know that the bet was off. She explained why then left to go upstairs. When Connor came home she asked him to bring in the crucifix and put it in the chapel after he was sure that everyone had gone to bed.

That night Cordelia made love to Angel in the best way that she knew. She pulled out her special card file that was in her mind. She had named the file "Things that Drive Angel Wild". These were tried and true methods that she knew were successful because she had tried them over the years. When she was through with him he needed to rest for a few hours. The orgasm he had experienced was so strong that he was actually taking at least fifteen minutes to regain his normal breathing and heart rate.

"Woman you can't do that to me too often or your going to have the first Vampire on your hands that turned to dust from mind blowing sex." Angel said as he lay on his back with his arms and legs spread. Cordelia had gotten out of bed and pulled a bottle of water and blood out of the refrigerator and brought them back to the bed. Angel straightened up and leaned against the head board.

"Are you okay Junior?" He looked down at his penis and lifted it up as he talked to it. "That bad woman almost blew your head off didn't she? Are the boys okay?" Both Cordelia and Angel looked at it as though they expected it to say something then laughed. Angel looked at his wife and thanked her for such a good time. He drank the rest of his blood then lay down and pulled her into his arms. They slept a sound and peaceful sleep the rest of the night after their exhausting activities.

The next morning their daughter woke them up as usual. As they lay there playing with Kathleen Cordelia brought up the subject of his mother.

"I was noticing Angel how Mom has been so tired looking lately. I suggested to her that they should go to Sunnydale and stay at the mansion for two or three weeks so she could have a good rest. She has been working at the hospital a lot and on top of that she has Dr. Fernando's free clinic on Wednesday. So it looks like she has taken my advice and they will be leaving the day after Christmas." "Yeah I've been noticing the dark circles under her eyes also. I think that will be a good idea for them to get away from everyone for awhile. You know this has given me an idea to fix up 2 or 3 rooms on the fifth floor for them. They'll be able to be far enough away to have some peace and quiet without all of the noise created by our young families." Angel got up then and went to take a shower. Cordelia joined him after removing Kathleen's sleepers and diaper.

By 9 o'clock everyone was coming out of their rooms and heading for the dinning room. Connie, Lucinda and Joaquin were bringing out the food as they all came downstairs. As Cordelia was making Kathleen's breakfast Connie went to her. "Mrs. Martin would it be alright for my husband and I to take off tomorrow and the day after so that we can do our Christmas shopping?" "Sure Connie no problem. Of course I can't make the awesome dinners like you do but I think we'll get by. If you want to leave Junior here while you are out I am sure that Lou wouldn't mind taking care of him." "Thank you Mrs. Martin, thank you very much." She went back to her work then and Cordelia went to feed her daughter.

Kathleen was feeling independent today though and decided she didn't want anyone feeding her. Junior was also starting to feed himself when he saw Kathleen doing it. In order to keep the mess to a minimum they put the two highchairs together and fed them pretty much the same thing. Toby in the mean time was getting all he wanted in the morning. The usual routine was to place the food and drinks in front of them and then to just stand back. Some times they would carry on long conversations that only they could understand and other times, in between spoonfuls Kathleen would talk to Junior just like she talked to the adults. Because of this Juniors vocabulary and pronunciation was improving. When they were done eating Toby would take over cleaning all of the food up from the floor, the chairs, the legs and the toes. Once the babies were removed he cleaned up the chair as well. "Thank you Toby you do an excellent job. Now if you could just learn how to use the disinfectant wipes you would be the perfect helper." Connie told him as she picked up Kathleen and Junior and put them in the playpen. She watched the two playing and carrying on long conversations while she cleaned the highchairs and floor.

That night they all got together and decorated the Christmas tree. Each person had their own special tree ornaments that they added to the tree. When they were done they all brought down the gifts that they had already purchased and wrapped. The tree didn't have enough room under it so the presents overflowed to the area around it and eventually took up one quarter of the lobby.

As the days progressed to Saturday Cordelia and everyone else watched and waited for Angel to add his presents. They were all curious what he was going to give his daughter and Cordelia. They were all pretty sure that he was going to unveil at least one of the paintings. He didn't go out shopping (or so he said) until the Friday before Christmas. On Friday he left early and didn't return until just before supper time.

"So where are all of the results of your day long shopping spree?" Cordelia asked when Angel came in with only 2 packages. He gave her a long story as to what he had looked at and then would put back because he thought that she would think that it was too much for such a little girl. To reinforce his story of having such a terrible day shopping he was actually able to produce a tear or two. That had the desired affect on her.

"Well, I'm sorry Angel but you get so excited sometimes that you buy things for Kathleen that she doesn't need or won't even take notice of. Most of the things that you want to buy for her will end up in the room gathering dust. Besides she has everything that she needs right now." Angel just put his head down and ate his dinner. Cordelia cracked then.

"Okay since your going to carry on like a big baby I'll let you buy her just one ridiculous item and that's all." Angel immediately had a big smile and gave her a kiss. "Thank you Cordy." When he went back to eating he looked at Wesley and gave him a wink. Wesley knew that he was playing with her and he had probably already bought something ridiculous, as Cordelia called it.

When dinner was over Angel went into his office to make a few calls. Fifteen minutes later he made his way upstairs and to his own room. Tomorrow was Christmas Eve and he had, had a big.

While Angel had been busy in his office Cordelia had been busy in the Chapel with the finishing touches. She was making a finale polishing of all of the walls, pews, window sills, statues, alter, and crucifix. She had flowers delivered this morning for the chapel and she was busy arranging them. Saturday morning they would be opening presents and at that time she would give Angel her present.

Cordelia made it upstairs just in front of Angel. "Hi, what have you been doing? You smell of dust." Angel asked. "I was just in the storage rooms behind the clinic looking for some more wrapping papers for Fred." Cordelia started removing her clothes and getting ready to take a quick shower while Angel changed Kathleen and put her sleepers on. His little girl was already half asleep so he put her down and covered her without waiting to see if Cordelia wanted to nurse her. He covered her with a blanket and gave her a kiss. "Good night my little princes tomorrow night you will see Santa Clause for the first time and it will be a big and exciting day and night. Sleep the sleep of the innocent my little princes. Don't ever forget that your Daddy loves you." Angel put the night light on at the kitchen sink then went outside to say his prayers. When Cordelia came out this is where she found him. It was very cold outside so she wrapped a quilt around herself and poured herself and Angel a glass of wine. After Angel was done they sat quietly and watched the traffic on the freeway and the coming and goings of the jets at L.A. International Airport. Eventually Cordelia fell asleep and Angel had to put her to bed.

The next morning while Cordelia was busy with Kathleen Angel ran outside to get a special frame that he had ordered for the painting that he was going to give her for Christmas. He had asked Joaquin and Connie to come with him as he took the frame to room 412.

Angel removed the spell surrounding the room then unlocked the door and they all went in and he quickly closed the door. Angel went to a picture that was in the middle of the room and on an easel. Connie went to stand in front of it. "Is this the picture that you didn't want Mrs. Martin to see?" "Yes this is it. This is the one that I want you to hang in the Lobby Joaquin. I've already put up the hooks to hang the picture from. I am asking you to do this since your family isn't going to Mass until the Saturday morning Spanish Mass." "Can we see it now?" Connie asked. In answer Angel lifted the canvas covering the two paintings that he had ready.

Connie cried when she saw them. "They are beautiful Mr. Martin. They look so life like." "Joaquin I need you to put this one up in my bedroom on the wall that's on the right side of the bed, it won't be getting a frame and I have already put the hooks in it to hold the hanging wire. You'll see the other hooks in the wall." Angel pointed to the nude painting of himself and Cordelia. This is the one that Connie was standing in front of and crying. "No wonder she called off the bet." Connie put her hand to her mouth.

Fortunately for Connie Angel was so absorbed in looking at the painting that he didn't hear her. Joaquin said something to cover up what his wife had said. "We'll take care of it Mr. Martin. Do you want us to put the covers on them after we're done hanging them?" "No, and thank you. I'll give you the key to the room before we leave for Midnight Mass." Joaquin quickly pulled his wife out of the room.

When they left Angel sat down and just stared at the painting until he heard Cordelia calling him to breakfast. Before he left he locked the door and put the spell in place again then went downstairs. Everyone but Connor and Lou were at the dinning room table when he got there. "Do you know where Connor and Lou went Angel?" Cordelia asked. "Yeah he went to see Professor Brandon. He said he should be back by 12. Mom I have a serious question do you think you can handle it right now?" "Sure what's your question?" "We've never spoken about the little fat man that comes on Christmas Eve. If he pays a visit without the children being exposed to him first do you think that they will be afraid of him or even traumatized?" "Yes its quiet possible but if you start showing them pictures and reading a story about him they may be okay for his visit tonight. Instruct him not to make to loud of a noise it might also be a good idea to have Toby greet him since they trust him and he is their playmate."

"Joaquin and I are going to be gone for a few hours Cordy. We should be back by 12 or 1 o'clock." Angel said as he finished his breakfast and got up to leave. "Why don't you and Connie start getting the Princes and Junior used to the idea of you know who." He gave her and Kathleen a kiss as he left with Joaquin.

Angel and Joaquin jumped into his convertible and headed for South El Monte and a local stable. Angel turned into what seemed to be a private drive way but instead it took them to the back of the houses where a stable was located. As he came to a stop and they got out of the car an elderly man walked up to Angel and shook his hand.

"Mr. Martin I presume? "Yes I am Angel Martin and this is an employee of mine, Joaquin Sanchez." "Hi, I'm Douglas Granger, my helper told me you had come by and put in a request to have two special stalls built for your horses that are supposed to be delivered today." "Yes I wanted to make sure that everything was ready for them. Joaquin here will be coming over at least once each week to check on the horses and exercise them if my wife and I haven't come to take them out for a ride."

An hour later a man towing a horse trailer for two pulled up and unloaded two horses. People had gathered around to see the new boarders. Most of them were locals that had their horses boarded at the stable. As the handler backed out the horses you could hear a collective "Awww".

The first horse to be unloaded was a black Andalusian stallion. Angel took the reins from the handler. Joaquin noticed that the horse didn't try to get away from Angel. It was clear that he had put a lot of time into finding this horse. The next one to be unloaded was a beautiful Palomino mare. The mane and tail were almost white. Joaquin stepped up and took the reins of the mare. He looked at the mare carefully.

"Mr. Martin is this not the same horse that I've seen in the pictures on Mrs. Martins desk?" "No but she looks almost exactly like it." The handler had some papers for Angel to sign and then left.

"What are their names?" Joaquin asked. "This majestic animal is called Santana. The name fits, don't you think?" "Yes indeed it does and very fitting too." Angel stepped back and put his left hand on the horses mane then jumped up and swung his right leg over the horses back. Santana reared up and pawed at the air in defiance of this strange man. Angel held on tightly with his legs and grabbed onto his mane. As Angel petted his neck and spoke to him the stallion calmed down and allowed him to put him thru some moves to see how well he responded to him.

The people that had gathered to see the new additions to the stables clapped when Angel was done and dismounted. He had come prepared with some treats for the horses. He pulled out some small carrots and gave them to his horse and the mare.

"What is the mare's name Mr. Martin?" "Her registered name is Sue Bee because she was trained to take the bit by putting Sue Bee honey on it. When she got older she would always play with young foals and someone gave her the nick name of Aunt Bee. Get up on her Joaquin and ride her around the ring a little. Can you ride bare back?" "Yes that is how I learned to ride."

Joaquin did as Angel had and jumped on Aunt Bee's back without too much of a problem. Mr. Granger opened the gate to the arena for him and Joaquin gave Aunt Bee a slight kick to her sides and she walked into the arena. He rode her around the arena and tried several commands to see how well she would respond. They found Aunt Bee to be a gentle and responsive horse. Best of all, like Santana, she had no problem with Angel being a Vampire. As everyone watched her Santana called out to his companion.

"Apparently he thinks it's time for her to come back so why don't you bring her over and we'll put them in their new homes." As they left the stables Angel swore Joaquin to secrecy until tomorrow when he brought everyone out to see them.

Angel was so pleased with himself that he was whistling all the way home. As promised they returned by 12 Noon. No one was downstairs but he noticed that there were more presents under the tree. "If they put anymore over there we won't be able to sit in here." Angel turned when he heard Wesley come down the stairs carrying more packages. "More?" "Yup, more." Wesley said after he put the packages with the rest. He stood by Angel and they just looked at the mountain of presents. Wesley was the first to say something. "I can hardly wait to open them." They both laughed when Angel said "Me to." "It's going to be worse when the Sunnydale gang brings theirs also." "I guess we had better get the mountain climbing gear out because that's what we're going to need to get through here." Angel said as they both left then to go upstairs.

When Angel entered his room he found Cordelia feeding Kathleen. As soon as his daughter spotted her Daddy coming in she called to him. "Hi Daddy. Mommy read me a story about Santa Clause. She said that he comes and brings presents to all of the good little boys and girls. Do you think he'll come here Daddy? I'm a good girl Daddy. Everyone says I'm a good girl." Cordelia gave Angel a long suffering look. "I think we've opened Pandora's box. She hasn't stopped talking about him." "My poor baby." He put his arm around his wife and kissed her forehead. "If you make a sandwich for me I'll take her off of your hands for the rest of the afternoon so you can do whatever you want." "Thank you." Cordelia gave him a kiss as he took her place and proceeded to make him a sandwich with a large mug of blood.

Angel spent the rest of the day taking care of his daughter while Cordelia finished wrapping presents. When she was done they all laid down for a well deserved rest. It was going to be a long night tonight so everyone was taking the opportunity to take a nap.

Dr. Martin and Giles were the only ones that didn't have a lot of presents to wrap. Giles was concerned about his wife. She had been having headaches for the past couple of days and had been sleeping a lot.

"Giles?" "Yes dear I'm right here." "Giles, would you get Hunter for me please?" "I'll be right back." Giles went over to Hunters room and lightly knocked on the door. "Come in Giles." Hunter said. "Hunter could you come over to our room, Mary asked me to get you." Hunter went to their room as quickly as she could without running.

"What's wrong Mary?" Hunter asked her as she sat down beside her on the bed.

"I'm having a terrible migraine headache and I can't get rid of it. Can you think of something to give me?" "Sure Mary I'll be right back." Hunter went down to the clinic and was back in a few minutes with a syringe full of some drug. She went to sit on the side of the bed and raised Mary's skirt so she could give it to her in her hip. Hunter and Giles knew the headache was real bad because Mary had tears falling down her face. Hunter got up and pulled Giles with her out to the hallway.

"People that suffer migraine headaches are very sensitive to every external noise and light. I want you to fill a container with water and ice and use a hand towel to apply the cold water to her head and neck. Do that until she goes to sleep. She may and may not want to go to mass tonight. Turn everything off and unplug the clock. Make the room as dark and as quiet as you can. I'll try to keep everyone else quiet." Hunter left then and returned to her room. She listened to the Hotel and could hear everyone sleeping.

The Scooby gang arrived by 9 and it took them awhile to bring all of the luggage and presents in. As soon as they were done it was time to get ready for Christmas Eve Mass so they all went to their rooms to get dressed.

As they all gathered in the lobby Dr. Martin and Giles came down the stairs with their coats on. Hunter approached Mary. "How are you feeling Mary?" "A lot better I don't know what you gave me but it worked and along with a long nap that nasty headache has left me."

"Let's go everyone; it's going to be crowded." Angel started for the back doors. He carried a large diaper bag for Kathleen while Cordelia carried her. Angel had told Fr. Barris how many people he would have with him so he had told the ushers to rope off 3 pews. Besides Angel Investigation and the Scooby gang David and Bobbie said they would meet him there along with Marissa, their baby and Tina. David and Bobbie had been taking classes with Fr. Barris so that they could join the Catholic Church also but just like Angel and Spike though they couldn't receive communion. Fr. Barris stood at the alter as he looked at the group. He was amazed at how much the group was growing. The Christmas before had given them Kathleen, but now they had 5 babies and Tina was pregnant with Bobby's baby now. Bobby and Tina had come to Fr. Barris and asked him to marry them just 3 months before.

Seating arrangement had changed just slightly. Instead of Angel being at the end Giles was first along with Mary next to him. Angel and his family came next along with the newest member of the group, Lou who sat next to Connor.

The group didn't get home until 2 A.M. Connor called Prof. Brandon to let him know that they were home. Everyone knew that he was going to be coming so no one went to bed yet. Cordelia and Angel had gone downstairs with Kathleen before they went back to their room. Cordelia put some cookies with a glass of milk sitting in ice on a table in the middle of the lobby. "Who's that for Mommy?" "Well it's for Santa Clause. Remember in the story it said that we had to put it out for him before we go to bed."

Joaquin and Connie had Junior with them also except Junior wanted one of the cookies. "You can't have those Junior, they are for Santa Clause." "Santa Clause hungry?" He asked his father. "Yes he works hard all night long while he delivers presents to all of the good boys and girls." Junior seemed to except that explanation and kept quiet.

"Let's go to bed or else Santa won't come." Joaquin said as he picked his son up. Everyone started for their own rooms after that. When Connor and Prof. Brandon saw that the lights went out Connor went to the top of the roof and stood at the door leading to the inside of the hotel. He shook a bunch of bells that were supposed to be reindeer bells. In the mean time Prof. Brandon, dressed as Santa, took the elevator to the third floor and started walking down the stairs and saying "Ho, ho, ho, Merry Christmas everyone Merry Christmas. Ho, ho, ho."

As he walked down the stairs to the next floor and then to the first floor he could hear bedroom doors open, and the sound of everyone gathering at the second floor balcony. Connor had given him some small presents to put under the tree to make it look good. Toby came up behind him and the hair on his back went up. Then apparently he realized who it was when he got a chance to take in his scent. He lowered the hair on his back when his tail started wagging. Santa Clause reached out and patted him on the head and said "Hi Toby I know you've been a very good boy so here is your Christmas treat." He gave Toby a cookie then sat down and ate some also. Before leaving he drank all of the milk then walked out of the back doors. Connor was there to ring the reindeer bells as Santa gave a "Ho, ho, ho Merry Christmas everyone." Everyone was watching the children to see their reaction. Both Kathleen and Junior's eyes were as big as saucers. They both wanted to see what Santa had left but their parents where able to get them to go back into their rooms and to bed without too much fussing.

Cordelia and Angel went back into their room. While they were at midnight Mass Joaquin had put up the nude portrait of Angel and Cordelia but Cordelia was so busy with Kathleen that she didn't notice it. Angel decided not to bring her attention to it and instead waited to see how long it would take before she noticed the painting.

Cordelia was so tired that she didn't even have time to look around the room before she crawled into bed and before she knew it she was fast asleep.

The next morning since Kathleen had been up late she decided to let her Mother sleep until 9 A.M. She had already been entertaining herself for the past 30 minutes as she tried to figure out a way to escape her tiny prison. She had tried climbing over the rail but she couldn't get her leg over the top of the rail. She had been trying to chew her way out for several weeks and finally gave up. Out of frustration she had sat down and grabbed hold of the bars and pulled back and forth. Her eyes grew as big as saucers when one of them came loose in her hand. She tried squeezing her head through the bars and immediately became stuck. This happened at precisely 9 o'clock. Kathleen's own personalized alarm went off then. "Whaaaaaaaaaaa, Mommy, whaaaaaaaa, Mommy."

Both Cordelia and Angel jumped out of bed and went around the screen. They started laughing so hard that they almost couldn't help her get out. Angel ended up having to break another bar.

"How in the world did you break the bar off of the railing?" Angel asked after Kathleen calmed down. "I don't know it just came off when I pulled on it." His daughter answered. Cordelia and Angel just looked at each other. "It looks like I'm going to have to build her a special crib. She obviously has inherited some of my strength."

"My poor baby lets get you cleaned up and get you some breakfast." Cordelia hugged her daughter and started to clean her up. It wasn't long before they were headed downstairs. Connor and Gunn, the two biggest kids, were already downstairs and having a breakfast of cereal. "What, no eggs, sausages and pancakes?" "Heck no Cordelia we want to be able to start opening the presents and that stuff takes to long to make and clean up. Besides Connie told us she has a big dinner planned." Gun said as he shoveled the last of his cereal into his mouth. She looked at Connor and he apparently felt the same way since he was done with his cereal also.

"Well I guess its cereal for everyone then." Cordelia said as she put her daughter in her highchair. Everyone else started coming downstairs also. Spike (the other big kid), went right to the Christmas tree and was looking for the gift he had bought for Buffy.

"Wait a minute Spike don't you think we should wait for the Sanchez family to get back? They have presents under there also. I think you can wait for at least another 30 minutes. They should be back by 10:30 or 11 besides Christmas is for the kids and we have to get them fed first." Spike looked at Angel pleadingly. "Sorry Spike but she rules the palace now and that activity falls under her jurisdiction." Angel said. Spike looked at Buffy.

"Next year we're having Christmas at home so that we can open the presents when I want." Spike put the little stack of presents that he had found back with the rest.

"My poor baby, why don't you come over to the table and hold your daughter for me while I get some coffee for us and blood for you." Spike hung his head down and took his daughter from Buffy. Angel watched him play with Joyce for awhile until he saw his mother and Giles coming down the stairs.

"Good morning everyone and Merry Christmas." Dr. Martin said as they approached the dinning room. "Angel the nude portrait you did of you and Cordelia is beautiful." Everyone looked at Cordelia. "What did you say?" Cordelia asked Dr. Martin.

"I said the nude portrait that Angel did is beautiful." "What portrait, where did you see it?" "Didn't you see it, its right over your bed on the side wall?" Cordelia and everyone else but Angel went running up to the bedroom. After almost 15 minutes of staring at it Cordelia came down the stairs slowly. As she walked down the stairs she finally noticed the other painting on the wall by the Christmas tree. Angel had made one small change from what she remembered seeing through the link. He had changed her dress to a soft blue and had placed two diamond earrings on her ears. Everyone else looked at the painting also as they came down the stairs.

Cordelia stood in front of the painting and just stared at it. Angel came up behind her and put his arms around her. "Do you like them?" Cordelia turned around and hugged him. "Oh Angel they're beautiful." She kissed him over and over again and thanked him in between each kiss.

"Angel you did a magnificent job." Wesley said. If you're taking orders I would like for you to paint one of Fred. "I intend to make one of all of the women. It will be my gift to each of you." Cordelia wiped her tears with the back of her hand then let Angel go and returned to Kathleen. Angel saw the rest of the women wiping their tears also.

Cordelia brought Angel the biggest mug of blood that she could find along with a rare steak and two eggs. The rest all sat down to their bowls of cereal.

In the next few minutes the Sanchez family came in and greeted everyone with a Merry Christmas.

"Okay they're here lets open presents." Connor, Gunn, and Spike said as they went running over to the Christmas tree. Toby was all excited to. He was excited though because Connor was excited.

Cordelia gave up then and they all sat down around the lobby. The children were given their presents first. Most of their presents were clothes and a few toys. Kathleen got a walker so she could learn to walk by herself and strengthen her legs for walking. Both Junior and Kathleen were given toys that could be placed in the playpen that would help them to improve their hand eye co-ordination. Of course Wesley and Fred gave educational toys along with children's books. The present that got the most laughs though were the pajamas that Buffy gave Spike. One pair had little blue bunny's and the other one had big red hearts. Angel and Cordelia gave Buffy and Spike a movie camera along with a complete set of Spikes favorite soap opera, Passions on DVD.

Fred gave Wesley an old book that he had been searching for, for a long time. She said that she had found it by searching the internet and had bought it from a man that was selling it on E-Bay. So that he would believe her she kept the box and wrapping paper that had the return address on it. When she showed it to everyone Dr. Martin said out loud "Transylvania, you've got to be joking." "No that's why I kept the paper that the box was wrapped in because I knew no one would believe me." Fred said. Wesley was immersed in the book already and didn't hear what anyone was saying.

Giles had given his wife a small diamond studded Cross that he helped her to put on. Cordelia gave her a beautiful antique crystal Rosary that Father Barris had told her about. Everyone was curious as to what Angel was giving his mother. When all of the presents had been handed out Connor found an envelope on one of the branches of the tree. "Hey Grandma here is an envelope that's addressed to you from Dad." He handed the large envelope to his Grandmother then stood behind her chair.

When she opened the envelope she started crying. She gave the envelope to Connor to read to everyone. "It's a purchase order for an X-Ray machine and the equipment to develop them." Angel came over to her and they hugged. "Thank you Angel, thank you very much." "Anything for you Mom, and I do mean anything."

This is when Cordelia chose to give Angel his present. "And now I want to give you my present Angel." She took his hand and led him to the hallway underneath the staircase. She took out a set of keys and unlocked the door. "I want you to close your eyes Angel and don't open them until I say so." She opened the door then and pulled him in. "Okay Angel open your eyes."

Angel opened his eyes and just stared at the room. He walked up to the small alter and put his hands on it and then to the statues. One of the statues was of St. Michael standing over Satan with a sword. The best one that Angel liked though was the picture of Christ hugging a man as He welcomed him to Paradise. Angel was so overcome with emotion that started to shed a few tears. He pulled his mother over to the picture to show her. He hugged her then and pulled Cordelia into his arms and kissed her over and over again. "Now my beloved we have to travel over into the San Gabriel valley to see your other Christmas present. I want everyone to come and see it also. So let's close the hotel up and pile into the vans."

It took them a while to get ready since they had so many babies to gather supplies for. Once everyone piled into Cordelia's, Connors, and Spikes vans they took off. Gunn drove his own truck to the valley and everyone could see that he was carrying a couple of large items that were covered with a heavy canvas. The freeways were clear and it didn't take them long to get to South El Monte and the stables. When Angel pulled into the stables Cordelia's heart started beating faster. When all four vehicles pulled into the parking area Angel got out and opened the doors. As everyone exited the vans Angel called out "Watch out where you step everyone."

Vince, a young Indian boy that lived on the premises and took care of the everyday needs of the horses approached Angel and welcomed him and wished everyone a Merry Christmas. "Would you bring out the Palomino first." Angel whispered in his ear.

Angel could hear Cordelia's heart starting to beat faster and tears were starting to come down her cheeks. Angel guided everyone over to the arena while holding his wife's hand. Vince brought the Palomino into the arena and over to Cordelia.

Cordelia handed over Kathleen to Connor then walked into the arena. She was so happy that she was crying and laughing at the same time. Her hands were shaking as she carefully and slowly put them on the horse's neck. "What is her name?" "Her registered name is Sue Bee. Remember when we were in Ireland and I was having a hard time getting the horses to take the bit? You came out with a jar of honey and told us what you used to do to your horses bit in order to get her to take it. When I saw this little lady and she was calm around me plus her name was Sue Bee I knew that she was the one for you. Plus Mrs. Martin she was given the name of Sue Bee because it's the only brand of honey that she likes on her bit. Now her registered name is Sue Bee but her nick name that she responds to is Aunt Bee."

"Can I ride her?" "Wait not yet." Vince was bringing in another horse and stopped next to Angel and gave him the reins.

"This is my horse. He's an Andalusian stallion and his name is Santana. Appropriate don't you think?" Angel patted him on the neck and gave him some carrots that he had in his pocket. He gave some to Cordelia for her horse.

"Connor and Gunn would you bring the saddles over please?" Connor brought Cordelia's and Gunn brought over Angels. "In Connors van Cordy you will find some more appropriate riding clothes. Why don't you go and change while Connor and I saddle the horses." By the time they were done Cordelia came out in a new pair of jeans, a light, short sleeved blouse and a fancy Cowgirl hat. Connor gave her a leg up to Sue Bee's back and gave her the reins. Cordelia expertly ran Sue Bee through several dressage moves then came over to everyone else and dismounted. "Would you like to try her Fred?" "Oh can I?" "Sure she is very gentle and responds to a light touch to the reins." Connor helped her mount and she took off at a slow trot around the arena a few times while Angel rode along side of her. When she came back to Cordelia she dismounted and went running to Wesley. "Wesley I want one. One for you and one for me so we can go riding with Cordelia and Angel. Please, please can we get a couple of horses, please, please?"

They were all laughing at Fred. She looked like a little girl begging her Daddy for a car. "Okay anything for my girl." Fred jumped into his arms and encircled him with her legs she was so happy.

"Come on Connor you want to ride Santana?" Angel asked. Connor took the reins when Angel dismounted. "I didn't think you would ever ask me."

Connor jumped on Santana as Angel did by holding onto his mane then swinging his leg over him. "He needs a firm hand Connor. Don't let him think he is in command. Remember he is a stallion." Connor took him around the arena a few times then before he dismounted he went to the center and made him rear up onto his hind legs. To Connors surprise Santana then bucked him off and he went flying and landed on his behind.

Angel called to Santana in his mind and the horse obediently came to him. Connor got up and dusted himself off. "Are you okay?" Angel asked. "Yah, nothing hurt but my pride." Connor came over to Angel and did like Fred did. "Can I have one to Daddy, can I have one to, please Daddy please." "Is that supposed to melt my heart and get you a horse also?" Angel said as he laughed at Connor. "Well it works for Kathleen all of the time and it worked for Fred so I thought I would give it a try."

"Connor this is what Grandma's are for. I'll buy you a horse and pay for it's monthly upkeep until you graduate from Collage." Connor was so happy he went to Dr. Martin and picked her up and twirled her around while Toby ran around in circles and barked at them. "Thank you Grandma, thank you, thank you."

"Lets go home now everyone the babies are starting to fuss and I need to take a nap also. So put your new toys away Angel and Cordelia." "Yes Mom." Angel and Cordelia answered like two obedient children. Vince came over and took the reins of the two horses. Angel gave them each some more carrots before Vince took them away. Cordelia held onto his arm as they watched them walk back to their stalls. The stalls were new and had been constructed especially for them. They each had inside quarters that opened up to an outside stall. Special high quality hay and alfalfa along with bags of grains and oats were stored in a connected storage unit where they could also keep the saddles and reins for the horses. Angel was paying very well for his horses to be boarded at these stables plus he was giving Vince some money on the side to make sure that his horses were safe.

Everyone but Connie and Lucinda had gone to their rooms to take a nap when they arrived back at the hotel. Connie had a lot of food to prepare so she had her mother in-law and husband helping her while Junior was upstairs with Kathleen in her playpen sleeping. The only room that you could hear any noise in was Lou's. Both Spike and Connor were up there playing with Spikes new X-Box games. Buffy had kicked him out after he had woke up Joyce twice with all of the noise he was making.

In Angel and Cordelia's room they were all sleeping except for Cordelia. Since Angel hadn't had the time yet to fix the crib they had both Kathleen and Junior in the playpen. Angel was sleeping and Cordelia was resting her head on his back and staring at the picture he had painted. Eventually she closed her eyes and went to sleep also.

Dr. Martin was still awake and watching TV while Giles was sleeping. She had just hung up the phone after talking to Cylinda who was working at the hospital today and was scheduled to be off by 2:30 so that she could join everyone for Christmas supper. She had called Cylinda to ask her to bring a syringe full of a certain type of drug that was given to stroke patients that sometimes lessened the severity of the stroke. For the past several days whenever she tried to sleep she would have a recurring dream that she knew was telling her something because it was the exact same dream each time. She believed that it was warning her of her health. She wasn't sure why but something just told her to have this drug on hand.

By 2:30 Joaquin was going around to everyone's room and knocking on their doors lightly to call them to supper. By 3 o'clock everyone was down stairs and lining up to fill their plates with all of the food that Connie had made. When everyone was seated Dr. Martin called for everyone's attention.

"Let's hold hands everyone and give a prayer of thanks." When every one was ready and the Sanchez family joined them she started the prayer.

"Heavenly Father we want to thank you for all of this food that Connie and her family has made for us. We want to thank you for the addition of three new healthy, happy babies that have been given to us this past year. Most of all Father we want to thank you for everyone's complete recovery from the many medical problems that we have experienced this past year. Amen"

Everyone echoed her Amen then sat down and dug in. When they were done most of the men were leaning back in their chairs and unbuckling their belts and the first button on their pants. Since Angel had just some meat along with his Irish bread, that Cordelia had made, and his mug of blood he didn't have to undo his pants like the rest.

When everyone was done and it was quiet for a few minutes Cordelia pulled out a small wrapped box and gave it to Angel. "I have one more gift for you Angel."

"Wow, I think that since I've been working with you guys I've received enough presents to make up for all of the years I never got anything."

He carefully took the ribbon and bow off and opened it. The container was made for a pen set but this one didn't have a pen in it.

"It looks like a test for pregnancy." Angel just stared at it without saying anything. "Well what is it positive or negative?" Spike asked.

"It's positive." He looked at Dr. Martin then at Cordelia. "I don't understand, I never smelled your pheromones telling me that you were ripe. I know I still posses the ability because I can smell Tara, Willow and Dawn." The girls turned beet red at the mention of their names.

"The only answer to that Angel is that St. Michael is saying now is the time for your twins to be conceived. All good things happen in Gods time not ours Angel." Dr. Martin said.

"Did you know this was going to happen?" Angel asked his wife.

"Angel haven't you ever looked at that calendar I keep in the bathroom and the numbers that I mark on each day?" "I just thought you were keeping track of the days between your period so that I wouldn't bother you when you were on it and as a warning as to when I should just run and hide." Angel smiled when he said this and the rest of the men all laughed.

"Well it came in handy for that but it also told 'me' when I was ripe. So my handy dandy little calendar told me that we probably conceived our boys during the weekend that we went to see Lou's father." Angel pulled Cordelia's chair closer to him and gave her a kiss. "This is a Christmas present to beat all others." Angel continued to kiss his wife.

"Alright you two you have a bedroom upstairs for that. We don't need any pornography at the table." Connor said. Angel pushed Cordelia's chair back then. "Do you think we'll have much of a problem with the princes? You know how possessive she is of her mother's breasts." Angel asked Dr. Martin. "You won't have to worry Angel by that time Kathleen will have forgotten all about them."

Cylinda came into the hotel at that time and greeted everyone. She went to Gunn and gave him a kiss then went to get some food. After she sat down she pulled a small case out of her pocket and gave to Dr. Martin as she went to her seat. "Thank you Cylinda." "No problem, I did put this down to your name so you will probably get a bill for it sometime this month."

"So when are we going to go shopping for my horse Grandma?" Connor asked. "I'm sorry Connor but I won't be going with you to do the actual shopping. Your Dad is going to pay for the horse then I will be paying him. Okay?" "Okay Grandma but where are you going that you can't go shopping with us?" Dr. Martin looked at everyone else at the table and then at Angel.

"Grandma hasn't been feeling well Connor and her and Giles are going to Sunnydale and stay at the mansion for a few weeks while she rests. She isn't going to be working at the hospital anymore but she will do volunteer work at the free clinic once a week. Neither Giles nor I could talk her out of that. She can't go with us to look for the horse for you because they are leaving tomorrow." Angel told everyone. When he was done informing everyone of their plans he picked up his daughter from the highchair. She was already sleeping and didn't even wake up when her Daddy picked her up. He went down to his mother and bent down to give her a kiss then went into his new Chapel.

"I think I will go and sleep for a while. I seem to be very tired right now." Giles pulled her chair out for her and walked with her back to the stairs but then she stopped. "I am going to visit our new chapel for a few minutes Rupert." "I'll be waiting right here for you." Giles told her.

Dr. Martin walked back to the chapel. She took a few minutes to take a more careful look at the room and all of its statues and floors. Angel was sitting at the back and rocking his daughter back and forth. She took a seat next to him and put the foot rest down and kneeled for a while in prayer. When she was done she sat down next to Angel and put her arm through his. Neither one said anything for a while.

"Mom I know that something is going to happen but I don't know what. I am afraid that my Boss will take you from me while you are in Sunnydale. At the same time though I remember what you were told about none of us dieing for the next 20 years. I am holding onto His promise like it was a life line right now Mom because at the back of my head I hear a voice telling me that, that information only included Angel Investigation and Buffy's group. I'm hoping that it is just Angelus having fun with me. I guess I better get my little princes to bed now." They both stood up then and went back to the stairs where, as promised, Giles was waiting for her. She held onto both of their arms and they went up stairs.

The next day Giles and Dr. Martin left early in the morning. She said that she didn't want everyone to make a fuss over her. The Sunnydale group left that evening and the hotel felt empty. "You'll check on Dr. Martin and Giles everyday Spike?" Angel asked. "Sure Angel." They shook hands then and then the Scooby gang left.

For the next several weeks Cordelia had at least 2 visions each week and they were kept busy with clients as well. Angel and Connor went looking for a horse for him during the following week after Christmas. Connor chose a chestnut colored Andalusian mare. Before he had to go back to school Angel, Cordelia, and Connor all went riding along the riverbed that ran behind the stables. It was one of the reasons that Angel had chosen the stable. He didn't have to worry about getting back because of a heavy overcast to the skies and they were free to stay out all day. By the time they got back they all were walking funny.

"Long first ride Martin family?" Wesley asked as they all walked in. They were all walking as though the horses were still under them. Gunn came down and when he saw Wesley they started laughing so hard they had to sit on the floor. "I guess we should have made it a short first ride. I think I am going to go and soak my poor muscles for the next hour. Maybe my legs will go back to their normal shape. I suggest you do the same Connor." Cordelia said as she made her way up the stairs.

The next day Cordelia and Angel went out riding again for a short ride. Cordelia had convinced him that it would be the best thing for their sore muscles. When they got back he did feel a lot better. As they were soaking in the tub he said "I must admit that I do feel better then I did this morning." "I told you it would help. It's just a matter of getting our muscles used to riding again."

Connor and Toby came back from school at 3 in the afternoon. This semester he was going to be working with Toby as he was being trained for police work. Toby was so tired that he just walked up to their room and curled up in his bed. "How did he do?" Wesley asked when he saw them come in. "As you can see it was a very tiring day for him. He learned a lot of new stuff today. The instructor was impressed with him though."

"That's good. I know Kathleen and Junior really missed him. Since Toby wasn't here to break up their fights I had to intervene a few times." Wesley said. "Where is Dad and Cordelia?" "They went riding again today for a short time. Cordelia said it would help their muscles. They're still soaking in the Whirlpool though." He said with a smile. "So when are you and Fred going to get your horses so you can join us." Connor asked. "Fortunately she has been busy with the boys. They're starting to cut their first tooth and they're keeping her busy." Wesley went back to his office and Connor went to the kitchen looking for a snack.

That evening everyone went to bed early. Cordelia and Angel were tired from all of the sore muscles. Wesley and Fred were tired from all of the crying from the boys. Fred had finally asked Connie what she did for Junior when he started cutting his first tooth. She had told her about the plastic water filled rings that she would freeze then give to him to chew on. Fortunately Cordelia still had Kathleen's. When they gave them to the boys they were contented with gumming them until they fell asleep.

At 1 o'clock in the morning the phone rang in Angel's room. Cordelia reached over him to answer it. "Hello, Angel Investigation." "Cordelia I'm sorry to wake you but I need to speak to Angel." "Yes of course Giles." Cordelia shook Angel awake. "Angel it's Giles on the phone. He doesn't sound good." That woke him up fast. He took the phone from her, "Hello Giles, this is Angel is everything okay?" "No Angel it isn't. Mary had a stroke this evening. I called Spike to come over when it happened and he is with her now." "How is she doing?" "Not good, I think it was a bad one. Wait, Spike wants to talk to you." "Angel, this is Spike. She's awake and was able to tell me to give her the syringe that Cylinda had given her on Christmas. Would you tell Hunter and Mike that as soon as I can we will be heading for L.A. and we'll take her directly to the hospital. I think we should be their by 6 A.M." "Okay Spike I'll let everyone know."

Angel hung up the phone. "What's wrong Angel?" He laid down again and said "Mom had a stroke this evening. Spike is taking care of her right now but he said that they will be bringing her here and go directly to the hospital. Remember that box that Cylinda gave mom when she came in for Christmas dinner?" "Yes." "Apparently Mom must have had a feeling that this was going to happen and the box contained a syringe with a drug. She was able to let Spike know that he needed to give it to her. I have to let Mike and Hunter know. He said they should be at the hospital by 6 this morning. Try to go back to sleep Cordy, I'm going to go and tell Mike and Hunter.

TBC……………………………………..